The Violin

Rain rippled down the windows.  He remembered that to his fingertips, long before they wrinkled and shriveled, it had felt like velvet rubbed the wrong way, the smudgy softness pooling in the corners against the leather.  The leather was soft, worn with the warmth of hands.  The silver clasps, real silver, were polished and opened softly at his touch.  He liked to think that after all these years they still glowed, that they warmed to him and opened with the soft, surprised gap of a lover who had drifted off on a sun-soaked afternoon nap, astonished and awakened by a single touch.  The leather still creaked as the case opened, unaffected by the harshness of heat or cold.  It, and he, had stayed safe from the sun beyond the front door for some time now.  He loved the way the wood still gleamed, peeking out coyly, an unexpected amber eye glancing between kohl-rimmed lids.  He knew a girl with eyes that color once, eyes the color of whiskey.  Each time she gazed at him, he was disoriented.  Each time he looked away, even for a moment, he’d remember them as blue.  Or sometimes green.  But then he would turn back to her and they would always be a sweet honey, and each time she had looked at him, his breath would catch.

            His fingers knew the shape of the neck more intimately than that of any lover.  Though callused, he could still feel every scratch though the pads of his fingertips.  The tiny irregularities of the grain, smoothed over with varnish and sandpaper, raised again by time and fingers and melodies.  He had played for her, the girl with the whiskey eyes, and she had laughed and twinkled and made sounds even more beautiful than his bow ever could.  And that day he had chipped the shoulder, a tiny nick, as he rushed to free his hands for tasks more urgent than opening a case.

            He had played for her outside, the dappled light through the trees mimicking her freckles.  And he had played for her outside not two years later, when her freckles were mocked by the speckling of the granite.  And as he played for her, the sun obscenely, adamantly persisting its audience, he knew that he would never play again for another.

            His bow touched string and he played, once more, for her.

Panel: Horror in Comics, 3/17/12

Notes: This panel was recorded live for Sirius XM. Also, All authors may be denoted by their last initial in the notes...so much great information was being put out that I couldn't keep up otherwise. I still couldn't quite keep up...I kept getting wrapped up in the discussion and forgetting to write things down/attribute quotes. But here's what I did get.

Moderator: Mark Waid

Panelists: Scott Snyder, Eric Powell, Joe Hill, Rebekah Isaacs, Mike Mignola

"Everybody, thanks for coming to the Disney Princess Panel..." -Joe Hill

What about comics as a medium lends itself to horror?

-Snyder: Growing up, my favorite comics were about heroes being challenged by something that terrifies them about themselves.

-These confrontations have an immediacy to them that others don't.

-Characters must be loved by the audience to matter at all.

-Hill: In the 1940s and 1950s, superheroes weren't that important. Horror, however, was huge.

-Mignola: "I think of myself as drawing monsters, not horror comics."

-Powell: "We wanted to be able to draw anything we wanted."

-Comics lend themselves to horror because they are a visual medium

What drew you to this work?

-Isaacs: Readers can dwell on horrific images for as long as they want to.

-They are able to take their time and examine every single element of a horrific scene.

"Comics are an interactive medium. Only the reader and the page, on their own time." -Rebekah Isaacs

No sudden surprises or "jumps" can exist in comics, except for in the top left corner of a new page. Instead, you have to earn the scares. Even if they're not looking, the audience will see things later on the page out of the corner of his/her eye.

What informs your work?

-I: "Fear of EVERYTHING."

-"If you make a monster look like a penis, it's always scarier."

-Love of the genre.

-Geeks love watching the cool kids get killed.

-S: You look forward to getting scared.

What makes a really good horror story?

-H: The scariest things in my memory are all from Star Wars. (Isaacs agrees.)

-H: Comics are the hardest way to scare someone (vs. film/TV, radio, books) because you are working with a mixed visual and read medium, but without the aid of camera tricks or sound cues. The audience can use their imagination, but in some ways, it is limited by having the images/words on the page in front of him/her.

-H: Once you care about a character and relate to them, then you can be scared for and with them.

Comics can be the most intimate art form: It's just you and the page.

You can't jolt the reader, so just put the scary thing THERE, and then make it worse and worse with every panel.

Atmosphere and mood are very important. People will project and look for emotional and environmental cues.

The trick, though, is to only show part of the scary thing. Once you see the monster, it's almost always stupid.

The scariest things in comics were done by Gene Colan.

-All about ambience.

Mignola worked on a Dracula adaptation based on Coppola's Dracula.

What, as fans/consumers, do you find yourselves drawn to?

-Animal Man

-Y, the Last Man (Brian K. Vaughan)

-Rachel Rising (Terry Moore)

-Black Hole (Charles Burns)

-Dracula (Gene Colan's)

-Ray Bradbury

Failures in current horror:

"Boobs are NOT scary. More character. Less boob. Maybe more penis?" -Joe Hill

-Regarding the proliferation of sexpot women as horror villains.

What were your first horror films? Favorite horror films?

