Yo what up my homieeeeeeeeeees! MC Schlaack Attack up in da house to fit you wit da beats, can I hear you say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat...!!!
No, no. Nooo. No more of that. Mr. Schlaack, you're being officially charged with crimes against humanity. Just please...stop. For the Children.
Anywho. Here's some updates on Blind Alley Comics for the month of May and going into June (it's lovely out there; get outside, before it gets too beastly), and a little with what's going on with Rick himself, because y'all are concerned I'm sure.
Firstly, allow me to announce the trade paperback of The Human Cannonball 1-5...! Coming out whenever the hell I feel like it. But seriously, I have to go back through my pages and do some editing; come up with a cover, and some bonus material to go with the TPB. I feel like a TPB shouldn't just gather the previous issues, but should have a couple of goodies in there, to sweeten the deal. Then again, we'll see what kind of time constraints I'm under. With that announcement, I'm also letting everyone know that THC will be going on hiatus for the time being; I've got to figure out what the heck is going to happen in Issues 6-10.
Second, Die Katze #1 is just about through the Pencils phase, and the inimitable Joe Haines is busy cranking out the inks as we speak (or he'd better be, at least). After that, of course, there's a helluva lot more to get done - scanning, dialogue, covers, formatting, credits, you name it. I like that we're actually taking time on this one; I'm willing to go over the dialogue with a fine-toothed comb, get it nice and succinct and not too overblown. Yes, it's a Lovecraftian sort of story, but that doesn't mean we have to imitate his purple prose. (Purple? It's virtually octarine. If you've ever seen another author chew the same word over and over again in the same paragraph - nay, the same sentence - as much as HPL does, I'll eat my Nameless, Eldritch hat). I'm planning a release date for Die Katze #1 around Halloween 2015, unless it gets completed much earlier. On the other hand, it might be efficacious for us to do as much as possible on the next two of the planned trilogy; that way we don't lose the style, and we can release it at leisure.
There's been some weird ideas floating around at BAC, too. Joe Haines has been hinting at doing some personal, not-for-release comics (besides Bone Boy...ooh, ain't I wicked...?!) They'll be based on the spoken-word work of Tom Waits. He was wondering if I'd like to do a couple; I'd jump right in, but in this case it would be better for me to pull the reigns on, maybe just act as support. Joe's been in a bit of a slump lately, and says he wants to get back to doing comics regularly; Bone Boy is caught in production hell (we both hate the digital part), and there's just not a lot of incentive to do comics, what with his leechlike 9-5 driving job. I'm going to keep on him.
Another idea we've had is a joint comic strip called Jones Street Blues, basically chronicling the absurdities of two working-bloke artists trying to survive in Lansing. You'd think living in the not-quite-inner-city would be boring, and it is, but then something just plain weird will happen. There's humor here, maybe cynical, maybe exasperated, but humor nonetheless. Drawing our situation will help dull the sharp edges of this life, and sharpen the dull edges.
I also have an idea for a podcast, ostensibly about comics, but maybe just about the weird shit we come up with. It's more for our own amusement, I think, rather than the edification of the masses, but who knows? Maybe somebody will have a listen and think, "Wow, that's bizarre. I kinda like it." We run through all kinds of subjects when we chat. Lately, for some reason, it's been all dreams and ghosts. Mostly because we've been playing Luigi's Mansion a lot, in which the titular green also-ran is tiptoeing around a haunted mansion, looking for his famouser brother, and sucking up ghosts with a vacuum-cleaner. It's pretty fun; I'm starting a new play-through, because me and Joe kept switching off on the first run and both missed a lot of the bosses. It's a quaint, rewarding little game; probably not a lot of replay value, but fun all the same. Anyway, yeah, podcast! I'd need a recorder and a couple of mic's. Nothing too fancy, seeing as most of the time we're plumb broke, but I'm sure I could whip something up.
Okay, enough about us! More about me, me, ME! What is Rick up to? Well, since my last post, my troubles at work have sort of...died down, I guess. That's the nice thing about a semi-corporate environment: nobody gives enough of a fuck to really pursue things. HR sort of swept the matter under the rug, after the initial flap; I've yet to see my "Written Reprimand". I was going to write up a report for the Union, but kind of lost momentum.
