Chris Roberson joins Creators Workshop on 12/11/12!

On December 11, 2012 at 10pm Eastern Time, our live, online guest at the Creators Workshop Book Club will be writer Chris Roberson, discussing Memorial published by IDW.

Chris Roberson's writings include numerous short stories and novels, such as Here, There & Everywhere, as well as the comic book series Memorial, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love and I, Zombie.

Along with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, he is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent publishing house specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies.

In 2012, Monkeybrain launched a new creator-owned digital comics line, Monkeybrain Comics, which is distributed by comiXology. MonkeyBrain features the work of many top creators including Kurt Busiek, Colleen Coover, Steve Leiber, Brandon Seifert, and Paul Tobin to name only a few.

Chris has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award four times, twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and four times for the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History, winning twice.

Memorial, published by IDW, is the story of Em, a young woman who arrives at a hospital with no memory of her past. A year later, she has rebuilt her life, only to find her existence is thrown into turmoil after she inherits a magical shop and is drawn into a supernatural conflict.

ComicBook.com has described the book as "ambitious, brilliant storytelling" and Broken Frontier said "Chris Roberson has built a magical world that can compete with some of the industry's best."

We look forward to our discussion with Chris!

There's still time to join us at the Creators Workshop before this live sessions. We 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

Chris Roberson and Dirk Manning - Upcoming Guests on the Creators Workshop!

In December, we'll have two great live, online sessions at the Creators Workshop: a Book Club discussion of Memorial with writer Chris Roberson...

AND a Workshop session with Dirk Manning on his writing, including Nightmare World from Image/Shadowline, and his new book on making comics, Write or Wrong!

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On December 11, 2012 at 10pm Eastern Time, we'll be discussing Memorial with writer Chris Roberson.

Chris Roberson's writings include numerous short stories and novels, such as Here, There & Everywhere, as well as the comic book series Memorial, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love and I, Zombie.

Along with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, he is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent publishing house specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies.

In 2012, Monkeybrain launched a new creator-owned digital comics line, Monkeybrain Comics, which is distributed by comiXology. MonkeyBrain features the work of many top creators including Kurt Busiek, Colleen Coover, Steve Leiber, Brandon Seifert, and Paul Tobin to name only a few.

Chris has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award four times, twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and four times for the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History, winning twice.

Memorial, published by IDW, is the story of Em, a young woman who arrives at a hospital with no memory of her past. A year later, she has rebuilt her life, only to find her existence is thrown into turmoil after she inherits a magical shop and is drawn into a supernatural conflict.

ComicBook.com has described the book as "ambitious, brilliant storytelling" and Broken Frontier said "Chris Roberson has built a magical world that can compete with some of the industry's best."

We look forward to our discussion with Chris!

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Then, on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, we'll be joined by writer Dirk Manning!

Dirk is the writer/creator of Nightmare World published by Image Comics, Tales of Mr. Rhee, and Love Stories About Death.

Dirk is also the writer of a popular Newsarama column for comic creators. The column, Write or Wrong was recently collected into book form.

For over five years Dirk Manning’s column has provided aspiring writers with candid advice, anecdotes and inspiration about how to successfully meet artists, create comics, and get them published. Dirk has collected key columns from the series with each installment personally revisited in preparation for the book’s release.

Write or Wrong: A Writer’s Guide to Creating Comics is an invaluable tool for anyone seeking to create comics, improve their knowledge of the industry and the craft, and/or be simultaneously entertained and informed.

Dirk's Nightmare World began life as a popular horror web comic, which was later collected into three trade paperbacks by Image/Shadowline. The short stories -- done with a variety of talented artists -- delve into a world of ghostly lovers, demonic abductors, vengeful victims, and sexy Cthulhu priestesses. The loosely connected stories weave an epic tale of a world not unlike our own, where nothing is as it seems.

Dirk has also written comic work for Zenescope Comics, Tara Normal, Shakespeare Shaken, and more. In 2011 he was approached by Blackbox TV to write a short film for the franchise, resulting in The Hunger, which is currently available for viewing on YouTube.

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We're looking forward to great discussions with Chris and Dirk!

