Look at that. When I posted a scan of the same piece of paper back in April, it looked like this. It's the blotter pad I've been using as I draw my serialized graphic novel AFFECTED, and it only gets nastier as time goes on. In addition, it's the cover to the mixtape I curated as a soundtrack to the comic, which you can download over at Adam McIlwee's very fine pop culture blog Lust Brigade. The mix is a pretty straightforward blend of LA party noise, scary music about sex, aching classical piano, and trashy pop bits. It goes like this:
1. "Puerto Rican Ghost" by Mars
2. "Chopin: Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48 - Lento" by Tamás Vásáry
3. "Die Slow" by HEALTH
4. "Hollywood (Fenech-Soler Remix)" by Marina and the Diamonds
5. "Burning Sage" by Cold Cave
6. "Fuck Me" by Captain Ahab
7. "Distractions" by Insides
8. "Candles" by John Cale
9. "Armenia" by Einstürzende Neubauten
10. "Before Tigers (Blindoldfreak Remix)" by HEALTH
Good stuff at the best price point of all, git it right now.
Is that all, though? Hardly. Adam also posted a spot-on critical appraisal of AFFECTED, as well as the second in a series of interviews with me about the comic. You came here looking for comics criticism, so go read some. Adam's writing is great and he's a great interviewer too: I always end up putting at least as much into my writing for these interview questions as I do for posts on the blog. This time we talked about Watchmen, the Iraq War, writing good character dynamics in comics, drawing the "internet landscape", Osama bin Laden, the genius of Steve Ditko's "Question" comics, and the way today's young hipster kids (like us) relate to their identity as Americans. I'm really proud of it, so I hope you'll go check it out, and take a look at the comic itself when you're done.
4 comments:
I don't want to be the negative guy here, i really appreciate your comics criticism (even though i may not always agree with your opinions) and think you bring a lot of wisdom to it, there is also very good stuff in your writing and layouts, but i really think you should spend a lot more time on improving your basic drawing abilities. Comics are, after all, a visual medium. Your drawings (especially the characters) just look to amateur to really take your comics seriously as the works of art they obviously want to be. Get your drawing skills up to a level of artistry and you will be golden!
of course i can't draw as well as i'd like
of course i'm not going to wait around until i can before telling the stories i want to tell
cest la vie
I'm loving Affected. Well, love might not be the right word, but I'm finding it completely absorbing and unsettling. I think your writing chops more than make up for any artistic shortcomings. Some of your poses do look a little stiff, but you know so much more about art than me that I feel like you'd be well aware of anything I could say about lines of action, drawing through, constructing figures out of simple shapes, etc. And obviously, that's what's so great about comics: you don't have to be able to draw like a Foster or Schulz as long as your pictures bounce off each other in exciting ways. That's not to say you're not making some good looking images either. Those reds are powerful, man. Keep it up.
Just wanted to say that I am enjoying Affected and keep up the good work. I actually like the style of drawing, it creates a rather interesting juxtaposition with the way the comic in being presented; as an online digital comic. Many people would turn to using digital techniques, with the text and colour etc, for this sort of comic so I find the presentation here refreshing.
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