Ten Years Back

Andrew Sullivan's writing on how he came to be so wrong about Iraq War 10 years ago is amazing stuff. A model for how we should examine ourselves.

Ten years ago, I knew Bush was intent on the Iraq invasion. We had a sign up opposing the war until the day it started. I was just hoping it would be over quickly, with minimal loss of life. I knew the US wouldn't accept defeat. We would "win", even if it meant Iraq was wiped off the map. Thus, while my right-wing friends saw me as not supporting the troops, I was supporting them completely. 

Of course, it didn't end quickly or well. Cheney and company turned 9-11 into a greater victory for bin Laden than the attacks alone ever could have, and so many died needlessly, on both sides. 

I carried so much anger about all this stuff for so long. Most of all, I was angry at my liberal friends who said "it doesn't matter" as they pulled the lever for Nader. Back to Sullivan, he's been talking about that mentality this week. He felt the same... wanting Gore to lose because he saw no leadership there. We all know better now, I hope.

End of rant. I'm thankful every morning that I wake up with Barack Obama as the leader of the country I felt so alienated from ten years back.

Giordano on Getting it Done

I was talking about inking and my inking hero, Dick Giordano, this morning.

One more thing about Giordano. A possibly apocryphal story-

Dick's suggestion for curing slowness as an inker went something like this: Divide a page into tiers of horizontal panels. Usually there are 3 or 4 on a page. Decide how much time each tier should take. In Dick's case, he figured each tier should take him about an hour. So, he set a timer for an hour and got to work.

Dick would watch the timer as he inked. If it looked like he wasn’t going to make it, Dick would start spotting more blacks. Whatever it took, Dick would finish that tier in the hour and move on. He said, in his experience, the pages where he had to spot more blacks were usually better.

I know some will scream that Dick was saying you should hack it out. I think he was dispensing practical advice. Whether he ever actually did that hour per tier and black it out trick, the story gets at something very important to young artists: the work can't be too precious.

Get it done. Make it bold. Make it readable.

The inker's main job is the same as every other job in the making of a comic: tell the story. It's not about making perfect, precious lines. It's about telling a story clearly and efficiently. Be a storyteller! 

Dressing for the Hat

This came up at one of my regular online hangouts the other day. To what extent does one try to match your hat to the rest of your outfit, or even vice versa?

I do try to match my outfits, but I also keep it simple. I try to break things down to either earthy tones (browns, greens, silverbelly, etc.) or grey tones (including blacks). That's about it. Sometimes it starts with the shirt. Sometimes the pants. Sometimes I just really want to wear a certain hat, and it goes from there.

I've gone so far now as to have two different watches (one silver and one gold/brown) and different overcoats (one brown and one black. I've also been buying dress shoes in both palettes. In fact, I've been on something of a used shoe-buying binge. I kind of fell in love with Allen Edmonds shoes when I stopped into their store in Chicago. I can't afford to drop $300 or more on a new pair, but I have been able to find some deals on eBay. The sizing is challenging, but I've had decent luck. I wear custom orthotics, and I have them in various thicknesses, so I can kind of fit a shoe to my foot, based on the orthotic I insert. The orthotic is also nice because it gives me a buffer between my foot and the used insole.

With the influx of nice shoes, I often find myself leaving the house in a very nice, vintage fedora and a pair of very nice, pre-owned shoes. What's in between isn't very fancy, but I figure the extremities earn me some slack there.

Back to work. More poor-writer fashion advice another day.

Anj

My Current Process, In Five Steps

I get asked from time to time how I go about tackling a monthly comic book script. I wrote down the steps I currently go through the other day for a friend, so I figured I'd share here. This is just the way I do it... this month. It changes from time to time. One is always hoping there's some magic formula that will make it easier... better. For now, this seems to work for me, except for the times when it doesn't.

Best,

Anj

Step One- I make tons of notes on what the issue is about, what the arc is about (if there is one) and what happens. These are sometimes hand-written. Sometimes not. This assumes I have already handed in some kind of outline for the arc I'm working on. That outline is sometimes quite brief. On occasion, it's not much more than a paragraph's worth of solicitation copy.

Step Two- I build a 22 page document and write a paragraph at the top of each page. Just saying what's going to happen page by page. This lets me know how the pacing is working out. I try to be very mindful to keep things loose… I don't want seven panels on every page. I also don't want four. I try to keep it at a five panel norm, with a few big shots or splashes thrown in.

Step Three- I go through the script and write dialogue. I can already see what's going to happen on each page. Now I start to build the conversations and narrations. I try to make this pass good, but not too good. I will have another shot at this. A couple of shots, in fact.

Step Four- I go through again, writing the art direction now. At this point, I break the action (and the dialogue I've just written) into panels. I write everything I think the artist may need to know. I also read and tweak the dialogue again.

Step Five- A final pass. I re-work dialogue, format things properly, bold words for emphasis, get rid of my notes at the top of each page, count the pages to make sure I haven't gone over or under, etc. One last chance to make it as good as I can. 

For Jenne and Ginny

My sister asked me to do a reading as part of her wedding ceremony last weekend. I was honored, and I wanted to write something special for Jenne and her beautiful bride, Ginny. Here's what I came up with.

Like water, love is necessary for life

Man and nature may build impediments

Dams, walls and levees, real and imagined

But if the source is strong

There is no keeping love at bay

Eventually, it will find a way through any barrier

Love, like water, can carve swaths through soil and rock

Through limestone, marble and granite

It can turn the most sterile, flat ground into rapids

Into a river that roils and rages

That feeds life, green and lush in the valley

As long as some small source lies perfect and safe

In the mountains above

Staring into the crystal clear pool on a hot day can only satisfy so much

To feel love's power you have to dive in

Even though you may not be sure just how to keep your head above water

It takes experience

It takes accepting the possibility of failure

It takes someone willing to take a risk

Willing to whisper three words in your ear just as you think you may go under

Three words, and suddenly, impossibly, you find you can stand

In the deep end of the pool

Water flows from the ground

It falls from the sky

And when it falls, trying to avoid the drops

Is as futile as trying to deny a love that is pure

No person, no law, no force of nature can long constrain the power of love

How beautiful it is that we come together to celebrate something as basic

Something as perfect

Something as completely necessary for life

As love