I wonder if I'll ever do a strip that's not self-deprecating? Eh... What would the fun in that be?

Anyone heard anything about the CAN AM Comics & Anime Expo? I got an email about it today. I'm considering it, but it's not really high on list for a few reasons:

(1) It's a brand new event, thus untested.

(2) They don't seem to differentiate between vendors and artists.

(3) Tables are a bit pricey.

(4) Their link leads to a Management company. It does have a page for the Expo, but the main site is for R.A.S Management.

The whole thing just doesn't sit right with me. Just doesn't seem like the most reliable use of my time/finances. But I thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm about halfway through the script of #4. I'm having a lot of fun with this one. It really feels like I'm getting into the heart of the story, while the first three are all very introductory. But now, the characters have all gotten nice and comfortable and I can really focus on STORYTELLING. I also love that I finally get to introduce both Anika and Kazuhiro, two characters that I've been itching to get in. It should be very interesting.

I've been reading a very good book "Vanishing Point: Perspective for Comic from the Ground Up". Reading it has made me go... OMG I know NOTHING. Myke has tried to assure me that it's a good thing to think like that. As long as I stay productive and take all of the things I've leaned, then the comic will get better. Issue three should be very visually different from the first two. First of all, it's going to have the new drawing style like the Interlude as opposed to the "dirtier" style of the first two. And hopefully I'll be able to pull off some interesting perspective.

As I've said previously, I'm trying to work out conventions for next year. I've been waiting to hear on Wizard World Toronto, as I hadn't heard any information on when that was going on. Then, all of the sudden, I got a message from my Whedonverse group that said Eliza Dushku was going to be a guest... So I guess they worked everything out. Thankfully, it's pretty early in the year (March). If I get into all of the conventions I'm trying to, I'm going to be having a VERY busy summer. But summer is good. I'm hoping by summer to at least have the first arc complete and there should be enough CC to put together in a mini-book.

Have another project that's come up, courtesy of raendrop. Different from my usual beat, but it should be interesting.

Gotta get out sometime this week to get #2 into the shops. Did sell another two today, if only because the Jesters and Adaptive are back from tour and Myke and Tyler claimed their copies. Hey, just 'cause the guys live with me doesn't make the sale any less valid.

And now for something completely surreal.

The bunny's name is Dexter. Dexter the Plot Bunny.

We have a complete love-hate relationship. He expects me to bow down to him the moment he shows up and if I don't obey, he refuses to appear for weeks at a time.

I got some new books in the mail today. In issues three and four, I start to get into using onomatapoeia, so I ordered A Dictionary of Comic Book Words, Symbols and Onomatapoeia. While I was at it, I got two of the How To Draw: The Best of Wizard Basic Training books.

I was scanning through Advanced Techniques and came across a tidbit from Frank Cho that literally made me slam the book down in disgust. It is on the topic of covers:

You also can't use the same pose for guys and women - and women are much harder to draw covers for. With guys you just have to convey power to make the figure work while with women, you have to emphasize their, y'know, curvaceous nature.

Pretty much the only thing that is keeping me from kicking Frank Cho in the groin if if I ever meet him at a convention is the fact he does acknowledge that you also have to convey power with a female. But it's done in an incredibly backhanded manner. It's almost like a swimsuit-issue pose he says.

I never thought myself to be an angry feminist. But as I'm existing within this industry of comics, I find myself more and more turning that way. Why? Because it's so damn easy. Every day, I feel like I get testosterone poisoning from the male-centric manocracy (to quote Futurama) of this business of funny books. Everything is geared towards the male readers and that usually involves turning women into nothing more than sex objects.

I like T&A as much as the next red-blooded bisexual woman. Hell, I even own up to the fact that I enjoy drawing Kimiko scantily-clad in Creator Confidential #3. The thing I don't mention? I feel the same about Ryu, Hideaki and the other characters I find to be attractive. I think that's pretty evident by the poster I have of Ryu and Hideaki shirtless and in leather pants. Which, BTW, there are a few things I'd like to point out:

(1) I did the companion picture of Kimiko in leather, but only after I'd done the Ryu-Hideaki picture and on the suggestion of a friend.
(2) While she does flaunt what she has, Kimiko isn't the most buxom of ladies.
(3) The Ryu-Hideaki poster is a better seller than the Kimiko picture, despite the fact I actually think the Kimiko one is technically better.

