I wanted to play this cooler…. and act like this is just another review.
But it isn’t.
This is my first published review.
That is really cool.
And, the review is really good.
It points out some very valid areas for improvement and picks up on a lot of the stuff that I had hoped people would find.
Go read it yourself.
John Lees did a really thoughtful analysis of my book, so I read some of his other reviews. They are really good, too.

In fact, I am really liking the ComixTribe site.

I have been hard at work on issue #24 today.

Meanwhile, Jason has been putting together the final version of Kav’s #11.

I just sent it off to the printer.

I am pushing it, but with a little luck, it should arrive in time for MICE.

I recently interviewed comic book writer George O’Connor.

A short preview of his book Healed has just hit the web.

The book is about a world in which death by-natural-causes has simply stopped happening. It’s a cool idea and I’m really impressed with how well executed is. Take a look, even if you don’t normally read comics. You’ll enjoy it.

I met fellow Bostonian comic writer George O’Connor at his booth at the Boston Comic Con where he was selling his book Healed. We quickly determined that we had already “met” online at the comicsexperience web site. I was impressed with the quality of his work and asked him to talk a bit more about himself and his work.

Who are you?

Such a deep question so soon? My name’s George O’Connor and I’m a writer, producer, musician and copywriter from Boston.

What do you write?

Currently I write the comic book “Healed” which is illustrated by my friend and creative partner Griffin, and distributed by our indy press, Homeless Comics. I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of two anthologies put out by Elevator Pitch Press: Tales from the Comics Experience and Great Zombies in History.

In the past, I’ve spent 10 years writing, directing and producing short films and created the webseries “664-The Neighbor of the Beast”.

By day, I’m a mild-mannered copywriter for a Boston advertising agency.

Why do you write?

The simple answer; because it’s fun! The long answer; because I love the creative process and seeing ideas come to life. Getting into a room and working on a song with musicians, or on a set with actors, or working with an artist and seeing the germs of an idea grow and seeing it grow really gets me excited.

The other reason is that in this day and age, it’s so easy to get your ideas out there for people to find. From your basement, you can put your music or podcast up on iTunes, webseries on YouTube or your comic on Graphic.ly or Indy Planet and you can reach fans. I truly believe there is no better time for creators to get their ideas and art out into the world.

How do you write?

I’m a stew-er. I roll ideas around in my head all day, writing and working out scenes, lines and beats. Eventually, a little light goes on that says “It’s time to write.” Then I’ll head down to the basement, throw on some metal (Metallica’s “… And Justice For All” or Testament’s “The Ritual” are two go-to albums. I try to write the first draft as fast as possible, not dwelling on it too much, embracing the idea that the goal for the first draft is to be completed and that’s it. Once it’s written, I like to walk away from it, for a few hours or a day. In that downtime, I usually think of new lines or beats to work into the second round. After the 2nd version, I usually flip it to my wife to make sure the ideas I wanted to get on the page actually got there and make sense outside of my head. She’s also fantastic on grammar and punctuation. At that point, I feel comfortable with throwing it out to the world.

Healed is a great comic. It seems like a counterpoint to our culture’s current fascination with zombies. It could be sub-titled “Night of the Living Living”. Do zombie stories and Healed deal with similar social, cultutral, and psychological issues? Are they opposites or compliments?

Yeah, in a way it’s kind of like the anti-zombie book where instead of everyone dying, everyone lives but there’s still chaos all over the place. They’re both similar in that there’s a big event and everyone has to figure out how to survive in this new situation. One major difference is there’s no obvious enemy in HEALED’s world, so when it turns bad, it’s human against human. But they still both boil down to the same thing: survival.

Is this a personal story for you? Has your life been affected by terminal illnesses?

I count myself pretty lucky in that I haven’t been affected that much. But I’ve been surprised at how these stories have connected with people who have had to deal with these illnesses. If anything, it might be a testament that good stories don’t need to be complicated, they need to be honest.

If so, is this story in some way wish-fulfillment?

Without digging real deep into my head, I don’t think so. It was an idea that seemed really interesting and as Griffin and I talked about, it seemed like it had tons of possibilities. That being said, if I could live forever with reasonably good health, yeah I think I’d sign up for that.

