Writer in the Balance

Rat Bastards

2010-03-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

Scott Kowalchuk is an interesting specimen of a man. When I first met him, it was also at the same ACAD soiree in which I had met Tanya, but Scott had a way of standing out. For one, he was the only one wearing a full suit. He had a very unique style, both in fashion and illustration, but his imagery was a strong throwback to the earlier days of comics when Alex Toth and Chester Gould were in their heyday.

The script, for what is now called Rat Bastards, was definitely one of the more strange beasts I'd written, off the beaten path of my more regular genre staples. After it was done, and I stared at the words on the screen, unable to determine if I had actually written something so bizarre, I knew the visual style had to match. As mentioned previously, I had scoured my usual stalking grounds, to no avail.

Scott loved the script and the content of what I wanted to do with the story. It was only a short time before some concepts started to surface. I knew instantly that this collaboration would be a success.

Scott was busy with freelance work, but the pages started to come together over a series of months. In retrospect, both of us agreed that the lingering pace only made Rat Bastards a stronger work because we took our time allowing it to gestate. In that time, we talked at length, in email and phone conversations, about the motivations of the villains, the heart of the story. We nailed it down to a science, so clearly that both in visual and narrative context, we know exactly where we are going and how this first season of the story will end.

With the completed proposal finished, Scott and I headed to Seattle to test our project in the editorial field. We talked with a lot of people, put our pitch in hands of creators, editors and publishers, blanketing the con with this image.

There was buzz around our submission, and the impression we got is that this little project was the talk in the editor circuit. Scott and I are hopeful that you will see Rat Bastards in your store this year. We are networking the hell out of it.

A sample you say?

This is only a peek at the madness we have created. Do enjoy.

The Imagination Factory

2010-03-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about this gem, shall we?

As mentioned previously, Tanya Lam was an artist I wanted to work with when I first laid eyes on her portfolio. This moment actually stretches back before her piece in Vehicle #2, to the ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design) graduation portfolio show. All the graduating artists put together a book of their work to display to various companies and former graduates who were invited to attend. With my connection to Blacksheep Studios, and under guise of Editor of Vehicle Magazine (and feeling extremely out of place, I might add) I was able to attend.

Let me tell you a story. This is the story of Tanya's portfolio. At first, it was the extremely colourful and eye catching characters, the fun and happy layouts and her natural knack for crafting expression and emotion. I visited for the colour, but I stayed for the cock.

That's right, at the center of this very kid friendly, family oriented portfolio was a splash page with the most brightly coloured, cutesy phallic images ever collected on paper. Children running amok with penis balloons, penis hats, and parents smiling wide eyes at the glorious events around them. Truly, it was a celebration of the cock.

So, with determination, I located my oft collaborative partner, Tyler Jenkins and demanded he look at the cock collage.

This is how Tanya Lam ended up in the pages of Vehicle.

However, her short "First Kiss" was a favourite amongst many readers and I began to see amazing sequential narrative potential in her illustration. Below is the first five pages of the project called The Imagination Factory, written, specifically, for Tanya Lam.

Yellow Brick Road

2010-03-23T10:43:00.001-07:00

During the production and waiting game that was Beautiful Creatures, I had been formulating ideas and projects, a past time of mine that never quite seems to relent. Around the same time, I had been doing editing on Issue #2 of Vehicle magazine and had been really taking a shining to art by both Scott Kowalchuk and Tanya Lam.

At the time, I'd been constructing a story about four orphans who'd been given a new chance at life by a mysterious benefactor, empowering them where they were once powerless. The tentative title, The Intrepids, was actually where the story began. It was a name that popped into my head and suddenly characters began to form.

That same day, as I was rounding a corner in a bus (my day job), I spotted a young woman wearing a very interesting outfit. Sparing the details, her visual appearance became the basis for the first and central character. I got home and started getting ideas down, and it just flowed. The first issue script was completed in record time.

I began to search for artists in my usual spots: Deviantart, Comicspace and the Penny Arcade art forums. There were a few close matches, but nothing clicked. Then, I saw Scott Kowalchuck's piece, "Who Wants to be a Millionare" in Vehicle #2 and the email was written and sent a few minutes after.

