What I do, however, is update the AMWC Facebook page with links and news that you guys can check out. =D

So if you don’t find anything here…chances are…I’ve updated the Facebook page with something so please do drop by from time to time to see what’s new in the world of writing and manga. Sometimes I will highlight artists’ websites so ya all can learn from one another and perhaps…make new friends? =D

Have fun!

PS: If you have any particular topic you want me to write about, do feel free to email me at aspiringmw@gmail.com or make a comment below. Ciao!

moon

2011 had been a wonderful year for me…mainly coz I finally got down to doing something that has been on my mind since I first set up AMWC on SGcafe. Yup, the Comics Xchange that took place at the Goodman Arts Centre in Singapore! If you’re curious about the outcome, well…the turnout was unexpectedly low but some people did turn up for my seminar and my speakers were fabulous! A lot of knowledge were shared and new friends were made so it wasn’t all that bad despite the small crowd. I also met Otto Fong, who really is one of the coolest dudes I ever have had the fortune to come across! He too has had a very productive and successful year where his comics are concerned. You guys should really attend his talks as and when he conducts them coz he is never boring. =D

We also had Benjamin Ang (the Singaporean dude who was hired by Marvel Comics) and Sonny Liew (need I say more? Hehe) share their experiences with the young participants, many of whom are just starting out but are not sure whether their talents can take them far. =)

On the writing side, I’m…ahem ashamed to say I was so busy with real life that I didn’t manage to complete my planned sequel to Rainy Skies: Lull before Storm. =x

Yes, yes, I know…bad example. =x

So with this new year, I’m gonna be more organised and make it a point to complete it. *determined look*

I also managed to visit Taiwan for the first time~! I documented the highlights of my trip at Tourist Kitty so do visit it and let me know your thoughts! Would really love to hear about the recommended places to travel to so I can start planning for the new year! Hehe.

And yes, to kickstart the new year, I have a little something for you! A FREE webinar by Aktive Learning on “How to Publish Your Book in Singapore“. It’s a one-hour webinar on 28 Jan from 10am to 11am. Replays are available for those who cannot make it for this date so be sure to register your email to get the lowdown on how to get your novel/manga/comics published in Singapore~!

Once you’ve signed up with them, they will email you a brief guide on how to get yourself published as well as their submission guidelines should you want to consider them as a publisher. Although I have to say…their specialization seems to be more of educational titles. But if you’re planning to be like Otto Fong and produce educational comics in say…Mathematics, then this could be a golden opportunity. =)

Have fun and oh, do feel free to share what you managed to accomplish in 2011 in the comments. We sometimes forget the achievements we had managed to gain but it’s important to remember them and record them in your portfolio for all to admire and take note. You never know when someone may just sit up and take notice of your excellent work! =D

moon

Hiya guys! It’s going to be 1st & 2nd Oct soon! And that means the Comics Xchange is going to be upon us soon! =)

The seminars & workshops now have group discounts of 5% for 5 or more people so if you’re still wondering if you should sign up for one of them, grab this chance now. =)

Our seminars & workshops target amateur artists who want to level up their skills in the creative & business arena. The seminars, for example, feature Karen Leong who is an Influential Communications Expert. She will guide participants on how to present themselves in a professional yet influential way so doors of opportunity may open for them. Wu Di from Manga Castle will show how the law of attraction can “attract” people to invest in your passion. =)

Jerry Hinds (ACAS & Niceone Entertainment) & Aravind Menon (Jove Pater Media) will also cover the creative aspects of writing & time-saving art techniques to help boost your current level in producing comics/manga.

