futuranaut

Variety announced that Jeff Howard is writing and will executive produce Junji Ito’s “Bloodsucking Darkness” for Fangoria Studios. Tara Ansley, Armen Aghaeian, and Abhi Goel will produce for Fangoria Studios. Yasu Kutami and Tsubasa Yamaguchi will produce for Amuse Group USA. I am an Executive Producer on the project, along with Jeff, Phil Wurtzel from Friel Films and Ryan Lewis and Joe Riley from Zero Gravity Management.

Story Market Podcast

Kevin Nicklaus was interviewed by manager Peter Katz on the inaugural episode of the STORY MARKET podcast. Click HERE to listen on Spotify.

Malcolm Spellman on Vertical and Horizontal Storytelling in THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER

In an embedded video on Shadow and Act, THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER showrunner Malcolm Spellman gives voice to limited series structure, but from the perspective of a writer mostly used to working in ongoing episodic television (Spellman’s credits include long-running shows like EMPIRE).

“Kevin (Feige) said ‘I want each episode to feel like a movie, in the storytelling, not just the action and adventure, but in the way you tell the story, while getting the benefit of the deep dive of the serialized story.‘

“I call it VERTICAL storytelling, which is a movie… compressed time, everything building to an event, and HORIZONTAL storytelling, as in a series… the rhythm of how relationships evolve or how a character arcs is very very different.”

He goes on to call it a “hybrid goal of storytelling” that requires its own mechanics.

I’m attracted to this spatially-oriented approach to the architecture of short-episodic order seasons or limited series that have highly serialized storytelling but build to a definitive climax.

“Stretching out a movie is not going to work, you gotta find something different.”

In this quote, Spellman points out a dead end I see all the time — structuring the season (or limited series) as a “long movie”, and treating the establishing scenes of that “long movie” as a pilot without thinking the pilot through as an episode of television with an arc of its own.

So, the next time you are outlining a highly serialized project, make sure to think of it HORIZONTALLY (as a long movie, with all of the structural elements that entails, including building to a definitive climax) and VERTICALLY (as episodes of television that sequentially explore character relationships and track character arcs, with each episode telling a complete A story with a discreet beginning, middle and end, that segments to the next episode). This is a great discipline to prevent your pilots from getting bogged down in exposition.

Spellman came back to Shadow and Act for a print interview at the end of the run, where, among other topics, he discussed why they resisted flashback for the Isaiah Bradley character:

SO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT RACE BY IJEOMA OLUO REVIEW

TL;DR: IJEOMA OLUOA [“Ee-joe-ma Oh-lou-oh”] provides a vital primer that sets the “ground rules” for modern racial conversations, designed to help white people vault over those flawed “frequently asked questions” and get to deeper matters.
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Ijeoma Oluo’s title communicates a resigned yet disquieted tone that carries through her surefooted book. She is reluctant to expose her pain to an audience that she has no reason to trust. She certainly doesn’t want to be forced to justify or explain her feelings to those who offers her little understanding in return.

As such, the quality of Oluo’s writing successfully mirrors the pain of racism and the systemic dynamics of white supremacy that comprise the content of the book. In music, this is called “prosody” – the sonic delivery system mirrors the intellectual content. A sweet, sugary song pairs with sweet sugary lyrics. Or, in this case, Oluo makes clear the burden of having to communicate the burden of having to live under assaultive structures.

On content, Oluo offers a great primer on the current state of racial conversations, especially as reflected online – “racial dialog 101”. If the reader is a white person (as I am), and unaware of or alienated by terms like “white privilege”, “cultural appropriation”, “tone policing” or “microaggressions”, this is, dare I say, one of the most complete, up-to-date and gentle books to use as the reader grapples with those terms. Her definitions of these oft-discussed but inherently complex terms are diamonds of precision.

She is exceptionally adept at parsing the divisive (but valid) idea that white people act in a racist way, even if they do not believe themselves to be racist, with passages such as:

“You are racist because you were born and bred in a racist, white supremacist society. White Supremacy is, as I’ve said earlier, insidious by design. The racism required to uphold White Supremacy is woven into every area of our lives. There is no way you can inherit white privilege from birth, learn racist white supremacist history in schools, consume racist and white supremacist movies and films, work in a racist and white supremacist workforce, and vote for racist and white supremacist governments and not be racist.”

“If you live in this system of white supremacy, you are either fighting the system of you are complicit. There is no neutrality to be had towards systems of injustice, it is not something you can just opt out of.”

As a baseline for understanding the “ley lines” of racial conversations, especially online, the book is an unqualified success. It catapults readers far past the basics. For white people still trying to formulate personal positions on issues like racialized police brutality, affirmative action, over-incarceration/school to prison pipeline and if it is “fair” for white people to say “the N word”, Oluo offers chapters upon chapters, full of stats, ready-to-pull quotes and illustrative personal incidents to help readers frame any thorny thoughts on these hot topics. I suspect most people, no matter their color, won’t need the extra verbiage on some of these issues, but if a reader is at a loss as to how to approach a problematic family member, Oluo’s more gentle hand-holding through “racial dialog 101” may prove to be the perfect re-framing.