Who cares, anyway. I'm pretty much done with this job, mentally. Which doesn't mean I've "checked out" and am not doing my job; in fact, I'm doing really well on the latter half of Spring 2015 semester, really clipping along, with few errors. But it's a grim, mechanical sort of thing. Kind of like, "I'll show the bastards". I don't really trust my colleagues much, or the school. I just want to do my bit and get out of here.
I've also revised my opinion of my prospects in Lansing. I met some great comics guys who let me accompany them to the brand-spanking-new Capital City Con: Doug and Dan of Dan's Dream nonprofit, and Dom and Dave of Creating Heroes Stephen's Way (that's Monica's nonprofit, out of the bookstore Everybody Reads - yes, I'm a bit confused too). I've also met Jeff Schroeder, a comic art enthusiast who has a little drawing get-together at his place, which is nice since I can't make it to the Lansing Drink & Draw (which doesn't officially exist anymore). So yeah, maybe I'll stick around, if I can. That's the nice thing about a smaller city, sometimes: every so often you meet some really dedicated people.
With that in mind, I'm looking for graphic design jobs a little closer to home. I've got my cover letter and resume ready, but my portfolio needs a little work. It's a bit...wanting. Honestly, I'm nervous. I look over a list of my stuff, and it's kind of "Baby's-First Portfolio": I don't have any film work, my website stuff is primordial at best, and I'm worried that I'm just not going to cut it. The best I can really do is sell my passion and ability to think outside the box. And no, I don't have the requisite "1-3 years studio experience". I guess working in Blind Alley Comics could count, but it's a bit shaky. Mostly I'll just have to bully my way through the interview. Make them see that studio experience actually hampers the vision; it makes people complacent. I'm new, I'm fresh, I'm dynamic, I've got a ton of chutzpah, my balls are adamantium and require a flatbed train car just to haul around. Oh, and I draw, too. We'll see. I'm planning to canvas the local area, then the state, then the region, etc., until I find somewheres that'll take me. I'm going to try to compromise as little as possible; honestly, I'm financially stable right now, so I can afford to be choosy. I'm just...scared.
Hopefully I can keep up with my blog posts, too. I feel kind of bad for doing the "Story Development" posts and then leaving you hanging. And no pictures, either! Bad Rick. Bad. But I'll get to it, just yous guys wait and see.
Happy June! God, it's gorgeous out there...
Rick Out.
No, no. Nooo. No more of that. Mr. Schlaack, you're being officially charged with crimes against humanity. Just please...stop. For the Children.
Anywho. Here's some updates on Blind Alley Comics for the month of May and going into June (it's lovely out there; get outside, before it gets too beastly), and a little with what's going on with Rick himself, because y'all are concerned I'm sure.
Firstly, allow me to announce the trade paperback of The Human Cannonball 1-5...! Coming out whenever the hell I feel like it. But seriously, I have to go back through my pages and do some editing; come up with a cover, and some bonus material to go with the TPB. I feel like a TPB shouldn't just gather the previous issues, but should have a couple of goodies in there, to sweeten the deal. Then again, we'll see what kind of time constraints I'm under. With that announcement, I'm also letting everyone know that THC will be going on hiatus for the time being; I've got to figure out what the heck is going to happen in Issues 6-10.
Second, Die Katze #1 is just about through the Pencils phase, and the inimitable Joe Haines is busy cranking out the inks as we speak (or he'd better be, at least). After that, of course, there's a helluva lot more to get done - scanning, dialogue, covers, formatting, credits, you name it. I like that we're actually taking time on this one; I'm willing to go over the dialogue with a fine-toothed comb, get it nice and succinct and not too overblown. Yes, it's a Lovecraftian sort of story, but that doesn't mean we have to imitate his purple prose. (Purple? It's virtually octarine. If you've ever seen another author chew the same word over and over again in the same paragraph - nay, the same sentence - as much as HPL does, I'll eat my Nameless, Eldritch hat). I'm planning a release date for Die Katze #1 around Halloween 2015, unless it gets completed much earlier. On the other hand, it might be efficacious for us to do as much as possible on the next two of the planned trilogy; that way we don't lose the style, and we can release it at leisure.
There's been some weird ideas floating around at BAC, too. Joe Haines has been hinting at doing some personal, not-for-release comics (besides Bone Boy...ooh, ain't I wicked...?!) They'll be based on the spoken-word work of Tom Waits. He was wondering if I'd like to do a couple; I'd jump right in, but in this case it would be better for me to pull the reigns on, maybe just act as support. Joe's been in a bit of a slump lately, and says he wants to get back to doing comics regularly; Bone Boy is caught in production hell (we both hate the digital part), and there's just not a lot of incentive to do comics, what with his leechlike 9-5 driving job. I'm going to keep on him.
