I just got to write something…
Really Cool. It's for a major publisher, and might have a chance of happening. It's kickass, and a story I've wanted to do for a while, so, here's hoping. Cross your fingers for me, kiddies.
Kitties Hugging
Kitty's Hugging
Originally uploaded by Joshua Hale Fialkov.
This should make up for the gross out pic.
The Spider Eats The Moth
We have a massive infestation of spiders just outside my door. Noticed it spinning a web right next to the light in the hallway, and watched it devour a trapped moth. Damn those things are smart.
Elk’s Run Tunnel
Made this in the early days of the book, for what would be a 'tourism section' of the website. Never came to be, but I love this photo. I photoshopped in all of the text and the sign in the picture.
CWN says…
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov; Illustrated by Noel Tuazon
This has been an intriguing series so far with the changing point of view from issue to issue, but Fialkov and Tuazon pull out all the stops now and get the story rolling towards what can only be an intense conclusion. As the citizens of Elk's Run try to cover up the lengths they've gone to in protecting their isolation, the police show up looking for a missing citizen. Told from the point of view of the power-loving wife of the community's leading citizen, this issue is disturbing and dramatic. I've enjoyed Fialkov's fun writing in his Western Tales of Terror anthology, but this is where he's really shining.
In Previews Now!
ELK'S RUN #4
by Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon, & Scott Keating; cover by Datsun TranTwo state troopers dead, the town on high alert, the war has begun. John and his friends are charged with burying the dead cops’ bodies, when they realize they must make a decision. Either they are with their parents, or against. MATURE THEMES SC, 7x10, 32pgs, FC SRP: $2.99
Diamond Order # SEP05 3086
Also in Previews Now!!!
FUSED ONE-SHOTby Niles, Long, Fialkov, Stakal, Chee, & Fotos
For Mark Haggerty, life has become more than a little complicated. He's been fused inside of a robotic Cy-Bot exo-suit, forced to live on a military base, and become the subject of endless tests, all the while trying to figure out how to relate to his wife from inside a hulking metal body. This one-shot spotlights Haggerty's return to comics, featuring scripts from Niles, as well as break-out new sensation Christopher Long (The Easy Way) and Joshua Hale Fialkov. 7x10, 48pgs, FC SRP: $6.99
Diamond Order # SEP05 2834
It's 15 pages of crazy explosivo action from me... even more so than Western Tales of Terror. Go. Check it out. Dig it.
Sean Maher Takes Elk’s Run #3
Sean Maher and his superb comics blog get down and dirty with Elk's Run #3, and a look back at where the series is come and where it's going to. Go check it out already.
NEWSARAMA - ELK’S RUN #1 - FULL ISSUE
NEWSARAMA - ELK'S RUN #1 - FULL ISSUE
Go there. Read it. Be happy.
Josh and Jason by Noel Tuazon
Art by Noel Tuazon
graphic novella
So, I have this idea for a graphic novella. Just 32 pages or so, set in the real world, about a family losing a kid to the war. Not really political, just a simple 32 pages and out. Heard a great story on NPR that totally clicked for me. Any artists read this who want to give it a try?
I have this funny job…
Just to help tide me over while waiting for my bathtub of money to come in. I do overnight transcriptions for this company. I get a call around six or seven in the evening, get a digital file, and then have x number of hours to complete it in. The less time, the more money I get paid. Tonight, I did an hour and a half worth of transcriptions, which equals are 7 hours of work. It was due... well... now, so I made some nice cash. What we transcribe is what makes it interesting. Essentially, I get to listen to one of the biggest producers in Hollywood, along with one of the biggest directors in Hollywood talk about making their movie.
I've gone to my share of industry meetings, between pitching my own stuff to working as a production coordinator for a production company, sitting on the 'other side' of the desk, so to speak. This stuff is pretty incredible, though. I get to listen to a guy who doesn't make movies for less than $100 million dollars crack jokes and make fun of the industry, plus listen to how insanely in depth they go into script revisions and creative decisions.
