Ask me anything
Recent Responses
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Yes it will be in only black and white. I don't know if I'm worried it'll be considered manga. Hillmon's art style seems quite a mix of manga and traditional comic book art to me, and I don't think it looks like we're trying to make a manga comic. Even so, I'm not particularly concerned what genres or styles people label our book under as much as I just want it to be a great story that people are excited about reading. I've often heard that you should never put out a book you wouldn't buy yourself, and I really feel like Bad News Kids is a book I would honestly buy and enjoy, and I hope that anyone who reads it feels the same.
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I love love love chocolate. I can only have certain types of dark chocolate since I'm allergic to milk, but it's still my favorite. I'm a big fan of gummy and chewy candy though as well.
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They're going pretty good. Unfortunately, due to AnnaMaria's new webcomic coming out amongst other things, she's decided that she won't be able to draw Regret, Rewind. It is disappointing, but she was very professional about everything and I wish her the best. And hopefully I can find another artist soon :)
As for Bad News Kids, it's going really great. Hillmon has really starting pumping out pages and every time I see one it gets me more excited about this project. I've started scripting the rest of the first book (which will be three chapters) and I'm just really happy to be working on this right now.
And of coarse, I'm beginning to write some other stories as well, but they are all in the early stages so no news about them quite yet. -
Well, it is the Ultimate Universe and not the canon 616. I read it and it was a pretty good story and that's what the Ultimate Universe is for, in my opinion. It's there to tell stories that Marvel never would in the 616 universe. They would never kill the 616 Spider-Man (permanently, that is). At the same time, because of that it doesn't carry quite as much weight for me. I didn't feel emotionally attached to the story, I just want to see what's going to happen next.
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As cliche and popular as they are, it's Spider-Man and Batman. I love Spider-Man, he's been my favorite since I was a kid and I've been reading his comics for years and years. I'm not a big DC fan, but a good Batman story can be one of my favorite things to read.
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For Bad News Kids? I'm not sure. Maybe in the future, but for now the plan is to just release it through the internet for free. As in, you'll be able to go to http://badnewskids.com/ and read the whole story as it comes out absolutely free. We may put out hardcopy trades in the future, but we'll just have to wait and see.
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I met almost all the artists I've worked with online, except for Kyle Springer who I've been friends with since I was a kid. It takes hours of work and sending messages on comic book forum websites and deviantart to find a great artist to work with, but it pays off to see your stories come to life in beautiful ways.
A lot of things are incorporated when it comes to finding a great artist for my stories, but maybe the biggest thing is finding artists that actually are willing to do the work. I've struck gold with Hillmon, who's doing an amazing job with Bad News Kids, and we've developed a great relationship through online and texting, as well as some phone calls. He does a great job of getting things done and his enthusiasm for his work shows through his art. It's also been a priveledge and a blessing to have artists who want to draw my stories, like AnnaMaria and Rafael, and have them do such a great job. -
Hillmon and I had been working on Space Radio for over a year (we started in February 2010) and that was our first comic together. We both still love it, but we felt that it wasn't the best work we could put out anymore and we had both grown a lot in our crafts since the first issue. We've both grown in our understanding of how we work together, as well.
So we decided to start a brand new book where we could start it off with full force and make it amazing from the start. At least, that's the goal. We've both been working very hard to make this book awesome and I really am excited about it. I think the story is going to get people hooked and Hillmon's art is going to blow your mind, plus anyone and everyone will be able to read it straight from the website, http://badnewskids.com/.
We do plan on finishing Space Radio in the future, but as for now, Hillmon and I's collaboration and creative efforts will be focused on Bad News Kids, and I honestly think you're going to see why we're working so hard on it and why we're so excited when it comes out. Stay tuned! -
That's a great question. Are you asking because most of my characters are white? (I have written some nonwhite characters, but almost all of them are in stories that haven't been drawn.)
To answer your question, I'm not sure. I'm still finding my voice in writing and what style suits me best, but obviously being a white male I more easily identify with white people than people in other ethnic groups.
To be honest, many times I don't specify race in my character descriptions and so I let the artist decide, but they usually (as you can see in my work) are drawn as caucasian. This may seem unusual or even unwise to let artists decide because different cultures have different people with different personalities, which I agree with, but I guess I just feel like the race of a character isn't something that should define them. It can add to how readers see the character and what's expected, but I'd rather not have my characters fall strictly into what people think a black or asian or white person should act like. Obviously it's not always that way, but I like writing a character without feeling like they need to be a certain way to fit into their race. I also allow the artist these freedoms because I like letting them read the script and draw the characters based on how they see them and who they think they would be, which let's me give them some freedom in the story as well as let an outside perspective from my own to tell what the character I made is like.
