Check out my dialogue with IDW Editor Mariah Huehner about Marvel Comics new GIRL COMICS on CSBG.
A picture of our first Christmas Tree. This is the first year Adam has “allowed” me to get a tree. And though he seemed not so keen on the idea, I have to say he’s enjoying it as least as much as I am…how could you not? Look at it!?!
From the latest issue of The New Yorker…I totally feel like that Santa Claus is me, all curmudgeonly and ready for payback. Or maybe it’s just been one of those days…
The latest She Has No Head! column is up on CSBG. It’s Marvel v DC this week and it’s all about context.
Thanks to everyone that sent in their postcard.
We more than met the 600 required postcards by the October 31st deadline and today Dan Didio honored his promise and announced that in the new year Wonder Woman will get renumbered to #600 moving forward. Nice work fans. See? Sometimes things do change. Almost never…but occasionally. So pat yourselves on the back and get back to work on the next thing… 
Find the right female positive comic book for everyone on your holiday shopping list with this week’s ‘She Has No Head!’ Column at CSBG.
So this is Part Two in a series of posts detailing what I’ve learned about writing and publishing over the past three -ish years on my road to finishing my novel and working with an agent and eventually trying to get published. For Part One, go here, and make sure to read about how I’m totally not an expert and check out all the helpful links that can educate FAR more than I can.
With that out of the way, I’m going to tell you my story, for my novel and what my experience has been. That doesn’t mean it’s everyone’s experience, or that you should expect it to go similarly for you, but it might at least be helpful in reading about how the process has been working for me. This installment is primarily about AGENTS.
I finished the first totally complete draft of my novel in January of 2007. I had been working on it (among other projects) off and on (and while working full time – and picking up my life and moving from Los Angeles to New York) since sometime in late 2004. Many people can do it faster than that. I hope my next one will come faster but that’s how long it took me to get my first novel to “the end”. And to top everything off this draft was short to boot. Clocking in at only 55k words, a length that is “technically” too short for most fiction, even YA (young adult), but there it was. Complete.
So I started the process of having a few people read it. As this was my first time finishing a novel I didn’t have any beta readers. A beta reader can be defined I suppose as someone that doesn’t have a personal investment in you (like your boyfriend, best friend, parents, siblings, etc.) and it’s usually somebody that is also either a writer or an editor, or at a minimum a voracious reader. Though I find you’re better off with the former as their notes tend to be more focused and the critique more intensive. So though I didn’t have beta readers technically, I did have some amazing people in my life that were writers and artists that I hoped would be able to separate their affection for me from their ability to constructively critique the manuscript. This sort of worked and after getting feedback from three or four friends I embarked on revisions.
I finished the revisions in April of 2007 and sat on the new manuscript for nearly four months.
Rogue must be guest starring in in the new Black Widow book, because I came across this cover of her in one of my comics this week and….Oh, wait…nevermind. That’s just Black Widow, wearing the same unzipped to her stomach bullshit that Rogue wears now. Silly me.
Bonus points for the Black Widow costume being unzipped to her stomach while she’s out in the SNOW in RUSSIA trying to be a spy that is not noticed. Yeah, women totally do that. ALL the time. Jesus.
Super Human Resources: Season One. Ken Marcus (story). Justin Bleep (art). Joey Mason and Antonio Campo (colors). Jaque Nodell (letters). Ape Entertainment. $12.95 US.
I really hate writing this review, because I really wanted to love this comic, and while I liked it, it did fall short for me on a couple levels. I can’t remember how it came on my radar, but when it did I visited the website (which is great), and looked for it at my local comic book shop, and when I didn’t find it in single issues, I started looking for it as a trade (and was happy to hear it had made it to trade paperback status…as that doesn’t always get to happen for more independent books). Eventually I did find one copy at my local shop, and was excited to read it. I thought this book was going to be a hilarious mix – one part Office Space (or The Office, whichever tickles your fancy) and one part Superhero parody. And it is. But only sometimes. And not consistently enough that I can fully get on board.
The art. I like it. Mostly. The character design for the most part is unique and appealing, and the book has a really strong visual identity, which unfortunately cannot be said for many many books, especially little books without giant publishers. The color was solid throughout and really worked for the tone of the book. Another plus is that the art is incredibly consistent throughout with the exception of some obvious and deliberate evolution in the character design between the first two books. It’s really hard to find consistent artwork in comics, so this is commendable. The art was so consistent in fact, it almost looked like some crazy futuristic digital effects or something – like the entire book was conceived and drawn by a machine – which gave it a perfect but sometimes soulless quality.
