“Please don’t retire from the comics industry.”
“Please keep writing comic books.”
Hardly a day passes without some reader of impeccable taste sending an e-mail, a Facebook private message or a Twitter private message essentially stating the above. These communications both encourage me and depress me because, to a large extent, I don’t have a whole lot of control over that stuff.
Although the thought of retirement has crossed my mind from time to time, I’ll keep working in the industry on one level of another as long as I can find an audience and make a few bucks in the process. I have a modest lifestyle, so I can stretch a few bucks a long way.
Writing comic books is more of an issue because I’m not an artist or a publisher. Yes, I can write scripts. But, shy of winning the lottery, I can’t afford to hire an artist or publish my own comics. Yes, I know about Kickstarter and other funding options, but it’s become clear to me that I don’t have the energy to both create new comics and run a business. Writing is what I do.
Despite having shown I still have what it takes to write some great comics - I direct you to Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands - comics publishers and editors have shown little to no interest in hiring me to write for them. You think a small or mid-size company would find some benefit to being able to slap “From the Creator of Black Lightning” on a comic-book cover.
Key change. My ability to write comic books and my desire to write same is not what today’s bloggy thing title refers to. I’ll swing back around to that in a few paragraphs, but I want to get to the main point of this conversation.
I’m looking to acquire complete sets of The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies and The Phantom: The Complete Sundays. These were and are published by Hermes Press. I regularly kick myself for not buying them when they were first published. Now many of them have gone out of print and, when you can find them, command high prices on the secondary market. A bit more than my current modest income and lifestyle will allow me to spend.
I do have The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies volumes 1, 2, 4 and 17. I also have The Phantom: The Complete Sundays volumes 1 and 3. I’m willing to barter my writing skills for the volumes I’m missing. Obviously, we’ll have to talk about the details, but the gist of this is:
I WILL WRITE FOR COMICS.
I can write comic-book scripts and newspaper strips. I can also do articles about comics and the cheesy horror/monster movies I love. I can write plots for movies and television shows. As I said, we’ll have to work out the details, but here’s your chance to get me on projects in exchange for the books I want.
If you want to hire me via the more traditional routes, I’m open to that as well. I am not without projects of my own. At the moment, besides writing gags for John Lustig’s Last Kiss and writing blog entries like this, I’m developing a comic book for a dear friend of mine. I’m creating what I hope will be a TV series for another dear friend of mine. I hope I don’t get the two of them mixed up because that would be very weird casting.
I’m putting together the first of a series of books collecting my cheesy horror/monster movie reviews. I’m working on the script for the first issue of a new heroic universe unlike anything you have ever seen. I have a bucket list of over 300 items I want to write before I kick the bucket.
But, with the exception of my Last Kiss work, none of the above are going to generate earnings any time soon. They are all “long game” projects. If you’re an editor or publisher offering gigs that will pay off on completion or within a reasonable time after completion, we can talk. I’ll fit you into my schedule.
We would have to discuss details. Having paid many times over for my foolishness in believing DC Comics would honor agreements with me re: Black Lightning, I’m not looking to create brand-new comics titles unless I maintain editorial control and ownership. I’m not at all adverse to sharing profits with a publisher who would back such comics, even if they go to movies or television, but I have to maintain the integrity of my creations.
I’m not willing to ghost newspaper strips without receiving credit for my work. I know cartoonists don’t get to determine whose names appear on the published strips. But, having labored in secret for too many years on too many strips, I want to be able to tell people when I’m working on a strip or feature.
If I don’t think I can write something for you and have it meet my own high standards, I’ll tell you that. If I don’t think I can do the work within the deadlines you have, I’ll tell you that as well. I don’t blow smoke up anyone’s ass and I would appreciate the same consideration for my own tush.
Hardly a day passes without some reader of impeccable taste sending an e-mail, a Facebook private message or a Twitter private message essentially stating the above. These communications both encourage me and depress me because, to a large extent, I don’t have a whole lot of control over that stuff.
Although the thought of retirement has crossed my mind from time to time, I’ll keep working in the industry on one level of another as long as I can find an audience and make a few bucks in the process. I have a modest lifestyle, so I can stretch a few bucks a long way.
