Coming soon: CREATION JUNCTURE

Today is day three of the New Year. January 3rd, 2014.

Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you and me with "new year's resolutions"! What I am going to share with you is a little peek at one of things I'm doing this year (not planning, but 'doing'....)

I use this blog to write about my latest projects, or to talk about an event I had attended over a previous weekend. I've also used it to talk about a favorite comic book creator, or a filmmaker I admire. I've shared behind-the-scenes process on current works, and have shown you new artwork for upcoming projects. A way to keep folks up to date with my work, and talk about things I love.

And I'll continue to do that, but I'm also going to write a new series of posts focused on the idea of creating. Making comics, as that's my foremost creative outlet, but also talking about art in general. The creative decisions in undertaking a new project, and also taking some in-depth looks at other works from other people. Things that inspired me in the past, whether it was over 35 years ago, or last week. Also, people working today who spark some creative fires in me. Old stuff and new stuff. My stuff and their stuff.

In the past, I've meant to share some insights on my own choices in telling stories. Creating my characters, choosing what type of story I want to tell, designing the covers for my books. Why self-publishing? Why do conventions? Why make comics?

Me and Michael Aushenker at the 2011 Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco.

This series isn't meant to be a "how-to-make-comics" course. I've been teaching comics workshops for 10 years now. I love it. Working with kids, guiding them in creating their own comics is totally rewarding. But I don't teach them how to do it 'my way'. I provide them some general principals, then get out of their way as they craft their stories.

This will be more of a "how-I-create-my-comics" series. Everyone has their method on how they create their art, so I can only show you what I do. My hope is that the information posted here will be interesting to read, as I know that whenever I hear a writer, cartoonist, musician or filmmaker discuss their work I always learn something that I can either relate to artistically, or at least find some inspirational insights into the process of creation.

In addition to sharing my own work and process, I want to devote some time to discussing specific works, and share with you what I got out of them and how that shaped my own view on telling stories. There are specific creators I want to spotlight, particular comics and movies that I can point to and say "Oh, that's a favorite of mine and a big influence because....". 

I'm often asked by friends to either resume my old Do-It-Yourself comics podcast JAVILAND or start a new one. I appreciate the thought behind each suggestion, but for the last several years my motivation for doing a new show just isn't there. Besides, with the visual nature of art, I'd want to be able to share images with viewers. So I figure these blog posts will fit the bill.

I can't tell you right now how many posts in total I'll do. I'm planning on doing these at least for the duration of 2014. I'm not sure how often I'll post either. I could say once a month, but I might want to do shorter posts at any given moment. So let's keep this loose and impulsive, which is kind of how I often create anyway. There will be lots and lots of visual, but also links to websites and videos (the problem with Youtube is that at any given moment, any video can be pulled down for whatever reason. Hopefully this won't be the case with the ones I pick).

These post will be, for a large part, self-indulgent. I mean, they're meant to highlight things that I love, and how I relate to them as a viewer and creator, but hopefully every post will at least be readable to anyone tuning in.
 
As I mentioned, I'll be highlighting current, working artists in addition to those who may no longer be around. I'm thinking perhaps that some short interviews with a few subjects might be interesting to include. We'll see. There's no shortage of folks today whose work I admire. 

 Satan's Soldier © Tom Scioli

My most fertile era of inspiration comes from the 1970s and 80s, no question. It's the era I grew up in, and the one that's had the most long-lasting influence on me. But like I mentioned, things around me, today, continue to inspire, so expect anything and everything to show up here.

As far as a name for this series? Let's call it CREATION JUNCTURE.

Cartoonist Steve Ditko (co-creator of Spider-Man), a living legend in the world of comics, has a quote that's a favorite of mine:

"A creation is actually a re-creation. A rearrangement of existing materials in a new, different, original, novel way."

Everything I've ever created had a life even before it materialized in my mind. It's true for any creator. A movie they saw, a song they heard, a play they watched. A memory of attending a wedding, or a funeral. A first date, or their last break-up. A vacation they took, or a trip they would like to one day experience.
 
I'm sitting at my drawing table, or in front of the computer, or driving along the highway, and I'm  thinking of a new comic I want to create, or some other work of art I want to produce. In that moment, I'm at the crossroads. I'm fueled by ideas I received from other creative works, or by an experience as a living, breathing human being. And I want to channel those ideas into an expression, that usually finds itself manifested as a printed book, or some other work of art.

It's the point where inspiration and expression collide, intermingle, reassemble and continue forward.

CREATION JUNCTURE.

Please come back and visit...

Go, Speed Racer, Go!

It's still amazing to me to see shows and comic books I loved as a young kid being made into multi-million dollar films. The most recent one I saw was SPEED RACER. And judging by the opening weekend box-office, there wasn't too many people watching (relatively speaking, of course!)



SPEED RACER was, and still is, probably my favorite cartoon show of all time (if you don't count the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes shorts). As a kid I would be in awe of the high speed chases, the dastardly villians, the mysterious Racer X and of course Speed Racer and his family. The show really was about a family, after all.

Because the filmmakers focused on the family apsect of Speed, I think this is what made the movie work for me. Mind you, I was not a big Wachowski Bros. fan. I saw the first MATRIX film and thought it was good...except for the stoic people walking around in black sunglasses and black trenchcoats for 2 hours! So I never saw MATRIX 2 and 3..... But I saw SPEED RACER for Speed Racer. When I first heard about the film, I thought the casting choices were really well chosen. And the Mach 5! Geez, is there a cooler car in the whole world? (The Adam West Batmobile and James Bond's Aston Martin DB4 come very close!). I'll admit though, when I saw the first images for the RACER movie I was a little put off. The night scenes with the huge neon lit racing track caused me some concern. Was this film going to be too dark and hyper kinetic?

But the draw of the movie was too much to pass up. I had to at least see the film. Well, the film really surprised me in all the best ways. First off, I was really surprised to see how well the dramatic family moments in the film came off. There are a lot of great dynamics in the film: Pops Racer's relationship with his two sons, Mom Racer and Speed, Speed and his younger brother. And the nice romance with Speed and Trixie. Real heartfelt family ties.

And the action of course, as I watched it, literally emulated the action in the cartoon series. The Mach 5 flying through the air with it's Jumper Jacks, Speed zipping his car along the most impossible routes imaginable. Right out of the TV show.
The look of the movie reminded me of DICK TRACY with the MATRIX. I was probably thinking, originally, that the film would have looked like it took place in a world most closely resembling ours. But watching the movie, I think the Wachowskis took the right approach in creating a whole world to match the TV show. Here, Speed Racer's world looks like a brand new anime/video game. And the car chases were right out of the cartoon, racing along deserts and icy mountains and gigantic palaces!

It's a shame that the movie has performed so poorly at the box office. But as a lifetime Speed Racer fan, I am glad to see a great adaptation on the big screen.