Who's Who In The CBU Update 2009

Who are... Park and Barb?

Barbara Lien-Cooper and Park Cooper, are the owners of Wicker Man Studios and of Gun Street Girl, its flagship project created by Barbara and artist Ryan Howe. Barbara has written for many websites, and served a one-year stint as Managing Editor of the multiple-Eisner-award-winning print magazine Comic Book Artist. Park is the Editor-in-Chief of indie comics company Septagon Studios, and of Comics Bulletin's sister-website MangaLife. Together, they also co-wrote the graphic novel Half Dead, published by Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel Comics, and later picked up again by Desperado Publishing, and the New Media project The Hidden for manga publisher Tokyopop. They both also adapt manga and edit manga and comics for various companies.

GOING AROUND: Darryl Hughes, Paper, And Ink PART II

By Park Cooper

First, a reminder from Barb:

I'm trying my hand at writing manga, just because I respect the comics' emphasis on characterization and storytelling over photorealistic art. However, that's not to put down manga art. I like manga art a lot. But, I also like how manga's art is there to support and to tell the story, not to overwhelm it or substitute for a story. Trying to write manga has been fun and challenging work, as manga style writing is very different than how Occidental comics traditionally are written. Just imagining panel layout is a challenge in and of itself. Compare a couple of pages of Kare Kano to, say, Superman to see what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I now have so many manga proposals ready that I could really use a manga-ka (i.e. a manga artist) right now to draw the proposals and be co-owner of anything that gets published.

And I've gotten one or two... but there's room for about one more.

So, if you're a manga artist, contact Park and me.

Thanks in advance---

Barb


Also...

Manga is manga, but... Wicker Man Studios has a couple of superhero projects that could use an artist. However, all our current artists kinda hate doing superheroes. They feel that all the excitement has gone out of superheroes and they don't ever want to draw another one as long as they live.

We agree. That's why we wrote some exciting superhero projects.

But now they need art.

If you feel that it's time for the superhero genre to have dessert before the long meal is finally over forever, please write to me at the address in the name link above... thanks.

--Park






And for today's conclusion of the Darryl Hughes interview:

I've known Darryl Hughes of GAAK since we were all throwing ourselves fruitlessly into the hands of any start-up company that came down the pike... We've both learned a lot since then. We've learned to pick our allies a lot better, and Darryl's decided that he'll try comics as a rugged individualist (with an artist). We're seeking out those with the secret arcane knowledge of self-publishing and telling everyone how they did it. Come and hearken to the story of Darryl Hughes...



SBC: HOW does one get picked up by Amazon? And by Barnes and Nobles?

DH: Lulu's expanded distribution through Ingram Book Group makes GAAK available to online and brick-n-mortar book stores. Ingram's is one of the largest wholesale distributors in the world. Like Diamond for book stores.

SBC: But how did you get Amazon and Barnes and Noble involved? Did you DO anything? Or did Lulu/Ingram take care of it? Rather, did YOU handle that little fait accompli, or someone else?

DH: It was as easy as upgrading from lulu's ISBN basic to they're ISBN plus expanded distribution program. There's a 2 week pending process where you have to approve a proofcopy and wait to be uploaded into Ingram's database. It didn't even take us 2 weeks. 10days after I approved my proof copy GAAK first showed up on sale at Amazon UK and Japan. You haven't lived until you've seen your book... available in euros and yen. LOL!

SBC: Oh MY. Now then... Let’s say things kinda keep going vaguely as expected without any surprises... what's your next step?

DH: That was a Friday, if I'm not mistaken. When we showed up on Amazon UK/Japan. By the end of that week end we were on 10 to 12 online book stores. Mostly European to start. And Amazon Canada. We've added one new book store listing for GAAK a day (on average) since then.

SBC: Uh... crap.

SBC: That was a reaction of shock, not of disgust nor disbelief. Uh... I’m impressed.

DH: My next step is to raise our profile through review copies. That's the 50/50 split. Right now someone would have to walk into a book store and stumble onto GAAK more or less by accident. Putting the 50/50 split into play, promoting the hell out of GAAK, getting out review copies, etc, will make a person walk into a book store and "ask for" GAAK. That's what I want.

SBC: Now give advice to people trying to get into the comics industry, please.

DH: It's impressive. But the work is still ahead of us. Publishing is just the beginning. The work starts once you’re published. That's when you have to roll up your sleeves

DH: Do YOUR thing. It is easier now and getting easier still to be true to your own vision of your creations by self publishing them and depending on no one but yourself. The one thing I've learned is that when you depend on someone else to do your thing, you do your thing on their time table.

