Moarhammer

Welcome back to episode 5 of Indie comix club with your favourite indie creators Craig Johnson and Spencer Scott Holmes.

This week we talk about taking on side projects to make some dollar while managing time on our creations. We discuss at length the pressures of keeping deadlines and keeping to target dates. 

This week we review:

Trueheart

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/trueheart-river-of-tears/

 

Project Shadow Breed

https://twitter.com/projectshadowbr

http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/210158/Project-Shadow-Breed-1

 

The Brine

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1772289894/the-brine-issue-3-comic-book

 

 

Mashbone

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/mashbone-grifty-the-1st-rule/

 

 

Don't forget you can also find Craig and Spencer's work on comixcentral 

Project: Saviour 

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/project-saviour-issue-1/

 

Pizza Boyz

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/pizza-boyz-season-1-graphic-novel/

The Janitor and the Voice read through three new Dwayne Johnsons - Martyrs Issue 0, the backstory to a new epic post-apocalyptic revolution style mutant story from one of our favs Arledge Comics, Leper Messiah, a very cool collection of illustrated prose and dark but humerous art accompaniment, and Trueheart, the Wild-West-meets-Mexican-ghostlore extravaganza... all the while reminiscing about Ghibli films, Pacific Rim, The Last Jedi, and The Scorpion King.

Plus, we give our movie voices a go again. 

 

Martyrs:

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/the-martyrs-0/

Leper Messiah:

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/leper-messiah-pariah-messiah-mandragoric-mollification/

Trueheart:

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/trueheart-river-of-tears/

"Comics are the best storytelling medium - period." - Steven Charles Rosia 

 

While comics can sometimes be a lonely man’s game, is it really fun to play it that way? I talk a lot about collaboration on the show, but know one knows it’s power better than the one and only Steven Charles Rosia. I call him the King of community, and if you want to survive in indie comics, you’ll want to heed his advice.

 

As we all know, nerd culture has a way of overlapping. What began as a late night viewing of the vastly popular anime Trigun turned into a love for manga. This love for Japanese storytelling eventually lead to a local comics shop and that’s where Steven’s grass-roots passion begins. After spending some time dedicated to the craft of making comics (everything from all the layers of illustration to writing his own stories), Steven soon learned about the power of community in comics. He fell in love with the medium right around the time a new comic culture was beginning to blossom in Calgary so finding like minded souls was easier than you might think. With that said, a brief stent on the convention circuit revealed a major flaw in comics. New creators just were not given the proper time of day. To Steven, this was unacceptable.

 

Thanks to friendship, some frustrated inspiration, and a few brews, Steven was able to gather the forces of comic greatness while planting seeds of hope and possibility for the indie comic world, the result: panel 1 was born. What began as a few fundraisers to provide help for some comics shops down on their luck, quickly turned into a community of like-minded creators ready to get down to business helping new comic creators everywhere (or at least in Calgary, Alberta). Many more opportunities for community sprang up from the soil of awesomeness and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

Steven is also a very big proponent of representation in comics. There’s a controversy in comics and nerd culture right now around free speech versus safety and representation. The comicsgate community essentially believes harm is coming to comics as a result of inclusivity and representation being overdone. Steven and the rest of comics community believe there’s no such thing as too much representation. Either way, when it comes down to it, empathy will always lead to a stronger more connected world and hate in any capacity will never accomplish anything. Being a presence that stands against hate and for safe space and community is something that the indie comics community as a whole has stood for ahead of the curb for a long while and colorful diversity will always win the day as long as everything begins with strong, pure storytelling. If we can learn anything from Steven I’d say it’s make something, be outspoken and be the kind of human that others want to be around. If we can stand behind those mantras, there’s no reason our own definitions of success shouldn’t be right around the corner.  

