FLIGHT

Azad I just read your FLIGHT story and I’m not sure what to say beyond “wow”. The story is amazing and I’ve never seen your art like this, what was the culmination of this story? It seems in part inspired by the New Orleans flooding though I’m unsure if the timing matches up with when you originally began this story.

The timing with the New Orleans flood was totally coincidental. I was actually in the middle of coloring the entire flooding sequence when Katrina hit. I remember specifically drawing the panel with people standing on their roofs with "Help Us" signs, and then turning my head and seeing the EXACT image on from a TV helicopter on the TV in my studio. It spooked me.

A lot of the FLIGHT contributions fall into a storybook quality, as does yours, but it also feels like there’s something more to it. Perhaps a story told to you by a relative as a child, or maybe something more recent?

People underestimate children in the publsihing industry. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Too often, the entertainment manufactured for then is sanitized and dumbed down to protect them, be it Edited Loony Toons cartoons, or rounded book corners.

When I wrote my story, I wanted to write a chldren's story in the spirit Oscar Wilde wrote "The Happy Prince" and Edward Gorey's "The Gashleycrumb Tinies". They make you laugh, they make you cry. they run the gammut of emotions, and I think that's healthy.


As a creator who isn’t dependant on comics work to survive, you’re able to choose which projects you take on. How do you manage the time between work and creating stories for yourself?

It's tough. I have a thousand stories I want to tell. I have Lord of the Ring sized epics to tell! The reality is, I probably wont get to publish all the stories I want to. I don't currently have enough free time to do so.

My goal is to be doing comics full time, so I have to make every attempt at grabbing the brass ring count. Flight was a no brainer. Total creative freedom and an amazing platform surrounded by a talent roster unrivaled in this industry.

Heck, I'm afraid its all downhill from here for me


Sammy, remains your most recognizable creation. Could you tell us a little about Sammy and how that character got started? I was really impressed when I saw you bring in the FLQ to one of your Sammy stories.

Sammy is the guy all the crappy things in life happen to. Murphy's Law personified. He's the guy in the urban legend that gets his kidneys stolen. He's the guy in folklore that is tricked by the devil. He's all of us on our worst hair day. And I hope he lives again soon.

He was actually an old character I created for a farsical comic about an bumbling thief. I had done a mini comic back in grade 11 of his misadventures, but didn't return to the project until 1999. The industry was in a rut and for the first time in my adult life, I wasn;t collecting comics. I complained and griped, but in the end I decided to put up or shut up and do a book *I* wanted to read. So, I got to work, and the mini series Sammy: Tourist Trap was the result.

The FLQ thing (for those that don't know, its the acronym for a Quebec seperatist organization that terrorized Quebec back a million years ago. Sammy's closest confidant and priest is an ex-member) was a story device. Sammy was stuck in a funk. Having the priest admit to Sammy he was in the FLQ was his way of showing him that people change. things change. The sun will rise tomorrow. In hindsight, it may have been a little too region specific, but I tend to write for an audience of one anyway, to my detriment I suspect.

Currently you’re working on a mini-compilation to debut at San Diego, will this be a Sammy related project or more personal works?

I have a couple of Sammy webcomics and pinups I'll be compiling for the con. They all stand on thier own. A little intro inot the character. A Very Sammy Valentine will be in there, which I think is my favorite short story I've done for him.

How would you compare doing a story on your own to that off working with another writer? With your future projects do you have a preference to your role? For instance, writing for another artist?

Writing and drawing a project myself is where I feel I get teh most satisfaction. Translating something that's in my head to paper is a tough thing to do, so when it turns out right, it's like winning the lottery every time. It's wonderful.

On the flipside, I look forward to working with other artists. I wrote a short story for Penny Farthing Press last year for the Decoy anthology "Menagerie", which I found very enjoyable. It was a cool experience having someone else handle the art chores for once, and I think that's a role I'd be very comfortable with.... provided that the artist and I are in sync and the work produced is good.

I briefly worked with B.Clay Moore on a project called Clean Living which is sort of in a holding pattern right now. But, working with him was great. Again, provided I like the work that's being submitted to me is good, I would be happy drawing someoen elses written work.

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FOLLOWUP: So Nodo’s ‘love interest’ has ground in real life as well?

Oh yeah, totally. Flora is a key character in the story. However, I intentionally made her and Nodo's relationship ambiguous. I want her to potentially represent platonic friendship as well as love. There isn't any sort of big "FLORA! I LOVE YOU!" declaration in the story, so that if you want she can represent a good friend. But for me, she definitely represents my 'love interest,' the lovely and talented Michele Chidester, so that can probably be seen in the subtext. She's a huge part of my life, and so, in my mind, she has become "home" for me, not to give anything away, ha ha...

