I have been thinking a lot about
this question over the last few days. This blog owes its existence to a number
of sources of inspiration. The first one is my wife, Jenn. I needed
some kind of creative outlet and have always loved comics, especially
ones featuring my favorite character, Dick Grayson, a.k.a.
Robin/Batman/Nightwing/Agent 37. She suggested a long time ago that
reading and reviewing other writers' work might help stimulate my own
creative juices. It took me far longer than it should have to take
her advice and get my butt in motion, but I finally have.
The subject of my interest here
wouldn't even exist if not for the work of this pair of comic book
giants, the legendary team of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. I definitely
have to thank those guys, not just for taking a character I liked
(Robin, the Boy/Teen Wonder) and turning him into Nightwing. As I
mentioned in the first “Knight Flier” article, the first thing I
ever even read was a reprint of the beginning to their seminal run on
The New Teen Titans. I was pressed for time when I saw George
Pérez at Mega-Con a few years ago and deeply regret missing the
opportunity to meet him. I also owe a debt of gratitude to all the
other creative teams that have put in work on the character over the
years.
The last big source of inspiration
I need to mention is the large (probably overly large) number of
comic fan sites, blogs, and podcasts that have come before mine.
Here's a short list of some I think any fan would do well to check
out:
-
http://thebatmanuniverse.net/ (They've got quite a few character-specific sections and pieces worth checking out. One I really recommend for Dick Grayson fans is “Taking Flight” by Tom Panarese. It's less Grayson-centric, more focused on Robin and all of the kids and teens to fill that role, but very informative in respect to those various individuals.)
-
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/ (This is where I go for my comics news and probably has the most in-depth coverage on the widest range of comic book topics and characters that I've found in a single location.)
-
http://www.dccomics.com/ (Everybody has a home somewhere and this is the place that my favorite characters call theirs.)
-
http://blackcanaryfan.blogspot.com/ (Ryan Daly does a great, very informative podcast about Black Canary [my favorite female comic character] which he recently decided to broaden to include Zatanna and renamed “The Power of Fishnets”.
-
http://www.dcindexes.com/ (Lots of publication information available here; it's where I go to verify the creative teams for my reviews.)
-
http://pulp2pixel.blogspot.com/?m=1 (Covers pop culture/comics in general and Kurt Busiek's Astro City, in particular.)
-
http://relativelygeekypodcast.blogspot.com/ (I really like their “Shortbox Showcase”.)
-
http://fireandwaterpodcast.blogspot.com/ (A wide variety of podcasts in a single feed)
-
http://twotruefreaks.com/main.php (Another great podcast network)
-
http://flashbackpodcast.podbean.com/ (About my second favorite character, the Flash)
-
http://ragingbullets.com/ (These guys are the biggest, most enthusiastic DC fans I've ever heard. They can sometimes be a little too enthusiastic for my tastes, but it's really nice to hear people be positive about something on in Internet once in a while.)
-
http://rageworks.net/ (My best friend is one of the editors and primary contributors to this site. They cover a lot of gaming and geek/pop culture topics; not much related to DC Comics since they don't really have a partnership there, but still really great.)
So far, I am really enjoying
writing “The Knight Flier”, so this won't be going away anytime
in the foreseeable future. However, I will soon be starting work on
an original side project to accompany it. I'd appreciate some help in
the art department, just some character design/pin-up type of stuff.
I have what I think is a somewhat ambitious idea for a character of
my own creation about which I hope to publish some prose work, even
if it's only ever seen for free online. I would really like to have
some visuals to go along with the writing. I'm a former graphic
design student and comic artist hopeful so I wish I could do it
myself but I'm way out of practice. I haven't been able to nail down
a look I really like yet. I don't intend for this to be a comic or
graphic novel (although I am definitely unopposed to the notion),
just a little extra flavor for myself and anybody else who might be
interested in seeing something that I have been kicking around in my
head for the last year or two.
Once again, thank you to all of the
people who helped push me in any way to give this writing thing a
shot, whether or not they are aware of their contribution. Thanks
also to anyone out there in the who has taken the time to read
anything I have written here so far and in the upcoming future. If
you like something you've seen, please let me know. If there's
something you think I could improve, please be constructive in your
criticism. If you're the kind of person who just has to hate things
because all you're capable of is destroying and tearing others down,
appreciate you reading this far,but you should just move on. There is
nothing here for you, nor am I interested in your input.
No comments:
Post a Comment