I’ve already blogged about how my kids help out with all the stress, but there’s something else that helps me when I’m stressed that I hadn’t thought of in a while. Something that you could say began in my teenage years. Something that I can only do when I am alone.

When I was a teenager, I went on a couple of backpacking trips. I actually live near the mountains that we would climb. At any rate, I remember the first trip like it was yesterday. I remember we climbed the mountain during the new moon. The lack of moonlight and city lights allowed the stars to show me their true brilliance. My midwest mind could hardly conceive of that many stars.

Surrounded by mountains, the sky lit up in pinpricks above me, I began to feel terribly insignificant. With all of that wonder, what good was I to the world? What did my pinprick of a life in the great spacetime continuum actually mean? I wrestled with this for several days.

The trip was with a church group, so we had daily devotionals in the morning. When it came time for my turn, I was still thinking about the mountains and stars and began to realize that I am part of all of that! I may not be able to move mountains or create stars, but I am part of that creation, and I owe it to myself and everyone to be the best person I can possibly be. My devotional consisted of explaining this to the group, and letting them know that they are equally important. When you feel down and insignificant, do yourself a favor and stop to look around you. Look at all the stars, planets, animals, fish, whatever you enjoy and think about what the world/universe would be without them.

Then think what it would be like without you.

Fast forward to today. Under religion, my  facebook profile says ‘Raised Christian, forming my own opinions’. I no longer label myself ‘Christian’ so much anymore because there is so much out there. I can’t discount the teachings of Buddha and Mohammed any more than I can those of Jesus Christ.

And then there’s Science…

I always enjoyed science in school, but I didn’t think a whole lot about it outside of school. It was interesting, but not necessarily fun. Sometime after school, I discovered Quatum Physics and Cosmology, and that all changed.

Thinking about the very base elements of Creation and Life, at least to me, is a BLAST! The origin of the universe is a great puzzle, and I love to see what the ‘great minds’ think about it.

So I was wandering through the library yesterday and saw a book called ‘Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang‘ by Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok. Something attracted me to it, and I’m so glad I picked it up.

Having the understanding wife and family that I have, I was allowed to lock myself in the bathroom, draw myself a bath of hot water and epsom salt, soak my weary bones, and read.

As I began reading the theories about a cyclic universe, my head exploded with ideas. Things I could write stories about, things I could change in my own life. There is something about these great, some would say truly unanswerable questions, that fires up my imagination.

And I thought of those backpacking trips. Of my revelation that I am part of this great creation. Whether you believe in a God or the Big Bang, you are a part of this. What will you do with that power?

As for me, I believe my responsibilities lie with me and my family. Being the best person I can be, helping others and supporting my family, is the awesome responsibity that has been thrusted upon me.

I’ll try to be worthy of my post.

Some other recommended reading:

‘A Brief History of Time‘ by Stephen Hawking

‘The Elegant Universe‘ by Brian Greene

‘Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time‘ by J. Richard Gott

Incidentally, you may have noticed a new feature of the blog: next to most of the links, you’ll see a little book icon. When you click on that link, a window opens within the blog that gives you an article from Wikipedia, a link to amazon.com, etc. This is all thanks to a plugin I recently installed called Apture. If you’re looking for an easier way to add links to your blog, I would highly recommend it!

I was going to teach comic books to teenagers.

Kirby help me.

OK, so my foray in to educating youngsters wasn’t quite so dramatic, but I did feel nervous. In High School, I had found a taste for the stage. The theater was something that I loved and although I would not eat a thing the day of a performance, once I was on stage, I had never felt so high.

But I was reciting lines. I was moving because a director told me to move. I was making a mockery of a foreign accent because that’s what I thought the character needed. The words were not my own. The actions were not my own. The face, more often than not, was not my own.

It’s very different when the words are your own. You feel more vulnerable. Even if you care about your subject matter deeply, you can get so paralyzed with fear of rejection that it becomes impossible to convey your passion.

I have a very deep affection for the comic book medium. I wear it on my sleeve, well okay, my chest, most of the time. In fact, that’s how I had found myself standing in front of this gaggle of teens. I had been noticed at the library checking out graphic novels every other day with a different character on my tee-shirt each time.

A librarian had asked me if I draw comics. My inner Ralph Macchio had said, “Well, you know, not professionally.” My outer self said “eh.” I hang my head to think that, when put on the spot, I am not as eloquent as the Karate Kid. All that aside, the library let me teach a class with the somewhat erroneous title, ‘How to Draw Manga’.

The comic I drew while attempting to regain my audience's trust...

I began by telling the kids that this was their class. They could doodle while I talked, and if anything I said sparked an idea or question they could interrupt me at any time.

I had promised Kat that I wouldn’t just read my notes. I agreed that that was just too boring. I promised her a cool class.

So there I was, clutching my notes like they were the last root on the cliff.

“I think I’m boring you. Am I boring you?” I said, finally pulling my eyes off of the paper.

“Maybe some drinks will wake them up?” the librarian spoke out.

