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Inspired by draft threads on other forums I frequent, the comic fantasy thread is supposed to be a fun framing exercise for folk to talk about comic creators and work they love. Over the course of a month or two, participants will draft comic creators from all eras of comics history and build their dream comic company. For some examples of what I'm talking about, please see the following threads: Ultimate board goon draft MLB All Time Draft SAS Fantasy Draft 2020: The All-Timer How will the draft work? When you sign up, you will choose a comics imprint to run. Pick some well known company or imprint (Marvel, DC, Vertigo, EC Comics, Fantagraphics...) or make up your own. Once we have the right number of participants (will have to gauge participation before we decide on the number), we'll start drafting creators, with specifics in the FAQ below. The draft will use a snake format, so round 1: 12345> round 2: 54321, round 3: 12345, etc. What's the draft timing? The draft timer only runs from 11:00 AM EDT to 11:00 PM EDT. Each drafting team has a 2 hour window during this period and that 2 hours rolls over - if your pick comes on the clock at 9 PM, you have until 11 AM the next day to make your choice. If someone fails to draft within that time, their pick is skipped. They will be auto-skipped until they return to make whatever picks are still due of them. You can pick outside of this window as long as it is your pick, but the timer will not be running on anyone. If you know you are unable to be around to make your pick, there are always several people around that you can send a short list of players to and they will pick for you. How long will this take? According to the GCD, there's something like 30,000 comics creators out there. Obviously most of them aren't going to be interesting, but I can think of all kinds of golden age or indie creators who I want to talk about who will likely be new to others. With that in mind, I think we can justify making this about the same length as what we're doing in the sports drafts - 20 picks deep, ideally with ~15 participants. Based on previous experience this will take about 4-6 weeks to finish. What do I need to include with my pick? Name of creator, role they'd play in your company, and the "era" of their work that you want to use. Name is obvious. For the role, try to stick to things that the creator has actually done. You don't need to be too restrictive. If you have someone who rules as a letterer and a writer and a colorist, and you want them to do all three things, then go for it. If you want your EIC to do double duty on a particular book you think she'd love, go for it. If you want to take someone who does everything and have them do just one thing, that's fine too. Kirby, letterer. It's not for me, but pick whatever you think would be interesting. "Era" is an interesting one. For some folks, like a golden age artist with very limited output, era may not be relevant. But for others, like Kirby, you may want to be specific. You don't just want Kirby, you want that magical crazy 70s Kirby to do more than just bang out pencils, but also to do the writing. You don't just want Stan, you very specifically want Marvel monster book era Stan. Other than that, be as expansive as you'd like with your post. For me, the most fun part of these drafts is learning new stuff about a subject I love. So please don't just say "Kirby, 1970-1973" and be done with it. Instead, show us what you like of Kirby and why you think his 70s era work is the best choice for your new company. How should I set up my company? How many of each type of creative role do I need? That's entirely up to you. Maybe it's a big 2 model company with a traditional EIC > Editor > Writer / Penciller Inker / Colorist / Letterer structure. Or maybe it's a Fantagraphics type thing where it's an EIC and then a bunch of writer/artist cartoonists. Or an original Image model where it's writers and artists, and editors in name only. Pick what you think would be cool. Can I draft person some specific person? You can draft anyone you want, but they need at least one published comic credit to their name, and you're drafting them for their comics cred, or at least a reasonable extrapolation of what they could have done in comics. For example - while he might make for an interesting writer I don't think Aaron Sorkin has ever done work in comics, so he's out. But you could pick someone like John Cleese, who has actually done comics in the style of his Monty Python work, so we've actually got something to judge him on. Can I draft a creator already drafted by someone else? No. Once someone has been drafted, they're not available to select. That's true regardless of what role a creator was chosen for. So if someone takes Stan Lee as their editor in chief, you can't take him as a writer. Can I run a really stupid gimmick? Hell yeah, gimmicks make this very fun. Sometimes in the sports drafts people do nationality gimmicks or alphabets or acrostics or whatever. You also don't need to tell other people what you're doing. It can be fun to figure out why someone is making bizarre picks, and it can be fun for the person picking to have to look for weird selections as we get deeper in the draft. Do I have to run a really stupid gimmick? Nope! Sometimes the most fun thing is picking people you like the most and just building something you'd think would be cohesive and sensible. Can I post about the comics my cool company would be making? Yes! That would be a very cool thing to do. Tell me about the Spawn ripoff you would have 80s era Kirby write over Fletcher Hanks pencils. How do I win? This isn't really about winning, this is about a framework for a cool conversation. Buuuuut that being said, I'll still pick a winner, based on who has the coolest mix of creators and more importantly who made good posts about why they made the picks they made. Jordan7hm fucked around with this message at 02:12 on May 30, 2020 |
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May 22, 2020 19:33
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 20:45 |
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Reserved for the draft order and a link to the google sheet where we'll make our picks. I'm obviously in, but will wait until we get a good number of participants to pick my company. Order is in: 1. Napoleon Nelson. Avatar Press 2. Bingo Bango. Marvel 3. Madkal. Vertigo 4. Vargo. Archie Comics 5. Jordan7hm. Image 6. 7. How Wonderful!. Fantagraphics 8. Roth. Detective Comics 9. lifg. Humanoids Make picks here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kZl-b4Nx91H_lD2HzeW95qWolEM53SIbEaAJZA6Og1Q/edit?usp=sharing Jordan7hm fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Jun 14, 2020 |
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May 22, 2020 19:34
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Awesome, names updated. Didn’t mention it above, but draft order will be randomized before we start. Random thought that I meant to include in the q&a above, but forgot: I am not particularly fussed about what is a comic. So if you think that someone who did woodcuts and arranged them in sequential order to tell a story, or who drew and wrote children’s books, or whatever, is a comics creator, that’s good enough for me. I fully expect some pre 1900 creators and children book illustrators to be drafted (though of course many of them also worked on more traditional comics too).
