Since I haven't had time to post more of my inane ramblings... enjoy this image from Flash #3!
Friday, September 23, 2011
A SNEAK PEEK...
Since I haven't had time to post more of my inane ramblings... enjoy this image from Flash #3!
SIGNING/CON SCHEDULE 2011
Hey all,
It's been way too long since my last entry. Sorry, folks. As you can imagine, I've been pretty busy with a host of different commitments that have kept me from staying on top of this blog. I'm really going to try to have another entry in the next few days, focusing my creative process as a writer.
But for now, I just wanted to post my upcoming schedule of signings and con appearances. FLASH #1 is less than a week away from hitting the stores, and I'm REALLY looking forward to meeting the fans and signing... oh, I don't know, a hundred thousand copies of the book?
Anyway, here's my schedule so far. As I get more details I will certainly pass the info along...
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 (WEDNESDAY)
5:30-7:30pm
The Comic Bug
1807 Manhattan Beach Blvd
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
http://thecomicbug.com/2011/09/28/scott-lobdell-brian-buccelato-and-norm-rapmund-signing-sept-28th/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203507256383331
SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 (FRIDAY)
7pm
Golden Apple Comics
7018 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
OCTOBER 1, 2011 (SATURDAY)
Frank & Sons Collectible Show
19649 San Jose Ave.
City of Industry, CA 91748
OCTOBER 2, 2011 (SUNDAY)
1:00-4:00pm
Emerald Knights Comics and Games
4116 W. Burbank Blvd.
Burbank, CA
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160192984062306
OCTOBER 5, 2011 (WEDNESDAY)
5pm
Beach Ball Comics
3024 W Ball Road Suite G
Anaheim, CA 92804
OCTOBER 14-16, 2011
New York Comic Con
@ The Javitz Center
OCTOBER 29-30, 2011
Long Beach Comic Con
@ Long Beach Convention Center
http://www.longbeachcomiccon.com/comic-con-guests.php
NOVEMBER 5-6, 2011
Comikaze Expo
@ Los Angeles Convention Center
http://comikazeexpo.com/brian-buccellato/
Hope to meet as many of you as humanly possible! Thanks!
It's been way too long since my last entry. Sorry, folks. As you can imagine, I've been pretty busy with a host of different commitments that have kept me from staying on top of this blog. I'm really going to try to have another entry in the next few days, focusing my creative process as a writer.
But for now, I just wanted to post my upcoming schedule of signings and con appearances. FLASH #1 is less than a week away from hitting the stores, and I'm REALLY looking forward to meeting the fans and signing... oh, I don't know, a hundred thousand copies of the book?
Anyway, here's my schedule so far. As I get more details I will certainly pass the info along...
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 (WEDNESDAY)
5:30-7:30pm
The Comic Bug
1807 Manhattan Beach Blvd
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
http://thecomicbug.com/2011/09/28/scott-lobdell-brian-buccelato-and-norm-rapmund-signing-sept-28th/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203507256383331
SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 (FRIDAY)
7pm
Golden Apple Comics
7018 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
OCTOBER 1, 2011 (SATURDAY)
Frank & Sons Collectible Show
19649 San Jose Ave.
City of Industry, CA 91748
OCTOBER 2, 2011 (SUNDAY)
1:00-4:00pm
Emerald Knights Comics and Games
4116 W. Burbank Blvd.
Burbank, CA
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160192984062306
OCTOBER 5, 2011 (WEDNESDAY)
5pm
Beach Ball Comics
3024 W Ball Road Suite G
Anaheim, CA 92804
OCTOBER 14-16, 2011
New York Comic Con
@ The Javitz Center
OCTOBER 29-30, 2011
Long Beach Comic Con
@ Long Beach Convention Center
http://www.longbeachcomiccon.com/comic-con-guests.php
NOVEMBER 5-6, 2011
Comikaze Expo
@ Los Angeles Convention Center
http://comikazeexpo.com/brian-buccellato/
Hope to meet as many of you as humanly possible! Thanks!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
TO READ OR NOT TO READ – PART TWO
Better late than never, eh?
