McCloud Chapter 1
Understanding Comics is more than just a book that legitimizes comics as a real form of literary expression. When most people think of comic strips or books, they think of juvenile stories with no artistic merit what so ever. In reality true works of genius have been created in the comic form long before this book was even published. Companies such as Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly have been putting out quality work that rivals traditional prose for years now. The first Chapter in McCloud's book is traditional to say the least. He introduces the reader to a subject they might not be to familiar with, in this case comics, and uses the art form to create a clear understanding. What most people do not realize is that this book is more than a history of "sequential art." It is a tool that should be used when hoping to create a clear and concise story.
Blog 1
I interviewed my roommate Scott. He is a photography major, so instead of asking about the composition process of writing, I decided to find out his process for the composition of his photos or artwork. I used my iPhone recorder to transcribe the process. Here are the highlights of the interview.
Me: Thanks for meeting me here.
Scott: You live down the hall...
Me: Well, lets get down to this!
Me: How would you describe composition?
Scott: Creating anything
Me: I agree.
Me: You take photos of buildings, trees, and other boring stuff like that right?
Scott: Well, it is more than that, but, yes...
Me: How do you decide to take these photos?
Scott: Well, I usually have my camera in my car, so if I see something that really moves me, I will try to snap some photos.
Me: That is the opposite of myself. When I write something I try to research it as much as possible, and then do some rough drafts. Basically the standard writing process.
Scott: I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants. That's the saying right?
Blog 2
The transcription process for this interview session was kind of laid back. When doing an assignment of this nature, I feel it is important to pick a setting that is comfortable for both you and the other person. Unfortunately, our couch may have been a little too comfortable because we were easily distracted by our other roommate, who was playing Xbox at the time. This sort of derailed the process in a way, but also allowed for us to crack jokes and make it a little more interesting for the both of us. In order to create a more laid back mood, I had some music playing. In this case it was the album ...For the Whole World to See by Death. Death were a rock band in the early 70's who were punk before it even existed. Picture the Bad Brains covering the entire Raw Power album. Their album was just released on Drag City after over 30 years. This album was way ahead of its time.
Blog 4
When selecting a Creative Commons license, it was important to choose a license where nobody would make money off of my work. Now, I don't see that happening on these blog posts, but never the less, I chose to only allow this information to be used for non commercial use.
Craft of Research Chapter 1
This was a great introduction to a book devoted to the art of research. It amazes me how some things are thought to be true just because they are in print. This chapter debunks that notion and values well thought out information instead of words printed on a page. Like i said before, researching is an artform, one that I feel most people take for granted, which I am sure I am guilty of too. There is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that go into finding information on a certain topic, and even more to get it into print. if the rest of the book is like this first chapter, I have a lot to learn.
Narrative and Definition Blog
work in progress as we find out more on this subject
What is Life?
What is life? Everyone has their own opinion on how life was created, wether it was through science or some omnipotent, but to me that is not the point of this text. The question that we should ask ourselves is, what does it truly mean to live? Some may define it as anything that is a breathing or free thinking being, but to me even that is too vague. In order truly live, you must break free from all constraits that are preventing you from achieving true happiness. Is a person who goes to the same job everyday, does the same meaningless work, and then goes home to perform the same nightly rituals truly alive? No offence to them, but to me their brains have been sucked out of their skull by some higher being, and now they are just mindless drones. I know most of them do not enjoy their current stage in their life, so what is preventing them from breaking free? Fear. If you can not or will not take a chance to better yourself or family, what is the point of living?
When relating this text with What is an Author, there are some connections that can be made, which is primarly the role of the author. The author is the creator and voice of his work, allowing the text to evolve throughout the pages. This is almost like a life and death scenerio, through the beggining and end. They can create life, but also take it away when need be. By being the voice of the work, the author is able to express his feelings and concerns by creating characters to convey the message. In a way the author is a God.
Narrative
Rough Draft
Revised Draft
Here are a couple videos that reminded me of my paper.
Freesound
Here are some sounds that relate to my paper. Maybe it will make the reading experience more enjoyable?