You feature several stories showing many aspects of this new disease-free world. Surely these few issues

worth of stories do not represent every single story that occurred to you for this setting. How did you choose which stories to include? What do the ones that made the cut have in common?
As the series has gone on, we put more thought into the combination of stories. That helped put some structure to the books and the stories that we picked. Griffin and I sat down one evening to plot out the issues and that turned into a great “what if” conversation and that also helped us decide which stories we were really eager to tell and see come to life.

In your writing, what mistakes do you find yourself making again and again?

Great question. Technically, I’m terrible at spelling and grammar which is why I’m so thankful to have my wife editing the book because she has a great eye for that. I also worry that I’m way too verbose. It’s actually one of the reasons I enjoy lettering the book. It gives me one more chance to edit and sometimes it forces me to say knock a two bubble panel down to one without losing the purpose of the dialogue. Ya know, when I decided to get into comics, I took Comic Experience’s writing class online and it was absolutely worth it and would highly recommend those courses for anyone thinking about getting into comics.

What are you particularly good at?

One of the compliments I’ve received that I’m proud of is that my dialogue sounds like actual dialogue. Other than that, I think I’m good at driving projects across the finish line.

Making music and writing comics seem to be polar opposites. Writing a script is a solitary, heavily structured, activity which usually only goes through a collaborative stage when it passes through the vision of the artist. Music, on the other hand, is instant and very public. Regardless of much effort and attention to detail goes into the creation of the song, it still goes from the creator to the audience at the speed of sound. How are the creative processes similar and how do the influence each other?

At least the way my projects have worked, they feel similar. There are some songs and stories that come out fully baked and there are others that need someone else’s talent and input to reach its full potential. And I count myself very lucky that over the years to have talented friends willing to get involved in these goofy lil adventures of mine. And as I’ve grown older (read: more mature) I’ve embraced a way of working that leaves plenty of room for my collaborators to leave their mark. I don’t care who comes up with the good idea, so long as there’s a good idea. I also think, thanks to the technology, comics and music can get out to the world pretty quick.

What are you working on next, and where will you be appearing?

Griffin and I will be taking HEALED and our other work to Baltimore Comic Con, ComicCONN in Stamford, CT in August and then the Small Press Expo and Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo in September. Over the winter, we’ll get HEALED #5 ready for a spring debut. I’m also hoping we can find a publisher who’d be interested in putting out a HEALED trade. After that, I’d like to get a couple pitches together and throw ‘em against the wall and see if anything sticks.

Thanks a lot, George. I’ll see you at M.I.C.E.

At the Boston Comic Con a few months back, I happened to pick up a supervillain comic book call Breakneck. It was an interesting concept, and a lot of fun to read. I always like hearing form other people who write super-comics, so I sent the writer some questions and tried to pick his brains.

Who are you?

My name is Mark Bertolini, I’m a comic book creator and writer who once upon a time
wanted to be a comic book artist, before I realized I didn’t have the technical skill or
patience to illustrate comics. I’ve been writing comics for several years, and only recently
have begun to have any success at it. I’m also the father of two awesome boys who are
also big comic book fans, and, at ages 7 and 4, have an encyclopaedic knowledge of
superheroes and comic book characters.

What do you write?

I’m the creator and writer of the 215 Ink supervillain title Breakneck, which centers on
self-professed D-list villain Ethan Shade, who is (was) a member of the world’s most
dangerous group of super-criminals, the Cult of Intelligence. He’s constantly relegated to
the background, which is why he was the sole survivor of the supervillain genocide that
claimed the lives of every other villain on Earth.

I’m also the writer on a few other upcoming titles. I have a 4-issue sci-fi/noir miniseries
called Ghost Lines that’s going to be published by Creator’s Edge Press, and the
4-issue apocalyptic end-of-the-world miniseries Long Gone, to be published by
Markosia Entertainment. There are also a number of projects in the works with various
exceptionally talented artists that I hope to unleash upon the comic world in the next year.

Why do you write?

Because if I didn’t, my head would explode. Seriously, though, I write because I have a
need to get all these stories out of my head. I’m constantly coming up with new ideas,
and these ideas mingle in with other ideas and suddenly I have the basis for another
project. I tend to write limited series, things with a definitive ending to them. I also write
comics that I, as a life-long comic fan, would want to read. I think there are certain gaps
in the comic industry right now that I try to fill with my projects. Whether that gap truly
exists or not is another matter altogether, but I still try and write things that excite me,
things that I would love to read.