There's still time to join us at the Creators Workshop before these two live sessions. We 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

CE alum Paul Allor's "Orc Girl" premieres this weekend!

Writer Paul Allor's Orc Girl premieres this weekend, October 20, 2012 at Kokomo Con in Kokomo, Indiana.

Paul is a Comics Experience alum, Creators Workshop member, and on staff at Comics Experience as the CE Book Club Manager.

Orc Girl is Paul's new one-shot with artist Thomas Boatwright, and it's already receiving praise.

Comics writer Gail Simone recently called Orc Girl "one of the best comics I’ve read in ages" and "Funny, charming, bittersweet and moving...Absolutely lovely in story and art."

Orc Girl is a 48-page book, with a 22-page main story and four backup stories (two of which also appeared in Paul's Clockwork, Volume One).

The comic book is being published by Challenger Comics, the imprint of writer, designer, and publisher Ryan Ferrier.

Paul was recently interviewed on iFanboy and talked all about the project.

Paul has partnered with Kokomo Con’s organizers to offer an exclusive Kokomo Con variant edition of Orc Girl, with a signed and numbered print-run limited to only 100 copies.

In addition, artist Thomas Boatwright has contributed a 9x12 watercolor of Orc Girl, to be auctioned off at the convention, with all proceeds of the auction going to the Kokomo Humane Society.

After the con, Orc Girl will be available to order online in both print and digital form.

Paul also recently wrote Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #8 featuring Fugitoid, which introduces the popular character into IDW's turtles continuity. He discussed that project on an iFanboy Don't Miss podcast recently.

He is also the author of the Clockwork anthology, which contained 12 original stories on cross-genre characters such as space-faring gorilla pirates, heart-broken robots, a beautiful gunfighter, and even a man on death row.

Clockwork contained artwork by Comics Experience art alums and workshop members Ken Frederick and Carl Peterson, alongside well-known artists including JM Ken Niimura (I Kill Giants), Brett Weldele (Surrogates) and Nikki Cook (Memoir).

Both Orc Girl and Clockwork were recently discussed at length on the Pop Culture Hound podcast, Episode #11 with Chris Thompson & Taylor Lily, featured on Bleeding Cool.

The Hound guys called Paul "a guy who's really inspirational in the way he approaches the craft."

And they praised Clockwork, specifically, saying "What [Paul] achieves in some of these five-page stories is an object lesson in how much you can do with such a small space."

Clockwork, Volume 1 is available online on Paul's Govt Comics website.

Paul also works as a comics editor on upcoming or released projects such as Girls' Night Out, Gutter Magic, Deluge, and Rex, Zombie Killer

Congratulations to Paul and Thomas on the release of Orc Girl!

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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

CE Alum Paul Allor's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series Hits Stores Today!

Writer Paul Allor's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #8 featuring Fugitoid hits comic shops across the country today!

Paul's story introduces the popular Fugitoid character into IDW's turtles continuity and features a cool mix of action-packed fun and compelling drama!

Paul is a Comics Experience alum, Creators Workshop member, and on staff at Comics Experience as the CE Book Club Manager. He recently wrote a Guest Blog on the book and Comics Experience which you can read right here.

There's already been a lot of coverage of Paul's IDW debut book -- check out the following sampling of the coverage for more!

Comic Book Resources (CBR) interviews Paul and shows preview pages from the book!
Read Interview

iFanboy's Don't Miss podcast features an interview with Paul!
Listen to the Podcast

Talking Comics interviews Paul!
Read Interview

The book features artwork by Paul McCaffrey, colors by John Paul Bove, and covers by McCaffrey and David Petersen (Mouse Guard).

Each issue of the Micro-Series spotlights another character in the TMNT universe. Other Micro-Series issues are written by Brian Lynch, Erik Burnham, Mike Costa and Barbara Kesel.

The series is edited by Bobby Curnow, a fellow CE alum and a professional member of the Creators Workshop.

Paul Allor is also the author of the Clockwork anthology, which contained 12 original stories on cross-genre characters such as space-faring gorilla pirates, heart-broken robots, a beautiful gunfighter, and even a man on death row.