In many ways, this book is a refined and somewhat more circumspect version of Oluo’s valuable and important social media presence. She is worth following, as her in-the-moment reactions have tremendous value.

With Oluo winning on content, my thoughts turn to style. Oluo carefully (no doubt draft after draft of editing) modulates between a gentle, encouraging, explanatory tone, almost like an elementary school teacher, and a tone of clear-eyed condemnation and righteous fury. The book speeds by, but the deliberate tonal shifts take white readers on a journey. She compels readers to confront her pain, then turns to a less visceral but equally important examination of the structures. The visceral writing generates the emotional commitment to examine the important societal and interpersonal processes that cause this pain.

She is transparent about her conflicted feelings concerning the need to write about her own inner pain in the pursuit of “convincing” white people that racism is real and that her own white readers are part of the problem (but, hopefully, if the book is effective, part of becoming part of the solution).

These misgivings feel like a secondary narrative above the informative content of the book. This is an exploration of the same argument that arises whenever a video of police killing an African-American motorist surfaces. The argument is as follows: Does this display of black pain actually communicate the “different realities” in a way that will actually affect and motivate white people? Or will it merely traumatize those who already know this is the way America works and then merely amplify the bitterness when the system does what the system does?

Oluo’s naked struggles with the personal toll of engaging with a potentially hostile caucasian public challenges white readers with a broad question – “are you worth it?” Unlike chapters on intersectionality or the assured, explanatory “is it really about race?” chapter, this lingering question isn’t the rhetorical device of a master of racial epistemology, but a bleeding, urgent, trauma-infused question of existential importance. The hope and fear that permeate the question infuses the book (or at least my experience of it). Chapters about the fumbling, reactionary inappropriateness of her own white mother, instances of gaslighting she endured at the hands of white friends about her own experiences and, generously, her own admission to failures to quickly catch her own lapses into classism brought the thorny complexities of the main question to heart-wrenching light. Are these conversations fruitful or just harming to those already harmed? As the conclusion drives home, there is no easy answer. Only time will tell.

Note: Since I originally wrote this review, this book has been released in paperback, while Oluo was also targeted with threats, forcing her to move her family from their home for a time for their own protection. As such, the emotions of this book remain sadly as current as ever.

Major Takeaways:

Frankly, the whole book is a “major take away”, but I feel that a few topics are covered with unique efficacy here:

Best definition of racism I’ve encountered:

“A Prejudice against someone based on race, when those prejudices are re-enforced by systems of power”.

A great, user-friendly framing of cultural appropriation:

“The problem of cultural appropriation is primarily linked to the power imbalance between the culture doing the appropriating and the culture being appropriated. That power imbalance allows the culture being appropriated to be distorted and redefined by the dominant culture and siphons any material or financial benefit of that piece of culture away to the dominant culture, while marginalized cultures are still persecuted for living in that culture.”

Easy-to-grasp rebuttals for:

“I don’t have any privilege”

“When somebody asks you to ‘check your privilege’ they are asking you to pause and consider how the advantages you’ve had in life are contributing to your opinions and actions, and how the lack of disadvantages in certain areas is keeping you from fully understanding the struggles others are facing and may in fact be contributing to those struggles.”

“When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression, we’ll find our opportunities to make real change.”

“I don’t have a racist bone in my body”

“It’s the system, and our complacency in that system, that gives racism its power, not individual intent.”

“Why is it always about race?”

“1. It is about race if a person of color thinks it is about race. 2. It is about race if it disproportionately or differently affects people of color. 3. It is about race if it fits into a broader pattern of events that disproportionately or differently affect people of color.”

“…just because something is about race, doesn’t mean it’s only about race. This also means that just because something is about race, doesn’t mean that white people can’t be similarly impacted by it and it doesn’t mean that the experience of white people negatively impacted is invalidated by acknowledging that people of color are disproportionately impacted. Disadvantaged white people are not erased by discussions of disadvantages facing people of color…”

Oluo delves into deciphering the psychological appeal of racism, even for poor (and otherwise marginalized) whites.

“This promise – that you will get more because they exist to get less – is woven throughout our entire society. Our politics, our education system, our infrastructure – anywhere there is a finite amount of power, influence, visibility, wealth, or opportunity. Anywhere in which someone might miss out. There the lure of that promise sustains racism.”

“White Supremacy is this nation’s oldest pyramid scheme. Even those who have lost everything to the scheme are still hanging in there, waiting for their turn to cash out.”

Lastly, Oluo gives white people some constructive plans of action, powerfully, inspired by her own mother (who is white):

“My mom has shifted her focus on race from proving to black people that she is “down” to pressuring fellow white people to do better.”

This resonated to me as particularly important, as I have seen white people, in a desperate rush to demonstrate their rejection of racist systems, invade African-American spaces, taking up room, derailing conversations – generally creating problems for those they’d seek to help, while doing nothing constructive to end the systems that keep racism alive.

The more welcome course is to stay in racist spaces and make noise there – go to Thanksgiving, argue with your racist uncle. Fight against racist local politicians and their policies, racist school curriculums, problematic local police, prosecutors and jailers. Vote with your dollars – use your buying power in a manner consistent with your values.

