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Friday, January 16, 2009

The Concrete Jungle Book...
Mood:

caffeinated
Topic: Comic Books - New

The Concrete Jungle Book...

A Hybrid Graphic Novel Preview

Now With Several Pages Online To View!

Doug Millison, (as seen at left), sent me several messages and links for this upcoming publication... He also gave me a little background to the project that I want to share with you today before you take a look at the online pages.

Doug's current project is what he calls an urban, contemporary adaptation of Kipling's "The Jungle Book".

He says it is a "simple concept: instead of the jungle in India, it's the urban jungle of mean South Dallas streets; instead of jungle animals helping Mowgli after Shere Khan kills his parents, it's urban animals helping Little Mo after the gangster Sherikano kills his parents".

I viewed all of the pages online to get a better idea of what Doug, Steve and Sryla are attempting to do before the book is actually printed. This book is being created in a graphic novel hybrid format. The format is called a "prose+comics scrapbook novel", where the protagonist, Little Mo, tells his story in both prose and comic book narrative, in the context of his personal scrapbook.

Please note before taking a look at the online pages, that in the "Concrete Jungle Book Preview" the scrapbook pages are actual "placeholders".

Additionally the comic book style pages are more or less in the final stages, (although word balloons and lettering are not finished). Some of the prose narrative has been revised (however with no substantial changes to the story).

Now that I have set out the fact that this work is not yet ready for publication, here is the link to the online pages:

TheConcreteJungleBook.com

(Note: Our eBay version of our Blog does not allow 'hot links' to non eBay pages. If you are reading this blog post in that version, please copy and paste the url in another window of your browser and add the www. in front of the domanin name if necessary for your browser. Then just look for the 'Click Here' for the Free Preview on the page your browser is directed to.)

Here are my thoughts on this project after viewing the 32 pages at the preview:

I've been around for a while, and have read and or collected many formats of comics / graphic novels / underground comix / etc.

However this project as it currently stands reminds me of 'Big Little Books' but in a full sized format. 'Big Little Books' were a forerunner to comics, with a page of text and then the opposite page was a picture or drawing that illustrated a scene in the story. That format was revived in the 1960's for a while, but the miniature size they were printed in were not conducive for marketing.

Thus this format of a "prose+comics scrapbook novel" was not totally foreign to me. As a matter of fact the scrapbook style of the preview was readable and enjoyable even tho I did not see the full story. As seen on page 5 of the preview, there are several chapters to this story.

The artwork on page 25 was one of the most vivid scenes in the comic art pages of this scrapbook. I liked the style of the art by Sryla Tip in these preview comic book pages.

This creation is a good example of hybridized media that is coming to print at this time... a form of mixed-media combining scrapbooking, graphic art, and prose storytelling all in one creation.

My understanding is that the creators will be publishing this book later on in 2009. For updates on this project, you can check back at TheConcreteJungleBook.com in the future. Time permitting I will blog about this project again when it is in pre-publication mode.

(Please Note: A complimentary hard copy for this review was not provided by the creators as it is in online format only.)

For those of you that are new to our blog today, we have an ongoing 'Comic Con and Pop Culture Convention' here at "Make It So Marketing Inc.", what with our daily blog posts, and new listings of items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store!

Thanks for reading this blog post today, and please join us again for more! BTW, besides blogging, we have over 473 Reviews that Tina and I have placed in our eBay Reviews Section. Just click here to see our latest reviews!

We are VERY pleased that our blog has had its' 315,000th visitor stop in this week... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!

~ Michael (and Tina)

Note From Make It So Marketing:

To the left is a photo of Michael and Tina at the 2007 SDCC - San Diego Comic Convention International. Click that photo to see 'Our World'!

Each comic / comics book. Graphic Novels or magazine in our eBay Featured Store is individually graded by Michael, inventoried, priced, bagged and boarded, before being listed for sale!

We attend several Pop Culture Conventions and Comic Cons during the year to replenish our comic books and other pop culture inventory for resale!

If you don't see what you are looking for, feel free to email us a 'want list' and if in stock, we'll place it in our eBay Featured Store 'Just for You' to purchase!

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

Note: If you work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's

NOTE: This Blog Post May Not Be Viewed Properly On YOUR Screen Due To the Changes eBay is Making on the Blog Format At this time OR in the Future!

Additionally, this blog post is written for IE Browsers. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.

All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

Posted by makeitsomarketing at 8:43 AM PST

Updated: Friday, January 16, 2009 8:48 AM PST

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Caffeine Dreams...
Mood:

caffeinated
Topic: Comic Books - New

Caffeine Dreams...

From DWAP Productions

Issues One Thru Three Reviewed!

Dale Wilson sent me the first three published comics of this series... Dale, as seen to the immediate top left, is the publisher and also writer of several stories in this series from DWAP Productions.

