Is Your Theme Showing?

Yesterday I put out the question on Facebook,Twitter the Science Fiction Canada list and right here "What is your favorite theme?"And I got plenty of compelling,interesting and challenging responses. I'm going to stand out of the way and let people answer for themselves (in no particular order...)

Kate Baker Blogger,podcaster at Clarkesworld and Sofanaughts "In F/SF, I'm drawn to themes that deal with the complexity of life, but still hold love, companion/friendship in high regard "

Dwight McPherson Comic book writer. Created both Edgar Allan Poo and Sidewise for Zuda Comics "The Great Journey. Redemption is one of my favorite themes; so are friendship and teamwork"

Helene Boudreau Kidlit writer "facing personal demons. Internal struggle. Being faced with impossible choices."

Rhea Rose writer "love"

B.J. Galler Smith Writer

"I always thought I liked light and fluffy, but after reading the second book in my series... I think the themes I'm going for are death, destruction, man's perversions, inhumanity, and retribution. And rising from the ashes. Of course, I could be wrong as half the short stuff comes out just plain goofy and it's all about entertainment." Matt Hughes Writer "People who don't fit in" Jean-Louis Trudel Writer "the World" Mike Stewart Writer "Loss Legacy Regret Grace Renewal" Daniel Poeira Cartoonist "Ultimately, all stories are about death, because that's our story. So I guess my favorite themes are the ones involved on this life cycle: birth, coming of age, discovery of sex, learning, overcoming problems, and ultimately, dying. Many of my characters die in the end my movies, because, well, that's what people do in the end of their stories too." Madeline Carol Matz Illustrator "The journey with it's messes and misdirections that inevitably ends with love and good prevailing. Just like a Shakespeare comedy, "All's Well that Ends Well"" Robert Runte Writer " Hard to choose one, but I am particularly interested in issues of national / cultural identity. themes that arise out of the Canadian character also appeal to me. the Canadian hero who sort of bumbles his way through things and who ends up neither ahead nor behind, but sort of sideways from where he thought he wanted to get to is my favorite. (In contrast to the American hero who wins by dint of his strength and character and timely action). The hero as observer rather than actor. E.g., Canadian hero is the guy who repairs the Canadarm rather than the handsome captain hero. North by 2000 is a great example of those types of stories. Alienation is the great theme of 20th century literature, but I like the Canadian version best: The alienated outsider who decides being outside looking in is actually better. Multiculturalism. Diversity. Karma.Lots of other stuff. Indeed, I often seek out books precisely because they explore new themes, different areas than I've considered before." Finn Clarke Writer "The nature of reality. Why it has to have rules. Why it has to have those rules rather than other ones. The line between culturally accepted reality and madness....." Paul Harrison-Davis Cartoonist "Parenting. Being a good one, being a bad one and your responsibility on the next generation. That's why Finding Nemo get's me as much as The Road.Going to work on a comic next year on this theme." Viviane Shwartz Children's book illustrator, cartoonist "Learning that much of the world is running on dreams. The reality of ghosts and monsters created thus, and finding the reason and courage to face them." Colleen Lindsay Literary Agent at Fineprint Literary Agency "I never want to see or sense a theme of any kind in fiction. If I can see it, the writing isn't working. I want it to be invisible. If I smell an MFA's forced-theme implant anywhere near a novel, I stop reading it. I just want you to tell me a great story " Joel Champetier Writer "Memory", "The Other" and "Love" John Park Writer "I don't have conscious themes, but memory, hidden (often guilty) selves, and journeys of discovery seem to crop up fairly often." Lorina Stephens Publisher Five Rivers "The underdog, I suppose, as in the oppressed, abused, betrayed. I tend to gravitate to children in my stories, destruction of innocence. People and the kindnesses and cruelties we perpetrate." Geoffrey W Cole Writer "The lengths we'll go to connect with other people. How people heal after hurting each other. How we try to cheat death. All that good stuff." John R Little Writer "Much of what I write is about loss. Loss of life, love, etc." Catherine MaCleod Writer "Loneliness. Loss. How love does or doesn't survive. Being haunted. Being hunted." Eileen Kernaghan Writer "I've been told that all my books are about journeys. That was never a conscious decision, but it seems to be true." Joe Mahoney Writer "Family, loss, anxiety. At the moment, anyway" Michele Laframboise Cartoonist,writer "Coming of age in an alien civilisation, maybe." Karl Johanson Writer "My favourite is the theme to "National Lampoon's Vacation!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1QA1Iq3b1M" (LOL!) Elizabeth Vonarberg Writer "the Other, Change & Metamorphosis, the nature of reality, power, lies, memory." Steve Vernon Writer "Sooner or later the theme of lost fathers and coming to terms with your roots seems to surface in my writing." Alison Lohans Writer "At this point in the book it seems to be blurring boundaries: game vs. real life, and resulting complications." And thanks to writer William Gibson for helping me reach more people with this question. This has been incredibly informative to me, thanks for participating everyone. The post was getting a bit long so I apologize to anyone I've left out.

