Shakespeare Shaken Anthology Features FOUR Comics Experience Alums!

Shakespeare Shaken, published by Red Stylo Media, is a comic anthology of original graphic works (including short comic stories, short series and vignettes) inspired by the plays, poetry and life of William Shakespeare.

The full-color trade paperback contains over 200 pages and features work from over thirty comic artists and writers, including four Comics Experience alums -- Amber Love, Rich Douek, Shaun Noel, and Marta Tanrikulu!

Each contributor was challenged to take a favorite character or setting from Shakespeare's revered plays or poetry, shake 'em up, and create new works.

With a Foreword by Dirk Manning, creator of Nightmare World, and including short series by 2012 Eisner-nominee Jeremy Whitley (Princeless), Shakespeare Shaken also includes the following stories from Comics Experience alums:

No. 130: For Love, story by Amber Love and Kristen McHugh, art by Jhazmine Ruiz, tells a tragic tale inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 of a man given the chance to be consort to a goddess if only he will agree to renounce his mortal mate.

In All Our Yesterdays, story by Richard Douek, with art by Jason Strutz, the Star Emperor of Man, Mac Bethad, is on the verge of losing his life and empire to rebel forces when his ship's console is inhabited by sentient artificial intelligence and offers a final solution.

In The Play Is the Thing, by Shaun Noel, with art by Andre Frattino, it's the Sonnets versus the Globes for the Championship, in an all-ages basketball mash-up of characters and plot-twists from William Shakespeare's most famous plays.

In Falstaff’s Arena, by Marta Tanrikulu, art by Michael Reisner, the story continues the tradition of Shakespeare and men in tights, borrowing characters from "Henry IV," tumbled together with Mexican wrestling.

All of the stories are available in a collected trade paperback in print as well as individual digital downloads available at RedStylo.com and other online venues. You can see a complete list of places to purchase right here.

Congrats to Amber, Rich, Shaun, and Marta and all the contributors to Shakespeare Shaken!

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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
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CE Staffer Paul Allor Talks Comic Writing on "Vodka O'Clock" Podcast, Ep. 1210!

Episode 1210 of the Vodka O'Clock podcast, hosted by CE alum and Workshop member Elizabeth Amber-Love, recently featured CE Book Club Manger and alum Paul Allor discussing his projects, comic book writing, and Comics Experience!

It's a fascinating interview for anyone interested in making comics, and covers a wide range of topics.

For example, at one point, Paul discusses a death row inmate whose story he covered as a journalist and the incredible impact of that article on the people in that inmate’s life.

As Amber explained in the accompanying article on her website:

"This story later inspired one of Paul’s comics in 'Clockwork.' The story 'X-Row' was illustrated by Aaron Houston.

It’s one of the stories that shows how Paul tried to think outside the box and in comics that means outside the panel. He wrote panels that are not linear in a form typically structured around sequence."

Paul's artist-collaborators have included people such as JM Ken Niimura (I Kill Giants), Brett Weldele (The Surrogates), and Matthew Wilson (Wonder Woman), and he talks openly about his experience producing Clockwork and reaching out to industry editors.

In addition to his writing, and the release of his anthology, Clockwork, Paul also discusses his recent work as an Editor on upcoming or released projects such as Girls' Night Out, Gutter Magic, Deluge, and Rex, Zombie Killer.

Check out the full interview here!

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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
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COMMUNITY NEWS: "Vodka O'Clock" Podcast, Ep. 1206 Features 3 CE Alums Talking About "Making Comics"!

Episode 1206 of the Vodka O'Clock podcast, hosted by CE alum and Workshop member Elizabeth Amber-Love, recently featured two more CE alums, Amy Chu and Georgia Lee from Alpha Girl Comics. It was a Comics Experience trifecta!

Amber and her guests offered an inside perspective on making comics from women that have started their own imprint, Alpha Girl Comics.

Their work features a variety of genres and subject matter that appeal to teen+ readers of either gender, while being female-friendly, but not female exclusive.

Their creative teams include male contributors such as CE coloring instructor Chris Sotomayor, CE Workshop member and letterer E.T. Dollman, Editor Paul Allor (the CE Book Club Manager and alum) and others.

According to Amy Chu on the podcast, "We’re definitely into promoting positive female role models in stories...Ultimately we want a good strong protagonist that isn’t going to end up in a refrigerator."

Recent Alpha Girl projects include Amy's Girls Night Out, a collection of short stories by different artistic teams, and Georgia’s Meridien City series about a space detective in a world where the upper class dominates the only habitable areas on a planet.



Check out the full podcast here:
Vodka O'Clock Ep. 1206: Amy Chu & Georgia Lee from Alpha Girl Comics

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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
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COMMUNITY NEWS: Women of Wonder Day 2011!

Women of Wonder Day is an annual event created by best-selling author Andy Mangels, as a benefit for Women and Children's Domestic Violence Shelters.

Elizabeth Amber Love, a Comics Experience alum and Creators Workshop member, is one of the co-founders of the New Jersey version of this event, along with with Comic Fusion owners, Stacy Korn and Bill Meccia.

The New Jersey Women of Wonder Day, part of SuperHero Weekend, will be held at Comic Fusion, October 29th - 30th, 2011, and the centerpiece of the event is a charity auction held to benefit SAFE, a not-for profit agency serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

Last year, the event raised over $16,700, and this year's auction includes artwork by a ton of artists including Charles P. Wilson III, Ethan van Sciver, JK Woodward ("Batwoman," shown above right), Joe Sinnott, Michael Golden, Dave Wachter, David Mack, Terry Moore ("Wonder Woman," shown to the right) and many others!

Check out all the details on this exciting event for a great cause right here: Women of Wonder Day.

And best of luck to Elizabeth Amber Love and Comic Fusion, on another successful event!

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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 Community News 7/12/2011

It's been a great month for Comics Experience alumni and Workshop members -- from a Harvey Award nomination to free online comics, our community of creators has been on the move!

Congratulations to Nick Spencer (Comics Experience Writing alum) who received a 2011 Harvey Award nomination in the category of "Most Promising New Talent," for his work on his hit title from Image, Morning Glories. The Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art, and are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by fellow comic book professionals.

Brandon Seifert (Comics Experience Creators Workshop member) had his new book from Image, Witch Doctor, appear as a flipbook in the back of Walking Dead #85, and followed that up with the release of the #1 issue on June 29th. Described as House M.D. meets Fringe, the book looks to be a runaway hit! Witch Doctor is the first original title from Robert Kirkman’s new Image imprint, Skybound, which will also be launching a new title, Thief of Thieves, written by Nick Spencer!

A new anthology comic book, The December Project, was just released recently, and it was created by a group of Comics Experience Writing alums! The book features stories written by Marta Tanrikulu, Chris Lewis, Monika Smyczek, and Elizabeth Amber Love, plus three of the stories were lettered by Comics Experience Workshop member, E.T. Dollman. The book contains a wide variety of stories, from science fiction to magic, and from trippy to heart-wrenching. Pick up your copy of The December Project via IndyPlanet right here.

Comics Experience Writing alum Rich Douek, is offering a free, online preview story from his forthcoming book, Gutter Magic. Rich collaborated on the preview with Jason Baroody, Paul Little and E.T. Dollman, and the zero issue, coming this Fall, will feature art by Renae De Liz (Womanthology, Servant of the Bones), Craig S. Yeung (Runaways, X-Factor) and JC Grande (Johnny Monster, Necessary Evil). Download a PDF of the preview story at SixGunComics.com right here.

Congrats to all the members of the Comics Experience community, and keep making comics!

If you have Comics Experience-related alumni news, drop me a note!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
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