Purveyor of sheer awesomeness.
Joshua Hale Fialkov is the Harvey, Eisner, and Emmy Award nominated writer of graphic novels, animation, video games, film, and television, including:
THE LIFE AFTER, THE BUNKER, PUNKS, ELK'S RUN, TUMOR, ECHOES, KING, PACIFIC RIM, THE ULTIMATES, I, VAMPIRE, and JEFF STEINBERG CHAMPION OF EARTH. He's also written television including MAX’s YOUNG JUSTICE, NBC's CHICAGO MED and NETFLIX’s AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER.
Nice interview and feature about Elk's Run over at the Pulse today. I must've done the interview a long time ago, cause I don't actually remember doing it. But it's actually one of the smarter interviews I gave. I don't say "Fuck" once. http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=39;t=000350
Comic Book Resources - CBR News: Fialkov Slashes His Way Through "Friday The 13th"
The main message of the book is simple -- "Stay the fuck out of Camp Crystal Lake," Fialkov told CBR News. "I think there's a bit of the revenge story in all of the 'Friday the 13th,' as Jason is constantly exacting his revenge for his own abuse, but I think there's certainly a parallel to be drawn between the main character of Maggie and Jason's mission, which finds the two so completely off base in their methods, even though what they're doing is justified. These characters and, hopefully, this book, are really about having a fucking blast being scared, excited, titillated, and enthralled. We've had horror has a literary form for centuries, it speaks to the very roots of our species, and all of the morality inherent within the execution, owes a big debt to that cultural touchstone."
Haven't done one of these in a while. Last 40 Tracks I've listened to whilst writing. Been a weird combination of soundtracks and hip hop for this action book thus far. stick me for my riches 6:08 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams sunlight 3:22 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams gun will go feat sunny valentine 4:15 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams wolves feat george clinton 4:16 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams the heart gently weeps feat erykah badu dhani harrison and john frusciante 5:37 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams unpredictable feat dexter wiggle 4:12 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams Da Coach 1:20 K-JUSTICE 8 Diagrams rushing elephants 3:01 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams get them out ya way pa 4:19 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams Take it back 4:13 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams Campfire 3:59 Wu Tang Clan 8 Diagrams Palmer's Theme 1:51 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack The Bomb Detonates 2:39 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack Jack Tells Kim He's Not Coming Back 2:12 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack Copter Chase Over L.A 2:32 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack Salazar's Theme 1:55 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack In Pursuit Of Kyle 2:39 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack Jack In The Limo 2:42 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack Kim And Terry's Escape From The Safe House 2:04 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack 8:48 PM Jack's Revenge At The Docks 4:02 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack L.A At 9:00 A.M 1:57 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack Up And Down Stairs 2:44 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack "24" Theme 4:39 Sean Callery 24 Television Soundtrack 01 - Out In The Street 2:30 The Who The Who Sings My Generation Days (Kinks) 2:56 of Montreal 2007-12-14 Lesinrocks.com acoustic session Dead Flowers 4:05 The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers Oh 4:06 Rza Afro Samurai (The Soundtrack) Afro's Father Fight 1:24 Rza Afro Samurai (The Soundtrack) Just a Lil Dude Who Dat Ovah There 3:29 Rza Afro Samurai (The Soundtrack) Certified Samurai 3:00 Rza Afro Samurai (The Soundtrack) Afro Intro 0:51 Rza Afro Samurai (The Soundtrack) Afro Theme 0:30 Rza Afro Samurai (The Soundtrack) Lieutenant Kijé, Symphonic Suite, Op. 60: 3. Noces de Kijé 2:37 Adolph Herseth, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Claudio Abbado Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Scythian Suite; Lieutenant Kijé Rhapsody in Blue 16:29 George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue/An American In Paris 1812 Overture, Op. 49 15:32 Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Marche Slave, Romeo and Juliet, Capriccio Italien, Hamlet (Expanded Edition) In the Garden 2:32 Michael Giacchino Alias: Season One (Soundtrack from the TV Series) Tunisia 4:14 Michael Giacchino Alias: Season One (Soundtrack from the TV Series) Double Life 1:55 Michael Giacchino Alias: Season One (Soundtrack from the TV Series) Spanish Heist 4:32 Michael Giacchino Alias: Season One (Soundtrack from the TV Series) Red Hair Is Better 2:32 Michael Giacchino Alias: Season One (Soundtrack from the TV Series)
Having been educated in traditional screenplay format, and then at some point drifting incredibly far away from it for my comic writing, I have what's become a constant back and forth on script formatting. I'm one of those guys who finds that form can help dictate content, and so tend to morph what format I use to the project I'm working on. A few of the companies I do work for hire for have standard format (i.e. the Manga Adaptations I do) that I have to use, which is fine, and ultimately, that's become the 'voice' for that work. Similarly, I began using a new, different format last month, which I sent over to Ms Marvel writer Brian Reed, and he found it totally unusuable, and today, after I asked him about how he formats he sent over a few samples of his formatting style.
