SPX

Panel 1 Summary: Scott McCloud

Scott McCloud is well known for his analytical approach on his comic theory book, Understanding Comics. He continues this theoretical discussion by naming four general “campfires” of artists. The classicalist deals with beauty, craft, and working the hand. The animist is a pure storyteller, focusing on the audience. The formalist goes over research and development; that is, their goal is to understand how the form works. Finally, the iconoclast believes that honesty trumps everything; it is okay if the art is rough, because the authenticity of humanity is the most important. McCloud discusses how artists often occupy more than one of these categories, and that often combinations of opposites (such as classicalism with iconoclasm) can result in interesting products.

In addition, he notes contemporary trends, one of which includes the rise of unapologetic content and lowbrow art in achieving a sort of honesty.  He also notes the rise of the comic as a legitimate art form in recent years, and the concern that their popularity could kill its vitality when put into galleries. At the turn of the century, the rise of the web is also contributing to comic distribution and creation. In fact, he drew The Sculptor entirely on Photoshop.

McCloud continues the panel by analyzing The Sculptor. A major theme is the atheist oblivion with which the main character, David Smith, struggles throughout the graphic novel. In doing so, McCloud employs several techniques of storytelling. For example, the Gestalt effect (where the part represents the whole) -- rather than drawing Times Square literally, he represents the area with a cacophony of voices discussing subjects typically heard there. In addition, McCloud discussed how the panel serves as a container of time, and that time subsequently becomes a liquid; without borders, a panel can become a literal bleed of time, extending the moment contained within it. Other structural strategies used include the macro as well as micro narratives.

Panel 2 Summary: It’s a Small, Small, Small Press World

Entrepreneurs in the self-publishing business discuss how they got into the venture, the type of work they handle, and advice for comic book artists wanting to self-publish.

These entrepreneurs stated that they began because they enjoyed getting people to join their interest and spreading the fever of comics. One said, “There are some things I don’t do, but really love” – publishing others’ works is a good way to have all those tastes and talents to come into one’s own fold.

They stated that artists who work with them have different levels of experience in publishing their work – for example, with cleaning, printing, and so forth. These entrepreneurs help these artists with what they do not know to help them create physical copies of the final product. In addition, artists go to them to get published because it can be very daunting to have to promote one’s own work.

In finding whom to publish, while they must fill up slots in their publishing schedule, it is not difficult to find talent. Sometimes they find people based on an aesthetic. In terms of web publishing, deciding on whom to publish is an easier call to make because there is no need to handle the financing and distribution of the physical copies that may remain unsold.

In determining the number of copies to order, there are several different strategies:

·      Print as many to sell throughout one year.  (Be careful on overshooting the numbers: you may not sell it all.)

·      Another way to test the waters is print on demand (i.e. printing a smaller amount at a time, such as 60 copies.)

·      Try to determine the number of copies you need to the amount of money you are willing to spend on it.

They also gave advice for comic artists just getting started: a long, 300-page novel is hard, and results in the artist working in silence for a few years following outdated ideas. Rather, output shorter, 20-page stories to continue producing, improving, and to receive feedback.