Words-and-pictures maestro Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and his Necessary Monsters are profiled over at The Pulse: "I pretty much grew up watching horror films through the Eighties and early Nineties. What hooked me back then were the crazy, dark elements of fantasy and the often bizarre and surreal nature of the supernatural. That’s the world I’m really trying to draw from here - the cherished memories of my horror-soaked youth.

"And in terms of the spy setting, well, I think at the time I came up with the idea I’d just finished watch all five seasons of Alias. And my brains was going, SPIES! DO SOMETHING WITH SPIES! I usually just tell my brain to shut up when it gets like this, but then the SPIES! shouts got all mixed in with these Horror film characters and something interesting started to come together as a result."

+++++

A nice review of the first volume of Foot Soldiers. I always like current reviews of books we published eight years ago, because it vindicates our backlist worldview: if you haven't read it yet, it's new to you.

+++++

Tom Spurgeon reviews Danny Fingeroth's Rough Guide To Graphic Novels and perhaps unsurprisingly doesn't much dig on Fingeroth's list of the Top 50 Graphic Novels Ever Made in the History of Comics History Making. He did, though, sum up his review thusly: "If all of that sounds snotty and you need to hear it in the form of a tagline: it's hard for me to imagine returning to a book that values Larry Young's fun but lightweight and always-in-print Astronauts in Trouble over Eddie Campbell's ambitious, unforgettable and hard to track down in all of its messy glory Alec."

Which, I suppose, is a fair enough comment, although one could make the argument that a current book aimed at folks who want a "rough guide" to a subject is going to tout available works over unavailable ones, and "fun and lightweight" doesn't necessarily preclude "ambitious and unforgettable," but all that's just sort of quibbling. All I took away from Tom's review was "Astronauts in Trouble is one of the Top 50 Graphic Novels Ever Made in the History of Comics History Making," and I suggest that that's what you take away from the review as well.

"I've spent hours upon hours looking at how people write their comics. Larry Young published his script for The Making of Astronauts in Trouble; it really blew my mind comparing the script to the finished work... The writings of Scott McCloud and Will Eisner have also been extremely valuable tools to me."

That's a good way to start the day.

The Black Diamond speeds onto Marc Mason's radar: "Writer Larry Young’s love of pulp entertainment certainly doesn’t hide from anyone; this book is a direct throwback to 70s exploitation films with a bit more of a romantic heart. Don is your classic everyman, enjoying a traditional suburban existence, thrown into a situation where he has no foundation or control and given a singular goal. That is certainly what gives The Black Diamond its story appeal. But what draws you in once you’re inside is Proctor’s art. It’s amazing stuff, cinematic in a way that surprises. It isn’t the 'widescreen' approach favored by a guy like Bryan Hitch, but a mixture of astonishing panel composition and eye-popping applications of color that are as important as any other element on the page (including the dialogue). You can lose yourself in some of these pages."

My pals Ash Aiwase and David Brothers and I were trading emails about this latest week-long dain bramage that got people on comic book message boards all riled up. So I had occasion to post this to them, and since I like to repurpose content just as much as the next guy (and here in San Francisco, the next guy is apt to be repurposing quite a lot, electronically), behold this public glimpse into a private thought:

"I don't know why creators pay attention to reviews at all. Critics aren't writing for the artistes, they're writing for the audience. As a publisher, I have to read them, so as a creator I long ago came to an understanding of the role of perceived 'bad' reviews in the conversation between creator and audience (which I assume is what Scott is talking about). As a creator, you just do your thing, and hope it connects with the people who like that sort of thing and don't worry about the folks who don't like that sort of thing. Getting mad at a reviewer who doesn't respond to your work is like getting mad at someone for not liking anchovies on their pizza.

"Besides, if you believe every review that says you're a genius, you have to believe every review that says you're a schmuck. Best to let the work just be the work and have people figure it out on their own. I once famously told Greg Burgas that I don't care if you like my stuff or not; I just care that you read it and give it your attentions. Anyone who's in comics to be loved is in comics for the wrong reason.

"This is why my long-discussed fake autobiography is going to be called THANKS FOR YOUR THIRTEEN DOLLARS because that's all I really have to say about that. Sorry you didn't like this one; thanks for your thirteen dollars. Maybe the next one will be more to your liking. You miss the bus, another will be along in the next PREVIEWS. It's not like we've been publishing ten years of one sort of book. Little something for everyone here, while we're Making Comics Better."

So, really? Next you'll be telling me a non-Neal Adams, non-Dave Sim, non-Warren Ellis, non-me, non-Matt Fraction creator will be this month's poster child for creator-owned work advocacy.

Ooops.

Augie De Blieck, Jr. at CBR totally gets where Jon and I were going with The Black Diamond: "It's an interesting read for the process and the ingenuity seen within it. Here's the thing: the main storyline and the high concept is just the rod in your closet. It's all the clothes hanging off the rod -- some neatly pressed, others slightly wrinkled with character -- that are the interesting parts. The plot is an excuse to have scenes of characters talking about different things, and one or two big set-piece car chase-and-crash things. Even better, the author knows this, relies on it, and invites you to revel in it with him. Don't pay attention to the rod. Look at the hangers... The Black Diamond: Get in the Car and Go is another piece of experimental high concept storytelling from the word processor of Larry Young. If you're into this kind of thing, you'll enjoy the book. If you want a straight-up high octane summer blockbuster action thriller, this one's not going to work for you. (Go read that Monster Attack Network book, instead, or the original Astronauts in Trouble book, or even The Couriers.) That said, The Black Diamond would be an excellent platform to spin such an action thriller off of."

