Red 5 Comics

Red 5 is a great example of a publisher making comics - they are a part of a very cool trend: Creative people who made a pile of cash that they could retire on and decide to spend their time making really good comic books.

Red 5 had movie deals before they put their first comic up for sale. I followed this company out of interest- "how did they do that"
The answer is found in the creators past. Heavily connected with success and Lucas Arts.

Abyss conclusion comes out 4/30.

Atomic Robo will next appear on Free Comic Book Day with Neozoic

Red5 Comics are people who have kid- hearts (adventure, humor, great stories and heroes) but put out comics that a parent would think 2x about giving to children. I do not think that they dropped the F bomb yet but ... maybe they have. The current comic world makes all ages comics with occasional dialogue that should have read like !!$&* instead of ...

Maybe I am off here, but these great stories deserve a bigger audience, they have cut themselves off from a good chunk of it, I am not sure why.

Enough angst- I really like Kevin Rubio, and Atomic Robo, and dinosaur herds attacking cities.

Abyss especially is fun. It was made by the same team that created Tag and Bink. I have a couple copies of the Tag and Bink collection on order that I intend to hold for gifts. If you work for the distributors, get more.

Just look at the cover art for a summary of the Tag and Bink coolness: here

PS 238 Aaron Williams

One of the best all-ages comics for me lately has been PS238 by Aaron Williams. I have about a dozen of his collections and single issues - more than half have a great sketch and signature. His blog is a great source of amusement for hero/adventure people too.
He seems proud to be the writer for one of the new Spider-Man Unlimited issue #13 stories. I like his work.

Kids Love Comics

My cartoonist group, Cartoonists NW. has a large number of projects going on that are not intended for kids at all. (they are very original and amazing) And I have been reading a lot of Scott McCloud lately who considers the kid-comics mental association to be a very bad thing for comics. Scott goes on to say that he is not happy with current trend to only cater to males aged 25 to 40.
This has started me thinking more about the state of me, and what I want for comics.
I recently came across a kid’s comics site aimed at educators, and it reminded me of how kid’s comics are a very very good thing:

Because Kids Love Comics like no one else.

Kids Love Comics-- Promoting literacy (and fun!) through Graphic Novels & Comics! KLC aims to promote quality, age-appropriate comic books available to kids through awareness campaigns, and creator tours & signings that tie in with local education and business communities.
Comic books are a valuable resource for kids' entertainment & education!

My wife is a Public School teacher (which is an influence on me) and I always have kid sketches in my sketchbook alongside of my pirates, characters and heroes. So that obviously is one thing that I want for my comics. Kid participation.

I win again!

I win again! I made it past the Editor and was given these kind words by Mark.
Even though I am now represented by Stickman # 656, I have to admit that my favorite is still #17

My 2 best reasons today to like Mark Monlux:
1.) Mark told me about some good things over the years: Cartoonists Northwest and about how art pricing works (more people see the art - over time and by distribution, more the fair pay for the creator) which I find very interesting and may have to do someting about someday.
2.) Mark also is living proof that you can turn out good illustrations, and run a business without losing your mind. He is a pro and fun. I cannot imagine that this is an accident. He must be smart of sumthin'.
BTW Mark is an active member in Seattle GAG. This is the place to get the Pricing and Ethical Guidelines book for people who may someday have a product. Mark is an artists advocate, I am proud to know the Grand Poobah.
He has a great site - love the movie reviews and the Hawaii story.

Return of Stickman entry now away

Now for another StickMan adventure. Can StickMan get past the Monlux editor process.

I am a winner!

My “Sunburned Pirate” entry won for the sculpture-before-dinner activity (probably because of the salad leaf that was added to simulate seaweed?- Hat tip to Jeff Hammill and my table.)
The Toonie Awards banquet was great as usual – the best so far by my thinking. Some greats were missed – Scott, and Scott and Georgia and… plenty of other people that you cannot help but like.
I have met many talented, fine toonists over my almost 2 years of participation.
If I ever do a project with Dillon Works this recognition could come in handy.

Mark Monlux (who normally takes top sculpting honor) successfully challenged me to contribute to his Stickman webcomic – look for an entry later this week?
The Cartoonists Northwest club is going through some changes. I hope that we do not lose the old website, but I like the “yahoo groups” idea. The new ties with the Art Institute of Seattle (a CNW show is in progress since Friday) have been welcome, and more people are recognizing what a uniquely great thing CNW (Cartoonists Northwest) is. (It looks like Philadelphia has something going, but too few cities seem to have what Seattle has.)

Happy to be here.