I also have plenty of pictures which are not sexually charged in the least. On the covers of The Otherkind #1 and #2, no one looks particularly saucy. I was also praised profusely at a convention for having a female character who looked like an average teenaged girl.

Sex sells, we know that. But it's not necessary. The only requirements are that things are interesting and good.

I don't have a problem with the objectifying of characters. Obviously I don't or else I'd be a massive hypocrite for the pictures I have of my own characters. That's not what I have a problem with. It's the double-standard. It is the idea that all pictures of women must be sexually charged and that it's not at all needed with male characters.

Guess what folks? Girls read comics. As do bisexual and homosexual men. And we like sexy guys. And we like when those sexy guys are actually displayed sexually. Also, comics aren't going to lose any male readers by showing them off. Or by-- *gasp*-- having a woman who doesn't make Jessica Rabbit look like an unendowed nun.

It is the insistence that biggest attribute women have to add to comics are their... Well, attributes... That pisses me off. Also the idea that all women MUST have big tits to be sexy. Hell, I've seen recent pictures of Jubilee from X-Men (who is a TEENAGED CHINESE-AMERICAN) where she looks like she should tip over.

Female characters can be just as compelling as male characters. And not highlighting their sexuality can even be more appealing than doing so. A picture of a female character that suggests 'I'm strong and powerful and I'm not here to be a sex object' is more alluring than one that essentially boils down to 'look at my knockers. Aren't they fabulous?' because it adds a challenge. Fantasies about that woman would make a guy feel powerful.

I loathe the assumption that female and male characters are different. Honestly, they're not. I think the fact this point is so pushed is why female fans tend to have trouble finding female characters they enjoy. We don't want women who are only around the serve the male characters (or to serve the male readers). We also don't want straw feminists who put the grrr back in girl power. We just want... Characters. Not every female character has to be a buxom babe with the Most Common Superpower and an utter willingness to be displayed as such.

And a few more fanservice shots of men wouldn't kill them.

Wrote an entire scene and started outlining it for issue four, only to realize halfway through that Kimiko's fox ears were in plain view of a unaware Norm.

I have an overabundance of smarts.

Dad took a picture of me with the print run of #2, which I never got to do with the first one. We'll see if I can move these bad boys.

The comic is available from the webstore now, at $5.00 +shipping.

This has been something I've been going back and forth on for a while and finally made my decision on it.

"The Otherkind" is now available as a digital download for FREE on my website.

Why do this now, after all this time? Because frankly, it's always what I wanted to do. The only thing I really want from "The Otherkind" is for people to read it. Money is totally awesome... But the important part for me is that it's something that people can read and enjoy.

I kept on trying to convince myself I needed to charge for the digital download because I wanted to be "professional". I still do want to be professional, but I don't want to be a douche and go against my personal feelings.

I decided to finally do this after listening to an interview my brother gave last night. His band has all of their albums available as digital downloads for free, have a vinyl for purchase and then they also have merch. They feel that people are going to try things out and if they like it, they're going to buy it.

And it's really the same thing with comics. I mean, yeah... You can read the story in digital form, but there's a whole different feeling holding it in your hands. That's the whole reason I got it printed in the first place. It made it real. And I'm sure other comic readers feel the same. It's all well and good to read something on your computer, but if you like it, you want to OWN it.

I could lie and say it's all about just the free exchange of art... But that's bullshit. I'm not exactly making a lot of sales. A lot of people are hesitant about spending cash on something they know almost nothing about. But they might be more willing to part with their money if they know what they're getting into. So in the long run, I think this is better. Because they're still the matter of simply reading vs having the actual, physical comic.

This is the really, really long way of saying you can now download the first two comics HERE.