Sorry, folks! I intended to get back to this post sooner than now, but deadlines and parenthood and Disneyland and working on my own personal projects got in the way of getting this done in a timely fashion.
Jumping right into it, let me address the concept of using social media to interact with fans. Am I for it? YES Do I think it's for everyone? NO! I wouldn't recommend doing so to those that can't disconnect their personal feelings from their professional persona. I say this because it's a recipe for creating conflict, and I say this because while I was at the midnight release of JLA #1, I was talking to an well-known artist friend who warned me to STAY OFF THE MESSAGE BOARDS. This personal warning came with the revelation that he got into it with fans online and that it "nearly ruined his career". I don't know how much of an exaggeration that is, but I do know that (by his own admission) he is a fellow that can't disconnect himself emotionally from his work.
I thanked him for the advice and politely agreed to disagree. We have two different temperaments and I just don't see myself getting into it with fans.
NOW PLEASE...
...don't take this as an invitation to antagonize this Super Professional Blogger in order to see if you can get a rise out of me. That's not nice. And not to come off as cocky, but I have a pretty sharp tongue and it's never a good thing when it gets to acting the crazy. Be warned that if we end up in dialogue about something and you try and bait me... I will turn Derek Jeter on you. I will not go A-Rod on you and say something regrettable and stupid.
At least I hope not. :)
As an aside, my artist friend also advised me AGAINST talking sports with fans, because that's another sure-fire way of driving a wedge between people. But then again, he's a Spurs fan, so how could you blame the fans for turning on him. Kidding! Sort of. Not really... okay, maybe a little.
Of course the willingness to interact with fans via social media comes at a price.... TIME. In order to do so, one must make it a priority to create an interactive online presence. This means tweeting, facebooking and reading through various forums. Like most people, I am a busy dude with a host of responsibilities... BUT I have made a commitment to do what I can to maintain an interactive public presence.
Obviously, I'm not Warren Ellis (of the nearly 500k twitter followers)... nor am I Geoff Johns (35K) or even (and I don't mean that in a negative way AT ALL -- I love him) Josh Fialkov of the 2,339 followers. I'm new to this and I have way less than 400 followers. Now, I'm not saying that to bemoan my lack of popularity... I'm saying it because it WAY EASIER for me to connect to all the fans that want to communicate with me. I imagine that it's much harder for those guys to respond to everyone that wants to talk to them.
All that to say that I will try my best to stay in dialogue with the fans. I want to know what you think... even if I don't agree with it.
Don't start disagreeing with me just cause you can. Play nice!
Sorry, folks! I intended to get back to this post sooner than now, but deadlines and parenthood and Disneyland and working on my own personal projects got in the way of getting this done in a timely fashion.
Jumping right into it, let me address the concept of using social media to interact with fans. Am I for it? YES Do I think it's for everyone? NO! I wouldn't recommend doing so to those that can't disconnect their personal feelings from their professional persona. I say this because it's a recipe for creating conflict, and I say this because while I was at the midnight release of JLA #1, I was talking to an well-known artist friend who warned me to STAY OFF THE MESSAGE BOARDS. This personal warning came with the revelation that he got into it with fans online and that it "nearly ruined his career". I don't know how much of an exaggeration that is, but I do know that (by his own admission) he is a fellow that can't disconnect himself emotionally from his work.
I thanked him for the advice and politely agreed to disagree. We have two different temperaments and I just don't see myself getting into it with fans.
NOW PLEASE...
...don't take this as an invitation to antagonize this Super Professional Blogger in order to see if you can get a rise out of me. That's not nice. And not to come off as cocky, but I have a pretty sharp tongue and it's never a good thing when it gets to acting the crazy. Be warned that if we end up in dialogue about something and you try and bait me... I will turn Derek Jeter on you. I will not go A-Rod on you and say something regrettable and stupid.