Bless you. I hadn’t even noticed her setting the liquid refreshment out.

I tried my hand at a couple of jokes and gave it up. I let Kat demonstrate Chibi technique on the big dry erase board, and I demonstrated speed lines.

Feeling I’d completely lost my audience, I moved along to the activities I’d shamelessly stolen from Scott McCloud‘s ‘Making Comics‘.

The crowd suddenly got lively! I took them out of their comfort zone by having them all write a title on the top of a piece of paper, then they swapped with a neighbor and drew one page comics based on the titles they received.

They laughed and joked and teased each other, loosening up to others’ ideas. I pointed out a couple examples from their peers of nicely paced pages and well drawn art.

I then had them create sound effets based on items in the room. I found it interesting that two girls on opposite ends of the room chose to represent ‘shine’ as a sound effect.

Lastly, we created a character together that is a female alligator that wears mini-skirts and halter tops, eats people that give her gas, says ‘Rawr!!’, collects pencils, lives under the bed, has a walrus as a best friend, keeps one of the classmates as a pet, and makes a living by mowing lawns with her teeth.

My take on the class-created character

The class clocked in at about an hour, after which I felt I had truly lost only two of my students.

One of the best things about it was I felt that I was able to quickly adapt to my surroundings and actually have fun with the situation, and that fun bled in to the kids.

The absolute best thing was that Kat and I shared a moment together that wasn’t around the TV or because I’d just given her money.

I would definitely do this again.

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For posterity’s sake and the benefit of my own feeble mind, the class was held on Tues., Jun 9, 2009. The somewhat ill-fated notes are posted below. I had typed these in a Comic Sans font, in all caps, to give them more of a comics feel. Given the limitations of fonts in blogging, you’ll just have to imagine…

IN PUTTING TOGETHER THIS CLASS, AND TAKING INTO ACCOUNT MY OWN ARTISTIC LIMITATIONS, I HAVE DECIDED TO PRESENT THIS AS MORE OF A ‘PICTORIAL STORYTELLING’ CLASS THAT AN ALL OUT ART CLASS. IN THE NEXT NINETY MINUTES OR SO, WE WILL TALK ABOUT WRITING AND STORYTELLING AS WELL AS ART.

THE FIRST RULE TO CREATING COMICS IS: THERE ARE NO RULES! KEEP THIS IN MIND AS WE PROCEED, IT WILL COME IN HANDY! ^_^

WHERE TO BEGIN?

MOST OF US BEGIN EXPLORING THE CREATION OF COMICS BY COPYING OTHER PEOPLE’S COMICS. THERE ARE A LOT OF BOOKS THAT WILL TELL YOU STEP BY STEP HOW TO DRAW LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. LIKE THE VAMPIRES IN ‘TWILIGHT’, HOWEVER, YOU’LL NEVER BE FULLY SATISFIED. YOU HAVE TO FIND YOUR OWN STYLE. DRAW FROM LIFE ITSELF, DON’T JUST COPY IT.

I WANTED TO BE AN ANIMATOR WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, AND ONE RECURRING THEME I HEARD AS I STUDIED THAT ART IS THAT ‘AN ANIMATOR IS AN ACTOR WITH A PENCIL.’ I FEEL THE SAME IS TRUE OF THE COMIC BOOK FORM. YOU NOT ONLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOUR CHARACTERS FEEL, BUT WHAT YOU WOULD FEEL IN THAT SITUATION AND BRING THOSE EMOTIONS OUT THROUGH YOUR PENCIL, PEN, BRUSH, ETC.

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? WHAT KIND OF STORIES SHOULD I TELL?

I TOOK A WRITING CLASS FROM ORSON SCOTT CARD (THE AUTHOR OF THE CLASSIC ‘ENDER’S GAME‘) A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. IN THAT CLASS, NATURALLY, THE QUESTION OF WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM CAME UP. ORSON ANSWERED THAT MANY SUCCESSFUL WRITERS COME UP WITH A CLEVER ANSWER FOR THIS QUESTION TO USE AT BOOK SIGNINGS, CONVENTIONS, ETC. HIS FAVORITE OF THESE CLEVER QUIPS CAME FROM HARLAN ELLISON, WHO WOULD ANSWER, ‘FROM YOU, THAT’S WHY YOU DON’T HAVE ANY!’

THE TRUTH IS THIS: IF A STORY IS WORTH TELLING TO YOU, THEN TELL IT. THE REST IS JUST DETAILS!

HAS SOMETHING SO INCREDIBLE HAPPENED TO YOU THAT YOU JUST HAD TO RUN AND TELL A FRIEND? WHAT IF YOU RAN TO YOUR DRAWING TABLE OR COMPUTER? DO YOU KEEP A DIARY? ANY OF THOSE STORIES THAT YOU FELT COMPELLED TO WRITE DOWN FOR YOURSELF COULD MAKE FOR AN INTERESTING STORY TO SOMEONE ELSE: WHY NOT MAKE IT A COMIC?

WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I WASN’T EXACTLY POPULAR WITH THE LADIES. I WOULD SOMETIMES LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND SEE A FAT PIMPLY MONSTER STARING BACK. SO I CREATED A CHARACTER THAT WAS NOT ONLY INFLUENCED BY ELEMENTS OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS (JACK SKELLINGTON AND THE SAVAGE DRAGON), BUT I ADDED THE FACT THAT THIS STRANGE LOOKING ALIEN EMITTED A PHEREMONE THAT MADE HIM IRRISISTABLE TO HUMAN FEMALES. IT GOT TO THE POINT THAT THE WOMEN HE WAS TRYING TO SAVE FROM MUGGERS IN DARK ALLEYS WERE GETTING IN THE WAY! MEANWHILE, THE ONE WOMAN HE WAS TRULY INTERESTED IN WAS STRANGELY IMMUNE TO HIS POWERS. ALL THESE STORY ELEMENTS SPRANG FROM BEING AN INSECURE TEENAGER! (I LIKE TO THINK THAT STAN LEE SUFFERED FROM THE SAME KIND OF INSECURITIES, WHY ELSE WOULD HE CREATE THE THING, HULK, AND PETER PARKER?)

TWO JEWISH KIDS FROM NEW YORK (ALSO NOT POPULAR WITH THE LADIES), ONE OF WHOM HAD LOST HIS FATHER TO A SENSELESS MURDER, CREATED A CHARACTER THAT WOULD LIVE ON IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS ALIKE FOR GENERATIONS. WITH WORLD WAR HEATING UP OVERSEAS, THESE YOUNG KIDS CREATED A STRANGE VISITOR FROM ANOTHER PLANET. HE WAS STRONG AND HANDSOME, LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS IN A SINGLE BOUND. THE CREATOR’S NAMES WERE JERRY SIEGEL AND JOE SCHUSTER, AND THEIR CREATION WAS SUPERMAN! THEY WERE ABLE TO TURN THEIR FEELINGS OF HELPLESSNESS INTO SOMETHING THAT CAN BE ENJOYED TODAY.

WHEN YOU THINK OF MOVIES BASED ON COMICS, I’M SURE THE FIRST MOVIES YOU THINK OF ARE BATMAN, SUPERMAN, IRON MAN, X-MEN, ETC.

COMICS ARE NOT, AND SHOULD NOT BE LIMITED TO SUPERHEROES. WHATEVER YOU DREAM CAN BE A COMIC.

WHAT ABOUT ‘ROAD TO PERDITION’, ‘GHOST WORLD’, OR ‘V FOR VENDETTA’? THESE WERE COMICS TOO!

POPULAR ANIME SUCH AS ‘FRUITS BASKET’, ‘NARUTO’, AND ‘RANMA ½’ ALL STARTED AS MANGA!

SO WHY COMICS ANYWAY?

IF YOU CAME TO THIS CLASS, YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY INTERESTED IN COMICS, OR WHAT WIL EISNER CALLED ‘SEQUENTIAL ART’. BUT HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT DRAWS YOU TO COMICS IN THE FIRST PLACE?

UNFORTUNATELY, HERE IN THE UNITED STATES COMICS HAVE BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH SUPER HEROES FOR THE MOST PART. IT’S ALWAYS INTERESTING TO ME THAT COMIC STRIPS ARE KNOWN FOR A WIDER RANGE OF GENRE (POLITICAL, FUNNY, ADVENTURE, SOCIAL COMMENTARY) AMONG GENERAL SOCIAL CIRCLES THAN THEIR LONGER-LENGTHED COMIC BOOK COUSINS.

THE TRUTH IS THAT COMICS CAN BE ABOUT ANYTHING, TOLD IN ANY STYLE, WITH ANY TYPE OF CHARACTERS YOU WANT.

WIL EISNER, THE CREATOR OF ‘THE SPIRIT’ TALKED OF WRITING ONLY WHAT HE KNEW. YOU NEVER SAW FLYING PEOPLE OR ALIENS IN HIS STORIES, JUST BASICALLY REAL PEOPLE.

ART SPIEGELMAN WANTED TO ADAPT THE STORIES HIS JEWISH FATHER TOLD HIM ABOUT WWII INTO COMICS, BUT DECIDED TO CAST THE JEWS AS MICE AND THE NAZIS AS CATS.

COMICS ARE DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER MEDIUM IN THAT COMICS CREATE MORE OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CREATOR AND THE READER OR VIEWER. WHEN YOU WATCH A MOVIE, YOU’RE DRAGGED ALONG BY THE DIRECTOR TO WHATEVER THE DIRECTOR WANTS YOU TO SEE AND NOTHING ELSE. TIME IS COMPLETELY LINEAR, YOU ARE IN THE MOMENT THE DIRECTOR WANTS YOU TO BE IN.

