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Year: 2011 Page 17 of 23

Hall of Famers

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On May 27, 2011

In 09 Reminiscences and Tributes

I thought these might be of interest.  Each of the last two years, I was asked to write intros for all-time greats who were being inducted into the Overstreet Hall of Fame.  It was an honor.

Archie Goodwin

Ask the average fan to name the greatest creators in the history of comics and the name Archie Goodwin will not leap to the minds of many, because so much of Archie’s brilliant work was behind the scenes or flew under the mainstream radar. But ask the creators with whom he worked! Ask other all-time great writers, artists, editors and creators! Gather the elders, the best of the best and ask them! His name will be among the first mentioned. Archie Goodwin was an amazing writer with outstanding story sense, penetrating insight, a gift for dialogue, an effortless knack for character, a flair for drama and utter mastery of the art of delivering the payoff. His sheer creativity ranks with the best ever. He was an all-time great editor and teacher. He made everyone he worked with better. On top of that, Archie Goodwin was a fine, wonderful, noble and honorable soul, loved and respected by everyone because he deserved it. This industry may never see his like again. How sad. He is desperately missed.

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Legion of Super Heroes Overview, Part 3

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On May 27, 2011

In 08 Recent Work, 11 Writing

JayJay here. In 2007 Jim returned to DC Comics to write the Legion of Super Heroes again after 31 years. Unfortunately everything didn’t go as planned for the series. Here is the last part of the plot overview. 

Also… More and different stuff will be posted later today!

(Continued from yesterday’s blog)

SG checks the Duty Roster.  PP’s location also does not appear. 

SG tracks PP to her lair, picking up clues from the minds of people who saw her pass.  It’s almost too easy.  Does PP want SG to find her?

SG follows the trail to an ancient building on a lower level of the city.  Once, it was a cathedral.  Long ago it was stripped of religious icons—only the building’s basic architecture identifies its origins.  It has been converted into a palace of sorts for PP by her subjects.  It’s not nearly as posh as her former residence, but it’s a step in the right, royal direction….  

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Legion of Super Heroes Overview, Part 2

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On May 26, 2011

In 08 Recent Work, 11 Writing

JayJay here. In 2007 Jim returned to DC Comics to write the Legion of Super Heroes again after 31 years. Unfortunately everything didn’t go as planned for the series. Here is the second of three parts of the plot overview. Fans of the series may enjoy reading what his original intentions were for the series and those unfamiliar with the series may enjoy reading the plot overview for a 16 issue story arc. What follows has never been seen outside of those working on the series.(Continued from yesterday’s blog)

Meanwhile, on Triton, the ADs charge—but they’re different!  They’ve adapted on the fly into new, dangerous forms, designed, it seems, to cope with the powers of their opponents.  At SG’s urging, Giselle feints a headlong attack, drawing fire, then executes a spectacular leaping somersault to cover.  Star Boy brings down a building on many of the ADs.  TW eviscerates one that escaped.  Giselle also takes out one of the remaining ADs.

The battle rages.  It’s even more difficult and more interesting (I hope) than before.

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Legion of Super Heroes Overview, Part 1

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On May 25, 2011

In 08 Recent Work, 11 Writing

JayJay here. In 2007 Jim returned to DC Comics to write the Legion of Super Heroes again after 31 years. Unfortunately everything didn’t go as planned for the series. But this week, we will serialize Jim’s overview for the story arc that he had planned. Fans of the series may enjoy reading what his original intentions were for the series and those unfamiliar with the series may enjoy reading the plot overview for a 16 issue story arc. What follows has never been seen outside of those working on the series.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES
“One Evil”
(Working Title)
A multi-issue (sixteen?) story arc
By Jim ShooterOverview
01/30/07

ISSUE ONE—ROUGH PLOT:

“Evil Adventus”

In steaming, crackling rubble of what, moments ago, had been a mining station on a misshapen ball of rock and ice in the scattered disk region, beyond the Kuiper Belt, Karate Kid is in desperate combat against a monstrous alien thing (to be fully described in the script).  A life-form with some bionics?  A machine with some organics?  Unknown, and to KK, moot.  Several other, similar alien life-forms, henceforth referred to as Alien Destroyers (AD), are in view, lying amid the rubble, disabled?  Dead?