Clockwork contained artwork by Comics Experience art alums and workshop members Ken Frederick and Carl Peterson, alongside well-known artists including JM Ken Niimura (I Kill Giants), Brett Weldele (Surrogates) and Nikki Cook (Memoir).

Paul has previous experience as a journalist, and one of his articles inspired the death row story in Clockwork entitled X-Row, illustrated by Aaron Houston.

Paul also works as a comics editor on upcoming or released projects such as Girls' Night Out, Gutter Magic, Deluge, and Rex, Zombie Killer

Congratulations to Paul on the release of his book!

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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 helps TMNT writer on his journey

Today we have a Guest Blog from Comics Experience staffer, alum, and Workshop member, Paul Allor.

Paul wrote a new comic book for IDW Publishing which hits comic shops across the country next week. Below he talks about how Comics Experience has helped him in his comics career.

You can also check out an interview Paul did on the book -- where he discussed Comics Experience as well -- over on Comic Book Bin right here.

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Guest Blog by Paul Allor
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Next Wednesday, comic shops across the nation will receive their copies of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #8, a comic book I wrote. This absolutely would not have happened without Comics Experience.

I've talked a lot in the past about the impact Andy Schmidt and Comics Experience has had on my career; about the industry insight Comics Experience has given me and the writing skills it has helped me develop. But it's given me more than that. It's given me a community.

Since this project was announced I've been talking to a lot of people -- readers, fellow creators, comics media -- and one question keeps coming up, in different forms: "How did you manage to break in?"

It's a question that kind of amuses me, because the answer seems pretty obvious: I didn't. The Turtles book is my first big work-for-hire gig, and an incredible opportunity. But at the same time, it's one of many, many steps along the way (albeit a very big step). These days, making comics isn't a binary proposition. You aren't in or out, a pro or an amateur.

Like most journeys, this isn't one you want to travel alone. And that's where Comics Experience comes in. The Comics Experience classes, and the Creator's Workshop, has given me a community of people -- writers, artist, colorists and letterers -- all on that same journey.

I can not even begin to tell you how much I've learned from the men and women I've met in Comics Experience. Together, we discuss and dissect the craft and art of comics creating. We trade tips on publishers and printers. We discuss legal issues and career developments. We're there for each other when we succeed, and when we fail.

When I was working on my first book, Clockwork, I workshopped several of the stories through Comics Experience, and asked approximately 12 billion questions about printers, paper stock, marketing and distribution.

Two of the artists in the book (Ken Frederick and Carl Peterson) are people I met in the workshop, another (ET Dollman) did my imprint logo, and yet another (Rich Douek) helped design the front cover.

The folks in Comics Experience are my friends, my coworkers and my collaborators. They played a direct role in giving me the skills, the experience and the confidence to pursue and write an issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for IDW Publishing. I absolutely couldn't have done it without them, and I hope they know it.

I look forward to the next step of our journey.

-- Paul Allor

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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!

IDW Editor John Barber Discusses "Breaking In" and more!

IDW Senior Editor John Barber joined the Comics Experience Creators Workshop recently, to discuss breaking in to comics, and the state of the industry.

Several of the questions revolved around the best way to break into the industry, and Barber repeatedly noted that putting out your own comics -- even if they are self-published -- can help gain attention and help pave the way for future success.

"As a writer, it's extraordinarily hard, if you don't draw, to get a comic done," Barber said, in terms of wrangling talent, financing the book and producing the final product. "Once it's done, you're ahead of the pack, because a lot of people drop off. So if you can get it done, it puts you in another tier."

Barber was the first editor at Marvel to hire writers Jonathan Hickman and Keiron Gillen, and said their previous comics were a big part of what convinced him to bring them on.

"I picked up Nightly News by Hickman, and I was just blown away," he said. "It was like nothing I'd ever read. But it was just enough to see that he could write a Marvel genre comic. Keiron (Gillen), it was the same thing, I read all of Phonogram, and started talking to him.

"In both those cases, they did something in their own comic that clearly wasn't writing what they thought somebody wanted to see. It wasn't, 'zombie comics are selling, so we should do zombie comics.' They were doing their own thing."