Writing comic books is more of an issue because I’m not an artist or a publisher. Yes, I can write scripts. But, shy of winning the lottery, I can’t afford to hire an artist or publish my own comics. Yes, I know about Kickstarter and other funding options, but it’s become clear to me that I don’t have the energy to both create new comics and run a business. Writing is what I do.
Despite having shown I still have what it takes to write some great comics - I direct you to Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands - comics publishers and editors have shown little to no interest in hiring me to write for them. You think a small or mid-size company would find some benefit to being able to slap “From the Creator of Black Lightning” on a comic-book cover.
Key change. My ability to write comic books and my desire to write same is not what today’s bloggy thing title refers to. I’ll swing back around to that in a few paragraphs, but I want to get to the main point of this conversation.
I’m looking to acquire complete sets of The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies and The Phantom: The Complete Sundays. These were and are published by Hermes Press. I regularly kick myself for not buying them when they were first published. Now many of them have gone out of print and, when you can find them, command high prices on the secondary market. A bit more than my current modest income and lifestyle will allow me to spend.
I do have The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies volumes 1, 2, 4 and 17. I also have The Phantom: The Complete Sundays volumes 1 and 3. I’m willing to barter my writing skills for the volumes I’m missing. Obviously, we’ll have to talk about the details, but the gist of this is:
I WILL WRITE FOR COMICS.
I can write comic-book scripts and newspaper strips. I can also do articles about comics and the cheesy horror/monster movies I love. I can write plots for movies and television shows. As I said, we’ll have to work out the details, but here’s your chance to get me on projects in exchange for the books I want.
If you want to hire me via the more traditional routes, I’m open to that as well. I am not without projects of my own. At the moment, besides writing gags for John Lustig’s Last Kiss and writing blog entries like this, I’m developing a comic book for a dear friend of mine. I’m creating what I hope will be a TV series for another dear friend of mine. I hope I don’t get the two of them mixed up because that would be very weird casting.
I’m putting together the first of a series of books collecting my cheesy horror/monster movie reviews. I’m working on the script for the first issue of a new heroic universe unlike anything you have ever seen. I have a bucket list of over 300 items I want to write before I kick the bucket.
But, with the exception of my Last Kiss work, none of the above are going to generate earnings any time soon. They are all “long game” projects. If you’re an editor or publisher offering gigs that will pay off on completion or within a reasonable time after completion, we can talk. I’ll fit you into my schedule.
We would have to discuss details. Having paid many times over for my foolishness in believing DC Comics would honor agreements with me re: Black Lightning, I’m not looking to create brand-new comics titles unless I maintain editorial control and ownership. I’m not at all adverse to sharing profits with a publisher who would back such comics, even if they go to movies or television, but I have to maintain the integrity of my creations.
I’m not willing to ghost newspaper strips without receiving credit for my work. I know cartoonists don’t get to determine whose names appear on the published strips. But, having labored in secret for too many years on too many strips, I want to be able to tell people when I’m working on a strip or feature.
If I don’t think I can write something for you and have it meet my own high standards, I’ll tell you that. If I don’t think I can do the work within the deadlines you have, I’ll tell you that as well. I don’t blow smoke up anyone’s ass and I would appreciate the same consideration for my own tush.
If you’re an editor, publisher, movie or TV producer who would like to work with me, e-mail me to get things started. If you’re anyone else who would like to work with me or make a deal on the Phantom books I want, you can also e-mail me.
That covers what I wanted to say today. Come back tomorrow for what I’m thinking will be another Godzilla anniversary review.
Stay safe in these pandemic times. Stay sane in the chaos that has become our world. Be kind to one another.
© 2020 Tony Isabella
That covers what I wanted to say today. Come back tomorrow for what I’m thinking will be another Godzilla anniversary review.
Stay safe in these pandemic times. Stay sane in the chaos that has become our world. Be kind to one another.
© 2020 Tony Isabella
Tony have you considered a PayPal connection here on the bloggy thing where readers can "tip" you? I think a lot of fans would do that since we appreciate the posts and the stories and Black Lightning so much! Then you could sidestep Patreon and everything it entails maybe
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