WITH COMICS, HOWEVER, YOU AS THE READER ARE AWARE OF THE NEXT PAGE. EVEN IF YOUR EYES ARE FOCUSED ON A PARTICULAR PANEL, YOUR PERIFERAL VISION IS PICKING UP THE SURROUNDING PANELS. YOU AS THE READER HAVE THE POWER TO READ AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU WANT, WITH THE CREATOR HAVING SOME, BUT NOT ALL OF THE CONTROL.

THE FIRST COMIC I REMEMBER REALLY THINKING ABOUT THIS WITH WAS FRANK MILLER’S ‘THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS’. THE JOKER IS IN PRISON AND STAYING THERE BECAUSE HIS MOTIVATION TO ESCAPE IS GONE: BATMAN’S IN RETIREMENT AND SHOWS NO SIGN OF RETURNING. EGGHEAD COMES TO VISIT JOKER AND TELLS HIM THAT SOMEONE WANTS EGGHEAD TO BUILD A BOMB. THE JOKER TAKES A PUFF FROM A CIGARETTE, BLOWS OUT THE SMOKE, THEN ASKS, ‘WHAT KIND OF BOMB?’ THESE FOUR PANELS MADE UP THE FIRST ‘DRAMATIC PAUSE’ I REMEMBER BEING CONSCIOUS OF IN COMICS!

THE TYPICAL SINGLE-ISSUE COMIC IN THE US IS 22 PAGES. THIS DOESN’T LEAVE A LOT OF ROOM FOR DRAMATIC PAUSES OR LENGTHY EXPLANATIONS! THIS LEAD TO CREATORS CUTTING TO THE CHASE AND LETTING READERS FILL IN BLANKS OR INFER INFORMATION. THE LONGER FORM OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL HAS OPENED UP GREATER OPPORTUNITIES FOR TAKING TIME WITH STORIES AS THE CREATOR SEES FIT.

TO SCRIPT OR NOT TO SCRIPT: IS IT EVEN A QUESTION?

I HAVE SEEN MANY BOOKS AND INTERVIEWS ON SCRIPTING COMICS. PLEASE REVISIT THE FIRST LINE IN THIS REPORT: THERE ARE NO RULES.

WRITERS SUCH AS ALAN MOORE (WATCHMEN) ARE REPORTED TO GIVE THEIR ARTISTS VERY DETAILED SCRIPTS THAT THEY WANT FOLLOWED.

OTHERS, SUCH AS STAN LEE (HE HELPED CREATE THE ENTIRE MARVEL UNIVERSE) TAKE A MORE COLLABORATIVE APPROACH. STAN WOULD MEET WITH HIS ARTIST AND HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT WOULD BE GOING ON IN THE STORY. (“LET’S HAVE A NERDY KID BITTEN BY A RADIOACTIVE SPIDER!”) THE ARTIST WOULD THEN DRAW THE STORY THE WAY HE WANTED, AND STAN LEE WOULD ADD DIALOGUE LATER.

BRIAN TALBOT (TALE OF ONE BAD RAT) GENERALLY WRITES AND DRAWS EVERYTHING HIMSELF, BUT IS METICULOUS ABOUT PLOTTING/SCRIPTING. TALBOT USES INDEX CARDS AND WRITES PLOT ELEMENTS/DIALOGUE ON THEM. HE THEN LAYS THEM OUT AND MOVES THEM AROUND UNTIL THE STORY IS JUST RIGHT BEFORE PUTTING PEN TO PAPER.

ERIC LARSEN (SAVAGE DRAGON) JUST SITS DOWN AND DRAWS. ERIC ONCE KILLED OFF A CHARACTER BECAUSE SHE WAS ‘IN THE WAY’ THE WAY HE HAD DRAWN THE SCENE, THEN LAMENTED AFTERWARD THAT HE HAD PLANS FOR HER!

WHATEVER YOUR STYLE, JUST FIND ONE THAT’S COMFORTABLE FOR YOU.

WAIT, WASN’T THIS THING CALLED ‘HOW TO DRAW MANGA’?

TOO TRUE. LET’S START WITH A DEFINITION OF ‘MANGA’. MANGA IS SIMPLY THE JAPANESE WORD FOR COMICS. JUST AS AMERICAN COMICS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO GENRES SUCH AS SUPERHERO, WESTERN, SCIENCE FICTION, ROMANCE, ETC. SO CAN MANGA. PROBABLY THE TWO GENRES MOST IMPORTED TO THE US IS ‘SHOJO’ MANGA (MANGA FOR GIRLS) AND ‘SHONEN’ MANGA (MANGA FOR BOYS). DON’T THINK FOR A SECOND THAT THESE LINES ARE SET IN STONE. ‘RANMA ½’ AND ‘NARUTO’ ARE CONSIDERED SHONEN, THOUGH THEY ARE READ BY MANY GIRLS!