Ironically I preferred the slightly toned down version of the character design in the first issue to the evolution that appeared later in the collected volume, but it wasn’t a big deal. One little design nit I had with the later evolution, was that all the characters remind me a little bit of bugs because of these two lines the Bleep draws extending dramatically off of characters eyes (and heads). It annoyed me more as the book progressed, but is a pretty superficial complaint, as complaints go.
A bigger complaint I had about the art is that the inking lineweights all feel the same, or at least similar…and with so much going on in every panel, that often made it difficult to understand what was going on. I think the artwork overall could benefit from some much more confident and dramatic inking which would help the clarity of individual panels. But it’s obvious Bleep is still evolving as an artist (which is of course true of most artists) and so I’ll be interested to see where he goes.
The biggest thing that didn’t work for me in this book, is the pacing, and that’s a problem of both story and art. And it’s hard to tell who is dropping the ball here or if it’s both of them. I tend to think it’s the artist’s job to get the panel pacing right so that the words work in their most effective way, but especially on an indie book, where creators are more likely involved in the eachothers’ processes, it feels a little like a shared problem.
There are some great little jokes in the script – in-jokes that are really enjoyable if you have ever worked in an office, or read a superhero comic, and they work really well together for some good times…but several of the jokes are nearly lost to the previously stated pacing issues…and it just isn’t funny enough overall to carry the book’s other weaknesses.
I think the biggest of those weaknesses is that the characters are pretty broadly sketched, we’re never able to attach much to any of them or to care about them beyond their ability to bring home the joke. Now, character building, especially for a large cast of characters in an office setting is hard to do and takes time…it’s easy to fall into cliches and hard to do unique things, especially when you’re already deliberately playing with cliche and parody, but I feel like Marcus should have given us at least someone to root for in these first four issues. It’s obviously supposed to be Tim that we’re rooting for, but he’s such a dull guy that I can’t find much to get behind. There’s no sense of humor in him like there is in everyday characters like Jim from The Office or Peter from Office Space…but when I look around to find someone else to connect to – there really aren’t any characters worth connecting to. Except Wombat. Wombat, a blatant and hilarious Batman parody is awesome, but mostly for jokes, and not for any emotional connection.
And while EVERY book I read doesn’t have to feature or star women or be “the best thing written about women since sliced bread” I find the female characters here to be pretty lacking. There’s a fairly interesting “office manager” named Helen that all but disappears as soon as she serves her function (introducing Tim to the craziness that is SCI in the first issue); the token “hot” superhero/alien Plasmarella complete with big boobs and sexy low cut clothing; another office worker named Sarah that gets a page or two of dialogue; and in a particularly bad move, there’s a giant female called Statuesque and you never see her head. She’s usually only shown (because of her size) in the torso/ass/breasts area (and a couple times down to her feet) but you never see her head. I get the joke, and I probably wouldn’t mind it so much if there were other more fully realized female characters in the book, but as there are not, it seems like a really big misstep to me.
I will admit that it’s likely I’m overly sensitive to this issue – considering I actually write a column on CBR’s Comics Should Be Good called “She Has No Head!”. The concept for the article is broadly “women in comics” and it’s safe to say I have strong feelings about the idea of women being so insignificant in comics that they seem to be nothing more than objects of desire that quite literally don’t need heads. And so Statuesque is a really unfortunate coincidence, and I urge you to take my criticism of this particular aspect of the book with a grain of salt.
I think overall, because the characters lacked much emotional charge for me, the story also lacked an emotional charge. The basic set up is that Tim (our “hero”) is a temp sent to SCI to work in “Super Human Resources”. He is surprised and at first put off by this idea, thinking it must be a mistake, but is quickly brought into the fold of regular folks, superheroes, villains, aliens, etc. that work there. [SPOILER] The four issue plot is basically that “corporate” is trying to get SCI shut down so they can farm their work out to cheaper Indian labor. Tim discovers a conspiracy in corporates’ attempt to get SCI shut down and is able to thwart it and save SCI. At the end of the book he is (naturally) viewed as a hero and given a full time gig at SCI. But I don’t really feel happy for him…and I’m not really sure why he wants to stay there…or why they want him to stay, as other than being a hero, he hasn’t really made any connections as far as I can tell. And perhaps most importantly, other than him being a template ‘good guy’ I’m not sure why he feels compelled to save SCI in the first place. And that is a failure.
