The Young & Persecuted
When I was younger and didn't quite know that adults didn't necessarily have all the answers, I encountered prejudice. Prejudice towards my hobbies: comicbooks, RPGs, Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels / TV / etc. I wish I could go back and have all the snappy remarks to their well-meaning but horribly uninformed comment. It's good to know I'm not alone though. Here are similar comments on successful comic book industry folks by their teachers taken from here.
BRIAN BENDIS, writer (everything)
My rabbi confiscated one of my text-books when he saw dozens of drawings of Namor- I was into Namor that year- that I had drawn into it.
Not knowing what Namor was and being pretty pissed off that I had ruined probably my fifteenth textbook, my rabbi publicly chastised me and then called my Mom to tell me that I clearly had homosexual tendencies because I was spending my day drawing naked wet men with wings on their feet.
I was really into dazzler too, does that make me BI?
BRYAN HITCH, window-gazer and excellent part-time artist
When Mr and Mrs Hitch went to St Cuthbert’s RC primary school for parent-teacher report night in the wind blown winter of 1979, Headmaster John "Paddy" Lett waved the three remaining fingers of his nicotine-stained right hand to dismiss their protestations of their son's supposed intelligence. "Yes, he may indeed have the highest reading age in the school and be capable of straight A grades, but it is clear to me," he waffled on undulating like a bin liner full of yoghurt "that Bryan will undoubtedly doodle his way into the dole queue."
FRANK QUITELY, window-gazer
St. Columbkille's primary and St bride's high (every single year):
"Easily distracted"
MARK MILLAR, frustrated artist
Mr Reilly – Maths Teacher – St Ambrose High School (1984): “Millar has decided it would be a wise move to be an idiot this year and prefers to court popularity by playing to the gallery than actually doing anything useful or constructive”
Mr Corr - English Teacher - St Ambrose High School (1985):
"No matter what I say, no matter what I do and no matter which child I sit him next to, Mark will not stop talking and concentrate on his work. This is a shame because, if he would only learn to keep his mouth shut, this boy might be capable of excellence"
Alanguilan & Wasted on ComicBookResources Column
The column is Stephen Grant's Permanent Damage column. It's a bit of a ways down, so here's the article:
Gerry Alanguilan's a Philippine artist who occasionally pops up as an inker at major comics companies, but if you read WASTED (Komikero Comics, Box 67, San Pablo City Post Office, Laguna, Philippines 4000; $3.95US) you'll realize what a waste of his talents that is. WASTED collects a crime comic Gerry wrote and drew in the mid-90s, about a would-be musician who goes nuts when all the pressures and betrayals of his life get to him. Not unlike the film FALLING DOWN, but involving a lot more bodies. It's one of those stories congested in overwhelming inevitability, but it's well done. Gerry's has developed as an artist since WASTED - his more recent work has a more illustrative European look, but I sort of prefer the open cleanness of WASTED: more power with fewer lines. Anyway, it's a kick.
Nice to see local talent reflected on the international comics scene. Wish it happened more often.
The column is Stephen Grant's Permanent Damage column. It's a bit of a ways down, so here's the article:
Gerry Alanguilan's a Philippine artist who occasionally pops up as an inker at major comics companies, but if you read WASTED (Komikero Comics, Box 67, San Pablo City Post Office, Laguna, Philippines 4000; $3.95US) you'll realize what a waste of his talents that is. WASTED collects a crime comic Gerry wrote and drew in the mid-90s, about a would-be musician who goes nuts when all the pressures and betrayals of his life get to him. Not unlike the film FALLING DOWN, but involving a lot more bodies. It's one of those stories congested in overwhelming inevitability, but it's well done. Gerry's has developed as an artist since WASTED - his more recent work has a more illustrative European look, but I sort of prefer the open cleanness of WASTED: more power with fewer lines. Anyway, it's a kick.
Nice to see local talent reflected on the international comics scene. Wish it happened more often.
An RPG Cross-Over
Apparently, both DOJ (publishers of HERO System products) and GOO (publishers of Silver Age Sentinels and other fine products) have decided to do a cross-over RPG setting! Now hear this!
HERO GAMES AND GUARDIANS OF ORDER TEAM-UP FOR SUPERHERO RPG CROSSOVER
Hero Games and Guardians Of Order, Inc. jointly announced today plans to publish a shared-universe crossover adventure for their leading superhero role-playing games, Champions and Silver Age Sentinels. Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide will debut this summer at the GenCon Game Fair (24-27 July, 2003) in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“The folks at Hero Games are a great crew and we look forward to working with them on this ground-breaking project,” said Guardians Of Order President, Mark C. MacKinnon. “During the past year we joined forces to launch advertising and co-promotional campaigns that exposed each company’s supporters to the strength and quality of the so-called ‘competition.’ When we saw how supportive our fans were of our friendly rivalry, we decided to give them what they wanted most: a superhero RPG crossover, evoking the spirit of the leading comic book crossovers of the past four decades. They asked and we listened -- this is the must-have product for every superhero RPG aficionado!”
