The Comics Super Blog!
Earlier today David Chelsea announced he was putting Are You Being Watched? on Tumblr.
It’s the same story I’ve been serializing on Patreon since July, but in an archive that you can click straight through without having to go back to the home page after each installment.
Over the next month, Chris Schweizer will be offering thoughts on the Nativity set model (a large papercraft crèche) mentioned last week that you can find and download here:
Rather than run it everyday Chris has given us permission to run it every few days.
Day 1: Mary
My version of Mary is influenced by The Gospel of the Origin of the Blessed Version and the Childhood of the Savior, now generally known as The Gospel of Psuedo-Matthew, written in the early 7th century for a Christian community clamoring for Jesus prequels, and from the Protevangelium, written about fifty years after the Gospel of Luke was laid down. Both were important sources for medieval sacred art.
Mary is was the only daughter of Joachim and Anna, two extremely righteous people who found themselves childless in middle age. Despite his piety and charity, Joachim (much like Job) was suspected of wickedness by his neighbors, here because God had opted to refuse them children. We see echoes of the many other late-in-life-miraculous pregnancies in the Bible here, as their prayers are answered, and Anna becomes pregnant with Mary.
They dedicate Mary to the temple where she goes to live and serve, but as she nears menstrual age the temple priests start to fret. She has to leave before she gets her period, which would defile the holy place. So, with much ceremony to determine a match suitable for such a miraculous child, the priests arrange an engagement between twelve-year-old Mary and Joseph, at whose home she goes to live until she reaches fourteen, at which point their marriage will be consummated.
Now we get to the canonical Gospels, and Mary receives word from the angel Gabriel that she will be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Her soul doth magnify the Lord, yeah, but she’s also barely a teenager and I expect that the attention of the visitors is a little overwhelming, so I drew her curled up, trying to process the magnitude of the whole thing.
Advent Calendar Day 2: Joseph
This version of Joseph is influenced by the Gospel of James, or the Protevangelium, written about 60 years after the Gospel of Matthew, and he was probably created/developed in order to support the pet theory on the part of some early Christians that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life. There are a few bits of scripture that run afoul of this concept, but outside of semantic wording there’s still a really big obstacles on this notion: Jesus’s brothers and sisters.
Centuries later there have been plenty of other explanations proffered, but the easiest one (and the one latched on to by early adherents) was that Joseph had been married before he was engaged to Mary, and that the six siblings of Jesus mentioned in the New Testament –Simon, Joseph Jr, Judas (a different one), James, and two unnamed sisters (do they number two in the gospels? I can’t remember, but the plural “sisters” means at least two) – are technically Mary’s stepchildren.
So here’s the story: The priests at the Temple know Mary needs to get married off, but because of the special circumstances surrounding her birth they want to make sure that whatever match occurs is good in the eyes of God. So they summon all of the bachelors in good standing (Joseph, at this point, is a widower), and perform a ceremony to try and discern who God would wish to be Mary’s husband. Joseph goes out of religious obligation, but doesn’t really want to be there. He’s old in his own eyes. He’s had a happy marriage and he misses his wife and he has a bunch of kids, some of whom are already grown, and he doesn’t want to be an old dad with a wife not much older than his youngest child. So he just pays lip service to the ceremony and when all the men are supposed to present their staffs he keeps his at his side. Nothing happens, and the priests do the ceremony again (“we’re not leaving here ‘til God gives us a sign”). One notices that Joseph is basically lip-synching, and they insist he participates. When he does, a dove flies over and lands on his staff.
So Joseph is stuck. He doesn’t want to marry this kid, but the priests insist that it’s his religious obligation.
In some later versions of this story, Mary comes to live at Joseph’s home during the engagement (not unlikely; she wouldn’t have been able to continue living at the temple), learning to run the household and helping to raise (babysit) James, a few years her junior.
Now we get to the Gospel version, which I think finds greater depth via the prequel-reluctant-husband story.
Joseph is engaged to Mary and discovers that she’s pregnant. And he chooses to quietly divorce her (the marriage is pretty much in play once the engagement is solidified; it’s the consummation that finalizes it, held off in this instance because of Mary’s youth) rather than make public her condition or insist on punishment.
Joseph has always been my favorite character in the Bible, and it’s because of this. Even before the story has him learning of the divinity of her pregnancy, he harbors no ill will to her, no desire to reclaim honor by vengeance, no chastisement, nothing of the social barbarity (by our/my standards) that speaks to the time and place and culture from whence he sprung. And from the time I was a kid, I found more nobility in that than near on anything else in the whole book.