Making your own comics also allows you to build up your skills, and take advantage of opportunities that come your way. Barber noted that Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis spent nearly a decade writing and drawing his own comics, before being introduced to editorial staff at Marvel. Once he had that opportunity, Barber said, he was able to show them great comics that didn't read like anything else on the market.

"Breaking into comics successfully requires a lot of luck," Barber said. "It requires you to be in the right place at the right time. But the better you get and the more ready you are to shine at that moment, the more likely you are to get lucky."

Other topics John discussed included:

* What the comics industry could do to capitalize on the success of licensed books
* What it takes to be successful in comics
* The most important things for people to know about the comics craft
* Working with comics writers from other media
* Whether it's better to work on individual issues or graphic novels
* Using comics internships to advance your career
* Finding an editor for your self-published/small press project
* Choosing the right artist for a project
* Why most comics companies don't have open submissions for writers
* The difficulty of launching a comic strip
* Price points of digital comics
* How the disappearance of comic shops would affect the industry
* Whether editors' careers are influenced by finding the "next big artist."

Creators Workshop sessions take place every month, giving members real-world knowledge that will help them succeed in their comics career. Additionally the monthly Creators Workshop Book Club sessions feature guest writers and artists discussing the craft and art of comics, as well as the business side of things.

There's still plenty of time to sign up before the next session. We hope to see you there.

-- Posted by Paul Allor

John Barber - Upcoming Guest on Creators Workshop! (7/26/12)

On Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, the Creators Workshop will be joined by special guest John Barber!

John Barber is Senior Editor at IDW comics as well as the writer of Transformers: Robots in Disguise and other comics. He is also a former Marvel editor.

He started his career self-publishing and making webcomics before joining the Marvel Comics editorial staff in 2004.

He worked on the Ultimate line of comics at the height of their popularity, and worked on the first Dark Tower series Marvel produced in cooperation with Stephen King.

Soon after, Barber moved to the X-Men comics, where he edited the best-selling X-Force relaunch and the Wolverine line of comics, including the Eisner Award-Nominated Old Man Logan series.

He helped bring the alternative-centric Strange Tales anthology to fruition before leaving Marvel to pursue a freelance career, including writing for the X-Men: Nation X series and penning several of IDW's Transformers limited series, as well as writing and drawing the (now completed) webcomic Outside Infinity. But he was also the editor of the creator-owned hits Kick-Ass and Superior for Marvel's Icon imprint, and Turf at Image Comics.

There's still time to join us at the Creators Workshop before this session! We 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

Greg Pak, Alejandro Arbona, John Barber - Upcoming Guests on Creators Workshop!

In July, we'll have two great live, online sessions at the Creators Workshop: a Book Club discussion on Marvel's Red Skull Incarnate with writer Greg Pak and editor Alejandro Arbona; AND a Workshop session with IDW editor and writer John Barber on his writing, editing, and topics such as how to break into the comics industry!

On July 17, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, we'll be discussing Red Skull Incarnate with Greg and Alejandro.

Red Skull Incarnate tells the secrets behind the origin of how Johann Schmidt -- orphan, thug, urchin -- became the Red Skull.

As Berlin descends into chaos and ruin, sinister forces are on the rise...and the men who will form the Nazi Party ascend to power. Greg, along with breakout artist Mirko Colak (Secret Warriors) bring to life the twisted birth of the Red Skull.

Greg Pak is a filmmaker and comic book writer best known for directing the award-winning feature film Robot Stories, writing the epic Planet Hulk and World War Hulk comic book storylines, and co-writing (with Fred Van Lente) the fan favorite Incredible Hercules series for Marvel Comics. He was named one of 25 Filmmakers to Watch by Filmmaker Magazine, described as "a talent with a future" by the New York Times, and named "Breakout Talent" of the year by Wizard Magazine.

Alejandro Arbona is a former editor for Marvel Comics, where he edited Invincible Iron Man, Osborn, Casanova, Legion of Monsters, and more. Before joining Marvel, Alejandro spent two years at Wizard, writing and editing news and feature articles, interviewing the likes of Alan Moore, and overseeing a sprawling retrospective by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley on the first hundred issues of Ultimate Spider-Man. Today, Alejandro continues to edit Casanova as well as the mini-series Sacrifice created by Sam Humphries and Dalton Rose.

