Christian Sager

R is for ROVER. S is for STEPFORD WIFE. T is for THB....

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:22:22 -0400

R is for ROVER. S is for STEPFORD WIFE. T is for THB. #alphabots

Finally caught up on my alphabots. Rover is from The Prisoner and made catching up significantly easier to do. The Stepford Wife drawing is an homage to the original film’s poster. And THB is from Paul Pope’s comic of the same name.

The Guns of Shadow Valley: Complete graphic novel

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:23:07 -0400

The Guns of Shadow Valley: Complete graphic novel:

The webcomic of Western adventure and the supernatural, collected into a 200+ page, big, beautiful hardcover graphic novel.

My friend Dave is running a campaign to publish his amazing comic THE GUNS OF SHADOW VALLEY. You like action? Adventure? Westerns? GUNS is like the Magnificent Seven meets the X-Men. There’s so many awesome rewards I got the 200+ hardcover book, a shirt AND a digital bundle of Dave’s other comics.

Git on yer stallions and let’s ride!

Q is for QUINTESSON. #alphabots After Heroes Con I’m...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:28:55 -0400

Q is for QUINTESSON. #alphabots

After Heroes Con I’m trying to catch up on my Alphabots. The good news is I pencilled Q-T while I was there. So I’m hoping to ink, color and upload these over the next couple of days and get back on track!

Heroes Con 2013: "What I Got Better Get Some (Get On Up)"

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:32:00 -0400

Heroes Con is always unique when compared to even the best comics conventions across the United States. But this year was a one-of-a-kind experience because the North Carolina GOP held their annual convention at the same time, in the same place, while staying in the same hotel. Regardless of your politics, you can see why this made for an odd cultural mash up. While they had a Faith & Freedom Prayer Breakfast, we had a panel on “good girl” art. When they held a reception for the governor, we had a Drink and Draw party.

The best evidence for this weird stew came Saturday night, when it was reported that Ed Piskor (creator of WIZZYWIG and HIP HOP FAMILY TREE) rode the same elevator as Karl Rove. Above is my rendition of this curiosity, which I desperately wish I was a fly on the wall for.

But let’s focus on comics! My favorite event this year was Rich Barrett’s panel on Graphic Design in Comics, with Robert Wilson IV, Matt Kindt, Jim Rugg, Chris Pitzer and Matt Stevens. As a designer myself I was pleased that there was much to learn from the panelists, especially Wilson’s insights into designing covers for digital devices.

Wilson also designed two of my favorites purchases at the show (above): his new custom comic LIKE A VIRUS and a screen printed poster in the style of Japanese Edo-e or Nishiki-e. LIKE A VIRUS is an emotionally powerful comic and I highly recommend it.

Other items I picked up at the show include Andy Belanger’s BLACK CHURCH, Becky Cloonan’s DEMETER and Robbi Rodriguez’s FRANKIE GET YOUR GUN. I also got the last copy of Jim Rugg’s stylish magazine anthology SUPERMAG.

I regret not picking up any comics by Ben Marra, who I met at the convention after party on Sunday night. Looking at the material on his site, his work seems right up my alley. Check out this commercial for his Traditional Comics.

It was great to finally meet social media comics friends like Eric Newsome and my collaborator on THE CABINET, Kelly Williams. Kelly and I communicate daily but haven’t had a chance to meet in person. As I expected we became fast friends and I suspect we’ll be working together on comics for some time to come, even after THE CABINET is finished. We have similar interests, personalities and backgrounds that play well together. It’s rare to find someone you can work together with so effortlessly and I’m really excited to see what comes next! Here’s a photo of us marching through Charlotte like a boss.

Two more things I’ll share with you re: Heroes Con 2013. First, we found an excellent breakfast spot called The Midnight Diner that’s only a ten minute walk from the convention center. Cheap, filling food for comics folk on the go.

Finally, I want to share two amazing commissions my friend Rafer Roberts (creator of PLASTIC FARM) got for his sketchbook of self-portraits. The first is by comics legend Bill Sienkiewicz.

The last is by our friend (and comics legend in the making) Dave Wachter. Dave’s launching a Kickstarter for his webcomic THE GUNS OF SHADOW VALLEY this week and you should definitely support it!

davewachter: Space girl

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:26:47 -0400

davewachter:

Space girl

jasonlatour: Lookitdat. The Heroes Con badges really...

