Writers Old Fashioned

Trifecta

Matt — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:45:21 +0000

When I’m not reading comics, I’m making comics. When I’m not making comics, I’m teaching comics. And my students are starting to get some attention for their work!

Ben Costa wins a Xeric.
Bex Freund lands her work in a literary magazine.
And KOAK takes her character sketches to a whole new level.

Art from Sick Bed Blues by Koak

Wicked Grounds Kinky Comic Carnival!

STORM — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:02:18 +0000

Greetings, Dear Comic Aficionados!

This coming Saturday, January 30, 2010, Writers Old Fashioned member STORM will be cavorting with an amazing group of comic book luminaries at Wicked Grounds for a Kinky Comics Carnival! Read about who will be there and what delightful works they have done below in an invitation from the lovely and talented Serena Valentino:

Wicked Grounds invites you to join us for an afternoon social that you do not want to miss, a gathering of local artists, writers and comic creators coming together at San Francisco’s first and only Kink Cafe, Wicked Grounds, located at 289 8th Street @ Folsom in San Francisco at 2:00 PM, Saturday January 30th.

So please join Justin Hall, Tristan Crane, Ted Naifeh, STORM, Greta Christina, Serena Valentino and the lovelies at Wicked Grounds, to have a cup of tea or coffee as well as some of their other scrumptious offering while you sample our creative wares Saturday, Jan 30th. We will all have an assortment of our work available for purchase, and we will of course be available to sign them, that is, if you fancy that sort of thing.

__Justin Hall__ is an award-winning comic book creator best known for his series True Travel Tales, Glamazonia the Uncanny Super Tranny, and the gay porn Hard To Swallow Comics. His work has appeared in the Houghton Miflin Best American Comics, Boy Trouble, Best Erotic Comics, and the S.F. Bay Guardian, among others.

__STORM__ is a San Francisco based writer, artist, oracle & doll shaman. He sells funny books at the Isotope Comic Book Lounge & reads X-Men Tarot at Swankety Swank. His one of a kind art dolls and mini-comic Princess Witch Boy are for sale at http://www.facebook.com/l/1f79f;stormantic.etsy.com. STORM believes that in a perfect world, Iman would have played Ororo Munroe in the movies. Visit his blog at www.stormantic.com.

__Serena Valentino__ has been weaving tales that combine mythos and guile for the past ten years with her work on the comic book series GloomCookie and Nightmares & Fairy Tales published with SLG Publishing. Nightmares & Fairy Tales: 1140 Rue Royale has earned her critical acclaim in both the comic and horror domain, where she is known for her unique style of storytelling, bringing her readers into exquisitely frightening worlds filled with terror, beauty and extraordinary female protagonists. Among her other projects, Serena is currently writing a horror screenplay with writer/director Phil Flores (of the Butcher Brothers), as well as three new graphic novels, Enchanted, Blackbird the Pirate Queen and Hells Café and has writtena novel for young adults for Disney Press based on the Wicked Queen from Snow White entitled Fairest of All, now available in all major bookstores. Visit her website serenavalentino.com

__Tristan Crane__ is a San Francisco based writer and photographer. Tristan’s writing has appeared in the recent ‘Comic book Tattoo’ project from Image comics, his first book ‘How Loathsome’ was released in 2004 to many reviews and general muttering; a second graphic novel, ‘InVisible’ with artist Rhea Silvan was published by Seven Seas early in 2009. As a photographer, Tristan specializes in erotic portraiture, bondage sessions, documentary-style photojournalism, and enjoys collaborating with a wildly diverse cast of models.

__Greta Christina__ is editor of the annual “Best Erotic Comics” series, published by Last Gasp Books and Comics, where she has worked for seven years. She has been writing about sex since 1989, and has had sex writing appear in numerous magazines, newspapers, and anthologies, including Ms., Penthouse, On Our Backs, AlterNet, and three volumes of “Best American Erotica.” She blogs about sex, atheism, politics, and other polite dinner- table topics at the cleverly- named Greta Christina’s Blog, gretachristina.typepad.com.