How do you write?

One word at a time. Again, in all seriousness, I take the act of comic script writing very
seriously. Before I put a single word down in a script, I will have, at the very least, the
full issue plotted. I used to have to draw out 22 little pages and draw in what happened
in each panel, and then translate that into a script, but with practice, I can now hold most
of that in my head, so the plot starts at point A and finished at point Z and I fill in what
happens in the middle. I do a lot of my script writing at work (don’t tell my boss), and
once a script is finished, it gets filed away for a minimum of two weeks. After that two
week period, I will take it out again and read it, and make any adjustments I feel are
necessary. I’m also lucky enough that most of the time, I’m writing a script for an artist,
and I can gear the way I write to the artist. Parts of my scripts might look like an ongoing
conversation with the artist.

One of the main things I try and do, since a lot of my projects are finite, is to know
exactly where and when the story will finished, and work backwards from it. The last
thing I want is to get to page 22 and then run out of space to finish the script.

Now that you no longer draw thumbnails for your pages, do you feel the impulse to
rigidly control what the artist does? Has it been hard for you to learn to just trust artists
to do what they do?

I think, when I used to create the thumbnails for the scripts I wrote, I was probably
way too anal about how I wanted certain things to look, and I know that can be very
frustrating and restricting to an artist. Part of my love of creating comics is that feeling
of collaboration, and with me just directing traffic for an artist, it probably takes away
some of the enthusiasm they have for the material. I generally encourage feedback on the
scripts, if there is a different or better way to approach a certain scene then I’m all for it.
One of the artists I work with, Jerome Eyquem, is a big fan of many panels on a page. I
usually write for no more than 6 panels per page, but Jerome will take that and turn it into
a 9-panel page without disrupting the flow or the momentum of the page, and it always
astounds me how much better it looks with the increased panel count. It lets me add more
dialogue as well, and I’m a big fan of my own dialogue.

In what specific ways to gear your writing for a particular artist?

It really depends on the artist, and what their strengths are. With Ted Pogorzelski, the
artist on Long Gone, I try to put in a lot of detail into each panel description, because Ted
is like the second coming of Frank Quitely, his attention to detail is insane. The smallest
thing in the panel description will find it’s way onto his page. With Breakneck’s James
Boulton, I know he’s going to hit me with big, stylized images, so I make sure there are
lots of opportunities for these big, powerful shots. Also, James seems to really enjoy
architecture, so there’s lots of buildings and design work that I add in. With my Ghost
Lines collaborator, Carl Yonder, I usually try to find a balance of light and shadow, and
base scenes for him to illustrate with lots of both. Carl’s a genius at showing the passage
of time, and it’s a trick I work into a lot of our work together.

What format do you generally use, and when formatting do you primarily consider what
suits your writing style best, or what will be easiest for any given artist to turn in to
pages?

I studied a lot of comic book scripts, and took bits from a few that worked for me. I
don’t think my scripting style would work for another writer, I really don’t know. I just
eventually developed a style that was comfortable for me to write in, and it seems to do
the trick for most artists I work with. I haven’t heard any complaints, at least!

I have been pretty impressed with Breakneck. It is the story of a supervillain who finds
himself out on his own in a world dominated by big-name superheroes. As an indie
superhero writer, you are also a man out on your own is a world dominated by big-name
superheroes. How much of your experience of creating this book has found its way onto
the page? How much does his struggle to just do his own thing in that world reflect your
struggle to do the same?

I like that analogy, but to be honest, it never occurred to me that Shade’s struggles would
reflect my own. I know superhero comics sometimes get looked down on, which I think is
a shame, because for most readers, I bet a superhero comic was the first comic they read.
Whether that’s a good or bad thing, I don’t know, and it’s probably a statement on the
industry as a whole, but I love superhero comics, and I just wanted to create my own. I
don’t think that I’m competing in any way with any of the big books. I basically make
fun of the majority of the mainstream superhero books. If you read a cross-section of
my work, you might think that I hate superheroes, but nothing could be farther from the
truth. I just enjoy superhero comics that have a little more meat to them. Warren Ellis’s
original run on the Authority was probably the biggest influence on me in terms of telling
a superhero story. And I’m glad you’re enjoying Breakneck, be sure to stay tuned, there’s
some big things coming!

