WHAT IT IS -- week ending 5.12.2019

Two weeks have passed since I offered up one of these week-ending roundups.  I'm not happy about missing the past two weekends, but I'm not going to beat myself up too much.  I was still working on my writing through revising the novel and/or reading.  So, without further ado, let's see what's what.

VISUAL MEDIA --

Avengers: Endgame –

Caught Endgame last week and really enjoyed it.  Be aware, SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW.  

I can't say it was a great film--cards on the table, I've found most of the Marvel films I've watched enjoyable, if forgettable.  Read that as a criticism if you want, but I'm more than happy to be entertained for a couple hours by the MCU without needing to ruminate on it after I walk out of the theater.  This was a similar experience, a good way to spend three hours with my youngest son.

There were moments, certainly, that stayed with me.  I really enjoyed "Professor Hulk," and though I'm uncomfortable with the Thor fatsuit (they could have easily gotten across Thor's frame of mind without humor at the expense of overweight people), I appreciated his character arc.  Captain America wielding Mjolnir--that was fun!  I also appreciated the fact that the creators utilized Jim Starlin's idea of Thanos becoming a farmer, with a major swerve as Thor decapitated the Titan, in the opening of the film.  That was a great move.  And finally, I have to applaud the writers and directors for managing to juggle so many characters so well.  For the most part, it felt natural, the way they managed to get most everyone a chance to shine, even if for only a quick moment.  

Ultimately, though, I do have trouble with the finale of Steve Rogers's character arc, from a logical, character-driven standpoint.  Steve would never stay on the sidelines.  And, despite the Russo Brothers' arguments for that ending, their explanation that Steve went into a different timeline to live out his life is not evident in the film they made, so it just doesn't work for me.  It betrays the character, as a number of people have noted online with far better werdz than me.

That said . . . I have to admit that, on possibly the most important level, the emotional level, it works.  Allowing Steve to have lived the life he lost, to have been given a second chance, to have had that time with the woman he loved is incredibly cathartic for fans of Cap.  And I felt that too, even without being too invested in the MCU.  It's the Romantic ending that I love, and the one that I work hard to veer away from with my own writing.  It's a fitting reminder that, if done well, emotion trumps logic, in writing, almost every time.  

Columbo: By Dawn’s Early Light –

The Commandant of a military academy, Colonel Rumford (played by Patrick McGoohan), is unhappy with the school's chairman of the board, the grandson of its founder, who wants to make the school into a coed institution.  The colonel manipulates the chairman into declaring he will fire the ceremonial cannon for the Founder's Day celebration, which has been loaded with a charge the colonel filled with gelignite, while also stuffing the barrel with a cleaning rag, which is intended to put suspicion onto one of the cadets with a poor disciplinary record.  Everything would have gone as planned, if it weren't for the fact that Lt. Columbo is in charge of the investigation.

As Columbo digs into the case, he's bothered by the fact that the cadet who is implicated, because he was the one in charge of cleaning the cannon and who has such a poor disciplinary record, would have been given the job of cleaning the cannon, since it is considered as more of an honor and reward than a punishment.  It doesn't sit well with the lieutenant.  Asking more questions ("Ah, just one more thing, sir"), Columbo uncovers the fact that the school was going to be shifted to a coed facility.  Now, he just needs to be able to tie the colonel to the crime, because he knew (as we all knew, watching) from very early on that it was murder rather than an accident, and that the colonel was involved.

In the end, it comes around to the fact of a separate investigation put forth by Colonel Rumford, into the fermenting of hard cider by the cadets--something he discovered the morning he stuffed the cleaning rag in the barrel of the cannon. Columbo does his own investigation of the hard cider, finds out the small window of time when the colonel could have seen it (because this is how he's aware of the infraction) and then determines the only spot form which he could have caught sight of the jug, as it hung in one of the dorm room windows . . . he could only have seen it BEFORE the time he says he awoke, and he could only have seen it from a spot beside the cannon.  He was the killer, and his testimony unwittingly put him at the scene of the crime.

The biggest lesson to take from this is a reiteration of an important writing idea:  all characters, even the villains, think they are the hero of their own story.  This not only speaks to the selfishness and ego we all possess, thus making even a villain a little more human for that, but it also speaks to something more important.  When writing, you want to try and craft complex characters.  One way to do that is to give your characters, all your characters, motivations that are altruistic or laudable.  In this example, the colonel worried about the military readiness of America and did not wish to see a decline in that respect, by making the academy coed.  But, just because a character is doing something for what he or she contends are the "right reasons," does not mean their actions are necessarily laudable or good.  The villainy comes in the form of misconstrued values or, more often than not, in bad deeds and bad actions done in the name of their personal good, which, when viewed from a wider lens, is obviously an act that can only lead to prosecution in a court of law, or some other, more dire, consequence.

WRITTEN MATERIAL --

Nexus Archives, volume 1, by Mike Baron & Steve Rude ---

Sometimes you just need to read a stone-cold classic of the medium, and this book is one of those.  Horatio Hellpop, known as Nexus, dreams of serial killers and mass murderers, many of them in some type of governmental or military position somewhere in the galaxy.  With his near-limitless power, at least as far as we can tell from these early stories, he goes out and executes them, balancing the galactic scales and ridding himself of the nightmares.