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 05:50:57 -0400

jasonlatour:

Lookitdat. The Heroes Con badges really exist.

Check out these great Heroes Con badges!

O is for OMEGA SUPREME. P is for PRIS. #alphabots Getting caught...

Tue, 28 May 2013 10:28:33 -0400

O is for OMEGA SUPREME. P is for PRIS. #alphabots

Getting caught up on my AlphaBots contributions. I tried different styles in MangaStudio for these two. The first is almost all done with marker and lines, while the second is brushes and patterns. The anatomy on “Pris” is a little off, but I was trying to capture her infamous backflip scene in Blade Runner. Even using a statue for reference I couldn’t quite get her legs right. Still fun though.

I hope to have Q and R done by the end of the week. Then it’s off to Heroes Con in Charlotte where I’ll be pencilling the remainder of this set.

Heroes Con 2013 is only 14 days away! Table listings just went...

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:45:04 -0400

Heroes Con 2013 is only 14 days away! Table listings just went up and it looks like the 1000 block in Indie Island is going to be the place to visit!

Kelly Williams and I will be at Table 1008 selling comics, prints and souls. Kelly’s also doing sketches and if you haven’t seen his original art before, check out this selection I pulled in a post last year.

Several of our comics cohorts are in the same block. Come visit all of us if you’re at the show!

Dave Wachter (Table 1010): Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem, Night of 1,000 Wolves, That Hellbound Train, Guns of Shadow Valley.
Robert Wilson IV & Brian Winkeler (Table 1009): Knuckleheads (Issue 2 out now!)
Joel Carroll (Table 1007): Cuttle & Chirp, Skullkickers, Topaz, Flight
Rafer Roberts (Table 1024): Plastic Farm
Jason Horn (Table 1011): Ninjasaur
Rich Barrett (Table 1015): Nathan Sorry
Mike Maihack (Table 1006): Cleopatra in Space

When we were trying to come up with a name for him, my wife...

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:37:00 -0400

Ood flat ferreting on the bedroom floor.

Ood (right) with his brother Nim.

Ood peeking out of his sleep cavern.

Ood and I first thing in the morning.

Ood sleeping in our bed, just a week before he passed away.

When we were trying to come up with a name for him, my wife asked, “What about Ood?” She was referring to a species of weird aliens on Doctor Who, with mouths that looked like ground beef and red eyes like orbs. It was perfect.

Ever since our veterinarian’s office called, looking for a home for a ferret that one of their nurses had found, we thought the whole thing was a little odd. She’d found him in the yard of her apartment complex, cornered by a neighborhood cat. Had he been abandoned? Did he escape his owners? We’ll never know. What we brought home was an albino with bright red eyes and floofy white fur that looked like pantaloons around his little legs. At first he freaked us (and our other animals) out. There was something a little off about him, the way he shuffled around happy-go-lucky, head tilted upward. “Ood” was the best name we could have given him.

We soon learned that he was mostly blind, which was why he held his head that way. Ood used his nose to find his way around, much more than his eyes. He was the biggest, strongest ferret we’d ever had, with the most gregarious personality. He’d open cabinets himself, just so he could crawl in and find a warm, dark place to sleep. We put a cast iron doorstop shaped like a frog in front of the bathroom door to prop it open. He effortlessly shoved the frog away, just so he could find out what was behind it. With all that strength you might think he’d boss the other animals around, but all he ever wanted them to do was play.

He followed Nim, our other white ferret, everywhere, desperate for his attention. If our other ferrets or one of the cats we later adopted had the energy to play, Ood would dance around with excitement, dooking happily. The cats were terrified of him. He’d run up and goose them from behind, sending them flying across the room to hide. Even after he slowed down, from the insulinoma infecting his body, Ood still took joy in the occasional tussle.

His name was also perfect for extended nicknames like “Ood Tang Clan” or “Oodahviing.” Whenever I hear New Order’s “Temptation” I change the lyrics to:

“Ood you’ve got red eyes. And I’ve never met anyone quite like you before.”

What I learned most from this satisfied, happy little boy was to keep plucking along no matter what. Despite how others treat you, or the stress going on around you, keep being yourself and doing how you do.

We will sing to you Ood. The universe will sing you to your sleep.

Up, down, turn around. Ood it’s the last time. Oh no, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before.

