So stoked to share that I’ll be a guest at LA Comic Con the weekend of December 1-3. I’ve been attending plenty of conventions lately as a stealth infiltrator (that is, wandering the aisles with my pro pass), but I’ll be signing at this one. Been a while since I’ve met fans from a con floor. Looking forward to getting back to it. A lot.
You’ll notice a new headshot with my bio below, too. I’d been using one I got in a photo booth for years and (even though that was taken on a particularly good hair day) it was high time to seek out a professional. Finding the right “look” for an author’s portrait is a perilous challenge. Whenever I reach for a sense of gravitas, I tend to stare daggers into the viewer’s soul. Which can be the effect you wanna go for, sometimes, but not when you’re inviting them to your artist alley table. So, much thanks to Glass Darkly Photography for capturing my playful side.
As mentioned last time, Operation Stoneheart is on a fast track. If it all goes as planned, you’ll get to read and enjoy in about a month. It’s an 8-page short included in a long-running, world-famous title’s upcoming special issue – and that’s all I can say, still. The issue itself has been announced, but my part hasn’t, so Stoneheart remains classified.
I can say that the letterer who finished it injected even more energy into the story with his bold, retro style. Seriously, you might want to handle this one with oven mitts. Stoneheart’s all about love – the dangerous kind! It’s gonna break your heart, then make you eat that heart out.
A new operative recently joined Operation Sterling, which I’m working on with Patrick McEvoy, and she’s proven a crucial addition already. Coloring has so, so, so much sway on the tone and texture of a comic. Just compare a panel of Sin City with, say, Ronin. Frank Miller drew both, but Lynn Varley only colored the latter and, whoo, do those comics have totally different feels as a result.
It’s not time to declassify this colorist’s identity yet, but I do want to share the evolution of one panel from Sterling – specifically to show off what she’s been bringing to the op. Check it out below. As you see, Patrick starts with a rough, scratchy thumbnail based on this particular panel’s description in the script. (More on thumbnails in a moment). Then, he uses that thumb as the basis for his lineart. I still can’t believe he drew Step #2 with a stylus on a pad, no ink or nibs involved...
Step #3 is is a sorta weird, intermediary stage called “flatting.” I’ve only become recently acquainted with this since I’ve started editing some of my comics. Basically, masses of flat (and often garish) color are arranged over the line art to serve as reference for the colorist. Looking at pages that have been flatted, but not properly colored, is quite weird. It’s sorta like seeing a coloring book scribbled on with messy markers.
I don’t fully understand how we get from Step #3 to Step #4. Truly, that’s the mysterious magic a colorist commands. But as you see, with the flats as foundation, she brings our weary, squinting, sunbeat adventurer to a new level of existence. Once Sterling is out in the world, every one will see how she’s sprinkled this magic onto each panel in the story. It’s been a fantastic collaboration.
Operation Sphinx, which Nikos Koutsis and I have been toiling on for many a moon, carries onward. Since last time, he’s thumbed another whole issue. Yes, that means we’ll likely have the entire series thumbed before we produce the first issue. Yes, that means we’re probably both insane. Especially because Nikos’ thumbs are far more detailed than standard. Seriously, they’re maybe only a few degrees off from proper pencils. Wanted to show one off. Have a gander…
I subscribe to the Five Ps for any project I work on. Prior Planning Prevents Possible Problems. So, laying the comic out like this early on is crucial. If we run into any creative binds – perhaps there’s too much going on in a panel, or too many panels on a page, or a different pose would suit the moment better – it is far easier to rethink it at this stage than if lineart’s already been rendered, let alone colored.
As detailed as these thumbs are, you still have to know the script to really understand what you’re seeing. I look at them and the final comic’s crystal clear to me, but others might only see scribbles and chickenscratch. I suppose Nikos and I have our own crazy secret language, now – like twins! As I said, we’re both insane.
I’ve chipped away at Operation Cipher for half a year, on and off. It’s a feature screenplay, re-worked from scripts for a six-issue comic. Have I abandoned that comic? No. It’s still in the works. Do I think this screenplay is salable? Probably not. It’s a big, crazy story that’d cost at least $200 million to make, surely. So... why write it?
Well, like thumbnails, a script really just looks like lines of code to the typical reader. If I show somebody a completed comic or episode I’ve written, they can enjoy it without explanations. That goes for prose, too, since that format’s specifically taught in school. A script, though? Might as well be in another language. You must learn how to read one. And in my experience, that aforementioned reader has an even a harder time parsing a comic script than a screenplay.
So, Cipher is partly an exercise. I wanted to update my feature writing portfolio. And while this might not be a feasible sale, it’ll be a good sample I can share with more people than the comic scripts. That’s just how it is.
I was curious about the adaptation process, too. There’s no magic button to reformat a script. (Seeing the intrusion AI has made into art this year, I don’t think I’d even want there to be one). This wasn’t simply about copy / pasting. It was an involved, line-by-line translation. I found that a page of the comic roughly corresponds to a minute of screen-time. Some pages are less and some are more, depending on the action / dialogue ratio, but that seemed the average. So, 132 pages is a bit over two hours.
I cut a lot of detail, still. Partly, that’s because screenplay format is designed to “pass the baton” to the actors, camera crew, sound designer, etc, at key points rather than cover everything. There just wasn’t room for all of it, either. Again, by design, a comic advances at the pace readers set for themselves. If you fill a panel with a lot of detail to take in, they can take their time before moving on to the next one. Or they can flip back to previous pages to look for details they might’ve missed. A movie, though? It must barrel forth without stopping, which doesn’t lend itself to that kind of density.
Anyway, people saying “comics panels are just storyboards” is a real pet peeve of mine. That’s like saying a letter is the same as a novel. And crafting Cipher reaffirmed that to me, every day I worked on it.
Angel Stadium has a lot of steps, let me tell you…
Got to explore every inch of the joint during Spartan’s 5K “Stadion” race on a sunny Saturday afternoon last month. Concrete and asphalt are unforgiving compared to mud and grass, which I was sure to keep in mind if ever I felt tempted to fearlessly vault off any obstacles. We actually did get to run along the farthest edge of the outfield, still, with the bases and grass strictly cordoned off.
The hype man did not resist making as many “Spartans in the Outfield” cracks as he had time for, of course. There’s a race in Dodger Stadium coming up soon, and I think the puns will be tougher for him to reach for there, but… never underestimate what the human will can achieve?
Back in 2020, my pal Shawn Kittelsen was writing a rather cool, incisive series called Heart Attack for Skybound. Unfortunately, it got waylaid by the pandemic. I’ve been dangling on a cliffhanger since the last installment, dying to find out what’s next for the star-crossed couple on this cover…
Well, Heart Attack got another shot this month, with all existing issues and all remaining issues collected into a big, fat complete edition. Strange love, big ideas and sharp satire… it’s got all the good stuff that’s in my bag. So glad it’s back. Shawn’s crafted a moving, provocative epic, and it’s even more thrilling to enjoy it in one tome.
The Chuk Chronicles will return. If you have any writing questions, thoughts on my work, or bon mots, shoot me a message. Catch you ‘round!