 

 

References

Trigun- https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=88

Daughters of Knights: https://www.comixcentral.com/products/daughters-knights-chapter-1/

The Streaker: https://www.comixcentral.com/products/the-streaker-1/?no_frame=1

Panel One: http://www.panelone.ca/

Calgary Expo: https://www.calgaryexpo.com/en/home.html

Comicsgate: https://www.inverse.com/article/41132-comicsgate-explained-bigots-milkshake-marvel-dc-gamergate

Where to find Steven

Twitter: @Stevenrosia

Instagram: @Stevenrosia

Facebook: @StevenCharlesRosia

The Ramblin' Phoenix lives up to his name. The Voice has no Choice but to listen. And the Janitor has a LOT of trash to clean up. 

But what more have you come to expect from Comic History Mysteries?

This week, The Voice, Ramblin and Janitor take on the Romance genre in a way that can only be described as… odd. Romance and indie comics are still trying to find space for each other but if you look in the right places you can find some fantastic storytelling. The guys touch on classic cross-genre examples like Dracula all the way up to award winning modern gems like Saga. The in-between is everything you can imagine from the cheesiness of the Hallmark Channel Christmas Collection to the despicably successful 50 Shades series. Above all, we ask and answer the question is Romance real literature. The short answer is yes. It’s a genre that’s gotten a bad rap thanks to fanfiction and regurgitated corporate cliches like “The Lonely Billionaire.” Beyond the BS, there’s an underlying truth about love and romance that make it necessary for any solid story. Love will give characters both a goal and emotional anchor. It’s something that makes fantastical characters feel real. Whether we’re taken or single, there’s nothing more controversial, heartbreaking, or relatable than love. We need it in our stories as much as we needed it in our lives. As far as comics go, look no further than the LGBTQ community and how they’ve used comics and love to share their identity in the best way. Indie comics and love seems a bit unexplored, but it certainly leaves an open invitation for the next great Shakespeare to open up a whole new world for indie comics and future nerdlife relationships.

 

Indie References

Saga- https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/saga

Alex Priest- https://arledgecomics.com/portfolio/alex-priest-issue-one/

Black Hole- https://www.amazon.com/Black-Hole-Pantheon-Graphic-Novels/dp/0375714723

Millennium Fever- https://atomicavenue.com/title/9748/Millennium-Fever

Hey welcome back to our 4th Indie Comix Club! Crazy to think we have been at this a whole month?

This week we talk about more indie comics! We discuss Lettering and how much of an important job it is and that the people you do it are the real heroes!

We look at some awesome comics this week,

The Pale

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/the-pale-1/

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/the-pale-2/

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/the-pale-3/

Samurai Shin

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/samurai-shin-issue-1

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/samurai-shin-issue-1-5/

and Grave Terror Tales

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/grave-terrors-tales-1/

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/grave-terrors-tales-2/

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/grave-terrors-tales-3/

 

All of which are available over at ComixCentral, the home of indie comics!

 

AND check out these Indie Comix Club members' original comics as well!

Pick up Project: Saviour right here:

https://www.comixcentral.com/members/projectsaviour/

And the Pizza Boyz series here:

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/pizza-boyz-season-1-graphic-novel/

Treating Comics like a Business with Sarah Love

"Think way outside the box" - Sarah Love

Think you have to know comics to make comics? Think again. As creators we often feel the need to grab at all the information we can before embarking on a project. What if all that searching got in our way? Is there such a thing as too much preparation? If you’ve been frustrated about taking the leap, this is the podcast for you. Learn how to press the big read button that means go whether your ready or not by finding the right support system and, above all, finding your why.

Sarah has taken an unconventional approach to indie comics from the beginning because her journey is about way more than a comic. A process that has been over 17 years in the making- Sarah saw a big gap in the space-time continuum of superhero-dum that needed to filled. Despite having a serious disadvantage in the comics game, she utilized her best resources using nothing but vulnerability and some elbow grease. She found a team of passionate creators willing to follow her to the edge of a brand new universe where characters with various medical conditions could finally be seen as genuinely human. In addition to a keen attention to detail, Sarah love is not afraid to dream way outside the box. Anomaly 23 and Rune Comics have seen early success by any measure thanks to Sarah’s ability to simply believe in every angle of her own vision. To say that indie creators will be inspired by her ingenuity is an understatement.