I've produced and directed before, but, it was always with the smallest budget humanly possible. To listen to these guys say "We're gonna need a 2nd Black Hawk Helicopter," or "How much would it cost to blow up an actual boat instead of just CGI-ing it?" is just mind-blowing.
Oh Hollywood...
Off to make sleep, I've been up too fucking long.
Resident Evil 4 Has Swallowed My Soul
Of the few Birthday Presents I've received, so far the favorite has been Resident Evil 4. Holy Shit. It's suspenseful, manages to actually generates scares (I've jumped at least 4 or 5 times and I'm only on the 2nd chapter), and just beautifully done. Biggest problem is that you can't run and shoot, which while it's probably a pretty good approximation of my shooting skills, doesn't seem to make a lot of sense for a special ops-y type guy.
Anyways, the really highlight of the game is that it's not just using bullshit zombie stuff. I'm about two hours into the game, and there's not a zombie in sight. The bulk of the bad guys thus far are more like possessed sick folk, almost akin to 28 Days Later, but a bit more perplexing. The game builds this wonderful sense of mystery, and it has me wanting to play it to find out what the fuck is going on and what the fuck is gonna happen next.
Aside from all of that, the game is proof that the Gamecube is actually a helluva machine. The game runs beautifully, the load times pretty decent (better than the load times on Katamari Damacy on the PS2, which is one of the simplest games graphically made since the 16 bit era.) The textures and lighting effects are top notch, the music and sound effects are even better. For any horror fan, this is the game that RE has always portrayed itself to be, and never quite succeeded. Until now.
Now, the trick is to finish these fucking scripts that are due.
Elk’s Run Forum
Here's the new Elk's Run forum over at Speakeasy's Website. Come. Join. Show the world who's boss.
Six Feet Under
After watching the finale tonight, it really says a lot for the future of the media. I can't remember the last movie that had even anywhere near the same emotional impact as the finale (nor the past 2 or 3 episodes.) It's just the power of Television. Everyone makes a big deal about "It's because they have 42 hours as opposed to 1 and a 1/2," which is valid, but, I think there's more to it. First, it's piped into your home. These people are a part of your life, and 'live' in your house. That of course is amplified by the regularity of the shows. Secondly, and maybe more importantly and less obviously, the stakes on TV manage to be much higher and much lower, creatively. They don't have the massive theatrical release movie advertising budgets to accomodate for, especially on HBO or to an extent on the cable channels. They are expected to make back their budgets through either ad revenue, or 'subscriber loyalty' in HBO's case, but, with the lucrative DVD market, it's becoming less and less of a concern to the networks to make 'money-makers' in the short term, and more valuable to them to make money in the long run. Just wait till the Lost DVD's come out, and you'll see just how much money there is to be made in the TV on DVD market. The other benefit that a show like Six Feet Under has is the idea that it's a limited series. Alan Ball and Co. knew that the show wasn't going to go on forever, so it made the cast a bit more disposable. Things were never set in stone, and no one was ever safe. The biggest challenge facing most network shows is that they want to go on forever, or at least till the 100 Episode mark for syndication, so, they fall back on formulaic plots with no real stakes.
That's why a show like Law & Order has been on for what... fifteen years now? It's a decent show, even having moments of excellence back in the early seasons. The cast 'revolved' pretty much from day one, which to its credit meant that the loss of actors here and there had little to no effect on the overall feel of the show. But, to it's detriment, the show ends up feeling like there's a plexi-glass screen between the viewer and the characters. There is no connection, in part due to The Orbach's dry delivery, but, again, in part because there's no sense of change, no sense of meaning. Shit, even within just about every episode, months pass between the cop part and the court part, and yet, there's no feeling of change. Orbach sits on the stand as though the crime was done yesterday. I don't know. It just doesn't jive with me.
