TWO FISTED HOMEOPAPE October/17 - One Newsletter; Two Spicy Thoughts
Will this newsletter get review bombed?
♫ I applied for a rescue dog,
But if I get you dog,
You're rescuing me ♫
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2022 -- bounce.
Does every writer need to do All The Things?
I wonder when someone like Stephen King or Jason Aaron releases a new piece of writing, are they buried in all the things that aren’t the actual story writing - emails, a quick skim and new draft on the writing, visual proofs for art, press, print files?
I bet they do, and they’re just damn good at it - or they have heaps of time because writing is full time and so this just becomes the 2-4pm slot because they’re tired by then and so want to do something that’s business, not creative.
Maybe.
All I know is, I love getting projects across the finish line, but every time I’m almost surprised that it involves all this stuff that’s away from the story. The past fortnight has kind of been a decent chunk of that. And it’s not that I dislike it, I love looking over print files because it’s so close to being a reality and I’m awed by the design and the layout, and I dig thinking about which balloon tails we’ll use for a specific story, and near everyone I email with is such a superb human that it’s always polite and focused and gives me a little energy to know I’m working with A+ people.
I’m just annoyed that it shocks me every time. Like I forgot that making comics is a little business empire, and it’s not just sitting at the typewriter and spinning yarns and then moving on.
As it would turn out, this week has been a mixture of both - there’s the business end of A FISTFUL OF PAIN [which is just looking insanely gorgeous] and admin and fun for the next project I haven’t announced yet - and there’s been deep story stuff as I continue to prepare these pitches to launch out. A publisher was at New York Comic Con and so have been busy, but want to see some stuff from me upon their return so I’m making sure we have everything looking schmick.
I have one pitch already asked for and received, and then two more I’m really passionate about, and so are the artists I’m co-creating with. I won’t lie, I really want to tell both of these stories. One’s been in the wings for nearly 5 years now. I’m keen.
But I guess the coming month/s will tell me more about this, and what my 2023 workload will [or won’t] look like.
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Noirvember is Coming
I’ve given myself a little Noirvember challenge - I’m going to bust out a small noir story title and intro page for 30 days of the month, all based on prompts of my design.
I’ve started pecking away at these now as a wake up tool at 4am - coffee and wordle is good, but a little creative flow can be even better - and this has been fun.
Any time I can find an excuse to just do pure idea [and tone] generation, I’m all up for it.
I’ll roll these out next month, one a day, if i can keep any kind of deadline schedule :]
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Looking to learn, maybe learning where to look?
Brian Michael Bendis has joined substack in a paid model and has a bunch of stuff to share!
Ever since I started writing comics, I’ve been listening to Bendis. He’s been a tentpole of the industry, mostly with Marvel comics as well as with his own properties, and for 15+ years I’ve been listening to him on the Word Balloon podcast, and even baby nascent writer Ryan took a lot from him back then, and he’s still doling it out now.
His textbook about making comics was brilliant and an instant addition to my Making Comics Curriculum Bundle. So his new version of his Substack has me excited for this reason, he’s doing more stuff in this style, some textbook material for other creators, as well as his own comics, too.
If you’re still learning the game of it all - and aren’t we all, in some [many] way/s - then you’d d well to have a poke around and see if you want to sub, or pay, honestly.
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PERHAPS YOU'D CARE TO SAMPLE
YOU ARE THE HERO on Kickstarter - a book all about the history of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston creating the Fighting Fantasy book series. This thing looks unreal, and perfect for a fan of the series.
JASON RISES on Kickstarter - a fan-fiction graphic novel set between the first two FRIDAY THE 13th films. This actually looks really phenomenal, and has a whole mess of options to add on from hardcovers, slipcases, enamel pins, lunch boxes, it’s pretty rad.
DIEDIEBOOKS on Kickstarter - a small publisher putting out 5 books about 5 different horror films. Definitely worth a look to see if the titles interest you! There’s an option to just back for the one book you want.
ONE TRUE LOVE on Kickstarter - awesome looking ogn from J. Schiek and Mario Candelaria, def check this beauty out.
I TOOK A HAMMER TO HELL on Kickstarter - I mean, it’s all in the title, right? Matt Garvey writes another bonkers idea, and it sounds great!
UNDER THE HARVEST MOON on Kickstarter - this is some rad roleplaying content by the amazing Jess pendley, whose stuff is always so well crafted and created, so if you are looking to add some horror options to your next gaming session, pick this book up!
SURPRISE! FOUR SECRET COMICS FROM J.M. DEMATTEIS on Kickstarter - This is a cool campaign in both ideas and main idea. There are four #1 issues available here from DeMattieis, all different genres, I dig the one that’s Kirby By Matrix meets Philip K. Dick [natch]. BUUUUUUUUT, those who buy can vote on which of these four debuts goes to series and gets a 5 issues run. That’s really cool, but I also think it kinda sucks for the other 3 books, and the artists co-creating those ideas. Hopefully they aren’t just completely dropped, and I’m sure they went in with eyes wide open, but I hope there’s some plan to give those stories space, too - I’m sure DeMatteis planned them all out, right?
Alan Moore interview on The Quietus - it’s a good read, but there was a quote that stuck out to me:
“You have to remember that magic isn’t like a religion. Religions are ways of getting everybody to conform to one spiritual paradigm. The root is ‘religare’, which is the same route as ligament, ligature meaning ‘bound together’. This is very much like the definition of fascism.”
I’d never considered religion as fascism, nor seen it directed as such, and yet…the definition of fascism is:
“Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.”
If we boil it down a little, and be a little bit generous, is it religion?
“Fascism Religion is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.”
I left militarism in due to things like the Crusades and such. Though perhaps it doesn’t speak for every religion, some can be different. I wonder if anyone who is religious [I am decidedly not] could run this definition past their own religious structure and consider the overlap…? I’m 100% not saying religion is fascism [ugh, now I sound like one of those devil’s advocates douchebags] - I’m just extrapolating some thoughts from an interview - and thoughts are there to be thought about to get the thinking flowing, right?
It makes me think of teaching government to students for two decades - we would look at direct democracy [everyone gets a vote on everything], representative democracy [we elect officials to vote for us], monarchy [a royal family decides, as in absolute - though we also look at a constitutional monarchy, as Australia has], and a dictatorship.
After unpacking them all, discussions would be had about how they worked, who they served, etc. Kids being kids, they want to know what’s right, or best, and so as we circle that and they slowly get an idea, and it happened every year - none is inherently better or worse than another in themselves as it only matters *who* the person/people are in charge. A magnanimous and benevolent dictator would be amazing, and officials dutifully elected by and for the people can be corrupt [oh, heavens, just imagine?!].
Ultimately, government is an extension of the people and what people need are more good people - informed people, caring people, creative people. It’s always an interesting eye-opening moment for the kids.
So, religion - could be just as good as any monarchy, if used right, right? It can be dictatorial, but in the right ways? Right?
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GRIST FOR THE MILL
SHE-HULK - I really dug this show.
It’s been interesting [troubling? frustrating?] to watch what happens whenever a new woman headlines a superhero story. Apart from Wonder Woman who seemed to be allowed either because the character is legitimately the first icon of women in superheroes, or because Gal Gadot is so beautiful and wore the skirt and so somehow the film didn’t get completely ripped apart online [or did it? I don’t remember it if it did], nearly every film/tv show, especially from Marvel, gets slammed by certain corners of online fandom.
Captain Marvel - angry nerds were so certain the film would fail, and hated it upon release, and then it made a billion dollars, and beyond the box office [because who cares?] it’s a genuinely awesome flick.
Ms. Marvel - same angry nerds, same weak rage, same quality result and a win for expansion of diversity in the superhero genre.
So when She-Hulk was announced, I was ready for it, and ready to ignore it. I’m thankful to be privileged enough to know this stuff doesn’t need to reach me, or bother me. I don’t see it in my travels, and I don’t go looking for it - it’s a nice place to be, and I appreciate that I get to be here. But I don’t want to talk about the hate [don’t feed the trolls] instead, I want to talk about how the show prepped for it and armed itself to the teeth.
It’s like the writers’ room sat down and considered every possible issue raging online fanboys might have with the show and decided to tackle it. Then I think they went further - what issues do women in general find online, and in their day to day lives, and then all of that was put into the show.
