Ghastly Award nomination for anthology featuring SIX CE alums!

Indie Comics Horror #1, the anthology series from Aazurn Publishing which features work from SIX Comics Experience alums and Creators Workshop members, has been nominated for a 2012 Ghastly Award for Best Horror Anthology 2012!

The Ghastly Awards recognize outstanding achievements in horror comics over a range of 15 different categories. The nominees are chosen by other horror comic book professionals and winners are chosen by a panel of judges, along with votes by creators and fans.

Voting is open from January 1, 2013 - January 31, 2013. You may only vote once and you can do so right here:

http://ghastlys.blogspot.com/p/2012-voting.html

Indie Comics Horror is a 48-page black and white comic book featuring six complete stories in the nominated issue.

This issue features stories by the following CE alums and members:

* Minister to the Undead written by C.M. Beckett
* The Standard written by Glenn Møane
* Immortal Resistance written by Rob Anderson
* The Belt written by Joe Sergi.
* and BOTH Rob and Joe's stories featured art by DaFu Yu and lettering by E.T. Dollman!

Indie Comics Horror #1 was also recently nominated in the Horror News Network 2012 Best Anthology category!

You can view a trailer of the issue right here:

Congrats to all our alums and members appearing in this issue of Indie Comics Horror!

NYCC 2012 - Comics Experience Report

Another New York Comic Con is complete!

Reports are that more than 115,000 people attended, and the convention is expected to have MORE space next year!

We wanted to send a big THANK YOU to our panelists and to everyone who attended our panels on Pitching for Professionals (with Andy Schmidt, Nick Lowe, Bob Schreck, and Paul Allor) and Surviving Collaboration (with Andy Schmidt, Robert Atkins, Chris Sotomayor, and Paul Allor). We hope you enjoyed them.

We had a bunch of members and instructors exhibiting, and reports were that sales were extremely strong and the networking opportunities were fantastic!

Also, we had another successful Comics Experience Meet-Up at Mulligans on Thursday night this year -- the biggest Meet-Up ever to date, with 30-40 attendees over the course of the night.

Comics Experience alums, Workshop members, and instructors who attended included: Alejandro Arbona, Andy Schmidt, Bill Yurkas, DaFu Yu, Dan Rivera, Dan Rivera, Dave Kawalec, Eric Drumm, Gamal Hennesey, Gannon Beck, George O'Connor, Jenay Gordon, Joe Sergi, Joey Groah, Kevin Byrne, Matt O'Keefe, Nick Dedual, Nicole Boose, Paul Allor, Paul Littell, Rich Douek, Robert Atkins, Scott Dubin, Sean Flahaven, and Seth Teter. It was great seeing everyone there!

We look forward to next year -- and if you have aspirations to create comics or improve your craft, join us, and maybe we'll see YOU there next year!

Making Comics-On-A-Train Crowdsourcing Event 10/10/12!

On October 10, 2012, several comics creators will be crowdsourcing the making of a comic book while they're trapped on a train for seven hours, en route to NYCC 2012!

And you can participate via the Space Corps Facebook page and on Twitter following and tweeting at #spacecorps starting at 9:00AM Eastern Time!

Comics Experience Art Moderator and alum, Gannon Beck, along with writer and CE Alum Joey Groah, and writer Bryan Richmond will set a starting point, but then use reader input to shape the story.

The story will be set in the Space Corps universe, which follows the adventures of Space Marines on a planet-hopping campaign.

You can check out past stories via the free webcomic right here.

So, tomorrow, you don't have to be a stranger on a train: join Gannon Beck, Bryan Richmond and Joey Groah for some crowdsourced making comics fun!

Join the fun and read more details here

Click for larger view for more details!

Click for larger view for more details!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 - Comics Experience Report

Another San Diego Comic-Con International is in the books, and we hope you had as great a time as we did!

Our FIVE panels on breaking in and comics craft were a hit, and we want to thank everyone who attended.

