Passing the Halfway Mark
Started getting art in on Elk's Run #5, officially putting us over the halfway mark. No matter how long I do this, that feeling of "Holy Shit. We're actually doing it!" never ceases to amaze me. It's just plain incredible that we've been able to more or less fight the odds (those being the ones the industry puts up) to make something so special and dear to me as this book.
And it's just not a regular book. It's not like anything on the shelves today, and that to me is what's most rewarding. Having people fall in love with something that's such a departure from everything else that's being put out...
A lot of people complain that the industry is going the way of the 90's again, becoming bloated and filled with variant covers and crossover nightmares. And, that's true. To a point. Unlike the 90's, we're lucky to have an industry that has people willing to buck the trends and do something really and truly different, even if the audience we're doing it for is that much smaller. Guys like Rob Osborne, Rick Spears and Rob G, hell, even, guys at the big two like Warren Ellis, Brian K. Vaughan, and Ed Brubaker, are all making daring comics the likes of which has never been seen.
A lot of people say to me, "So, why are you working in comics if you aren't making any money?" After I scoff at them and remind them that in fact I'm losing money, too, I always say the same thing. There is no other art form that gives you so direct a line to your audience. Every other mass market medium is either to costly or too bloated for anyone with a different voice to get in. In comics, my audience might be small, but, I know that they're seeing the vision that my collaborators and I want, no filtering, no interference. That's what makes comics special.