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May 22, 2020 20:58
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You did that right, updated list.
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May 23, 2020 14:05
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Awesome, updating the list. I'd like to get at least ~12 people for this before we start. Will post a quick reminder in some other threads for anyone who may have missed it, and thinking we could get started this weekend, probably Friday night / Saturday morning.
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May 26, 2020 15:04
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How Wonderful! posted:Will anyone have the courage and willpower to step up to the plate and do Zenescope or Antarctic Press? Might actually be a fun gimmick to take people who have done erotic comics or good girl / bad girl art.
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May 26, 2020 20:19
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No restrictions. Manga, BD, classic newspaper strip artists, woodcut artists, it’s all fair game.
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May 26, 2020 23:26
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List updated. I think enough people have picked their companies that I'm good to take mine now. I thought about taking EC or D&Q, but decided that the company I like the most is the current version of Image, so that's who I'll pick.
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May 27, 2020 19:07
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Yvonmukluk posted:I'm amazed nobody's taken that one fly-by-night operation Bill Jemas had for like 5 minutes. There’s still time for you to do that.  Anyway, for those who have signed up, thoughts on plan to start as of Friday night / Saturday morning?
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May 27, 2020 22:01
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Saturday morning it is. 24 hour notice of start, we kick off tomorrow at 10am. I'll randomize the order later tonight.
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May 29, 2020 15:40
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Madkal posted:That's 10 am pacific time right? EDT e: and I’ll PM everyone with their position in the order. Depending how the order shakes out everyone should be able to pick at least once tomorrow. Jordan7hm fucked around with this message at 16:05 on May 29, 2020 |
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May 29, 2020 16:02
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A Strange Aeon posted:I'm curious who the early picks will be. Did I miss how large each company will end up being? 20 picks per. I have some guesses but with this group I think there may be surprises. Just as a general note, try not to talk about people who haven’t been taken if you can avoid it. I mentioned a few in the OP who I think are likely first or second round picks (like John Cleese), but it sucks when someone else talks about that pick you thought would drop to you.
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May 29, 2020 16:26
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Yeah. Though that does lead me to a question - do we have more people on from pacific than eastern? I’m fine flipping to pacific if it makes sense, or starting an hour later or something.
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May 29, 2020 21:59
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Split the difference at do 11edt to 11pdt? For the first pick, once I randomize the order we can start and anyone picking first can just pick right away, it’s just that the clock won’t start for anyone until Saturday morning.
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May 29, 2020 22:45
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Alright, enough waiting. We didn't hit 10 people, but this'll have to do. It's time! Random.org results: 1. Napoleon Nelson. Avatar Press 2. Bingo Bango. Marvel 3. Madkal. Vertigo 4. Vargo. Archie Comics 5. Jordan7hm. Image 6. Skwirl. Brand Echh Comics 7. How Wonderful!. Fantagraphics 8. Roth. Detective Comics 9. lifg. Humanoids I'll pm folks who have PMs and let's get started. We'll be doing 11AM EDT to 11PM EDT. Reminder - that doesn't mean that you can't pick outside of those hours, it just means the 2 hour clock doesn't start outside of those hours. So if I pick at 10:59PM EDT, Skwirl has until 12:59PM EDT the following day to make their pick (1 minute to get to the freeze, 1h59 after the freeze), if I picked at 2AM EDT, Skwirl would have until 12:00PM EDT (2 hours after the freeze). Remember, try to provide some additional context for the pick, this is after all primarily an exercise in talking about creators. If you just want to quickly pick and come back to it when you have more time (as I may have to do tomorrow) that's ok too though. And finally: the draft spreadsheet is here (also in the second post): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kZl-b4Nx91H_lD2HzeW95qWolEM53SIbEaAJZA6Og1Q/edit?usp=sharing e: sharing wasn’t set properly. Should work now. Jordan7hm fucked around with this message at 06:16 on May 30, 2020 |
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May 30, 2020 02:05
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Napoleon Nelson is on the clock for the first pick until 1pm EDT, and Bingo Bango is up next.