Vinyl Needle
Vinyl Pop
Vinyl Intro
Final Project
Last semester I participated in Trey's Expository Writing course based around gaming culture, which I found to be quite a success. In that particular class I focused all of my writing on DIY culture. My first paper was a brief explanation of what it means to "do it yourself," while relating it to video games and music. Next I moved on to writing about innovation in the gaming community. I felt the only way to go from there was to create my own game, which I did for my final piece of work. I would like to take what I learned from that class and combine it with the course Trey taught on zine culture.
For my final project I would like to create my own zine. Since my first narrative was about me visiting the record store, I would like to incorporate music. Instead of writing about record reviews or music news, my plan is to write about the annual independent music festival in Gainesville, appropriately named The Fest. My goal for this 'zine is to document my trip, writing about the people I meet, the bands I see, and the experience I had.
The creation process will be much like the 'zines of the 80's, such as Maximumrocknroll and Flipside. I will not be using a computer to make this. Instead I will copy and paste all articles and photos to a story board, and use a copy shop to print it out. If this is a success, I plan on selling them via the bookstore I work at to recuperate some of the expenses.
Final Project Redux
As I started to plan out how I would execute my final project, things just didn't add up. In theory it sounded great, but I began to fear how the finished product would turn out. I concluded that a zine may not be the best medium to represent what I was going for. Maybe a blog? Either way I do not think this is the right time to do a project this ambitious. I began to brainstorm on how I could use the zine idea and come up with something that would not only make me happy, but be able to reach a larger audience. This is my solution:
In the 60's the term fandom was used to describe readers of comic books, primarily the EC horror books. Since their was no internet the fans would put out newsletters, which then would be mailed to other fans all over the country. These letters could include reviews, what they had for trade, interviews with the artists, etc. Essentially these were magazines for a niche market, ie a zine.
I am a huge advocate of comic books as an art form. In a way comics have a bad reputation in the sense that that they are seen as juvenile. In a way they are right when concerning modern superhero books, but that is only a portion of the market. There are story tellers out there creating slice of life stories, history books, and even comic diaries. What I would like to do is create a magazine that covers this small portion of the market, but do it in a way that I haven't seen yet. There are essentially two magazines dedicated to comic books: Wizard and The Comics Journal. In my opinion Wizard is trite, juvenile garbage that only focuses on mainstream books, while The Comics Journal is so pretentious that is almost unbearable to read. I would like to find a middle ground. A type of zine that analyzes comics on their individual merit, but also has a distinct voice that is lacking in this genre. The best way in executing this is taking the journalistic approach of two of my favorite music journalists, Travis Keller and Lester Bangs. Simply put, they tell it like it is.
I have already begun working on this project. To start off I have emailed Johnny Ryan and Evan Dorkin (two of my favorite artists), asking them if they would do an interview for the zine. My plan is to review some of the current graphic novels coming out, as well as interviewing local artists, and writing various articles about the state of the industry. If all goes according to plan I will have a few contributors besides myself, one of which works in the industry, and another fan like myself.
Feedback is appreciated.
Current Status
I hope my lack of updates isn't discouraging. Right now I have been working offline on my zine', complying articles, pictures, etc. Right now I am still waiting to hear back from possible interview candidates and looking into the production side of the zine'. Kinkos seems to be the best place to get them printed, but does anyone know any independent printing companies? Maybe in the St. Pete areas? I have a few contributors helping me get this rolling. One is working on designing me a logo and I already have a cover that I am pleased with. I will scan it in this week to see what everyone thinks. It is kind of tough to get what I have been working on to the wiki since a lot of it is art right now and the overall design of the zine'. I guess what I need from the class is feedback in the form of questions, concerns, and ideas.
The Johnny Ryan Interview Questions
I will be conducting an interview with
Johnny Ryan this week for my zine'.
Here are some of the questions I planned on asking him. I hope to chat with him online, maybe using Etherpad.
1) What were you doing before becoming a comic creator?
2) Who are your influences, comic related or not.
3) How did Fantagraphics come across Angry Youth Comix?
4) In your work you poke fun at a lot of other creators. Do they know that it is in jest, or has some actually been offended?