DWAP Productions is a Los Angeles based media art production partnership combining the talents of Dale Wilson and Astra Price.

Caffeine Dreams is an alternative independent anthology comic book series. The issues have color covers, with black and white interior pages. The first issue did not have a 'For Mature Readers' tag on either the front or back cover, but the second and third issues were printed with that message on the front covers.

As I have blogged about before, anthology comics are a little harder to 'tag' or 'label' or even 'review' due to the fact that returning characters or storylines are usually not part of the mix.

Quite often artists or writers do not return for several issues, thus the stories inside the covers are possibly vastly different in scope from previous issues. Additionally anthologies are a great way for a publisher to experiment with different styles and content when publishing. The question is, will the reader(s) of the comic enjoy one or more of the stories enough to come back for the next issue??

Here are my thoughts on the issues received:

Caffeine Dreams Issue One Publishes Three Stories:

BIG SHIPS - Art by Todd Harris, Story and Dialogue by Dale Wilson. I found the story to be one that piqued my interest. The art style here was perfect for the storyline and dialogue.

ON BECOMING A MONSTER - Art by Chris Sagovac, Story and Dialogue by Dale Wilson. The artwork in this story is not one for my personal liking. The usage of the black/white in a sort of 'impressionistic" style was familar to me as I have seen it done elsewhere; but here it just didn't get me involved with the storyline. However Sagovac's artwork in the next issue fit that storyline.

MONARCH KINGDOM - Art by Nick Kunin, Story and Dialogue by Dale Wilson. This story kind of threw me off, as the artwork was so different from the previous two stories in this issue. As mentioned earlier, anthologies can and usually do experimentation with styles. This art style I liked, but being set at the back as the third story, it took me a moment to get into it. Set alone by itself, the storyline was a good read.

The cover to Issue One was a good representation of the three stories within the covers and would make want to pick it up to at least browse, if not also purchase.

Caffeine Dreams Issue Two Publishes Three Stories:

TO RULE IN HELL - Art by Chris Sagovac, Story and Dialogue by Marke Allyn Stewart. As stated above, Sagovac's artwork fits this storyline. However the font / small typeface does not help this story to be easily read...

THE TRADITION - Art and Story by Todd Harris, Text by Geoffrey Thorne. The artwork is more of a style like the 'Prince Valiant' comic strip that is being published today. I am not comparing the artwork itself to the strip, but that it is like a 'pin-up' format of presentation with prose added. If that is your 'thing' then you'll probably like this story.

THE ASSASSINATION - Art by Mulele Jarvis, Story and Dialogue by Dale Wilson. A good violent story with art to match. With the topic about assasination you would figure that this would be for mature audiences and would be one reason to add the 'for mature readers' tag on the cover.

The cover to Issue Two was not one that would grab my eyes to pick it up in a LCBS. Unlike Issue One's cover that would.

Caffeine Dreams Issue Three Publishes Three Stories:

SHOOTING DOGS - Art by D.V. Ruiz, Story and Dialogue by Dale Wilson. This is the lead story, but unfortunately the typeface font and size make this story too hard to read for me to enjoy.

THE AXE - Story and Text by RJ Gamayo, Art by Aposcar Cruz. After a weak lead-in story, this one keeps the comic reader interested. The best art and story in this issue IMHO.

MY FAVORITE WEAPON - Art by SOJJ, Story and Dialogue by Dale Wilson. The story is about vampires and wolves. The lettering again gives this reader a hard time reading, and the artwork doesn't help to get one involved in the story.

The cover to Issue Two is a wrap-around cover for front and back, and is better than Issue Two's cover IMHO. However I enjoyed the cover to Issue One far better, where it previewed art from all three stories. (See above top left photo for the cover pic.)

I found that the issues printed so far are a mix of HoRRoR, Sci-Fi and action stories. The comics are cover priced at $2.95 which is a fair amount for publications of this nature. Again, I must state that for an anthology comic book with three stories to work, the potential reader must like at least two of the three stories published to want to come back for more. Plus have a cover that makes a potential buyer want to pick it up to browse it to begin with....

If you are into alternative indy comics, and can appreciate anthology format comics, then you will want to take a look at the issues reviewed here!

Copies can be purchased from the publisher online at dwapproductions.com if not found at your LCBS, eBay or other online venue.

Note: Dale is also associated with theantidotetrust.com which is an entertainment collective leveraging combined resources benefiting independent creators.

(Please Note: Complimentary copies for this review were provided by the publisher.)

We are VERY pleased that our blog has had its' 315,000th visitor stop in this week... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!

~ Michael (and Tina)

Note From Make It So Marketing:

To the left is a photo of Michael and Tina at the 2007 SDCC - San Diego Comic Convention International. Click that photo to see 'Our World'!