“Indie” usually means “anything goes”. Indie book can be, and are, about anything
under the sun. There is, however, a perception that the indie community turns up its
collective nose at superhero comics. If indie comics are the marginalized minority in
the world of comics, then the superhero indie is doubly marginalized. How have you
experienced this in your relationship with the greater comics community?

Personally, not really. There’s been a lot of love for Breakneck in the indie comics
community, both from readers and my peers. And while I’m always happy that comic
book readers are enjoying the book, when a peer, a fellow comic creator tells me
they’ve enjoyed it, I’m ecstatic. I think right now there is such a fantastic indie comics
community, some incredible work is being done, and for me to be a part of that in any
way, shape or form is amazing. I’m a fan of so many indie creators right now, and to
have them tell me they enjoy my work is a little surreal.

I think “indie” comics are sometimes badly stereotyped as low-budget, crappy, badly
illustrated comics that are Xeroxed and half-assed, which couldn’t be farther from the
truth. There is such depth and dedication to the medium in the indie community. I think
one of the best recent examples if FUBAR. When you look at the creators involved
in that project, it’s the cream of the crop of the small press, independent talent. Being
invited to write a story for FUBAR volume 2 was a highlight of my fledgling comics
career, but just to be in the same book as guys like Jeff McComsey and Stephen Lindsay
is a thrill.

I know that I am largely talking about stereotypes, which are usually not very accurate,
but how would you characterize the indie world’s reception of superhero work. Where
does it sit on a scale from “we are all brothers making comics, regardless of the content
or genre” to “we make indie comics, You make wannabe mainstream comics”?

I think with indie comics, the thought is “I can do anything I want with comics, so why
would I want to do superheroes?” And that makes a lot of sense. If you don’t want to re-
hash stories that have been around for 60 years, you can create something completely
off -the-wall and unique. But I believe you can still do the same within the superhero
genre, and I strive to put that uniqueness into my work. I unabashedly love superheroes,
I will never deny it. I grew up reading superhero comics. I still do to this day. But I can
understand the notion that, if I can create anything I want, why do superheroes? I’ve
wanted to create superhero comics for my entire life, so Breakneck breaking through was
literally one of my biggest life goals. And the idea of indie creators as brothers-in-arms is
absolutely true, regardless of the type of work you create. There’s so much support and
encouragement in the indie community right now. It was probably always there, but I’ve
only been a part of it for a little while.

Have you been surprised by how warmly or coldly your work has been received by non-
superhero creators? Are there any specific instances that have stuck with you?

Nothing makes me realize how fortunate I am that my work is being read as when
a fellow comics creator tells me they enjoy Breakneck. A lot of the support that
Breakneck has received so far has come from the small press community (which has been
dubbed “the Small Press Commandos”), as we all tend to circulate our work to each
other for help and guidance. I don’t think I’ve had anyone tell me they didn’t enjoy it. Of
course, there are certain parts that I’ve been taken to task over, but for the most part, the
book’s reception has been very encouraging.

One of the biggest things that stands out to me was when I approached Stephen Lindsay,
the creator of Jesus Hates Zombies, to write the introduction for the upcoming Breakneck
trade paperback. I gave him about fifty outs, just in case, but his response was “it would
be an honor.” That’s something that sticks with me. Stephen has no reason to give me an
ego-stroke, but he genuinely wanted to contribute in some way.

What things to do you see in other “indie” superhero comics that make you roll your eyes? Or, what do other indie superhero creators do that might give books like yours a bad reputation?

I think, with superhero comics, just about every possible scenario has been tackled. The
job is to take those scenarios, those archetypes, and turn them on their head. There’s
nothing wrong at all with doing superhero comics straight up, with a hero fighting a
villain. That’s the basis for hundreds of comics every month, but I like to take those
generic ideas and spin them 180 degrees and approach them from another direction. Plus,
there are so many clichéd, classic comic book moments that are just begging to be made
fun of. One of my favorites is in the opening pages of Breakneck issue 5. I took two
classic comic book scenes, and smashed them together (literally). I hope people like it as
much as I did when I wrote it.