Issue #2 will be ready to ship most likely next week. So please... Read it, if you like it, buy the print version. If you don't.... Well, I hope to do better next time. And if you do like it and you don't buy it, then you'll make me cry BLACK EMO TEARS and that's just unpleasant for everyone.

Script for #3 is finished. I might change the ending of it before I get into the drawing, as I don't know if I'm completely happy with how it finished. I need to let it sit for bit before I go back and reconsider it.

That's actually about it. I've just been focusing on the writing. The only drawings I've been doing have been the sketchy outline pages. Which will never seen the light of day, unless I decide to let everyone have a good laugh at my expense (like my drawings aren't things to be mocked anyway...)

Going to do the script for #4 before I do the art for #3, to give the guest cover artist on #4 something to work from.

There's a new character introduced in #3, so there will be another profile pic in the foreseeable future.

I got the proof of #2 and made all necessary fixes. So that's off to the printer and #2 will be available in print form very shortly. Hurray! Things actually happening! I'd be more pleased if I wasn't exhausted at the moment!

Wow, that was a LOT of work for a cheap Rob Liefeld joke.

...Totally worth it.

And since he appeared in this comic, good luck to Ethan and the rest of his band, Promonium Jesters (and tour mates Adaptive Reaction) on their Western Canada tour, in progress now! Check them out on MySpace. (End shameless ad)

I'm pretty wrecked at the moment. I stayed up all night working on issue three. Then, I decided it would be a good day to go downtown to check on how my books were doing over at the comic shop. They are not doing well. At all. They are all still there. I'd been hoping after going to a couple of local cons, the word might've gotten out there a bit more. I was so bummed, I didn't pick up any comics. The only thing I did buy was some replacement Copics and a mechanical pencil from the art store down the street. At the very least, my fail doesn't dull my want to work on the subsequent issues.

Ended up fail eating a burger from MacDonald's (it reminds me of how this job is better than my last one) and then heading home. Since the printer is on the way from the train station, I went in to check on how the proof was coming. He had it ready and it looks REALLY GOOD. It's a lot crisper and the colors are more vivid than the print of the first issue. So my mood picked up a bit. The fact that my change in printers looks to be completely for the best is definitely a mood changer.

When I got home, I talked to Mike for a minute. He made me feel even better when he told me none of the Promonium Jesters/Adaptiv Reaction singles have sold downtown. Both Promonium and Adaptiv are WAY better known than my comic in Toronto. So there's fail all around and I don't feel as bad.

I'm still tired thought. It's been a long day for me. Need to shut my brain off for a bit.

Yes... I do it all for the fanboys. >.>

Kimiko has actually turned out very different in writing, but she is a character I'd been playing with for many years and tried to find the right story for. I'm finally content.

Not the new CC yet, but a quick special strip I did up, based on something that happened to me today:



I'm a casual fan of the Japanese rocker Miyavi and I followed the rather heated discussions regarding the recent changes in his career/life. Anyway, I just heard about him losing his facial piercings today, I don't know when he actually did it (like I said, I'm a casual fan). I'm not nearly as upset as the comic suggests. My reaction was really just, "What? Really? Aw man. But you looked so cool!"

I just found it amusing that losing three bits of metal in the face should bum me out more than anything else he's done lately.

No disrespect was meant to the fans or Miyavi. All is said with great affection.

I had a strange dream. I was part of a theater festival. I was putting on a musical (which I think was supposed to be "Repo! The Genetic Opera", but you can never be sure in dreams).

My friends from Interrobang Studios were putting on a play right before me. They did really really well. I have a very clear memory of kevinbolkart wearing huge laurels of roses. They wish us luck and then it was our turn.

It was clumsy and there were a lot of mistakes, but people seemed to enjoy themselves. When it was over, my brother turned to me and said, "I was supposed to put out the bag to collect donations, wasn't I? I completely forgot. I guess you need to pay for this all yourself."

Apparently, my subconscious feels the need to drop anvils of symbolism.

The only thing I'm confused on was the appearance from Interrobang... I've decided that it was supposed to be for comedy, as the image of Kevin covered in roses was pretty LOL-worthy. There's probably some artist envy deep down in there, but my conscious self chooses to ignore it, 'cause dammit... They deserve any and all success and I'm just a complete cheerleader for those awesome folks.