NOW THAT MANGA IS BECOMING EVEN MORE POPULAR THAN TRADITIONAL AMERICAN COMICS, AMERICAN ARTISTS ARE TAKING THE HINT AND ADOPTING A MANGA STYLE. IT’S GETTING HARDER TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO. SOME COMICS ‘EXPERTS’ LIKE TO DIFFERENTIATE TRUE JAPANESE MANGA FROM THEIR AMERICAN COUNTERPARTS BY REFERRING TO THE AMERICAN VERSIONS AS ‘OEL’, OR ‘ORIGINAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE’ MANGA. SOME SUPERHERO ARTISTS SUCH AS MARK BAGLEY(ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN) AND HUMBERTO RAMOS (IMPULSE) HAVE ADOPTED A MANGA STYLE, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE ILLUSTRATING MORE TRADITIONAL SUPERHERO STORIES. SVETLANA CHMAKOVA’S ‘DRAMACON’ IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN OEL MANGA THAT CAN GO RIGHT ON THE SHELF NEXT TO TRUE JAPANESE MANGA AND NO ONE NOTICES! (ok, Svetlana is a Russian living in Canada, but I can adopt her for America, right? ^-^)

AS THE LINES BLUR BETWEEN WESTERN AND EASTERN CULTURES IN COMICS, THEN WE CAN START BLENDING THEM ALL TOGETHER, RIGHT?

SOME DISTINCT ELEMENTS OF MANGA THAT HAVE WORKED THEIR WAY INTO AMERICAN COMICS AND ANIMATION

CHIBI-THE VERY EXAGGERATED EXPRESSIONS FOUND IN MANGA HAVE SEEPED INTO AMERICAN CULTURE. (JUST WATCH AN EPISODE OF ‘TEEN TITANS’ TO SEE WHAT I MEAN)

ACTION OR SPEED LINES- THIS BLURRING OF THE BACKGROUND TO COMMUNICATE SPEED HAS ALSO MADE IT HERE TO THE WEST, TO THE POINT THAT MOST READERS TODAY DON’T THINK OF THIS AS CULTURALLY DIFFERENT AT ALL.

CARTOONY FACES THAT ARE FULL OF EXPRESSION-MANGA TENDS TO SIMPLIFY FACIAL EXPRESSIONS IN ORDER TO CONVEY A LOT OF EMOTION IN A BASE FORM. AMERICAN COMICS TEND TO GO FOR MORE REALISM. THE IRONIC PIECE OF THIS CULTURAL DIFFERENCE IS THAT A LOT OF WHAT IS CONSIDERED TRADITIONAL IN MANGA WAS INSPIRED BY THE WORK OF JAPAN’S ‘GOD OF MANGA’, OSAMU TEZUKA. SOME OF HIS INSPIRATION? THE WIDE, EXPRESSIVE EYES OF DISNEY’S BAMBI!

OK, SO LET’S GET TO WORK

SCOTT MCCLOUD’S ‘MAKING COMICS’ IS FULL OF ACTIVITIES TO GET THE CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING. LET’S TRY ONE!

GRAB A PIECE OF PAPER AND DRAW A QUICK TITLE LOGO AT THE TOP. SOMETHING GENERAL, LIKE ‘IS THAT YOUR DAD?’ OR ‘HAVE YOU SEEN THE LIBRARIAN?’

NOW, SWAP WITH A NEIGHBOR.

USING THE TITLE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN, CREATE A SINGLE PAGE COMIC. WE DON’T HAVE A TON OF TIME, SO DRAW FAST! STICK FIGURES ARE EXCEPTIBLE, THE NAME OF THE GAME IS TO TELL A STORY!

LETTERING CAN BE IMPORTANT

SOME COMICS, LIKE ANDY RUNTON’S ‘OWLY’ DON’T NEED LANGUAGE AT ALL, BUT WHEN YOUR CHARACTERS NEED TO TALK, WHAT FONTS/LETTERING SHOULD YOU USE? THE ALL CAPS STYLE THAT I TYPED THIS IN IS A TRADITION, BUT MANY CREATORS ARE LOOKING AT OTHER STYLES.

Using Caps/Lower Case is actually a break from the norm in comics.

Just beware of harder to read fonts, you’ll lose your readers!

SOUND EFFECTS ARE IMPORTANT, AND FUN! THE STYLE OF YOUR SOUND EFFECTS CAN MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONVEYING INFORMATION AND MAKING YOUR READER FEEL LIKE THEY’RE IN THAT WORLD!

I.E.

BOOM!

TINKLE! TINKLE!

TIME TO TRY THIS ONE OUT. LOOK AROUND THE ROOM AND DESIGN TEN SOUND EFFECTS THAT REPRESENT THINGS IN THE ROOM. SEE IF YOUR NEIGHBORS CAN TELL WHAT WOULD MAKE THAT SOUND!

WHERE YOU GO FROM HERE...

NOW LET’S JUST CREATE.

MALE OR FEMALE

PROFESSION

HOBBIES

HOW THEY DRESS

PETS

FRIENDS

“Hey how’s it goin’?” he asked.

“Good, you?” I answered. All the fears of high school locker rooms flooded irrationally back. Does this guy want to kick my ass? Why is he talking to me?

“Great!” he answered. “So do you have kids in here?”

How the hell would he guess that? I looked down at the Elmo beach towel I had used that night. Oh. “Yes, I do.”