The version of Joseph espoused by the early church may have been crafted to explain this calm and measured and merciful side, much at odds with his legalistic predecessors. Joseph is older, so he has the wisdom of experience to recognize and forgive youthful mistakes. He has children, so the usurpation of his bride’s babymaker by another sire doesn’t threaten his bloodline. From a pragmatic fatherly standpoint, his teen biological sons may be at risk of fatal punishment were they suspected of the adulterous union, the most likely paramours given household proximity. And Joseph was a reluctant bridegroom in the first place, so he would likely see Mary’s pregnancy as a blessing, a means by which to remove himself from the engagement through no abandonment of responsibility on his part.
In The Gospel of Matthew Joseph is told in a dream that Mary’s pregnancy is divine, and that God wishes him to wed her.
Though some dogma insists that Joseph was wholeheartedly faithful in his belief of this (there’s even a school of thought championed by St. Thomas Aquinas in which Joseph never suspected any hanky panky and knew that Mary could only have conceived divinely and that the divorce was because he thought himself unworthy, which is such a stretch as to boggle my noggin), but I like reflecting on the perpetual doubt that Joseph must have felt. I prefer my religious figures humanized, and Joseph is at his most admirably human when he discards suspicion, and it doesn’t matter whether that acceptance is rooted in fervent belief or simply the possibility of that belief. That he opts to wed, that he chooses to raise the child as his own, this is the first example we get of the direction that the New Testament will take, this sense of throwing off the legalism of the previous generations for the love and mercy that will be at the heart of Christianity.
My version here has a super fancy staff, much grander than his station would suggest, that I figure he might have made himself as a hobby project, because, you know, carpenter.
Advent Calendar Day 3: James
James, as depicted here, is Joseph’s youngest biological son, still part of his household, and, as such, likely to have traveled with them to Bethlehem. I have him gathering firewood, as I assume he’d have been the one to run errands, get food, etc, as Joseph stayed near Mary for the sake of both safety and propriety.
In church and narrative tradition, James serves as a counter to Paul in the early church, treating Christianity not as a new religion but as a sect within Judaism. He and Paul are at odds over whether Christ’s message is for the Jews or for the entire world. The apostle Peter serves as their negotiator, espousing a middle path of compromise. James, in a dual role a high priest of the temple AND a bishop of the early Christian church (not, at the time, conflicting stations) serves as a kind of Chief Justice for early church decisions, and accepts Paul’s dogma-shattering recommendation that gentile converts needn’t behave according to Jewish social contract, but with the caveat that certain other behavioral law be implemented.
It’s James, I think, from whom we get the legalistic tradition of Christianity, at least symbolically. Sure, any religion is going to codify behavioral principles over time, but James’ influence directly steers the notion of distinct cultures maintaining their practices in full while still converting to this new faith into what we instead eventually get, which is the desire on the part of the church that the faithful homogenize into the existing Christian culture. I don’t know if this is a widely-held view, or if it’s held at all, but it’s my take on the fella.
Advent Calendar Day 4: Uriel and Lil’ John the Baptist
Jesus’s cousin John, who will later grow up to be the wild-eyed desert mystic and prophet of the Gospels, is probably about six months older than Jesus, and thus presented a problem for theologians who accepted the version of events in which Herod ordered the slaughter of all Hebrew children under the age of two (a deliberate echo by the writer of the Gospel of Matthew to Pharaoh’s edict thirteen hundred years earlier). Why wasn’t John killed?
The story that evolved was that he was spirited away to join the Holy Family whence they had fled in Egypt, and the vehicle of his deliverance was the angel Uriel. You can see a version of this story in the DaVinci painting “Virgin of the Rocks.”
Uriel is, according to Rabbinic tradition, one of the four archangels (the four that we’ve culturally come to accept are Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, listed by name in the Book of Enoch, composed between 100 and 300 BCE).
Angels are tricky. We often take “Messenger of God” mentions as being angels, though context makes it unlikely that they looked inhuman, and rarely is there anything contextual (though theologically there is opposition to this idea) to conflict with the idea that the messengers ARE men, used by God for His purpose. When angels are identified as angels and described, often in the apocalyptic genre with books like Daniel and Revelations, man, they are out there.
Uriel here takes his design partially from Daniel 10 (dressed in linen, belt of gold, eyes like torches, face like lightning, skin like burnished bronze) and partially from Ezekiel, where I pulled the four-faces thing (though this springs up in plenty of other books and in other forms). I gave him human feet instead of calf hooves, though.