5) What does your wife think of your work and absurd sense humor?
6) You said your latest book Prison Pit was inspired by the manga Berserk. Is there any other manga that has influenced you?
7) How has fans reacted to Prison Pit?
These are some of the main questions I hope to ask, not necessarily executed in the same way. I will then develop more in depth questions based on his answers.
UPDATE
I am waiting on a response and answers from Mr. Ryan about my interview "13 Questions with Johnny Ryan. I guess I am getting to play the whole editor thing since I am also waiting on a few articles from some contributors. It is hard to get them to do stuff on time when there is no money involved. Maybe I will buy them a 12 pack? My work is coming along, which is just mainly reviews and critiques. The zine' will be about 6-8 pages once it is printed. Will Kinko's be the best choice? Any Ideas? Should I spring for color? All questions I ask myself daily. I still need a title. This is exciting.
A Brief, Yet Triumphant Introduction
Hi. How are you? Have a seat. You look great! Did you lose any weight? No? Oh, well, can I get you a drink? Maybe a beer? You would love one? Sorry, I was bluffing. I was trying to be a good host. You know how that goes, right? You don't? Anyways, I should probably be thanking you for giving me 2 dollars and buying this, but I won't. It is obvious you make poor financial decisions, and instead I will teach you proper money management. In these hard economic times you should cut your spending on the non necessities, like this zine' for one. What? No, I won't refund your money! Since you are stuck with this I should probably explain what is inside. Basically, it is the things I like, you know, comic books and music. Yep, I don't know why you bought this either. But it isn't just me rambling, some others helped contribute. Don't worry, I didn't pay them. Anyways, enjoy, or not, whatever.
The Johnny Ryan Interview
1. Before creating comic books you worked a series of odd jobs after college. Did you see doing this the rest of your life, or did you know that there were better things in store for you?
The jobs were just stupid ways to make some money while I was working on my comics. I never really cared or had any kind of ambition to do well at these jobs, which is probably why I kept getting fired from them.
2. Were you a big comic fan as a child? What creators inspired you as a child and adult?
Yes, as a kid I would mostly read Marvel titles, and MAD magazine and sometimes CRAZY, and newspaper strips. As I got older I began to get tired of the Marvel superhero comics and sought out weirder stuff, like Crumb, then Clowes and Bagge and Mark Beyer and Gary Panter.
3. Peter Bagge helped you break into the industry, how was that experience?
It was a nice experience. I was living in Washington, DC at the time. I had just started reading HATE and I noticed he would review comics in the back, so I sent him some of mine. He emailed me a few days later telling me how much he enjoyed them. He then showed them to Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics and he liked them. It then took over a year for them to convince Gary Groth to publish them.
4. What makes Angry Youth Comix so unique and hilarious is that it shows no mercy. Do you ever think you have gone too far?
Whenever I feel like “maybe I shouldn’t draw this”, I know then that I should do it. Something about drawing or creating something that I know will rile people up is very exciting. I love when art makes people crazy.
5. In addition to making fun of just about every social and political stance there is, you also lampoon the industry and some of your peers. Has anyone ever taken offense to a particular comic about them? What does your wife think about some of the more offensive material?
I can’t really say for sure as none of them talk to me. My wife has a pretty good sense of humor. There has been a few times she didn’t like something I was drawing. I sometimes take her advice, but I usually follow my gut. If I feel like something is working I’ll go with it no matter what.
6. What is your creative process like?
Pretty simple, I guess. I come up with an idea, then I pencil it, ink it and, if required, color it.
7. You recently just did some work for Marvel. How was dealing with one of the big companies different than Fantagraphics? Do you see yourself working with them again?
Well, it’s like any other commercial job. They tell you what they’re looking for. They give you certain rules to follow and you do the job that they want you to do. That’s where most of my income is from. The books I do for Fantagraphics, or even Buenaventura Press, I do whatever I want to do. They’ve never put any limitations on me.
8. You said that your new graphic novel Prison Pit was influenced by the manga Berserk. Do you find yourself inspired by Manga more than American comics?
