Hello all.
Welcome to Write Club. This blog was the home to Write Club in the first two years that we set up the podcast to talk about writing, art, comics and all that jazz.

Now we're transitioning into a new direction and focus, and with that comes a new home. Check out Write Club on Tumblr.

But as long as you're here, why don't you check out our previous podcasts and our articles.

Expect new interviews and podcasts discussing art and writing with a focus on Brooklyn and NYC events over on our Tumblr. And if you'd like to get involved or have something you'd like help promoting please just let us know.

Thanks for checking us out and giving us a listen.

So, it took a while. It took some planning and some soul searching. It took some realization that doing this podcast was something that we enjoyed doing, as long as we were doing it the way we wanted to do it. So, we're back. Perhaps a bit leaner and meaner, but back nonetheless.
This podcast covers the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival that took place back in December, specifically the LYNDA BARRY AND CHARLES BURNS IN CONVERSATION program.

Kurt and I are planning on doing at least 3 podcasts a month, more if time allows, and we're pretty psyched with some of the things we have planned.
Enjoy the recording, and as always comments are welcome via email here: [email protected], Twitter here @Write_Club, or in the comments section on this post.

DC:
Batman: The Dark Knight #1:


















This is Bruce Wayne doing what he does best -- being a detective. Much of this issue seems to be character filler. There's a heart-to-heart with Alfred, Batman kicking the crap out of Killer Croc, and a surprise ending. This seems to be all exposition, leading in to the bigger plot which will be doled out in small pieces. It's not bad, it's not great. It's a strong Batman comic, and it leaves readers curious as to where it's going. I liked a lot of this issue -- particularly Batman's cleverness and resourcefulness. I'd like to see Batman kick more ass in future issues, but I don't think that's something we have to worry about. David Finch has a good handle on how to write Batman, and I'm sure the series will only get better from here.

Misc:
Nemesis #4 (Icon -- Millar & McNiven):


















The first page of this issue is possibly the best thing about the entire series. When Blake Morrow reveals whom he believes Nemesis to be, I thought, for a moment, Millar had pulled a fast one over us. But this is Mark Millar writing, and instead we get a deus ex machina moment where Millar somewhat reveals the true identity behind Nemesis. And boy is it stupid. The story makes no sense once you find out who the villain actually is. The simplistic explanation of how a random person could possibly know so much about one man is so contrived that it seemed as if Millar got to this moment in the book, and then ran out of ideas so he had to invent an answer for the problem. What was more saddening was that there's a teaser for Volume 2 of Nemesis. This is a textbook example of "How Not to Write Comics." Pick it up for your reference shelf.

Echoes #1 (Minotaur -- Fialkov & Ekedal):



















I wasn't sure what to expect from this. I flipped through it before buying it, so unfortunately I saw the last page before I read the story. Even knowing that, I was gripped by Echoes from beginning to end. Echoes is the story of a man who's father is dying while his wife is close to giving birth. On his deathbed, Brian's father tells him to go back to their old house and look in the basement for a box. When he does this (while he's dealing with psychotic delusions simultaneously), Brian discovers a horrifying secret, and one that I won't ruin here. Rashan Ekedal's art -- just black and white pencils -- work superbly here. I can't imagine the atmosphere being captured as well had this been done in color. There are enough plot elements, and character quirks to keep readers hooked. I have my own thoughts on how the title of the story relates to what will eventually happen, and I'm immediately drawn to Brian as a character, so I hope things work out for him. I'm not holding up much hope of that, however, because Joshua Fialkov has woven such a moody story that I can't see this ending up happily. And I think I'd be okay with that.