The beauty of the character of Nexus isn't just the sense that he's doing what we all would like to do, meting out justice in a way that we don't experience in real life, i.e. even those with power and money get their come-uppance from Nexus, its beauty comes from the fact that here we have a Superman-level hero, whose power seems able to defeat any threat or obstacle, and yet, Baron, with Rude, makes him a compelling character.  The problem with Superman, as many put it, is that he's too powerful.  The same could be said of Nexus, but Baron & Rude don't necessarily focus on that, they focus on the inner turmoil he experiences, not only from these nightmares but from the responsibility he feels in doling out justice.  By weighing Nexus down with this heavy responsibility of balancing the scales of justice on a galactic scale and making him the sole judge, we get an interesting character with interesting tales, and the "explodo" is merely the cherry on top of the sundae.

And the rest of that bowl of cherries would be the art from Steve Rude.  His sleek linework is just incredible.  He infuses the best of Jack Kirby and Alex Toth and Saturday morning cartoons (Surprise!  Both Kirby & Toth worked in Saturday morning cartoons.), with a flair for inventive and thoughtful panel layouts, that makes this one of the best looking comics out there, even today.  Very few artists can match Rude, even this early in his career.  Just magnificent!

Hellboy: the Complete Short Stories, vol. 1, by Mike Mignola, et al. ---

I've also gone back to this classic, as well.  The stories of Hellboy aren't as complex as those of Nexus, but they're just as enjoyable.  Mignola throws ghost circuses and werewolves and luchadors and demons into these stories, among very many other things from mythologies across the globe, and there is a wonder and horror to them that I find magical.  Hellboy is a character who continually moves forward, even in the face of impossible odds, and that is to be commended.  Many times the stories end simply, in an almost banal manner, but that's okay, because the point of these stories isn't necessarily to tell tales with a surprising twist as much as they're intended to add to the mythology and the history of this strange creature who looks like the devil but is on the side of the angels.

The real star here, as with Nexus, above, is the artwork.  Mignola is the master of drawing Hellboy, and his facility with spotting blacks coupled with the sharp, angular linework that epitomizes his style, is just wonderful to behold.  But we also have Duncan Fegredo, whose work never looked as good as when he does Hellboy, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, master illustrator Richard Corben, among a few others.  If you're a fan of comics, and, particularly, a fan of comic art, then this is a book you will thoroughly enjoy.  I can't wait to move onto the next volume.


Uncentering the Earth: Copernicus and the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres,
by William T. Vollman --- 

This was an intriguing book, and, if I'm being honest, one that got away from me, at times.  Some of the arguments put forth by Vollman, including much of the mathematical representations he offered from Copernicus and Ptolemy and other ancient astronomers, was often above my head, which is not a bad thing.  Indeed, I wish I could have absorbed it all in a fashion that I fully understood it, but, in the end, I was able to comprehend the major themes and insights of the book.

Ultimately, Vollman's case, which is supported within the book, is that Copernicus is a more nuanced cat than we've been led to believe (surprise!).  Certainly, he put forth the idea of a heliocentric universe, though he was not the first to do so, and it was done at a time when the tools of the astronomic trade were primitive, to say the least (no telescopes!), but the way he got to many of his conclusions involved faulty calculations or faulty premises.  And yet, he somehow managed to calculate many things, such as the distances of certain planets or the durations of certain orbits, to a relative precision that is astounding.  And though he was more indebted to the ideas of Ptolemy than might be generally known, and despite the problems inherent in a world where scripture still won out over science, for fear of being persecute and prosecuted for heresy, Copernicus managed to hold fast to his conclusions.  It's an interesting book for the broader understanding it gave, of Copernicus and of the time, and I would certainly recommend it if you have an affinity for the topic.


INSPIRATION(s) --

Alex Ross! 

MUSIC TO WRITE BY --

Tori Amos, To Venus and Back ---

I love the swelling piano and the driving beat of Amos's songs on this double album, and, most importantly, I love the live songs on the second part of the album.  Live music almost always trumps studio music, for me, and this is no exception.  Amos has been part of my writing repertoire since very early on, back around 2000.  It helps that my brain has trouble processing lyrics and focuses, mainly, on the musicality of an album.  Having listened to this so many times, while writing, I've gleaned many of the lyrics, at this point, but I have now passed through that to a point where the lyrics fall into the back of my brain, and I'm able to focus on the music, only, once again.  These songs infuse me with a vigor and excitement that helps propel me through whatever bit I may be writing, at the time, and it also achieves something else I've been feeling lately -- taking me back to an earlier point in my life and wrapping me in a warm blanket of nostalgia.
This is good music.


ON WRITING --

If you want to be a writer, habits are incredibly important -- specifically (maybe obviously) the habit of actually writing on a regular basis.

Writing, like many creative endeavors, is too often romanticized.  Ideas of The Muse coming down from on high to bless the author with Divine Inspiration (TM), allowing her or him to pluck a beautiful string of words from thin air and put them to paper (digital or otherwise).  Sometimes, quite rarely, this occurs -- or seems to occur, because there's still a lot of work that went into the apparent unconscious ease with which the words came out, on the page -- but for the most part, writing is work.  And forming good habits can help that work move forward . . . with slightly more ease.