Lastly, use this book as the title suggests – as a tool to start difficult conversations with people in your life who may not be open to the thoughts within, but are aware enough of the issues to at least engage the topic.

SPOOKY ART

FUTURANAUT HALLOWEEN ART SPOTLIGHT
#Inktober and various other art-sharing prompts have been inspirational! Here are some artists who’ve made an impression.

Ni Lynn
Amazing character designs; an artist with a prodigious amount of work to explore!
IG: @_nilynn
Etsy: NiLynnStore

Veronica Holidays
Freelance illustrator with an adorable approach to art.
IG: @veronica_holidays

Charlotte Lia
A self-described eclectic artist. Support her art with a follow on IG.
IG: @madebycharl

Tamara Maasdam / Mighty Moosegoose
A Swedish freelance illustrator, graphic designer and improviser. Her images feature fine detail and showcase a whimsical imagination.
IG: @mightymoosegoose
Patreon: mightymoosegoose

Ezekiel Ring
Tiny pen & ink drawings featuring a high level of detail.
IG: @ezekielring

Alonso León
An artist with a loose, vibrant style from Sonora, Mexico.
IG: @sketchshaka

If you have content you’d like to share on Futuranaut, please use the SUBMISSION FORM or “dm” me on Instagram or Twitter.

BREAK THE GAME

WITH MERE HOURS TO GO – THIS IS AN URGENT KICKSTARTER BOOST – Back this cool documentary about a trans woman gamer, to be made by a cis female filmmaker HERE: BREAK THE GAME: THE DOCUMENTARY by Jane M. Wagner Kickstarter Campaign.

A close-knit subculture formed around “speedrunning,” the art of exploiting every secret and glitch in a game in order to beat it as fast as possible. Then, the best and most famous speedrunner did something unexpected: She came out as a transgender woman. Narcissa Wright dreams of feeling the same love and support she had in the past. So she hatches a plan to resurrect her speedrunning career. However, Narcissa finds herself torn between the addictive allure of her live stream and an adventurous “real life” when a romance blooms with a Twitch viewer named D_Gurl. So, will Narcissa embrace a “real” in-person connection, or will she be seduced again by the glow of the screen? ”

I found the BREAK THE GAME: THE DOCUMENTARY Kickstarter video compelling. Films like KING OF KONG have explored gamer culture, but never from a the point of view of a trans gamer. The fact that there has been so much harassment inside of gaming surrounding women in gaming (to say nothing of trans women in gaming), makes this film seem like an important dissection of our current moment in time, but using a very pop culture lens for that conversation. What is driving you to make this film?

Narcissa is perhaps the most unique and individualistic person I’ve ever met. There are other documentaries on aspects of this story – on speedrunning, or overviews of women or LGBTQ+ gamers. What makes Break the Game different than any other documentary is that it takes a very personal and intimate approach to telling the story of ONE streamer – her rise and fall, her attempt at a comeback, and her personal life. Narcissa’s transition is a part of her story, it’s not the film’s only focus.

I also want audiences to understand that there’s backlash against women and trans gamers. There are dark corners of the internet devoted to hate-watching trans gamers like Narcissa, stalking their every and even posting longform YouTube documentaries that portray her as mentally ill, just because she’s trans.

The backlash and targeted hate campaigns women have faced in the gaming world has been extreme. It’s disgusting. My intent in making this film is to allow Narcissa to speak for herself and regain control over her narrative. I also want to motivate people in the gaming world to think more critically about their community – how they treat one another online, the pressures that streamers like Narcissa face, the toll streaming and being in the public eye can take on a streamer’s mental health, and that cyberbullying can have real world affects on those who have been targeted.

But there’s more to these women’s stories than the hate they experience online. There are a lot of other reasons why Narcissa’s story is fascinating – she’s a digital pioneer at the forefront of a new medium, she’s one of the most creative minds in gaming, her story is a redemption story, it’s a story about online community and family, it’s a universal love story, it explores both the beauty and drawbacks of online friendship, it’s a meditation on the boundary between the real and virtual world.

I think people will really connect with Narcissa’s desire to feel loved and that the romance that blooms between her and D_Gurl will be a familiar storyline that will guide viewers through the uncanny valley of the digital world. Narcissa’s story poses a series of questions that we as an increasingly digital society are grappling with. How many likes do we need to feel loved? How do we construct our real and digital identities? Where can we find community and love?

Speaking of the digital world, how do you cover online life in a documentary?

Unlike most movies about the online world, Break the Game embraces the digital landscape it takes place in – which means we pull liberally from the 3000+ hour archive of livestreams, gaming videos, and vlogs that Narcissa has saved plus tweets, online chats, and other digital media.

Narcissa lives unapologetically online. This may seem dystopic to most people, who think gamers are lonely and alienated from society. But I had a fascinating conversation with Narcissa that really changed my perspective… and that’s a perspective shift I want to bring to the audience of the film. At one point I asked Narcissa if she was familiar with the concept of Plato’s cave and thought that she was only seeing the shadows of the cave (or that she wasn’t experiencing reality). Narcissa countered that the world outside was the cave, and reality was when she turned her computer on and connected with the virtual world.