They then took a female strength fantasy - Jennifer Walters becomes one of the physically strongest characters on Planet Earth - and worked out how that strength would be attacked as weakness. And they do it brilliantly.
The fact her name is just a feminised version of another man’s name, they cover that and how stupid it is. The idea there are heroes, non-gendered, because we know they’ll be guys, and then just She-Versions of them is fairly insulting. I know why they do it, making a legacy character has way more chance of survival in cape comics than completely standalone independent and new characters, so She-Hulk makes sense in the context - but that doesn’t explain why they never make a male version of an established female character and He-Name them.
Have they done that? If so, seriously, or parody? There should be a He-rley Quinn, and I’m not even kidding.
I get that Wonder Woman comes from an all female society, so there really can’t be a He-Wonder, and there actually is a Wonder Man, but he’s Marvel and with no connection at all, so he does not prove this case moot.
I remember years and years ago when Dan Slott was writing an Avengers comic, the Wasp had died, and so Hank Pym - who up until this point had taken the names Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, and maybe more - took on her mantle. Hank Pym became the Wasp - and nerds got upset [and flustered and confused] that they’d give Pym, a man, such a feminine name.
Somehow they’d convinced themselves that the word ‘wasp’ was girly - and I’m going to assume those fellas have never actually encountered the angry meth heads of the insect world before because those little beasts are more aligned with frothing online sadsacks keyboard-raging from their basement than they are any high society woman you ever met.
So, anyway, I get why She-Hulk exists as a name. But it’s the other little things the show tackles that are absolute genius. Walters is attacked for strutting around and showing off her powers all the time, when that’s not something she’s done at all in the show - and this happens when walking home at night.
She has haters in the world of the story - people who just post dumb shit and memes about her online - and she actively then dismisses them directly to the camera - knowing this exact thing will be happening in real life. It’s gold.
SPOILERS - but Walters sleeps with three different men in the course of the show, and openly enjoys it, and you know that’s gonna sting the “body count” crowd who long for the touch of a virgin they can control. But her sexual activity, and dating desires, are a part of the show and are not shied away from - they are just as much plot as is her busting heads, maybe more so.
The thing I think is - sure, I absolutely can see how this is not for everyone - personally, Falcon and the Winter Soldier just wasn’t all that much made for me, What If? totally was - but why can’t people just ignore it. There are dozens of Marvel movies/shows, just take the ones you want now. Angry losers online have been smashing the show with low rating scores on iMDB [called ‘review bombing’ I believe] and I just can’t think of anything worse to do with my time. Legitimately, sad behaviour. Just watch all those other flicks that put some guy up on a pedestal - soak up that shitty misogynistic Doctor Strange 2 flavour - and turn away from something maybe not made for you.
Thankfully, some critical thinking online can show you what review bombing looks like, and it’s actually a discussion I’ve had with my kids, and why it happens - though, to add fairness, plenty of other shows get this treatment, too, but not to this extent:
Surely these sad online clowns can’t have thought this show would be made for them, and did they want it to be, and why would it be? So many questions, so many obvious answers.
But to the creators of She-Hulk, bravo for making something so obviously very made for and by you. The aim was set and I think it nailed it.
Plus: that Daredevil episode was genuine perfection - signed, a guy who wrote and edited a book about Daredevil :]
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT - lean into your inspirations, own your tropes. This flick - or, mini-flick - was all about just doing a really cool version of WBN and it became something really fun to watch. Took me straight back to my youth watching really old horror films.
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Be one of the good guys, because there's way too many of the bad.
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Who is Ryan K Lindsay?
I’m an award-winning Australian [in that order] comic writer. I’ve been published by Black Mask, Dark Horse, ComixTribe, IDW, Mad Cave, Heavy Metal, Vertigo, and a few more. Kickstarter has been a home for many short comics. I often get to collaborate with great mates, and this brings me joy.
I write about balancing this creative game alongside a full teaching load [currently College English] and a lovely family load and the forever melting brain that is modern man. I think about a lot of stuff, I still don’t know if it’s the right stuff. ymmv.
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POST CREDITS SEQUENCE
This is a hall of fame tweet - I am printing this out and putting it on my laptop.
A perfect encapsulation of why we write, and why writing is fundamental to society. A place to explore ideas, and bring truth to power.