Bannen's Book of the Week
Detective Comics #872:


















I was about halfway through this book before I remember that Scott Snyder was writing about Dick Grayson and not Bruce Wayne. This isn't a bad thing -- in fact, I think it speaks to the earnestness with which Scott Snyder is writing Detective Comics. He seems to understand the tonal differences between Bruce, Dick, Tim, and even Damien (although he's not present yet -- but I pray Snyder gets the opportunity to write him in). This issue is much like a train going downhill without brakes. Once it gets going, there's an urgency to the writing, and one that really captures the mania of the situation in which Dick finds himself. Jock needs to be commended for his art in this issue, particularly the last three pages where Dick is trapped in an horrific auction run by a psychotic auctioneer. Snyder must feel like the proverbial kid in the candy store, handed the keys to one of the greatest kingdoms in the DC Universe. So far, he's doing a great job. He's playing it cool now, developing character and story rather than going full on with the toys he's just inherited. I spoke highly of Snyder's American Vampire series, but seeing as that was an original idea, I didn't know what to expect. So far, I'm beyond impressed. This is a great series, utilizing the cornerstones laid by Grant Morrison. The story moves along quickly, gives us some nice character moments (particularly between Dick and Barbara), and ends with a great cliff-hanger. If you're looking for a time to get into Batman, it is now.

Rick Lacy: Back to School!: "Class will be in session starting January 2011! Hey everyone, my private character design class at Bergen Street Comics www.bergenstreetc..."

On Sunday Night I dropped by KGB Bar in the East Village to check out the vaguely listed Comix and Graphic Novelists. About the Series: KGB Bar Sunday Night Fiction. The KGB Bar Sunday Night Fiction showcases the finest in contemporary fiction from new and emerging writers.

I knew Emily Wernet had done a turn back around when I reviewed her comic 'Moonlighting', but other than that I hadn't heard of it or where I could get info. Afterwards I stumbled across Tom Hart's blog, the organizer and teacher of cartooning, which provided me with the names of the night's artists and their spots on the web.

Just as an aside, I have one of Tom Hart's 'Hutch Owen' books and I really dug it, one of my first indie cartoonist books I ever bought.

So I stumbled in with my girlfriend Laura Lee (on our third anniversary, and yes, that's months thank you), grabbed a Baltika, a huge Russian beer that is, and we tried not to stand in the way. I had no idea who was going to come out, but I recognized Alex Robinson in the corner, so I knew this would be good.

(I love Box Office Poison and have a sketch inside my copy, hell yeah.)



First up came Lisa Hanawalt, who you can meet tonight at Desert Island Comics in Williamsburg as she signs at her launch party for I Want You #2 and her window display at Desert Island.

She warmed up the crowd with her twisted lists from Bad Pets, to Awesome Hats, and How To Tell Martha Stewart's Drunk. Her art style is a wonderfully chaotic balance of fine line illustration and madcap absurdity, bordering on the grotesque at times, though always able to provoke, often into laughter.






Next up was Mike Dawson who was sitting over by Alex Robinson, and I guess that makes sense as they have very similar sensibilities.


He read a selection from his comic Troop 142 which is about as accurate a portrayal of young male life in America as I've seen. It's juvenile and possibly even nonsensical, but absolutely genuine and pure in its delivery of innocence as it lingers for those last few years before being a teenager truly kicks in.

Then there was a brief intermission so we could grab more beers. After we were settled in, then came the closer...Kate Beaton ladies and gentlemen!


I mean, if there's a cartoonist out there that has more buzz on them besides Kate Beaton, well then point them out dammit! From her Aquaman which has made the rounds on Tumblr, the Gatsby's, the Mystery Solving Teens...I mean, just go to her site and prepare to lose at least an hour as you take it all in. It's consistently funny, in the art style, and delivery of every punchline. You know what's even better than that though? Having Kate herself deliver the lines. Her voice, perfectly gravelly and deadpan as she hits every beat, knowing her strips through and through.

This was definitely a great event that I'd like to see more often than just every three months. Let me see what I can do, maybe wrestle up a venue, certainly know enough artists that'll show their work. Hmmmm...