The best thing to do is to make a habit of your writing.  When you sit to write, do it at the same time of day, in the same spot, with (as near as possible) the same circumstances.  For example, Saturday and Sunday, when I don't have to worry about getting to work in the morning, I get up around 6:00, make the coffee, quickly check email and FB, pour my coffee, then get to work writing, and go for an hour and a half or so before wrapping it up.  It may sound odd to set things up this way, but like practicing your jump shot or getting in the batting cages, setting up your writing time in this way will help it to become something like a muscle memory.  After you've done it a few days or a week, it will become part of your daily routine, you'll feel natural sitting down to write, it will grow into something as familiar as brushing your teeth after waking or slipping on your silk pajamas before watching "This Is Us" (because we all have silk PJs, right?).  Now, of course, your mileage may vary (YMMV) as to how long it takes to get into this habit, maybe it's longer than a week, but, realistically, it shouldn't be too long, and if it is, maybe it's not the thing for you.

Anyway, once you get this habit going, you'll find it much easier to get your daily writing in.  It's just a natural part of your day.  And, once it starts to feel comfortable within your schedule, you'll find that the words come more easily, that inspiration arrives more often and without as much struggle.  "Chance (or inspiration) favors the prepared mind."  It's kind of like good luck, it's not something dictated randomly by the universe or God, it's something that comes from all the work and experiences you've had prior, without all the time spent writing and researching and thinking (or throwing and working out and batting), you would never be able to achieve what you're hoping to.

And, conversely, as noted at the top of this post, it is quite easy to fall out of these habits.  I did it the last few weeks, and unlike the few days it takes to get into one, it only takes a single missed day to fall out of your habits.  For me, once it happened that first week it was far easier to skip the second week.  But I made myself sit down again, at the laptop, and type away this weekend.  So, we'll see if I'm back in the habit (of this weekly roundup, at least; I'm still pushing forward on the novel, fast approaching the halfway point) when there's either a post, or no post, next week.  'Til then . . .

chris

What It Is – week ending 3 May [2015]

With apologies to Dave the Thune (as well as Mike Baron & Steve Rude).

WRITING:

Every day.  1000 words.  That’s the goal.

But sometimes, the goal needs to be set aside.  One of the things that has pushed me with my writing is that feeling of irritability I get when I go a few days without writing.  And this isn’t something I notice, consciously—at least, not for quite a few years.  It would take me those few days to notice that I was snapping in frustration at things that did not merit such a response.  I’d then roll through reasons for this, eventually falling on the fact that I hadn’t written anything for a number of days, realizing that was the crux of my frustrations.  Greg Rucka expressed a similar sentiment at a convention panel I attended a number of years back, and that was the lightbulb that clued me into this aspect of myself, but it’s still taken me years to lock onto that lack of writing as the basis of my crappy mood, at the top of my internal Google search.  So, it was odd that I was feeling that same sense of frustration a few weeks back, since this year has been my most productive, as far as hitting my daily goal.  I’d only taken three days off from writing all of 2015, at the mid-point of April. 

I’m not one who balks at pressure—I tend to relish it.  But I was feeling the pressure of needing to keep on my writing streak.  So, I took a break to recharge, to read some, to watch some TV, to just take it easy.  And it felt good.  Ultimately, it only ended up being two days off from writing, but that’s what it took, because by the third day the voices were sliding around in my brain again, begging to be let out.  And that’s what I did.  I jumped back on the horse and started writing. 

Best piece of advice I’ve ever heard on being a writer—which I’ve read in numerous places and mentioned multiple times here—is that one needs to write.  But you also need balance. 

READING:

Finished up Tom Sawyer this week.  What more can I say?  It’s a classic, and there’s a reason for that.  The characters, the dialogue, Twain’s way with words, it all works fantastically.  Glad I finally took the plunge. 

As for comics, I’ve been wading in nostalgia over the past couple years, and it’s been great.  Not that there aren’t comics being made today that don’t interest me, but there aren’t many that necessitate my seeking them out upon publication—most of them I’m fine reading in collected form, long after they’ve hit the stands (the prime exceptions are Ed Brubaker’s book, Velvet & The Fade Out, and the upcoming Providence from Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows).  But the pile next to the bed has included early issues of G.I. Joe, Suicide Squad (Ostrander et al.), and, lately, The Badger.  I started reading Baron & Butler’s Badger a few years back, when I put together a full run of the book, across all its publishers, but I stopped at some point around the mid-30s.  But with my hankering for 80s comics, to really excite my inner child, I picked it up again from the start, and it’s been a great ride.  This book is crazy, in that it doesn’t follow anything resembling a “traditional” take on superheroes.  It’s not just the Badger, who suffers from multiple-personality disorder, or his supporting cast, which includes a 500-year-old wizard, but it’s the plots that Mike Baron and his artistic collaborators conceive—an adventure seeking out a truffle hunting pig, an issue where the Badger rides a buffalo in search of a rampaging rhino, and other “out of left field” concepts.  It basks in the glory of being a comic book, which makes it such a fun book to read.  If you like your superheroes a bit off-center, you should definitely dig into the back issue bins for these books. 