At least I hope not. :)
As an aside, my artist friend also advised me AGAINST talking sports with fans, because that's another sure-fire way of driving a wedge between people. But then again, he's a Spurs fan, so how could you blame the fans for turning on him. Kidding! Sort of. Not really... okay, maybe a little.
Of course the willingness to interact with fans via social media comes at a price.... TIME. In order to do so, one must make it a priority to create an interactive online presence. This means tweeting, facebooking and reading through various forums. Like most people, I am a busy dude with a host of responsibilities... BUT I have made a commitment to do what I can to maintain an interactive public presence.
Obviously, I'm not Warren Ellis (of the nearly 500k twitter followers)... nor am I Geoff Johns (35K) or even (and I don't mean that in a negative way AT ALL -- I love him) Josh Fialkov of the 2,339 followers. I'm new to this and I have way less than 400 followers. Now, I'm not saying that to bemoan my lack of popularity... I'm saying it because it WAY EASIER for me to connect to all the fans that want to communicate with me. I imagine that it's much harder for those guys to respond to everyone that wants to talk to them.
All that to say that I will try my best to stay in dialogue with the fans. I want to know what you think... even if I don't agree with it.
Don't start disagreeing with me just cause you can. Play nice!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Best. Email. Ever.
While on line at Space Mountain, I got a really touching email from a fan... One that I HAD to share. I'm keeping it anonymous at the author's request...
"Brian
-OK, this maybe the weirdest email you get. Hopefully not. Earlier today I was playing around on twitter and I came across some Flash posts that you made. The Flash has always been one of my VERY favorite super heroes and I'm honestly looking really forward to your book at the end of the month.
-This past week I've had some set-backs in my life. Some that I've been very depressed over the past few days. Brian, when I saw these:
https://twitter.com/#!/BrianBooch/status/110367327106760704/photo/1
https://twitter.com/#!/BrianBooch/status/110367153462591490/photo/1
https://twitter.com/#!/BrianBooch/status/110366901556871168/photo/1
-They spoke to me on a level that you had not intended. It seems you snuck a couple of really valuable life lessons in there, not just promos for a comic. They've changed my whole attitude for the day. I can't thank you enough. Looking very forward to reading Flash at the end of the month. And thanks to you, I'm off and running!!! Thanks again, sir."
There's no greater compliment to us as writers than to have quotes from our book affect someone in a positive way. I'm honored beyond words.
And I REALLY hope things get better for this person, SOON!
"Brian
-OK, this maybe the weirdest email you get. Hopefully not. Earlier today I was playing around on twitter and I came across some Flash posts that you made. The Flash has always been one of my VERY favorite super heroes and I'm honestly looking really forward to your book at the end of the month.
-This past week I've had some set-backs in my life. Some that I've been very depressed over the past few days. Brian, when I saw these:
https://twitter.com/#!/BrianBooch/status/110367327106760704/photo/1
https://twitter.com/#!/BrianBooch/status/110367153462591490/photo/1
https://twitter.com/#!/BrianBooch/status/110366901556871168/photo/1
-They spoke to me on a level that you had not intended. It seems you snuck a couple of really valuable life lessons in there, not just promos for a comic. They've changed my whole attitude for the day. I can't thank you enough. Looking very forward to reading Flash at the end of the month. And thanks to you, I'm off and running!!! Thanks again, sir."
There's no greater compliment to us as writers than to have quotes from our book affect someone in a positive way. I'm honored beyond words.
And I REALLY hope things get better for this person, SOON!
OFF TO DISNEYLAND... (AND A WORD ABOUT BARRY ALLEN)
I'm taking my son to the Magic Kingdom for a day of awesome. But before I go, I wanted to post this amazing piece of artwork from The Flash.
