Hey gang -
I’ll be at C2E2 in Chicago this weekend. You can find me here:
Friday -
5pm – 6pm – Marvel Signing
Saturday
12pm – Marvel Signing
2pm – Superior Spider-Panel (Room W474)
Sunday
12:45pm – Writing for Comics with Comics Experience (Room W470B)
2:45pm – Marvel’s Next Big Thing Panel (Room W471)
See you in Chicago!
j.
Hey guys,
Just a quick note to confirm what everyone knows, I am no longer the writer of GLC and Red Lanterns for DC Comics. There were editorial decisions about the direction of the book that conflicted with the story I was hired to tell, and I felt that it was better to let DC tell their story the way they want. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’ll miss working with the entire Green Lantern team.
This was not an easy decision to make emotionally or financially, but, I’m sure it was the right decision for both me, and for the Green Lantern books. The outpouring of support, your kind words and well wishes means so much to me and my family.
In the meantime, I’ll be writing ALPHA: BIG TIME and THE ULTIMATES over at Marvel, and THE DEVILLERS at Dynamite. I’ve got a couple more projects in the works, so stay tuned.
Thanks again,
j.
This weekend is the LBCC! I’ll be set up at Booth 1300, and, in the afternoon, teaching the above mentioned workshop alongside Jim McCann, Sam Humphries, Rob Levin, and Brian Bucellato. It’s $100 for three hours with us! How can you say no?
See you at the show!
Hey gang -
I’ll be heading out to New York Comic Con this week. I’m still working through my back injury (which you know about from my twitter, right?) so I’m going to only have extremely limited signing times.
As follows:
Friday – Noon – DC Comics Signing
Saturday – 11am – DC Comics Signing
Saturday – Noon – DC Comics New 52 Panel
Sunday – 2:45 – Dynamite Comics Panel
I’ll be announcing a new project at the Dynamite Comics Panel, but aside from that, it should be business as usual. Hope to see you at the show!
j.
Hey folks,
No small thanks to you guys, ECHOES was once again nominated for a slew of Harvey Awards. If you’re a comics professional you can vote for us (and a bunch of my friends including Justin Jordan, Jeff Lemire, Francesco Francavilla, Nate Edmondson, and Mark Waid (although, not against me) and this link: www.harveyawards.org/
And of course, San Diego Comic-Con is upon us again, and, I’ll be there, signing and spouting off.
As of now, the plan is the following:
THURSDAY
11:30 am – DC DARK Panel
4pm – DC Entertainment Signing – I, VAMPIRE
7pm – Comics & Magic Panel
8pm Onward – CBLDF Party
FRIDAY
1pm – Horror on the Printed Page Panel
4pm – Top Cow Signing – ECHOES
10am – Tricketer Symposium (Tickets and info here: trickstertrickster.com/)
4pm – Comics Experience Writing Panel
7pm – Comics Experience Advanced Writing Panel
SUNDAY
11am – IDW Publishing Signing – DOCTOR WHO
2pm – DC Comics – I,VAMPIRE
I’m pretty sure I’ll be adding more as the week approaches, so be sure to follow me on Twitter @joshfialkov or keep checking the Blog which I’ll do my best to update.
Have a great San Diego and thanks of reading,
Hey folks!
This weekend I’ll be joining the extremely talented quartet of Ed Brubaker, Jim McCann, Rodin Esquejo, and Sonia Oback (as well as some guy named ‘Kyle Higgins’, who I’ve heard nothing but bad things about) at Collector’s Paradise in Winnetka, CA. This will also be my daughter’s first signing event, so, please come by from 12 till 3 to watch me chase my kid around and occasionally sign books.
Next weekend is the second annual Long Beach Comic Expo. This is a small one day show that’s a part of the bigger Long Beach Comic Con that happens around Halloween.
This year, I’ll be hosting TWO workshops with friend, collaborator, and all around smart guy, Rob Levin. These Seminars last two hours, have extremely limited seating, and will cover how to break into comics and what to do once you’re there.
Each individual seminar costs $45 (including admission to the show), or you can do BOTH seminars for a paltry $55. That’s a full day of intimate knowledge from two veterans of the indie and mainstream comic world. More info, and sign up here: longbeachcomiccon.com/buy-tickets.php
Please feel free to repost, forward, tweet, or facebook about the seminars.
Thanks for reading and see you folks in a few weeks!
Hey folks,
Similar to last years two hour workshop with Mark Waid, I’m going to be hosting a couple of them for the show, this time with editor, writer, and gentleman extraordinaire, Rob Levin. Here’s the press release with details and you can buy seats in the class at this link.
Long Beach Comic Expo Announces Workshops!
Fialkov and Levin to Host In-Depth Seminars
LOS ANGELES, CA, April 20, 2012. Long Beach Comic Con presents the Comic Expo on May 12th at the Long Beach Convention Center with special workshops by critically-acclaimed writer Joshua Hale Fialkov (I, Vampire, Last of the Greats, Doctor Who, Echoes) and veteran writer/editor Rob Levin (7 Days From Hell, Abbatoir).
Fialkov and Levin will be hosting two seminars on May 12th. The first one is titled ‘Intro to Careers in Comics’ and will last for 2 intense hours. This session will feature the art of breaking in, the process of writing, finding collaborators and getting your book made. The second 2 hour workshop will be titled ‘Advanced Careers in Comics’ and will provide an in-depth look at the business side of writing and producing comic books. Advance registration is required and there is an additional fee. Seating is extremely limited to only thirty people and tickets are available on the website now (www.longbeachcomiccon.com).