Lil’ John here hints at his future in the wilderness, with his filthy matted hair and casual feral nudity.
This week marks the release of Alex Robinson’s Our Expanding Universe. The master cartoonist behind Box Office Poison, Tricked, and Too Cool to Be Forgottenis back! Our Expanding Universe, the new graphic novel from Alex Robinson, is available now. Click here for a preview by Top Shelf, to mark the release I interviewed him.
Tim O’Shea: Box Office Poison is a classic; that being said do you ever tire of people measuring your work against BOP.
Alex Robinson: I’ve come to accept the fact that if anything is going to be on my tombstone it will be that book. Of course it’s a mixed bag having your oldest work be the one people are most familiar with but I’m going with the more positive interpretation that I’m fortunate that something I created stuck a chord with readers.
In many ways it feels like Box Office Poison was done by a different guy, which, in a way, it was since it’s been 15 years since I completed it. When I look at it now one thing I appreciate is my enthusiasm. It was like I said “I finally got a comic book of my very own and this might be my only shot at it so I’m going to squeeze in as much stuff and try as many storytelling tricks as I can.” I’m amazed at the ambitiousness of it but I guess that’s the nature of being young.
What inspired the development of Our Expanding Universe?
The new book is about three guys and how various adult concerns–whether to have children, being in long term relationships (or being an adult who is very much not in a relationship), etc–affect their friendship. It’s not autobiography but it’s definitely inspired by events in my own life, much in the same way Box Office Poison was inspired by stuff I was going through when I was in my 20s.
Prior to this I’d been working on a few projects that, for various reasons, didn’t work out so my confidence was a little rattled. I was really wrestling with what to do next–I even briefly entertained the idea of putting comics aside and writing a proper novel–when the story pretty much came to me fully formed. I remember because I was walking my dog and rushed home to write down the ideas before they disappeared into the ether.
Would you say dialogue is your greatest storytelling asset or is it something else?
It’s definitely one of the stronger tools in my box of comics tricks. I always say I think of myself as a writer who draws, as opposed to an artist who writes and characterization tends to drive the story (as it does in real life, I think). It’s something I’ve really been struggling with because the stuff I like to write–relationships, the give and take of conversation and so on–isn’t neccessarily the stuff I like to draw. If I had my druthers I’d be drawing stuff like my Lower Regions book: pretty lady barbarian fighting monsters, but when I’ve tried writing fantasy stories it’s never worked.
There are definitely some sections of the new book where I tried to accommodate both halves of my brain. I’m toying with the idea of radically our expanchanging my working method and going more “Marvel” style–plotting and drawing the book before I do the dialogue. We’ll see if I have the guts to go through with it or if the results are any good. Would a book not driven by dialogue still have that patented “Alex Robinson feeling?”
Who designed the great cover?
I kicked around some ideas with Chris Ross at Top Shelf. I think I gave him a crude rendering of what I had in mind and he spun it into gold. He did a great job with this and the new cover to Box Office Poison.
Did you ever consider doing this book in full color?
It hadn’t really occurred to me, since I’ve always worked in black and white but you’re actually the second person to ask me that which makes me wonder if there’s been a shift in the industry. In olden times the economics made it pretty much impossible to do an indy color book but that seems to have changed. I can see I’m out of step with today’s comics industry–I still do all my books in old fashioned pen and ink on paper and I think in terms of graphic novels as opposed to the web comics the kids love. If it helps the next story I’m working on would be well-suited to color so maybe I’ll finally make the transition.
I’m not a good colorist but I do love seeing my stuff in color, particularly on a computer screen.
Seeing as you want to draw different material would you ever consider collaborating with someone else?
I’ve collaborated on short stories, usually with someone else writing and me drawing, but the idea of a more serious, long term commitment hasn’t really come up. For one thing, the money in comics is so bad that the idea of splitting what little you do get with someone becomes a practical concern. I also think I might just be too controlling and selfish to really make it viable. I think one of the big appeals of working in the comics medium, especially when I first started, was that one person really could do everything if they wanted or needed to. You could tell the story you wanted to tell and explore ideas you wanted to examine without having to run it by some boss. But who knows, if the right offer came along I would consider it.
Today truly marks the beginning of the AfterShock Comics era as comics hit the shelves. Included in this collection is Paul Jenkins and Andy Clarke’s Replica. “Meet Trevor Carter, an Earth-born peacekeeping agent on the intergalactic hub known as The Transfer. When Trevor’s already near impossible assignment becomes a bit too much for the errant detective, he turns to the only logical ap-proach, Replication. More of a good thing can’t hurt, right? A single clone could be helpful; unfortunately the replication process doesn’t go as planned!”