N is for NIMROD. #alphabots

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:49:20 -0400

N is for NIMROD. #alphabots

Comics Alliance Set the Bar for Critical Comics Thought

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:52:00 -0400

From 2011 until the beginning of 2012 I wrote about comic books and comics culture for CNN. In recent months, that experience and others have led me to decide to transition into more freelance writing. What professional advice sites like Writer’s Digest and Freelance Switch tell you to do in my situation is build your own blogging portfolio so you can potentially guest blog or “pitch queries” at paying sites in your wheelhouse. Comics Alliance was at the top of my list of sites I was aiming for. Now it’s gone.

Many people decry the state of journalism about comics. Common complaints include the following:

Sites fish for hits with sensationalist, misleading headlines
Sites paste text from corporate press releases and call it “news.” Previews are the same thing, an alternative form of advertising.
Writers post gossip trawling for hits, without verifying its accuracy.
No one can agree what “geek culture” is or if it even exists at all. But some sites purposefully mislabel content with that phrase to build their traffic.
Typing a summary of a convention panel isn’t investigative. It’s simply distributing free public relations for the presenters.
Pieces reviewing comics spend too much time focusing on context and story and not enough on the art and craft.
Sites cite tweets as evidence of news.

I’m sure there’s probably many more to list but you get the point. The interesting thing is that most of these complaints are also applicable to general, mainstream news media. It’s not just comics journalism that has these flaws. It’s inherent to our consumption culture as a whole right now. I don’t usually follow cable news, but I was in Massachusetts visiting family when the marathon bombing happened. Every channel we watched committed several of these transgressions, and acted like they were par for the course.

While they may have occasionally strayed into the above territory to pay the bills, I thought Comics Alliance did better than other major comics news sites at being investigative, insightful and sincere. Heidi MacDonald’s great analytical pieces on The Beat were their only competition when it came to critical thinking about the industry. Otherwise, Comics Alliance set the bar for the kind of non-fiction pop culture writer I want to be. Take David Brothers’ thoughtful diatribe about Sullivan’s Sluggers. Or Andy Khouri’s analysis of the fiasco between Apple, Comixology and Saga. Or pretty much anything Laura Hudson wrote while she was still editor there. While other sites chomped at the bit to be the first to post sensational comics “news,” Comics Alliance took their time to dot their i’s and cross their t’s before leaping into the fray.

Tim Hodler at The Comics Journal said this morning that Comics Alliance was:

… very important to a certain kind of comics fan, still emotionally attached to the popular superhero properties of their adolescence, but beginning to question some of DC and Marvel’s corporate decisions — the type of people who would invoke (and celebrate) the idea of “geek culture” in earnest. That’s not my bag but it was a lot of other people’s, so it’s a shame to see it end so abruptly and unceremoniously.

That’s a bit of a backhanded compliment. But let’s pretend Hodler’s right about one thing… if Comics Alliance caused its readers to question the decisions of any media corporation, that’s significant. In the “circuit of culture,” journalists can cover the representation, identity, production, consumption and regulation of comics. While many of their competitors are satisfied with only one or two of those categories, Comics Alliance ran the gamut, giving us a broader spectrum of understanding for the entire medium.

For that I’m thankful and continue to be inspired to write better.

Poll: Which lettering size do you like better for THE...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:49:57 -0400

Poll: Which lettering size do you like better for THE CABINET?

On the left is 7pt Brian Bolland. On the right is 6pt.

Trying to design lettering for both print and digital reading.

M is for MONT BLANC. #alphabots From Urasawa and Tezuka’s...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:29:28 -0400

M is for MONT BLANC. #alphabots

From Urasawa and Tezuka’s PLUTO.

Colleen Coover: For Your Consideration: BANDETTE

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:45:17 -0400

Colleen Coover: For Your Consideration: BANDETTE:

colleencoover:

As you may have already heard, Bandette has been nominated for four Eisners this year! The voting is now open to comics industry professionals. If you are eligible, your support would be appreciated. There is a deep pool of brilliant comics in the running this year, and people are…

#alphabots K is for K-9. L is for L.M.D. (Life Model Decoy)

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:31:12 -0400

#alphabots K is for K-9. L is for L.M.D. (Life Model Decoy)

robertwilsoniv: Like A Virus Here’s a preview of the comic I’m...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:23:02 -0400

robertwilsoniv:

Like A Virus

Here’s a preview of the comic I’m currently Kickstarting with writer Ken Lowery. I’d really appreciate it if you would check the project out, consider backing, and reblog!