In a way, that proved out during the Kickstarter campaign. Members of Narcissa’s community have reached out with incredible stories about how online gaming has changed their lives. One woman told me she met her wife in Narcissa’s stream chat. Another told me they found housing when they were homeless through Narcissa’s community. There are friendships and romantic connections that change lives – and they all started on the internet in a gamer’s livestream.

How did you meet Narcissa?

I’ve told this story a few times, but here it goes:

I came across Narcissa’s story completely by accident and in the most millennial way imaginable – by falling down an internet rabbit hole. In December of 2015 I was casually playing Diddy Kong racing on my N64 when I found myself stumped by a boss. A YouTube search revealed something incredible: an entire subculture of gamers who played video games differently – instead of just playing, they took the old games I knew and loved and tried to beat them as fast as possible. These gamers competed for world records by using glitches, exploits, and reverse engineering the code to get to the end in a fraction of the time. It was mesmerizing and I was hooked.

I watched video after video and something became very clear. At the center of this subculture was one elite and beloved gamer named Narcissa Wright. Based on the crowds of people who watched her play, it was obvious that Narcissa was a bit of a celebrity and completely idolized by her community.
But when I googled Narcissa’s deadname, I learned that things had changed. It was about a month into Narcissa’s transition and the online hate and vitriol was extreme. Despite the hate, I was intrigued to find out that Narcissa was still streaming. I was inspired by her willingness to put herself out there, be vulnerable, and share so much of herself publicly. A lot of other streamers put on a bit of an audience friendly persona, but Narcissa was willing to be her raw, intimate self.

After a year of lurking in Narcissa’s stream, I saw a video where she vowed to surpass everything she did in the past by making a comeback with Breath of the Wild. Ever since I discovered her stream I had thought about making a documentary but was too scared – but watching Narcissa leap into the unknown and throw herself into something gave me a new sense of courage and motivation. So, I DMed her on Twitter and our journey together began.

Back this Kickstarter HERE.

SON OF MONSTER PALOOZA

Untethered by reality, Son of Monsterpalooza plunges attendees into a creative world where flesh becomes the canvas for fantasy, as top Hollywood make-up artists, monster makers and visual artists celebrate their craft.

Below are some reflections on a monsterously good time.

A different kind of make-up – If you have ever seen the TV show FACE OFF on the SYFY network (or any Blu-Ray extras about creature effects or film make-up) this is the show for you. Monsterpalooza is the place where the Hollywood film set “make-up trailer” is put on a stage and treated like a rock concert, as fans of make-up artists thrill to every trick of the trade. Legends like Lois Burwell are working magic right in front of your eyes, transforming conventionally attractive models into gloriously bizarre visions of fantasy and horror.

Panels give fans quality time with folks like multiple Oscar winner Rick Baker, Walking Dead maestro Greg Nicotero and more. These pros are generous with advice and encouragement.

Once inspired, schools and supply companies are happy to help usher eager novices into the the realm of the professionals (or, at least, accomplished hobbiest).

Monsters in three dimensions – Monsters are born in the imagination. The skills to transform those visions into the real world include drawing, sculpting – either in clay or in a program like Z-Brush or MAYA, making molds, casting the molds, then painting the resulting sculpture or maquette. That chain of events can take a lifetime to master. The skills and technical processes involved demand a level of finesse and precision that terrifies newbies, while the materials required are expensive, potentially toxic and unforgiving. Wait to long, mix too much of this and too little of that and hundreds of dollars worth of resin transforms into useless, foul-smelling sludge. Here, again, different vendors provide education (including video classes, in-person classes and “starter kits”) to head-off rookie mistakes.

Art / Decor / Collectibles – Monsterously talented visual artists account for about half of the hundred of vendors, offering original prints, sculptures and pins. Their aesthetics range from the intense to the whimsical. A few delightfully mix both tonalities.

Special Events / Celebrity Signings / Screenings / Product Vendors are are part of ever convention, and Son of Monsterpalooza did not disappoint, even if this aspect is not the focus of the show (which is precisely why this show is so necessary and distinct from other pop culture conventions). Still, cast reunions of Phantasm, previews of the upcoming Creepshow and salutes to important female horror icons Julie Adams (THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON) and Vampira (LA horror host, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) make the show memorable.

The Audience helps make this show special. By focusing on themes of transformation, the show attracts creative thinkers eager to explore aspects of their identities – from posh vintage chic to wild cosplay to amazing make-up “looks”, this is a place where LGBT and non-binary people, disabled people and those embracing body positivity are out to turn heads. While there are still examples of tasteless exploitation-era horror films in evidence (and some vendors lean in to such material), the overall vibe of the show feels celebratory of uniqueness, differences and empowering expressions of identity.

“Son of Conjoined” COPRO GALLERY slideshow

LIGHTBOX EXPO

Explosions of colors, styles and the kinetic delights of animation filled the Pasadena Convention Center this past weekend, as the first ever Lightbox Expo delighted art fans, guided and encouraged students and gave pros a chance to show their stuff, sell some prints and network.