So we’re not just focusing on the creative side of comics, we want our participants to be business-savvy too! =) It’s good that you get to do what you love on a regular basis but even better when that passion helps you pay the bills as well. =D

And the bazaar will feature superhero body art by Function Junction, epic lightsaber fight by Fight Saber (see below video), talented artists like Collateral Damage Studios, Comix Pandora, Kelvin Chan & more so you better not miss this event. =D

Cheers!

moon

This just got in…

check out ticketing & booth details in our Comics Xchange brochure here:
http://issuu.com/lilianwu/docs/comics_xchange_brochure.art

Cheers,
moon

In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been in my absence…I’m proud to announce that the brainchild I’ve been working on is finally ready to be born! On October 1 & 2 this coming year end of course. =) I’m co-organising it in conjunction with the Association of Comic Artists Singapore (ACAS) & Story Kitchen to bring you the first ever EDU-FUNTAINMENT event at the Goodman Arts Centre.

Comics Xchange is an event for the creatives by the creatives. There will be seminars, workshops for the kids, a 24 hour comics drawing marathon and even a bazaar to satisfy the shopaholic within you! XD

DATE: October 1 and 2 2011

VENUE: Goodman Art Centre, 90 Goodman Road, Singapore 439053
Find out how to get there by clicking here…

HIGHTLIGHTS
Let’s Talk Comics & Business – CXC Seminar
For the very serious but inexperienced enthusiast, a number of esteemed local speakers from the world of comics, manga and graphic novels will give a series of talks, specific to the subject matter and how it also affects numerous vertical markets. Subjects include everything from the merits of quality writing and draughtsmanship, to the essentials of presentation, publishing, distribution and new digital platforms. Attendees will have a chance to bring along their story and art portfolios to obtain on-the-day critiques and maybe even land a trial assignment.

CXPO Bazaar
For those in search of out-and-out fun! A dedicated artists realm will be the place to go to purchase inspiring local comics and artwork. Focused pop culture retailers will add to the festival feeling, offering generous discounts on leading books, merchandise and apparel. Not forgetting the open invitation to cosplayers, courtesy of CosAsia – Singapore’s premier costume retailer and purveyor of the fever, will have their own special 50+ strong entourage present! The life & souls of any party, the best dressed on the day will have the chance to walk away with top value sponsored prizes, ranging from free books and manga, to posters and movie tickets. Artists’ booths will be made available for rent. Details coming soon.

CXC Captions and Actions Workshops
There are many forms of writing, and few are as unique as comics — the Captions Workshop will teach and demonstrate basic fundamentals of plot building, story structuring and how to develop narrative and character dialogue. For those artists who are curious about how to create their own characters and concepts — the Actions Workshop is just the place to be, sharing potent knowledge on how to generate vibrant story character visuals, and how to integrate them meaningfully as part of a concept.

Captions & Actions Workshops are for anyone age 12 or above (including mature adults!). All classes are devised & conducted by Senior Members & Associates of the Association of Comic Artists (Singapore) (ACAS). Prizes will be given to the best students over the two days, including cutting-edge digital devices that can aid in all aspects of comic creation.

24 Hour Comics Day @ CXC
For the very serious and most proficient comes this incorporated International event – the challenge is to produce a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The event was successfully launched in Singapore last year with 30 participants, and this year it is expected to generate even greater interest. The stories completed will be shortlisted for possible publication in December. This is not a competition, but a challenge for oneself. Uncompleted works are dubbed ‘Noble Failures’, so there is no shame in failure here, because all efforts embrace the spirit of the challenge and remain worthy of celebration. They can be completed after the event and still be considered for publication.

WHO ELSE IS WELCOME?
Cosplayers, family, friends, kids…basically anyone who is interested in the world of comics and manga are welcome to drop by! There is space for everyone. =)

We will release the sale information for the seminars/workshops/booth rentals soon, so do stay tuned to this space! In the meantime, do drop by our Facebook Fan Page or Twitter~! Our website with all the ticketing details will be launched very soon.

