Living With Insanity

Okay people, big news! Just Another Day is finally available over at Indyplanet and Comicsmonkey. Unfortunately, both sites are down, but I’ll let you know when they come up.

I don’t really have much else to talk about this week. I’m heading to Graphic this weekend to take a look around, maybe see Neil Gaiman and Kevin Smith. Maybe they’ll like me so much they’ll insist on getting me a top spot with DC and Marvel and I’ll write one of the greatest stories ever. Nah, I’m being delusional. I don’t even think they’re doing a meet and greet or anything like that.

But there are a couple of work shops on making comics and stuff, so maybe, just maybe, I can learn something that’ll get me a leg up compared to the other people. It’s hard being an Australian trying to get into comics. Oh well, as least we have the Internet.

I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

~ David

So, roughly one blog a week is the current rate. Hope I can keep it up.

As most of us know, this weekend is one of the biggest events in the comic industry, for the creators, publishers and also the fans. The San Diego Comic Con. Only two days in and people are posting hundreds of pictures and videos online to show just how much fun they’re having there. And here I am stuck in Australia.

In 2006 I made a vow to myself: By 2009 I would be a published creator with a successful webcomic and have a table at SDCC, which would have been my tenth con, where I could sell merchandise, meet my fans and then spend one day enjoying the con and meeting my favourites if they were there. As you can tell, I’m a little behind with fulfilling that promise.

But thankfully, there are other opportunities. For years I have known of two Australian conventions, but never bothered with them because I didn’t know how many people would be at these things. I have an ex who told me she goes to Armageddon down in Melbourne every year because she likes it better than Supernova, which is on at the same time (That was 2007, they’re on in different months now). I’ve seen ads for both and they focus more on anime and other things. I haven’t watched an anime show since I was 14 or 15 so it seemed like there was no point. But after Free Comic Book Day, I’ve realised that comics do have a place in Australia.

So I need everyone to remind me next year to buy a table. I’ll either stay local and show my stuff at Supernova or maybe I’ll head down to Melbourne and hang out with Simon, possibly with a new series for the two of us to show you.

As for America cons? Let’s make the goal C2E2 2012. Hopefully Paul will be sitting next to me at the booth. Can’t have an LWI signing without the guy who draws it.

Hope everyone who did go to SDCC had a great time and if you didn’t, I hope you at least had a great weekend.

I always like to support my fellow webcomics in any way I can. I would like people to support Living With Insanity and Tnemrot, and it wouldn’t be fair to expect everyone to help me and do nothing in return. How do I do it? By buying their things. Well, I would if there weren’t such heavy costs for shipping to Australia.

But, I can still buy their graphic novel collections when I see them in the stores. But it can only be the stores though, I don’t buy online. I like being present for transactions and holding the item. It’s a personal preference. Anyway, here’s a list of TPBs I have picked up and you should too.

Aoi House – Original Omnibus and In Love 1 and 2 – This was my first, since ‘In Love’ contained comics that hadn’t been online yet and I wanted to know what happened. It’s also how I finally figured out I prefer print over online. No loading times, no eye strain. Also, I enjoyed the artwork and the story, though it seems to rush a little at the end. But still a good read.
Looking For Group – Volume One – I was actually the one who got my local store to stock LFG comics. Haven’t seen an individual issue on the stands in a while though. Volume One contains some of my favourite moments in this comic, especially issue three.
Penny Arcade – Birds Are Weird and The Case of the Mummy’s Gold – I know there are three books before these two, but honestly, I’ve never been a fan of the earlier comics. Thinking of maybe getting volume three, but I’m not sure.
Octopus Pie – There Are No Stars in Brooklyn – Just picked this up last week. I haven’t been reading much OP since Meredith Gran started uploading by chapter, but this book is starting to make me remember why I enjoyed it in the first place.
Apple Geeks – Freshman Year – I like books with extras and notes about the comic. Sort of like a director’s commentary. Still searching for Weird Science.
Sinfest – Volume One – Sinfest has always been a favourite of mine. I’m actually thinking of picking up “Myspace Dark Horse Presents: 3″ because it has a Sinfest story in it. This volume also contains some of Ishida’s work that eventually became the comic it is today. I need to remember to write down some notes for a future LWI feature book.
Gunnerkrigg Court – Volume one and two – Been reading GC since it was on drunk duck and only updating twice a week. It’s awesome to see something like it come so far. Siddell really knows what he’s doing.
Freak Angels – Volumes One, Two and Three – The weirdest thing about this comic is I don’t like it online. Well, that’s not true, I do like it online, but I just keep forgetting to follow it. But for some reason I absolutely love the collections. What the hell is that about?
Megatokyo – Volume One – Only one I bought and only one I will ever buy because the sketchy art at such a small size gives me a headache while I’m browsing them in store. I wish Gallagher had hired an inker. Or Dark Horse had printed the books bigger.