Then, on Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, we'll be joined by IDW editor and comic book writer John Barber!

John Barber is Senior Editor at IDW comics as well as the writer of Transformers: Robots in Disguise and other comics.

He started his career self-publishing and making webcomics before joining the Marvel Comics editorial staff in 2004.

He worked on the Ultimate line of comics at the height of their popularity, and worked on the first Dark Tower series Marvel produced in cooperation with Stephen King.

Soon after, Barber moved to the X-Men comics, where he edited the best-selling X-Force relaunch and the Wolverine line of comics, including the Eisner Award-Nominated Old Man Logan series.

He helped bring the alternative-centric Strange Tales anthology to fruition before leaving Marvel to pursue a freelance career, including writing for the X-Men: Nation X series and penning several of IDW's Transformers limited series, as well as writing and drawing the (now completed) webcomic Outside Infinity. But he was also the editor of the creator-owned hits Kick-Ass and Superior for Marvel's Icon imprint, and Turf at Image Comics.

There's still time to join us at the Creators Workshop before these two great discussions! We 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

Schmidt and Chee discuss characters and color in "5 Days to Die"

Please note: If you're interested in purchasing "5 Days to Die," Comixology has a 3-day crime sale running from June 12-14, 2012 offering all 5 issues of the miniseries for only $3.99.

In the Summer of 2010, IDW Publishing released 5 Days to Die, a weekly series providing five issues of hard-boiled, action-packed crime, underlying a deeply personal story of fatherhood and redemption.

Recently, writer Andy Schmidt and artist Chee discussed the development, creation and marketing of the book, during the Creators Workshop monthly book club session.

During the session, one workshop member asked Schmidt about the introduction of Ray Crisara, his main character. In the mini-series' opening scene, Crisara and his wife are in mid-argument, shortly before a tragic car accident that propels the rest of the story forward.

"I wanted to show that while they were dysfunctional, they were still a family," Schmidt said. "They may not like each other, but they still love each other."

However, he said, it was a counter-intuitive move, and that he was concerned it might make his protagonist unlikeable for some. But, Schmidt said, he believed it would pay off after people read the issue as a whole.

"I was hoping that he was a well-formed enough character by the end of the first issue that people would get on board with him," Schmidt said. "That the mystery would pull people through."

The flawed, vulnerable look at Crisara's family life also fit in with Schmidt's conception of the character, and his desire to avoid certain clichés of the action/thriller genre.

"I didn't want him to be the clichéd cool guy," Schmidt said. "I didn't want him to be the guy that shows up, and he's the hardass, and everybody's like, 'That guy's totally bad-ass!' I wanted him to feel real. I wanted that scene with his wife to be a real argument, a real conversation that someone could have. And I wanted it to be about family."

Schmidt and Chee also discussed many of the book's visual elements, including the color scheme, which provided a wash of color over each page, underlying the book's emotional content and the main character's deteriorating mental state.

Chee, who handled coloring as well as art duties, said he was inspired by Darwyn Cooke's work, particularly on his Parker series of books for IDW Publishing. At first, he said, he planned on using only blue tones.
"Then Andy suggested reds and yellows, which really helped," Chee said.

Chee also noted that the comic's distribution schedule, and his need to complete all five issues before any were released, was both a relief and a challenge.

"It gave me a lot of lead time, but I was also quite nervous about how the book would turn out," Chee said. "I would print the pages out and try to figure out what the results would look like."


Other topics discussed during the book club session included:

* How Schmidt and Chee began collaborating;
* The pitch process of 5 Days to Die, including the role played by alternate covers, and by the story's potential for other media;
* The series' use of strong double-page splashes
* How the weekly shipping schedule affected sales;
* The role of women in the story, and in action stories generally;
* Collaborating with artist and writers in other parts of the world;
* Injecting humor into a dark story;
* Marketing the book;
* And many more.

5 Days to Die is currently available in trade paperback form in comic shops or via Amazon, and through Comixology. Schmidt and Chee also collaborated on Challenger Deep, available in trade paperback form through BOOM! Studios.