After making a name for himself drawing Serena Valentino’s Gloomcookie in 1999, __TED NAIFEH__ went on to produce several popular all ages comics. The spooky adventure series Courtney Crumrin follows a grumpy little girl whose great uncle Aloysius draws her into a dark world of witchcraft and creatures that go bump in the night. Courtney Crumrin has been optioned by Dreamworks to be made into a motion picture. Polly and the Pirates tells the tale of prim and proper Polly Pringle, who gets kidnapped by pirates, only to discover her own natural, possibly inherited propensity for swashbuckling. Ted also lent his artistic skills to a comic adaptation of the videogame Death Junior, about a little boy whose father is the Grim Reaper. More importantly, Ted co-wrote and illustrated How Loathsome with Tristan Crane. A stylish, sexy exploration of the alternative lifestyle underground of San Francisco, How Loathsome explores gender, community, and how they affect identity. Currently, Ted is illustrating The Good Neighbors, an urban fantasy YA graphic novel series by New York Times best-selling author Holly Black, about a teenage girl who realizes that she’s half faerie. Volume 3 of the series will appear in October, 2010.

Writer’s Old New Year

Josh Richardson — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:38:00 +0000

*cough* *cough*

Don’t mind me, I’m just cleaning off the dust around the ‘ol Writer’s Old Fashioned HQ for the new year. 2009 was a pretty good year for the gang, culminating with APE 2009 in October. STORM’s Princess Witch Boy was definitely the buzz book of the show. The demand seemed to grow exponentially as people would buy PWB, tell their friends, and cause a mad rush on our booth. From what I hear, STORM is totally sold out of the first printing of PWB. But don’t worry, a second printing is on it’s way so there will be copies on hand at Wondercon (along with PWB #2).

Stephenny Godfrey’s Panorama was also a big hit, totally selling out by the second day of APE! All of Writer’s Old Fashioned had a great time at the booth. We chatted with fans, other creators, and drank like fishes the entire time. STORM and Emily Stackhouse were both interviewed by Sara Lima at ComicVine and thanks to the glory of the Internet you can watch the full thing here.

STORM also has an amazing recap of the whole event at his blog.

That’s about all I have for now, True Believers. The Writer’s Old Fashioned crew really worked hard in the tumultuous year of 2009, and the stage is set for some very exciting developments in 2010. Expect to see new books and minis from several of our members this year, and some more updates to this space as we develop our collective writing muscles to their prime.

Catch you soon!

And the winner is…

Emily — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:19:36 +0000

Brazilianoir! That’s right, you heard it here first (or maybe here). Emily Stackhouse and Nicholas Shahan’s first mini comic, Brazilianoir, brought home the gold for Outstanding D.I.Y. at Stumptown Comics Fest 2009.

Thank you Portland for sharing your love!

photo credit greyaenigma flickr

Trophy Award Nominations

Emily — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:05:10 +0000

This just in! Writers Old Fashioned now has two, count ‘em, two contenders for the the majestic Trophy Award!

Emily Stackhouse and Nicholas Shahan are up for Outstanding D.I.Y with their comic, Brazilianoir!

Jason McNamara and Paige Braddock are in the running for Outstanding Small Press with, The Martian Confederacy !

If you’re going to Stumptown Comics Fest, check out our books and then vote! vote! vote!

Go team!

Look out, Portland!

Emily — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:18:02 +0000

Stumptown 2009. It’s that time of year again, when the fine city of Portland, Oregon, opens it’s arms to the world of comics! The city has even dubbed the month of April, Comic Month, how cool is that?

This is something that Writers Old Fashioned wouldn’t miss for the world. So we’re packing up our wares and heading up North. Also, check out fellow Old Fashioned Writer, Jason McNamara’s Trophy Award nomination for Outstanding Small Press. And please, look out for us. Stop by booth 85 and say hi, will ya?

Why Comics? DB Edition.

david — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:39:01 +0000

your humble hosts, david b and danger bob.

You want to know why comics? Danger Bob, tell ‘em “why comics.”
Simply put I would not be alive if it weren’t for comics. Important fact one; I am not a junkie. If comics weren’t there my addictive personality would have found something else to kill time with, probably something illegal and/ or opiate based. While just as addictive as heroine comics is a much better alternative. No nervous jitters, no living on the street, no worrying about the fuzz, and no cutting myself to get the cockroaches out from under my skin.

Important fact two: I’ve never killed a man. Without comics I surely would be on death row right now with a laundry list of victims. My weekly medicine of funny books stops the voices in my head. Instead of envisioning what I’d do to that ass hole that just cut me off without using a turn signal, I go home and read about characters in tight clothing kicking the shit out of each other, and blowing stuff up.

David B?
Why comics?

Why not, man? I read comics as a kid, quit them as a teen, and came back to them as an adult. I keep finding something new to get into, something new to love, something to be angry at, and something to pass the time with.