“We’re thrilled to be working with the Guardians gang on this project,” said Darren Watts, Hero Games’ President. “Not only are they a great bunch of guys, but we don’t think that anything quite like this -- mixing two companies’ settings and characters together in a crossover adventure -- has ever been done for gaming before. It’s a comic book classic, and all of us are having a fantastic time bringing it to the world of role-playing.”
Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide sets the stage for a world-shattering apocalypse when arch-villains Dr. Destroyer and Kreuzritter team-up to conquer both universes! The heroes from Champions’ Millennium City and Silver Age Sentinels’ Empire City must join forces to save their worlds, but can they put aside their differences to work together or will they destroy each other first? In addition to an epic adventure, Reality Storm will also contain detailed system conversion notes for the HERO System (Champions) and Tri-Stat System (Silver Age Sentinels) to assist players switching between games. Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide will be published by Hero Games in July 2003.
Founded in 1997, Guardians Of Order, Inc. is a Canadian publishing company specializing in Japanese anime and superheroic role-playing games, as well as licensed resource and reference books. In addition to their Origins Award-nominated Big Eyes, Small Mouth anime RPG and Silver Age Sentinels superhero RPG, they publish licensed fan guides and RPGs based on: popular anime series (Trigun, Hellsing, Fushigi Yugi, Slayers, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and others); George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire (fall 2003); and DC Comics’ acclaimed superhero series, The Authority and StormWatch (spring 2004). Guardians Of Order is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario. For more information, contact Guardians Of Order at info@guardiansorder.com, or visit the company's website at http://www.guardiansorder.com.
In business for over twenty years, Hero Games publishes games and game products based on its renowned HERO System rules, including Champions (the game of superheroic role-playing), Star Hero, Fantasy Hero, The Ultimate Martial Artist, and many others. Champions, named by InQuest Magazine as the best role-playing game of all time, has been inducted into the Origins Award Hall Of Fame. For more information about Hero Games, the HERO System, and related products, contact the company at info@herogames.com, or visit its website at http://www.herogames.com.
Apparently, both DOJ (publishers of HERO System products) and GOO (publishers of Silver Age Sentinels and other fine products) have decided to do a cross-over RPG setting! Now hear this!
HERO GAMES AND GUARDIANS OF ORDER TEAM-UP FOR SUPERHERO RPG CROSSOVER
Hero Games and Guardians Of Order, Inc. jointly announced today plans to publish a shared-universe crossover adventure for their leading superhero role-playing games, Champions and Silver Age Sentinels. Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide will debut this summer at the GenCon Game Fair (24-27 July, 2003) in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“The folks at Hero Games are a great crew and we look forward to working with them on this ground-breaking project,” said Guardians Of Order President, Mark C. MacKinnon. “During the past year we joined forces to launch advertising and co-promotional campaigns that exposed each company’s supporters to the strength and quality of the so-called ‘competition.’ When we saw how supportive our fans were of our friendly rivalry, we decided to give them what they wanted most: a superhero RPG crossover, evoking the spirit of the leading comic book crossovers of the past four decades. They asked and we listened -- this is the must-have product for every superhero RPG aficionado!”
“We’re thrilled to be working with the Guardians gang on this project,” said Darren Watts, Hero Games’ President. “Not only are they a great bunch of guys, but we don’t think that anything quite like this -- mixing two companies’ settings and characters together in a crossover adventure -- has ever been done for gaming before. It’s a comic book classic, and all of us are having a fantastic time bringing it to the world of role-playing.”
Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide sets the stage for a world-shattering apocalypse when arch-villains Dr. Destroyer and Kreuzritter team-up to conquer both universes! The heroes from Champions’ Millennium City and Silver Age Sentinels’ Empire City must join forces to save their worlds, but can they put aside their differences to work together or will they destroy each other first? In addition to an epic adventure, Reality Storm will also contain detailed system conversion notes for the HERO System (Champions) and Tri-Stat System (Silver Age Sentinels) to assist players switching between games. Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide will be published by Hero Games in July 2003.
Founded in 1997, Guardians Of Order, Inc. is a Canadian publishing company specializing in Japanese anime and superheroic role-playing games, as well as licensed resource and reference books. In addition to their Origins Award-nominated Big Eyes, Small Mouth anime RPG and Silver Age Sentinels superhero RPG, they publish licensed fan guides and RPGs based on: popular anime series (Trigun, Hellsing, Fushigi Yugi, Slayers, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and others); George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire (fall 2003); and DC Comics’ acclaimed superhero series, The Authority and StormWatch (spring 2004). Guardians Of Order is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario. For more information, contact Guardians Of Order at info@guardiansorder.com, or visit the company's website at http://www.guardiansorder.com.