“How old?”

I thought of the flack I’ve taken on this blog by a couple readers for using the term ‘step-daughter’, so I simply said, “I have a two year old and a fifteen year old.”

“Wow!” he said, “You don’t look old enough to have a fifteen year old!”

“Well,” I said, ego slightly pumped now, old high school jock prejudices slowly fading, “my wife is five years older than me. The fifteen year old is my step-daughter. So that’s how I get out of that!”

He laughed, “Aw, man. I have a step-dad. He’s the best! We still hang out all the time. I hardly ever see my real dad. I think step-dads are great!”

“Well, right now it seems like she doesn’t feel that way a lot of the time!”

“Trust me, she will appreciate you. Just keep showing an interest in her life!”

“Alright, I think I can do that!” I said. “Speaking of my family, they’re probably just about done in their locker room, I’d better get them home.”

“Cool, man. Nice meeting you!”

“Yeah, you too.”

Check out the other cool guys and gals who participate in Fatherhood Friday at dad-blogs.com!

And I do take an interest in her life, and even though she’s fifteen and trying out this independence thing, we can still hold conversations about movies, comics (well, in her case manga), music, etc. So I think we’re on a good path.

I volunteered to teach a comic book class at the library recently, and she had to be a part of it. She wasn’t embarassed by my Green Lantern T-shirt that I wore. (Even though I tucked it in, which drives her crazy!) And afterward when I asked her what she thought, she said it was pretty cool. High praise, indeed!

Moral of the story, at least for me? No matter how old your kids get, you’ll still be learning. And even if you’re not biologically linked to your child, it’s still possible to be his/her dad!

Their first anthology comic: Iconic, will be formally released at the MoCCA fest in New York City, being held June 6 and 7, but they were nice enough to let me peer inside it’s pages beforehand so that I can tell you a little bit about it.

Click here to buy your very own copy of Iconic!

When I was growing up, comics were a huge part of my life. They helped grow my vocabulary, I learned elements of mythology and history from them, and they were FUN! But, like many comic fans, I was teased by friends and family alike that the comics were basically a waste of time. That they weren’t worth anything. Much more than their hypothetical future monetary worth, however, comics were worth a great deal to me for their content. Many comics got dog-eared and wrinkled through multiple readings.

If Iconic were around then, it would be one of the wrinkled books.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to read this to my kids! I have no doubt that Iconic will be able to spark that creativity in them that thrilling to tales of Spider-Man and Batman did for me.

Iconic is an anthology collection suitable for all ages that includes many talented up and coming writers and artists. It is a collection of stories based on many different types of literature. Greek mythology is in here, American lore is here, History is here, and yes, my dear Watson, there is a Sherlock Holmes story as well.

Some of the characters are familiar, such as Sherlock Holmes and Ebenezer Scrooge. Some not so familiar, such as the much forgotten Gustave Whitehead, the man that flew before the Wright Brothers!

The comic art leaps off of the page in glorious black and white. The variance in the art amazingly is not distracting, but in fact adds to each individual story as it’s own entity, but also part of something larger. That quality is something generally rarely found in independent anthologies.

I don’t want to summarize each and every story found within this book because I don’t want to spoil any of your fun. Just trust me when I say whether you are a die hard comic book fanboy, a child that has difficulty getting in to reading, a teacher, or a parent; there is something in Iconic that you are sure to enjoy.

You can find out more about Iconic and the rest of the events and projects of the Comicbook Artist’s Guild at comicartguild.com.

Last night I tried something I’ve alway been too chicken to do: climb a rock wall! Calli, on the other hand? Leapt at the chance and handled it like a pro! The fifteen year old didn’t want to wear the harness. But the two year old that’s still in diapers, adding an extra level of discomfort? I’ve got a little Spider-Girl on my hands!

Insert my daughter here...

Unfortunately, the rec center doesn’t allow camera use, or this blog would be plastered with pictures!

My adventures in rock-climbing? Hoo-boy. My first attempt, I asked where was a good place to start for beginners. The instructor asked, “Sooooo, do you want, like, easy easy?”

Now I’m not an athletic guy, but not wanting to display my weakness, I said, “Wellll, maybe not eeeasy easy…”

With a fairly dubious look the instructor said, “So, like, medium easy?”

Not wanting to overstep my abilities, I said, “Yeah, medium easy sounds good!”

So I stepped up, called out the few commands as I’d been instructed. (“Belay on? Ready to climb!”) And I was climbing.

I got about half way up the wall and couldn’t find my next footing. The instructor pointed one out that seemed too high. I made it, though. And then slipped. I found myself swinging to the next side of the wall. I guess instincts kicked in, because my left hand had a Vulcan death grip on it’s hold. I probably could have just let go and let the rope do the work, but, nope. I had to wrench my arm and shoulder instead. (It wasn’t that bad, no trip to the hospital necessary! )

I swung back to where I had been, and clinched. I am not all that comfortable with heights. Not deathly afraid, just … uncomfortable. I tend to clinch every muscle in my body when on a ladder or scissor lift for work, I just power through. So I think that’s what happened. I just couldn’t find the next step.