That was great but tough to answer question. Thanks! -
I don't. I try not to drink caffeine and I hardly ever do, but honestly I don't like almost any social drinks like coffee, tea, or beer. I feel unmanly not liking beer, but I just don't like it. Maybe my taste will change later on, but right now that's just how I am.
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Yes, I pray and read my Bible everyday. Or I read something directly related to the Bible.
Right now I'm reading Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up? by David W Bercot and it's really good. A lot of people have told me it's really good so I feel kind of lame jumping on the band wagon, but it's an amazing look at the first century Christians and how their lives and beliefs compare to modern day Christianity. It'll blow your mind, check it out.
Or check out the actual Bible ;) -
I'm working on a lot, that's for sure! I wrote a one-shot called REGRET, REWIND that Annamaria Bryant will be drawing, and it's going to be awesome. I'm lettering it, so my works not totally done yet, but she's amazing and we also have Kyle Springer doing colors, so it's going to look really good.
Hillmon and I are also placing Space Radio on hiatus to begin a new project that is going to be a web-based comic. I'm writing that and I'll probably be on overdrive trying to get it ready for him to start drawing, but it's definitely going to be awesome based on what we've talked about so far.
Also, recently I finished the outlines and some scripts for a 6 issue mini series that doesn't yet have an established artist, but I was working on that a lot for the last few months, but it looks like I'm done with that until I find a good artist for it. -
I do! I have a wirehaired fox terrier named Pete, and he is my biggest distraction from work, music, and writing; but he's still the best. His name tag says Pete the Terror Throne. Here's a picture of him:
http://tinyurl.com/3z7vu7s -
The first couple shows I got ridiculously nervous, with my hands shaking and all that. But I guess who doesn't when it's the first time? Now I usually feel totally fine until about 5 minutes before I'm supposed to get on. It's not so much a feeling of my thinking I'll do really bad, it's more like me questioning if my music is even good at all, or if I'm just another lame musician. But really it's not about that anyways, my music is about expressing myself whether I'm "good" or not.
I also get a lot more nervous when I'm playing a set and the crowd doesn't seem to care at or they're talking or just not paying attention. Then I feel really awkward. But most of the time I get into it and I don't even notice them. And if it seems like people don't care, I just tell myself I'm playing this show for God and I know He loves it either way. -
I've been asked this before. Hillmon and I have both learned a whole lot about making comics by creating Space Radio and working hard on it. When I reread the first issue, I can definitely see where I was just beginning to figure out how to put a story together (and I still am ), but I don't think I'd change it. It's good to see growth and learn from "mistakes." It's a fun book either way in my opinion, but I definitely feel like the later issues of the series will be much more well done than the earlier ones in almost every aspect.
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That's a tough one. There's so many! To answer the question though, my favorite ongoing series is Amazing Spider-Man. I grew up with Spider-Man and he's always been my favorite so this book takes the cake. Not to mention Dan Slott is doing an amazing job right now. That's would be like, a dream job for me to write even one issue of ASM.
My favorite graphic novel is Spider-Man: Reign. I know it's more Spider-Man and some people say its a Dark Knight Returns rip, but it's SO good and underrated. I've read it like 15 times.
Other books that come close are Y: The Last Man, Four Eyes, Pride of Baghdad, Runaways, Scott PIlgrim, Watchmen, Sweet Tooth, Ultimate Spider-Man, and more. -
Thanks a lot! I'm not exactly sure what you mean by serious, but it's funny you should ask that because issue 4 is going to be a little bit more serious and a little darker than the other stories we've put out. 5 and 6 will be fairly serious too I guess, and they both have a lot of story. We're both pretty excited about them. But every Space Radio issue is going to have it's fair share of humor and craziness to be sure.
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A girl like Rosie... sure I think I would. Honestly, we'd probably bump heads and argue about music haha but I think she would be a lot of fun to hang out with. I actually based her and Dora's arguements about music on a lot of talks I've had with my friends.
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The plan is to release 6 issues and we're almost done with issue 4. They will all be done-in-one styled stories, but 5 and 6 will tie in together quite a bit. After we're done, there is a possibility of Hillmon and I coming back and doing more, but right now we're planning on beginning new projects together.
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I'm technically 5'11" and 3/4, but I just tell people 6' :)
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