What spurred it on is that I'm working on a big action book for a publisher, and as I started working in my new 'standard' format, it just felt 'wrong.' So, I applied Brian's more screenplay like style, and found myself humming along, more or less. While working with Wheaton on our book together, I decided to use that comic book format because it's so radically different from screenplays, that I think it'll actually open him up to the uniqueness of the medium just by sheer nature of it being a different set of instinctual movements than using Final Draft.
I've been in that strange place as a comics writer where I'm working on books I wrote a few months ago, as well as stuff that's going out for the first time now, so I've really been going through these old scripts, and seeing the changes in what I do for either speed, clarity, or tone has been a bit of an eye opener.
There's also the issue of word processors. I use four different word processors throughout my writing process. I've been using Scrivener for projects with lots of research, or with a longer story arc, Pages for more 'straight forward' writing, Neooffice for formatting before sending, Final Draft for Screenplays or anything short in the screenplay format, and Office 2008 for drafting with integrated notes. Now, ultimately, I'd prefer to be down to just one or two of those programs, but each offer some features that are unique.
The only one that technically could replace the bulk of them is Office 2008, but, thus far, I've found it to be a complete misstep in the old work horse of a program. It's clunky, awkward, confusing, and managed to screw up my Mac when I installed it. Hooray for Microsoft! Lukcily, the track changes feature continues to be unmatched anywhere else, except maybe Final Draft, which is unfortunately not owned by most editors I work with. Scrivener has an integrated screenplay format you can use, but, thus far, I've found it less intuitive than Final Draft, but, the research options make it a much more formidable program, and considering the tricks Brian showed me, it seems to really be getting the job done. Pages is great for formatting... it does things in a way that's extremely intuitive, and frankly, I don't have to worry about it being wrong. Neooffice seems to work well enough, but the tab system and general formatting usage ends up just confusing the crap out of me most of the time. Both of them seem to not quite handle the track changes properly from someone working in Office.
It's still a bit strange to me that comics have yet to really settle into a style, but, I suppose as each writer's style and voice really do come through in their scripts (I mean, what other medium is it considered okay for a writer to draw in his script to describe something?), that's it's only neccessary.
The other thing that I've been noticing, at least for me, is that by using these different formats, it allows me to really distinguish, in my mind, between the projects. As though, by switching up the how, it allows my brain to switch the what, and focus on the work I'm doing.
Mind you, I'm on deadline and writing about formatting, which might mean it's not quite working as planned.
It's been a long weekend. I started having diabetes related ailments sometime last week, and they came into full effect by Sunday evening. So, while I'm doing somewhat better now, I'm still not quite one hundred percent, and the new medications I'm on are having... interesting side effects, to say the least. I'm going through a fairly strict 'no carbs' couple of days, to help bring my blood sugar back down, and it's starting to work, although, I'm pretty much starving constantly. Despite all of that, I've been working my ass off on a couple of different projects, and should have more news on stuff in the coming weeks.
Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it, you should go visit http://www.thesandwichkings.com
FRIDAY THE 13th: ABUSER AND THE ABUSED #1
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov Art by Andy B. Cover by Brandon Badeaux A special one-shot! Maggie’s life was never easy, but her abusive new boyfriend has pushed her over the edge. As her life spirals out of control, she hits upon the solution to her problems: use the local urban legend to “solve” the problems in her life. But what happens when she learns there’s very little “legend” in the reality of Jason Voorhees? On sale April 30 • 32 pg, FC, $3.50 US • Mature Readers
Place your orders. I'm EXTREMELY proud of how this book turned out. It's probably the best script I wrote last year, and I'm really hoping to get to do more sometime soon. The art kick ass, and it's a blood soaked blast. Please let your local retailer know you'd like a copy.
And you should be able to click the image for the full size, totally awesome cover.
Comic Geek Speak nominated Elk's Run for best collection and the Punks Summer Special for Best One Shot of 2007. You can go vote your agreement at the link. While you're at it, don't forget your last chance to vote for Cyblade over on Myspace. In a strange twist of fate, I'm in second place, which, if it holds till Friday, means you'll be getting more Cyblade from me.
It feels good to get work done again. Cranked out outlines for a couple of projects today. The fifth Vampi, and something else that's not been announced yet. It's actually a pretty huge challenge for me not to work... I have so much rattling around my head that if I don't get some of it out and on paper daily it can feel like I'm going to burst. On the recommendation of Gary Dauberman and Brian Reed, I tried out Scrievner for the new project. It's pretty good, although I'm not wild about th idea that you can't just use it for everything, as you still need to use a traditional word processor for formatting. I need to play with it some more. Far and away the best feature, though, is that I can stretch the program between my two screens, letting me do some slightly more complicated split screening then you can do with any other program I've found. I love the idea of being organized, but rarely take the effort needed with my writing to do it... in theory Scrievner'll do a lot of the organizing for me. We'll see I guess.