Each comic / comics book. Graphic Novels or magazine in our eBay Featured Store is individually graded by Michael, inventoried, priced, bagged and boarded, before being listed for sale!

We attend several Pop Culture Conventions and Comic Cons during the year to replenish our comic books and other pop culture inventory for resale!

If you don't see what you are looking for, feel free to email us a 'want list' and if in stock, we'll place it in our eBay Featured Store 'Just for You' to purchase!

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

To mail printed items to us for review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's

NOTE: This Blog Post May Not Be Viewed Properly On YOUR Screen Due To the Changes eBay is Making on the Blog Format At this time OR in the Future!

Additionally, this blog post is written for IE Browsers. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.

All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

Posted by makeitsomarketing at 2:08 PM PST

Updated: Thursday, January 15, 2009 2:12 PM PST

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

John Tartaglione...
Mood:

celebratory
Topic: Comic Book Artists

John Tartaglione

Would Have Been 88 Years Old This Month...

Celebrating The Birth of John Tartaglione

In January, 1921

I wanted to mention John Tartaglione in our blog this month... Because of his many contributions to comic books during the years he was active in the industry.

John was born either January 14th or 19th in 1921. I keep seeing both dates mentioned.

He passed away five years ago, on November 12th, 2003, but not before leaving us artwork that will be remembered for years to come.

Most articles on John mention his best seller, "The Life Of Pope John Paul II", where he was the penciller. If not that publication, then they cite his other well known comic book work, "Mother Theresa of Calcutta".

Myself, I saw his name in the credits of many Marvel Comics during the years, but mainly as an inker. He had a good run as inker on Dick Ayers' pencils on Sgt Fury & His Howling Commandos, issues #27-42, from 1966-1967.

John had actually started in the 1950's when credits weren't always shown in the publications. He was known as a good romance artist during that period.

So it wasn't any surprise that he did a great job on "Beach Blanket Bingo" comic book, which was in the Dell Comics 'Movie Classics' series that was published in 1965. I picked that one to showcase here because I am also an Annette Funicello fan. But don't get my wife Tina started on that topic, LOL!

But then again, John also drew the Presidential Comics 'John F Kennedy' and 'Lyndon B Johnson'. This man was a versatile artist!

I kind of lost track of John's work for a while, as he was out of comic books doing a comic strip. Unfortunately I never met him at any of the Comic Cons I attended, so never got to thank him in person for the works that he created.

However, I am attempting to remedy this today by blogging this post in his honor. Thanks John for the memories!

We are VERY pleased that our blog has had its' 314,000th visitor stop in this week... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!

~ Michael (and Tina)

Note From Make It So Marketing:

To the left is a photo of Michael and Tina at the 2007 SDCC - San Diego Comic Convention International. Click that photo to see 'Our World'!

Each comic / comics book. Graphic Novels or magazine in our eBay Featured Store is individually graded by Michael, inventoried, priced, bagged and boarded, before being listed for sale!

We attend several Pop Culture Conventions and Comic Cons during the year to replenish our comic books and other pop culture inventory for resale!

If you don't see what you are looking for, feel free to email us a 'want list' and if in stock, we'll place it in our eBay Featured Store 'Just for You' to purchase!

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

To mail printed items to us for review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's

NOTE: This Blog Post May Not Be Viewed Properly On YOUR Screen Due To the Changes eBay is Making on the Blog Format At this time OR in the Future!

Additionally, this blog post is written for IE Browsers. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.

All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

Posted by makeitsomarketing at 3:51 PM PST

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Where Several Men And Women...
Mood:

a-ok
Topic: Other Non Comics Works

Where Several Men And Women...

Have Gone Before!

As Documented In:

'Voyages Of Imagination'

The Star Trek Fiction Companion

By Jeff Ayers

I grew up watching several of the original Star Trek (TOS) episodes during their first run... I caught the episodes that I missed in the re-runs that followed of course!

During the years since 1966 I have also bought and sold multiple Star Trek comics by different publishers, including Gold Key, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, etc.

However I never really knew of the vast array of Star Trek Novels that were out there until obtaining this book!

The book is 'galactic' in size, because it truly is a resource on all of the Star Trek Novels up to 2006 when this book was first published.

My wife Tina thinks I'm a big fan of Star Trek, as I've re-watched the Star Trek Films with her, and we both are looking forward to the upcoming film.

However, it would take a Really Big Fan(atic) to have read all of the novels listed in this book!!

The author, Jeff Ayers, has the novels well organized into sections. The title, author, and a photo of the cover are first listed. Then a brief synopsis of what the novel covered. Plus, and this is a great insight for a fan, the thoughts of the novel's author at the time of publication!

I am recommending this book for Star Trek fans, no matter what level of fan(atic) you are... beginner, intermediate, or advanced!

At first look it is a little daunting to attempt to read the book, but this resource would be helpful to guide the reader into how the novels came about, what different novels there are for each TV show series, and what original fiction is out there for Trek fans.