At the same time, Tanya Lam's piece, "First Kiss", was so adorable that I felt compelled to contact her and try my hand at a type of story I'd never even contemplated before. A kid's book. The development of the story, just like the content, was a completely new adventure for me. Ordinarily, I approach the artist with project in hand, but I actually crafted the narrative around her artistic style. It's been a very rewarding experience.

Both of these talented illustrators are employed, either freelance or with a company, and it was set out from the beginning that these projects would happen when time permitted. It was a natural progression, very organic in that both Tanya and Scott had a lot of time to develop the story, which in the end has enhanced the final product.

The yellow brick road, of course, was my trip to the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle a week and a half ago. There, I planned to throw it all down. I was taking the first step towards really investing my life into writing and, hopefully, paving the road ahead towards an eventual career in this sometimes enigmatic field.

So, how was it?

The road isn't too far away, it would seem.

Moving Forward

2010-03-23T10:29:00.001-07:00

The last few months have been a rather interesting collection of hot streaks and solid dead ends. My writing has always been sporadic, leaps and bounds of progress followed by a crippling stagnation of creativity. I've learned to accept that about myself, as frustrating and rage inducing as it may be sometimes.

However, I never give up. Admittedly, I walk the line of abandoning this often painful road, but then I realize (often through the unwavering support of my wife) that there really is no other outlet that I enjoy more.

Rock Band does not qualify.

In fall of last year, my first official comic series landed. Beautiful Creatures was a mixed bag of emotions. It was satisfying to see my work in the public eye, lining the shelves with other titles that I enjoy and follow. There is something about seeing the final component to the creative process fully realized, tangible and real. Of course, in support of its release, I did a handful of local signings and enjoyed the small crowds that eventually wandered in to get their copy. Despite it was mostly friends, it was still a small victory.

There were, however, shortcomings. Despite very good reviews, the book essentially sank before it had a chance to swim. After the first issue, Beautiful Creatures seemed to simply evaporate. The second issue, being the last, received only two reviews, one good, one bad. I even had a handful of friends realize they never even bought the second issue. There were a number of factors, I am sure, but at the end of the day, it was a disappointment.

It was a month or so after where I started to feel like, perhaps, this comic world wasn't for me. Luckily, I had the support of a very special person who encouraged me through that time and propelled me toward a new goal: Emerald City Comic Con.

Oh, and the wonders I did see.

Beautiful Creatures - Continued

2009-08-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

The response I was most interested in was from Red 5 Comics. I had the chance the year previous to have a talk with co-founder, Paul Ens, at the Calgary Comic Expo at his booth and was really impressed with his vision. He was an editor and business owner actually concerned with protecting the creators who were published through him, and desired to see said creators succeed and grow in the industry rather than turning them over for a quick buck. (Of course, that's implying there is a buck to be made, which is another blog post entirely)

After a handful of emails and phone calls, Beautiful Creatures become part of the Red 5 line. A full year after I had drafted the proposal and almost giving up on the series.

It's always interesting how events turn in a direction never expected, but this was definitely a case of never stop trying.

There are other hurdles in the comic publishing world, realities that I wasn't aware of until I actually joined the circuit and had to leap over them. Along the way, we've managed to meet all goals and I'm proud to say on September 23rd, you'll hold the little engine that could in your hands.

So, what next?

If the series sells well, and Red 5 wants more, I have two more story arcs in my head featuring our lovely heroines. And who knows, with all the positive early buzz and reviews, it may do just that.

I'm always busy and I'm not far from having a couple more pitches ready, and this time I won't give up so easy.

The world has a lot more to hear from Kurtis J. Wiebe.

Beautiful Creatures

2009-08-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's time I discussed material that originated in my brain. Until now, all my bragging rights have been cradled in the ownership of other people's hands. Snow Angel was the start of something much larger, I'd say, but when I approached that story, it wasn't mine from the start. It was created at the request of another.