If you are a habitué of big cons – whether “comic cons”, sci-fi, horror or anime – you are probably used to mainstream media promotion machine, pop culture “activations”, Sharpie-wielding celebrities (from A-listers to Z-listers) and too-elaborate-for-the-available-space style of cosplayers. Some of these same kinds of shows take place right in this same space in tranquil Pasadena. The best thing about Lightbox Expo is what it did not feature… namely, none of the above. For once, at a space devoted to the power and wonder of visual art, the focus remained on the actual artists, their craft and their expression. This highly curated and focused Expo kept all of the usual “noise” of conventions at bay. Instead, the showstoppers proved to be the art, itself. Sure, major corporate properties still loomed (especially Into the Spider-Verse), but it was more refreshing to see actual animators, directors and visual development folks shine, rather than the more consumer-oriented PR machines these franchises typically unleash at cons.

The main hall primarily showcased artists and felt like the artist alley at a large con, but one that was more highly curated and much more focused on non-superhero art. Appealing animation-style art felt most dominant, although more angular, abstracted styles (think Invader Zim), game development art (think Overwatch key art) and live action visual development (think concept art for Avengers movies) were plentiful. A few major comic pros, like Kate Leth and Humberto Ramos, also had a table. The creator of Hellboy, Mike Mignola, showcased a mini-gallery of original paintings and warmly greeted his fans.

Studios and other employers, such as Warner Animation Group, Sony and Netflix, camped in the side room, with large booths focused on recruiting the next generation of industry pros. Schools and online instructions and hardware companies (like Wacom) filled out the rest of the space. It was great getting a hands-on experience with high end tablets and the chance to explore Procreate.

Across the courtyard, scores of simultaneous panels filled a two story building with pro and amateur artists learning new skills, new techniques and new career paths. Back in the main floor, an entire row of booths offered portfolio reviews.

Lightbox Expo came into existence as an alternative to CTN Animation Expo, which the creators of Lightbox felt to be exclusionary. I never attended CTN, but Lightbox delivered an experience worth the price of entry and offered a rich panoply of programming. The best part of the show was the way it provided experiences for a wide expanse of skillsets, from legends and established pros at the top of their game to those seeking to enter the ranks of the paid professionals, to those just starting to find their way.

A few take-aways:

DISCOVER NEW ARTISTS! No matter where you live, you can use this link to explore the nearly 300 featured artists who participated in the Expo. I’ve spent most of my free time since the show ended exploring these links and following the artists that resonated with me. I think this group represents a vanguard of non-superhero popular art and the diversity is self-evident.

JOIN ASIFA (if in Los Angeles)! If you are an Los Angeles area based student or creative, ASIFA-Hollywood has a more affordable membership tiers that gives you access to screenings, discussions and the opportunity to submit to industry film festivals. It was discounted for the show, but still seems worthwhile.

MISS ANTHOLOGY COMICS

“Miss Anthology is made up of two parts: one is a free workshop series, and the other is publishing annual anthologies. Our mission is to support racially and economically diverse young comics artists by teaching professional skills through hands-on workshops and publishing their work online and in print.”
— EMILY LEWIS, MISS ANTHOLOGY VOLUME 3 kickstarter

Emily Lewis is a co-founder of the Miss Anthology series and Director of this year’s edition, Miss Anthology Vol. 3 (now featured as a “Project We Love” on Kickstarter). She is a graphic designer and comic creator. Her books include My Sister, Monsters & Other Magical Beings, and Beetle Song. Support the campaign HERE.

Could you tell me a little about the Portland creator scene?

The Portland creator scene is like nothing I’ve ever seen. There’s an incredibly strong community of people who are very supportive of each other and generous with their time and resources. We have great comics programs at Portland State University and PNCA that are filled with amazing professors that help plug people into mentor programs and internships with Milkfed, Dark Horse, and Helioscope. There’s an affordable printing resource called the IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center) that hosts workshops, and community events. Local comic shops, bars, and community centers host free drawing nights and workshops around town.

Miss Anthology works a lot with Books with Pictures, Marrow PDX, and Portland Community College. We wouldn’t have our workshops without those places generously offering space. There’s also a great group of zinesters and comic creators that run a free festival called Portland Zine Symposium, as well as a few other indie and commercial conventions in the region. Miss Anthology wouldn’t have gotten very far without the help of the people behind all of the comic, academic, and creative communities.

Could you share a little about the core team behind the Anthology?

Miss Anthology’s core is myself and Melanie Stevens. This year we have Desiree Wilson on the team as an editor. I met Desiree through a book club a few years back. Melanie and I met in grad school. We are all friends and support our other creative endeavors. Melanie and I were roommates the year we came up with the idea to start a female and non-binary anthology and free workshops for kids. We’ve changed a few things over the years, and opened up the group to be more inclusive to the entire LGBTQIA2S+ community and opened up to a wider age group. We often rotate out our seasonal instructors, classes, and editing team from year to year so that we can offer opportunities to as many creators and professionals in the community as possible. We definitely have complimentary skill sets and a passion for comics. We all have day jobs within different but complimentary industries that help support what we do in Miss Anthology. Desiree is in the publishing industry, Melanie is in academia, and I work in marketing and graphic design. Editorial decisions are made first through myself and Desiree, then Melanie does a final review and copy editing. It’s important that the book’s layout is appealing, flows well, is easy to read, and the comics compliment each other.