+++++

Ambush Bug at Ain't It Cool News: "What writer Larry Young has created is a framework to build a whole slew of stories upon, as illustrated by various artists in the back-up features. It's a highway with no rules. There is no speed limit. And it's populated by gearheads, bikers, and gangs of road warriors. This spells trouble for Dr. McLaughlin, who has to use the highway to make it across the country ASAP in order to rescue his wife. I especially like the trippy ending of this over the top road movie of a book. In that final chapter alone, artist Jon Proctor earns his artistic wings of accomplishment with his stunning splash pages and iconic imagery."

+++++

... and, I love you, Johnny Bacardi: "But calling it a 'quest' is a bit highfalutin'- this story, with its QT-esque dialogue and non-stop muscle car action, is strictly 1973 drive-in fare all the way- a spiritual cousin of such double feature diamonds as Two Lane Blacktop, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, and yes, even Death Race 2000 or maybe, just maybe, a hint of Mad Max. To carry the film comparisons further, as I said when I wrote about the final issue, I enjoyed how Young breaks down the wall between story and storyteller, superimposing the actual script and directions over the images; it's unorthodox but I thought it worked nicely and reminded me a lot of movies such as Dennis Hopper's weird-assed The Last Movie, or even the ending of Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. I sometimes think Young was born too late, actually- in another life I believe he would have been destined to pitch scripts to Roger Corman."

OK, so I missed yesterday as I was in iPod Jack most of the day... erstwhile Isotope bon vivant Ian Yarborough named our other car thusly in a faux-Aussie accent... sped down to LA for a quick meeting but an even more enjoyable time at my friends' shop, the Spirit of Retailing Eisner Award-winning comics store Brave New World. Atom! and Portlyn were consummate hosts, as usual, and I don't know who was more happy for them to show me around their new(ish) digs, me, or them. Man, that store is kick-ass. Fourteen-foot ceilings, a comics art gallery and showplace, where they host live-figure drawing classes, and kids-art days, and drink-and-draws, and just about everything for everyone.

And yesterday, I got to hang out with the cool cats there and shake some hands and sign some autographs and generally just be treated like visiting royalty, and, I ask you, who's not going to love that? Those guys really know how to put on a show, I can tell you.

Portlyn took some great "signing" pics, and I haven't seen 'em yet, but I wanted to throw up a couple I got from my battle-damaged Canon PowerShot:

First off, the best part of the thing for me was seeing my good pal Andy:


Andy's a long-time fan of our stuff; so much so that four years ago he dressed up as Moustafa from The Couriers for Halloween. On the right, there, is what that lady-killer looked like yesterday. Andy is keeping it real, doing photography old skool style with the darkroom and the developing and the chemicals and the whatnot. Look out for that silver nitrate, Andy! Super-cool to see you, and thanks for hanging out the whole time. Yer the coolest!


Here's Atom! Freeman wheelin'and-dealin' on the store floor. I didn't get a really good picture of this, but their middle-of-the-shop cashier's island is a friggin' monument to good use of space. There wasn't a customer who wasn't available to Atom! or Portlyn or Kyle or Brendan the whole time I was there. Man, if I was to give an award to a friendly, welcoming, airy and enticing comics shop... oh. Wait. Yeah, they got the Eisner already. Never mind.


Here's me with Kyle (not 4 O'Clock Kyle, but Customer Kyle) and... Travis? No. Brandon? No. That's the pizza guy. Or the morning guy. Dang, I was in the car a long time, and I forget. Never been good with names. Sorry, guys. I know it's not Jacob Norman Blaha, because he's the only guy ever in ten years who's asked me to sign his book with all three of his names. I know it's not Michael, because his dog's OK and he's been shopping at BNW since he was five. I dunno. The guy in the red shirt; you're Customer Kyle's pal. Sorry. But I really appreciated how psyched you seemed to pick up a Black Diamond trade.


Here's Hardy taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. In true 21st Century fashion, we then flopped our digital cameras around at each other and showed each other the pictures that we had just taken of each other seconds ago. Hardy's only four, but he's already a better photographer than I am. I'm guessing it has something to do with his mom, Portlyn, being a professional photographer. But that's the limb I'm going out on.

Happy Black Diamond Day! I'm getting on the 5 and heading south to sign some books and shake some hands at the Spirit of Retailing Eisner Award-winning shop Brave New World tomorrow:

22722 Lyons Avenue #6
Newhall, CA 91321

from noon til four. It's ironic as heading down the 5 with Mimi is what gave me the idea for the book in the first place. I'll have posters and T-shirts and fifteen specially sealed copies of the book:



+++++

Jog the Blog points out that the book's in shops tomorrow: "The Black Diamond: Get in the Car and Go: A new collected edition for writer/publisher Larry Young's and artist Jon Proctor's spin around high-concept highway-of-the-future action, perspectives shifting and narrative elements detatching. I can't say it's entirely successful -- often its presentational ambition is undone by the visuals it has to work with -- but it does drive hard. More later. With an introduction by Graeme McMillian." and points out an interview I did back when the book started which had me laughing. I just don't remember being that flippant, and it was only a year and a half ago. Nothing like having a kid to make you smarten up.