Strange Sketch

A warm-up sketch I did yesterday based on the dolls of Beth Robinson. Check her work out. It's amzing.

What Theme Speaks To You?

Not to give to much away, but talking to a publisher who read my initial synopsis for The Flying Boat graphic novel asked for a rewrite with less plot and more theme. I immediately knew what he meant but had no idea how to do it. When I write I hide behind a smokescreen of silliness with little bits of depth shining through. He wanted the balance tipped the other way. I set about it and it was even harder then I thought. I finally uncovered a story hidden beneath the layers of the first story that I'd want to read, that has meaning in my life. It made me wonder why some themes have more meaning to me then others and what it exposes about me. Whether we're conscious of the fact or not I think all have favorite themes, ones that touch us more deeply because they correspond to a belief or a moment in our lives or something we want or lost or need.

What theme or themes do you most respond to?

Dropping Mermaids

I've been writing,writing,writing between other obligations and have learned a lot. I handed in the Flying Boat synopsis to a publisher and they said it has too much plot and the best part was the themes I described at the end. I was most worried about the themes actually. So I've been rewriting it, trying to make all the action relate to the characters goals and the theme of the story and a far superior comic seems to be emerging. But one that makes me more nervous to send out in the world because it's more revealing then a bunch of clever plot twists would be. The toughest part is letting go of things that no longer fit, like the above mermaid character. However, this means I have enough material for fifty books.

The National Cartoonists Society Party

When you fill a bar with cartoonists things can get loud and fun really fast. Jay Stephens invited myself and a few other new cartoonists to this annual get together for the National Cartoonists Society Canadian chapter. It was amazing to meet all the artists whose work I love.

Speaking Of Silvio

Went for a walk this morning with Julie,Henry and Benny and found this charming fellow.

Inky Buttons

Now on sale! Inky the bat buttons!! Buy them here.

Moleskine Boat.

Where the script is being written in various locations across Toronto.

Running Between Coffee Shops....

My last few days have been consumed with writing and editing. I get easily distracted at home doing these things so I've been spending most of my days at cafes. These are some sketches from cafes and subway cars.

The Monsters, The Critics And The Funny Pages

,A couple of days ago on Twitter I asked if people thought critics affected the growth of a medium. Would comics be different today if critics had started to analyze them starting around the 1930's? What is a critic even for? Daniel Poeira had a good point: comics need strong voice that is devoted to comic book criticism, like a Letser Bangs or a Pauline Kael. Jens Altmann said "I think we need critics to point to certain works and say"here's where it's at"They can be ignored but that voice is important," And Joshua Dysart ( writer BPRD ) said " Real critics place a work in cultural context, bringing it into a larger conversation about the interplay between society & art," I personally think criticsm is vital to the health of any medium. We need critics, who aren't retailers,creators or distributers to point people in the right direction.

To quote Anton Ego from the Pixar film Ratatouille " here are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations. The new needs friends, "

Read the rest of Ego's speech here.

Hundred Acre Comic Books

It seems that people can read my mind. No sooner do I start obsessing about and pestering people for their opinions on comic books for kids then two prominent comic book bloggers take on the issue. They are both smart and impassioned view and I suggest you read them both then tell me what you think. If not you can tell me if you like my Pooh drawing. The first is by Heidi Macdonald at the Beat, Publisher's Weekly's writer on comic books and comic book culture. You can read about it here. The other post is by Chris Butcher, owner of the Beguiling comic book shop in Toronto and a really insightful guy when it comes to comics. You can read his thoughts here. Both of these essays focus on the problems and obstacles to retailers and publishers. The major problem seems to be that the retailers aren't always getting the right books into the right hands or that parents who want to share the joys of comics with their kids are put off by the edgier atmosphere in comics today.

My opinion is that the problem lies with the creators. We’ve been told over and over again that comics aren’t for kids any more and that the focus should be on telling mature, sophisticated stories aimed at adults. I think creators need to be more persistent in following their visions, I certainly believe the market is waiting for them.

Another post of interest on this subject is from the Joe Schuster awards web site.

Batman And Robin

On Twitter fellow Twitter mate Nicholas Myers suggested a Batman drawing night. Sadly only him and myself showed up but I think we got a couple of great sketches done! Love Nicholas'. If DC ever let me loose in their universe this is how I'd draw Batman and Robin.

Batman and Robin are TM DC Comics

Harry Enters A Peculiar Door

I Am A Scientist

The band that gets me through rough times. One of the best bands ever.

Listenings & A Hellboy Sketch

This is a little round-up post of things on my mind. Above is a sketch of Mike Mignola's Hellboy, one of my favorite comics of all time. I draw Hellboy all the time but this is the first drawing I've done that I like, probably because I did it in my own style rather than copying Mignola.

First, I wanted to share this BBC article with you. It's a Front Row radio episode about comic books and posits that we are now living in a golden age of comic books. Whatever you think it's a great article. The bit about comics starts about 13:13 into the show.

On my iPod is a new playlist called Chamber Pop. I'm obsessed with all these little musical subgenres that Wikipedia has articled to an almost academic point. Chamber Pop began in the 1960's as Baroque Pop with the release of the seminal pop album Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys which was a major showcase for the genius of Brian Wilson. The idea is a type of pop music that introduces atypical instruments ans arrangements more associated to classical music. This music has continued and found a renaissance in the 1990's with music from Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo and now The Decemberists, although now it's referred to as Chamber Pop. If you like rich, layered pop this might be for you.

Something else worth mentioning is my new addiction to audiobooks. It appeals to both my love of multitasking and my boundless laziness. What really love about them, other then being able to "read" while drawing, is that I can finally read all those classics I've just never gotten around to like the Crying of Lot 49 by Pynchon and Joyce's Ulysses. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Silvio And The Lost World

Frankly

A sketch of Frank, the Jim Woodring character and one of my favorite comics.

Sleeping Beauty In Army Boots

For my birthday my mother in law Jane took me to my first ballet and it was amazing! What a great time I had. The show was a National Ballet Of Canada production of Sleeping Beauty.It was three hours that just flew by. I was totally enthralled by the combination of dance, a live orchestra, the sumptuous costumes and beautiful sets. There were moments when it seemed like an Arthur Rackham picture come to life. I wish I had brought a sketchbook! I think I'll start carrying a Moleskine or a Moleskine sized sketchbook around because they're so transportable. The larger ones I currently use are so awkward for things like this. I still haven't found a pair of shoes I really love so I wore my army boots. I felt vaguely subversive wearing them amongst so many glamorous dresses and suits...

Allie

A sketch from an upcoming kid's book.

Queen Of The Moleskine

I'm reposting this because I wasn't really happy with the original scan. This is a little Moleskine picture I did with my niece Rachel who is 5.

Night Life

I love this little strip by Dan Gordon! This guy could really draw. I've been obsessing over Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly's new book Toon A Treasury Of Classic Children's Comics. I've only posted two pages of six because I think someone stil owns the copyright. I don't know much about Gordon other then he worked on Fleischer Studios Superman and Popeye cartoons in the 1940's. Spiegelman and Mouly's line of kid's comics, Toon Books, is remarkable and beautiful.

A Peek At The Cloud Castle

Here are the first three pages of a fifteen page story called The Cloud Castle which is number four in the Adventures Of The Flying Boat minicomics series. This story needs some finishing. I've been putting it off because I thought it was a mammoth task but it's really not much work at all. I'm hoping I can have this for sale in my shop by next week.

Without Hesitation

Here's an art book I can recommend without condition or hesitation; the amazing Mervyn Peake. A big influence on me. I don't remember where I first heard about Mervyn Peake so I have the peculiar sense that I was born loving his work.

Ancient Mickey

Love this page from a Mickey Mouse book from the 1930's that my father in law found in an antique market in London Ontario. The artist has really imbued it with a really fun sense of adventure that I just love.

Gear Switching

I'm switching gears today and working on a kid's book for Annick Press here in Canada. I'll leave you with some panels from Adventures Of The Flying Boat. I'm hoping to have some publishing news to share in the next couple of weeks.

Have You Seen My Rocket Ship?

The Comic Shop

Wow! Sales of Flying Boat minicomics have totally bowled me over. I've made more in the first week selling these minis then I did the first week of sales for my first picture book. The money is mostly spent, being put back into the shop for new stuff to nsell and new promotional stuff. I can't wait to see the Inky the bat buttons! Thanks so much everyone for your support. Things are silent on the publisher/agent front after some early positive signs. I'm just waiting now.

Cover

Here's a cover I did for a Scholastic book. Another birthday went by yesterday, my quietest one yet. Quiet because I recently moved and have a pretty limited number of people to celebrate with and also because I had so much work to get through. All the quiet gave me too much space to think and I found myself checking email every 10 minutes hoping for more feedback about the Flying Boat comic book submission and hoping to get an email saying they'd love to publish it. That would have been a nice birthday gift but things don't usually work that way so I just kept working on my current projects. Maybe today.

Unfinished

Here's a spooky old comic I never finished.

Muddling

Just muddling through all the work I got behind on while I languished in bed with a fever. Sending out minis, working on business stuff,thumbnailing Maddy Kettle story etc. This is a spot illustration from my second childrens book.

A Sketchy Tuesday

Mowgli And Balloo, A Proper Scan

This is a gouache painting I did some time ago but never got around to doing a proper scan of. I haven't posted a lot of painting lately so I thought this was a nice change of pace. I just had all my larger pieces scanned for my website.

Sketchy Sunday

After nearly 3 full days in bed with the flu I crawled out of my bedroom today starting to feel partway to normal. I'm pretty amazed I've manage to do posts this whole time! Anyway, here are 3 quick sketches done a few months ago when I first started contemplating a longer format story with these characters.

Working On Issue 4

If you check my minicomic shop you might have noticed I skipped issue 4. I finished it some time ago but have never been happy with the art so I'm still working away at it. This is a panel from that story.

Reading In Bed

Not that anyone wants updates on how I'm feeling...but I do find being sick in bed gives me the opportunity to recommend the book I'm reading, as it's the comic book equivalent of comfort food but also brilliant. Comfort food made by a cordon bleu chef...Anyway It's The Toon Treasury of Children's Comics and it's just amazing.

Erm....

This is Ratcopter who I'm currently writing a story about. I got blindsided by some kind of fluish bug yesterday and have been sleeping it off. Nice excuse to catch up on some reading.

A Little Thimble Witch Story