What motivates your mission of inclusivity and the empowerment of young creators?

There’s a need for diversity in comics. We wanted to help this next generation of comic creators in our area learn and grow in a collaborative and encouraging environment. We introduce the students to female and LGBTQIA2S+ creators and professionals in their community, share a diverse range of comics, teach them how to talk about and share their work with their peers, and teach them more about the industry and techniques. Our anthology helps give emerging creators experience working with publishers, while still having the flexibility to grow, learn, and communicate with us about what we need from them while meeting deadlines.

What would you say to publishers who do not feel your same sense of mission or your same focus on inclusivity and young creators?

All of the publishers we’ve met with really love our mission. We’ve had a couple offer to give our creators tours of their offices and help set up meetings with published writers and artists. We know that all publishing houses have different audiences and styles that they prefer. We don’t care about anyone who doesn’t share our focus. We want this next generation of industry professionals to shape the industry into what they want it to be.

What would you say to publishers who do not feel your same sense of mission or your same focus on inclusivity and young creators?

I’ve noticed you do a lot of classes and live events, bringing the ethos of your anthology into the real world. That feels unique and special. Could you share more about these live events?

We teach a variety of classes that change occasionally. Our first couple years we taught writing classes, character development, lettering, coloring, inking, and more. This year was more genre-focused. We had auto-bio, horror, humor, comics and society, and even a landscape drawing and hiking class.

Now that we’ve been around for a few years, I think the most gratifying experiences are seeing growth and change. We’ve had a number of students who take classes one year and submit work for the anthology the following year. I also have a couple of former students and anthology creators who are getting ready to Kickstart their first book. Seeing them continue to make comics and grow has been proof that we’ve helped make a difference.

How can people help your anthology and your outreach?

Please help share and support Miss Anthology Volume 3 on Kickstarter!

Follow us on social media too!
Kickstarter link
Instagram: @missanthology
Twitter: @missanthology
missanthologycomics.com

WEEKEND WARRIOR COMICS

“Weekend Warrior Comics is a new digital and print magazine specializing in superhero comics… a 36-page installment featuring 5 comics stories, one prose story, and an exclusive interview with cartoonist Michel Fiffe!
Our magazine exists as a space for a diverse range of creators of different races, artistic sensibilities, genders, experiences, and sexualities to explore the superhero genre.”
— MARK O. STACK, WEEKEND WARRIOR COMICS #1 kickstarter

Mark O. Stack explains how his creator-owned webcomic about a non-binary weekend-only superhero, background as a self-described “White-passing Chicano” comics journalist and a deeply conflicted relationship with mainstream “cape books” led to an inclusive publishing initiative, currently working towards a modest Kickstarter goal. Check out the campaign HERE.

I really enjoyed your comic WEEKEND WARRIOR, which I read on Tapas! What was the genesis of that project?

That comic was born on a short train ride home from San Diego Comic Con 2016. I was stilling doing the comics journalism thing, so I had just done the show for the first time. I grew up in San Diego and had done some college down there, too, but at the time I was living in the Central Valley of California. It’s full of farms, dairies, and Republicans. Not really liking where I lived or my day job meant that I put a lot of pressure on my trips to comics conventions to be a wonderful time away from my reality. At conventions, I experienced the joy of connecting with friends who I felt saw me for who I really was. And then on the train ride home from that particular show, I was overcome with sorrow at the idea that I hadn’t had enough fun to justify the time I spent back at home toiling away in obscurity.

I connected that feeling pretty quickly to the plight of heroes who are sent to other worlds. John Carter, Adam Strange, etc. I was able to take their experience and relate my own of being in comics to it. I was in the early stages of making my own comics, too, so I put all that worry and fear about breaking in into the concept to come up with a superhero story that (when it’s all told eventually) might be one of the most honest reflections I can manage about what it feels like to be in comics.

How did you come to partner with the rest of your team?

Weekend Warrior spent a little time in development as I ironed out the kinks, particularly how to mold and present the protagonist, and it stalled for a little bit after scheduling with the initial artist (a really good friend) I’d been talking to about it didn’t work out. I hadn’t thought about it in a while, but I was always on the lookout for artists to work with. I’d follow an artist on social media and then search their following list to see who they liked. That eventually turned me towards Anne Marcano, whose work just spoke to me as something filled with life. I saw a joy in her figure work, an ability to communicate great highs and potentially lows, that I saw as the key to making Weekend Warrior a relatable story. And that has turned out to be one of the most fulfilling creative partnerships of my short career. Couldn’t imagine what kind of work I’d be doing right now if I never met Anne.