I also wanted to address the whole SINGLE BARRY issue. For the record, making Barry single was a creative choice that Francis and I made. There wasn't any pressure from up high, and there is no DC-wide mandate to abolish marriages. We didn't even know Clark and Lois were going to be single at the time we made this choice (over 6 months ago). We even had to ask permission from the bigwigs... and clearly they totally supported our choice.
Also, I'm not sure that it's been stated, but ALL of the DC characters have been de-aged and are in their twenties. So we decided to make him single because he is a younger Barry and this is a fresh angle to draw from... with a lot of interesting (for us) places to go. I know this flies in the face of those that identified with Barry as a married man for 40+ years... and I'm sorry if that turns anyone off to the extent that they won't even give our book a shot. But I'm not sorry about the choice we made. We like what we are doing and we think the fans will too.
Will Barry fall in love? Yes. Will he end up with someone? Yes. Will it be Iris or Patty or Lois? Maybe. :)
I also wanted to address the whole SINGLE BARRY issue. For the record, making Barry single was a creative choice that Francis and I made. There wasn't any pressure from up high, and there is no DC-wide mandate to abolish marriages. We didn't even know Clark and Lois were going to be single at the time we made this choice (over 6 months ago). We even had to ask permission from the bigwigs... and clearly they totally supported our choice.
Also, I'm not sure that it's been stated, but ALL of the DC characters have been de-aged and are in their twenties. So we decided to make him single because he is a younger Barry and this is a fresh angle to draw from... with a lot of interesting (for us) places to go. I know this flies in the face of those that identified with Barry as a married man for 40+ years... and I'm sorry if that turns anyone off to the extent that they won't even give our book a shot. But I'm not sorry about the choice we made. We like what we are doing and we think the fans will too.
Will Barry fall in love? Yes. Will he end up with someone? Yes. Will it be Iris or Patty or Lois? Maybe. :)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Okay, so I know that I'm supposed to follow up my PART ONE with a second part. I apologize for not having a chance to tackle the follow up to my thoughts on social media and fan interaction. I will be posting my thoughts on that soon... but in honor of the fast approaching DCNew52 Midnight Launch, I wanted to post a quote from someone OTHER THAN MYSELF about Flash #1.
Chris Murphy @ ComicsAlliance had a chance to get a sneak peek at all of the new relaunch stuff. Now, while he didn't get a chance to actually read Flash #1 (since it's coming out in the second half of the month), he did get to see the art. And here is what he said...
"The other series that intrigued me most from visuals alone was Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato's Flash. Manapul's work is gorgeous, and the fact that he's both co-writing and doing the art on the series seems to have given him the opportunity to do incredible page layouts to portray moments ranging from action scenes to the Flash's accelerated thought processes. I'll be paying a lot more attention to this one."
Read More:
As far as I know, this is the FIRST public impression of our book. And while I am not going to name names, I will mention that privately a few very prominent persons at DC have told us that our Flash #1 is among their favorites of the new52. Someone was even kind enough to say that it was "absolutely brilliant". And I gotta tell you, hearing that felt DAMNED GOOD.
Sorry if this is coming across as bragging. I just wanted to put it out there because... well, because I'm REALLY proud of what Francis and I are doing.
Of course, the true measure of our success will be the fan reaction (and how many of our little babies fly off the shelves). I think I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed from now until September 28th.
Chris Murphy @ ComicsAlliance had a chance to get a sneak peek at all of the new relaunch stuff. Now, while he didn't get a chance to actually read Flash #1 (since it's coming out in the second half of the month), he did get to see the art. And here is what he said...
"The other series that intrigued me most from visuals alone was Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato's Flash. Manapul's work is gorgeous, and the fact that he's both co-writing and doing the art on the series seems to have given him the opportunity to do incredible page layouts to portray moments ranging from action scenes to the Flash's accelerated thought processes. I'll be paying a lot more attention to this one."
