Rodney the Zombie. Issue #1. Set #3.

Sorry I am a day late with this set, my apologies, but work has been crazy lately due to the holidays.

If you need to catch up with this story the dates are:
Set #1: November 8, 2010.
Set #2: November 15, 2010.




Next Set: Monday, November 29, 2010.

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Yarn-Man and Old Lady #2.

It is decided, YMOL will be a bi-weekly comic. Here is #2 in this series. Hope that you enjoy, this is one of my favorites!!!


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Rodney the Zombie. Issue #1. Set #2.

Here is week two's worth of Rodney the Zombie, Issue #1. This begins the actual story (pages 1-3).

If you are just joining us, the previous set is on Monday, November 8, 2010. Week one contains the cover for the issue, and information on how I came about the creation of Rodney and the comic.





Next Set: Monday, November 22, 2010.

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Raku Days 2010!!!

There are few annual events that I eagerly await and mark my calendar for well in advance, but Raku Days is one of them.


Raku Days is an event hosted by L&R Specialties Inc, a clay and ceramics supply store based out of Nixa, MO. Raku Days is a day where L&R set-up several kilns in their parking lot, and fire, fire, fire. It's a celebration of art, food and friendship. It is free to the public and everyone is welcome. You'll just need to bring a covered dish or dessert. They ask that you limit yourself to three pieces for the festival due to the sheer volume of people that attend. If you don't have any of your own pieces they have some on sale that you can buy. L&R provides everything from the glazes to the kilns, and workers who know the process and whats going on.

One of my favorite parts of Raku is the fact that it is very hands on, and somewhat dangerous. First, you need to have your piece already bisque fired. Below is a quick list of the process.

Steps of Raku Days:
Once you wax, glaze, and make sure your piece is fully dry and not too cold:
1.) Load the kiln, and fire! This step takes a minimum of 30 minutes to 45 minutes max. You should fire the piece till it is white hot.
2.) Turn the kiln off, open it up, and with a pair of tongs carefully remove the piece. Work quickly!
3.) Place it on another shelf standing in a washtub of water. Have a metal trash can with newspaper waiting for the next step.
4.) Flip the paper filled trash can over the piece, and hold it till the paper catches fire. When it does lower the trash can into the water, and a vacuum is formed. Hold the trash can down for about five minutes.
5.) After about 30 minutes you can take the pieces out of the trash can. Be careful, the pieces are still hot!
6.) Wash and clean your piece, you'll need to really scrub it, and you have a finished piece. The quicker you cool your piece the brighter the color is and the longer it stays.

Another of my favorite parts is you never know what to expect, there are so many factors in this process that you never know what you are going to get.

This was a good year for most of the people who went to Raku Days, myself included. I had one piece (a bowl on its side/candle holder) that I glazed but never fired from last year, and bought two small vases in the L&R store. I couldn't have asked for better results. I am very pleased with how they came out.






It turned out that I didn't know anyone at Raku Days, but that's one of the best parts, you talk with everyone, make friends, and hang out. At Raku Days there's always something to talk about. The food was amazing this year too, so delicious!!! In all the previous years I have gone to Raku Days I have never eaten. A lot of eye-candy was there too, everything is made better with a bunch of hot guys at an event, especially one in particular (very delicious). So, all in all, this was a great year!!!



I am already waiting and hoping for it next year...

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Rodney the Zombie. Issue #1. Set #1.



*NOTE: The last image above is actually the last page of the comic, but I think it provides a nice introduction for the beginning of this weekly comic. I will be releasing three pages a week, and when issue one is finished issue two will begin.

Rodney #1 is the introduction for the story. Its shorter than the rest of the issues, but that is why I am not saying much about the story. Although, I will tell you that I made this comic before I was a student in the Comics 101 class, so the drawing in this issue and the next are a bit off.

Its a fun and kooky comic that doesn't follow any of the normal knowledge of zombies. I thought of a character and thought of a situation and let the ideas flow and let the story play out. I really enjoy what has happened and hope you enjoy what will be presented in the future.

Next Monday (11/15) you'll get pages 1-3.

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Artist Interview #1: Johnny Kaje


As part of this blog I am going to interview a different artist monthly to get interesting and amazing answers, and to show some samples of their art.

To kick off this monthly event I am interviewing artist Johnny Kaje. Kaje is a dear friend of mine that I have known since my first year of college and I admire all that I see this person create, and its never a let down because everything has a quick/sharp wit and a tongue-in-cheek quality that always makes me smile. I hope you find the answers as insightful and enjoyable as I have, and that you enjoy the samples that Kaje has supplied me for this article.


Johnny Kaje has a blog that I am an avid follower of, and would suggest you check it out too. I have provided links on the sidebar at the right and at the very bottom of this blog. Enjoy!!!

Q: What is the driving force/inspiration behind your work?
A: Pure raging hatred. Moonlight in summer. Nonsensical phrases. Echos of the ancient world. Unemployment. Roadkill. Patriarchy and all the other archies. Eliminationist rhetoric. Butch women and pretty boys. Anchovy/pepperoni pizza.

  
Q: Could you describe your style?
A: It’s hard to describe your own style, isn’t it? I prefer to trust snarky cynical comic bloggers for a more honest assessment.
Oh wait! I am a snarky cynical comic blogger! I would describe it as--- amateurish at the moment. Rushed chicken scratches with horrible ink jobs. But I’m learning!
 
Q: What artists do you like the most? Like to read/follow? Why?

A: Oh lordyloo. There’s so many—Diane DiMassa, James Gurney, Ricardo Delgado, William Stout, Peter Chung, Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin, Phil Foglio, Jeff Smith, Amanda Connor, Tom Siddel. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. I prefer artists who are either crazy technical, or crazy zealous, or both.




Q: In your opinion, what’s most important about comics? Story, character, art?
A: This is a bit like asking what’s the most important part about a house. The roof? The foundation? The look of the place? They are all intertwined. Story and character, some might say, are even interchangeable. Art is slightly less important, but it’s still a visual medium, so it’s not much so.
I have a different rubric as to what’s important in a comic. Is it something I haven’t seen before? Does it stick with me after I read it? Most importantly of all, does the creator (or creative team) have passion?
Some English professors and other sundry types will repeat the phrase “everything has been done before”, thus emboldening every young chap who wants to make his own interchangeable brooding white anti-hero. This is horseshit. There is so much out there that hasn’t even been touched upon! Especially when it comes to the stories of marginalized people—try making your brooding anti-hero a different race, or sex, or sexual orientation, or weight, or something, and see what that does. Comics are still somewhat “underground” compared to television and bestselling novels, and thus they’re one of the best mediums for groundbreaking material. And groundbreaking stuff sticks in your mind. Which leads to the second point!
These same sundry literary types drill character arcs and plot points into your head. Which is good! Don’t get me wrong. You need to have a grasp of these things to create. But am I the only one who likes it when you read something that makes NO FREAKING SENSE on your first read-through? When I first read a Tank Girl comic when I was younger, I had never been exposed to British slang or pop culture— all this talk of “loos” and Dame Edna and “bundles” was like a foreign language---and I think that made me like it more. It was some weird trippy poetry to this rural Missouri tween. I like things that make no sense because then you’re forced to MAKE sense of it. That’s why I love things like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Aeon Flux, Tank Girl—they’re like “Screw character arcs! Just enjoy the fireworks!”
The final and most important point, passion, is why I prefer independent comics, especially homemade photocopier zine-type comics, to more mainstream affairs. Take Diane DiMassa’s work. At first glance, her style looks crude and unprofessional. We’re not drawing “THE MARVEL WAY” here, folks.
But what she does have is passion. That passion flows through her pen and onto the paper and makes her chicken scratch style more emotive and relatable then the stiff, but technically adept, artwork of your typical DC comic.

Q: What about comics do you like the most?
A: You don’t have to employ that pesky “imagination” like when you read normal books. I thought MTV was supposed to eliminate that? What a snafu!
For serious, though, I like how they engage both the left and right brain. Some people are more visual, some aren’t; comics bridge the gap between both.



Q: Being a formally trained graphic artist, do you think comics is a viable form of art?
A: There really isn’t any reason to exclude comics as art aside from elitist prejudice against the medium. Just as some ideas only work as poems, or films, or paintings; so are some ideas best expressed in comic form. Watchmen is the clichéd example, but it became a cliché because it’s so true. People say that that comic is “cinematic,” but that’s not true at all. (I believe Mr. Snyder proved that definitively last year. OH SNAP.) It’s only cinematic for stretches, but it’s also crammed with supplemental material, captions and notes upon notes. In other words…a comic.

Q: How did comics aid in your education, or vice versa?
A: It certainly helps make life on a dry campus more tolerable.


Q: What’s your future goal? Do you want to create comics professionally?
A: I would love to but since so many are pursuing comics now, it’ll probably just remain a hobby. I personally hope I’ll die in a hail of gunfire after causing a whole lot of irreparable property damage.

*Have a good day, thank you!*

My top comics. Part #1.

Being new to the comic world I am very late in the game for a lot of the known comics, so I discovered a pet peeve of mine. I cant jump into stories that are already established, like most Marvel of DC stories. Therefore, what I look for first is if the comic is new or if it is an off-shoot (just starting) of an established storyline, so I can catch the story from the very beginning.

When I go into my local comic store I usually just look around to find something that'll peak my interests. I hardly ever go in with thoughts of getting a certain type of story; I just like to look around and see what the store has.

Here is the first set of my absolute favorites. These are the comics that I would recommend to anyone who asks, and even those who don't ask. All of these have passed the criteria that I have set, and I believe that these are strong in storyline, characters, and art/color.

 Baltimore-The Plague Ships
As a "plague" sweeps across Europe, a group of vampires use its wake as a cloak to hide their hunting and feeding. Everyone lives in fear and denial except for Lord Baltimore who has a personal vendetta with the vampire that has caused all the destruction in his personal life and across Europe, so he and his companion are chasing after the plague ships to seek revenge and kill the vampires. One of the best qualities of this comic is the way the story is sometimes told with just images; flashes of a scene in silence, its amazing.  

 Chew
Tony Chew is a psychic, but only when he eats something. When he eats something like a apple he can "see" what pesticides were used, the tree it grew on, and when and who picked it. That applies to the eating of human and animal flesh too. The government has outlawed all poultry products because of the bird flu epidemic. Chew is drafted by the F.D.A. because of his special ability, and he and his partner begin chasing after criminals who violate the anti-poultry laws. Three of the things great about Chew is the humor, the comical suspense, and the creativity of the story.

 X-Men Curse of the Mutants
X-Men is one of those stories that I can't really read because it is so far established, so this off shoot is great because it's a new story involving my favorite characters. Dracula is overthrown by one of his greedy, power hungry sons who unites the different vampire clans with a war against humanity. As a tactical maneuver, they go after the X-Men, who in turn use their different abilities to fight back. I love this comic because it has a great imaginative story, and it involves two of my favorite things; X-Men and Vampires!  

 iZombie
Gwen is a zombie, her best friends are Ellie, a hip chick ghost who died in the 60's, and Scott, a wereterrier...yes, that's right a wereterrier! Gwen works and lives in a cemetery; she's a gravedigger. What makes her different from normal zombies is the fact that she still retains her human traits, and she has to eat a brain once a month or she'll become like the zombies we know and love (then she'll want brains all the time). The catch is when Gwen eats the brains she take the memories of the original owner, and their voice is in her head so she tries to help out with any unfinished business. There is a lot to this comic, it is never overwhelming, but there are several subplots involving monster hunters, vampires, her friends, and a mysterious man.  

 Lady Mechanika
This is a new story and issue one hasn't been released yet (December 2010), but it has quickly become one of my favorites. In this prequel, a monster is running rampant through the streets of the city. It has been described to be part machine, like Lady Mechanika, so she sets out to trap the monster to get information of who their creator might be before vigilantes get to it first. I am anticipating a great story, the prequel is amazing itself with the characters and the art, so I am very excited. 

 Mystery Society
This story has it all, action, adventure, mystery, psychic powerful children, a robot man, a woman dressed in an outfit of death, and a really hot guy! The mystery society is basically that, a group of people who go into government facilities and find the proof that the government lies to its people, discover secret projects, and find clues and solve mysteries that appear in the news. When Nick Mystery breaks into a top secret facility the government begins to persue him and the group. While that is happening, another part of the group is hunting down the culprit who stole Edgar Allen Poe's skull. I am eager to find out what happens next in this story. Every issue is packed full of action, and twists and turns.