FOLLOWUP: Currently you’re look for a publisher for THE RIDE HOME correct? What steps have you taken to marketing your work?

Yes, that is correct. I actually, just finished inking the final pages recently, and still haven't got a publisher. Anybody want it??

Ha ha, seriously though, when I had about two thirds of it complete, I finished the pencils and made several mock-up copies that I've sent to various publishers. You can see what the mock ups are at my livejournal here: http://joeyweiser.livejournal.com/33837.html if you're interested. Michele & I bound them ourselves. They look super-spiffy.

I wanted the publishers to be able to read the whole story, because I think that it speaks better for itself than any sort of pitch I could have put together. I contacted the publishers and mailed many of them out with cover letters and all that. Also, SCAD had it's yearly "Editors Day" event where editors from several different companies visit and give portfolio reviews. I had graduated from SCAD, but I still went and gave copies to a few of the editors in person. The feedback I'm getting has been positive, but I have recieved some "no thank you"s, some "maybe"s, and I'm still waiting to hear back from a few others. It's a tricky thing, but I'm not getting to hung up about it. In a few months I'll have a better idea of how that's going, and if I'm going to pursue the Xeric, which is another option....

Before that, of course, I created the website, which I consider marketing it as much as sending copies to folks around the country is. I definitely contacted publishers when I started the website, and hit the message boards any time the site reaches a new chapter. In fact the site is approaching the final chapter in just a few weeks (might even be there by the time this interview is up), so I'll definitely be making some big announcements soon.

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Visit the Tragic Planet!

Hmm, I thought you could. Oh, it may be just this forum where you don't have that option. I'll see if I can fix that...

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thanks Michel, with the bird image as an example, aside from the stray hairs and some blurs, the detail really does evoke a photo realism, as do the other images which is really quite impressive and speaks well to your technique

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Jonathan Ellis
Co-Editor in Chief - PopImage.com

thanks Azad - here's some follow-ups:



FOLLOWUP: Have you tried showing this story to a younger reader yet to gauge their interest? It really was quite a profound contribution to the anthology.



FOLLOWUP: Do you feel sometimes there’s a commercial side of the creator in you fighting to the surface? A part of you going “I know! Vampire monkey ninjas! It’s perfect!”.

FOLLOWUP: Wanting to work in comics fulltime, do you have any interest working for one of the big two or perhaps a company like Delacourt or Soleil?




FOLLOWUP: I had a teacher who was part of the guard called to police the streets during the FLQ attacks, at the time it was unlike anything anyone had experienced and was scary as hell. I thought it was a great inclusion, particularly for those unfamiliar. It never hurts to learn something from a good story. Did you apply for the Canadian graphic novel grant?

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Jonathan Ellis
Co-Editor in Chief - PopImage.com

thanks for your answers Joey

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Jonathan Ellis
Co-Editor in Chief - PopImage.com

thanks Michel, with the bird image as an example, aside from the stray hairs and some blurs, the detail really does evoke a photo realism, as do the other images which is really quite impressive and speaks well to your technique.

MG: It's all a big bag of tricks really. If you sat next to me and knew all my tricks, you'd realize how much of a cheat I am. I have a lot of respect for people who can paint that stuff in oil or acrylic. Now that's skills. But then again, I have to produce 5 or more of these images a week, so I need to use all the tricks and shortcuts I can find.

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Yeah, I think children definitely have a stronger sense of curiosity about things, and less of an awareness of the right and wrong of them. I suppose as we get older, we look at this kind of trait as being 'adventurous', but I think that kids don't really see themselves as being that when they're in the moment.

At least, I like to think that I was that way when I was at that age. I look back at my own childhood and realize that I did a lot of crazy things, and I was a pretty bookish lad to begin with.


Definitely. Using broad generalizations like ‘kids don’t want to read about kids in school’ would preclude you from a whole wealth of possibilites -- like Harry Potter, for instance -- I don't think there's any 'right' way to tell a story, let alone knowing how to 'manufacture' a story that people of all ages will genuinely like (aside from just telling really good stories). I mean, something like Iron Wok Jan seems like it's built specifically for a niche audience, but I would be willing to put good money on the fact that there are kids out there that are just loving that series.


Oh man. My favourite variation on the classic BLT is to throw a fried egg into the mix, so that when you're cutting the sandwich, the egg yolk will break and the goopy mess is soaked back up into the sandwich. It's really damn good. Messy, but good.