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May 30, 2020 16:10
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Madkal posted:Are we talking about our pics here and why we picked them? Yes please
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May 30, 2020 17:05
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Not who I expected to go first overall, but Ito is an amazing cartoonist who perfectly fits the Avatar brand. Extremely logical first pick. Bingo Bango up until 2:11edt, Madkal on deck.
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May 30, 2020 17:30
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Ok I can see that this is going to go in a different direction than I expected. I have zero real knowledge of webcomics, so stuff like Bad Machinery is new to me. Just from a quick glance, Allison seems like an incredibly good fit for a Runaways series. Madkal is up until 3:30EDT Vargo is on deck
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May 30, 2020 18:53
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Yep, Vargas was skipped at like 4:14. I pm’d them and hoped to give them time to pick, but I’m about to be skipped so... Apologize for the phone post, will come back later with something more deserving of this man. I wasn’t prepared for him to fall to me. Image was founded originally by artists who wanted to be more than what they were allowed to be with the mainstream publishers. They were at the top of the game but they didn’t own their work, and that’s some bullshit. While there was an Image umbrella, each creator was also able to create their own thing. An anchor book which would support other books in the same little universe. And that’s what we’ll be doing here, though maybe with a bit more cohesion in the overall vision. So with all that being said, which artist will I pick to strike out on their own first? It’s gotta be the King, the man who did more than anyone else to define what mainstream comics could be, from the creation of entirely new genres and universes to the development of new drawing styles, and finally to the inspiration of so many artists who would follow in his footsteps and build on to what he laid down for them. With the 5th overall pick, Image selects Jack Kirby, cartoonist, to anchor the first of our lines. He may not end up writing the dialogue, but his art and his plots will be at the heart of what we do here. Much as I love his work with Thor, I’ll be taking his 1970s Fourth World period, where he was allowed to really show what he could do when given the reigns. (Pics will come later). Skwirl is up!
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May 30, 2020 23:19
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Vargo posted:Hello, I'm sorry for missing my pick, there was hell happening in my city. Can I pick now, or do I have to wait for the end of the round? Pick now. For anyone who’s missing their picks, just pick whenever you get back. You don’t have to wait. Also I was gonna post this last night but with what is going on in the states right now, just everyone stay safe and focus on what’s important. If you’re not able to make a pick in this fun distraction game that’s obviously cool. If you want to send picks to someone on the other side of the order from you that’s also an effective strategy and they can post on your behalf.
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May 31, 2020 00:24
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How Wonderful! posted:In this imaginary scenario can I suppose that, say, Fantagraphics has the license to stuff they may not actually have the license to? Not, like, Spider-Man or whatever but Golden Age comic strips or things like that? Hell yeah Also that stuff is mostly fair game anyway. Even if wasn’t I’d still say yes though.
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May 31, 2020 02:11
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Vargo posted:In the first round, Archie Comics drafts Tails Gets Trolled sage LAZERBOT to take over Sonic the Hedgehog writing duties in the mid-90s under EXTREMELY CAREFUL editorial direction. ok I need some more info about what the hell this is. How Wonderful! posted:My first pick is an exercise in hedging my bets and nabbing one of the more famous people on my shortlist. It's also, probably, very very predictable. I'm selecting Alison Bechdel to revamp The Addams Family. This on the other hand I get, and am totally not surprised by. Roth is up until 12:28 tomorrow morning, with lifg on deck.
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May 31, 2020 05:33
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I... see
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May 31, 2020 15:21
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Not ideal but lifg is skipped. Roth is up until 3pm.
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May 31, 2020 18:03
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lifg posted:I’m confused, when was my drafting time? You started once Roth picked and had 2 hours, but the clock doesn’t start until it’s 11am edt, so those two hours ran until 1pm edt. You’re good to pick now in any case. Roth is up now but if they want to wait for you that’s cool.
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May 31, 2020 18:48
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lifg posted:If it’s not too late, I’m going to take my two picks here. I only use the app, so my posts will be short. Fuuuuuuuuck I knew I should have take Karen. Roth is up until 3, with How Wonderful on deck. General question, but do we want to give more time for the picks than 2 hours? There’s no real rush and there are only 9 of us, so slowing down may make it easier for people. 4 hours instead?
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May 31, 2020 18:52
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4 hours it is. Roth has until 5, then How Wonderful has until 9pm.