Or maybe it was just my mind's way of really hammering in "THIS IS ABOUT THE COMIC, DUMMY!", as I might have been dumb enough to think it was just a random dream otherwise.

Trying to write my way through issue three. It's coming slowly, but surely.

I've decided to write issue four immediately after I'm done writing this script, for two very specific reasons:

(1) So that I'll at least be one script ahead... Which is really the smart thing to do (of course, if I were REALLY smart, I'd be four COMICS ahead).

(2) I am having a guest artist on issue #4. Jennifer Gormek will be doing the cover art. She is an incredibly talented artist and hopefully this will just be the first of many times we get to collaborate.

But, since she has a very demanding job as a substitute teacher, she needs to do the cover when she has guaranteed free time-- the Christmas holiday. At the very least, I've got to have the script done, so she'll know what the cover should be about.

Have a couple of new projects in my mind that I'd like to get to soon. Gah... Need more time!

Another character intro. Quite different from the others I've posted. It's nice to have a character who has some age, as opposed to the (usually deceptively) young and beautiful. Granted, that was totally my choice (and Patrick IS a total silver fox), but it's good to change things up.

( Character Intro #8: Patrick Murphy )

For the record, my mother has been super supportive of my career... Once she realized I was serious in the actual sense of the term. She has even come with me to conventions to run my table. But there was some disbelief at first. For good reason.

...But I'd make a good Jedi.

So I haven't done this for a while... Mostly because there's only so many characters in the first issue and I've been sitting on the issue two characters until, well, issue two was available.

Of course, this one's already gotten a bit of an intro, being the main character of the first interlude. But I'm a slave to habit.

( Character Intro #7: Joe Murphy )

I went over to the printer's today (well, yesterday now). Should have a proof in the next few days (hurray!). It should be hella cheaper than getting it from comixpress (more hurray!).

There'll be a new Creator Confidential soon, as in later today (....Erm, hurray? Maybe?).

So after several days of pulling my hair out, cursing enough to make a sailor blush and generally being annoying, I have finished tweaking http://www.the-otherkind.com (and it IS now .com. .net is now an automatic redirect).

Amongst the changes:

--Prettier bio thumbnails on the character page.
--Lorelei's bio is up.
--Interlude: Puzzles is now up (NOT Pieces as I previously had it listed here, that's the Interlude between 2-3).

But the biggest change... I have an online store which does not make me cry from ugly. It actually looks like part of the website, as opposed to an odd aberration. So hurray for me! It's taken A LOT of work. I ended up totally sporking the code on the old webstore. That's actually why .net is now a re-direct. So I rebuilt the store from scratch on .com. And it's been hard... Mainly because my process of web design/coding in "Hmmm.... What'll happen if I take this line of code out?". Lots of trial and error.

But everything SHOULD be working now. If someone orders a digital download, I do need to authorize it before they can download it though. Which kinda sucks. I'll do more tweaking when my brain is not mushy.

ALSO! And this is big!



The Otherkind #2 is available for Digital Download!

At least is should be, unless I sporked the store code and am unaware of it (but I did do A LOT of testing, so it should be okay). Anyway, it's available for a dollar. So if any of you all are impatient waiting for the print version, you can get the digital one now. I'm going to be going over to my printer tomorrow to get things locked down on the actual print run.

Kay, I'm just going to go die of exhaustion now.

I've been trying to get this together for a while and I finally managed to kick my butt into gear.

This is an Otherkind Interlude. It is a web-only (for the most part) short comic set between issues of the Otherkind. Some of them will explore things from the previous issue, others will set things up for the next one. They're also from the point of view of characters other than the main three. For those of you who've met me at conventions, you'll be familiar with the Interludes already, as I used one as the flyer for the comic at my table.

So here's the first one, which is set between issues one and two. This is actually not the only I've been handing out at cons.

WARNING: This is a RIDICULOUSLY large image. Click on the cut at your own risk.

( The Otherkind Interlude #1: Puzzles )