And then there's Six Feet Under. No matter how ridiculous the twist, no matter how over-stated or under-stated the emotion, it still manages to grab you, and twist the knife just enough to make you cry, and still want to come back for more.
The show will be greatly missed.
Passing the Halfway Mark
Started getting art in on Elk's Run #5, officially putting us over the halfway mark. No matter how long I do this, that feeling of "Holy Shit. We're actually doing it!" never ceases to amaze me. It's just plain incredible that we've been able to more or less fight the odds (those being the ones the industry puts up) to make something so special and dear to me as this book.
And it's just not a regular book. It's not like anything on the shelves today, and that to me is what's most rewarding. Having people fall in love with something that's such a departure from everything else that's being put out...
A lot of people complain that the industry is going the way of the 90's again, becoming bloated and filled with variant covers and crossover nightmares. And, that's true. To a point. Unlike the 90's, we're lucky to have an industry that has people willing to buck the trends and do something really and truly different, even if the audience we're doing it for is that much smaller. Guys like Rob Osborne, Rick Spears and Rob G, hell, even, guys at the big two like Warren Ellis, Brian K. Vaughan, and Ed Brubaker, are all making daring comics the likes of which has never been seen.
A lot of people say to me, "So, why are you working in comics if you aren't making any money?" After I scoff at them and remind them that in fact I'm losing money, too, I always say the same thing. There is no other art form that gives you so direct a line to your audience. Every other mass market medium is either to costly or too bloated for anyone with a different voice to get in. In comics, my audience might be small, but, I know that they're seeing the vision that my collaborators and I want, no filtering, no interference. That's what makes comics special.
Kidney Update
The peeing has slowed down to once every hour or two. This is a massive improvement. What a miserable life.
Anyways, the pain's gone down, my back pain is nearly gone, and the antibiotics seem to be working. There's a good chance, claims my doctor, that the stone might've been small enough that it passed during one of my more painful pees earlier in the week.
You heard me. Painful. Pee.
The picture is of the contraption I pee into. It's AWESOME. Here's full instructions on how to use it.
More ER Love
"Elk's Run #2 by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon Hoars and Buggy Productions $3Before I mention the actual book, I must say this, along with speakeasy titles, has the nicest production values of any independant book outside of IDW. It has even nicer paper than DC and Marvel's $3 books. The colors are vibrant, and they feel slick and fresh. So, enough gushing about the paper, what about what's on that delicious paper? Well, an incredibly decompressed comic book. Even moreso than Silent Dragon #1, the only plot advancement is the actual execution of the man who killed the boy(I'm really bad with names). The only thign taht happens is that. It's worse than Girls #3. But, you know what? I love this book. It has amazing cartoonish art that reminds me of Darwyn Cooke and Frank Espinosa from Rocketo. It's light and breezy, and conveys heavy topics and messages of,, well, I don't really know what. The town the book is named after doesn't have a strong identity. It's a military town where vets go and live, apparently. The roots of the town are vague, just as its rules. But I want to know more. The entire issue focused on one character's history and motivations, and I'm entranced by the characters. The father figure shows his determination to do his job of protecting the town and his son, and he fails in those regards by letting his son watch the execution. But I'm probably rambling incoherently to those who haven't read the book. Pick up the collected edition in this month's previews, and add it to your pull list. I can guarantee you'll like it. very Highly reccomended."
comiXtreme.com says…
Elk's Run #3Review: This whole issue is told from Sara’s point of view, John’s mother, and John Senior’s wife. In this closed society, it seems like women have no power at all, and you kind of wonder at the mindset of those who stick around, and this issue goes a long way in illuminating Sara’s belief system here. She loves her family and her husband, and she wants to see his dream and vision - which she has made her own - succeed. And she will go to any length to see that happen. It means she’ll look the other way when it comes to any sin, up to and including murder. It never seems anything but realistic.
For my Birthday
I'm requesting the rock lodged in my kidney evacuate my body. Somebody get on it, please.