What mistakes do you find yourself making again and again?

I’m a big fan of dialogue, so I try to avoid pages and pages of non-stop hero/villain
fighting. I’d rather have a couple pages of Ethan Shade getting his ass kicked, and then
take the next ten pages to have him complain about it, bitterly, over and over. That
may not interest everyone, but I love some good complaining, and Shade is the perfect
character for it. I don’t like things to stagnate, so I try and throw something new into each
issue. Even though the full series has been plotted fairly tightly, there’s always room for
something else to be thrown in the mix.

What do you think that you do particularly well?

I think I write a pretty good cliffhanger, if I do say so myself. I studied the art (and it
is definitely an art) of the cliffhanger in Brian K Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man and Ex
Machina. Vaughan is a master of the compelling cliffhanger, and I always strive to leave
the reader wanting more, wanting to know what is going to happen next.

And not necessarily in terms of the actual writing, but I think I’m a pretty good judge
of artists. I’m extremely fortunate to be working with some incredibly talented creators,
guys who I think will be stars in the industry in the next 5 to 10 years, if not sooner. In
almost every case, I’m more excited for the exposure the artist will get than for myself.
If I can do one thing in the comic book industry, it will be introducing people to these
artists.

I enjoy the Breakneck universe, will there be more comics set there?

Probably. The current series is set to finish as of issue 10, but based on how things go
once we reach that tenth issue, I’ll have to re-evaluate where it goes from there. I think
there’s a lot of stories to be told in the Breakneck universe. A dream of mine would be
to put together an anthology of other creators, writers and artists, creating their own
Breakneck stories.

We do have a Breakneck anthology coming out at New York Comic Con, with three
short stories written by me, with three different artists illustrating them. These stories
focus on some of the other characters in Breakneck, and I’m very much looking forward
to that, but having other writers tackle a Breakneck story would be fantastic.

What is up next for you?

I have a short story in FUBAR volume 2, and the NYCC Breakneck exclusive. I have
several other projects in the works as well. My post-apocalyptic survival story Long
Gone is nearing completion. I have a pair of short stories approved for the 215 Ink
anthology (and I’m hoping to score a hat trick with a third story soon). I have another
superhero series called Antihero that I hope will see a release before the end of the year,
and a sci-fi/crime story called Knowledge that we’re anticipating will be a 100-page
graphic novel. And one of the newest projects I’m working on is called Broken, and it
will be an 80-page graphic novel. Broken is my twisted take on the origin of Batman, and
how that traumatic experience early in life could have warped a young man, and taken a
much darker (yes, darker than Batman already is) path.

The script for the twenty-second issue of my superhero comic book, Rapid City, has now been posted.

This issue is the second part of story in the style of Crime Noir. Villains brought together to steal a powerful artifact face the lives they have chosen as they await the final heist preparations. Coil pulls Kinetic’s strings to push him into action, but for what purpose?

Panel 1. Kinetic over Coil and shouting down at him.

KINETIC
You don’t ask about her. After what you did, you don’t even get to say her name.

COIL
I did….

Panel 2. Close on Coil looking up at Kinetic. He is slightly sneering.

COIL
I did what I had to do.

Panel 3. Coil starting to stand, Kinetic still over him.

KINETIC
You set her up. Attacked her. You tortured her. That’s what you had to do?

COIL
They would have killed her.

Read and discuss this issue of Rapid City, plus all of the previous issues, for free here.

In this interview series I talk with writers about writing.
This week, I am talking with Champion City Comics honcho and writer, and my mid-west homeboy, Tony Doug Wright.

Josh: Who are you?

Tony: I am a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a friend. I am an archivist, a writer, an instructor of history, and the founder of a webcomics community. I am addicted to caffeine and sugar, I am a fan of football, I am a semi-decent golfer, I am a fan of pop culture, I am a guitar player, I am a fan of literature, I am a daydreamer, I am a silly Midwesterner, and I am a lost soul of rock and roll.

Josh: What do you write?