In the meantime, check out these artists, as all are very top notch indie creators, and come swing by Desert Island tonight and say hello.

K

Twitter

Lisa Hanawalt

Mike Dawson

Kate Beaton

CASANOVA
by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba

What the FUCK did I just read? It's like old Marvel 'Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD' comics thrown in a blender with Grant Morrison's 'Invisibles' then trying to repaint Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius books. Granted it's all done with Matt Fraction's indelible wit and chock full of chunky ideas and action packed segments.


It's an attractive hardcover, with a 60's-70's vibe plastered all over it, from the trippy color palate and stark design, to the moody Paul Pope/Nick Cave-ish face of Casanova himself. It's quite unlike any other book out there in packaging, if not concept, but it comes with a hefty price tag of $24.99. Is it worth that?


Not really. The gags and action are quite awesome, and the general concept of a time swapped thief turned superspy caught between various warring factions, well that's just all kinds of awesome, tossing in all the things I love. But it really tries to be too clever. The plot is all over the place and I find myself trying to work out what happened and it really is nearly incomprehensible.



And I'm a well trained comic book reader here folks, with twenty years of experience, so I know what I'm talking about. The story has its moments, and the clever ideas are indeed quite clever, and mostly well executed, but the rest inbetween, that little thing we call the plot, it's about as flimsy as it comes.

It reminds me a lot of Fraction's earliest comic, 'Rex Mantooth' from Planet Lar/AIT, which featured a giant talking gorilla supersecretagent in a tuxedo that was illustrated by the lovely Andy Kuhn, and was also chock full of fun (especially the annotated Mantooth which has a running commentary beside each page). But where that was goofy and played it, I feel like Casanova wanted to be taken a bit more seriously, and it falls short.

Granted it does play with the spy tropes and throws in a lot of comic book idioms, but really it's just a big mess of a story with tasty bits. Now, the artwork is quite stunning, and even though the single color shading throughout took some getting used to, it was cool to see something new and when it worked, it worked well. I never was lost to what was happening visually. Just I didn't quite follow the leaps in logic and story structure.



Now, similar critiques could be made about Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius stories, which I love more in theory than practice, but at least he was out there doing it first. Instead this story feels like a cross between a failed pulp novel and an old SHIELD pitch for Marvel with a few hip ideas swiped from today's more polished and esoteric writers.

This isn't a Fraction bash-fest mind you. When the man is on, he's on. His work on Iron Man started rough but rose to brilliant levels, and the previously mentioned 'Rex Mantooth' was thoroughly enjoyable. Maybe I just had high expectations from the concept for the story (sexy superspy sci-fi pulp) and the reviews of it from friends who've read it.

All in all, it wasn't NOT worth reading, and it does set things up in the end (the rather blunt and abrupt ending that wraps up NOTHING) that could potentially make for a really cool second attempt at telling this type of story, but this arc I would consider a failure, and as all spies know, failure will not be tolerated.

I give you all license to kill this book from your reading list.

K

Write Club can't always be about comics, right? Right! So in this episode Tim & Kurt take the podcast out into the streets of Brooklyn to cover a Slice Magazine reading event.
The event, coordinated by Slice's resident blog czar and online editor, C.A.B Fredricks was your basic head-to-head reading competition featuring the best and the brightest up & comers of the indie publishing world!
photo courtesy of Amy Sly
PIETHOS! A Reading, works like this: Five independent literary organizations were chosen, each selected a champion, and presented a challenge for an opposing organization. Each reader had about one week to compose a story in answer of their challenge. The prize? A FRESH BAKED APPLE PIE!
The event was held at LEGION bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Listen to the event here:

And now, THE READERS, with visual aids and in order of appearance:
Liz Matthews (Slice Magazine)photo courtesy of Amy Sly
Liz's story involved some visual aids. To get the whole experience, click on each link as she prompts the picture in her story.
Window
Breakfast
Leaves
Corey Eastwood (Book Thug Nation)photo courtesy of Amy Sly
Kate Axelrod (Featherproof Books)photo courtesy of Amy Sly
Martha Raoli (Canteen Magazine)photo courtesy of Amy Sly

The Prize:photo courtesy of Amy Sly
Now Dear Write Clubbers, after listening to the event, who would YOU have chosen to win the nommy pie?