Creators Workshop sessions take place every month, giving members real-world knowledge that will help them succeed in their comics career. Additionally the monthly Creators Workshop book club sessions feature guest writers and artists discussing the craft and art of comics, as well as the business side of things.

There's still plenty of time to sign up before the next session. We hope to see you there.

--Posted by Paul Allor

CE Staffer Paul Allor to Write Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series for IDW!

As announced yesterday on the IDW forums, Paul Allor will be writing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #8 featuring Fugitoid! Paul's story will introduce the popular Fugitoid character into IDW's turtles continuity.

Paul is a Comics Experience alum, Creators Workshop member, and on staff at Comics Experience as the CE Book Club Manager.

The book will feature artwork by Paul McCaffrey, and feature covers by McCaffrey (shown at left) and David Petersen (Mouse Guard).

Each issue of the Micro-Series spotlights another character in the TMNT universe. The other Micro-Series issues are written by Brian Lynch, Erik Burnham, Mike Costa and Barbara Kesel.

The series is edited by Bobby Curnow, a fellow CE alum and a professional member of the Creators Workshop.

The Fugitoid issue will be solicited for pre-order by comic shops in the July Diamond Previews catalog.

Paul Allor is also the author of the Clockwork anthology, which contained 12 original stories on cross-genre characters such as space-faring gorilla pirates, heart-broken robots, a beautiful gunfighter, and even a man on death row.

Clockwork contained artwork by Comics Experience art alums and workshop members Ken Frederick and Carl Peterson, alongside well-known artists including JM Ken Niimura (I Kill Giants), Brett Weldele (Surrogates) and Nikki Cook (Memoir).

Paul has previous experience as a journalist, and one of his articles inspired the death row story in Clockwork entitled X-Row, illustrated by Aaron Houston.

Paul also works as a comics editor on upcoming or released projects such as Girls' Night Out, Gutter Magic, Deluge, and Rex, Zombie Killer

Congratulations to Paul on his exciting opportunity with IDW!

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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

Andy Schmidt & Chee Join Creators Workshop Live TOMORROW NIGHT, 5/15

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, writer (and Comics Experience founder) Andy Schmidt and artist Chee will be joining us for an online Creators Workshop Book Club discussion of their creator-owned book 5 Days to Die published by IDW!

5 Days to Die follows Ray Crisara, a tough cop who has to make an impossible decision with just five days to live.

Upon surviving a terrible car accident, Ray is left a widower and his daughter is in critical condition. Believing this was a planned hit by the city’s drug lord he’s been pursuing, he must decide to track the killer or stay with his little girl. With a brain injury that leaves Ray less than a week to live, how will he decide to spend his last days on Earth?

Christos N. Gage said about the book, "this is the stuff crime noir fans love!" And New York Times best-selling author David Morrell called the book "hard-hitting, suspenseful, and innovative."

A trailer for the book can be viewed right here.

Join us at the Creators Workshop to take part in this great discussion!

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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

UPCOMING GUESTS: Andy Schmidt & Chee on "5 Days to Die"! Plus, Lucasfilms' Pablo Hidalgo!

On Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, writer (and Comics Experience founder) Andy Schmidt and artist Chee will be joining us for an online Creators Workshop Book Club discussion of their creator-owned book 5 Days to Die published by IDW!

5 Days to Die follows Ray Crisara, a tough cop who has to make an impossible decision with just five days to live.

Upon surviving a terrible car accident, Ray is left a widower and his daughter is in critical condition. Believing this was a planned hit by the city’s drug lord he’s been pursuing, he must decide to track the killer or stay with his little girl. With a brain injury that leaves Ray less than a week to live, how will he decide to spend his last days on Earth?

Christos N. Gage said about the book, "this is the stuff crime noir fans love!" And New York Times best-selling author David Morrell called the book "hard-hitting, suspenseful, and innovative."

A trailer for the book can be viewed right here.

Make sure to join us for this Book Club session with Andy and Chee that our members have been requesting for a long time!

Then, just one week later on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, our next live, online Creators Workshop special guest will be Lucasfilms' Pablo Hidalgo!

