Thursday, February 18, 2016

Editorial # 1 - “Why am I doing this?”

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:

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.

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