Ummm… I think I’m inspired equally. There have been a lot of great comics coming out over here. I especially like seeing alternative comic artists drawing non-ironic fantasy/action/adventure type comics, like POWR MASTRS by CF or Ben Marra’s NIGHT BUSINESS. And I’ve also been reading a lot of BPRD and Guy Davis’ THE MARQUIS. And I like THE WALKING DEAD a lot, too.
9. Having worked in a comic shop for years, I began to notice a lot of the mainstream fans are beginning to become fed up with the constant crossovers and blockbuster events a lot of the larger publishers are putting out. Do you feel the industry is in store for a big change? Will a lot of the lesser known books being published get the recognition some of them deserve?
I don’t know. I feel people have been saying this for a long time, but it never happens…
10. What creators and books keep you going back to the comic shop?
Well, I mentioned BPRD, WALKING DEAD, THE MARQUIS. I also read BERSERK and DETROIT METAL CITY, and many of the books published by Buenaventura Press or PictureBox. And I like all the classic comic reprints that are coming out.
11. Can we expect another volume of Prison Pit in the near future?
Summer 2010.
12. Besides creating comics, is there anything non comic related you are currently working on?
I have a group show in April at Giant Robot SF with Le Merde and Matt Furie.
13. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Go to my website and buy my stuff, please! www.johnnr.com
Thanks!!
Cheap Girls
When it comes to music, I usually follow the theory that if an album is being released on vinyl it must have some merit. Sure, there are exceptions, most recently the new Guns N' Roses album, or shitrock super group Chickenfoot’s recent audio abomination (arena rock is dead, pops), but for the most part this is a foolproof plan. So following these guidelines any record put out by Paper + Plastick must be worth a damn since they only release all their albums on vinyl. Answer: yes!
If their stellar roster wasn't clue enough, this label has put out excellent music from day one. However, there is one band in particular who isn't just making quality tunes, but also breathing new life into a genre that was long forgotten. If you haven't guessed by now, this band is Cheap Girls, and boy are they good. These flannel clad Michigan rockers are stuck in a time machine set for 1993 and have no intention on coming back. Combining the best elements of all your favorite early 90's alt-rockers, Cheap Girls are reinventing the genre for a whole knew generation. I mean hey, it's cool that Dinosaur Jr. released an insanely good record this year, but J Mascis isn't hip with the kids anymore. Sorry, J, you look like Gandalf now, but hey, at least you can still shred.
What makes Cheap Girls so appealing is their honesty. Ian Graham holds nothing back, singing about misfits, drunks, and fuck-ups, on their latest record, My Roaring 20's. Melodic, yet harsh, technical, yet loose, Cheap Girls has perfected a sound that would bring a tear to the eye of Mac McCaughan. This album isn't perfect, and that is what makes it so charming and endearing. The production is lo-fi, but not to the point where it is unlistenable, unlike most of the overhyped garbage Rickdorkmedia is shoving down unsuspecting hipsters throats. This isn’t just a record; it's a way of life. How many times have you thought about dropping out of college and forming a band? Why do you refuse to change even though all your friends have moved on? You aren't the only one; and these songs are your anthem, embrace them. In the end, Cheap Girls are a bunch of normal dudes, making some positive jams, and enjoying the ride, and I plan on hitchhiking the entire way.
Cheap Girls' recent album, My Roaring 20's, was just released on Paper + Plastick. Buy it!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Comments (1)
ShareRiff said
at 12:15 pm on Oct 30, 2009
Jacob, I am encouraged by your project update. I want to put you in touch with USFSP grad Chris Nadeau. I have heard him, on numerous occasions, testify to the power of the small 'zine. Chris says "a 'zine should fit in your back pocket!!!" A 'zine need not be too big, and your design is not too ambitious. By focusing on graphic novels and comics, you have done a fantastic job of narrowing/focusing. For the "assignment assignment" piece of the scope assignment, tap into our creative commons, and tell us what we can do to help--indeed, tell us what to do! Check at Charles' scope assignment, where he first articulates the project he will pursue from here on out--notice that he is poised to review Gene Yang's book http://convergentemergence.pbworks.com/Telescopic-Microscopic-Periscopic
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