An expert on a variety of genre obsessions, from classic animation to shape-shifting robots, Pablo Hidalgo started writing about fantastic subject matters professionally in 1995 as a freelance author for roleplaying games.

In 2000, he changed careers from a visual effects concept artist and digital compositor in Canada to a full-time Star Wars authority at Lucasfilm Ltd., working with their marketing department.

Pablo is the co-author of both The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia and the Transformers Vault: The Complete Transformers Universe. He was also instrumental in the creation of StarWars.com as the main source of information for fans.

Join us May 22nd for a discussion of managing continuity, as well as all things related to the great properties Pablo has worked with!

Join us at the Creators Workshop to take part in these great discussions!

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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

GUEST BLOG: Bobby Curnow on Learning, Inspiration, and Comics Experience

In this guest blog, Bobby Curnow, IDW Editor, Comics Experience alum, and Creators Workshop member, shares his thoughts on learning and Comics Experience.

Bobby's creator-owned miniseries, Night of 1,000 Wolves, which he produced in collaboration with Eisner-nominated artist Dave Wachter is solicited for pre-order in the current March 2012 Diamond PREVIEWS catalog and will be in stores in May.

Bobby also wrote Godzilla Legends #5, which hit comic shops last week! On Godzilla, Bobby collaborated with Eisner-nominated artist Dean Haspiel. Both books are being published by IDW. Here's what Bobby had to say:

I've just spent the past five minutes staring at a blank page, trying to think of a smart or funny opening to this guest blog. As you can tell from this sentence, I wasn't successful.

This is one of my biggest weaknesses as a writer--waiting for inspiration to hit. Which is stupid, because inspiration won't come to you. You have to go out and find inspiration and then throw rocks at it until you piss it off. Then inspiration will start throwing rocks at YOU. And those rocks will have a gooey center of good ideas. So when you get hit in the head, the rock breaks and the ideas seep into your brain via head wound and...

Holy crap, this is a terrible introduction. I'm talking about inspiration rocks and head wounds. Okay.

But you know what? That's fine. Because this is a key technique I've learned from Comics Experience. Just start. Don't worry about the terrible, terrible drivel that comes out. Start typing on that blank page. Get going and don't stop. You can always go back and edit. Just start.

Seven years ago, I knew I wanted to make comics but I didn't know where to start. I lived a couple blocks from the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in NYC, and saw that some guy named Andy was teaching classes there about how to write for comics. Intrigued, I signed up. The first thing I learned? I didn't know ANYTHING about what goes into writing comics.

But I started to learn. I learned that you can't show two different actions in one panel. I learned what editors look for in a pitch (unmarked bills, ideally). I learned that creating comics is a genuine collaboration between everyone involved and if you don't respect your co-creators you will crash and burn.

From there, I learned that I wanted to learn more. So I did. I took the writing class. Again. I took the advanced writing class. And so on.

Each step I learned more. Learning about making comics is an addiction. There's ALWAYS more to learn. This is what I tell aspiring creators... your first goal should be to just get better. Don't worry about being published. You won't, not for a while. Just start. Learn. Get better. Keep on getting better. Fail a bunch (that's key!). Get so good you can't be ignored. But keep learning.

I started interning at IDW Publishing so I could learn more, first-hand, from people who lived and breathed comics. Now I'm a full-time editor and a published writer. Well, almost published. Godzilla Legends #5 comes out this month! My creator-owned project, Night of 1000 Wolves with artist Dave Wachter comes out in May!

I may not have learned how to plug subtly yet.

But maybe I'll be better a year from now. I'll keep trying, keep learning.

I started learning about the comic book industry with Comics Experience. In the time since that first class with Andy, Comics Experience has grown leaps and bounds. Want to know how to letter your own comics? Take the Production class. Want to get your script workshopped immediately? Go to the Creators Workshop. Want to ask Scott Snyder a question? Book Club. There is a staggering wealth of knowledge at Comics Experience, ripe for the plucking. If you want to learn how to make comics, you are living in a golden age.

So go ahead, get started. Who knows what awful rock-throwing metaphor awaits?

-- Bobby Curnow