So don’t forget to stay tuned! XD

moon

Back to Benjamin Ang…8 Days recently did an interview with him and I scanned the article for your reading pleasure! Enjoy. =)

So ganbatee, y’all!

moon

Hiya guys!! It’s been some time since my last post but I want to share a piece of great news with you! It’s been a busy period for me but one of the reasons is because I’ve been organising a comics forum event that will take place on 1 Oct and 2 Oct! The venue hasn’t been confirmed yet but you can definitely look forward to an event rich with all sorts of programmes for the aspiring mangaka & comics artist. =D

There will be seminars for adults, workshops for kids, a 24 hour comics day for everyone & a bazaar to indulge your shopping cravings! XD

The Facebook page is up for now so please head over now to like the page! Website with full details will launched soon!

moon

Berkeley, CA – 1 July 2011 – The captivating world and quirky characters detailed by award-winning artist Sonny Liew’s (LIQUID CITY VOL. 1 and 2, My Faith in Frankie, Wonderland, Sense and Sensibility) loose and emotive watercolor-drenched pencil work are set to charm readers in August, with the release of MALINKY ROBOT: COLLECTED STORIES AND OTHER BITS from Image Comics.

A recipient of the Xeric Award and Best Science Fiction Comic Album award at the Utopiales International SF Festival, MALINKY ROBOT blends dystopic sci-fi and indie sensibilities into a uniquely oddball world, where street urchins Atari and Oliver scrounge, steal bicycles and watch Giant Robot movies. Liew says, “The stories of MALINKY ROBOT have always been the ones that I feel most personally connected with, from their rhythms and structure, to the character and architectural designs. It’s very exciting to see them collected together in this book.”

MALINKY ROBOT not only includes short stories like “Stinky Fish Blues” and “Karakuri” from the LIQUID CITY and Flight anthologies, but also a gallery of Liew’s concept and sketch art, along with pinups by incredible artists such as Mike Allred, Roger Langridge and Skottie Young.

Writer Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Deadpool, Wonder Woman) described the collection as “[a] book so full of wonders and treasures it feels like you should need a pirate’s map to find it. A stunningly gorgeous mix of urban fantasy and charming adventure that I plan to read until the spine falls off.”

MALINKY ROBOT: COLLECTED STORIES AND OTHER BITS TP (JUN110503), a 128-page full color collection of short sequential art stories retailing for $16.99, will be available at a comic store near you on August 3, 2011. It is available for pre-orders from Diamond Comics, and from retailers such as Amazon.
For more information, please visit www.malinkyrobot.com.

ABOUT SONNY LIEW

Sonny Liew is an Eisner-nominated comic artist, illustrator and painter. His work includes titles for DC Vertigo, Marvel, SLG and Disney. He has also served as editor and contributor for Image Comics’ Eisner-nominated LIQUID CITY anthology. For more information, please visit www.sonnyliew.com.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

Check out Sonny’s Inspired Short Stories here!~

moon

I also have intentions of doing a podcast on the social commentary of “why there seems to be more male comic artists than female ones?” Hehs. But that will come after I manage to get my panel together over Skype.

In any case, here is a video by Ms Sharon Connolly (an image consultant) on how to improve your image. Now I’m not advocating you to go for a complete transformation or undergo cosmetic surgery. Nor am I asking you to drop the kilos so you can look good in clothes (unless it’s for health reasons).  What I’m going to encourage you to do instead, is to present yourself in the best possible light. You don’t have to wear suits all the time if you’re not comfortable in them (and besides it’s sweltering HOT in Singapore right now). All you have to do is dress in well-made clothes that fit you and make you feel good. When you’re confident of your appearance, you’ll naturally shine and people will gravitate to you. =D

I hope you enjoyed the video! And do stay tuned for future posts of the networking and image nature. I know I’ve been terribly bad at keeping up in this blog but I WILL try my best. =)

moon

And now, if you’re ready…let us jump into the mind of one who dares to dream about superheroes and bring them to life on paper!

All for one & one for all. Aravind & Alex are the dudes on flanking the group.

 

Why superheroes?

Having grown up on superhero comics, you kinda tell yourself that you’re either gonna grow up and become a superhero, or–at the very least–write about them. After hundreds of attempts of getting myself bitten by radioactive spiders and looking for toxic spills to bathe myself in ended with zero success, I decided to settle for being a superhero writer.

I guess on a more serious note, I’ve always felt that the comic book medium has always been the single best medium for superhero stories. Despite some of my favourite movies of all time belonging to the superhero genre, I can honestly say that I have never found a movie to be anywhere as satisfying as a good comic with superheroes.