MARVEL:
Amazing Spider-Man #645: This issue of Amazing Spider-Man is noteworthy in that Spidey spends almost the entire issue kicking the crap out of his rogues. Most of his attacks are contrived situations -- his villains happen to be in the right places at the wrong times. But still, Mark Waid knows how to write a cool story. My two favorite moments: Spider-Man tears down a dockside warehouse by pulling the beams apart underwater; Spider-Man chases the Chameleon through a mansion, only to pull him through a wall. All of this is because Peter thinks Norman Osborne and Lilly Hollister's baby is dead, and he thinks he's responsible. The truth will out, obviously, but where others have found this series to be growing stale, I still see it as a continuous solid outing.

DC:
Superman #703: I'm still enjoying Superman's trek across America. This story is a bit more cliched than others, however, and the moral is shoved down readers' throats. But, It's still more interesting than watching Superman try to battle some alien menace in Metropolis while at the same time dealing with his "marital issues." I think what Straczynski really wants to do is retcon Superman's previous fifteen years. Since that's damn near impossible, this is the next best thing.

VERTIGO:
American Vampire #6: Stephen King has stepped aside after completing his five issue run so now Scott Snyder is the primary creative force behind American Vampire. How'd he do? Check below for a further review.

ICON:
Nemesis #3: I can't even clearly review this piece of shit. Here are some "highlights:" Nemesis kidnaps Blake Morrow's son and daughter, makes Morrow admit that his son is gay, then he uses Morrow's son's sperm to impregnate Morrow's daughter. Oh, and he "rigged [the daughter's] womb to completely collapse" if they attempt to abort the child. Seriously -- RIGGED A WOMB TO BLOW?!? This is the shittiest piece of shitty shit to ever get shit out.

Superior #1: Now, while Nemesis may be a steaming pile, I actually enjoyed Superior. Superior is the story of Simon Pooni, a boy with Multiple Sclerosis who is granted a wish by a space monkey. Again, I can't make this shit up. But the difference here is that where Nemesis is all about flash over substance, Superior has heart. There's a lot to like here -- Millar is writing a story that most people can relate to. How many comic book fans wished, at some point, for super powers? Imagine if they were granted, but not to any douchebag on the street. Instead, they're given to a boy who has every reason to own them. What will he do with them? We'll have to wait and see. But Millar admits that Superior is more "family-friendly," despite the book being littered with four letter words. This is a vast improvement from the work he's been doing in his other comics, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Simon does with his abilities. And by the by, Simon Pooni is the name of a guy who won an eBay auction, the proceeds of which went to buy a bus for a school with special needs students. So Millar isn't a complete asshole -- just a guy who shouldn't be given too much "ego space."


Bannen's Book of the Week:
American Vampire #6
My pick this week is Scott Snyder's Vampire/Western/History of America book. We still have the continuous issue of the barons of industry fighting the simple folks of the frontier. This time, we're pushed to 1930's in the middle of the depression, and we're introduced to another character: Cashel McCogan. He's the new chief of police, replacing his father who was killed two months prior. The morals have shifted slightly -- there are undercurrents of the evils of drinking, gambling, prostitution, and much of the issue is devoted to the frustrations small towns faced when big businesses came in and built large structures like dams, bridges, or factories. Snyder writes Cashel as part rancher and part bad ass. He uses bucolic phrases like "You and yours," but still maintains an air of control. The story feels big, and I imagine that Snyder must feel like he can sprawl a bit more, now that he's got a full twenty-two pages to play with. This is a great beginning -- Snyder still uses Skinner Sweet (who is easily one of the coolest comic creations), and Rafael Albuquerque still provides the beautiful images to go with Snyder's story. Where readers may have been interested to see if the story loses any of its "oomph" with the departure of Stephen King, I can assure it doesn't. It still has just as much bite as before.