-S: Star Wars/Night of the Living Dead (original)

-P: Nightmares/The Exorcist

-H: The Swarm/Jaws (vetoed by the rest of the panelists as a non-horror), so The Exorcist, also, Sleeping Beauty made me cover my eyes.

-I: Star Wars/The Mist/Troll 2

-M: Beneath the Planet of the Apes/The Birds, also The Innocents, The Haunting

What should people who can't afford to keep up on comics do?

-"BitTorrent, if you can't afford it. The most important thing is to have people reading them." -Joe Hill

What is the scariest type of monster? Zombies, Vampires, Aliens, etc.?

-S: Just do them right. That's why they have stood the test of time.

-Take something safe and turn it into the thing that wants to kill you.

-P: Ghost stories.

-I: Zombies, because you can't reason with them.

-M: Anything, when done well.

-H: The Devil.

In this politically correct world, monsters are the last thing that you are allowed to hate.

Walking Dead: Horror or Soap Opera?

-Both, because you MUST develop characters. Only having zombie action isn't sustainable.

The Crooked Man and Others

-Where did the idea come from?

-M: Appalachian folklore character

"Villains are the sum of the hero's worst fears." -Mike Mignola

How do you filter ideas? What is your favorite scaring technique?

-The biggest scares come from characters you care about being put in jeopardy.

How did you keep your head up when starting out?

-P: An absolute fear of hanging drywall if I failed.

-S: The thrill of doing what you love and being happy versus the fear of being miserable.

Panel: Creating Animation History with The Last Unicorn, 3/16/2012

Panelists: Suren Seron, Peter S. Beagle, Terri Kempton, Connor Cochran

Trivia: In the credits, look for Nellie Bellflower. Her role was cut.

When it was made, everyone passed on the film. A small distribution company based out of Salt Lake City took it on, then went bankrupt after 17 days.

Ultimately, The Last Unicorn outsold Star Wars in Europe.

The entire life of the film happened AFTER it was released on video.

In 2001, the Hollywood Reporter posted a story about TLU. The creators, after seeing the story, sued for owed money and eventually won.

For the first time, the rights, which were previously scattered all over the place, have been collected by Connor.

-This means that for the first time ever, there will be licensed merchandise.

-Graphic novel by IDW

-Special edition graphic novel

-"Two Hearts" sequel novelette

-Won Eisner, Nebula awards

-Graphic novel being released

Now that rights have been dealt with:

-Big-screen re-release for 10-12 days starting in May/June

-Will have Q&A sessions with Peter S. Beagle

-Premiere at the Egyptian Theater

-Partnering with AMC

-Going to be released in higher-quality than Blu-Ray

-Merchandise

-3D Paper Art

-They showed an example...it's gorgeous.

-Requesting fan input on merchandise ideas.

-Soundtrack

-No official soundtrack has ever been released.

-Illegal version has been available in Germany only on vinyl.

-Full, official soundtrack will be released, possibly with a few extra surprise tracks.

Entire project is funded by Suren (and co.'s) new production company, "Sandbox."

-Spearheading the effort.

-Completely revamping, digitizing, removing duplicate frames from original print. Nothing like this has ever been done before.

-Re-animating things that were originally done wrong to save money.

-5-8 minutes of new animation

-Fixing the ENTIRE film

-3 versions of the original screenplay are being combined to create a single, "ultimate" version (with supervision from Peter S. Beagle and Terri)

-New version will be released in 2D and 3D

-May add a new song to the closing credits, because now there will be the original team and the restoration team.

"I wasn't thinking of it as a children's book or a children's story. Ever." -Peter S. Beagle

Beagle likes Tolkien's convention of incorporating songs and music to help tell the story.

Also in the works:

-Broadway musical?

-Beagle would like one. Also, he has an idetic memory.

-Live Action Version

-Rights for live-action version are not available until 2015.

-No one has actually signed on, contrary to rumors.

Do you worry about backlash from the fans because of the changes?

-This isn't intended to replace the original, but rather to complement it.

Dual release of the original and the revamped version is possible.

In the process of collecting interviews with all of the original artists in Japan. Documentary also may be in the works about the process of revamping.

Panel Notes: Spotlight on Mark Waid, 3/16/12

To finance foray into digital (NOT to replace print, but to compliment,) selling entire personal collection of comics at www.blastoffcomics.com.

Just announced (at previous panel) that he's doing Rocketeer.

Right now, for free, download Luther for free at www.markwaid.com. You can buy the comics from the website, but feel free to share them--it's much more important to get it out there.

"Digital comics should be $0.99. Period."

With digital, there are wins and losses:

-Lose: Full shots, huge page spreads

-Win: We are still learning about how to write and read digital comics; the industry is still developing; you have 2 pages; it's a chance to try new things out.

Things we are learning about digital:

How many screens is a visitor willing to look at? How quickly do you need to develop newer material? How much new material is too much? How much story gives a feeling of completion, similar to a paper book?

-About 8-10 screens per week seems to be the ideal

These are NOT motion comics.

On writing:

Why doesn't every issue of Daredevil start with Matt with a gun in his mouth?