“Rob and I have twenty years combined experience in the comics business, and we’re thrilled for the chance to share our years with another great crop of Long Beach Comic Expo attendees.” said Joshua Hale Fialkov (Eisner, Harvey, and Emmy nominated writer of the graphic novels ECHOES, TUMOR, ELK’S RUN, and the LAST OF THE GREATS).
“When we decided to add programming to the one day Comic Expo, we were thrilled with the response from both the creative community and the attendees. Having the chance to collaborate with industry veterans like Josh and Rob on programming is one of the biggest perks of my job.” said Phil Lawrence, Director of the Long Beach Comic Con.
For a complete list of events, guests, activities, ticket prices and times, visit www.longbeachcomiccon.com.Tickets for Long Beach Comic Expo are on sale now through the website and will also be available at many Southern California comic book and hobby shops, including WSS Shoe Stores and their Geeky Mamma stores.
Hey folks,
Just a quick reminder that quite a few of my books are eligible for the Harvey Awards. If you’re an eligible voter (comics professionals of all ilks) I’d greatly appreciate your votes. My (and my collaborators) are eligible in the following categories:
BEST WRITER
Joshua Hale Fialkov – Echoes, Last of the Greats, I,Vampire
BEST ARTIST
Andrea Sorrentino – I,Vampire
Brent Peeples – Last of the Greats
Rahsan Ekedal – Echoes
BEST LETTERER
Troy Peteri – Echoes, Last of the Greats
BEST INKER
Matthew Waite – Last of the Greats
BEST COLORIST
Mirka Andolfo – Last of the Greats
Marcelo Maiolo – I,Vampire
BEST COVER ARTIST
Brent Peeples – Last of the Greats
Rahsan Ekedal – Echoes
Jenny Frison – I,Vampire
MOST PROMISING NEW TALENT
Brent Peeples – Last of the Greats
BEST NEW SERIES
I, Vampire – DC Comics
Last of the Greats – Image Comics
BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES
Echoes – Top Cow Productions
Last of the Greats – Image Comics
I, Vampire – DC Comics
BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM – PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED
Echoes – Top Cow Productions
BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY
Echoes #5 – Top Cow
I, Vampire #1 – DC Comics
SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION
Echoes – Top Cow
Feel free to vote for any or all of those with the form at this link: harveyawards.org/2012ballot/Harvey_2012_nom_ballot.txt
Voting ends on Monday.
Thanks as always,
Probably the most frequent thing I’m asked is about how to ‘go pro’ as a writer, and I frequently answer more or less the same thing. I realized it’s something that I haven’t actually written about extensively (or at least haven’t in a while) so, here we go.
First off, writing for a living is amazing. It’s the best job I’ve ever had, and I hope to never have to have any other job (unless it’s, I dunno, directing and writing, or producing and writing, as long as it’s something with a writing component, I’m happy). But, here’s the thing. It’s a non-stop fight. I’ve yet to met a writer including some of the most successful screen, tv, and comics writers in the world who’s not over-worked and slightly over-whelmed. It’s just par for the course.
Part of being a writer is learning to grow and change and flex muscles that nobody else is interested in helping you stretch. Becoming better is nobody’s job but yours, and, again, no matter how supportive the people around you are or how much anyone has your back, the weight remains firmly on your own shoulders.
And, part of being a writer, at least, y’know, now, is fighting to keep the work coming. I spend almost as much time looking for work as I do actually writing. It’s something that I constantly think I’m going to ‘grow out of’ but have yet to actually do. And it’s one of the most frequent topics of conversation I have with my writer friends.
The truth is that when you’re working freelance you’re at the mercy of the people with the jobs. Which, of course, is the problem with breaking in. You need to prove that you’re worth the risk of the people who hold the purse strings. You need to do this in a couple of ways.
Step one is to have produced a TON of original material that is beloved critically (or, even better, successful financially.) This, of course, is not particularly easy at all. But, you spend a few years (or decades) honing your craft, and, hopefully something great comes out the other end. Which leads us to…
Step two, having pre-existing relationships with those people of power. This, actually, is a bit easier. Unfortunately, you still need to do the other thing first. Because Editors, Publishers, Executives all want to be around success.
They want to feel like they’re gleaning some of your golden glow and in their way are helping you to glow brighter. They want to meet people who’s books they’ve enjoyed. They want to grab a beer with the person who made that book that everyone is talking about. It’s just human nature, and, it’s business sense. But even with both of those things going for you?
It’s still damn hard. Maybe I’m wrong (or I just don’t have a high enough class of friends) but, it never gets easier. There’s no short cut. There’s no secret way in. You just have to do good work and get in front of people, some of whom, hopefully, are the right people.
Nobody can do that part, unfortunately, except for you.
So, get working and get used to it, bucko.
The thing I didn’t get into, mostly because it’s a different (if connected topic) below, is that a lot of the problem is our fault, too. We haven’t actually held up our end of the bargain as content producers. The pricing on digital comics is still outrageous, especially considering many people think the print versions are too expensive, too. While the fine folks at Comixology and Graphic.ly have done a stellar job on their apps and web presence, because of content restrictions, it’s still far from the seamless experience that is iTunes. Obviously, there’s the content argument (as so many very kind people have made about my books elsewhere) and the problems of insularness, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Is piracy the only reason the comics industry is in serious trouble? Of course not. Is it a major one? Absolutely yes.
BUT, ultimately, it’s our responsibility as content producers to figure out a solution. Now, let’s get to work.