Tim O’Shea: From the initial planning of the series did you always intend to have an element of comedy to it?
Paul Jenkins: Yes. I love dark humor/black comedies. I think there is an autobiographical element to everything a creator makes, and I realized in hindsight this series reflected my crazy workload these days. I wish I could clone myself sometimes, and I know without a doubt I would hate my clone. The idea that a guy has to interact with aliens species in order to police a giant spaceship is rife with comedic possibilities, and it’s something I had wanted to build out for a long time. In fact, you can see elements of the “Buddy Cop” humor concept in the series I recently did with Boom, Fiction Squad. I love the idea of a detective paired with someone that he cannot possibly stand – in this case, our main character’s partner is a rather dimwitted alien called Vorgas.
In terms of the creator-owned aspect what drew you in yourself to new outfit like Aftershock vs some veteran group.
I have known Joe Pruett for many years, and in fact Joe and I had been talking about his new company long before its existence was announced. I really feel supported by everyone at Aftershock, and having been through a number of startup comic companies, i know the real key is to deliver quality books on time for a long time. Adding Mike Marts has really solidified the editorial team – he brings a wealth of contacts and experience. My own experiences here are already amazing, and since I know I am already through issue #6, i know that the series is here for the long haul, and will arrive on time every month. These are the types of details that bode well for the company’s longevity, and the lineup of creators and titles just keeps getting better and better.
From an artistic standpoint what made Andy Clarke a good fit on the series?
Andy is perfect. For one thing, I am guessing his experiences with 2000AD probably helped a lot. He really gets the nuances of the humor, mostly. Andy is fully engaged in terms of the creative, and so I feel like it’s Christmas every time he hands in a page. He’s a great collaborator – perfect choice for this series.
What makes Trevor (Churchill) tick and how hard was it for you to realize the core of the character’s appeal
As I said above, this series is autobiographical in that I am so overmatched sometimes at my film studio job (plus I work with aliens). Unlike me, he’s a lovable loser. Trevor is constantly on the verge of having the entire thing just go sideways and explode, and he deals with it using humor and tenacity. Trevor keeps trying and trying, no matter what life throws at him (and usually, life throws a lot of stuff that does not smell pleasant). He’s a simple kind of guy who believes in generally being a good guy, though he is willing to bend the rules for a good cause.)
Rather than being an unlimited series it is an ongoing liberating is that for you?
Absolutely, yes. First of all, I love doing this book. Secondly, we are allowed to develop the character instead of just throwing him out there for a little bit and moving onto something else.. I haven’t been on an ongoing in years – I miss it.
As an Atlanta native my ears perked up when I learned you were gonna be teaching at the growing campus that is Kennesaw. While educating your students do you also see it as a chance to improve your creative process as well?
I think that anyone who teaches will only do it properly if they are also willing to learn. I am a sponge for knowledge – I particularly love to do research. So yes, I am learning all the time from my students.
What should we discuss that I neglected to ask about?
Why do bad things happen to good people? (A: because they deserve it).
Earlier this week when I ran across a Khary Randolph MLB commission piece I asked if he had more art like this. He did. Luckily for us. For good measure we also included a Y.A. Tittle New York Giants piece by Mike DeCarlo.
In between eating remarkable amounts of Turkey yesterday, I watched with glee as both the Eagles and the Cowboys got their asses kicked on TV. The enclosed sketch is of my first Giants player idol, 1960’s quarterback Y.A.Tittle. He will be my Talisman for this Sunday’s matchup with the Redskins, as my beloved Giants bring me a little joy I hope.
Happy Holidays! Now through December 1, get 40% off books and magazines at www.twomorrows.com!
It’s our Annual TwoMorrows Holiday Sale, and we’re getting it started well before Black Friday, to make sure everyone gets their orders in time for the holidays. Save at least 40% on:
Alter Ego
Back Issue
Draw
Comic Book Creator
Jack Kirby Collector
Modern Masters
How-to Draw Comics publications
Artist Biographies
American Comic Book Chronicles volumes
Companion Books
even BrickJournal and LEGO publications!
For easy ordering, you can download an interactive PDF file of our full catalog by clicking this link:http://www.twomorrows.com/media/2015CatalogOnline.pdf
Todd Klein’s Annual Holiday Sale Remains Fairly Straightforward
Holiday Sale: November 27 to December 4.