It's probably more of the former rather than the latter. I really enjoy messing around in different art styles and trying new techniques on the off-chance that I'll actually be able to learn something new that I can apply back to my comics. My problem is that I'm still at a very elementary stage of learning how to make 'real art' -- I'm slowly trying to teach myself how to use watercolours, and it can be difficult at times, and I do sometimes fall back on what feels safe and comfortable, which frustrates me a lot. For me, I'm more interested in growing and expanding my personal view to include a wider palette, rather than just focusing in on one particular style or only one way of telling a story.

To be honest, I just enjoy learning and trying new things. I really do feel like I'm constantly doing that whenever I'm making comics and art, and I hope that doesn't ever stop.


Well, you'd definitely need to be a little less than sane to actually want to start drawing comics for a living.

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keaner.net
the secret friend society

Holy novel. Sorry, everyone:

“Old Oak Trees” was inspired by your grandmother, what did she think of the final story? Have you found that once you take an interest in your family’s past, other relatives come forward with their own interesting stories?

I am told she enjoyed it thoroughly. I never presented it to her myself... she was in the hospital when I finished it, and I requested that my father print it out and read it to her. Her eyesight had been seriously failing at the time I started on the story, and by the time she was in the hospital her vision was almost completely gone, so she never actually *saw* it. But my father did end up reading it to her, and that was maybe a week or so before she passed away. She was really in-and-out at that point, so I'm not sure how much of it she really got, but I hope she was really happy with it. I'm not sure why I was so reluctant to read it to her myself -- looking back I suspect I might have been afraid that she wouldn't have liked it, and then that would be my major memory of the end of my grandmother's life -- but I definitely regret not doing it myself.

As for the rest of my family, we're just not very close. I suppose if we ever got together, some stories might come out, but no one's come forward suggesting I write about anything. I'd definitely have to go digging.

Other contributors have referenced your story as setting the tone for the new volume, how’s it feel to have been such an inspiration to, not only the book, but your friends?

It was a surprise to hear that! I was just sort of doing what I did... but it makes me happy to know I could spur some other people on, and I hope I can give people as much help as they gave me in shaping my story.

The influences for your style in “Old Oak Trees” is definitely a cross between that of storybooks and animation, from the innocent illustrative quality of books like Wind in The Willows to the kinetic energy of FLCL. Is this a natural sense of style for you or do you find that when you draw for yourself, whether it just be sketches or doodles, that your art takes on a different quality?

The style in Oak Trees is about as close to a "natural" style as I have. It had to be natural - I was trying to get the pages done quickly, and trying to ape a style is time-consuming until you get really into it. If I had all the time in the world, I would have liked use a more olde-timey storybook style - like the original illustrations for Alice in Wonderland (for example), and I would have liked to pair it with a nice watercolour colouring technique.

A lot of your animation is Flash based, does this seem like a common format when most animation schools push towards learning either systems like Maya or studying classical animation?

When I studied animation, it was "classical" animation, but all of the animation I've done professionally has been Flash-based. It's a fine tool - as an animator, you get instant gratification. When you look at a scene in Flash, you know that's what the scene will look like when it's on TV. And if anything needs to be changed or tweaked - composition, acting, colour, whatever - you can do it, right there. No waiting for cleanup and ink & paint or waiting for the lighting/rendering/compositing crew to get through it. There's no excuse for a scene to leave an animtor's hands looking like rubbish.
Plus, it's really inexpensive, which is probably the key factor in its popularity amongst animation studios these days.

What inspired you to add a tutorial section to your website? Do you teach in person as well?

I want to do more. I'm disappointed with myself that it's been so long and I've only got that one tutorial up there. It's actually a really useful Photoshop trick for people doing, say, costume design or concept art. I got really frustrated with having to work hard to make small colour changes, and then I found this little Photoshop technique. I thought it was so useful, I just had to share it. And it was a challenge to see if I could describe everything in an easy-to-follow, understandable manner. And I might have been a little bored at the time.

I don't teach in person, though it's certainly something I can imagine doing. What I'd really like to do is write a book about Professional Flash Animation. I mean, I'm not a super-expert or anything, but I've yet to see a good book like that.

Tell us about the Pucca series you’re working on? How does it feel being involved in adapting these shorts for a North American audience?