WATCHING:

So, everyone was going on about Daredevil on Netflix (did anyone find any fault with the show?), which led me to head back to Central City and catch up with Barry Allen, The Flash!  I watched the big time travel story—comprised of “Out of Time” and “Rogue Time”—which had people going crazy on the internet about a month and a half ago.  And they were great.  I go into more detail at this post here, but these two episodes really leveled up this series for me, and I’m back on board until the season finale.  The creators are infusing so many concepts from the comic books into this series, while tweaking others, and it all works so well for me.  And the brightness of the show and the positive outlook of the character of Barry Allen just adds to much to it, and is the right comic book TV series for me, right now.  It’s the difference between the real take on these over-the-top characters so often taken in both film and comics today, and this aspirational take, which is what I want from my superheroes and leads right back to why I’ve been reading so many comics from my childhood.  Not that you can’t have brooding, serious characterizations (especially for heroes like Batman or Daredevil), but you need to have variety (hear that, DC comics?) in order to not just appeal to a broader audience, but also to better define these characters—because if they are all “grim ‘n gritty” how can you tell them apart?  (other than their four-color costumes)

MISCELLANY:

Put down a stone walkway at the house this weekend.  (homeowner win)  I need to make them flush with the ground.  But that’s for another weekend.  (let’s not get ahead of ourselves here)

SIGN OFF:

As always, check out my friends – Brad& Matt and Darren Smith (with Bryan Young on accompaniment, when he’s available)  and Don McMillan, as well as Dan’s foray into podcastdom, the Potato League Podcast, for their own weekly recaps on things comic-y and geeky, and we'll see what's what in seven.  

-chris

FYC Replay: Nexus with Steve Rude

In an effort to archive my "For Your Consideration" columns from my time writing for the Pulse, here is one of the later pieces I wrote. I was very excited about this. I had met Steve Rude at a convention years earlier, but hadn't taken the opportunity to talk with him much (that's not my style). But given the opportunity to do a phone interview with him for the return of Nexus - for which I was extremely excited - I jumped at the chance. Sadly, the speaker-phone I used gave out on me just after Rude picked up (after two abortive attempts at the interview prior), and so I had to work doubly hard to parse out what he was saying in my recording. I lost some of our conversation and had to piece together much of the rest with the help of memory, but, overall, I feel I was successful in retaining the spirit of Rude's thoughts and ideas. I hope you enjoy.

For Your Consideration: Baron & Rude’s Nexus

By Chris Beckett

FRONT PAGE: Baron. Rude. Civil Unrest. Nexus. Sundra. Tyrone. Leaky diapers. Fully painted artwork. And the return of . . . Kreed. It’s Nexus #100, and this one has it all. Come in and check it out. It’s the return of a classic you don’t want to miss.

The 411:

Nexus: Space Opera pt. 1 & 2

Issue #99 (32pp. full color, $2.99)

Issue #100 (48pp. full color, $4.99)

Written by Mike Baron

Art by Steve Rude

Rude Dude Productions

What It Is (with apologies to Dave the Thune):

It’s been ten years since Mike Baron and Steve Rude last brought the wonders of Nexus to its legion of fans. And with such a layoff, one might expect the newest issue, last summer’s #99, to open with a short recap of who Nexus is and what makes him tick. But then again, these two creators aren’t known for taking the easy, or the expected, path in their work. That’s part of what endears these two artists to their fans, and it is an integral part of what has made Nexus a popular and critically-acclaimed comic for over a quarter of a century despite working its way through four publishers. But now that Nexus has landed within its co-creator’s newly-formed publishing venture, Rude Dude Publications, fans can hope to see far more of this dynamic and tortured character in the coming years.

Nexus is one of those comic characters that has stood the test of time, and if all fans are not intimately familiar with his exploits, most fans – I hope – are familiar with the name and the creators. But with the ten-year layoff, maybe a short introduction is in store.

Taking place five hundred years in the future, Nexus is one Horatio Hellpop, son of the Sov General Teodor Hellpop, a mass murderer who ordered the destruction of a planet. It is from this, and in reaction to this, that Nexus comes to be. Able to bend matter to his will, and tormented by feverish nightmares of the galaxy’s worst mass murderers, young Horatio takes on the mantle of Nexus, exacting justice upon those in his dreams, beginning with his own father. Hellpop did not choose to be the galaxy’s executioner, but he is compelled to mete out this justice so that the dreams might stop, or at least fall silent a while.

Word of his deeds quickly sweep across the galaxy, bringing refugees to the planet where he was born and continues to reside, Ylum. Outcasts, survivors, and others seeking a new life migrate to Ylum, bringing forth life from the once-dead orb. Despite this influx of people, and contrary to his relationship with Sundra Peale – initially dispatched to Ylum to spy on Nexus – this guardian of the galaxy remains a solitary figure, unable to find solace or understanding from others who could never know what he endures. But Nexus continues his duty while trying to have a somewhat normal life and create a planet where things will not be as bleak as they seem to be across the rest of the universe. It is a difficult life, but then again, what would life be without the challenge?

With the landmark 100^th issue of Nexus, the fecal matter hits the fan. Nexus and Sundra have just welcomed their new son, Harry, into the world as the Elvonics threaten to destabilize the planet’s tenuous peace. Having so many different races residing together brings with it any number of problems, the most prominent stemming from those ancient differences that define us as they also isolate us, forcing one race to hate another only because they are different. It is this, and the perceived insult of Nexus against the Elvonics, that has incited them to open hostilities while others conspire in secret the murder of Nexus’s newborn, the most recent attempt involving the launching of hyposiles against Sundra while still pregnant. Luckily, Nexus was present when she was attacked and deflected two of the hyposiles as he seized the third one and digested it, absorbing the surge of power triggered by its detonation.