That said, it was an amazing experience, and something I thoroughly enjoyed. Then came Vehicle, of which I am a major contributor, but again it was a product of another individual's creative investment. I am happy to be part of it, no question, but along the way I've really started to get selfish.

And I think it's about damn time.

On September 23rd, Red 5 Comics is releasing my creation: Beautiful Creatures. It's a long story in the telling, but the point is fairly clear: I'm published.

The origin of this fantasy comedy series is uninteresting, truth be told. Like most of my material, it's a smash up of various story ideas that eventually made the transition to a comic script. The interesting bits are the lead up to finally landing some interest.

In March of 2008, I emailed an artist named Ash Jackson about the script I'd written. His style was perfect for the heart of my story, a cartoony vibe with amazing characterization and an eye for dynamic camera. He replied shortly that he was interested in collaborating on a pitch. By April, he had the first five pages completed in pencil, but at that point I had yet to find a colourist. I lettered the penciled pages, had one page coloured by Hilary Jenkins, and started to submit.

Of course, as was something I was prepared for, the rejection letters came back fast and furious. Disheartened, I abandoned the project for the summer. Then, fall rolled around and I was still lamenting the lack of progress in my writing career. I decided to attack all my submissions again, revisiting, in particular, Beautiful Creatures (then titled The Reborn). I contacted Frank Zigarelli, an extremely talented artist, about coming on board to colour the pitch. Amazingly, he too agreed and our team was complete.

With six pages now, Ash having completed one more for good measure, I hit the campaign trail for our project.

A few submissions later, I had two positive responses.

(To be continued)

And It Is Unveiled

2009-04-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Previously I spoke in detail about the building blocks of a new magazine that I had become part of. At the time, my contribution and involvement were still uncertain, but as of a week ago I am now a major contributor as well as Editor.

Let's discuss this magazine, shall we?

This upcoming weekend, at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, the creative team will be launching the premiere issue of Vehicle. It is a magazine dealing with narratives, whatever form they may take. Short stories, sequential art, narrative illustrations, serialized novels and more.

This issue contains three pieces of my material: two short comics and a short story.

Vehicle is the catalyst that sets forward in motion the desire of creators to tell stories that, until now, were difficult, if not impossible, to get out to the world at large. It's an exciting throwback to the pulp fiction of the 40's and 50's, taking the concept and retooling it with a modern twist. The magazine, currently a 36 page publication, will be followed by new issues every three months and will expand to greater page count as the team matures and grows in the industry. It's something we're very excited to share with the world. I truly hope you become part of it.

To Create and to Own

2009-04-09T07:04:00.001-07:00

The comic industry is ruled by the iron giant, one single entity that stipulates the rules of engagement.

The distributor.

Being a new man to the field, I suppose I lack the experience to really comment in full, but I can see hints of it through conversations with creators, editors and publishers. You play by the rules, or you lose the game.

A recent change in the Diamond ordering model is a slow, crushing stroke to the independent publishers. Some of these smaller publishers lived on small print runs, keeping their overhead prices down and relying on sales to meet their costs as a means of sharing stories with the world.

Diamond doesn't want stories. It wants money.

This is a fact of life, and begs the question: Well, what can be done?

In a world where one corporation could sink the largest comic company (Marvel) by refusal to distribute, how can the power be shifted down to the lowliest peon - the creator?

There are options. There are magnificently creative people with a passion to share stories to the greater community. Believe it or not, they can do so without selling their ideas or lining the coffers of the almighty fatcat. Banded together, these tiny, inconsequential people can create, package and distribute whatever it is they desire and put it in the hands of those who want to read honest, thoughtful and sometimes entertaining fare.

Lofty, sure. But entirely possible, goddamnit.

It was a telephone conversation with fellow creator and Snow Angel collaborator, Tyler Jenkins, where after a short gripe session we realized that for the last year we had been producing other people's ideas. We were spending so much time trying to attain approval for what other people wanted, we had lost sight of what it is we as creators wanted to spend our time on.

It started with comic shorts, 5 page contained stories as a way to work on projects that were entirely our own. Beyond that, it was also an exercise, a reminder of the potential on the horizon after we slogged through the long work list of "another project I do not own."

Then came the revelation.