It's actually being developed primarily for a European market. The series was commisioned (I think that's the right term) by Jetix in the UK. I'm not really sure what one does to adapt something for a particular market... it's a quality show and quality should transcend cultural or market boundaries. Plus, most of the kids watching The Show will be growing up in very multicultural societies (at least, that's the way it is here in Vancouver) - they're already fluent in asian animation conventions, so I think all you can do is make the best show possible!
The series isn't strictly true to the shorts - for one thing, there's dialogue. I would have loved it if the entire series could be done without dialogue, but some people seem to think that's not marketable. I guess it makes it more of a challenge for the writers, too. And there are other concessions that have been made to make it more friendly to a broad TV audience.
However, a lot of the episodes have turned out brilliantly. They're so fast-paced and carry so much energy that the whole team feels like this show's going to be something really special. I'm looking forward to the reaction.

When working with an animation script do you find you have a lot of freedom to add to the story, whether it be in setting, tone, expressions, etc?

It varies from project to project, but mostly No. The script is given to a storyboard artist, and the animator works from the board. Sometimes the board can be very limiting - at the start of "The Buzz on Maggie" we recieved very, very specific timing instructions with very, very specific poses. Eventually we realized we could use whatever timing we wanted, so long as it looked good, though you mostly had to stick to the poses. In a case like that, it can almost become like filling in a colouring-book. You're just there to add motion to someone else's ideas.
There's more freedom on Pucca as the boards aren't nearly as specific. General posing and staging is indicated, but the animator is relied upon to provide a lot of the acting poses. Even then, though, you must stick to the dialogue and make sure you're hooking up with the neighbouring scenes, which may or may not be your responsibility.
I suppose you can look at it as more of a craft, and take pride in helping the scene to fulfill its greatest potential. Even when your entire window for creativity is as small as deciding when to make a character blink, that's still something that has the potential to make a joke ten times funnier, and that's something to be happy about.

FOLLOWUP: Have you tried showing this story to a younger reader yet to gauge their interest? It really was quite a profound contribution to the anthology.

I showed it to my nephew (whom the story is dedicated to), but the little ingrate flipped through it in three seconds and went back to his playstation.

I'll convert him to comics yet, just wait and see!

FOLLOWUP: Do you feel sometimes there’s a commercial side of the creator in you fighting to the surface? A part of you going “I know! Vampire monkey ninjas! It’s perfect!”.

What's commercial these days? Zombies? Monkies? Ninjas? I remember when Robert Kirkman put out "The Walking Dead" and it sold 2500 copies. When he released it, it wasn't "commercial" at all. But now theres a top selling book at Marvel (albeit written by him) called Marvel Zombies. I don't think anything aside from Superheroes are "commercial" in this industry.

If what you're asking me is whether I am interested in doing something outright fun and shallow, not really. I'd get bored fast.

Don't get me wrong though. If someoen offered me a million bucks, I'd happily grin and bear it. Somehow, life would go on, i'm sure.

FOLLOWUP: Wanting to work in comics fulltime, do you have any interest working for one of the big two or perhaps a company like Delacourt or Soleil?

I have to admit, I don't really buy any Big Two comics except some from Vertigo. I don't have much interest in writing a Hawkeye series or some third tier DC martian scub from the 70s. I'd probably sit there staring at the page tryng to justify why anyone would bother using a bow and arrow this day and age.

However, if the aforementioned million bucks comes into play in this scenario, I'd somehow find the way to get past my head scratching.

FOLLOWUP: I had a teacher who was part of the guard called to police the streets during the FLQ attacks, at the time it was unlike anything anyone had experienced and was scary as hell. I thought it was a great inclusion, particularly for those unfamiliar. It never hurts to learn something from a good story. Did you apply for the Canadian graphic novel grant?[/quote]


Honestly, applying for a grant never came to mind. Although I was aware that the government here in Canada, unlike our brother to the south, offers grants to artists who apply for them to facilitate creating their work, I was not aware that they specifially would support a graphic novel. Knowing that now, it isn't an avenue I think I would have persued. I have friends that have done so in the independant film industry and it's a real pain.

I wouldn't want to be coerced into changing my work to win a grant. For example, they may come back and say there wasn't enough Canadian content. After being given total creative freedom from my publisher, I wouldn't want to deal with any commission about whether my work merited support from the governement.

Although, I remember not too long ago there was a furor over the government granting a ton of cash for someone to write a book of dumb blond jokes. I guess standards aren't so high.

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Friend to all small creatures everywhere (felines need not apply)

http://www.guerrilla-comics.com
http://www.livejournal.com/users/cubicz

Actually, this was all done in Photoshop. Originally I was determined to do it in gouache or watercolors, but due to the limited time and space I had to work on it, a digital medium was a better choice this time around. One comment I often get is how my digital stuff often resembles traditional media, which isn't something I intentionally set out to do, but I do treat "painting" in Photoshop much like I would regular paint on paper, mostly in how I use specific brushes for specific purposes and so on. So the end result sometimes has a pleasantly organic feel that kind of shows up by surprise.