The book just didn’t work on the all the levels it needed to…and with the exception of the laughs, some of which were great, I was pretty disappointed overall. I do hope Marcus and Bleep keep working and putting out books, and I will anxiously look for their next project, if only to see the next evolution.
I’d like to give it more, but unfortunately 2.5 Stars is the official 1979 Semi-Finalist rating.
Oooh! How original! A calender featuring hyper sexualized fairytale characters.
I honestly do not know how you sleep at night Mr. Campbell. As a fan of much of your early work (I loved Gen 13 with a passion…misguided though it may have been) but you have fallen so far in my eyes. You’re a hell of an artist…and it’s a real shame to see you wasting your talent on something (so many somethings actually) so beneath you, and so devaluing to women…and really, to little girls. Because this image? This is THE LITTLE FREAKING MERMAID.
Crap, I’m sorry. That was really unprofessional. I’m sure you’re a really nice guy. And far be it from me to say what you should and should not be doing with your talent, but I just hope you realize what you’re doing. For someone that works in superhero comics…it’s really unfortunate that you have chosen to use your powers for evil instead of, you know, good.
Check out my new column up at CSBG. Thanks!
My new column is up at CSBG, check it out if you get a chance. It’s a bit of a rant…so I’m trying to prepare myself for the inevitable hate mail…man, I’m so bad at hate mail…why doesn’t everyone just agree with me and be nice all the time?
My article giving out midterm grades to all the shows I planned to watch this fall is up at Best Shows You’re Not Watching.
The Jilted League aka The Bimbo, The Bitch, and The Brain aka Olympia, Dina, and Val. Click to enbiggen! Words and Art by Kelly Thompson. Colors by Adam Greene. Thanks Adam!
Well, so much for that. I sent the ladies to deliver a message and as usual it’s lost in a sea of bitching and moaning. I hope they’re better superheroes than messengers…time will tell.
So here’s what’s going on with my novel, for those of you who have been asking (you precious but devoted few!). As some of you already know, I got an offer from an incredibly talented and powerful agent to work exclusively on the revisions to my novel with him. This essentially means we have both put in considerable time and effort on my book and are both hoping to work together, but we have not signed a contract. So officially, I’m working exclusively on revisions to my novel with this agent, but technically I do not yet have an agent. But don’t worry, this is not so uncommon as it sounds.
Anyway, sometime last June the agent and I came to this exclusivity arrangement at which point I began the painful process of waiting for his revision notes. They arrived in early August and I got to work quickly after they arrived. The notes were excellent – but much larger in scope than I had expected. I (finally) finished the revisions (which included cutting about 60 existing pages and adding 130 new pages) at the end of October. Upon finishing the revision I sent the notes back to the agent to get his feedback, at the same time I sent the revised manuscript to my writing group for a critique.
I have not yet heard back from the agent, though I hope to soon, but Wednesday night I got a very in depth crit from my writing group on the new draft. Now, I must tell you, it’s pretty scary to wait for a crit like that. You’ve been pounding away on your keyboard all alone in a room writing 130 new pages that could be brilliant or could be the worst dreck you’ve ever written, and while it seems like it should be obvious which it is, I have to admit that I am wildly inconsistent in how I feel about my work. I can write an amazing scene before lunch, pat myself on the back as if I’m a genius, go make a sandwich, come back in half an hour, look at the same scene and proclaim myself King of Hacks…the hackiest hacky hack to ever live. It’s quite a sight. So suffice to say, I really had no barometer about how those new 130 pages were working. Some days I felt pretty good about them, some days…not so much. And since not a single soul in all the world had read them yet…I was pretty anxious to hear what the group thought.
Overall, they really liked the new draft and the change in plot and arc (130 new pages – that’s definitely some changes). There were problems of course (there always are) and I haven’t yet had a chance to go through all four manuscripts to see their individual page to page notes (which can sometimes be a blow to the ego), but the response was overwhelmingly good…much better than I had expected. So I’m really happy today. And really grateful to have such a wonderful group of writers that are supportive and critical. Joining a writing group was hands down the best thing I’ve ever done for my writing.
