Hi fans,
As we move into June (and for me, a special birthday month) it’s time for a look back at the previous month for both Carter Comics and myself personally. Just as the events of Co-vid 19 took the year 2020 from bad to worse during just one week in March, the month of May went from a steady rebound, to a complete nosedive into the depths of hell, when a longstanding problem in this country pushed everyone to the breaking point of nationwide protests. Before all of that though, there were some events that made for a promising month such as an online interactive event for complimentary books, the completion of my latest project, and the introduction of live sketch art.
ALT FREE COMIC DAY: Fully-named “Alternative Free Comic Book Day, this new virtual event was a replacement for the physical “Free Comic Book Day” held at various comic shops across the country. So, instead of the usual layout of tables inside or outside a local book retailer with food, refreshments, and music, virtual panels, downloadable indy books, and AMAs (Ask me Anything Q&A sessions) were the new norm for this show, which took place on Facebook via a group page on Friday May 1st and Saturday May 2nd. Yours truly submitted a pdf download of Damn Tourists issue 1 for free reading, and a link at the end of the book to guide users to my website to purchase the four follow-up issues. While I didn’t do a virtual panel, I did grab the last AMA spot toward the end of the online comic event Saturday evening. This was done by text only in the events’ FB group, where each scheduled creator would post a bio, ending with a phrase initiating the online attendee to ask the creator anything they would like to know. While the attendance were mostly other creators and a few friends of those creators, we still supported each other by asking questions about various topic such as art style, influences, etc. The best part for me was being able to go back and answer earlier questions I had to think harder about before answering, which is pretty tough to do in person.
DOOM AND GLOOM CF PREQUEL IS COMPLETE: Following the completion of Damn Tourists issue five: “East Coast California,” in late November, I pivoted back to my Cosmic Force series with the third out of five character prequels I’ll be producing: “Doom and Gloom.” Much like the first three books, this was also a 12-page backstory of Cosmic Force member Bryan Snarski, touching on his early days with his rich uncle, the absence of his parents due to their high-demand business, working in the same grocery chain store that his uncle owned as a young manager, and the backlash regarding that nepotism. Alot of the distant behavior that his uncle Robert Blackwell Snarski displays toward his nephew is documented, along with the hatred Bryan’s employees have for him due to him being leapfrogged over everyone for a manager position due to family ties. This animosity slowly breaks Bryan’s spirit over time, until one day he could care less about how hostile he behaved toward a customer, who while incredibly rude, probably didn’t need to be escorted out of the store by security. A short telephone argument ends the prequel, with Bryan reading a paper advertising the next night’s meteor shower, where everything about him and the five others, changes forever. I find these prequels just as fun to do as the larger full-length books, as it’s a welcome change to do a shorter book for just a few months, as opposed to spending nearly over a year on a longer one. I also enjoy the creativity of adding layers to these characters with developing close relatives, birthdays, hairstyles, and attires that fit the decade they grew up in. It’s always been a fun challenge to do these things, and I can’t wait to continue these concepts on my next project: “Act your Age.”
LIVE ART: Ever since the Co-Vid 19 shutdowns in March, I, like alot of other comic creators, have struggled with pivoting from in-person event promotion and sales to online ones. The biggest hurdle for me in online sales (even before the virus), was being able to communicate with customers similar to my interaction with them at various comic conventions. Because promoting my online store, email blasts to mailing list subscribers, and simply posting art on Facebook and/or Instagram isn’t enough to grab people’s attention, I am finally able to do something that does: Thanks to a new overhead cellphone holder that connects to my desk, I am able to finally record my art process, whether in timelapse or live social media form, be it Facebook or Instagram. After spending a few weeks trying out different recording methods doing quick doodles, I got comfortable enough to work on more detailed artwork such at comic book covers, sequential art pages, and even m old Mongoose Mondays in Motion illustration games, which made a return after an almost 12-month hiatus. My new art schedule as of now with this new feature is as follows: Facebook Live art is relegated on Sundays at 7 pm PST as part of my weekly agenda (Renamed the LIVE SKETCH AGENDA), and on Mondays at 1 pm PST(as the return of Mongoose Mondays in Motion). While the figure-of-speech illustration with multiple choice answers is pretty straightforward, the sketch I do for the “AGENDA” is usually something non-comic-related that I discuss after I mentioning specific comic work and event agendas. So far I’ve sketched subjects such as the “Spider Man: Far From Home” version of classic villain Mysterio, Stevie Wonder/Bruce Springsteen for the 1985 charity single “We are the World,” and Terry “Julius” Crews from the underrated early 2000s sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris,” and I’m hungry for more. I’m considering linking the two Live art sessions and have the winner of “Mongoose Mondays in Motion,” able to choose what I draw during the “AGENDA” sessions. We shall see.
And that’s about it for my May recap on this blog. For July, I’ll have quite a bit to write about the previous month as well, with a Zoom interview with a fellow Hawaiian Comic Book Alliance (HCBA) member, another virtual version of a Comic Con set up by a budding East Los Angeles show, the tightrope that the Valley Comic Con in Santa Clarita is walking on by being one of the first SoCal cons since the shutdown to promote their operation later in the month, and a certain special day for an even more special creator next Thursday. Until then: Stay safe everyone!
Regards,
Allen Carter
Carter Comics