Comics are Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Darwyn Cooke, Frank Quitely, and Chris Bachalo. They’re Grant Morrison, Brian Azzarello, David Lapham, Peter Milligan, and Joe Kelly. They’re New X-Men, New Frontier, 100 Bullets, Stray Bullets, and Daredevil. Comics are the stacks of stapled minis on my bookshelves, tattered used paperbacks, and deluxe Absolute hardcovers editions. They’re the books about depressed kids being extra depressed and navel-gazing, superheroes punching complicated problems into oblivion, artsy books being incomprehensible, and all of it being awesome. Comics are arguing about dumb things, talking about art, and most of all, being able to be a grown-up and still read books with pictures.

Basically, the answer to “Why comics?” is that I don’t have any other choice. I don’t understand how people can get ashamed of these things. Comics are wonderful.

That’s why comics.

In the Trenches 04.06.2009

Josh Richardson — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:51:13 +0000

My relationship with comics has been rocky, to say the least. So let me just start at the beginning

At first it was all laughs. Comics and I would chill under the tree at the playground We’d go for long bike rides looking for a good place to spend some quality time together. When I was sad, or scared, Comics would always be there for me to take me away from it all. Comics showed me the world could be a better place and I loved them for it. I was determined to give something back to the medium I loved so much, so I made a commitment: I would create comics.

In the Year of Our Lord 2005, I got my first gig in the industry as a color flatter for Image. I’d get the black and white line art and seperate out all the indiviual areas that needed to be colored in Photoshop. Grunt work that earned me the equivalent of $1.87 an hour and a credit in a real life comic book. Briming with enthusiasm, I was encoraged by my pals at Isotope Comics to start an article on being an up-and-comer in the industry. There are interviews all the time with writers and artists, but when do you hear from the print production guy? The letterer? The guys and gals on the front lines of the comic industry, sweating away because their passion won’t let them do anything else. And so “In the Trenches” was born on Millarworld.

Every week I’d do a new post my experiences as a newborn in the comics industry, which would eventually catch the eye of AiT/Planet Lar publisher Larry Young, and land me a job as his “creative executive” in early 2006. It was here that I learned how to complete many facests of comic creation and where I met many of my friends from Writer’s Old Fashioned (including lettering Jason McNamara’s Continuity). I’d sweat and I’d work, and when a book would come in from the printers that I had helped make a reality, I would glow inside and know that I was doing right by comics.

Then I thought I could write one. And that’s where everything fell apart.

To be fair, none of it is Comics’ fault. In 2006 I took a job with SEGA as a QA Tester, and the hours were long. As my day slowly began to be eaten up more and more by my day job, I began to neglect comics. I wasn’t taking on as many jobs for AiT, my graphic novel script Brawler had sat untouched for months, and stacks of books I once couldn’t wait to devour would sit unread for weeks. Once I got a job working for LucasArts and I began consistently working 70-80 hours a week, comics and I had drifted far enough apart that we decided it probably be best if we spent some time away from one another. We kept in touch, hung out on the rare opportunity, and I would always talk well of Comics whenever the subject came up.

Fast forward a few years and few major video game projects later, and I’m now working at a small and highly creative video game developer in San Francisco. I still work insane hours occassionaly, but over the last couple of years I’ve started to learn a bit more about who I am creatively, and I’m starting to feel that old itch come back. The sirens call of comics has once again ensnared me in her grasp.

This time though, I want to create something that is 100% mine. From the art, to the lettering, to the stapling of the pages, I’m setting out to create my first mini-comic. And I want to show you how I do it. I’ll tell you right off the bat that I am no expert. This effort will be fraught with mistakes, false-starts, and lofty goals. But for the foreseeable future, every other Monday I will present a look into how I’m putting together my first mini-comic, with a deadline of APE 2009. Holy crap, that’s in October!

Looks like it’s time to gear up, buckle down, and prepare to head back “In the Trenches!”

Why Comics?

Emily — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:21:03 +0000

We’re Writers Old Fashioned, a group of Bay Area comic book creators bound together by our collective four color dreams. We’re polling our resources (us) to answer the age old question: Why comics?

And more importantly: Why the hell do we MAKE comics? First up, Jason and Emily…

The place stunk of bloody meat and kicked up sawdust and I couldn’t be happier. The longer the butcher took to take my pop’s order, the longer I could spin the lopsided, creaky comic rack. Bat-Man, Spider-Man and The Hulk were familiar friends I had seen on TV. Riding home on my father’s shoulders, I held tight to Pork Chops and a handful of 35 cent adventures to be read to me. And then suddenly without warning…

“Jason” my father warned me “Don’t turn around. Two-Face is behind us.”

