Two years and a little more in and I figure that's that. I'm burned out on comics commentary, both reading and generating the darn stuff. Sure, there's still writers smart or entertaining enough to sastisfy that jones if it ever comes around again. I can get all the comics news I can stand from Journalista!, The Beat, the Comics Reporter and Blog The blogosphere has gone through its phase of rapid and explosive expansion, now we're getting down to the cooling and crust-formation phase of things. Sure, there's gonna be explosive eruptions of controversy from time to time, but let's face it, stuff like picking on Wizard or pointing out the shortcomings of Tentpole Event-Driven Comics as we enjoy today, has been done, and it's largely like clubbing baby seals. There's nothing to defend there, so the all out, nitro-burning attacks that we see are going to be overkill.
I've got to stick to my own work, which I'll be promoting/updating here (including actual publishing, probably the novel RAGNAROK SUMMER, which was written a shamefully long time ago). I'll probably talk about comics from time to time at , but there won't be a lot of it here. Like I said, we all know what ails us in comics. Talking about it has been done. Go forth and do something about it, whether it's inside the Direct Market or the vast expanses outside of it. We're not going to recognize things in ten years. Or even five. It's not the killer app at this point, but the killer platform, that we're waiting on.
In the meantime, I'm still waiting out the fate of STRANGEWAYS, with more than a hundred pages of completed art at stake. My gut feeling tells me that self-publishing looms large in my future, as hard as I've worked to find another publisher ("You of all people should know how seldom it works out..." Thanks, Lo Pan, for that little tidbit of advice.) Entirely possible that something will come through, but that's not how things have worked out lately.
With STRANGEWAYS hanging fire, I'm working on rewrites for RAGNAROK SUMMER (the abovementioned novel), as well as trying to make sense of the conclusion for MY WINGS ARE BLACK, which has a dynamite setup and setting, but still needs a little something something while I wait on designs from Guy Davis. I'm also seriously weighing the possibilities for EATERS seeing light of day as a novel and not as a graphic work. That's a tough one, and will be mulling over it in my column at Dark, But Shining, as the subject matter is a much better fit there.
In short, work moves forward, but it's time to cast off any mantle of comics commentator that I might have assumed at one time. Go read Jog instead. I generally agree with his assessments of things and he's an astute reader (not to mention clearer commentator than I ever could hope to be.) But I have to say, if you're reading this at work with something to do, just delete the bookmark and instead turn around and open your word processor or sketchbook (but keep it out of sight) and get something on paper or digits or whatever and do something with it. This commentary stuff is fine entertainment, but I seriously question the long-term value of it all.
But perhaps my existential questioning shouldn't get in the way of some good snark.
Thanks to Heidi at the Beat for the past link-love, ditto to Dirk Deppey back in the day when I was but a humble columnist at Broken Frontier. Thanks also to Larry Young and James Sime, who've offered great encouragement and advice over the past couple of years. Advice which I'll continue to make use of as I forge ahead. Thanks to the folks who stopped by over the last couple of years. I'll ask you to drop by from time to time in the future, particularly if you want to know what's going on writing-wise.
Head down and working. Take care, all.