What is Salvation Sam all about?

It would be easy to say that Salvation Sam is a coming of age tale about a person becoming a superhero, but Alex (fellow writer and creator) and I would like to say that it is something more. Having read and watched comic and superhero related stuff for our whole lives, there were some specific things that we wanted to approach and discuss.

The first thing–which is pretty obvious very quickly in the comic–is the importance of a good villain in a superhero’s career. We take for granted how famous Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and the X-men are. However, if we were to look at their careers, a lot of their fame is directly linked to Lex Luthor, the Joker, Green Goblin and Magneto. So the question then becomes: what if a really powerful superhero–as powerful as most A-Listers–got stuck with a B-List rogue gallery? What happens to his career then?

Another thing that really struck us–and this was due to the trend of today’s superhero comics almost always having a shared universe–was the question of how special superheroes really are?

Salvation Sam, as a superhero, is pretty powerful. He’s in a world where superheroes are celebrated like rock stars and by all right he should be nothing less than a celebrity. But he isn’t. So in here we have the question of how does this super-powered being put the ‘hero’ back in ’superhero.’

What is the collaboration process like between writer, artists and inker? Were there any cat fights?

The collaboration was actually pretty smooth. In total, we worked with 6 artists–1 penciller, 3 inkers, 1 colorist and 1 letterer–and the kicker was that none of them were Singaporean. In fact, all of them live in North and South America and that effectively meant a neat 12 hour difference that completely messed with my sleep cycle.

But other than that, it was an amazing experience. Despite most being freelancers or new to this, they were extremely professional. If anything, I was more concerned if I was over imposing or was stifling their creativity. As much as possible we kept our scripts simple and only offered directions if it was something of particular necessity to the story. Otherwise it’s just mostly suggestions and it’s actually quite exciting to see how they interpret the script.

Things will be slightly different the next time though, we’ll be streamlining our art team to one inker per project. The last time we had to resort to 4 inkers–our penciller joined in–in order to get the product completed before STGCC and this resulted in some inconsistencies. But of course, this was inevitable given our 6 month schedule and at this point we’re just grateful to have been able to have found such great and quick artists in short notice.

How did you work things out when the artist doesn’t agree with the writer or vice versa?

As mentioned earlier, we didn’t really have any disagreements per se. As long as there were no misinterpretations that affected the continuity of the story or hindered some portion of the story-telling that Alex and I weren’t ready yet to reveal, we kinda let Renzo–the penciller–have free rein on the art. And he’s really quite amazing at that.

Interestingly though–and I know this isn’t really part of the question, sorry–the disagreements ocurred between me and Alex. We were in kind of a unique position where there were two writers and creators on this project and that led to multiple differing views on characters, story and technicalities. But we’ve been working on writing scripts for 5 years now–and that’s in a team of 5–so these debates that we had were comparatively minute.

It’s just matter of how long a debate/argument/cage match would last before we realised that our discussion had brought about a bunch of whole new ideas. But I would say that it’s actually one of the advantages of working in a team with multiple creators/writers. Our different ideas always led to stronger characters or–more often that you’d think–new characters that better embodied the different ideas that we had.

What is the difference between working in a team or paying someone to draw for you?

I guess, again, we’re in a unique position that merges both of those fields together. Our company, Jove Pater Media, is composed of only 5 of us and we’re all writers with no experience in sequential art… or using a pencil for that matter. That was one of the main reasons why we turned to the friendly world wide web to look for artists talented and tolerant enough–very tolerant–to work with us.

As owners of the company though, we pretty much feel that it’s our responsibility to take the financial gamble and so we ensured that all our artists were remunerated on a commission basis. This does kind of add a hierarchy to things but we worked really hard on maintaining a team mentality to things. And hopefully, we get to actually include artists in the team soon. In fact, out priority for the next year is to build our art teams with local and regional talents for the multiple projects that are coming up.