Tony: Since 2009, I have written nine stories for Champion City Comics and have three more that are in development. Those stories range from crime noir to war tales to humor to sci-fi to superhero tales. There are three novels I have started on, but I find it impossible to dedicate enough time to those projects. All of the stories I write have some sort of connection to my upbringing in Springfield, Ohio or to my adult life living in the Dayton, Ohio and Kalamazoo, Michigan metro areas. I prefer to set my stories in the mythological cities of New Ravenwood, Ohio and Grand Harbor, Michigan. Since I was born and raised in the Midwest, then I feel my stories should be set there as well.

Josh: Why do you write?

Tony: Because I enjoy sharing stories with people.

Josh: How do you write?

There is no structure or reason behind my writing method. Some say to map out your story and that is something that does not appeal to me as a writer. I’ve tried it before, but I ended up discarding my story “road map”. There are a bunch of stories playing out in my head and I know how they begin and end. The middle is complete improv.

Josh: It is interesting to me that you use fictional stand-ins for real cities. I do the same thing. Rapid City is a stand-in for….strangely enough….Kalamazoo, MI. Why? Why don’t we just use the real places?

Tony: Kalamazoo and Springfield are cool cities, but they do not work for certain stories. For example, a superhero tale works best in a fictional city like New Ravenwood, Ohio, which is nothing more than Gotham or Metropolis in the Midwest. New Ravenwood is like a blank canvas for me because I can develop streets, parks, districts, and other locations which fit the story. Kalamazoo and Springfield can work for stories that are dramas or comedies rather than a superhero tale. But for those tales, I create a smaller version of New Ravenwood so that I can still have that blank canvas. When you use a real city then you are somewhat required to stay true to the city and not invent new locations, etc. Readers, in my opinion, would be disappointed if I created an alternate Kalamazoo.

Josh: What is it about the midwest? The rest of the country tends to over-look this region, but we are drawn to it. Are there stories that can happen there that could not happen anywhere else? Is it the geography? The people? The history?

Tony: Write what you know is my philosophy. I’ve lived my whole life in the Midwest and my stories are based on my experiences in Ohio and Michigan. In my opinion, the Midwest is viewed as some culture-less void in the Hee Haw universe. I see it as an area rich in creativity, plus there is something fascinating and unusual about an area where the rust-belt cities and the farming communities lay side by side. The End of Paradise, a webcomic I wrote for Champion City Comics, is a great example. That story is set in New Ravenwood, Ohio, a crime ridden metropolis, and the main character must travel the country back-roads of Ohio to hunt down some criminals in hiding. Could this story be set in Maine or Arizona? Yes, but I am not familiar with Maine or Arizona. I know Ohio and Michigan, so that makes the writing process easier. I know those country back-roads and the mysteries they hold. As far as characters are concerned, I want them to be Midwesterners. Growing up in Southwest Ohio, I encountered some of the most interesting people to walk God’s green earth. That part of the state is close to Kentucky, so we have this hillbilly blue collar culture that really inspires me as a writer. It’s hard to explain. You have to experience Ohio. You have to have that period in your life where you want out of Ohio and then you have that period in your life where you long to return to Ohio.

Josh: You cover a lot of genres in your work. What stays the same through all of these stories?

Tony: For me, it is all about history. It is not easy to explain, but drive down a street and pick out a building at random. Think about that building. Who built it and who worked or lived in that building? Every person has a story. There is a history and it is usually forgotten. I am developing a story about the last days of a video game arcade at a mall and how a group of video game playing misfits decide to hold one last hurrah to see who the best player is for certain games. It is the equivalent to the last days of Rome. You know the end is coming but you do not want to open the gates and let in the barbarians.

Josh: How do you organize your scripts? Do you follow a pre-existing format, or have you created your own?

Tony: I use the basic script format.

Josh: As a writer, what are you best at?

Tony: I would have people that work with me or read my work answer that question.

Josh: I think that you were involved in the onliine comics community for a while before you began producing your own comics. What happened? What changed that made that day the day you start making comics?