Read More:
As far as I know, this is the FIRST public impression of our book. And while I am not going to name names, I will mention that privately a few very prominent persons at DC have told us that our Flash #1 is among their favorites of the new52. Someone was even kind enough to say that it was "absolutely brilliant". And I gotta tell you, hearing that felt DAMNED GOOD.
Sorry if this is coming across as bragging. I just wanted to put it out there because... well, because I'm REALLY proud of what Francis and I are doing.
Of course, the true measure of our success will be the fan reaction (and how many of our little babies fly off the shelves). I think I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed from now until September 28th.
Friday, August 26, 2011
TO READ OR NOT TO READ – PART ONE
In the aftermath of my previous post about Wally West… and the interesting reactions to it, I figured now was a good a time as any to explore the notion of creators reading forums, blogs and fan sites that focus on the materials they’re working on. Furthermore, I want to share my thoughts about using social media as a means of connecting to the fans.
THE FORUMS
After it was announced that Francis and I would be writing Flash, I started to check out fan forums @ CBR, Comic Bloc, and DC. Why? Because I was curious… I wanted to gauge the reaction of the Flash fan base. Despite being cautioned NOT to do so (by a few writer friends), I went ahead and started rooting around to see what “the people” thought. Across the board their was skepticism and doubt… peppered with some genuine wrath that DC would think to hand over the keys to Flash to a pair of literary unknowns. Was I surprised?
Absolutely not.
The response is pretty much what I thought it would be. Sight unseen, how could anyone really be FOR us? Most were dubious… some folks took a wait and see attitude… and a few were even cautiously optimistic because they love Francis’ art. No matter what the opinion, we never took it personally –
ALTHOUGH…
-- I must say that I wasn’t fond of those knee-jerk reactions that trumpeted certain doomsday, claiming Francis was an unreliable artist and incapable of meeting deadlines. Why? Because that just ain’t true. He’s a fully invested and dedicated artist / writing partner that has put his EVERYTHING into this re-launch. I can tell you this because I have seen it first hand. It is a fact. And for those keeping score… he’s currently finishing up the art for issue three. Sorry for the digression, but I just wanted to put that out there.
Back to my point…
Anyway, I never took any of those negative reactions personally. And I don’t think I ever will. We are all different people, with different experiences, interests, tastes and expectations. It’s a great thing when those elements line up and the masses respond positively to what someone has created… but no matter how many people dig what you are doing, there will ALWAYS be those that don’t. Some people will even HATE the eff out of your most beloved creative babies – the ones you labor over, birth and nurture into what you think is your finest example of creative expression. People will metaphorically spit on it, point out every perceived flaw, and dismiss your work in a host of ways.
And you know what… they have every right to.
That’s kind of the whole point, isn’t it? Setting aside the commercial aspect, art is meant to entertain… it’s meant to provoke an emotional response… it’s meant to be judged. At least that is MY understanding of what art is. SO even if the reaction to issue #1 is overwhelmingly negative… even if every Flash fan out there calls for our heads… at the end of the day I WON’T take it personally. I’m not gonna lie and say that I will be happy about it. I’m not going to sit there and say it won’t sting like hell and make me want to (momentarily) lash out at all those, “Jerks that wouldn’t know good writing if it fell out of their asses!” Hey, that would be my normal and fair emotional response. But ultimately, it would be just that… an emotional response to being judged. In this hypothetical doomsday scenario (I say hypothetical because EVERYONE is gonna love our Flash), it wouldn’t take me that long to get down off the ledge. Why? Because I get it.
SO… that is why I am fine with reading blogs, fan sites, and forums. I really do get it. I understand that for every fan offering to kiss the ground you walk on, there is another dude that would just as soon gut you like a fish. That’s just the way it is, folks. And if I want to write commercially, I have to accept that.