Why are we frustrating ourselves and complaining about the lack of personal content in our creative form, rather than stepping up and finding an outlet.

Or rather, making an outlet.

That's right. Making one, goddamnit.

You'll see it, readers. Soon. A creator owned magazine with short stories, short comics, illustrations, and design. Made by people who just want to create whatever it is they can think of. No holds barred.

And I'm proud to say, it's all about the vanity.

Annual Update

2009-02-16T07:42:00.001-08:00

It seems that I've failed in keeping this journal current. I suppose it's fitting, then, that I'm using this as a way to let the world know that Snow Angel landed a publisher.

And like some great, titan weight lifted, I can finally focus on the task at hand.

I wrote the first script for Snow Angel over a year ago now, and being tasked with finishing it off after such an extended leave has been a difficult endeavor. Regardless, with the opportunity presented I had little issue with moving forward.

Part of the deal required significant changes on a storytelling aspect, as rather than being developed as an eight issue, single release series it has been combined into one release of 88 pages combined into a graphic novel. If I take an honest look at the story, I know this is a better format for Snow Angel, but it shaves 100 pages from my overall length. That's a significant number in comic books. Trust me.

At any rate, I've been buried back into the arms of my forgotten love and wrestling with the concept and what needs to stay and what needs to be left out. Obviously, the strong story elements of father daughter relationship and desire for love and affection are what make Snow Angel an interesting story. The characters are easily identified with.

That said, there is also an element of darkness, of violence so personal that it draws the reader in and makes them feel the gunshot, the impact of its action and how it affects not only them but the characters on the trigger end of the gun.

I found a way to keep those essential elements and still retain a tight, engrossing story. With the upcoming release in July, I hope the followers of this project as well as new readers, will find what I've created a rewarding experience.

Until then, I'll just have to wait and see.

Snow Angel: Four Page Preview!

2008-03-01T03:58:00.001-08:00

This is the very first release of our preview for Snow Angel. Combined are the talents of Blacksheep Studios, illustrated and inked by Tyler Jenkins and written by yours truly. Enjoy! (Click image for larger view)

At the Heart Of It

2008-02-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

I love noir.

It’s something that only struck me in the past three or four years, but it’s unquestionably ingrained in a lot of things I write. Somehow gangsters, femme fatales and hard as nails, morally grey protagonists seem to slip into even short stories that I write.

Now I’m writing a comic that allows me to really sink my teeth into what’s become somewhat of a fascination.

I wanted to include all the popular noir themes and most certainly the emotion, but I felt that in order to make Snow Angel something slightly different I had to come at it from a new perspective. Most often it’s about the struggle between the hard boiled detective and the mysterious, sexually fired dame, or some gangster tale about revenge. And, like I mentioned, these themes have worked in many titles almost universally.

However, I didn’t want to create a story that walked down these roads already so well travelled by massively successful stories like Scarface or The Maltese Falcon. Snow Angel’s perspective came from a long hard look at how one creates an identity. We show Angela, the lead character, at the height of her power; strong, confident and in total control. Then we deconstruct her very nature and look back to how she became who she is.

It’s these details that will become the very focus of the story. Sure, drugs, money and sex are all interesting points along the way, but at its heart, Snow Angel delves into the mind of a young woman trying desperately to understand who she is.

I wanted Angela to be strong, yet have insecurities, just like all of us do, born from some event in her life that, looking back, set everything into motion. I want the reader to be able to see the impact of those events and fully understand why Angela, despite being the top dog in the Cocaine Cowboys era, is falling apart. All of this, as will become obvious in the first issue of Snow Angel, centers around one man. Her father.

All of us, at some point in our lives, have questioned the love our parents have shown us. Most people can identify with trying to find themselves a place within their own families. Strong emotions are tied to memories of the people closest to us. I wanted very much to capture that and explore what it would be like for a young woman to never feel the love from her father.

And when it comes down to it, these themes are the heart of Snow Angel, and I hope to make it a wild ride even if it is caught up in a little bit of sentimentality.