So what does all this mean? It means that I’m not crazy (yay!) and that hopefully the agent I’m working with will feel similarly about the manuscript as my writing group did. I have no doubt that more revisions will still be needed (not to mention a strong edit – the ms is coming in at a bloated 419 pages right now) but hopefully the agent will be on board for the new direction…and sometime…sometime!…in the relatively near future we can sign a contract and get this book out on submission to publishers. So everyone, please continue to keep your fingers crossed – I know it’s already been about six months – but if you can hang on for three or four more I’d really appreciate it – and hopefully this thing will really get to go somewhere…and if I’m lucky…take me with it.
Thanks for all of your support…and know that by “support” I mean agreeing to buy at least 500 copies of the book each when it finally (hopefully!) sees publication.
*Oh – and click here if you want to know “what happened LAST time” according to Dina in panel two.
I don’t post a lot on this blog about writing – save a few random comments about what’s going on with my novel and my “rejection status updates” I have deliberately tried to avoid making this a blog about writing. I think I’ve stayed away from this for two main reasons.
#1. I tend to find most blogs about writing a little the same and dull and I doubt I have much unique to add to the discussion.
#2. Many people who know WAY more than me already do it MUCH better.
Super secret reason #3 is that most of the time I’d just rather rant about comics.
All that said, something happened a few weeks ago that made me want to do a post about writing – specifically a post about what I’ve learned over the past three(ish) years about publishing and agents and “how it all works”. As I started writing it turned into a four part post, focusing on different aspects of publishing. This is PART ONE and it’s about SCAMS.
Please keep in mind while reading this that there are still innumerable things I have yet to learn. By most standards I’m still a rookie. If you have a manuscript and are trying to get an agent, or want to be a writer, or want to educate yourself about scams, or just want to learn more about publishing I’d suggest checking out any and all of the following:
Absolute Write, The Rejecter, Duotrope, Writer Beware, Miss Snark, and Pub Rants
Oookay. All of that out of the way. A friend of mine that has a solid childrens book manuscript almost got scammed the other day…which is what prompted the idea for this first post. Now, the person that “scammed” her was actually much more upfront than most in that he acknowledged that there would be money involved in getting her published. This is usually called Vanity or Subsidy publishing. While this gentlemen appeared to be more honest than your average scammer, he still largely presented himself as a “legitimate publisher” that would “love to see her work”, when in fact, if you are paying money you are either self publishing or vanity publishing or getting scammed (the latter two often going hand in hand). My friend, like many honest hardworking writers, jumped at the opportunity and sent him her manuscript. When talking about it with her I heard her mention paying money and I had to slam the breaks on her excitement.
A legitimate publisher never asks you for a penny. NEVER. The publisher pays you. You do not pay the publisher. In fact, as a writer, you pay for nothing (except perhaps postage to send your ms to agents or publishers when you are seeking one if you choose to go the snail mail route). You do not pay agents. You do not pay reading fees. You do not pay editors. You do not pay for a “web page” to help “market” your book. As a writer YOU. DO. NOT. PAY. EVER.
Please head on over to CBR’s Comics Should Be Good to read my first CSBG post. Thanks for the support everyone!
~ Kelly
Hello fans of 1979 Semi-Finalist…and by extension…ME!
I got an amazing offer last week from Brian Cronin over at CBR’s Comics Should Be Good to start contributing to their fantastic and wildly popular blog. I, of course giddily accepted, and so I’m going to be doing a regular column called ‘She Has No Head!’. The column will run on Mondays and will discuss the fairly broad topic of ‘women in comics’ – ranging from real world women creators to female characters and beyond.
I’ll let everyone know when the first post goes up – but in the meantime – check out the awesome announcement Brian put up – and the Comics Should Be Good blog in general – which is fantastic with or without a column from little ole me.
Thanks for all the support everyone – I hope I can do it justice!
Kelly
My post about Modern Family went up today at Best Show’s You’re Not Watching. Check it out.
And don’t laugh. I’m dead serious. Well I am serious…but you can laugh.
I caught an episode of this on late night Sci-Fi (no, I’m not writing Syfy) recently and all I could think is ‘why the hell am I getting a shitty V remake? Why can’t I have a shitty Highlander remake instead?’