And if I didn’t, I would just scrawl my thoughts into a diary and lock it up so that NO ONE could ever see it -- unless they were able to break the sophisticated and nearly impregnable dairy locking mechanism.
Anyway, after all this rambling, I haven’t yet talked about social media, connecting WITH the fans (not just reading their opinions), and my willingness to be accessible to people and be accountable for what I put out into the universe. Looks like there’s gonna be a part two to this, kids….
It’s late. Sorry to cut this off (not short… it’s definitely not short)…
TO BE CONTINUED
THE FORUMS
After it was announced that Francis and I would be writing Flash, I started to check out fan forums @ CBR, Comic Bloc, and DC. Why? Because I was curious… I wanted to gauge the reaction of the Flash fan base. Despite being cautioned NOT to do so (by a few writer friends), I went ahead and started rooting around to see what “the people” thought. Across the board their was skepticism and doubt… peppered with some genuine wrath that DC would think to hand over the keys to Flash to a pair of literary unknowns. Was I surprised?
Absolutely not.
The response is pretty much what I thought it would be. Sight unseen, how could anyone really be FOR us? Most were dubious… some folks took a wait and see attitude… and a few were even cautiously optimistic because they love Francis’ art. No matter what the opinion, we never took it personally –
ALTHOUGH…
-- I must say that I wasn’t fond of those knee-jerk reactions that trumpeted certain doomsday, claiming Francis was an unreliable artist and incapable of meeting deadlines. Why? Because that just ain’t true. He’s a fully invested and dedicated artist / writing partner that has put his EVERYTHING into this re-launch. I can tell you this because I have seen it first hand. It is a fact. And for those keeping score… he’s currently finishing up the art for issue three. Sorry for the digression, but I just wanted to put that out there.
Back to my point…
Anyway, I never took any of those negative reactions personally. And I don’t think I ever will. We are all different people, with different experiences, interests, tastes and expectations. It’s a great thing when those elements line up and the masses respond positively to what someone has created… but no matter how many people dig what you are doing, there will ALWAYS be those that don’t. Some people will even HATE the eff out of your most beloved creative babies – the ones you labor over, birth and nurture into what you think is your finest example of creative expression. People will metaphorically spit on it, point out every perceived flaw, and dismiss your work in a host of ways.
And you know what… they have every right to.
That’s kind of the whole point, isn’t it? Setting aside the commercial aspect, art is meant to entertain… it’s meant to provoke an emotional response… it’s meant to be judged. At least that is MY understanding of what art is. SO even if the reaction to issue #1 is overwhelmingly negative… even if every Flash fan out there calls for our heads… at the end of the day I WON’T take it personally. I’m not gonna lie and say that I will be happy about it. I’m not going to sit there and say it won’t sting like hell and make me want to (momentarily) lash out at all those, “Jerks that wouldn’t know good writing if it fell out of their asses!” Hey, that would be my normal and fair emotional response. But ultimately, it would be just that… an emotional response to being judged. In this hypothetical doomsday scenario (I say hypothetical because EVERYONE is gonna love our Flash), it wouldn’t take me that long to get down off the ledge. Why? Because I get it.
SO… that is why I am fine with reading blogs, fan sites, and forums. I really do get it. I understand that for every fan offering to kiss the ground you walk on, there is another dude that would just as soon gut you like a fish. That’s just the way it is, folks. And if I want to write commercially, I have to accept that.
And if I didn’t, I would just scrawl my thoughts into a diary and lock it up so that NO ONE could ever see it -- unless they were able to break the sophisticated and nearly impregnable dairy locking mechanism.
Anyway, after all this rambling, I haven’t yet talked about social media, connecting WITH the fans (not just reading their opinions), and my willingness to be accessible to people and be accountable for what I put out into the universe. Looks like there’s gonna be a part two to this, kids….
It’s late. Sorry to cut this off (not short… it’s definitely not short)…
TO BE CONTINUED
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)