Things have to go right sometimes for the characters, otherwise the audience no longer can relate.

"Your job is to make yourself happy, because no one else will."

Consequences for characters have to persist in the world. The characters don't get to wipe the slate clean with every new page or book. Actions have to have ramifications.

WonderCon 2012

Over the weekend, I had the great pleasure of (and resultant overwhelming exhaustion from) attending WonderCon.

Some highlights of the weekend:

-More than ten...count them...TEN encounters with the Cylon models known as "Fake Mel Caylos" or, alternately, "Frakkin' Melsters." Naturally, none of these sightings resulted in a single photograph.

-Quality time with the lovely "League of Extraordinary Ladies" and the equally hilarious Geekscape crew.

-Some truly remarkable panels. Topping the list were "Horror in Comics," which takes the cake for putting my favorite genres and my favorite creators together in one room, and the brilliant Amber Benson's first foray into moderating with Jane Espenson's spotlight panel.

-Having a convention that is small enough for creators to actually connect with the fans. Unlike Comic-Con, I never struggled to get a seat in a panel (granted, I avoided the Ballroom), and actually was able to see, meet, and even talk to, a number of the creators I really respect and admire, including Mark Waid, who somehow managed to juggle roughly 800 million panels with more wit, energy, and insight than I could imagine mustering. And was still incredibly gracious in person, even at the end of an impossibly long Saturday.

My panel notes are forthcoming. Keep in mind that they were taken in real-time, so any errors are a failure of trying to keep up and not quite managing. Also, the one panel that lacks any notes was "Comics on Comics." This is mostly because I am always too busy laughing to write anything down, a lesson I learned three years ago.

Enjoy, nerds.

The "Right" Way to Convention Prep (Part 1)

After showing a picture of my basic convention prepping setup, I was asked for a component explanation. So here is the way I prepare my convention schedule. Because I'm incredibly OCD about it.

Supplies:

-Highlighters in 3 or more colors

-A printer

-A notebook

-A plastic folder (for all materials, badges, etc.)

-A pen

-A computer

1.) Look over the schedule online, marking all of the panels that catch your eye.

2.) Search through the listed panels for friends' names. The same people tend to do roughly the same panels, so it gets easier to know where people will be, but the search function is definitely a big help.

3.) Look over the new list of panels, checking for conflicts and removing anything that doesn't look particularly important or conflicts with something friends are on.

4.) Print out or copy the schedule into a word processor.

5.) Color-code (with highlighters or on the computer) by "Friends," "Acquaintances," "Must-See," "Want to see," etc.

6.) Check one more time for conflicts. Pick and choose where necessary. Make notes (pen, notebook) where necessary.

7.) Print out, if you haven't already. Put schedule into folder.

8.) Completely disregard schedule once you see the lines for panels.

Next time: Hotel selection for San Diego Comic-Con. (Hint: it involves a spreadsheet.)

Adventurer's Vault

Stuffed into manila envelopes, wedged into the corner of my closet, buried under holiday decorations and extra light bulbs are thousands of hand-written pages. These notepads, printouts, copies, and torn paper chronicle hundreds, if not thousands of hours' worth of memories; battles won and occasionally lost, friends and foes, mysteries, puzzles, secrets and jokes; things learned and solved and unraveled and discovered. The detritus of a decade of 7-11 runs, too-late nights, stories and whispers and laughter and barroom brawls, battle cries and challenges met and fears faced and experience gained now hides, inches thick, in a small, tucked-away corner.

When I try to explain why these pages hold so much for me, the adventures I've had, the lessons I've learned, and the friends that I've made and sometimes lost in their creation, words often fail me. The weight carried by an oddly-shaped piece of plastic less than an inch high, the warmth it carries as I roll its almost-round awkwardness in my palm, the familiarity of the sound as it hits the table--these are things that cannot simply be articulated. But the pages remain, relics, absolute proof of the journey we took to get here.

The oldest of the pages are now a decade old. They were written when having my own apartment seemed even more fantastic than the creatures they described. When the epic battles inscribed between the college-ruled lines were thrilling, but less so than the prospect of actually arriving at college. And when the friends with whom I joined would forever stay by my side, ready to take on the world, our triumphs inscribed eternally in the books of legend.

As time has passed, those pages have begun to yellow. Now, the prospect of rent still sends a jolt up my spine, though no longer does it bring a thrill. College was an adventure full of battles, to be sure, but the promised treasure chest has proven quite rusted, the shining reward within tarnished with reality. And the trusted adventurers with whom I gladly would have taken on the world, a million times over, proved to be sellswords and cowards, bartering their loyalty for avoidance and forgoing conviction for comfort.

So now, I band with new adventures. Our stories are simpler; our victories often feel inevitable, not always won or earned. We do not create worlds, we inhabit those that already exist. I trust them less. I trust everyone less. But I still play the game. And one day, these new pages will join the old, the records of another journey.

I keep the old pages, unwilling or unable to destroy them, those stories we made, the worlds we all explored together. And I still wonder how our story was supposed to end.