Art by me, Colors by Jordan Boyd

descroissants: In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:14:08 -0400

descroissants:

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple went after Switzer shouting, “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers.” However, Switzer’s boyfriend and other male runners provided a protective shield during the entire marathon.The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines, and Kathrine later won the NYC marathon with a time of 3:07:29. [Wiki]

Awesome women in history.

Sam Humphries' singular possessive apostrophe: from Brian K Vaughan, re SAGA 12 and Apple:

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:26:59 -0400

Sam Humphries' singular possessive apostrophe: from Brian K Vaughan, re SAGA 12 and Apple: :

mattfractionblog:

As has hopefully been clear from the first page of our first issue, SAGA is a series for the proverbial “mature reader.” Unfortunately, because of two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex, Apple is banning tomorrow’s SAGA #12 from being sold through any iOS apps. This is…

I is for IG-88 and J is for JOCASTA. #alphabots If you looks...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:12:00 -0400

I is for IG-88 and J is for JOCASTA. #alphabots

If you looks closely at the poster you’ll see that IG-88 and HK-47 are playing a bit of Spy vs. Spy with each other. Also, Jocasta is kicking whichever robot will be next week’s entry. Can you guess Who?

10 Songs of Ice and Fire

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:08:39 -0400

I couldn’t help myself.

At the end of Game of Thrones first episode this season I raised my hands up in a metal salute to the return of one of my favorite characters in the series. I’m not going to spoil it, but if you’ve seen the episode you know who he is.

Later that night, I thought back on how silly that gesture was, raising the horns to a television in my home. But it’s also somehow appropriate for the culture of that fictional world. Whether George R.R. Martin intends it or not, there’s metal infused through his stories and it’s not always Valyrian Steel.

There are actually several metal bands that have written songs in homage to A Song of Fire and Ice (one of them included here). Much like Led Zeppelin loved Tolkien, some carry the torch for Martin. But there’s no soundtrack for yourWesteros experience beyond that written by Ramin Djawadi for the show’s score. As nice as it may be, it can’t capture the primal, epic metallic elements that the story deserves.

Here then are 10 Songs of Ice and Fire for the next time you’re reading your novels, making a costume or illustrating fan art for Game of Thrones.

1. Earth - “Omens and Portents II: Carrion Crow”

This carrion crow’s got three eyes and it brings omens and portents through a greenseer warg.

2. Pelican - “Drought”

Follow the comet across the barren Red Wastes clashing with blue-lipped warlocks along the desperate way.

3. Eluveitie - “Kingdom Come Undone”

These bards look like Dothraki who crossed the poison sea playing bagpipes, flutes and the hurdy gurdy all the way. Feel their honor rise as they draw arms against your fellow bannermen along the Kingsroad.

4. High On Fire - “Frost Hammer”

Beyond the wall, among the white walkers, giants and dire wolves lie the battlegrounds of the first men. This is where I expect the Frost Hammer flies from the hands of a true son of the north.

5. Wolves In The Throne Room - “Queen Of The Borrowed Light”

The priestess of R’hllor hears these northwestern screams when she stares into her fire. One day a reckoning will come her way in the form of a pale matron’s corpse with a dry slit throat.

6. Skepticism - “The Gallant Crow”

A bastard of the north makes a slow funeral march from the wall, to the Fist of the First Men and back to Castle Black. No one is more of a skeptic than the man who knows nothing.

7. The Sword - “Maiden, Mother & Crone”

Three of the Seven.

8. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - “Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow”

Though not metal this ode is still appropriately dark, cold and epic. All these souls are buried down low in this snow. Cave’s words are the whispers of thousands of little birds on the wind.

9. Thrones - “The Anguish of Bears”

The old bear is tormented because his son was exiled across the sea. His son’s in love with a little girl who doesn’t love him back. Everyone’s sad.

10. DragonForce - “The Fire Still Burns”

This falsetto eunuch echoes through the streets of King’s Landing after the green wild fire burned all asunder.

* Daenarys art courtesy of Rich Barrett, who has also put together this excellent Pinterest board of Game of Thrones fan art.