Any Three Prints for $35 (United States) or $42 (Elsewhere)
To take advantage of this sale, EMAIL your request to me at the website link and I will reply with Paypal payment information. Only Paypal orders accepted. All orders in multiples of three, lower shipping costs for orders of six, nine or more. NJ residents must pay NJ Sales Tax. EMAIL LINK
If you’d rather order and pay by mail, using a check or money order, click HERE for an order form to do that. NOTE: if you plan to mail order, email me and let me know, I’ll hold items for you.
Shipping amount varies based on the total cost of items you order. Here is a chart for U.S. shipments:
Up to $20 = shipping $3, up to $100 = $5, over $100 = $8.
New recent large increases in international shipping rates by the US Postal Service have forced me to raise my shipping rate for all packages to other countries to a flat $12 per package.
New Jersey residents must pay 7% sales tax on items and shipping.
Prints and vellum overlays will be placed in a protective plastic sleeve, rolled and sent in a sturdy mailing tube. CDs will be sandwiched between two layers of corrugated cardboard, wrapped in bubble wrap and mailed in a Tyvek envelope. Bookmarks ordered without other items will be sent in a letter-size envelope with cardboard stiffener.
The first 500 copy printing of this 11 by 17 inch signed print in collaboration with artist Shawn McManus is now available. GO FREELANCE! is a board game that outlines the lives of two budding comics artists. It’s written, designed and lettered by me with over fifty wonderful spot illustrations by Shawn in a 1950s-advertising art style that’s sure to bring a smile. Here you’ll meet Artie and Scribbler as they make their way from childhood to retirement through the challenges, pitfalls, rewards and catastrophes of a creative livelihood…their original creations, terrific T-Man and the mysterious Master of None…plus other characters like the Old Pro, and a special guest appearance by a certain Top Writer! (hint: initials NG) The print is on ivory-colored Wausau cardstock paper, printed in black, and highlighted with green watercolor, each hand-painted by me. Shawn and I have individually signed each print.
Over at Sequential Tart Suzette Chan reflects upon when an anti-harassment system works as it should and did at the Edmonton Expo (held in late September with 50,000 in attendance). Full disclosure, Stephanie Chan is a founding member of Smash Pages.
We experienced one incident of harassment. Edmonton Expo handled it in a way that shows that it is serious and prepared to deal with harassment at the con.
… Steph was standing behind the table, and fledgling new Tart Kelaine Devine was seated behind the table.
A fellow walked up to Kelaine and told her to smile so that she would look better in a photo. She declined. He then turned to Steph and said, “She’s pretty. Is she an actress, too?” I told him, “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Steph tried to get his name and photo, and a bit of a chase ensued. It ended up with the guy yelling at Steph and following her until she got to the customer service desk. I caught up with them there. Four Edmonton Expo personnel were at the desk. One took Steph aside to get her story. Another spoke to the fellow, or tried to. Eventually a response team was called in to speak with him.
The volunteer who took Steph’s story escorted us back to our table. Later, the response team visited our table to check on us and to give us an update. Apparently, the fellow was bellicose and unrepentant, which led to his expulsion.
Looking back, I appreciated the process: A) We reported it. B) The report was taken seriously. C) Edmonton Expo took steps to ensure that the fellow would not harass anyone else at the event. D) The team followed up with us.
We wanted to share this story as an example of a policy about harassment that is in place and that worked. We felt heard, and, though I’m sure he was not happy to be expelled, the person identified as a harasser also was heard. The main takeaway is that there was immediate response, action, and follow-up.
In this week’s edition of The Moment, I detail how in some ways Huck reminds me of Mark Millar’s 1998 Superman Adventures run.
Superman Adventures remains the high point so far 0f Millar’s work, serving return to that form dating as far back as 1998. Huck is an incredibly likeable character in the way he is characterized in these first two issues there’s an unseen optimism to him I don’t know if it will last but all I know is it’s really a refreshing change from a lot of comics currently on the market. The moment that hooked me was from issue 2 when he could have quit but he chose to presevere and help people as he always does.
Rafael Albuquerque on art is merely icing on the cake.
Chris Mautner interviewed Bill Griffith ostensibly to discuss Griffith’s new graphic memoir, Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair With a Famous Cartoonist. During the SPX Q&A it became clear that he had many topics he wanted to cover.
Well, luckily Zippy just rolls out of me every day. I get up about 9:30 a.m. and I go for a walk – about a mile-and-a-half walk. Inevitably, when I come home I have at least one if not three strip ideas. A walk literally jogs them out of my head. I write them down while I’m walking and I come home and I do either one or two Zippy strips. It’s a little bit like writing in my diary.
