Q: You know what comics is missing?A: A six-issue series written by me and drawn by Jon Proctor whose halfway point of the tale involves a riot between the military and a loose association of like-minded individuals on an eight lane elevated highway of the future.
But comics won't be missing it for long, because
The Black Diamond is coming this summer.
Text pieces are the new pin-ups.Jeb Del and the
CHUD guys (who broke that
Zyzzyx Road story), on
Seven Sons: "I don’t mean to damn with faint praise when I say that the most interesting part of this charming book might be the text feature in the back.
"That’s not to say that writer Alexander Grecian and artist Riley Rossmo haven’t crafted a fine comic: they’ve taken the well-known tale of seven Chinese brothers and translated it to the American West. But part of what makes Seven Sons work as well as it does is the foundation of research laid out in the fascinating appendix, tracing the various versions and transformation the story has undergone through the years:
it’s an exemplary bit of folkways study... Instead of high-kicking action, there’s a sense of Greek tragedy that’s closer to
Deadwood than
Kung Fu... There is a nicely rough texture to Rossmo’s linework. The American West is often portrayed in comics with the perpetual 'big country' vistas of a Cinemascope film —
in this case, we’re looking at internal landscapes more than external ones, and the look is more that of delicate Chinese calligraphy than grand Frederic Remington oils."
Not one review I've read has failed to mention Alex' text piece, and the librarians love it. Next week's
First Moon (which, no kidding, really is "all-ages" even if it does contain the word "vasectomy") also sports author's research in the back.
"I hate to get all serious on you, but ever since my dad died, and Mimi's mom died, and we had a miscarriage, all in a span of 18 months, I find my definition of what's a 'Big Deal' is quite different than I did when I was a younger man.
"I see others' points of view now, and people jockeying for position and vindication and eyeballs and dollars and whatnot just doesn't seem like how I want to spend my time, you know? We've got some stuff, and it's awesome, and if you want to dig it, welcome, and if it's not your thing, it's not your thing. I'm not going to get all rabid on you. Go to where you're more comfortable, and take your toxin elsewhere. Mazel tov.
"But if you dig AWESOME, we'll be over here. :)"