As I mentioned yesterday, I submitted a comic to Zuda Comics the other day, but I'd be flabbergasted if it was selected. It's a strange little piece of expressionistic nightmare photo collage that's probably a bit text heavier than most people think of when they think comics, but, y'know, I'm a writer, so, there you go. Once it gets rejected, I'll post it here, and you guys can let me know if it's worth continuing it.
My back... hmm. It's better, in the sense that it's not as bad as it was, but, after taking what was my usual daily walk today, I was left shakey and nauseous. But, considering that and the 6 or so hours I spent at my desk, I'm actually not in THAT much pain. Of course, it could just be the painkillers blocking it out.
And finally, Gary, Tony, and I have launched a new website. It's still in the process of being built, but, y'know, set your bookmarks to http://www.thesandwichkings.com
Vengeance Of Vampirella Tp : Pre-Order
Diamond Order Number: JAN083341
Reg price: $15.95
Go buy stuff.
Welcome to the New Year. My back is still pretty badly injured, although I did manage to get out of bed, showered, and dressed on my own. Hooray for the little victories. I've got a bunch of stuff on the horizon this year, and I think it's going to be another banner year for me. Between the Seven Seas Manga, the Dark Horse stuff, and the OGN with Guillory, I've got three projects I'm extremely proud of already on the horizon. Over the break, it looks like I may have found artists for a few more projects I was really looking forward to as well, so, all engines are a go.
That's about all I can handle blogging right now (especially considering I've got another Princess Resurrection adaptation that needs to be finished ASAP) so, y'know, I'll be back later.
Comics Should Be Good! » What I bought - 28 December 2007
Fialkov is obviously having a blast writing almost stream-of-consciousness stuff, and Chamberlain uses random pictures smashed together to give it a dream-like feel (check out the cover for an example). It’s a wild book, and I encourage you to hunt it down. Get to it!
Hooray for Jesus and CBR!
Myspace.com Blogs - Origin Story: A message from Joshua Hale Fialkov - PILOT SEASON -- Voting Now Open! Take Control! MySpace Blog Go there. Read it. Then vote for me a few hundred times.
Comic Pants » Blog Archive » Punks the Comic: Winter Special 2007
Anyone with any love for the absurd should be reading Punks. This is a breakthrough book, and though it isn’t for everyone, I think a lot of people are missing out on great fun and it’s a damn shame.
Hey gang,Just a quickie. Pilot Season voting is live on Myspace.You can go and vote for me (or whoever you want, I guess, but, really, c'mon, help a brother out...) at:
http://myspace.com/pilotseason
I'm the guy who wrote Cyblade.
Cheers.
But we did make the top 25 of New York Magazine's Best comics of 2007.http://www.dankois.com/2007/12/best-comics-of-year-supplement.html
Thanks to each of you for helping to make 2007 the year my dreams of Elk's Run came true.
=
I'm sick. And consequently will wear my robe and slippers while doing relaxing things. Here's a list with comments. Hulu.com - Been playing with the Beta of NBC's streaming service. The one that doesn't generate any revenue for the studios. Cause those commercials they show are clearly Public Service announcements. Like the one for razors. Anyways, that aside, the service is pretty great, especially compared to how shitty the actual NBC.com streaming things are. The commercials are remarkably unobtrusive... there's only one 15 or 30 second spot per commercial break, and they actually have it integrated, so, unlike on NBC.com the commercial comes and goes without interupting the show. Been catching up on everything I haven't seen what with the removal of cable from the house.
Myspace.com/pilotseason - It's launching this week, and I guess each of the writers are writing little pieces explaining why you should vote for us. On a side note, vote for me.
Watch my Netflix - I've had a bunch of Orson Welles Netflix movies sitting on my shelf for three months. I just never get around to watching them. I desperately wanted to do a book about Welles, but, well, everyone thinks I'm insane when I explain what I want to do.
Mario 64 - I've decided that before I buy Mario Galaxies, I'll go through Mario 64 from start to finish. I'm planning on getting frustrated sometime around the 30th or so star, and going to buy Galaxies. At that point, I will play it until it gets slightly harder than I can easily handle, at which point it'll end up sitting on the shelf until the next Mario comes out. And so it is.
Finish Sartre's The Flies and start The Orestia - Which are both the same thing, only, y'know, one's by Aeschylus and the other's by Sartre. They're research for the book with Guillory, and lots of fun.
Cancel my Vonage - I'm just plain sick of it. The quality's gotten progressively worse and worse, and despite the replacement modem they sent me last month, it's just... well... shitty. I'd rather just put the 30 bucks towards my cell service and not have to worry about it.
And that's what my day will look like.
12-10-07
Hey gang,
As the year draws to a close, I’ve got a couple of books squeaking in before the roles are closed on the old year, and a few quick updates.
Click the image for an interview with me about the book.
As always, more info on that at PunksTheComic.com
I’ve been updating it much more regularly, and hopefully will continue to.
Happy Holidays and all that,
j.