There is so much continuity in the Star Trek Universe, that it can be overwhelming. This book is a great resource to at least figure out the novels that have printed.

(Please Note: A complimentary copy for this review was NOT provided by the publisher. We will have copies listed in our online store shortly.)

We are VERY pleased that our blog has had its' 314,000th visitor stop in this week... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!

~ Michael (and Tina)

Note From Make It So Marketing:

To the left is a photo of Michael and Tina at the 2007 SDCC - San Diego Comic Convention International. Click that photo to see 'Our World'!

Each comic / comics book. Graphic Novels or magazine in our eBay Featured Store is individually graded by Michael, inventoried, priced, bagged and boarded, before being listed for sale!

We attend several Pop Culture Conventions and Comic Cons during the year to replenish our comic books and other pop culture inventory for resale!

If you don't see what you are looking for, feel free to email us a 'want list' and if in stock, we'll place it in our eBay Featured Store 'Just for You' to purchase!

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

To mail printed items to us for review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's

NOTE: This Blog Post May Not Be Viewed Properly On YOUR Screen Due To the Changes eBay is Making on the Blog Format At this time OR in the Future!

Additionally, this blog post is written for IE Browsers. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.

All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

Posted by makeitsomarketing at 1:25 PM PST

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Not American Idol...
Mood:

d'oh
Topic: Comic Books - New

Not American Idol... It's

Small Press Idol!

And The Winner Is....

...To Be Determined! That's right! And since I am on the group mailing list for Ian Shires' SPA, (Self Publishers Association), I want to share this news with our blog readers who aren't on it!

Ian Spires, (pictured above), says that "the SPA is a loose gathering of creators (graphic novels, comics, etc.), publishers, and the fans of such, banded together to build better tools to make it more likely for good indy stuff to survive in today's marketplace".

It is actually Dimestore Productions, the parent enterprise, that is hosting Small Press Idol 2009, which is now in its' 6th year!

So what exactly is Small Press Idol? I'll let their web site promo say it for them:

"Small Press Idol is the greatest amateur's contest in comics, mixing a bit of American Idol with a bit of The Apprentice, and a bunch of our own special social experiment elements. This contest is not for everyone...but it will be fun, and, for those that participate, it will challenge you to be the best you can be. If you survive round 1, your work WILL BE PUBLISHED! This year: We have national store distribution! It's our biggest year ever!"

For additional info, please see the rules of SPI for 2009, which have changed since the previous year at:

dimestoreproductions.com/content287.html#Guidelines

I was planning to run a different blog post today, but with the American Idol two hour premiere show for 2009 on later tonite, this was too good of a tie-in to NOT blog it today!

Also, for our long time blog readers that have been reading our blog posts on American Idol for the past two seasons, we have a change here ourselves this season... Sorry, but I have decided NOT to blog on American Idol tryouts, performances or result shows this Season.

Last Season we had many bloggers come in and read, and / or comment on Tina's and my scoring of the contestants, and it was a lot of fun. However it is just too much of my time to write notes and score the performances AND then blog about them the next day. Our viewing and blogging habits have definitely changed since the WGA Strike affected our viewing season last year... there are other bloggers that are specializing in American Idol only, so we'll leave that to them this season!

For those that don't know about our blogging on American Idol the previous two seasons, we have over 200 previous archived blog posts that you can read! Click here for An Index to our blog posts on 'American Idol' and 'The Next Great American Band'!

(Please Note: Michael / Tina / Make It So Marketing Inc are not affialiated with, nor compensated by the publisher, the SPA, or the SPI. This blog post is for mention of the SPI only.)

We are VERY pleased that our blog has had its' 313,000th visitor stop in this week... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!

~ Michael (and Tina)

Note From Make It So Marketing:

To the left is a photo of Michael and Tina at the 2007 SDCC - San Diego Comic Convention International. Click that photo to see 'Our World'!

Each comic / comics book. Graphic Novels or magazine in our eBay Featured Store is individually graded by Michael, inventoried, priced, bagged and boarded, before being listed for sale!

We attend several Pop Culture Conventions and Comic Cons during the year to replenish our comic books and other pop culture inventory for resale!

If you don't see what you are looking for, feel free to email us a 'want list' and if in stock, we'll place it in our eBay Featured Store 'Just for You' to purchase!

"Hammering Out the Web
For You Since May 12th, 1998!"

To mail printed items to us for review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc
PO Box 130653
Carlsbad, CA 92013

Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's

NOTE: This Blog Post May Not Be Viewed Properly On YOUR Screen Due To the Changes eBay is Making on the Blog Format At this time OR in the Future!

Additionally, this blog post is written for IE Browsers. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768.

All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

Posted by makeitsomarketing at 2:55 PM PST

Updated: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 3:00 PM PST

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