Years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting comic book artist Michael Turner at one of the comic book conventions down in Tulsa. Mike Turner is a tremendously talented artist who, at the time, was tearing it up with Witchblade and did a mini-series that I loved called Ballistic. I remember that he said something that was very curious to me from a creative standpoint. In one of his panel discussions, he talked about how he was not good at drawing certain things. One of the things he mentioned was a curtain. So he draped material around his station where he worked and filled his book with all sorts of curtains. And I remember thinking to myself at the time, why would he fill his books with art that he is not good at drawing?
And the answer is so you can stretch your wings and get better as an artist.
I have experienced such a wing-spreading experience lately.
Again, years ago, when my comic and writing career was stagnant and going nowhere, for a time, I considered “selling out” and writing one of those steamy romance novels that are always in the grocery stores by the checkout line. It is cheesy, I know, but that is a frickin’ huge chunk of the market… and I was going to use a pen name.
So I tried to write this story but with no tights, flights, super powers or gun battles, I couldn’t keep myself in front of the computer typing. And it might have had something to do with the fact that the story was terrible…
The majority of my projects thus far have been a lot of adrenaline-fueled action stories filled with valiant heroes and big, buff warriors. But after speaking at a college about comic books (to an all women audience), I realized that comics are predominantly a male field but there are female readers as well. Where are their books? What about their market?
So I decided to adapt one of histories greatest romances into a comic book.
I know. Me? Writing a romance? My personal belief is that you should write who you are. And I would not consider my life to be in the romantic comedy movie genre. That is not to say that I don’t wine-and-dine my wife every now and then. What I am saying that my life is not exactly permeated with romance, so it is not the type of story that I would be inclined to write. (My life is not filled with combat with aliens or fights in gladiator arenas either but that stuff is cool.)
When I first pitched my idea to my publisher, I was nervous. Could I write a romance? Would it enthrall me? Would it keep me at the keyboard? But now that I have finished my first draft of my first romance comic, I am proud to state that I could not be happier with the end result. I think the comic is going to be fantastic and I can’t wait to share more about it as publishing time comes closer.
I believe that the story has allowed me to grow as an artist and become a better writer. Could there be a better goal?
More soon.
And the answer is so you can stretch your wings and get better as an artist.
I have experienced such a wing-spreading experience lately.
Again, years ago, when my comic and writing career was stagnant and going nowhere, for a time, I considered “selling out” and writing one of those steamy romance novels that are always in the grocery stores by the checkout line. It is cheesy, I know, but that is a frickin’ huge chunk of the market… and I was going to use a pen name.
So I tried to write this story but with no tights, flights, super powers or gun battles, I couldn’t keep myself in front of the computer typing. And it might have had something to do with the fact that the story was terrible…
The majority of my projects thus far have been a lot of adrenaline-fueled action stories filled with valiant heroes and big, buff warriors. But after speaking at a college about comic books (to an all women audience), I realized that comics are predominantly a male field but there are female readers as well. Where are their books? What about their market?
So I decided to adapt one of histories greatest romances into a comic book.
I know. Me? Writing a romance? My personal belief is that you should write who you are. And I would not consider my life to be in the romantic comedy movie genre. That is not to say that I don’t wine-and-dine my wife every now and then. What I am saying that my life is not exactly permeated with romance, so it is not the type of story that I would be inclined to write. (My life is not filled with combat with aliens or fights in gladiator arenas either but that stuff is cool.)
When I first pitched my idea to my publisher, I was nervous. Could I write a romance? Would it enthrall me? Would it keep me at the keyboard? But now that I have finished my first draft of my first romance comic, I am proud to state that I could not be happier with the end result. I think the comic is going to be fantastic and I can’t wait to share more about it as publishing time comes closer.
I believe that the story has allowed me to grow as an artist and become a better writer. Could there be a better goal?
More soon.
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