Oh Shit, Two-Face was the worst of the bunch that chased us home. I held on tight to his sweatshirt as my father broke into a run. Soon I’d be filled with meat, four color funnies and, if I was lucky, a baby can of Budweiser to calm my 5 year old nerves.

Why do I make comics? Because I want every kid in America to think Two-Face is going to chop him or her into little pieces.

-Jason McNamara

Here’s how my mini-drama-comic-love-affair goes, in three parts.

Part One- Girl meets comics. I was naive and unsuspecting, the perfect age for a comic book to be thrust upon. The first time I held one of those colorful little books, I knew I would do whatever it took to stay close to them. I had to draw for them, write for them, anything!

Part Two- Girl leaves comics. Along with the my little ponies and legos of my youth, the rolled up comic book in my back jean pocket was doing nothing for my social life. I was too cool for comic books, if such a thing ever existed.

Part Three- Girl comes crawling back to comics. I was wrong and I wasn’t fooling anybody. The doodles of Rogue on the corners of my school papers were a dead giveaway. I was the one who was “uncool”. Comic books are the coolest and they aren’t even smug about it. I jumped back in, head first. I even starting making them myself, an offering to the comic gods. Repentance.

So, here I am, back in the warm embrace of comics. Back where I belong.

-Emily Stackhouse

Wonder Con 09: The 24 Hours that almost killed me

Danger — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:39:26 +0000

Hi there intrepid reader I’m Danger Bob, sorry if we’ve met before but I have trouble with names. Sit for a minute and read the story of how I almost died. Okay, it’s just one of the stories where I almost died, but this one takes place during Wonder Con 09.

I won’t go into the specifics of the pub-crawl-to-end-all-pub-crawls, the world famous Isotope Tiki Tour. I will say however, that I made it to the end, holy crap! That’s never happened in the past, but I have achieved veteran status and even made it to an after party. Thank you moderation and thank you strong liver.

Saturday began with this sound to shock me out of 4 hours of what resembled sleep. I instantly had a flash nightmare about being spotted and surrounded by guards because I wasn’t wearing the right camo pajamas. Turns out I was just lying as comfortable as I could be on a couch of my good friend and fellow member of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Josh Richardson. As it turns out Josh, being a high priest of the temple of video games, has that sound effect as an alarm clock. It took about four or five taps at the snooze button before we woke up.

Still wearing my suit and tie from the Tiki Tour, I made the walk of shame at 10am back to my truck which was 12 blocks away. Thankfully, my truck had no tickets, flat tires, or shattered windows. In true nomad fashion, I changed in my truck (doing a double take at the coming traffic before swapping boxers). Now in a fresh suit with a new tie, I brushed my teeth on the side walk. Cars whizzing by and people out and about must have looked at me and thought, “wow, that is a well-dressed homeless guy.” Bright as a daisy, I tramped on over to the Isotope then embarked for the con.

It’s always a great experience to enter a convention center and hear the roar of thousands of comics fans and think, my people! I had an absolute blast at the Writer’s Old Fashioned table. Dishing out books and handing out “Ramen Old Fashioned“ our group‘s gift to a world in search of a cheap food substitute. I didn’t walk away with any sweet buys but I did leave with a ton of awesome memories. That sounds cheesy but I’m fucking serious as a heart attack here.

I saw people from work and my town that I had no idea were into comic books, and have been since before I was born. It was the realization that you really don’t know who shares the same kind of love for comics as you do.

I even got to met a Spider-Man with a British accent.

Who knew that a weekend consisting of drinking, poor diet, and no sleep, would make me sick. Towards the end of the Con I started to feel really haggard, but it was all ignored when I got a phone call, like the Bat signal, from James Sime. He was in trouble, the Isotope party of the year was about to start and the store was no where near ready. Ditching the Con early, I raced over to the Isotope, forgetting all the shitty feelings going on in my body. Things were chaotic and all in the air but under Simes guidance, his baby, and my second home: the Isotope, was ready for a horde of people in celebration of comics (including Brian Azzarello and Dave Johnson). In the calm before the storm, I started to get the cold sweats. Feeling achy all over and staring at my orange juice in a beautiful Isotope exclusive event pint glass, I realized; ‘holy shit buddy, you better sit this one out’.

As I drove home I felt all my bodies defenses just drop and die. Feeling like crap, the only thing I was thinking about was the days when societies made sacrifices for rain or for a bountiful harvest. By getting sick and sitting this party out, I was making the sacrifice the night needed to be off the walls crazy. I was also thinking that next year I’m going to tear Wonder Con 2010 a new one!