Creator Roundup

This week, Dan Hipp gives 5 minutes from Mario, Sana Takeda shows off, Jeff Smith talks on the radio, JH Williams III shares his playlist, Nate Powell talks about books, Brian lEE o'malley draws his favourite thing, Ba and Moon go straight to inking, Charles Soul talks work for hire, Skottie Young draws Splinter, Brandon and Marion Graham draw each other, Mike Allred has some Aquaman fun, Jeff Parker talks about how to properly collaborate, Becky Cloonan goes gothic, Sean Phillips cracks out the ray gun and Phil Noto plugs the Avengers movie.


- Dan Hipp has heaps of new stuff on his site, including this one:


- Sana Takeda previews Venom 13.2:


- Jeff Smith recorded an interview with Black Squirrel Radio:



- JH Williams III is not only the best artist in the business but a fan of the Ramones as well. Here's what he's been listening to:
The Black Keys – El Camino

Puny Human – Revenge Is Easy

Orange Goblin – Coup De Grace

Orange Goblin – Frequencies From Planet Ten

Radiohead – Amnesiac (expanded edition)

Jesus And Mary chain – Psychocandy (expanded and remastered)

Jesus And Mary Chain – Darklands (expanded and remastered)

Jesus And Mary Chain – Automatic (expanded and remastered)

Jesus and Mary Chain – Honey’s Dead (expanded and remastered)

Jesus And Mary Chain – Stoned And Dethroned (expanded and remastered)

Debbie Harry – Koo Koo (new remastered version)

Mumford And Sons – Sigh No More (limited 3 disc version)

The Smiths – Remastered Box Set (of all their albums)

Adele – 19

Adele – 21

The Cars – Move Like This

Rush – Permanent Waves (Remastered)

Rush – Roll The Bones

Killing Joke – Absolute Dissent

Tricky – Knowle West Boy

Ramones – Subterranean Jungle (expanded and remastered)

Ramones – Too Tough To Die (expanded and remastered)

Simple Minds – New Gold Dream

Simple Minds – Empires And Dance

Simple Minds – Real To Real Cacophony

Simple Minds – Sparkle In The rain

David J – Not Long For This World

Pink Floyd – The Final Cut

Soft Cell – Non Stop Erotic Cabaret

Prince – Around The World In A Day

Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier

Steppenwolf – For Ladies Only

Blondie – Atomic (single)

Stephen Colbert with The Black Belles – Charlene II I’m Over You (single)

Neal Heft – Batman

- Nate Powell does a reading questionnaire in cartoon form:


- Bryan Lee O'Malley changed up his yumbler and posted a heap of great new art, including this Ramona Flowers:



- Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon got inspired to draw without pencils:

I guess Bá and I weren't the only ones impressed by the link to a 26 page story done in ONE day by this incredible french artist called Boulet. You can check out the story clicking here. It's a funny and nice story on its own, but to think it was done in 26 hours is insane. It's one page per hour.
Poking around the web, I found some videos of the guy drawing, and discovered that he doesn't pencil his pages, going straight to inking. Check it out.
Bá and I got all kinds of excited about this and, during some coffee breaks, we tried out hand at drawing straight with pens. Bá's version in the one with blue pen, mine is the other one, in black.







- Charles Soule talks about work for hire:
Today’s topic is “work for hire.”  This is a term that gets thrown around constantly within the comics business, and I think often with something of a negative connotation.  Even a casual student of comics history has probably heard something about the way work for hire (which I’ll abbreviate to WfH going forward for my own sanity) “stole” the rights to Superman from Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel back in the 30s. In truth, that’s not really accurate, but I think that’s the general impression.  Jack Kirby tangled with it, as did Stan Lee and a number of comics’ earliest luminaries.  In some ways, WfH is why charities like the Hero Initiative are so important (they provide assistance to aging creators lacking financial resources for medical or other needs.)  WfH has a stigma attached to it, as if it’s a doctrine that allows fatcats to steal from poor, ignorant creators.
Here’s the truth: work for hire is a business term, not exactly a legal one.  It can have substantial legal (and financial) consequences, but ultimately, it’s a deal point that can be negotiated.  This post will aim to explain why WfH can be useful to everyone working on a project.  It’s not good or bad, it’s just a tool – the key is knowing what it means to you, and whether or not you should agree to it.

- Skottie Young's daily sketch is Master Splinter. Awesome.


- Brandon and Marion Graham drew each other:


- Mike Allred has some fun with Aquaman:


- Jeff Parker talks about co-creating comics:
Not that this ever stops me, I charge right into working with other cartoonists to bring new books and characters into existence, hoping I’ll figure it out on the way. This subject comes up regularly at Periscope Studio, of which I’m a member. I don’t know that we’ve reached a consensus, or that it’s even possible to do, but we keep talking about it out in the main room where everyone can hear our thoughts. I think that’s what needs to happen in the comics (and really, all entertainment) industry now.
The past month has opened up several unhealed wounds in comics- the new Watchmen comics, the Ghost Rider ruling, and the Walking Dead lawsuit (I’m not going to choose links, you can google any of those and bone up on them yourself based on your preferred news sources). Not pleasant stuff, but we might as well make the most of it and start hashing these practices out while it’s fresh on our minds. You may be worried about broaching the subject with a friend of yours you’re teaming with, so there’s never been a better excuse to bring it up.
I’m going to confine my thoughts to creation at the ground level, before any publishers are involved because that is the area we have the most control over. And if we can’t get near consensus as individuals how these things should work, good luck trying to dictate policy to a corporation. This is purely a beginning dialogue, and I’m sorry if I infuriate some with no clear cut answers. Those have to be reached between the collaborators.

- Ben Templsmith has a cool little video advertising a show:

Coming up: Ben Templesmith from Dr. Sketchys on Vimeo.

- Becky Cloonan plugs her new book 'The Mire':


- Dustin Nguyen posted a valentines day sketch:


- Chuck Dixon, Eric Larsen and a bunch of others weigh in on the Gary Friedrich case. Here's chuck's thoughts:
At Marvel all you need to do is endorse your check and you've legally turned over all rights to them. Anyone who works in comics under a work for hire agreement knows that any rewards they receive are at the whim of the company who owns the property. The company can grant or deny you further funds at their discretion. Marvel certainly could have cut a check for Gary based off of the Ghost Rider movies. It's undeniable that he created the property (along with Mike Ploog). Marvel has given money to other creators when their material was used in other media. There's certainly enough money to go around after two movies and tons of merchandising. There's what's strictly legal and what's right. Marvel is way wrong in this case. But, sadly, Gary's in a large club of creators who are victims of very bad deals.


- Sean Phillips goes cosmic:


- Phil Noto plugs the Avengers movie: