Hey folks, Ambush Bug here. Just in case you didn’t get to last month’s New York Comic Con doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. Thanks to Jamie Coville, we have panels to share with you guys all week! So check out the panels by clicking the titles below!
Editors on Editing. (1:11:43, 65.6mb)
This panel was more about how to break into comics via pitching to editors. On the panel was Warren Simons (Valiant), Scott Allie (Dark Horse) and Chris Ryall (IDW). Moderating the panel was Buddy Scalera. They first talked about their recent books. They then went through the do's and don'ts of pitching as a writer or artist. They talked about pitching at a con, establishing relationships, using the online submission process. The audience asked some questions and they answered questions on how to become an editor and how to become an intern. They spoke briefly about licensing issues and what happens when a deadline gets missed. At the end they plugged other upcoming books and Buddy asked fans not to download/torrent comic books.
CBLDF: Secret History of Comic Book Censorship. (1:00:11, 55.1mb)
On the panel was Charles Kochman (Abrams Art), Carol Tilly Teacher/Researcher/Librarian) and Charles Brownstein (CBLDF). Carol started off the panel with reading a letter written to Wertham from a kid who disagreed with his articles. She revealed which comic creators reached out and talked to Wertham, giving him industry related information. She delved into the first version of the ACMP code and a couple of the people on DC's advisory committee. She said that Wertham had a particular dislike for those on the advisory committee and revealed how an unrelated negative book review caused an angry author to link Wertham with Senator Kefauver. Carol spoke of how Gaines asked his readers to write to the Senate to defend the comic books they enjoyed and Carol found and read some of those letters. She also revealed that 200 letters were sent to the Senate and they are within the National Archives. She talked a bit about the code and the reaction to it and surprised the audience by revealing Carl Barks was seemingly in favor of CCA censorship. She showed how Wertham altered and just made up answers to questions that his patients gave in regards to comic books to further his agenda. She ended off talking about how censorship of comics is still alive and ongoing in her home town with books being challenged and taken out of libraries. Charles Brownstein explained how censorship was still ongoing in schools and libraries and comic shops were still being persecuted for selling comics for adults. He talked about Manga being attacked and Ryan Matheson being held up at the Canadian border for it due to ignorance of the artform. He also said there is now a book that helps people understand Manga. Charles Kochman revealed that Cathy Gaines is in the audience and Brownstein said they were selling a Gaines was right t-shirt with her permission. Charles Kochman said they have a book about some of the non-EC horror comics that Wertham was not in favour of called The Horror! The Horror!: Comic Books the Government Didn't Want You To Read.
IDW: The Ultimate Panel (1:01:01, 55.8mb)
On the panel was Dirk Wood (moderator), Chris Ryall, Greg Goldstein, Darwyn Cooke and Scott Dunbier. Part way through the panel was the surprise guest Jim Steranko. They started off the panel announcing the new Parker book is called Slayground. Darwyn said it's a short book that is one of his favourites in the Parker series and recommended it as a place to start. Because it's a shorter story, he is also including a The Seventh, a short Eisner winning story that has not been collected yet. They also announced IDW is republishing the print version of Parker books in hardcover format with Darwyn doing 10 full color chapter illustrations and covers. Among the other announcements were: Artists Edition Peanuts, Kirby New Gods (issues 2, 5-8) and Dave Gibbons made a pre-recorded video to announce Watchmen - in color but not the full story. After Jim Steranko showed up, they announced 2 books, a bigger sized Steranko done Agents of Shield stories from Strange Tales, then a Nick Fury / Captain America book at a slightly smaller size because the size of the paper the artists drew on shrank. Also within the Nick Fury/Captain America book will be a Steranko romance story. Jim mentioned that he did 29 comics and they've all have been kept in print. He says he seems to have made a big impact in comics for a small amount of work. Jim told a few stories about wanting to do new work for Marvel and DC over the last 5 years but was always turned down either because he wanted to do comics in a new format, something in his story violated the their universe or because they decided they didn't need him working on that particular character. Darwyn mentioned said one nice thing about IDW is how quick they are in getting an answer to you. He said when Scott Dunbier started with IDW he told him about wanting to do the Parker books adaptation and 2 weeks later Scott called back, saying they got the rights and they were working on it. With DC it took them 4 years to approve the New Frontier story. There were questions from the audience about IDW licensing properties, doing more work with John Byrne, how Darwyn adapts a book to Graphic Novel format.
Beyond the Webcomics. (1:00:12, 55.1mb)
The moderator was agent Seth Fishman. On the panel was Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Chris Hastings (Dr. McNinja) and Kate Beaton ( Hark A Vagrant). The room was full and was standing room only. The group talked about why they are starting to do work outside of webcomics. Ryan mentioned webcomics becomes a wacky resume. Chris said he once used his comic to try and get dates on Myspace. They took a show of hands and saw plenty of people in the audience do webcomics. They all spoke about prioritizing their webcomics with other work and projects they had to turn down. Ryan discovered that with Kickstarter what you write on there is legally binding, so he's now doing more choose your adventure books. Kate is doing a picture book for Scholastic. Kate also spoke about why she got an Agent. Chris talked about his Longshot mini-series for Marvel and he's doing a Dr. McNinja card game. He revealed he does a live comedy show at a nearby theatre, but he never speaks about it online because he wants to get good at it first. They all revealed a dream project they'd like to do. They also talked about Networking in Person vs. Online and working on multiple properties, including ones you don't own. They advised webcomic creators that it's best to wait until you have enough material to hook people (like a month's worth) before you start advertising it.