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It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman

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On May 24, 2011

In 02 Early Life, 09 Reminiscences and Tributes

When I was fourteen, I went on my first business trip. It was in June, 1966, soon after school ended for the year, and almost a year after I’d written the first Legion story DC bought. Fresh out of ninth grade, I was off from home in Pittsburgh to New York City to spend a week in DC’s offices learning more about comics production—things like coloring and inking that are hard to explain over the phone. At DC’s insistence, my mother had to accompany me.Even with the income I was making from DC added to the mix, my family wasn’t exactly prosperous. When you start deep in the hole, it takes a long time to dig out. My mother was worried that she didn’t have anything appropriate to wear. And there was no money to go clothes shopping. A friend of hers from church who was a seamstress offered to make her a few dresses, as a gift.

But, as for the trip itself, DC paid all expenses—the airfare, meals, the hotel. They put us up in the Summit Hotel, a top shelf place in those days. It also happened to be located at Lexington and 51st, right across the street from 575 Lexington Avenue, where DC had its offices. For about a week, I reported to the office every day, met people and learned things.

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An Airplane Ride or Three with Herb Trimpe

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On May 23, 2011

In 09 Reminiscences and Tributes, Uncategorized

Herb Trimpe used to own a 1939 Stearman, which is an open cockpit biplane. When we worked together at Marvel, he’d often invite me to come upstate where he lived to go for a ride. Even after the Marvel days, sometimes, when we’d run into each other. I never got around to it. Always too busy.Now, let me tell you something about my father. He loved airplanes. All kinds. He used to build model airplanes, including those radio controlled ones. So, during the VALIANT days, when he came to New York from the family home in suburban Pittsburgh, one of only two times he ever made it to the Big Apple, I had this brilliant idea. Why not ask Herb to take him for a ride instead of me? I happened to have business up Herb’s way anyway. I figured that my father could come with me and therefore, we’d be in the neighborhood.

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Bill Sienkiewicz IS Spider-Man

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On May 20, 2011

In 09 Reminiscences and Tributes

Here’s a tale from ancient days starring Bill Sienkiewicz.First, the origin.

I’m sitting at my desk at Marvel one day, doing Editor-in-Chief stuff, whatever, and the phone rings. The receptionist asks me if I will take a call from someone named “Neal Adams.” Who? Yes, I will take a call from Neal Adams.

Neal tells me that a young artist turned up at his studio showing samples. He thought I might be interested, but he wasn’t sure because, Neal said, “He draws like me.”

Well, not interested then.

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Color Theory

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On May 19, 2011

In 04 Storytelling Lecture, Uncategorized

Storytelling Lecture Series, Part 21So, the inker has done his or her job, and now we have black and white images—usually with some halftone rendering, like feathering, hatching, stippling, drybrush, maybe even spatter technique. And even possibly with some Zip-a-Tone or other halftone applique, creating gray or grayish areas.

At this point, the colorist controls everything but the black and grayed areas. They’re there. The colorist can choose to leave a white area white or choose to fill it with any color. In ancient days, there were only 56-58 usable colors. There were three color plates—yellow, magenta and cyan. You could have no color in an area, 25% or 50% halftone of each color, or solid colors. That works out to 64 theoretically possible colors, trust me. But some weren’t really usable because the ink saturation would have been too heavy for the cheap newsprint paper. Show-through is bad enough, soak-through is disastrous.

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The Inking Rant

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On May 18, 2011

In 04 Storytelling Lecture

Storytelling Lecture Series, Part 20And now, some points about inking. Inking is a complex discipline. It requires the following:

1) Control of the tools, that is, being able to make the pen or brush make exactly the mark on the paper that you want it to every time—nothing accidental.

Vince Colletta could make a perfect circle freehand, with a brush, exactly even line weight all the way around. Best hands in the business, or at least tied for same. I’ll tell you about Russ Heath sometime.

2) Mastering technique. You need to know what to do with the tools to make hair look like hair, glass look like glass, sand look like sand, etc. If you tried to develop your own techniques for every occasion, it would take you decades. Better to learn from your favorite inkers. Check, for instance, how John Romita, Sr. does highlights on hair. Take a look at how Dick Giordano renders metal. See how Klaus Janson does glass and reflective surfaces. Take a look at how Wally Wood did everything. Learn from the best. It’s not cheating—it’s building upon the visual language comics artists have been developing for more than a century.

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Storytelling Lecture, Strange Tales Part 8

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On May 17, 2011

In 04 Storytelling Lecture

Storytelling Lecture Series, Part 19 (Edited from the transcript of a 1994 seminar)Page twelve.

Okay, this is an extended pull-back-to-reveal sequence.

We see Cap using a remote control device. What is he up to? No clue yet. A skyhook-thingie pulls him up. Again, a little vertigo in this shot. You know these buildings are planted on the ground, by now you’re pretty sure that way is up, so no confusion here.

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