In business for over twenty years, Hero Games publishes games and game products based on its renowned HERO System rules, including Champions (the game of superheroic role-playing), Star Hero, Fantasy Hero, The Ultimate Martial Artist, and many others. Champions, named by InQuest Magazine as the best role-playing game of all time, has been inducted into the Origins Award Hall Of Fame. For more information about Hero Games, the HERO System, and related products, contact the company at info@herogames.com, or visit its website at http://www.herogames.com.
MEKTON ZETA & GUNDAM
From the R.Talsorian website:
Mekton is R. Talsorian's oldest game. In fact its older than R. Talsorian, which was formed after the feedback at our local con, DunDraCon, convinced us that there was a market for an anime role-playing game. But being an older game right now has its disadvantages. Right now the stores are hot to stock new things and picking up a new supplement for an old game which has been dormant for awhile is not at the top of their list. This makes it hard for us to get the line up and running again. Fortunately for Mekton, we have Mobile Suite Gundam out of translation and into editing right now (Thank you, Benjamin Wright!).
Slight digression on Mobile Suit Gundam. Some years ago, Mekton Zeta was published in translation in Japan under license. It did well and the same folks involved with that came back to us and said "We have the Mobile Suite Gundam license. Can we use a variant of the Mekton Zeta system to make a Gundam game for publication in Japan?" Well, Gundam being the granddaddy of all mecha programs, or as we like to think of it, the Gone with the Wind of anime, we were delighted and agreed with the provision that we would have first whack at the English language publication rights. It's a big, beautiful book with masses of detail which also is just darned fun to play whether you're a Feddie or a Zion (or just look like one).
I can't WAIT!
From the R.Talsorian website:
Mekton is R. Talsorian's oldest game. In fact its older than R. Talsorian, which was formed after the feedback at our local con, DunDraCon, convinced us that there was a market for an anime role-playing game. But being an older game right now has its disadvantages. Right now the stores are hot to stock new things and picking up a new supplement for an old game which has been dormant for awhile is not at the top of their list. This makes it hard for us to get the line up and running again. Fortunately for Mekton, we have Mobile Suite Gundam out of translation and into editing right now (Thank you, Benjamin Wright!).
Slight digression on Mobile Suit Gundam. Some years ago, Mekton Zeta was published in translation in Japan under license. It did well and the same folks involved with that came back to us and said "We have the Mobile Suite Gundam license. Can we use a variant of the Mekton Zeta system to make a Gundam game for publication in Japan?" Well, Gundam being the granddaddy of all mecha programs, or as we like to think of it, the Gone with the Wind of anime, we were delighted and agreed with the provision that we would have first whack at the English language publication rights. It's a big, beautiful book with masses of detail which also is just darned fun to play whether you're a Feddie or a Zion (or just look like one).
I can't WAIT!
SANDUGO: the 8 - page comic
It's amazing to see it all come together. Ner P., Vic C. and I have been working on an 8-page comic book based on his parahuman team, Sandugo. It's been a blast to see it slowly come together, from script to pencils to inks... and now coloring and lettering. There are still areas that we feel need improvement (in our own contributions, or in others), but otherwise it looks good enough to submit to meet our deadlines. We hope that the initial effort will prove good enough to allow us improve with subsequent issues.
Kris Aquino's Live Journal?
I ran across the following site: You and me against the world's journal. It claims to be the live journal of Kris Aquino... or does it? I don't see her full name in the profile despite the pics of Kris all over the site. Besides, marking down "married men" as part of your interests is a bit... well...
Anyway go and see it for yourself!
Moore, Morrison, and Sex
I was reading the Comic Book Resources column Lying in the Gutters about the events and consequences of Alan Moore's retirement announcement. Alan Moore, for those not in the know, is one of the comic book industry's most celebrated writers... his writing has garnered critical and popular praise, his scripts have been converted into movies (From Hell and LXG: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen come to mind), and his work has inspired other industry greats like Neil Gaiman.
In the column I happened upon the following story about another comic book author / celebrity - Grant Morrison:
As well as mentioning that Frank Quitely's next series after "New X-Men" will be a creator-owned project from the two of them, Morrison talked about the basics of life. How it arises from complex systems. And how so comics continuity has become so complex as to support sentience. Expressed his intent to create a comic so complex that it becomes a living self-aware being, as well as bringing that same aspect to the DC Universe, wanting to make the DC Universe realise that it's alive.
He didn't appear to be joking.
Three Letters: W.T.F.?
And to finish up this article with the sex bit, this link shows that in X-men issue # 118 the word sex appears at least 18 times as subliminal messages hidden in the background art. There are pics scanned from the issue to substantiate those claims. See for yourself.