The Writing for Comics 01 panel, in particular, was packed.

The audience had the opportunity to hear Andy Schmidt, Josh Fialkov, and Peter David discuss all aspects of the comics writing craft.

Just a couple hours later, Andy and Josh continued the discussion in Writing for Comics 02.

And because it was the last panel of the day, we ran *very* long, with Andy and Josh doing their best to answer every audience question.

On Friday, we had two great sessions on Digital Art, both from the business side and from the craft/creative side.

Andy's guests for these two sessions were David Marquez (Ultimate Spider-Man), Brian Haberlin (Spawn, Anomaly), Comic-Rocket.com founder Tim Shields, and ComiXology co-founder John Roberts.

Plus, on Thursday, Andy did his ever-popular panel on Breaking In!

As far as the convention itself, Comics Experience instructors, alums and Creators Workshop members in attendance included: Allen Edger, Amy Chu, Andy Schmidt, Bobby Curnow, Brandon Seifert, Dave Castelnuovo, Joey Groah, Jon Witmer, Rob Anderson, Sean Chen, Shaun Manning, Tim Shields, Timothy Simmons, and Tracie Burch. Folks were attending or participating in panels, doing signings, pitching projects, covering the news, or just soaking it all in!

A good-sized contingent of Comics Experience folks also made their way over to Trickster for their various symposia and other events.

This is a shot of the "Character Development and the Shaping Of Emotion" session, attended by Allen, Amy, Rob and Joey, and that huge panel at the front includes Ed Brubaker (Fatale, Criminal), Matt Wagner (Grendel, Mage), Jimmy Palmiotti (Creator-Owned Heroes, The Pro), B. Clay Moore (Hawaiian Dick), Ivan Brandon (Viking, The Cross Bronx), Scott Morse (Strange Science Fantasy, Brave), Marc Andreyko (Torso, The Lost), and Ande Parks (Capote In Kansas, Union Station). This was a great, conversational session, and notes are available on the Workshop.

Finally, no major con would be complete without a Comics Experience Meet-Up.

We had a nice dinner on Saturday night with (clockwise, from left) Carl Peterson (& Libby, not pictured), Rob Anderson, Andy Schmidt, Tim Shields, Mike Costa, Allen Edger, Alberto Veloso & Elana, and Joey Groah. Good times, good comics talk!

We look forward to the next convention and hope to see you there!

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If you want to make comics, write or draw comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook

Bobby Curnow's "Battle Beasts" Hits Comic Shops Today!

Writer Bobby Curnow has a new book hitting comic shops today -- and premiering at San Diego Comic-Con 2012 (July 11-15) -- Battle Beasts published by IDW!

Bobby is both a Comics Experience alum and a member of the Creators Workshop, where he offers members pro critiques on their work.

Bobby wrote Battle Beasts #1, with art by Valerio Schiti (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron), and a cover by Dan Brereton! An ashcan version of the first eight pages premiered earlier this year at the C2E2 convention. Battle Beasts is being produced by IDW in conjunction with Diamond Select Toys.

The story focuses on a group of renegade Beasts who return to Earth to protect the ultimate weapon (and the human who activated it) from an armada of their violent brethren.

When the ashcan premiered, Bobby said, "Getting the chance to help create the new Battle Beasts in comic form has been a fantastic and supremely fun experience...IDW has a lot of experience finding riveting stories in toy-based licenses, and I hope Battle Beasts is no exception."

Bobby's new creator-owned miniseries, Night of 1,000 Wolves, is currently in stores. That title features artwork by Eisner-nominated artist Dave Wachter.

Bobby is also an editor at IDW where he began by editing titles like Robert Bloch's That Hellbound Train and John Layman and Alberto Ponticelli's Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths before moving on to his current position working on both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla franchises.

Congrats on Battle Beasts, Bobby!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook

COMMUNITY NEWS: Bobby Curnow's "Battle Beasts" Ashcan from IDW Hits C2E2!