Victorian Undead
Do I really need to sing the praises I have for this comic?!?!?!? Sherlock Holmes vs. Zombies is amazing in every aspect! Whats great about this comic is it takes the typical zombie story with the space object flying over and somehow infecting the populace in an area and creates an army of undead, injects a mad scientist, sets it in London, throw in a government cover-up and Sherlock Holmes, and it becomes a grand mystery. The one-shot after the zombie series was great too (Sherlock Holmes vs. Jekyll/Hyde), and I am super excited about the next Victorian Undead series...Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula!!!!!!

There are several things that I look for in a comic before I decide to buy it, and I look at these deciding factors in a certain order.
1.) The cover. If the cover isn't interesting I wont even bother picking it up.
2.) The subject matter. I am usually attracted to stories that involve zombies, vampires, a lot of gore, mystery, hot guys, and anything horror.
3.) The story itself. I sometimes have to ask the store owners what the story involves and get an overview the comic.
4.) Art/color. The final factor to decide if I will buy the comic is the way the images are composed and colored. Thy cannot be to murky, or painterly for one. There is one new story of X-Men that's out now (I can't remember the name of it) and the images are beautiful, I'd love to look at them on their own, but all of them put together in an issue is bothersome because each image looks like a beautifully crafted oil painting. I dont know why, it just bothers me. What I am trying to get at is I like more standard drawing/coloring styles, and it can be contemporary but not over the top.

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Yarn-Man and Old Lady #1.






Here is the first in a series that I created for the comic class that I am in, and just for fun. It is what it is basically, short stories or single panel images about an old lady and a man made out of yarn. The Old Lady has lived a long life. so she doesn't ask for much just time to knit, and Yarn-Man is a bitter individual, who is always trying to escape her because the Old Lady wants to use him in her knitting projects. Hope you enjoy, because I enjoy it and get a kick out of these characters, and the simple comedy that unfolds in the images.

I don't fully know yet if I will release a new YMOL weekly or monthly, but if you subscribe you'll be notified when I release anything. Thank you!

The Birth of Dementia.

Welcome to the world of Dementia Comics. This is a new label founded by myself with a companion blog that showcases stories and art by me and  guest appearances from friends and associates, and everything about my new passion for the comic world.

I am relatively new to the comic world, but have dove in head first and am eager to read and learn everything.

My interest in comics began when my best friend Karley invited me to go with her to the annual Hurley Con; a comic convention hosted by the local  comic and game shop Hurley's Heroes in Joplin, MO. At that time I didn't know anything at all about comics or graphic novels, but Hurley Con sounded fun (and since I had never been to a comic con before), so I decided to go. Going into the event I had the expectation of seeing tons of people dressed  up as their favorite character, but didn't know what else to think. There were only a few people who were dressed up (and they were fabulous!!!), but  the really exciting part was the variety of people and art. There were people who were drawing (both commissions and freelance work), independent comic artists selling their creations, stores had booths with a mass variety of comics, and people who were represented by big labels and who had done work on popular comics. This was a world that I knew nothing about, and yet it was so huge. I was floored by it all, and became ecstatic  with everything I saw.

My next taste of the comic world was during Free Comic Book Day, the first Saturday in May. Free comics, who could pass that by? I couldn't, and  the good part is the fact that there was a great selection of free comics put out for the public, and a lot of the times they varied from store to store so I  was able to pick up a lot that day. With each comic I learned about drawing, layouts, formats, and the details it takes to make a comic. I was hooked, and there was no going back.

As an artist myself, I decided to funnel my new passion into making comics, and learning everything about the process of creating them. All of it has led  me to this point. I am launching my own label so that all my work can be represented with ease under one name.

I hope you enjoy everything that I present here just as much as I enjoy it. In addition, I hope that you are very fruitful in your pursuits, and enjoy all that  comics have to offer.

Sincerely,
W.B. Fair

P.S.- I have provided a link at the bottom of this blog and on the sidebar to your right to the Hurley's Heroes facebook page, because Hurley's is an amazing local business that has a  variety of comics and trade paperbacks, and has a calendar full of activities that are fun. Visit their page, and then visit them in their shop because they  are great, and you'll definitely be sure to find something that'll peak your interest. Plus, if they can they'll order something for you if they don't have it.

Finally, so you can mark your calendar, the next Free Comic Book Day is May 7, 2011! Be sure to go to these events, because you'll find a lot of great comics!