“New York, the Super-City”

Most of us working here on ULYSSES “SEEN” are based in Philadelphia, just a short ride into the Super-City. Wish I could be on-hand for this presentation there tonight though, and I encourage any friends and fellow cartoonists in the city to check it out;

The New York Center for Independent Publishing is hosting a roundtable discussion tonight “on how comics culture has promoted potent and memorable images of New York to readers worldwide.” The talk will be moderated by Peter Gutiérrez and includes Danny Fingeroth, Gene Kannenberg Jr. (who’s reviews will now be a regular feature on our ULYSSES “SEEN”  blog), Frank Tieri and Billy Tucci. Here’s a longer description of the event from Gene’s own blog with the “where, when and how much.” Stop by and remind the guys that NYC isn’t the only exciting spot in America for making comix. I would myself, but I’m stuck here in Philadelphia drawing Mr. Bloom!

-Rob

The Art of Ditko

The Art of Ditko, by Craig Yoe. Introduction by Stan Lee. Yoe Books – IDW, 2009. ISBN 978-1600105425 (hc). 208pp.

Review by Gene Kannenberg, Jr.

Steve Ditko is best-known as the artist and co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel Comics in the 1960s, his lithe, angular figures (with their expressive hands) defining those characters to this day. Comics cognoscenti also know him for various other superhero work at Marvel, DC Comics and Charlton Comics; his supernatural tales for various publishers, including Warren Publishing; and, most notoriously, his creator-owned work like Mr. A., based on the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand.

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“Seen” in context (iii)

Ulysses_Money_loveSo, last week I waffled a bit about monetization. I didn’t really mean to but it kinda came up while I was thinking about the bigger picture of motivation and as we all know money is the prime motivator for a lot of people – especially those who haven’t got it! I didn’t see many (any) answers – which is worrying – if only for the reason that there may be no easy answers for anyone to give on that question. What I’m asking today though is: why would anyone want to make webcomics, or print comics for that matter, if not for monetary reward? Continue reading

“Seen” in Context (ii)

c_a043As promised – here I am again with some webcomic wonderment. Ulysses “Seen” is a stand-alone comic affiliated with no-one but a few friends we like to link to. That’s a conscious choice – one that might be made for a number of reasons. There are alternatives though and the question I want to pose today is why would you choose this route over any of those alternatives? By standing alone, as this site does, the obvious and main benefit would be one of control. There’s nobody here to tell you what to do or how to do it. The reason this site looks the way it does is because of the time and effort put in by those who have created it. The limits are only made up of time, money and knowledge. Money is always tight but if you have the time and the knowledge then most everything is possible. If the creators behind Ulysses “Seen” want to change something and it is technically possible then there’s no one can stop them. Were this comic to be hosted anywhere else then the requirements of that host would have to be taken into account and those changes might not even be possible. Continue reading

No Sunday in Comix (Nov. 8th)

Parisstreetscene

Well, if  the brain really is the House of Ideas, it’s a good thing to occasionally rearrange the furniture.

Paris was great. Very artistically stimulating and personally reassuring to anyone trying to make comix as their chosen artform (you’ll be getting a bunch posts and reviews from my Paris trip this week on the blog).

I spent a lot of the time there looking at some of the painting that drove me most to become a painter and visiting comic shops that reminded me of the long-standing, childhood love I have for this kind of story-telling. It really was a treat to step outside of the American sensibility towards the comicbook industry and see what things are like in other markets. I really suggest anyone out there making comix (or any form of art) take time to do that now and again; look beyond what you think the goal is in your own success towards how others might enjoy the work you do.
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