CE Alums Rich Douek & Paul Allor Write for Oxymoron Hardcover!

Oxymoron is the Kickstarter-funded new graphic novel from ComixTribe, collecting stories about a supervillain psychopath obsessed with contradiction.

And this 100-page hardcover will include stories written by TWO Comics Experience alums and Creators Workshop members: Rich Douek and Paul Allor!

The book, debuting in October at New York Comic Con, also features stories by up-and-coming writers and artists, including Jason Ciaramella (The Cape, Godzilla), Joe Mulvey (Scam), Mark Poulton (Avengelyne, Savage Hawkman), and more, and is edited by ComixTribe publisher Tyler James.

Rich Douek's story in the Oxymoron hardcover, with art by Rafer Roberts (Plastic Farm), is "Act Naturally."

"Act Naturally" -- The Royal Shakespeare Touring Company's debut of Romeo and Juliet at Swanstown's prestigious Woodmire Hall is taken under the Oxymoron's psychotic direction - that is, until superhero Red shows up. But, is she just playing her part in Oxy's latest tragic comedy?

Rich is also the creator/writer behind the forthcoming miniseries Gutter Magic, which tells a tale of sword, sorcery and sixguns in an alternate history where a magic-fueled World War II drove the world to the brink of apocalypse. Rich recently released a trailer promoting the planned five issue miniseries, with art by Brett Barkley, colors by CE alum Donna Gregory, and edits by CE staff member Paul Allor!

Paul Allor's story in the Oxymoron hardcover, with art by Aaron Houston (Clockwork), is "Quiet Riot."

"Quiet Riot" -- The Oxymoron holds all of Swanstown hostage in terrifying silence, as one cop struggles to stop the madman before her city burns to the ground.

Paul will also be writing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #8 featuring Fugitoid from IDW, and is 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. Paul also works as a comics editor on upcoming or released projects such as Girls' Night Out, Gutter Magic, Deluge, and Rex, Zombie Killer

As of this writing, the Oxymoron Kickstarter is already at over 95% of its funding goal, with 24 days to go! So, it's a huge success, but there's still plenty of time for you to pre-order your copy and partake of the great incentives including signed copies, original art, t-shirts, and more!

Check out the Oxymoron Kickstarter right here!

And congrats to Paul, Rich, and all the creators!

---

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

GUEST BLOG: Workshop Member Christopher Beckett on the "Reading Watchmen" Project

In this Guest Blog, Creators Workshop member Christopher Beckett discusses his recently launched Reading Watchmen project; a comprehensive, annotated examination of Moore and Gibbons' Watchmen.

I didn't know what to expect when I joined the Comics Experience Creators Workshop almost a year ago.

What I found was a community of like-minded people willing to offer suggestions and serious critiques of everyone's work in an effort to help us all grow as creators. With every personal interaction and every discussion thread, I learn something new and now find myself thinking more critically about my own writing.

This evolving critical viewpoint has not only helped me grow as a writer, but it also spurred my return to a project started back in early 2009 -- Reading Watchmen, a comprehensive, fully-annotated, examination of Watchmen.

I've been a fan of Alan Moore since first reading "The Anatomy Lesson" in an early collection of Saga of the Swamp Thing. So, of course, I am a fan of his seminal graphic novel with Dave Gibbons, Watchmen. From the outset, these two exceptional artists wanted to utilize the comics medium, and specifically the superhero genre, to create something that would transcend the ghetto into which laypeople at the time liked to consign this storytelling medium we love.

They intended to craft a graphic "novel," in the truest sense of the word, while exploiting storytelling qualities unique to the medium, as a refutation of the tired argument that comics were little more than movies on paper.

With an almost unprecedented attention to detail and a rarely incorporated literary approach, Moore & Gibbons achieved this. They created a book that has been part of college syllabi for most of its publishing life and, arguably, provided the comics medium with its Citizen Kane.

Despite its near-universal acclaim, I feel like many newer readers of Watchmen fail to properly understand and appreciate its significance. Being far removed from the Cold War reality that hangs like a pall over the narrative, and realizing that much of what was groundbreaking in Watchmen -- the heroes' psychological issues and the more realistic approach to their stories -- has been replicated in scores of comics over the past quarter century, I can understand some of this attitude.

But the heart of Watchmen is not this "realistic" approach to the superhero, but the literary layers upon which Moore & Gibbons built their story. It is rare that subsequent readings of a comic provide any new insights into the narrative. And yet, every time I read Watchmen -- every single time -- I discover something new.

My goal with Reading Watchmen is to offer readers a look "below the surface" at the myriad layers hidden within this landmark graphic novel. Each month of 2012 will be given over to a single chapter, allowing me the time and the space to properly "discuss" this dense book. I've learned a lot in my time as a Comics Experience workshop member, and that knowledge is something I've been applying to Reading Watchmen.

I hope you'll take the opportunity to check the site out and re-discover this classic with me.

-- Christopher M. Beckett


Check out the Reading Watchmen project right here.

---

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