I had such a super sized crush on Duncan McCloud (and Adrian Brody ACK! Paul, ADRIAN PAUL…officially no more posts at 2am…thanks to reader David for the catch)*. Plus, the Highlander concept was so awesome I totally didn’t want to be an organ donor for (well, an embarassingly long time) because “WHAT IF I WAKE UP A HIGHLANDER AND SOMEONE HAS ALREADY HARVESTED MY DAMN EYES!?!?!?”
Anyway, let this serve as my official plea for a hot Highlander remake. I’m sure I’m not the first…the internet is vast and filled with fools like me. Also, the less said about Highlander: The Raven, the better. Amanda was always so annoyingly blech when she should have been made of 100% win.
*And don’t get on me about how the movies are better, or how dare I leave them out. Some embarrassed part of me loves the Highlander movies too (it lives just to the left and down of the part of me that loves the TV Series) but pound for pound Adrian was just way more sexy and interesting to me as Duncan than Christopher Lambert ever was as Connor .
Parker: The Hunter. Darwyn Cooke (Writer/Artist). Comic Books/Graphic Novels.
I have been salivating over this new Darwyn Cooke adaption of Richard Stark’s Parker for months, and finally, to “reward” myself for finishing my big novel revision, purchased it at Jim Hanley’s last week and then devoured it in one sitting – my preferred method – swallowing it whole – going back for second reads later.
It’s a beautiful book. I’m a huge fan of Cooke’s illustration/penciling work (see his many covers in my Top 100 list – including one in the Top 25), and this is no exception as it is picture perfect. Individual panels being matched in beauty by the overall pacing and muted color palette.
I have not read the original material, but I assume Cooke was fairly faithful, it certainly feels authentic. I think my main issue with the book, lies not in Cooke’s hands but in Stark’s hands (though I cannot be 100% sure without having read the original material) and that issue is primarily that I tend to have some drama with these kinds of noir/detective-y books. I love a good detective yarn, and who doesn’t love noir? But as a card carrying (and ranty) feminist, it’s easy for me to get my hackles up about the female portrayals in the traditional noir style. They’re always gorgeous femme fatales and bitches that would betray you for a nickle. And while I’m happy to read that character, I get a bit annoyed when that’s all there is. And in this particular story all we have are a betraying wife and a handful of hookers. Now I suppose it’s a given that Parker runs with a more criminal crowd, but it would be nice to see SLIGHTLY more variety there…and perhaps more importantly all the women here are portrayed pretty strongly as victims. So it’s even a step down from the ‘betraying femme fatale’ type, who though not exactly revolutionary, is at least a strong woman with a plan, whereas here we have more of the ‘worthless beautiful victim’ type. Boring. At least as drawn by Cooke they are stunningly beautiful images.
[SPOILERS}
The story sets up well with the badass master thief Parker penniless and looking it, but thumbing his nose up at offers of a ride. Once in the city he fakes an i.d. (much easier back in the day) and makes off with someone’s entire bank account. Well on the road to being all fixed up – clean (ish) and in a suit, he hunts down his old flame, that has betrayed him – ‘natch. Parker does away with her in an extra special way and moves on, following the trail to the man that set him up, betrayed him, stole from him, and got him sent to prison.
My one complaint in the story (other than the female characters issue) is that everything comes REALLY easy to Parker. I mean, I love that he’s the ultimate badass, but there’s very little tension in that there’s just no doubt in your mind that he’s going to get his man and come out the other side smelling like roses. He is perfection…well when perfection comes as revenge and badassitude. And because of that, because there is no weak link in his armor – perhaps his one weak link is his presumably now dead feeling for his wife – but since he offs her first it leaves him free of any weakness – there’s not a lot of surprise in how it all works out.
If I hadn’t been spellbound by Cooke’s artwork, and drawn panel to panel by the beautiful pacing, I think I would have noticed that the actual story was leaving me pretty cold. it’s a masterful feat for Cooke, which makes me appreciate him all the more, but regardless of the skill involved, I didn’t think of the book once after putting it down, there just wasn’t enough story to stay with me.
Ultimately it made for a beautiful but uneventful read.
4.0 Stars*
*on illustration alone I’d give it 4.5 stars easily, but for story, I’d give it a 3.0. I’m going to give Cooke’s illustration the upper hand and split the difference at 4.0
