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2009 Writers League of Texas Agents Conference
Alan J. Porter
Tony Salvaggio
Kit Frazier
Cars
Calling Manga Island
Psy-Comm
tankōbon
Prince Valiant Vol. I: 1937-1938
Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria
Roots of the Swamp Thing
Resurrection: The Insurgent Edition
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Recent Books of Interest
Prince Valiant Vol. I: 1937-1938 by Hal Foster (Fantagraphics)
The most influential adventure strip ever produced, Foster's gorgeous
Prince Valiant inspired generations of artists. While the Sunday-only
strip has been reprinted several times, this edition contains for the first time
images shot from Foster's own color engraver's proofs. Published at the strip's
original dimensions and complete with an introduction by Hal Foster biographer
Brian M. Kane and the insightful 1969 Hal Foster interview with Fred Schreiber,
the hardcover Prince Valiant Vol. I: 1937-1938 finally presents these
lush tales in a format worthy of the material.
Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria Written by Timothy Truman Art by Tomás Giorello and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)
After six excellent volumes, Truman, Giorello, and Corben return Conan to
his birthplace. Within Giorello's beautifully rendered stories, Truman and famed
underground comic artist Corben, creator of the mythical Den, explore the life
of Conan's grandfather Connacht. Complete with the appearance of Conan's
first love, a meeting with his mother, supernatural nasties, and lots of
bloody violence, the rollicking good adventure
of Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria offers a new addition to this well-chronicled life.
Roots of the Swamp Thing by Written by Len Wein Art by Bernie Wrightson and Nestor Redondo (DC)
The winner of many industry awards, the basis for Wes Craven's cult film,
and the original incarnation of the series that introduced Alan Moore to
American fans, Roots of the Swamp Thing collects for the first time in
hardcover the initial fourteen appearances of the legendary muck
monster. Printed on a non-glossy paper stock, this volume offers perhaps the
finest quality renditions of these oft-reprinted tales. As beautifully grotesque
as when they first appeared, these Wein and Wrightson stories remain some
of the best comic book horror stories.
Resurrection: The Insurgent Edition Written by Marc Guggenheim Art by David Dumeer and Douglas Dabbs (Oni)
Marc Guggenheim, creator of Eli Stone and the writer for
the forthcoming Green Lantern feature film, crafts an intelligent story
that attempts to answer the question of what happens after the alien invaders
leave? Though at times, artists Dumeer and Dabs hinder the excellent script with
less then stellar art, Guggenheim manages to weave an intriguing tale that hints at
government conspiracies, the aliens, and the fate of humanity. At $6 for 184
pages, this collection should entice even the most frugal of sf fan.
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Behind the Curtain
I recently attended my first Writers League of Texas Agents Conference. Unlike genre
conventions, this event focused completely on authors getting agents rather than
established writers promoting their wares. Nearly twenty agents presented and offered
critiques for the some 600 attendees. As with all these type of functions, the
Conference afforded panels with industry experts. For the panel Beyond the
Strip: Inside the World of Comics & Graphic Novels, I shared my stories from
the trenches along with fellow writers Alan J. Porter and Tony Salvaggio. Overseen
by crime novelist Kit Frazier, the three of us bantered about the inner workings
of comics for a dozen or so graphic novel neophytes.
The conversation began with the difference between comic books and graphic
novels. We unanimously agreed that essentially "graphic novel" is a snobby term for
comic books. Salvaggio summed it up well. "People wanted their own words. 'I do graphic
novels. I don't do that comic stuff.'" Alan further elucidated, "Graphic
novels and comic books are all sequential art at the end of the day. It's just a
question of the form. The difference between the 22 page floppy comic book like
that [he waves around the latest issue of the Porter-scripted Cars]
or [a graphic novel] tends to be a self contained story, usually a couple hundred
pages long." I contributed my bookseller's perspective. "In the 80s, when they
started collecting comics and creating original stories for bookstores, you couldn't
call them comic books, because they would stick them all in the kid's
section. Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, they re not kid's
comics. The only [comparable] thing coming out at the time was Maus,
which many don't like to call a comic book or a graphic novel since it won the
Pulitzer Prize. Clearly, it couldn't be a comic book."
Creator of the Calling Manga Island column and co-author of the
manga-styled Psy-Comm, Salvaggio explained the comic book life
cycle in Japan. "You have these really thick anthologies, sometimes called phone
book anthologies, printed on the cheapest newsprint possible. They're so cheap
that the ink runs off in your hands. They're meant to be disposable. The stories
that were really popular would get collected into what they call tankōbon format."
The lack of graphic novel knowledge afforded by the Conference's attendees was
far less than those of our usual haunts. This created some unusual aspects for
which to the three of us was a fairly commonplace topic.
A lot of questions centered on the nuts and bolts of comic book proposals and
script writing. "The great thing and the bad thing about the comic book industry
is there is not standard way of doing anything," revealed Porter. "Every
individual editor has their own way." On Cars, his editor makes
a decision based on only a paragraph summary. Then the editor will ask for a
more detailed breakdown of the four issues, usually only a page long with a
few paragraphs on each issue. Disney approves the story based on that one
page. Porter adds, "Other people are 'No, I have a very specific way I want
it. It can't be more than two pages. I need the character bios. I need an
overall plot synopses. I need a breakdown.'" He has sold several stories from
only a one line description. "Every editor is different. Everybody does their
scripts differently."
I threw in my two cents on the whole non-standard issue. "Unlike in books,
every contract is different. In books, it's fairly standard; a similar contract
among all the publishers. In comics, it's like they are all reinventing the
wheel every time."
Recently, Salvaggio encountered several publishers who want only a one-two
sentence tag line for the proposal. "For example, the elevator pitch of
Psy-Comm [is] Logan's Run meets Rollerball meets
X-men. You want what is unique about it, of course. One-two
sentences, but it's nice if you can get it in one. It's actually some of the
hardest writing I've ever done." I noticed that "comics are much more of a
media industry as opposed to publishing industry. It's closer to film on a
pitch than it is in books."
We broke down the assembly line method used for most American comic books,
the difference between screenplay and comic book scripts, and why in the
digital age, producing your own mini-comics is still important. Several
attendees thanked us for the panel and said it was the most helpful and
informative discussion they attended all weekend.
My first event in the Twitter-age, San Antonio writer
Shannon Morgan tweeted
live commentaries and excerpts from the panel. As an additional bonus, I recorded
and posted the entire
discussion online.
Copyright © 2009 Rick Klaw
Professional reviewer, geek maven, and optimistic curmudgeon, Rick Klaw has supplied
countless reviews, essays, and fiction for a variety of publications
including
The Austin Chronicle,
The San Antonio Current,
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Moving Pictures
RevolutionSF, King Kong Is Back!, Conversations
With Texas Writers, Farscape Forever, Electric Velocipede, Cross Plains
Universe, and Steampunk. MonkeyBrain Books published the collection of his essays, reviews,
and other things Klaw, Geek
Confidential: Echoes From the 21st Century.
He can often be found pontificating on Twitter
and over at The Geek Curmudgeon.
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