Posts tagged comics
Dear Toronto Reference Library: I love you.
Taken by me at TCAF 2012, May 5.
Books I bought in NYC.
Writers of comics (and other things!) check this out!
If you’re a writer of any kind and enjoy reading comics, I highly recommend you check out “Learn From Webcomics!”, a Tumblr I ran across by accident when someone reblogged their Tom Preston critique post.
In short, it takes an example offender webcomic and critiques its writing, pointing out exactly what they do wrong, their reasoning behind the criticism and what the writer can do to fix it. At the end, it offers an exercise that the “student at home” can do in order to hone their skills and avoid falling into the same holes.
This is the type of criticism I like reading for just about anything. It’s dead-on without being petty, and it’s informative without being preachy. As a dude who’s hoping to dabble in comics writing in the next little, it’s definitely got a place on my follow list.
(Sick Moleskine hard drive found here.)
New work: Torontoist exclusive!
Photo by LODOE-LAURA HAINES-WANGDA
I haven’t done one of these in a while, but I thought it was worth pointing out that I got a great exclusive in Torontoist on Wednesday because I found out where Toronto’s Silver Snail comic shop will be moving. This has been a story that people have been curious about ever since the store announced they would be moving, and finding out the final location due to just overhearing something was lucky.
See, this is the type of journalism I like doing, and don’t mind busting my ass for. Even if it’s just simple “Here’s what’s happening, here’s what the people have to say,” it didn’t strike me as difficult to do, nor did it seem like pulling teeth.
I cared about what I was writing about, and it looked like it didn’t turn out too badly. Give it a read!
Every once and a while I will clean/re-order my bookshelf. Not a bad hangover cure/procrastination effort.
I really like comics that I can read all in one sitting. Even with longer graphic novels, like Craig Thompson’s Blankets, I willl end up sitting down and powering through the entire thing.
Today I picked up Faith Erin Hicks’ “Friends With Boys” and read it while waiting for some video to render; I can definitely recommend it if you like stories that are rooted in fiction, but could easily be someone’s biography.
It tells the story of Maggie, a previously-homeschooled teenager who is the youngest of four children. Her father, a policeman in a small East-Coast-Canada town, has three other sons. Maggie’s mother mysteriously disappeared, causing some strain to the family and providing an undercurrent of uncertainty throughout the book.
The book begins with Maggie starting high school, making friends and dealing with the resulting pit of drama and hormones. It a missive to adolescence, and really, I love reading coming-of-age books. You get to see people mix, meld and grow up within the confines of the story; Hicks writes very authentic characters with whom you can identify.
Though some people have been complaining about the book’s ending, I think it’s something that needs to be taken in stride. Instead of looking for the resolution of all plot points, you can see how the characters have changed from the beginning of the book, and almost extrapolate where they’ll go from here.
I’d love to see another story with this crew, but I think it’ll just stay one volume - self contained, but saying all it needs to say.
You can actually read the entirety of Friends With Boys online, for free - I would recommend supporting the author and picking up the book if you like it, though.
Critical visual essay for my Graphic Novel Literature class. This was really fun to do and I really like that character.
There needs to be more comics theory work like this.
(via chrishaley)
The two newest images from Marvel’s The Avengers!
Coulson and Thor: bros for lyfe.
Lately I’ve been having trouble getting the motivation to start a couple projects (namely, my comics blog and a comic book project). Even though I know I can do both projects, there’s something holding me back from actually starting. While I don’t think it’s a lack of passion, I think it’s a little bit of fear what’ll happen if I succeed, or (perhaps more) if I fail.
Today was the first time I listened to this song in earnest, and I was amazed at how it pretty much summarized what tons of pages of self-help books have already told me.
If you’ve ever been scared of starting something new because of the prospects of failure, click “read more” for the lyrics and give the song a listen.