And Danny Djeljosevic, our letterer… He’s the man. We met through a mutual friend in San Diego, and I found out we’d all been involved in the same comics scene at some point. We were once talking about this one book, a book I didn’t like very much, and I told Danny “I’m sorry” when he said he had read it. He came back pretty quickly to say that he wasn’t sorry because the inks were sick. That kind of sums up Danny. He’s a smart guy who knows how to engage with a variety of work without letting a lot of the outside conversation drive his thinking. He’s got an actual perspective, and it shows through the myriad of comics that he’s written and released (Big Fucking Hammer is also on Tapas and is very good). That body of work alone made Danny someone who I looked up to and wanted to emulate in my approach to self-publishing. So when I asked him to letter the comic, I was doing it knowing that I was getting a very gifted thinker who would know what worked about the pages he was working on and help bring those qualities forward.

How did that project become an anthology (as opposed to just a single title)?

I think most comics should have back-ups. Particularly superhero work. It’s a great way to try launching new concepts and new creators. So when I initially conceived of Weekend Warrior, I thought that it would be cool to feature short comics by other creators inbetween chapters. In part to make up for the wait between updates and in part to directly co-sign the work of people I believed in. However, I pretty quickly realized that I wanted to be working more in print. A minor obsession with British comics magazine Warrior, where Alan Moore and his collaborators launched Miracleman and V for Vendetta, meant that I was seeing a lot of possibility in that format. You may not like every feature in a comics magazine, but if there’s one that you really love then that might keep you coming back long enough for the rest to win you over.

How did you choose the other contributors to the anthology? Are they people you know “in real life”, online acquaintances or solicitations?

I’ve met most of our contributors in real life. Hugged many of them. But we weren’t all that close when I initially put out a call (with a link to a Google submission form) asking if anyone had any superhero stories they wanted to tell and if there were aspects of their identity that they had wanted to see reflected in the superhero genre. I think I had 20 respondents, but I was able to narrow that down pretty quickly by looking at what people had suggested as the story they wanted to tell. It all had to fit together in some way while also presenting a diversity of styles, so I was looking for the things that could best flow in and out of each other. There were some who I directly solicited for ideas just because I desperately wanted them involved. And there are some who had to drop out of contributing due to scheduling conflicts. With all that in mind, I think I landed at a very tight and exciting group of creators.

How did you make all of the other decision that presage a Kickstarter?

The Kickstarter exists entirely because there was no other way for me to afford printing enough copies to distribute comps to the creators. We could have wrapped production on the magazine and simply put it up for sale as a digital piece, but all the creators involved put in a lot of work that I thought they deserved to see in print. For one creator in particular, I think this might be the first time they get to hold a comic they created in their own hands. That’s a special feeling.

Page length was something I was always monitoring. The length of the comics, prose, and interview were dictated by me ahead of time to all the contributors in order to make sure we weren’t scrambling to fill pages so we could print without issue. Of course, one creator with a non-standard story length that I built a lot of planning around did end up exiting the project pretty late in our timeline which necessitated some scrambling as we went from a 40-page first issue to a 36-page issue.

The logistics that I had to figure out for this were how many copies I wanted to print, what would packaging materials cost, and how much it would cost to ship the number of copies needed to be sent out to the necessary number of backers for funding. I ran my numbers by a friend who runs a micro-press with several successful numbers, and she gave me the okay. I can not stress enough the importance of having someone with relevant financial experience to analyze your budget and cost breakdowns before you launch something like this.

Your comic reviews reveal a love and deep understanding of superhero comics, and, yet, you mention “It’s not always easy taking part in the genre when it seems to belong to an industry that is either forgetful of or downright hostile towards your existence!” Could you expound on that thought?

When I said that, I was largely thinking about other people, about friends. Let’s take this pretty recent example: Marvel Comics was doing this extended storyline where the original X-Men came to the present. During that storyline, the young Iceman came out as gay. That seemed like a pretty big breakthrough even as the circumstances of the scene in which he came out struck many readers as invasive and insensitive. But there was a chance for some progress to be made by taking this character present from the early years of the Marvel Universe and explore his sexuality in a new way that would be relevant to queer readers who may have already identified their experience with that of the X-Men. However, Marvel ended that storyline with the young X-Men going back to their original time and erasing their memories to preserve the timeline. So Iceman had to go back in the closet as a teenager.

I saw a lot of friends hurt by that online as it was pretty traumatic to see the character have to sacrifice the happiness that came from accepting his queerness. The thing is that Iceman didn’t have to go back in the closet. It was done to preserve continuity which isn’t actually an important thing. Editorial at Marvel Comics could have just decided that Iceman had now been out as a teenager. They change continuity all the time! But when it came to a character’s queerness, they didn’t. They opted to uphold the establishment. It’s pretty painful to imagine a publisher sending the message that their made-up history is more important than a narrative of queer self-acceptance. And then on top of all that, you have Sina Grace, a queer creator, alleging that editorial at Marvel Comics advised him not to write Iceman as “too gay” in his solo title. Who would ever want to read another X-Men comic, let alone anything from this publisher again, after that? Well, a lot of people. I have a lot of empathy for the people who grew up with these things, want them to be better, and are continually hurt by them. It’s a difficult thing to deal with.