I don’t have any PvP or Ctrl+Alt+Delete books yet. Don’t know why, I love both comics, but I just have no interest in them. That’s the thing, while I will do what I can to help other webcomics, I’m not going to buy stuff I won’t like. Nor will I buy books from webcomics that do not interest me because while I would love to see LWI being successful, I would rather people buy any merchandise or books because they want them, not just to be nice, and I figure most creators are the same.

I really need to get to a convention so I can buy more books though. On my list to get are Misfile, Girls With Slingshots, Least I Could Do, Menege a 3, XKCD and Order of the Stick.

If you guys know of any other webcomic collections I can get in book and comic stores, leave a comment here and I will go take a look next time I’m doing my comic run.

I love the smell of new comics in the morning. Smells like… victory.

So the number of hits is growing rather large, which I like very much. However, I am noticing a distinct lack of comments. Fair enough, I don’t like signing up to things and if I turn off the ‘members only’ option I get hit with spam bots. So, here’s a solution:

If you have a facebook account, why not join our group? I’ll post the updates every time there’s a new one, along with news about the comic, like if we might be a little late, or when we eventually start selling merchandise. I’d put up a con schedule as well, but Paul and I can’t afford cons.

Secondly, as many of you are aware, I usually have several projects cooking at once, though not too many ever see the light of day. However, I can thankfully say that I have two to show you. Well, one isn’t out yet, but the other will start up this Monday.

What am I talking about? Tnemrot, my newest webcomic. I actually wrote this about a month or two before I started LWI, but there were a few delays, several artists and an idiot who couldn’t decide what his job was or what he wanted to do with the comic. But, I’m not here to groan about the past, I’m here to get you guys to take a look at this new comic and hopefully love it as much as I loved making it.

It’s not a comedy, it’s a sort of sci-fi tale about humans turned into super-powered slaves for the purposes of gladiatorial battles. Lots of action, a little less skin than LWI, but hopefully the story and characters will make it worthwhile. We already have three chapters done, so there’ll be updates Monday, Wednesday and Friday unless I forget to upload them.

And the last project to announce is something similar to Gemini Storm, but a different comic all together (For those of you wondering, we just finished the inks of issue two and the colouring should be done in a month or two). This new comic is a one-shot called Just Another Day, which I have co-created with Simon Wright. You can see some previews here.

The story is like the Launch and A Knight’s Story sagas, with less Michael. But it is set in a stadium, there are fights (Not off screen ones) some fan service and maybe even an explosion or two. I will definitely post a link to indyplanet once the comic is available (Just got word my own copy is heading for me, so it should be soon).

So I hope you guys sign up for the facebook group, check out Tnemrot and buy Just Another Day. And if you don’t, please tell your friends about them, and Living With Insanity as well.

Now if you excuse me, I sent a writer’s inquiry to Dynamite and I’m watching my inbox until I get a reply. Wish me luck. Or maybe send some letters to Dark Horse, Image, Avatar and all that telling them to hire me as a writer. That would be awesome. Unlikely, but imagine how great that would be? So many people love you they did everything they could to help you out. Just like Firefly, except hopefully with better results.

~ David

This past week, I’ve managed to get myself motivated again and brought my pencils and pens back into work. Also, I have managed to get Photoshop CS3 (Have been hearing bad things about CS5 and it was cheaper than 4) and have been having fun with it. Really wish I could draw digital (And not have to colour with a mouse) but oh well. Anyway, if interested, I’ve put up the new pieces in my deviantArt account.

So with this comes the obvious question “When am I going to quit again?”

Every time I get back into art, something always happens where I decide to give up again. I get bored, scanner screws up, or I take a look and think “Wow, I suck” and stop because I’m not automatically super amazing.

This time around I’m trying to go slow with my progress. That’s usually what makes me stop, I go beyond what I can do and hate myself when I can’t meet my goals. Also, this time around I won’t be making a comic, since that tends to make me regret ever picking up a pencil in the first place. However, should 24-hour comic day roll around and I happen to be still doing this and my local (Well, have to catch a bus, a train, then walk twenty minutes to get to it) comic shop is hosting, I might just see if I can get a spot.

It has always been my goal to one day be able to pick up a graphic novel and see the words “Story and art by David Herbert.” Maybe this is the prelude to that day. A bunch of practice pieces, maybe some character designs and then eventually possibly an attempt at a webcomic that will actually lead somewhere.

Apparently you spend at least ten thousand hours on something before you get to pro level. Don’t know how many hours I’ve spent drawing, but I know I’m still not near the mark. So, I guess it’s time to shut up and get back to work.

Until next time, take care.

~ David