It's amazing to see it all come together. Ner P., Vic C. and I have been working on an 8-page comic book based on his parahuman team, Sandugo. It's been a blast to see it slowly come together, from script to pencils to inks... and now coloring and lettering. There are still areas that we feel need improvement (in our own contributions, or in others), but otherwise it looks good enough to submit to meet our deadlines. We hope that the initial effort will prove good enough to allow us improve with subsequent issues.
Kris Aquino's Live Journal?
I ran across the following site: You and me against the world's journal. It claims to be the live journal of Kris Aquino... or does it? I don't see her full name in the profile despite the pics of Kris all over the site. Besides, marking down "married men" as part of your interests is a bit... well...
Anyway go and see it for yourself!
Moore, Morrison, and Sex
I was reading the Comic Book Resources column Lying in the Gutters about the events and consequences of Alan Moore's retirement announcement. Alan Moore, for those not in the know, is one of the comic book industry's most celebrated writers... his writing has garnered critical and popular praise, his scripts have been converted into movies (From Hell and LXG: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen come to mind), and his work has inspired other industry greats like Neil Gaiman.
In the column I happened upon the following story about another comic book author / celebrity - Grant Morrison:
As well as mentioning that Frank Quitely's next series after "New X-Men" will be a creator-owned project from the two of them, Morrison talked about the basics of life. How it arises from complex systems. And how so comics continuity has become so complex as to support sentience. Expressed his intent to create a comic so complex that it becomes a living self-aware being, as well as bringing that same aspect to the DC Universe, wanting to make the DC Universe realise that it's alive.
He didn't appear to be joking.
Three Letters: W.T.F.?
And to finish up this article with the sex bit, this link shows that in X-men issue # 118 the word sex appears at least 18 times as subliminal messages hidden in the background art. There are pics scanned from the issue to substantiate those claims. See for yourself.
HINIRANG: The RPG
For those of you who have NOT been to www.hinirang.com yet, go there... then come back.
Jay A. and I pitched to the heads of Hinirang to do an RPG for their oh-so-cool setting. It's been a long struggle against a lot of other work, but we've got some semblance of mechanics for statistics, skills, special abilities, and magic (mystical and spiritual) down. The task resolution system will reduced a lot of the dice rolling, keep things going at a fast clip, and still be flexible enough to create almost any character you want inside the setting.
Now Jay and I just gotta pull together my various notes and write 'em all in one document for testing by the initiators of the setting!
For those of you who have NOT been to www.hinirang.com yet, go there... then come back.
Jay A. and I pitched to the heads of Hinirang to do an RPG for their oh-so-cool setting. It's been a long struggle against a lot of other work, but we've got some semblance of mechanics for statistics, skills, special abilities, and magic (mystical and spiritual) down. The task resolution system will reduced a lot of the dice rolling, keep things going at a fast clip, and still be flexible enough to create almost any character you want inside the setting.
Now Jay and I just gotta pull together my various notes and write 'em all in one document for testing by the initiators of the setting!
Guess which Elder God I am?
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I am Azathoth! Known as the "Blind Idiot God", the center of all cycles known as Azathoth is the great void itself, infinite creation and inescapable oblivion made one. The Great God is without ego, as it has been embodied in a seperate consciousness as Azathoth has cast off the curse of self-awareness. Surrounded by the host of flautist servitors, piping the songs of the unknowable, Azathoth is not to be known by his aspirants. That is the purpose of another God... |
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| Which Great Old One are you? | |
Time
I've been thinking about how I've lost control of my time. It seems like I've been lax, sliding by with things.
As always, it's difficult. Wrestling with yourself, outwitting yourself out of the comfortable and hypnotic habits that blind you to your own weakness... is difficult. But it's a lot like being an annoyed efficiency expert - stepping outside yourself and commenting on things with a dry, dispassionate voice: "do you really need to spend your time doing that? Did you really have to do that task now?"
I have a tendency to make big plans and dream big dreams, but then start on the least important thing first getting there. Fortunately, I have a trick. I always pay attention to the thing I'd like to do last on my list of things to accomplish in a given day or a week. It's usually a good sign that it's the first thing that needs finishing.
I've been thinking about how I've lost control of my time. It seems like I've been lax, sliding by with things.
As always, it's difficult. Wrestling with yourself, outwitting yourself out of the comfortable and hypnotic habits that blind you to your own weakness... is difficult. But it's a lot like being an annoyed efficiency expert - stepping outside yourself and commenting on things with a dry, dispassionate voice: "do you really need to spend your time doing that? Did you really have to do that task now?"
I have a tendency to make big plans and dream big dreams, but then start on the least important thing first getting there. Fortunately, I have a trick. I always pay attention to the thing I'd like to do last on my list of things to accomplish in a given day or a week. It's usually a good sign that it's the first thing that needs finishing.
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