Writer Bobby Curnow had a new book debuting at C2E2 this year: the Battle Beasts ashcan published by IDW!

Bobby is both a Comics Experience alum and a member of the Creators Workshop, where he offers members pro critiques on their work.

Bobby wrote the Battle Beasts ashcan story, with art by Valerio Schiti (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron), and a cover by Dan Brereton!

Battle Beasts is being produced by IDW in conjunction with Diamond Select Toys. In addition to the aschan, DST was also offering an exclusive promo Minimate of one of the book’s lead characters at C2E2. The story will continue in Battle Beasts #1 in July 2012, premiering at San Diego Comic-Con (July 11-15).

The ashcan focuses on a group of renegade Beasts who return to Earth to protect the ultimate weapon (and the human who activated it) from an armada of their violent brethren. It reprints the first eight pages of issue #1 in full color.

Bobby recently said, "Getting the chance to help create the new Battle Beasts in comic form has been a fantastic and supremely fun experience...IDW has a lot of experience finding riveting stories in toy-based licenses, and I hope Battle Beasts is no exception."

Bobby's new creator-owned miniseries, Night of 1,000 Wolves, arrives in stores in May. That title features artwork by Eisner-nominated artist Dave Wachter.

Bobby is also an editor at IDW where he began by editing titles like Robert Bloch's That Hellbound Train and John Layman and Alberto Ponticelli's Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths before moving on to his current position working on both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla franchises.

Congrats on Battle Beasts, Bobby!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook

COMMUNITY NEWS: CE Alum Joe Sergi Annotates the History of Comics Censorship for CBLDF!

CE alum, Workshop member -- and attorney -- Joe Sergi recently attended a C2E2 panel on the history of censorship presented by Charles Brownstein, the Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF).

Joe is a big fan of the CBLDF and the work they do, protecting the First Amendment rights of creators, retailers, and libraries.

Inspired by the panel, Joe shared his notes on his Cup of Geek blog, along with extensive thoughts, pictures, and annotations on the history of censorship. And the CBLDF liked it so much, they published it on their own website!

Charles' presentation -- and Joe's article -- covers it all; from Dr. Frederick Wertham's campaign against comics to the underground comix movement, and from the Spider-Man "drug" issues to the more recent cases involving Manga.

Check out the CBLDF site to read Joe's article right here:

CBLDF’s History of Comics Censorship Presentation, Annotated by Joe Sergi’s Cup of Geek

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook

Comics Experience - C2E2 Report!

The 2012 C2E2 Convention was another great one for Comics Experience staff, alums, and Creators Workshop members!

On Friday, Comics Experience founder Andy Schmidt (former Marvel and IDW Editor) and our art instructor (and pro penciler) Robert Atkins held two art-focused panels: Comic Art and Storytelling and Building Your Art Portfolio.

In the Storytelling panel, the panelists discussed the elements of "Visual Success," from communication and action, to dynamics. There was also conversation about how to "read without words," the concept of active reader participation, and even the topic of photo reference. You can read a more detailed account of this panel on CE alum Joe Sergi's Cup of Geek website.

In the Portfolio panel, Andy and Robert discussed all the ins and outs of building and showing your portfolio -- what to include, what to exclude, and even how to physically present it!

Also, quite a number of Comics Experience alums were in attendance, and several were exhibiting, including Amy Chu (alum & Workshop member) showing off Meridien City (1 and 2 in one volume!) and Girls Night Out. And artist and alum Carl Peterson was another member displaying his artwork in Artists Alley!

Of course, no major convention would be complete without a Comics Experience meet-up, which took place Friday after the panels.

The meet-up was attended by (clockwise, from left): Amy Chu, Jim Murray, Andy Schmidt, Joe Sergi, Brian Gilman, J.D. Oliva, Craig Schmidt, and Carl Peterson, as well as (not pictured here) Robert Atkins and Paul Allor.

We hope to see you at the next convention!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook