MattBrady
08-18-2003, 07:13 AM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/Epic2.jpg" width="200" height="304" border="0" hspace="2" align="right">by Mike San Giacomo
<I>This is a weekly log of the assignment to create a comic for Marvel’s new Epic imprint. The comic about a newspaper reporter who can turn invisible was originally called <b>Nowhere Man</b>, but has been changed to <b>Phantom Jack</b>” because of legal/technical problems. That means someone got to a similar name before I did.
Last week we talked about the hiring of the colorist on the project, Jaime Jones. This week, letterer Ray Dillon is in the spotlight</I>.
Kansas?
I’m working with a dude from Kansas?
I don’t know why, but for some reason I thought that Ray Dillon, one of the alpha males of Golden Goat Studios, was from San Diego.
When I started to write this week’s piece about the letterer, the last member added to the <b>Phantom Jack</b> crew, I thought it would be a good idea to find out for sure.
Turns out the kid’s from Kansas.
You know, there’s only two things that come from Kansas, steers and...no wait, that’s Texas.
Kansas is that place out near West Dakota where all the tornadoes come from. It has corn. Lots and lots of corn, and very few comic shops. The last time I was out there I could not even find a 7-11 that sold comics. So the fact that Ray has not only been able to find comics, but learn to work in the field is quite an accomplishment.
Ray, 21, got involved in the Phantom Jack project by way of artist Mitch Breitweiser, a fellow member of the Golden Goat Studios. See www.goldengoatstudios.com for more on the boys. We were looking for a letterer and Mitch said that Ray was overqualified for the job but might take it on just to work on a (Odin willing) high profile book.
Mitch was right, Ray, of Salina, Kansas, was willing to come on board for the pittance percentage of the pot we could offer. It turned out to be a better move than we thought because in addition to being a top-notch letterer, Ray, an artist, is also gifted in dealing with graphics and computer things.
We ended up increasing his share of the proceeds because he took on the responsibility of making everything CD ready for Marvel.
Good thing because I tend to tilt my head like a confused dog when people start talking technical stuff.
A typical e-mail conversation between Ray and I goes something like this:
RAY: “We need to figgle the whajoosits on the flegma to 10,000 kikohurtz for good quality. That okay with you?”
ME: Yep.
Now the <b>Phantom Jack</b> crew is complete and we’re all working like mad to get this thing done.
A big decision made recently was when the first issue of the series should be released.
I wanted it to be on the stands last month, but that didn’t seem possible.
I learned how important the Previews monthly ordering guide is. That’s where we do the dog and pony show to get comic shop owners - those brilliant, handsome and/or beautiful people - to order lots and lots of the comics.
We have to appeal to their sense of taste and make <b>Phantom Jack</b> sound like the hottest thing since <b>Trouble</b>. That’s right, remember how everyone short-ordered <b>Trouble</b> with the photo cover of the hot chicks? And what happened? Thousands of fans were furious and Marvel put out a second printing of the book with a different cover making the first one super-valuable.
Now, I won’t guarantee that will happen to Jack, but we do have another cover ready to go just in case...excuse me, phone’s ringing. Yes?
“Mike, it’s Mitch Breitweiser. What are you talking about? We don’t have a second cover ready to go. We can’t even get Joe Quesada to sign off on one.”
Ixnay on the uthtray.
Yeah, nice talk to you Mitch, in the middle of a column. gotta go. Buh-bye.
Anyway, <b>Phantom Jack</b> will be in the <I>Previews</I> magazine that comes out in October, meaning the book will be on the stands sometime in December. Marvel Assistant Editor Stephanie Moore said they plan to not only publish the cover, but a bunch of finished pages from the comic itself to get people interested.
So now Mitch, Ray and Color Kid Jaime Jones are doing their thing getting the comic done one page at a time.
Since my part of the first issue is done, I just sit around and act like a mother hen hoping everything gets done on time.
So, what about issue number two?
<I>Next week: Yeah, what about the second issue?</I>
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo_t.jpg" width="500" height="157" border="0" hspace="2"></a></center>
<I>Mike Sangiacomo, a freelance writer for Newsarama and other sources, was invited to share his experiences with pitching to Epic by Newsarama's editor, Matt Brady, in the interest of keeping readers well informed. Brady advises Newsarama readers that he is aware of the inherent conflict of interest presented by journalists working for a publisher they cover. Sangiacomo's regular column Journey Into Comics has and will continue to be found in the Opinion/Editorial section of Newsarama. Brady has not, nor does he plan to pitch to Epic himself. </I>
<I>This is a weekly log of the assignment to create a comic for Marvel’s new Epic imprint. The comic about a newspaper reporter who can turn invisible was originally called <b>Nowhere Man</b>, but has been changed to <b>Phantom Jack</b>” because of legal/technical problems. That means someone got to a similar name before I did.
Last week we talked about the hiring of the colorist on the project, Jaime Jones. This week, letterer Ray Dillon is in the spotlight</I>.
Kansas?
I’m working with a dude from Kansas?
I don’t know why, but for some reason I thought that Ray Dillon, one of the alpha males of Golden Goat Studios, was from San Diego.
When I started to write this week’s piece about the letterer, the last member added to the <b>Phantom Jack</b> crew, I thought it would be a good idea to find out for sure.
Turns out the kid’s from Kansas.
You know, there’s only two things that come from Kansas, steers and...no wait, that’s Texas.
Kansas is that place out near West Dakota where all the tornadoes come from. It has corn. Lots and lots of corn, and very few comic shops. The last time I was out there I could not even find a 7-11 that sold comics. So the fact that Ray has not only been able to find comics, but learn to work in the field is quite an accomplishment.
Ray, 21, got involved in the Phantom Jack project by way of artist Mitch Breitweiser, a fellow member of the Golden Goat Studios. See www.goldengoatstudios.com for more on the boys. We were looking for a letterer and Mitch said that Ray was overqualified for the job but might take it on just to work on a (Odin willing) high profile book.
Mitch was right, Ray, of Salina, Kansas, was willing to come on board for the pittance percentage of the pot we could offer. It turned out to be a better move than we thought because in addition to being a top-notch letterer, Ray, an artist, is also gifted in dealing with graphics and computer things.
We ended up increasing his share of the proceeds because he took on the responsibility of making everything CD ready for Marvel.
Good thing because I tend to tilt my head like a confused dog when people start talking technical stuff.
A typical e-mail conversation between Ray and I goes something like this:
RAY: “We need to figgle the whajoosits on the flegma to 10,000 kikohurtz for good quality. That okay with you?”
ME: Yep.
Now the <b>Phantom Jack</b> crew is complete and we’re all working like mad to get this thing done.
A big decision made recently was when the first issue of the series should be released.
I wanted it to be on the stands last month, but that didn’t seem possible.
I learned how important the Previews monthly ordering guide is. That’s where we do the dog and pony show to get comic shop owners - those brilliant, handsome and/or beautiful people - to order lots and lots of the comics.
We have to appeal to their sense of taste and make <b>Phantom Jack</b> sound like the hottest thing since <b>Trouble</b>. That’s right, remember how everyone short-ordered <b>Trouble</b> with the photo cover of the hot chicks? And what happened? Thousands of fans were furious and Marvel put out a second printing of the book with a different cover making the first one super-valuable.
Now, I won’t guarantee that will happen to Jack, but we do have another cover ready to go just in case...excuse me, phone’s ringing. Yes?
“Mike, it’s Mitch Breitweiser. What are you talking about? We don’t have a second cover ready to go. We can’t even get Joe Quesada to sign off on one.”
Ixnay on the uthtray.
Yeah, nice talk to you Mitch, in the middle of a column. gotta go. Buh-bye.
Anyway, <b>Phantom Jack</b> will be in the <I>Previews</I> magazine that comes out in October, meaning the book will be on the stands sometime in December. Marvel Assistant Editor Stephanie Moore said they plan to not only publish the cover, but a bunch of finished pages from the comic itself to get people interested.
So now Mitch, Ray and Color Kid Jaime Jones are doing their thing getting the comic done one page at a time.
Since my part of the first issue is done, I just sit around and act like a mother hen hoping everything gets done on time.
So, what about issue number two?
<I>Next week: Yeah, what about the second issue?</I>
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo_t.jpg" width="500" height="157" border="0" hspace="2"></a></center>
<I>Mike Sangiacomo, a freelance writer for Newsarama and other sources, was invited to share his experiences with pitching to Epic by Newsarama's editor, Matt Brady, in the interest of keeping readers well informed. Brady advises Newsarama readers that he is aware of the inherent conflict of interest presented by journalists working for a publisher they cover. Sangiacomo's regular column Journey Into Comics has and will continue to be found in the Opinion/Editorial section of Newsarama. Brady has not, nor does he plan to pitch to Epic himself. </I>