Paul and Jeff...and no not Gilbert and Beck

I am inspired by more than guitars as of late:



This is a brief tribute blog to two new friends of mine at Periscope. While it is true that everyone there has made huge efforts to make me feel welcome and boost my artistic efforts to new heights I owe these guys an extra bit of thanks for their hospitality over the last month in particular.



Paul Tobin writes about 173 marvel titles each week including Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil, Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four and Avengers. He has been my window into the process which has its' roots in the dialogue between artist and writer. He gave me my first pro script to work from. Paul often imparts great advice that only a writer would be able to offer up without specific prompting-including pacing, placement based on dialogue and not playing to your biases.


He can also give you a beneficial scolding about unnecessary crosshatching while pontificating on excessive breast size in the comics medium without ever having to stop typing. He has been a great coach and helped me loose my doe eyed wariness in the face of previously intimidating 'big time' creators. His example is a good one in that he works hard, comes up with killer stuff and still has fun. He did the straight job thing for a long time while slowly breaking in and that type of dedication is necessary to do a really fun and challenging job like comics. His support lends me confidence because he knows just how long the road is and what the obstacles are.

He recently put me in a new issue of a comic he is working on in the part of a 3rd grade teacher and that is better than being in the movies. It means that some version of me lives in a world where I could be friends with the X-men.

So thanks Paul.

His wife Colleen Coover has been a great help to me as well. Her stylistic inclinations are almost the opposite of my own and that is why I value her opinions so much. She can help me by informing me about things that aren't my strengths-things she does well like cartooning and simplifying. Paul and her compliment each other nicely as a couple; both are witty and informed on a wide range of subjects.


I also like their take on culture and current events-but this is a Paul and Jeff post so she will have to wait for the post I eventually do on her and Steve Lieber. At some point I'll have to do a post on each of the Studio members. They are all great.

Jeff Parker is super generous both with his knowledge of comics historically, as a business and with actual comic books. He has gifted me several and is currently letting me borrow his Marvel Adventures Avengers comic. He writes Agents of Atlas, Mysterius and Exiles.


His Personality while working is a rare blend of subtle and funny. He is patient with me and my many questions. Jeff offers both strong artistic suggestions and helps me remember that comics should be fun. He is the sort of guy who can take all the best things you like from pop culture and cram them into a 20 page story without it seeming cluttered. His ideas/scripts are cool, thrilling, emotionally dimensional and funny.

He gave me one of the best gifts I ever got just the other day: a Leonard Kirk page inked by Kris Justice from Agents of Atlas-a book he writes and basically created. It is one of my favorite comics for many reasons many of which are nicely displayed on the page I was given. It has most of the agents depicted under water, in scuba suits, battling crab monsters.



Thanks a million to Jeff Parker for such a stunning show of generosity.

I also wanted to post this Picture of my B-bender Equipped Telecaster. Hooray for Guitars!



It also has a G-bender and a drop D lever. After about 180 dollars worth of time, tools and parts, I can bend with the best.

In my head the other night I was trying to match my teachers at Periscope up with Starwars characters because I'm just that big a nerd: Steve Lieber is like Yoda (he has untold levels of ability and speaks from experience.) Paul is Like Han Solo (edgy/roguish and somewhat of a heroic loner) -which fits with Colleen as Leia.



I guess that would make Jeff Admiral Ackbar (he has gravitas and an accent) Ron Randall is Obi Wan Kenobi (because he is low key and masterful) and David Hahn is Chewbacca (because he is tall, loves Snacks and everyone loves him-while sometimes misinterpreting his words.)

David Hahn gave me a thumbnail sketch, of what I think is one of his fable pages, which is now framed and in my studio so thanks David!



It depicts two gorillas who become best buds and fight Hitler on the edge of an atomic blast/robot and dinosaur invasion... or at least that is how it appears.

My POTP for this week is the web extension of DC that draws its' content from independent submissions. It is nonetheless good and worth investigating even if you are opposed to the big two: check out ZUDA. It is a way in which web cartoonists can get some exposure and a little money for their books.


My favorite of the ones I've come across is called High Moon. Good stuff-nice drawings and solid writing. The viewer can be a bit frustrating but the purpose is to keep people from printing them out I guess? Steve and Jeff told me that although it has value for other reasons, there can be a side effect of these competition-based sites that results in a sort of social viper pit. That because of the structure of the site, people who are competing begin to spam all their friends with voting requests. The upside is that comics do have to pass a filter of some sort (unlike most of the internet comics out there) so you end up with some decent content. See the goods for yourself. Next time will be something indie but I thought zuda was worth sharing as it bridges the gap from what Nathan and I do to the mainstream.