Indies and Outies: Breaking Into Comics
By Devin T. Quin
TWO important bits of information before we move on to unimportant information, i.e. my column; First of all, March 14th is Daylight Savings time. This will mean that when you lose an hour of time Saturday night on the 13th, it’s not due to binge drinking. Well, ONE of the hours you black out for won’t be because of the drinking, at least.
The Second piece of important news is Free Comic Book day is two months away! Visit http://www.freecomicbookday.com/ to learn all you need to know for the busiest day in the comic book calendar! Remember: When FCBD does arrive the place to be is Forbidden Planet!
STAR DREK
We now return to your regularly scheduled comic book news column.
Dark Horse has volume nine of Hellboy’s continued adventures available in trade paperback this week with the release of Hellboy: The Wild Hunt. If you haven’t bought Hellboy in a while, or ever for that matter, this is a GREAT place to get aboard! Mignola and artist Duncan Fegredo make an excellent team, and this book changes Hellboy’s world FOREVER!
DC has MORE Grant Morrison Batman with Batman and Robin #10, as well as some early Blackest Night wrap-up with Green Lantern Corps #46. I’ll have to do some research into the longest crossover event of all time, but Blackest Night might be a strong contender!
INDIES AND OUTIES
Hot picks on the indie scene include Zombies vs. Robots Adventures #2 from IDW and Image’s stalwart Savage Dragon #158. Savage Dragon is the down and dirty old-boy of the modern comics scene: Every issue has some grade-A fisticuffs, damsels in distress and wacky villains. God Bless Image for still publishing it.
It goes without saying that the coolest comic book being published this week is the latest issue of legendary cartoonist Roger Langridge’s Muppet Show #3…. So why did I just say it? Hmmm.
BREAKING IN
Amongst marvel’s fan favorites of Amazing Spider-Man #624, Powers #3 and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #8 will be a little book called Breaking into Comics the Marvel Way #1. Helmed by current Marvel ombudsman C.B. Beluski with tons of fresh talent along for the ride, “Breaking into” will offer a peak inside the hiring policies and offer tips on getting you started in a comics career.
If you EVER want to work in the industry then DON’T think you can skip this comic. You are never so great, talented or skilled that you can’t use pointers. Marvel puts this book out to address common faux pas they see at every portfolio review. The first step of getting better at your craft is LISTENING to criticism.
I’m going to buy 20 copies and increase my chances of working at Marvel by 20 fold! Every comic book news writer is just a frustrated comic book creator-in-the-wings.
See ya’ next week… unless I sell that She-Lockjaw and the ALL FEMALE Pet Avengers pitch I’ve got circulating at Marvel right now! Keep your fingers crossed!
