Today we are revealing our plans for a brand new column! Written by new contributing writer Jeff Shain, the column will be focusing on first-time and independently published creator-owned comics. Got a comic you’d like us to review? Look no further! Jeff’s going to be covering it all from here on out! Take it away, Jeff.
I love creator-owned comic books. As the unclean masses drool over whatever questionably comic book-related gimmick their corporate overlords see fit to force feed them at comic cons, I am walking the periphery of the floor hunting for undiscovered treasure like a picker at a yard sale. I especially enjoy commiserating with the creators themselves who spend much of con at their tables wearing forlorn expressions in desperate hope that someone will stop by and flip through a couple of pages of their book and perhaps, lord willing, buy an issue.
There is something inherently brave in making that transition from consumer to artist. Not many people can appreciate just how difficult it is to work in this medium. Comic books, like film-making, require a proficiency in a number of highly specialized artistic disciplines. Many creators simply lack the resources to delegate the creative burden and are forced to take on the of writing, drawing, inking, lettering, coloring and marketing of their books exclusively. Even when the book is finished, many fail to find an audience to justify the sweat equity, a truth that proves devastating to many creators. Those that survive the creative process and rejection have my profound admiration. (In fact, these guys have so inspired me that I decided to take on the challenge of writing my own book myself.)
Now I admit I may be romanticizing this a bit. A good number of these books are pure, unadaultered crap, but that’s ok. There’s value in all artistic work, even the crap, if you are open to the idea of being more curious than dismissive. FilmCritHulk wrote a great editorial about this. He was shooting the shit with Quentin Tarantino (as one does) and during the conversation he expressed his hatred of a particular movie, and Quentin stopped him immediately to address the idea of disliking art on an emotional level. “Never hate a movie.”, he said. “Bad things can be so much more interesting than just bad.” Every bad piece of art is an opportunity to learn a little bit more about the craft, and if you can do so critically, without emotionalism, I have no doubt it will help you appreciate it more when its done properly.
The Creator-Owned Showcase is dedicated to reviewing original, creator-owned comic books. For the artist(s), I hope to foster a constructive environment that aids creators in their creative process by offering fair and objective criticism of their work. For the readers, I’ll also touch on some of the fundamental underpinnings and explore some tangental themes that I hope will lead to some interesting debate about this medium we love so much here at Multiversity Comics. You also may be genuinely surprised by what you discover. Some of these books are really spectacular. Giving these books a chance is our responsibility as comic book fans, if for nothing else than to nuture a supportive climate for that next generation of incredible talent gearing up to amaze and delight us.
Now before you submit your work, please take a moment to review the submission prerequisites:
- I am looking for books that conform to the common standards of a comic book, meaning panels and gutters. No picture books, please.
- Digital comics are fine as long as they are not animated or dictated.
- No comic strips please. Each issue should feature a complete narrative.
- Your book doesn’t have to be in English, but don’t expect me to buy a copy of Rosetta Stone just so I can critique your writing.
- We would prefer a PDF copy of your book, but if you lack the technical proficiency to do so, you’re welcome to mail it in. Just drop us a line and we’ll send you the appropriate mailing address.
- Please include with your submission the names of all the relevant creatives who participated in the production of your book as well as any contact information you would like to appear in the review (like your e-mail address, social networking accounts and website URL). Continued below
- We also request, but do not require, that each creator to post a sample of their first issue online (or even the full issue) for people to download. It only helps you if people can readily check out what I’m reviewing.
Most importantly, if you can’t handle criticism, don’t send it in. Like I said, I intend to be fair and objective about each book, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be pulling any punches. It would be a disservice to you and your potential readers. I am not above this process either and when the time comes, YOU will have an opportunity to review MY work in what I expect to be an interesting and probably suicide-inducing/disastrous reversal of the critic-artist dynamic.
I would like to thank Multiversity for this unique opportunity and I look forward to meeting you all. This is going to be a lot of fun. So here we go: I’m sending out my Thundercats Ho, my Avengers Assemble to all creator-owners of comic books and graphic novels the world over.
Let’s see what you’ve got.
If you’d like to submit your comic for review, please contact us either through out Contact Form or e-mail Jeff directly at the address below.