Nexus is a unique comic. It packs all of the action and spectacular science fiction elements of a great summer blockbuster, while also grounding the characters in a very real world that, despite being set five hundred years in the future, looks quite a bit like our own. Hellpop, Sundra, Judah, Tyrone, and all the others experience the same feelings of loss and guilt, love and embarrassment, as all those reading this book, and writer Mike Baron is unafraid of treading through the mundane aspects of this world in order to create a more believable and engaging story. Though the justice exacted by Nexus may be absolute and brook little argument from the audience, it is not so easy for Horatio Hellpop to slough off the magnitude of what he does. Beset by guilt and anxiety, he is an all too human character who is able to perform great feats of heroism, but not without a cost. Who among us would be unable to sympathize with Nexus? It is this humanity, imbued by Baron’s writing, which elevates Nexus above that of the typical action comic. This, and Baron’s trademark humor, helps to make Nexus one of the most enjoyable reads in comics today, whether it be the new series or the recently repackaged Archives from Dark Horse comics.

Accentuating these fantastically human stories is the artwork of co-creator Steve Rude. Without his sleek lines, Nexus would not have reached the pinnacle it has. Rude is able, with a minimum of brush strokes, to create elegant characters that glide across the page, seemingly in motion despite living on a two-dimensional canvas. Rude’s work is reminiscent of one of his unabashed heroes, Alex Toth, a master draftsman whose output within comics was far too slight. Rude is an obvious heir to Toth, and the skilled manner with which he creates his pages adds so much to the reading experience of Nexus. Managing to pack his panels full of detail and action while somehow keeping them from becoming so cluttered that the action gets lost in the reading, Rude walks a fine line that is only enhanced by his aptitude for evoking emotion on the faces of his characters. Especially evident in close-up, Rude refuses to bash readers over the head – except when the humor of the character or the moment demands caricature – preferring to delineate understated, but more real, emotions on the faces of those populating this book. This refusal to “dumb down” the story through his subtle art is the mark of a consummate artist.

This 100^th issue of Nexus also includes a history of the character by comics journalist Bill Baker (Alan Moore’s Exit Interview and Alan Moore Spells It Out) as well as the first fully-painted Nexus story from Rude. The eleven-page backup story, which showcases the backstory of Sundra from before she ever knew Nexus, is a rare treat and an amazing showcase for Rude’s painting. This book is chock full of the good stuff and any fan of great comics does not want to miss this one.

An Interview with Steve Rude:

Why choose to start RudeDude at this juncture?

The right time to do anything is when you feel it’s right. And then you just try your hardest. You read up and try and get as smart as you can so that you can succeed.

The type of thinking that says something isn’t going to work is exactly the type of thinking that keeps people where they are in life. You can’t move forward if you aren’t willing to take chances.

Ultimately, what will this move mean for Nexus and the Moth as well?

What I want to do is spread the word about these comics that I think are better than the ones that are out there right now. Comics have gotten very ugly. They’re dark and morose. For me, it’s a real aversion to what I consider good entertainment. And that’s my goal. I want to entertain people with my comics.

A lot of people look at Nexus as an antihero, and I was curious about your thoughts on that.

Labels are going to be labels. To me, that’s what he is, and how people interpret it is part of the magic of entertainment. When you see a movie that doesn’t have a cut and dried ending, you’re left to interpret it any way you want. That’s part of the fun of using your imagination instead of having it spelled out for you. To me, [Nexus] is a great character with a great life that’s worth drawing and writing.

The same with the Moth. He has a very interesting life and a lot of room to grow in the comics. I enjoy the growth of the characters. It’s all a matter of how you deal with the things that come at you. It’s like playing battle ball in gym class when you have a thousand balls coming at you. It’s how you deal with that, trying not to get hit.

And that’s life. Every day we get up and face the world. Comic books are no different. The various settings are different from our own, but the circumstances of how to deal with things are still: this person in this situation and how do they deal with it. Why do we keep getting up in the morning? Why do we want to keep trying?

One thing I find interesting though – again, with the labels – is it seems that Nexus really hasn’t suffered from the antihero tag. It seems to be more embraced than a lot of other characters that are in a similar vein. I’m wondering what you might attribute that to?

Well, he’s not a cruel person, for one thing. I think he’s the guy that got put into this situation and does his job even though he doesn’t enjoy it. I think there’s a lot of value in what he does. It’s something that I personally feel really strongly about. The idea that there are so many rotten people in the world and there’s nothing that seems able to be done about that. And we see it every night on the evening news. It’s not fun. And I don’t know how many people are able to watch the evening news, but I can’t watch it. I haven’t watched it for, going on two decades now.

I don’t want to watch that. But it’s real life, and how a culture deals with things that are as horrible as what we have on our television sets every night says a lot about them. And all I know is that there are really rotten people running around doing really rotten things. I wish there was a delegation somewhere that could do something. Part of what the book is about is that the legal system gets thrown out the window. Because people wait forever to decide if he’s guilty or not guilty, or if he’s insane and isn’t responsible for his actions. I dislike the notion that there is some guy out there that has the psychological makeup to solve his problems by killing people. That doesn’t work.