Anomaly 23 is just the beginning for Rune Comics and Waystone Media, as Sarah has definite plans to turn her storytelling machine into a franchise with everything from action figures to motion comics all the way to Netflix, Hulu and beyond. Many creators, regardless of their passion for the medium, see their own creativity as “just a comic.” With Sarah Love that kind of sold-short self deprecation doesn’t exist. Bottom line- Sarah Love means business in the way she gives space, sensitivity and belief to all those who connect with her. With any luck, her business acumen will give each of us permission to view our own projects in a different light, one that outshines each of us as individuals and becomes something more than we expected. If Indie comics are all about building your own world, Sarah Love gives us the tools we need to proudly live inside it and and embrace the rebellion we stand for with flying colors.

 

Ad

Anomaly23

https://www.comixcentral.com/products/anomaly-23-issue-1/

Where to find Sarah

Website: www.anomaly23.com

Twitter: @anomaly_23

Instagram: @anomaly_23

Facebook: Anomaly23

Patreon: www.patreon.com/anomaly23

In this episode I duscuss some of the best competitive lists in Age of Sigmar. There are quite a lot, so some will invariably be missed! And naturally, this is only my opinion. But let me know what you think the top choices are. 

 

Twitter: @Moarhammer

Instagram: Moarhammer88

Gmail: [email protected]

Youtube: Moarhammer88

Indie comics and indie games are closer than you might think. We can learn to be successful creators by learning from both mediums and how they differ from their mainstream counterparts.

Indie games are experience an awesome renaissance of sorts because, much like indie comics, the creators are extremely passionate. Many times the passion supersedes the corporate nature of some of the AAA game titles. One of the coolest things about games as an art form is of course the interactive element. Indie games take that interactive element to the next level by coming up with concepts bigger companies are, in a way, too big to think of in the first place.

 

Indie Game References

Super Meat Boy: http://supermeatboy.com/

The Binding of Isaac: http://bindingofisaac.com/

Cave Story: https://www.cavestory.org/

Limbo: http://www.playdead.com/games/limbo/

Little Nightmares: https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/little-nightmares

Celeste: http://www.celestegame.com/

Tower Fall: http://www.towerfall-game.com/

The Wolf Among Us: https://telltale.com/series/the-wolf-among-us/

Five Nights at Freddy's: https://fivescarynights.com/

Doki Doki Literature Club: https://ddlc.moe/

Dresden Files RPG: https://www.evilhat.com/home/dresden-files-rpg/

Silent Legends: http://silentlegends.com/

 

Indie Story References

Dresden Files Comics: http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/comics

Sword Art Online: http://www.swordart-onlineusa.com/

Ready Player One: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/209887/ready-player-one-by-ernest-cline/9780804190138/

Overlord: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4869896/

NPC’s: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/NPCs/Drew-Hayes/L568145265

Scott Pilgrim: https://view-comic.com/category/scott-pilgrim/

Penny Arcade: https://www.penny-arcade.com/

This week on Indie Comix Club we talk about everything Indie Comix, including the hardest part of creating: Advertising! We talk about our experiences and give some tips on how to advertise your work!

We review a lot of comics this week:

Alex Priest

https://twitter.com/arledgecomics

Artemis Hood

https://twitter.com/chrisoconnell

Hamilton vs Burr: a Werewolves Tale

https://twitter.com/yardsaleartist

and Anomaly 23

https://twitter.com/anomaly_23

by our very own ComixCentral crew!

 

Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more Indie Comix Club.

Follow Indie Comix Club at: 

https://twitter.com/IndieComixClub

Back to work after the bank holiday monday? Well maybe part 5 of my series on Idoneth Deepkin will cheer you up.

 

This episode Gary and I are discussing all manner of things Gloomtide Shipwrecks. They're a small part of the book but can have a big impact on the game.

 

Twitter: @Moarhammer

Instagram: Moarhammer88

Gmail: [email protected]

Youtube: Moarhammer88

 

You can reach Gary on twitter @garypercival8

Or check out his podcast, Mid Table Masters on twitter @babettagamer