I called out that I was coming down and clumsily repeled down, my legs giving way when I got to the ground, placing me gently on my ass.

“What did you think?” the instructor asked.

“It was fun.” I panted. “A little harder than it looks, maybe…” There ya go, tough guy!

“Want to try somewhere else?”

Sure, why not. “Sure. Why not!”

He put me on the wall my daughter had just climbed…

After the wall, we went swimming. My arms felt like lead weights and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to swim! I stayed in the kiddie pool with Calli while my wife went around the ‘lazy river’. The lazy river is an area that winds around the main pool and has jets that simulate a current. My pregnant wife loves it because walking around that is the only exercise she’s found that doesn’t make her back hurt in her current condition.

We basically had the pool to ourselves, so I was throwing around some of Calli’s toys with her. We splashed and played, and I came to realize that for a moment, I had forgotten what I like to call, ‘my adult edit button’. You know, that thing we get as we grow older that tells us what not to say, how not to act… Of course, I’ve had many moments like that since Kat and Calli came in to my life, but very rarely in public.

Maybe it was the bolstered confidence from climbing the wall and at least making that attempt. Maybe it was left over adrenaline. Quite possibly, it was thanks to my amazing daughter. But after I discovered that my adult editing equipment was missing? I didn’t look too hard to find it.

These are the experiences that make fatherhood sooooo worth it!

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OK, now I’d like to ask for a little help. My wife and I feel like we’ve exhausted every baby name book on the planet and scoured every site I can google ‘baby names’ for. We need a really cool boy name! My running gag is that, we already have a Katrina and Calliope, we can’t name our boy Jeff or Jon!

Anybody have any really cool boy names out there? I’ll keep posting this each Friday and I want to come up with a cool giveaway, but I wanted to go ahead and fire this out now so that you can start thinking!

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The sisters relate to each other...

As a Daddy Blogger, I find myself in a unique situation: I have a 15 year old step-daughter and a two year old daughter. I feel that this gives me a different perspective. I came into Kat’s life when she was four years old, so I missed the diapers and the slow development of her language skills. I’ve watched her grow up and marveled at her dreams and the decisions that she’s made. Even though I’ve had those eleven years of being a Daddy, with Calli it feels like I’m a brand new Daddy. Now I get the diapers and laugh at the way she reasons out words. Bunnies are ‘hoppies’ for instance. Doggies are ‘goggies’. With a new baby boy on the way in August, that’ll be a whole new world, as now I’m so used to girls, what do I do?

Which brings me back to the big bad teenager. As she grows older, our tastes and opinions are starting to spread further and further apart. When kids are young, they generally like what you like, so it’s easy to relate. As they get older, they gain more opportunities to explore the world without you there. I think Kat read all the Twilight books before I knew it was such a big deal. I just watched the movie and still don’t get it.

When Kat was young, she was in to super hero comics. Powerpuff Girls ran supreme, but she also enjoyed Batman and Superman. Our tastes were similar. I discovered Ranma 1/2 and brought home the anime (Japanese animation). It was all over. Kat is still a veracious comic reader, but now it’s pretty much strictly manga (Japanese comics). I enjoy manga too, but a different ‘flavor’ than her.

Kat's taste in Manga generally looks like this...

We both still love Science Fiction (we can totally agree on ‘Firefly‘ forever!), I’m toying with the idea of driving down the mountain for Starfest this weekend, snowstorm from heck permitting, and I decided to ask Kat if she wants to go.

“That depends. Is it that science fiction that you like?”

I laughed. “The science fiction that I like? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, like, I don’t want to say Ray Bradbury, but I don’t like Ray Bradbury that much…”

You could probably hear the audible cracking of my heart…

“…but, you know, those books you like.”

I laughed again. “Well, let’s see. The guests you’ll probably care about are Brent Spiner, you know, Data on Next Gen? And…”

My taste in Manga. See what I mean?

She stopped me right there, as I predicted. “If Data’s there, I’m going!”

So I guess I can still relate a little, after all! Now if the weather can go easy on us, hopefully we’ll see Data together tomorrow!

*On a personal note, as if this post hasn’t revealed how much of a geek I am already, I have volunteered to teach a class on creating comics at my local public library. My credentials basically consist of the librarians noticed I was in there every other day checking out graphic novels with a different character on my t-shirt every time. The kids are very interested in Manga, so I’ve enlisted Kat’s help. She promised to just kick back and laugh at me. I hope she’s kidding!  I know that somehow I’ve attracted a couple of comics professionals to this blog, so any friendly advice would be greatly appreciated!

Jimmy Gownley is a cartoonist who cares. With ‘Amelia Rules!’ he set out to create a comic with classic comic strip sensibilities that did not talk down to kids. His success at this is overwhelming. Jimmy is a co-founder of Kids Love Comics!, an organization that promotes literacy through comics. Something I can certainly relate to and support.