I would want justice for the people. I would like to see evil eliminated. But you could never wipe it out. That’s impossible. All I know is that you do what you can with your life.

Here on Earth there’s all these fighting factions. They fight based on their philosophies.

I was just watching this X-Files [episode] last night that will give you a perfect example of what I’m talking about. There’s this insane guy they’re going to let go and Mulder wants to stop it because he knows they can’t let him go otherwise he’ll be at it again. You’re laughing the whole time at those people sitting there in the chairs in this committee saying this guy’s perfectly sound for him to go out. These are the people that don’t understand what the hell they’re doing.

That’s my personal take on that. I think these people are vastly ignorant and choose to be because they don’t want to understand the facts that are repeatedly being shown to them.

And so there’s a lot of my personal philosophy in Nexus. And Baron feels the same way about this stuff.

To what do you consider the staying power of Nexus, especially considering the ten year layoff?

I think it’s a combination of things. There’s a foundational truth to the character that spans decades. Without that, it would feel flat. We try to ground it in the here and now even though it’s set in the future. We use events from today as our springboard. Everything is a reflection of its time because people don’t change. They never change.

FYC Replay: The Architect with Mike Baron & Andie Tong

Mike Baron is one of the creators with whom I was most excited to "talk" with. He's written some of my all-time favorite comics - Nexus, Badger, the launch of the Wally West Flash series - and is still creating thought-provoking adventures. In this FYC replay, learn about one of his lesser known books, The Architect, a graphic novella from Big Head Press that was a fun read.
Enjoy.


For Your Consideration: The Architect by Mike Baron (writer) and Andie Tong (artist) By Chris Beckett FRONT PAGE:
Nexus. The Badger. Flash. The Punisher. Deadman. Mike Baron’s list of writing credits is impressive. A unique writer whose singular vision has afforded him not only critical success but also a faithful fan base, his latest book, The Architect, from Big Head Press is a welcome addition to the Baron library. Hitting shops August 15, this is a book people should be on the lookout for.


The 411:
The Architect
Written by Mike Baron
Art by Andie Tong
80 pp. Full Color
$9.95
Big Head Press

What It Is (with apologies to Dave the Thune):

Roark Dexter Smith was the greatest architect of his generation. Espousing his philosophy of organic architecture, Smith felt it necessary to be involved with every aspect of a building “from sublime inspiration to the lowliest muck-raking chore.” A maverick who enjoyed the finer things in life – exotic foods, beautiful women, his Guarneri violin, and dabbling in the occult – Smith was, like many men of his stature, engorged with the power that came from the notoriety heaped upon him and his radical architectural advances. Although a celebrity, this did not stop the man from overreaching, and when he began work on Bluff House in 1969, he soon found himself in debt. Despite this setback he persevered, using the force of his personality to lure more investors into his dream. Work on the house continued until spring of the following year when Bluff House mysteriously burned with only Smith’s newborn surviving the blaze. Roark Dexter Smith’s body and those of his wife and assistant were never found.

Years later the Smith Preservation Society, which purchased the house after the disaster, approach Gil Topper who runs his own construction company. They want to give over Bluff House to Gil with the understanding he will renovate it to Smith’s original specifications. Not only is the society impressed with Topper’s architectural background, but he also happens to be the long-lost son of Roark Dexter Smith. Initially stunned, Gil quickly warms to the idea as the reality of his heritage sets in.

The prospect of finishing Roark Dexter Smith’s – his father’s – greatest architectural enterprise fills Topper with excitement. He enlists Mark, his best friend and business partner, and his girlfriend Thea in this venture, and the three of them, along with Mark’s girlfriend Selena Gillman and a fellow carpenter and Smith buff Norm Grundy, move into the house and begin to put things aright.

But all is not as it appears. Strange noises emanate from the basement at odd hours (the sounds of a violin being played) and petty jealousies are accentuated out in the wilds of Wisconsin. It could be the isolation from society, the nearest city is two and a half hours away, or the disparate personalities involved, Thea is a scientist who studies fungi while Selena is a self-proclaimed high priestess in the church of Wicca, but whatever it may be, there is a foul mood hanging over the house that threatens to crush them if they aren’t watchful.

There’s a lot going on in The Architect, which allows the story to breathe in a way most graphic novels are unable. Throw-away details, such as Gil’s girlfriend being a mycologist, that seem included only to flesh out the characters end up bearing fruit later in the story. No detail is insignificant, and the foundation upon which Baron constructs his tale is solid and entertaining, moving the story forward while dropping these incidental details along the way like bread crumbs in a forest. Readers may absorb the many pieces of the puzzle, but their importance will not be understood until the climax rushes upon them.

Baron moves the first half of the book along at a deliberate pace, easing readers into a reality that looks just like our own. It isn’t until the story moves into the present and things start to go badly that all thought of that shared reality is forgotten. Selena is in tune with the spiritual forces at work around Bluff House and becomes a catalyst for the horror that has been lying dormant all these years. And once things start to go bad, they go very bad, very quick.