Snow Angel: Plotting Points

2008-02-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Jo approached me with a scenario in mind for the femme fatale that was the prominent image for his production poster. We spoke at length over the phone about a mutual love of noir and crime stories, naming movies back and forth and in turn praising the title as one we enjoyed. It was obvious from the first conversation that we both knew what we wanted from Snow Angel: a gritty, crime story set in the backdrop of the drug stuffed era of the 70’s.

He asked me if I had seen Cocaine Cowboys, a documentary that came out in 2006 relating the events and details of the Medici Cartel’s drug running operations in Miami at the tail end of the 70’s and early 80’s. I hadn’t at that point, but he discussed with me in detail a powerful figure of that time, Griselda Blanco, nicknamed the Godmother.

This woman, by all means, was the ultimate badass. Her vendettas knew no boundaries, she murdered people if they crossed her, no matter how powerful their allies or relatives may have been. There were never extensions on late payments, failure to follow through on promises got you and every single person in your family killed.

A killer instinct and the total commitment to show abolute power was something both Jo and I saw in the woman Tyler had illustrated.

In essence, Griselda is a small influence in Snow Angel. However, when approaching this story I didn’t want to write the story of someone who’d already lived, I wanted this character to be my own, someone I could craft and develop over time. I really wanted to breathe life into the narrator and make the world around her feel that much more real.

The first question one has to ask is that if someone is a certain way, what events in their life led them to that point? It’s easy to hash together a life story that we’ve seen hundreds of times in film and print because the easiest answer sometimes is the most logical. In this case, Griselda herself was a sexually exploited woman who at a point in her younger years worked as a prostitute. It is legitimate grounds for someone to become emotionally disconnected and to harm those around her.

I felt differently about my character. One of my main issues with a lot of mainstream films and graphic novels is that most often a woman is strong only because of some awful injustice that was put upon her. Often times, they are of a sexual nature, and the strong, unshakable woman exists as such because she had to ‘toughen up’ or else remain a victim. Again, I’m sure there are cases of that, but it’s a cause of concern for me and I didn’t want to follow that same path. Why can’t this beautiful, strong woman be strong because she has chosen to be a leader and has the gumption to do so?

Of course, Snow Angel needed to have a strong theme, and while the tale of a young woman dominating the drug trade in Miami is certainly captivating, there needed to be something a little more.

I contemplated the story at length, really searching for an interesting angle that would have a great underlying message we could see and feel from beginning to end. Over coffee, my wife and I brainstormed several ideas and came up with a theme that I feel will really bring Snow Angel a life of its own.

Next Blog: Snow Angel: Family Matters

Snow Angel: How it all Started

2008-02-05T05:48:00.000-08:00

I came across this project rather unceremoniously. It was not by anything impressive I had done by any means, it was more a matter of timing and ultimately it came down to knowing the right person.

That is almost always the case.

I met Jo Brar of Smoke Films Ltd. through Tyler Jenkins, an ultra talented artist that I met at the Calgary Comic Expo in April of 2007. I had originally made the trip from Saskatoon to pitch a project I'd had in the wings for about three years called Wrench. Arcana Studios had a booth at the Expo and I had been in contact with them via email for about two months before I planned to meet them.

Expectations were high and so the abysmal meeting was rather crushing. It was all by happenstance that as I left, dejected, my wife pointed out to me a small little table across from Eric Powell, one that belonged to Blacksheep Studios. This, of course, belonged to Tyler and Hilary Jenkins, who've since that time become great friends and business partners.

We worked on a viking era tale called Wode and pitched to several publishers but, being our first comic project together (and Tyler's first sequential work, period) it was rough and we were still learning each other's creative strengths and weaknesses. It was a fantastic learning adventure though, and it wasn't all bad either. We heard positive feedback from a specific publisher that only rejected it based on the content. (They were looking for Slice of Life stories. Whatever that means.)

Fast forward to November where Tyler meets up with aforementioned Jo Brar, the head honcho for Smoke Films. He starts putting together some classy noir-style promotion posters and Jo loves them so much he decides he wants to do a short comic based upon it.

Tyler drops my name to write it, and that's how I end up becoming involved with this fantastic project.