Another idea we've had is a joint comic strip called Jones Street Blues, basically chronicling the absurdities of two working-bloke artists trying to survive in Lansing. You'd think living in the not-quite-inner-city would be boring, and it is, but then something just plain weird will happen. There's humor here, maybe cynical, maybe exasperated, but humor nonetheless. Drawing our situation will help dull the sharp edges of this life, and sharpen the dull edges.
I also have an idea for a podcast, ostensibly about comics, but maybe just about the weird shit we come up with. It's more for our own amusement, I think, rather than the edification of the masses, but who knows? Maybe somebody will have a listen and think, "Wow, that's bizarre. I kinda like it." We run through all kinds of subjects when we chat. Lately, for some reason, it's been all dreams and ghosts. Mostly because we've been playing Luigi's Mansion a lot, in which the titular green also-ran is tiptoeing around a haunted mansion, looking for his famouser brother, and sucking up ghosts with a vacuum-cleaner. It's pretty fun; I'm starting a new play-through, because me and Joe kept switching off on the first run and both missed a lot of the bosses. It's a quaint, rewarding little game; probably not a lot of replay value, but fun all the same. Anyway, yeah, podcast! I'd need a recorder and a couple of mic's. Nothing too fancy, seeing as most of the time we're plumb broke, but I'm sure I could whip something up.
Okay, enough about us! More about me, me, ME! What is Rick up to? Well, since my last post, my troubles at work have sort of...died down, I guess. That's the nice thing about a semi-corporate environment: nobody gives enough of a fuck to really pursue things. HR sort of swept the matter under the rug, after the initial flap; I've yet to see my "Written Reprimand". I was going to write up a report for the Union, but kind of lost momentum.
Who cares, anyway. I'm pretty much done with this job, mentally. Which doesn't mean I've "checked out" and am not doing my job; in fact, I'm doing really well on the latter half of Spring 2015 semester, really clipping along, with few errors. But it's a grim, mechanical sort of thing. Kind of like, "I'll show the bastards". I don't really trust my colleagues much, or the school. I just want to do my bit and get out of here.
I've also revised my opinion of my prospects in Lansing. I met some great comics guys who let me accompany them to the brand-spanking-new Capital City Con: Doug and Dan of Dan's Dream nonprofit, and Dom and Dave of Creating Heroes Stephen's Way (that's Monica's nonprofit, out of the bookstore Everybody Reads - yes, I'm a bit confused too). I've also met Jeff Schroeder, a comic art enthusiast who has a little drawing get-together at his place, which is nice since I can't make it to the Lansing Drink & Draw (which doesn't officially exist anymore). So yeah, maybe I'll stick around, if I can. That's the nice thing about a smaller city, sometimes: every so often you meet some really dedicated people.
With that in mind, I'm looking for graphic design jobs a little closer to home. I've got my cover letter and resume ready, but my portfolio needs a little work. It's a bit...wanting. Honestly, I'm nervous. I look over a list of my stuff, and it's kind of "Baby's-First Portfolio": I don't have any film work, my website stuff is primordial at best, and I'm worried that I'm just not going to cut it. The best I can really do is sell my passion and ability to think outside the box. And no, I don't have the requisite "1-3 years studio experience". I guess working in Blind Alley Comics could count, but it's a bit shaky. Mostly I'll just have to bully my way through the interview. Make them see that studio experience actually hampers the vision; it makes people complacent. I'm new, I'm fresh, I'm dynamic, I've got a ton of chutzpah, my balls are adamantium and require a flatbed train car just to haul around. Oh, and I draw, too. We'll see. I'm planning to canvas the local area, then the state, then the region, etc., until I find somewheres that'll take me. I'm going to try to compromise as little as possible; honestly, I'm financially stable right now, so I can afford to be choosy. I'm just...scared.
Hopefully I can keep up with my blog posts, too. I feel kind of bad for doing the "Story Development" posts and then leaving you hanging. And no pictures, either! Bad Rick. Bad. But I'll get to it, just yous guys wait and see.
Happy June! God, it's gorgeous out there...
Rick Out.
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