What do you love about superhero comics?

This is a fun follow-up to me describing how hateful they can be! I love that it all builds off itself. Every work in the genre is following in the footsteps of something else, often pretty directly. There’s a history, there are archetypes, there are recurring themes… There’s a really strong tradition at play that you get to see people wrestle with in their own way. I think part of the reason you see recent books like Black Hammer become so popular is that it’s working within an existing framework but removing the subject from it in order to explore it under different circumstances. So what looks like League International Goes to Stardew Valley is allowed to comment on the work its riffing on and put it through a prism that allows the creative team to explore the genre and its history as a whole. It’s a highly literary mode of superhero work that people really respond to.

Which characters had an impact on you, and how has your identity and the perspective of adulthood changed or challenged your relationship to those characters?

Superman is the big one. Loved that character as a kid. Really bought into all the hope and inspiration talk. I still do, to an extent, but it’s been tempered. The character is challenging, though, in part because his message has been watered down over the years. The character, before he became a real icon, landed on the scene beating up abusive husbands and holding people in power accountable because he alone had the power to do that. That latter part is still there to an extent through Clark Kent’s role as a journalist, but DC will regularly flirt with and then shy away from presenting a Superman who is truly radical as befits his origins as the creation of two working class Jewish cartoonists

But here’s what really challenged Superman and the comics industry for me. I heard that the editor in charge of the character at DC Comics was a sexual predator. That information was out there long before that brilliant and necessary Buzzfeed piece on Eddie Berganza. A lot of people knew and there were people trying to get the story out. But it took a long time. And I felt my ability to wholeheartedly love these characters diminish as a result of knowing that the men in charge could commit such terrible acts and the people above them (who are still at the publisher!) would protect them. There’s no coming all the way back from realizing that the thing you love is in the hands of bad people and the corporate culture was seemingly designed to protect them from consequences.

I still love the superheroes published by Marvel and DC. I still read some of them pretty regularly, but I can’t ever fully give my loyalty or love to anyone after what I and others have learned. I’m ready to drop everything and walk away from them (like I’m doing with Marvel) at a moment’s notice. It’s the difference between being a child and an adult, I guess, and actually having to think about what we’re choosing to support and how that reflects our vision of what the world should be.

How has the mainstream let you down, as a Latinx creator?

For me personally, I’ve felt like my existence has been largely ignored by the superhero comics industry. I’ve got a pretty particular experience, though, as a white-passing Chicano, so even when a positive Chicano representation like Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle, shows up it doesn’t make the largest impression on me (even as the character has rightfully meant a lot to plenty of people). I think lot of that has to do with that and other characters being written by a lot of white men whose approach just hasn’t really resonated with me. So, in essence, I don’t feel like we’re given a lot of range. We get a few stock stories or presentations. I’ve felt more represented by characters on CW’s The Flash than I ever have by their comic books. I think it’s a weird truth that televisions projects based off of these superhero projects tend to do a better job of presenting diversity.

What about your approach to this anthology improves on the current superhero landscape?

I think it’s more of a supplement. We’re supplementing the current superhero landscape by trying to create a space that embraces the genre and its history while being creator-owned and pushing inclusivity as a founding ethos as a result. No one can tell us “no” and people’s stories are in their own hands, and I think that has the potential to lead to some really exciting material free from the constraints of larger publishers.

Tell me a little about how you have pursued your comics career. You’ve mentioned feeling more “pro” and that industry pros have begun to recognize you as a peer. What has your journey been to this point?

I think that element of being recognized as a peer just comes from putting work out and sticking with it. I keep slowly putting out new work and working with really cool people. It just happens to be that the people you make friends with because you share the same passion start rising up around you, and they more or less pull you up a little bit by association. I’ve been fortunate enough to make friends with people I’ve met at shows after shoving one of my books into their hands and in online spaces where we all get together to talk about these things. I started off feeling like an annoying kid, but I’ve managed to settle into some confidence thanks to the recognition from people whose opinions I really value.

You are calling this #1. What is in store for the future – both for your own “Weekend Warrior” comic, the anthology and your other work/career?

I desperately want to get back to the Weekend Warrior story, but Anne I have some other irons in the fire that we’re waiting to see some development on first. So that story might take more of a backseat to other work. As for the magazine, I’ve got a model in mind for how to do it going forward that I’m pretty excited about. This first issue acts a lot as a pilot or proof of concept, so I’m hoping it signals that there’s interest in more ahead. There’s also more ahead in the very near future that is going to act as a supplement to what we’re doing with Weekend Warrior Comics with a bit of a literary aim. It’d be fair to consider it a sister title, and that will either be presented toward the end of this year or the start of the next one.

Beyond backing the Kickstarter, how can those invested in your worth best support your efforts?

Beyond sharing the Kickstarter, share the work from people you believe in. As a general rule, try to give your money to independent creators over giving it to larger corporations with unethical practices. That creates an environment where a lot more people can succeed outside those structures which will help us all.

Lastly, please give me any links you wish to direct people towards.

Executive Producing Junji Ito’s Bloodsucking Darkness