Wyit and Sidna are something that've been in my head for a few years ago. I think it was a good three or four years ago when I came up with the first idea that eventually evolved into Wyit and Sidna. It was a fairly simple painting of an early version of Borislav (a character who we'll see in a future volume), a single dark figure contrasted against a vast frozen forest and mountain range. That was the start of an extremely long process of narrowing down what I wanted to do with these vague ideas of characters and plot that I had. I got a lot of storytelling help from friends like Matt Rhodes and Doug TenNapel there, and eventually came up with what is now Wyit and Sidna.

So, no, Wyit and Sidna are a little more than something I use when I need to tell a quick story. I do have a much, much larger story in the works, which I plan to be a full-length graphic novel in the future. But for now, I'm getting things started by introducing the characters through Flight by a small 'episode' for each volume possible, which has been a really great time for me.



It's a good thing you said that, because that's exactly what I try to convey with Wyit and Sidna's journey. One of my big things with this tale is that I want to tell a story that's more than just a series of fun events or cool pictures. This world I'm sharing through Flight is the product of so many dreams and daydreams I had as a kid yet had no idea how to share them, so when I set out to write this story over time, I wanted it to have some kind of message or meaning that people remember when they put it down. So to answer your question, yeah, the impression of characters with a sense of fighting for something greater than themselves would be very accurate, and I'm glad you got that vibe from it.

To give a glimpse of the larger story behind what we see in my Flight 3 piece, the main conflict facing Wyit and Sidna is their tiny nation of scattered peoples being threatened by a much more powerful beast empire from across the eastern sea. But while the background of the story involves a lot of war and politics, the focus is primarily on Sidna's personal servant and squire - none other than Wyit. It's mainly about his struggles and personal conflict as a character while serving Sidna on this journey as she wages an utterly hopeless war to save her people from this huge enemy.



Sometimes, yeah, but it doesn't bother me. Right now I'm trying yet again to get into art school, but I'm not worried. Despite having little professional education, I learned an awful lot by simply teaching myself and listening to more experienced artists, as well as learned lots of stuff from my time working for Armor Holdings Inc. My boss Rod Dornsife has been an excellent on-the-job teacher for me, showing me the do's and don't's of good visual communication in the corporate world. So I don't feel like I'm that out of place when I'm hanging around the rest of the Flight crowd. Still, I do want to go to school! The more experience, the better.



At the moment, my main goal is to get into art school, so my original plans to go straight into visual development or sequential art are on the backburner for now. But aside from that, my big plan is to get a graphic novel published sometime in the next few years, and to continue doing stuff with Flight.

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http://reaganlodge.blogspot.com

Hey Azad, I should point out that I was awarded one of those grants for Jellaby, and they've been completely hands-off with my work. Obviously, I'd have to stay roughly within the confines of my original outline that I sent to them when I applied for the grant, but there's been absolutely no interference on their part in terms of how I'm making my graphic novel. The process is completely different from the film grants -- there are no peer/content reviews at all for the creative writing grants. You really should apply! It's free government money that you can spend on hookers and blow, and they won't care at all! (well, they might if word gets back to them about that, but like that's going to happen any time soon )

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keaner.net
the secret friend society

Dude. Sweet. I was thinking of going on EI for a while (just because I was paying into it) but this sounds like a much more honourable thing to do. I can even think of a way to work some Canadian history into Delilah Dirk. Ha! That would be fun.

TO THE RESEARCH-MOBILE!

I don't even think you need CanCon to be awarded the grant (although don't quote me on that). I think it would be especially awesome for you Tony, because you'd be applying in the Emerging Writers category, and I think you'd stand head and shoulders above the rest of the applicants (I mean, if someone like me can get a grant, you should be a veritable shoo-in for one). I think applying for an Established Writers grant would be significantly harder, as you'd be going up against the likes of Seth and Chester Brown...

Here's the link to the grant information and application form to get you started: http://www.canadacouncil.ca/grants/writ ... 968750.htm

All you Canadians should seriously be applying for this thing if you're planning to work on a graphic novel. Deadline for applications are October 1st. If you guys have any questions, feel free to drop me an email any time (kean [ a t ] keaner.net).

ps. Tony, you should also totally take advantge of EI. We've all paid so much bloody money into it, and we've never taken advantage of it. I say go for it!

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keaner.net
the secret friend society

Kean, you're awesome. I was just looking at the Canada Council website, thinking, "er, which catergory does I fit into?", ready to come back here and post that question...

W00t! Thanks.