The reason I began this post by introducing Amelia and Jimmy to you is because, obviously, I think they are incredible. But also because a story in the fourth volume, ‘When the Past is a Present‘ really hit home for me. The story is called ‘The Things I Cannot Change’. This is a story of how one of the kids in Amelia’s school is dealing with her father being sent to war.

Lately, I have been putting in a loooot of hours preparing for inventory at the store, and I was feeling a little down in the dumps about that. Fifteen hour overnight shifts don’t leave much for family time, and I could tell that it was hitting my two year old pretty hard. I explained to her that work was how I got money for toys and food. She pushed me out of the door that night, but I still felt terrible.

I then read ‘The Things I Cannot Change’ and it put things in perspective for me. At least I wasn’t getting deployed. My family wasn’t seeing me as often as I’d like, but they were seeing me. I was still tickling the two year old at least once a day! My heart has always gone out to the men and women fighting for our rights, but sometimes it takes a reminder that my own life isn’t as bad as all that. Amelia reminded me in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time. And then she made me laugh, which is a wonderful thing.

As previous posts have indicated, I really make every attempt at staying positive. I don’t see a need to stress because that just locks me up and keeps me from taking care of the business at hand. But sometimes, I do let things get to me. At these times when most people feel like picking up a bottle, I reach for a comic book. Boy, did I pick up the right one this time!

Anyone who pays a little bit of attention has noticed that comic books really aren’t for kids anymore. Gone are the days of going in to your local grocery/convenience store and picking up the latest adventures of your favorite caped do-gooders. You might find an Archie Digest still on the checkout lane, but it will generally be placed out of the reach of children. I’m not sure who they’re marketed to, nostalgic parents? Truthfully at this point, nostalgic grandparents! Old Archie hasn’t done the best job of keeping up with the times…

If you want to purchase a comic, you have to find the local comic shop. If you don’t know where it is,  just look in the bad part of town. You’ll find your four-color heroes in that little hole-in-the-wall next to the donut place. I know I’m profiling here, but comic shops aren’t exactly located where you would want your kid hanging out, generally speaking.

As for content, even the staple heroes such as Superman and Spider-Man have much more realistic violence and adult themes. Luckily, Marvel long ago instituted a ratings system that will at least warn you of some of the content inside, but it seems the all ages category is pretty small.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the more adult stories for myself. I just wish that there were more comic stories I could share with the entire family.

Have no fear, true believers!

Amelia Rules!, however, truly does rule. Best of all, it absolutely does not talk down to the kids, and it's hilarious to adults!

As I mentioned in the post with my first webcomic, I gave a shout out to Kids Love Comics, an organization that promotes literacy through comics. Jimmy Gownley, one of the co-founders of KLC, is the creative force behind the Amelia Rules! comics, the perfect argument for all ages comics that truly all ages can enjoy.

Today, I was in a local toy store in Eagle, CO called Kidtopia, and I found small books called Phonics Comics, published by innovativeKids. These cute little comic stories are written so that they promote phonetic learning, while still keeping the content light and fun.

Phonics Comics: educational AND fun!

I am a firm believer in the comic book medium and it’s ability to create excitement about reading in young readers. I know they did that for me. So seeing these organizations and products out there gives me hope that kids will still be able to enjoy comics for generations to come.

So I’ve made moves to balance this new found lust for a digital life with my real one.

First and foremost, I wake up early. I’m not saying this is for everybody, but it works for me. (Kind of ironic, really. I used to be a ‘nightowl’, and now I do my best work in the early morning!) In my blog entry, ‘Balancing Life, Family, and Technology: How Some Authors Do It‘, Dayton Ward addressed how much sleep he got by saying:  

“I sleep more than you might think, but less than I’d like, or which some folks might consider healthy. Between the dayjob, family, and writing, I average between 4-5 hours of sleep a night during the week. On weekends, I sometimes am able to squeeze in another hour or, on very rare occasions, sneak in a nap. It all depends on the schedules my wife and I are keeping on a given weekend.”

I’m not saying I sacrifice sleep because Dayton does, but I had begun that habit before our email interview, and this just sort of reinfoced the notion that I was probably OK with the five hours I generally get. (Without the aid of energy drinks, mind you!) I tend to blog/plot my webcomic during these early hours when the rest of the family is asleep and it’s quiet and I can think.

The second thing I’ve done is tried to make my hobby my family’s hobby! (But not in a bossy way!  ;P ) Turns out Calli enjoys my drawings, so when I’m working on the webcomic, here’s my method:

I do the pencil and ink BY HAND (Calm down, tech nerds, it’ll be alright…), scan it in to my computer, and color it there. (Nerds release the intake of air in an uneasy sigh of relief.) During this process, I also print out a copy of the inks and let Calli color on it while I work on my own coloring. I have to admit, I cheat once in a while and look over her shoulder for ideas…

The point of all this is that a lot of people drive themselves crazy looking for the ever-elusive ‘me’ time. Take a breath and realize what you have right in front of you. Take advantage of those things, and you’re life will feel much fuller.