With the final act of the story, Baron opens the pages up with larger and fewer panels, allowing the action rather than the dialogue to thrust the audience through the climax. This utilization of the comic page manages to instill a frantic tension into the reading experience that heightens the suspense and horror permeating this story. It is a masterful use of what makes comics unique, enhancing an already engaging tale.

Andie Tong is currently the regular artist for Marvel/Panini UK’s Spectacular Spiderman and is an artist American readers may be unfamiliar with. Tong’s storytelling is clear, and he handles the evolution of this story well. His style is a contemporary melding of manga and action comics, one that matches up well with Baron’s narrative. His clean art evokes a simple sensibility that acts as a tonal contrast to the horror story that Baron is setting up early in the tale. When one of the members of Gil’s group is eaten – in a bloody mass – by the toilet, it resonates with the reader. And despite the fact that this is an action/horror comic, Tong is still able to draw honest emotions on the characters’ faces, bringing a humanity to the story that is necessary to make it work.

The Architect is an exciting read that any fan of Mike Baron’s work should seek out. Originally serialized on the Big Head Press website, this print collection also contains a short prose story by Baron as an added bonus. Written as a faux article for Vanity Fair magazine, this short piece adds more depth to the graphic narrative and is a welcome addition to an already enjoyable book. Available August 15, I would recommend you pester your LCS for a copy if they have not already ordered one. It will be well worth it.

An Interview with Mike Baron and Andie Tong:

Chris Beckett: Why comics? What was it that initially attracted you to the medium, and to what do you attribute your longevity within comics?

Mike Baron: My interest in comics began when I was growing up in South Dakota and first read Uncle Scrooge. My interest expanded exponentially in college where some friends of mine began to point out some of the work being done, in particular stories drawn by Neal Adams. I've always been interested in writing fiction and comics is just another medium, one in which I have a peculiar facility. I say peculiar because nothing else ever came easy for me.

Andie Tong: I grew up with comics. I fell in love with the medium when I picked up my first comic book. I think I was like 5 years of old or something. Of course, I couldn't read that well at that stage so I was ultimately captivated by the pictures. Picking up a comic that young though, of course, I did not realize the pictures were telling a story. They were just pictures at that stage. Dynamic cartoons on paper. heh.

As soon as I could pick up a pencil, I tried to draw, to trace, and at a later age mimic other artist’s work. So in the end, I fell in love with drawing and art more than I did with comics. Personally, I never really thought about comics as a storytelling medium. I just really loved drawing. So to be able to make a living off it is more than I could ask for. I'm doing my hobby, essentially everyday, and getting paid for it

Beckett: The Architect was produced as a web comic first before going to this print edition. Did you approach the writing any differently for publication to the web?

Baron: No, but The Architect was originally a novel. Which I tried to write. And tried and tried. Novels are a tough nut to crack. So I took an alternative route. It was entirely Big Head's decision to present it first on the web. I don't pretend to understand how that works financially, but they now have a wealth of material up.

Beckett: You have done some notable work for both Marvel and DC, but the bulk of your comic writing – and the work for which you are best known – has been within the small press. Why might you recommend – or not recommend – the small press as an avenue for publication to aspiring creators?

Baron: We all want to get published and if small press comes forward with a viable offer, good for them. The benefits of small press might better be viewed as the benefits of creator control. You own it--every facet of it. So if you sell it to the movies you get all the money. I don't know the deal DC and Marvel have--DC certainly has been turning lots of Vertigo titles into film and some of those are creator owned. The disadvantages of course are that small press has to fight for any kind of publicity. Marvel and DC are going to completely dominate Diamond and Wizard so you have to get your message out some other way. The successes have been numerous: Cerebus, Elfquest, Nexus to cite three.

Beckett: What kind of instruction, if any, did you have in preparation for your work in comics?

Tong: I got a lot of help from professionals in the comic industry when I was starting out. Originally I didn't think I could work in the realm of comics logistically. Being born in Malaysia then later moving to Australia and with the industry mainly in America and Japan, I thought I had to move to those countries to work in comics. I chose to be a designer instead but drew for leisure in my own time.

When a design company I was working for back then sent me to my first ever comic convention over in the US, I found that with the world wide web and emails nowadays, you can work from anywhere around the globe. I was encouraged by numerous working professionals to apply and submit to comic companies as they thought my work was actually good enough. I also made several contacts which I still network with today. Those contacts have actually led me to several comic breaks like He-man and Masters of the Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and also a recommendation to Mr. Baron himself which got me working on The Architect.

These guys have groomed me from the basic principals of creating comics: the kind of paper to use, dimensions to work on, how much to charge, to the finer points of style, techniques to consider, and everything in between. I've now been working seven years since breaking into comics, and I continue to bounce ideas and ask advice from these guys. So whenever I hit the conventions or if someone has a question via email, I try to return the favour that I've been given by these professionals. If it wasn't for them, their tutoring and their patience, I might still be struggling to hit my first published comic right now.

Beckett: What piece of advice would you give to aspiring artists looking to break into comics?

Tong: Get on the art forums and show your work off. It's the best self promotion an artist can do for himself. It's essentially how I got my first published gig. Someone liked my work enough to offer me a small story to work on and it started rolling from there. Work on anthologies when you're starting out and trying to establish yourself. Get yourself in print first and foremost. You might have to do a lot of freebies when you're first starting out but of course, assess each potential project as it comes. Obviously it's easier to work on a short 8-page anthology comic than if you were to take on, say, a self published 4-issue mini series title. A lot of the self published comic books tend to be back-end pay which may not suit a lot of people, especially if you've still got to eat and pay the bills.