Tony: It was 2000 when I started reviewing independent music for a site called Erasing Clouds () and after a few years of music reviews, I asked the editor if I could review comic books and graphic novels. He said yes, I named my column Champion City Comics, and I had the chance to review comics from the majors and from smaller companies. I was amazed when the smaller companies sent me comics for review. One company, Candle Light Press, sent me book after book for review. Those guys are amazing. Their comics are unusual in a good way. Then there were some other publishers that were not so amazing. If they could get something published then I could do the same, but better. I told my wife that I was going to write a comic book and she said it was a great idea. She does not candy coat anything, so her words of encouragement were important. I started developing story ideas during the fall of 2004, and recruited my cousin, Joe Haemmerle, as my artist. From 2005 to 2007, I worked on the script that would become The Champion City Fire. I have no idea how many times I re-wrote the script. It was during that time that I wrote reviews and conducted some interviews for Silver Bullet Comics, which is now Comics Bulletin. I soon discovered that there were countless people developing their own comics because the majors were not accepting new talent. The cost for printing my own comic was not economically feasible, so I decided to submit to any publisher that would review my work. Only one, href=”http://www.topshelfcomix.com/”>Top Shelf Productions, responded to my submission. Top Shelf liked what we did, but it was something that did not fit their style which I understand and respect. By the summer of 2009, I had grown tired of playing the submission wait and see game. I had to get The Champion City Fire to the masses. Other creators were publishing their work online so I decided to do the same. There were websites that told you the rules and I decided, “I’ll do it my way”. Champion City Comics was launched during the month of October 2009 with one title and twenty or thirty page views. Currently, we have ten titles and something like twenty-three people from all over the world on our webcomics creative team. We had nine thousand page views during the month of June 2011, which was fantastic.

Thanks a lot, Tony.

Be sure to check out all of the great work that Tony is tirelessly and thanklessly cranking out over at Champion City. Including, strangely, Rapid City.

An exciting thing happened this afternoon.
I got an email about a new one-page G.I.Joe comic that was posted through a fan-project called “G.I.Joe: Battlespace”

The guys that put it together, Choose Wisely Productions, did the same thing for Transformers a few years ago. The basic idea is that these universes are rich enough that there are endless stories to be told. And telling them is fun. No money is being made. No claim is made on ownership of the stories or characters or anything like that. Just having fun with characters we like.

The comic that came out today was the second one they have published and it is the one that I wrote.

It is a bit of an experiment and I am quite proud of it.

But it is more important than that. This is my first published comic book which I had almost nothing to do with. I didn’t produce, publish, or promote it. I have never even spoken to the artists! All I did was write the script and send it out.

That is the first time I have done that, and I am pretty excited about it.

Here it is.

The script for the twenty-first issue of my superhero comic book, Rapid City, has now been posted.

This issue is the first part of story in the style of Crime Noir. Watch the lives of super-villains come together and come apart in Rapid City’s grimy under-belly.

Panel 5. Mostly focused on COIL and PILEDRIVER.

COIL
You know the plan. We need you in there.

PILEDRIVER
Yeah? And who are you? I don’t remember you when we were setting this up.

PAGE 17

Panel 1. Mostly COIL and PILEDRIVER again.

COIL
I’m the guy that’s getting the band back together.

PILEDRIVER
Then I’m the guy’s moved on with his life.

Panel 2. COIL looking around, indicating the meager surroundings. Smirking.

COIL
Yeah. Looks like it.

PILEDRIVER
Screw you, man. You don’t know me.

COIL
It’s been a few days since the job up-ended, right? So whatta you been doing? Sending out applications? Working on your resume? Monster dot com?

Read and discuss this issue of Rapid City, plus all of the previous issues, for free here.

The script for the nineteenth issue of my superhero comic book, Rapid City, has now been posted.

SWITCHBOARD

Just keep your eyes open, ok?

VECTOR

For monster tracks?

KINETIC

It’s not a monster, ok? It’s a gorilla. Can we stop making this into more than it is?

Panel 4. Desperado turning to face Kinetic. Not quite “in his face” but certainly confrontational.

DESPERADO

Hey, you get face to face with one of these hairy bastards….

DESPERADO

you look him right in the eyes….

DESPERADO

and then you tell me there’s a difference between a monster and a gorilla.

Panel 5. Kinetic pausing on the embankment, stunned, as Desperado walks away to catch up with the other two.

Panel 6. Switchboard looking at Desperado, surprised. Kinetic is coming up behind them.

SWITCHBOARD

Have you fought a gorilla?

Read and discuss this issue of Rapid City, plus all of the previous issues, for free here.