DH: Explore your options. There are now a great many new ones available to you.

SBC: Okay, so... will there ever be a feeling of… how can I explain this... We feel a lot of stress about our comic. But we feel a bit as though if it could just find a print publisher... everything would "be okay". We'd still have to work about as hard as we do now... which is very, very hard... But there's a feeling that this anxiety of "not yet not yet not yet" will ease. Do you/did you feel any of that?

DH: It was a hard hustle getting this far with GAAK. And holding my newly published book in my hands after all of the literal gray hairs I got stressing through Smash, Creature Feature Comics, 01 Comics, submitting to all those publishers who liked GAAK but..., was all worth it in the end. But you don't just want your comic published... You want it to sell. So it's stress of a different kind once you’re published. I guess that's what suffering for your art is all about.

SBC: Okay... I asked you your next step. What do you want to be doing in... ooooh... 4 years? Do you feel another comic in you trying to get out?

DH: Like I said, GAAK was and is a 4-part mini series that was broken up from an envisioned graphic novel. Nothing has changed. Monique and I started putting the final chapter online 2 weeks ago and 58 pages from now GAAK will end. Period. We will then publish it as the full 240 page graphic novel it was originally intended to be.

SBC: And your plans for after?

DH: After GAAK there are several projects Monique and I have talked about doing. A return to my noir roots with a detective story called "A taste for Irma" that's already written. A werewolf tale, sorta The Lost Boys by way of Lon Chaney Jr. called "The Running" that's already written. I'm working on a 19th century detective story, sorta Sherlock Holmes meets the 60's tv show "The Avengers" ...Which doesn't have a title yet. I never stop creating. I usually have a few projects going.

SBC: How did you team up with Monique MacNaughton?

DH: Oh, Monique. I saw Monique's listing for an artist for hire the very first day I was ever online back in 2000. That was at Comicbook Classifieds. I was looking for an artist to work with on a different project, contacted her, and she never wrote me back. A year later... After my friend Scott Childers (who I'd started GAAK with) dropped out of the project. I asked another friend John Sowder to step in as artist. We needed and inker, so I went looking for one. I don't remember where it was, but I saw Monique listing her artistic services, remembered her name, and contacted her. This time she wrote back. LOL

SBC: Is Comicbook Classifieds still there?

DH: Yes, it's a part of world famous comics. Their link is www.wfcomics.com I don't have the direct link, though. A great resource if you're looking for a collaborator.

SBC: Aren't we all…

DH: Hell, you guys are fearless. If I hadn't been burnt by so many artists who proved to be flakes, I'd have more work out there.

SBC: Who's fearless?

DH: You openly advertise for "artist types".

SBC: Heh. We're the opposite of you. We've been burned so many times we're afraid we'll miss another genius like Ryan Howe if we aren't open and inviting.

DH: Well, you got Ryan, I got Monique. That’s fair.





A freelance writer from New York City, Darryl Hughes is the writer/creator of the creature-feature style, Steven Spielberg meets Tim Burton alien invasion adventure "G.A.A.K: Groovy Ass Alien Kreatures" on the free web comic site Drunkduck.com. "GAAK" is Darryl's first collaborative project with artist Monique MacNaughton, creator of "UNA-Frontiers" on the Modern Tales sister site Graphic Smash. "GAAK: Volume One", the trade paperback compilation edition of the online scifi series published through print on demand publisher Lulu Press/Lulu.com, is available now in book stores everywhere and through the publishers website.

LINKS:

GAAK www.drunkduck.com/GAAK

GAAK in print http://books.lulu.com/content/79525

Monique MacNaughton's "UNA-Frontiers" www.graphicsmash.com/series.php?name=unafrontiers&view=current

Chris Cantrell's "The Asylumantics www.asylumantics.com

Drunkduck www.drunkduck.com

Lulu Press/Lulu.com www.lulu.com

ComiXpress www.comixpress.com

Comicbook Classifieds www.comicbookclassifieds.com

Rick Olney's The Mighty Mini Con www.mightyminicon.com

01 Comics www.01comics.com




















And now, as we end every column...

--Hey kids-- look what I realized I can do-- syndicate the most recent page of Gun Street Girl right here in the column.





Of course, to read anything that happened before this page of the story, you gotta go to Graphic Smash and log into the archives.

Except of course for this story-- you can go read it right now with just one click:

http://www.graphicsmash.com/series.php?name=gsg&view=toc&toc_view=freesamples