Get to the conventions and start networking. As brilliant as your work may be on paper, I truly believe that networking with the publishers and editors gets you that extra advantage. I've heard so many stories from other professionals and experienced it on several occasions myself. Sometimes editors and publishers want to see what kind of person you are. That gives you a dynamic advantage if you can prove that you're a sincere, genuine, reliable guy that wants to work in the industry and can and will meet deadlines time after time.

Of course this advice is based on my own personal experience. I'm not saying everyone has to follow this tact. There are always the few lucky ones that get into the big leagues right off the bat. But a vast majority of creators have to usually work the hard slog at the start. And what I mentioned before was what I found to be the most helpful through my numerous trial and error experiences of the comic industry.

Beckett: You’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of great artists over the years. What was it that Andie Tong brought to this project that makes it work for you?

Baron: First he was available, second he was interested, and third he brings an exciting new style to story-telling. Andie and I have never met. He's never been to Wisconsin, but I sent him copious material. Love to work with him again.

Beckett: Were you aware of Mike Baron’s work before you collaborated with him on The Architect? And what was it like for you to work with Baron?

Tong: I was aware of Mike's work but shamefully I have to admit, I was not aware of the man himself. I knew of Nexus published by Dark Horse comics, but I did not know that Mike had created and wrote the book. When a project I had been working on fell through, I was fishing for a new project to work on. I got introduced to Mike via another fellow creator and when I did my research to look into who this Mike fellow was, I was astonished to find that he's practically an industry legend. I was completely honoured that Mike took me on as an artist for one of his projects.

Mike's very cruisy. He left me to my own devices and as a creator, he allowed me to mold his creation into a vision I was happy with and of course, one that he would be happy with too. All he gave me was a script and several pages of his thumbnails just so he could show me what he was imagining, and then he let me take the reins.

When working on The Architect, Mike was very supportive, communicative, and very, very patient. When I started the project, I was in Australia. I had a lot of doubts in my mind about what the background scenery from the story, which is based in Wisconsin, would look like. Next thing I knew, a hardback book of Wisconsin scenery appeared on my door step.

Collaborating with another creator from the other side of the world was a bit disconcerting at the start as well. But as I said before, thank goodness for the World Wide Web and email. If I had a question, I'd get an answer from Mike within a day. Being, I'm sure, a busy man, I thought at first, Mike would be incommunicado for a while as experiences with other creators and projects in the past led me to believe. In the end though, as I said before, Mike pretty much left me to my own devices. So I didn't have a lot of questions. I just let my imagination roam wild and Mike was happy with that.

It took me close to five years with several breaks in between to finally complete this book. I was working on The Architect pages outside of my full time design job. Starting out as a newbie, it was not yet viable for me to give up my full time job to concentrate on comics. So, I ended up working 18 hours a day, almost 7 days a week and it was taking its toll on me. I ended up with like 30 pages out of the original fleshed out 70 pages. Mike was very patient with the whole process. In the end, Mike scouted for publishers that could supplement paying us upfront for the rest of the pages and that's when we landed on the doorstep of Big Head Press. Frank and Scott Bieser, owners of Big Head Press, were very encouraging and supportive. By that time, I was on the verge of giving up design all together to just concentrate on comics. So Big Head Press could not have come at a better time. They ended up paying for all the pages finished previously and worked out a feasible deadline for me to finish the rest without interfering with other regular comic gigs I had going on at the same time. Within two or so months, I completed the rest of the pages.

But by taking such a long time to finish The Architect, my drawing style had evolved so dramatically since I first started the book way back when. So it was a very frustrating task to try and go back to my original style so that the end pages did not look like it was drawn by a different artist. It was especially frustrating when I could see all the imperfections of my old style, but couldn't really do anything about it due to set deadlines. So I hope I did an okay job in the end to blend the gapped drawing styles together.

Beckett: What other projects are you working on that you would like to tell readers about?

Baron: Nexus will be out by the time this appears. Nexus is the most exciting, thought-provoking comic out there right now. New Badger begins in December from IDW. First they're reprinting all the old Badgers starting in November. I have a project called Black Ice at Comicmix that's going to blow everybody’s' minds. Nick Runge, the artist, is only 21 years old but already has a fully developed and whiplash exciting style, not dissimilar to a synthesis of Paul Gulacy and Tim Bradstreet.

Tong: I'm currently the regular artist for Spectacular Spiderman UK. So I'm basically concentrating on that at the moment. There's not a lot of room for me to play around on other projects currently as the deadline is fairly tight. As soon as I finish one issue, I'm pretty much on to the next. Thankfully, my editor is very lenient. A few months back, he allowed me a couple of issues break to finish up a project I committed to before I took on my role as regular artist for Spidey UK. It was a self-contained one-issue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project for Mirage Studios. It was pretty grand getting to draw a classic from the 80s. Tales of TMNT #39 will be out sometime around the end of this year. Unfortunately however, due to licensing restrictions, the Spiderman UK book I work regularly on is only sold within the UK.