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May 31, 2020 21:47
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Skwirl is skipped but I want to make sure I don’t have another pic-less pick. So I’ll be picking tomorrow morning. If you want to pick before then Skwirl, have at it.
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Jun 1, 2020 04:26
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With its second pick in the BSS Fantasy Draft, Image selects a truly visionary creator to helm its second comics line. While his own ability to create comics will certainly be limited by his attention to the medium, his 100 pages are worth thousands from lesser creators. Image comics selects Jim Steranko. Steranko was an absolute force for a split moment in comics history. He built off of what Kirby brought to Strange Tales and the Nick Fury stories, and quickly moved beyond. He took Marvel back to the Golden Age of comics with innovative storytelling, inventive panel layouts, and gorgeous one, two, and four (!!!) page spreads. I'm taking his peak years at Marvel, that time when he broke off from working off of other people's layouts (which was admittedly only a couple months) and started doing his own thing. Every issue of comics he touched was gold for those handful of years he did interior work, and his covers for his own and other books were every bit as good as the interiors and absolutely iconic. Steranko may end up being, like a better version of Liefeld, a guy who just can't get his books out in time and end up doing only a handful of issues entirely on his own, but his creative genius will flourish throughout his sub-imprint and I'll find creators who can build off of that and support him.       Skwirl is skipped (which means pick as soon as you see this) Vargo is up until 16:39
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Jun 1, 2020 17:40
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Madkal is up. Four hours from now so noon edt tomorrow. Skwirl still has a pick to be made.
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Jun 2, 2020 02:26
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You were in fact up next. And good pick. Surprised you went for him over some other webcomic people, but he's a real solid choice in any case. Looking forward to the imaginary 37 issue run of a planned 50 issue story. Napoleon Nelson is now up until ~6pm EDT x 2 picks. Bingo Bango is on deck once those picks are made. Skwirl still has a pick to make whenever they get back.
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Jun 2, 2020 19:28
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Dope pick, I’ll allow it. So Vargo has now been skipped and I have been as well. With that in mind, I’m going to write up my pick now, and Skwirl is on the clock. Vargo, pick when you get a moment. Skwirl - you’ve got 2 picks to make
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Jun 4, 2020 01:06
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pick time. With the Steranko and Kirby lines firmly planted in the superhero genre, we're bringing in a female creator, a legend, to anchor a more fantasy oriented line. Wendy Pini doesn't get the respect she deserves from the comics community, but Elfquest is one of the best genre fiction works of cartooning I've ever read and it absolutely stands up. I love her art, I love her politics, and while it took me decades to understand it, my views on the world and sexuality are incredibly influenced by the things she created.    She won't bring Elfquest over to image though. Instead I'll have her helm something new, where she'll both create the world and lay the foundation, and lead others to create stories in that world. Like she did with Elfquest, but with better creators following or working with her.
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Jun 4, 2020 01:49
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Yep. Busy day at work and I lost the thread for a bit. You’re up, with Roth on deck and lifg behind x2. Skwirl x2 skipped Varga skipped Skipped folks should pick when they can.
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Jun 4, 2020 23:08
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lifg is up x 2, with Roth back on deck Skwirl I see you posting elsewhere! Get in here and do your picks yo Vargo has one pick to make as well. Honestly folks I don’t know manga at all outside of like (e: a bunch of people who maybe will be drafted). I’m getting a real interesting exposure to it through this, which is very cool.
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Jun 5, 2020 06:19
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poo poo sorry for not making my pick today folks. Skip me for now, I’ll pick tomorrow when I have time to do a solid post with pictures. Skwirl seems to have abandoned. I’ll give it another round I guess, then we can either keep going without them or see if anyone else would like to replace them.
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Jun 7, 2020 06:11
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So much for yesterday. Let's try to get this thing back on track. I'll start by picking my fourth creator, the person who will set the tone for a third "imprint" at Image (I decided that Steranko and Kirby can work together, and Wendy of course will have her own). Image selects Joelle Jones to run a noire / crime line. I didn't love her writing on Catwoman, but it was great on Lady Killer, and I adore her art. Everything is super clean and stylized and cool, and her characters are gorgeous, but she still manages to have the art look dangerous and dark.    Image so far: Imprint #1 (Name TBD): Absolutely bonkers cosmic poo poo Kirby Steranko Imprint #2 (Name TBD): Fantasy Pini Imprint #3 (Name TBD) J. Jones ... Vargo is up, let's say until 3pm EDT, Skwirl is skipped x3 and can pick whenever Jordan7hm fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Jun 8, 2020 |
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Jun 8, 2020 15:30
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yooooooo let's try to get this thing back on track.
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Jun 10, 2020 18:55
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 20:45 |
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Madkal is up, with Bingo Bango on deck.
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Jun 10, 2020 21:13
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