Comic Books @ MindSay 
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The premise is simple: Following the events of Civil War, during which Spider-Man unmasked himself in order to support the Super Hero Registration Act, a hitman was sent by an old foe to claim the life of the wall crawler. A bullet meant for him ended up going through his Aunt May's body.
One More Day narrates the desperate quest of Peter Parker, trying to find a way to help his old aunt survive.
And it gets the ball rolling for the upcoming Brand New Day a follow up which promises many changes in Spider-Man's life.
Personally, I can't wait to see those changes.
In fact, my eagerness to read this particular issue even led to a dear friend sending me a draft of what should have been the cover.
Hey. It may not be Steven McNiven, but it definitely makes more sense than anything Straczynski could come up with.
I kid, I kid. The man is good. Just don't give him too much creative control over a character.
Once I was finally able to read the issue, I managed to enjoy it despite a couple of continuity mistakes. (I'm looking at you, Stark Tower)
Quesada's art was surprisingly good, and the Spider-Man/Iron Man match up was handled pretty well.
It's actually strange to read JMS writing Iron Man as a person with feelings and regrets, and not as a villain with a twirly mustache.
All things considered, I'm definitely counting the days till next issue. (And hopefully, next draft)
Best Movie. Evar.
I've come to the conclusion that I just don't fit in anywhere and that my best bet to providing myself a proper income is to keep creating, designing, and drawing -- and NOT stop. I've just gotten two rejection letters in the mail; one from Goodwill Industries and the Noel Group. I thought both job interviews went exceedingly well, but apparently I was wrong. What does it take for people to notice me? I'm a great person to work for you yet without a car I can't seem to find work in this one whore town in the middle of bumble fuck Wisconsin. So what's a girl like me to do?
Get work as an artist and work at home.
My biggest problem in getting work in the comics industry is that, once again, I'm a little too different for publishers to take a risk on. I'm not a big name and haven't worked for or with big names. The closest I ever came to working with a major publisher was in the summer of '98. I was commissioned to work in collaboration with a lava lamp company and Todd McFarlane Toys. They wanted to create a new line of really utlra cool dragons that you can buy separately for your lava lamp. My job was to create powers and characters based on the lava dragons. I think the product would've sold VERY well. However, since I was an unknown talent, I was hired for a job where I wasn't allowed to really get creative and I was not the backbone behind the original designs of the dragons. In fact, I never got to see the dragons at all. I was only given a set of colors and, instead of drawing the story, I was only supposed to write. After I got done with (what I thought) was a great treatment for a story about the dragons, I had to travel down to Chicago to meet with the other creators. Everyone in the boardroom had a name tag (including myself) except for one man who sat off to the side yet filled the room with his ego. Every idea we discussed was met with a sour attitude by this guy. He annoyed me so much that I asked him what his real problem was. He acted very surprised that I was (and I quote him) "so ignorant" about him. In any case, from the way the conversation with the big wigs was going, I knew the project wasn't going to go anywhere after that. I'll never forget McFarlane's attitude; it left me with a very sour impression about the comics industry.
Of course that wouldn't be the only time I'd be met with opposition in the industry. I had an interview with Whitewolf, Inc. in 1999 that ended with me getting into a shouting match with the art director. Everything was professional up to the point where the guy accused me of "never having gone to art school" and had the nerve to pick at my "cross hatching" skills with my ink drawings. At that I grabbed one of their books and pointed out to him that he had hired several artists before me who exhibit a much more amateur technique of drawing. This was met with great protest and, even though I held my ground, I wouldn't have been surprised if the guy had taken a swing at me. On my way out, one of the writers congradulated with. I thought he was being sarcastic with me but then he said, "it's about time he got a tongue lashing like that from someone who really knows art." Later this writer introduced me to some more of Whitewolf's freelance writers and artists who were all sick of the way things were being run in that company. It was no wonder that eventually the Wizards of the Coast in California bought them out.
I've learned that it's one thing to create a great piece of art, it's altogether something else to market it to people who, for lack of a better word, assholes who just happen to be better entrepreneurs than artists. Even though I didn't get along with every other artist I've met in the comics industry, one of whom being Brandon Peterson that I went to college with, I was always told that I'd have a more difficult time getting work as a comic book artist all because of my classical fine arts training. You'd think that it would've been easier for me, but, to tell you the truth, I don't think it's easy for anybody.
The best window for me to crash through today is earning a commission on producing a comic book outside of the industry for the Ojibwe Language Comic Book publication project with the Red Cliff Band of Chippewa tribe. It was a project that has had a lot of ups and downs. First we had to appeal for tribal approval and funding, now the trick is to get the story I was handed for comic adaptation polished.
The difference between working for the tribe instead of working through a comic book publisher is the great amount of channels of councils of elders you have to get permission from to make sure the material is accurate and respectful, not just entertaining. The focus is on getting things right, being respectful, and making a book that will benefit the tribes. This book is going to be translated into the Ojibwe language, so the comic adaptation has to be written in a way that means I had to edit the original story into descriptive, poetic sections that will make it easier for the English words to be transcribed to Ojibwe.
The Ojibwe language, like many woodland Indian languages, is incredibly beautiful, describing people and objects with down-to-the-point detail. One of the challenges we face is incorporating Ojibwe into the comic book context/layout. Once I'm done with the artwork, the project is not nearly half done, we have to go back to the drawing board with the word balloons and create a font for the words and place them in a way that's readable for American Indian youth. The project is overwhelming to me; both exciting and challenging and may prove to be the one project that may make or break me.
It's also very important to me because I am Chippewa and Menominee Indian. Preserving our native languages is vital to the continuing cultural survival of my people. Contributing my talents to this project is not only making me money but insuring that the old words continue to flow for the next generation.
I hope to someday show the world that I am a capable artist and designer who can be marketable as well as informative. I'm not just another kid with penchant for drawing cool looking aliens or monsters. I'm a one woman army with an ink brush.
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