How can a comic artist publish his/her own comics without needing to set up a company? Is there a viable self-publishing business model that you can advise us on?

Despite having started a company and being in one, I can honestly say that it isn’t essential to have one to self-publish. In fact I set up this company initially because I was freelancing for established production houses that didn’t regularly outsource script-writing to individuals. It later turned out to be a good platform for me to work with my friends and we started working
towards short film production.

It was only in 2009 that we decided that we would actively work towards publishing comics and very frankly I’d say that we’re also self-publishing our own stuff. The advantage of having the company during all of this was that we had 5 people working towards handling the problems that crept up on us.

A gift that a lot of talent have that we didn’t was that–as a group–we were mostly writers. But I think if you can pull yourself a strong and talented team that’s 50% of the battle won. The biggest problem always turns out to be the actual publication and you find yourself thinking: ”Geez, how expensive could paper be?”

The cost of printing and distribution is quite ridiculous and it usually seems impossible to recoup costs by sales alone. But the internet is kinda changing the scene and web comics have become increasingly popular. Earning through subscription or even by selling through an Apple or Android app store seems to be highly viable.

Of course, many people–my company and I included–are fans of the print medium and the dream is that we can all enter on that medium in the industry. And I guess that’s where I hope my company can play a part. One of our primary objectives is to publish independent work and basically remove the headache of publication so that they can focus on the actually fun part of things: creating the comic.

When is the next issue of Salvation Sam coming?

Well, we’ll actually be re-releasing Salvation Sam #1 as a 40-page special, fully coloured and so on for retail first. The art will also be redone to a certain extent and we’ll be introducing new story elements.

The series–which will be in 6 parts with 1 tie-in–is meant to be released on a monthly schedule and so the second part should be released the month after the first. By that point of time Salvation Sam–along with our future titles–should be available on the magazine shelves of 7-11 and Cheers to keep it accessible to casual readers who wouldn’t want to journey to specific points in Singapore to purchase the comic.

What made you guys go into comics? What inspired you?

As I mentioned earlier, our company initially pulled together for short film productions. But writing comics was always kind of one of those things that all of us wanted to get into. In 2009, a year after I had finished NS and Alex, just a month since, we just met for one of our usual dinners and decided that it was about time that we got proactive with our company.

At this point, the other 3 members of our company were all in NS and we had to realistically assess our available resources. And that’s when it hit us that this would be the perfect time to re-prioritise our company’s objectives and bring comics to the forefront. We started passively working on Salvation Sam and a few other possible ideas for about a year and when we heard
that 2010′s STGCC would be placing extra focus on the western genre of comics and bringing guests down we just decided that it would be now or never. The event itself didn’t turn out very well but it was definitely a good motivator.

That actually gave us 6 months to progress Salvation Sam #1 from a constantly expanding concept to an actually printed comic book with a cohesive story and awesome art. But to be very honest, all our difficulties–and my whining–aside, it was pretty damn awesome to be writing comics. I mean, if I met a guy who wrote superhero comics for a living I’d pretty much be burning with jealousy, so now I get to be jealous of myself. Which is kinda confusing actually.

I have a friend who started drawing her comics from right to left in the manga method. Do you have a workable solution such that she can convert those comics into the Western style (read: left to right) method?

Well, I’m thinking that you don’t mean literally rotating it with photoshop, right?

As a fan of western comics and manga, I can honestly say that there are many fundamental differences between manga and western comic books. The story-telling structure, utility of beats, mythos and many other elements come into play accordingly and are part of the baggage that follow the medium.

If your friend is considering changing her manga-styled story into a western-styled one, I’d first recommend having the script edited accordingly and then redraw it.

All of that being said, I think if any writer/artist is interested in marketing to a western comic audience, they should do it in whatever style they feel best fits the content. Cross culture entertainment is common now and I think it would do well enough with the chosen story-telling style.

Nevertheless, if anyone is interested in readdressing their content in the western format, my company and I would love to do anything we can to help.

 

You can now read Salvation Sam online here at Issuu! Start supporting Singaporean comic creators today. =D

moon