In our celebrity saturated society even those thought long forgotten, idols from our youth who glimmered for just a summer, leaving us with a singular hit song that resonated in the public sending ripples through the pop culture pool, even they become relevant and interesting once more.

In Charlie Carillo's new book One Hit Wonder, we follow Mickey DeFalco, a Queens native who hit it big with his sappy yet melancholy ballad 'Sweet Days' as he returns home an utter failure and total has-been. In his shoes we feel what it's like to be loved and adored for that one contribution to people's lives.

An aging fan hooking up with her teenage fantasy. Bitter former classmates still toiling at menial jobs at home. The girl that was loved and lost, inspiring those epic refrains. These are the people around Mickey that marvel at his achievement and fall from grace. They hold him at a distance, as something other than themselves.

Through flashbacks we're shown even more moments of awkward celebrity. From playing a cruise ship to kids birthday parties, no indignity is spared, and Mickey just casually walks his way through each of them, only passionate and excitable when clinging to his last shreds of dignity.

There's something to Mickey's boy-like demeanor and passive aggressive nature that really shines in the prose. This feels like a real person who could neatly slide into our pop song past. His parents are peppered with sentimental details that make them so true to life. You can see their past as Mickey grew up in their home.

The whole book is littered with truths. About life, love, family. Just lines tossed out here and there that feel like universal truths, spit out by a wiseass Queens kid in a 38 year old's body. The concept of hitting bottom and trying to resurface, flailing about in inconsistency of actions, taking the easy route when available, this is how people behave.

And then there's lost love. Idyllic in memory, which taints all reality about him, making it all a joke, another tragedy heaped upon the pile. How do you react when all you want is the girl, but instead are given fame and fortune? You self-destruct of course. Spiral to the bottom and find yourself again.

The book is very well written and consistent in its tone, with more than a few twists and turns that feel like the randomness of life, rather than the structure of plot. Not to give spoilers, but there is a happy ending there, but it may not exactly come as you'd think it would.

I have yet to read Carillo's other novels, but from this book I imagine he's got more than just this one song to offer.

Check out Charlie Carillo's website or his other book RAISING JAKE.

A new feature I'll be having up here on the blog is to present the best of free comic books available online.

First up is Vision Machine by Greg Pak. You can read the comic on Comixology or download the PDF.

Greg Pak has an exclusive interview up on Comics Alliance where he mentions that not only are you able to download/read the comic for free online, but eventually there will be a free print version available as well.

Which is really interesting, having a book put together by money from the Ford Foundation and put out under Creative Commons license which means anyone can expand on the universe created within the pages or is able to remix or mashup the story however they see fit as long as the original source is credited. Truly free creative information. The article also has a lot of interesting points about digital comics and creator royalties.

Which leads me over to another article discussing ICv2's number crunching of digital sales which is ultimately summed up as:

"While the news for print was less than positive, with manga sales facing an estimated 20% drop in 2010, the news for digital comics was very good indeed, with Griepp projecting that digital comics sales would see a more than ten-fold increase this year over last."

And:

"But while manga and graphic novels decline, the real energy and growth has been in digital, which has expanded from a $500,000 market in 2009 to an estimated $6 to 8 million dollars in 2010, a more than ten-fold increase. Quite simply, digital comics are "the fastest-growing part of the comics business," said Griepp."

It's interesting seeing this comic going out into the public, with its theme of free creative information with a donation based payment setup and the Orwellian Big Brother aspect of controlled information. I'm eager to find out which direction both the story within the comic and the story of the growing digital distribution and the role that this free comic plays in that.

K