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Thread: John Calimee Art (Image Intensive)

  1. #31

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    While I fully admit to only buying comics with artwork I like, I'll agree with John and say that many are woefully short on good story nowadays. There's nothing worse to me than plunking down my cash and feeling like all I got was a bunch of pretty pictures. A good story would still be a good story with stick figures and scratchy backgrounds. All the beautiful illustrations in the universe won't cover up a stinker of a story. The same goes for TV or film. Story doesn't (usually) cost nearly as much to produce as drawings or footage, so why it doesn't get more attention never ceases to amaze me.

  2. #32

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    I liked Deep Space Nine, the Original series, and Next Generation a whole lot more than Voyager. Heck, only episode of Voyager I actually liked was "Message in a Bottle" and it really had nothing to do with the Voyager crew.

    Even that Voyager episode paled in comparison to "City on the Edge of Forever", "Balance of Terror", "Doomsday Machine", "Tosk, "Way of the Warrior", "The Siege of AR-558" (no, I don't remember all the episode tiles that well), the great "Trials and Tribble-ations". Lots of good Next Gen episodes, too, like "Yesterday's Enterpries", "The Best of Both World's, and "the Wounded", "redemption Part II" and "The Pegasus".

    Never liked "Enterprise" much, too much sex, WAY too much soap opera, boring. Like Voyager it had few good characters/actors (Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan in Voyager were the only good ones, Peter Billingsley in Enterprise; DS9 had Avery Brooks, Armin Shimmerman, Colm Meaney, Siddig El-Fadil, Rene Auberjonois, Nicole De Boer, and more. Next Gen had Stewart, Spiner, Burton, McFadden,... TOS had a great starting cast with Nimoy, Kelley, Nichols, Shatner...). Best thing about the TOS, Next Gen, and DS9: You could tell the cast had fun, the stories could be funny, and, especially in DS9, the actors got to stretch themselves a lot.

    Boy, I said too much Off topic stuff...
    Keep your stick on the ice.

    Live it.

  3. #33

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    Don't sweat 'off topic.' Is is the general discussion forum after all.

    Just wondering, are there fan spin offs of DC/Marvel comics on the net, the way there are spin offs of the Trek universe? And if if there were, would the big 2 shut them down? The thought crossed my mind that if the forum wrote a good story, I could draw it. Del could enhance it for the web. Someone could net letter. We could use uncle Joe's barn. -All we'd have to left to do is channel Mickey Rooney. -Just a thought...

    Writing is hard. At least for me it is. I've been working on a self-publishing idea for 2 years now and it's still a fractured, messy heap of... The whole thing looks soooo simple when you watch someone else do it. Or maybe not so simple, given the big television networks have all but given up written material for reality tv shows. I find sitcoms and trek shows very much like comics because they have a recurring cast in essentially one and done stories. Who does one and done anymore?

    I don't read enough of today's comics to know if this is true or not: but I sense the kind of super hero/capes comic of the 60's thru 80's has been entirely set aside. Villian threatens world. Hero intervenes. Big slug fest. Hero wins. -Is any of that around any more? Do any of you want that around anymore?

    If you could have it any way you like, what kind of stories would make for a good AlphaFlight comic book? The type of stories/covers/plots/writing of today? Or a 'Byrne' type run? Or some other approach? -Not that I'm engaging in the popular comics now vs. comics then battle found often on the JB forum. I'm curious is you want spandex heroes in action against clearly defined bad super-powered villains? Has comics story telling grown beyond that?

  4. #34

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    John,
    I think you hit on it earlier. I'd much rather have a story that engages the human condition. Sure you have to see action in a superhero book, but if you don't care about the characters you won't keep coming back. For me it's good character driven stories with a splash of combat and flash.
    As for spin off stories, fanfics are all over the place. I've never really heard of Marvel or DC trying to shut down any of the sites that engage in fan fiction. There are some great stories in many of these places, and most have little or no art to go with them. Some good examples around these parts are a Second Flight round robin that was a spin off of Alpha Flight and the MC2 universe. You can find some of those stories posted on the forum here. Are any of them publisher worthy? Maybe not, but they are a fun read and do get you hooked on the characters.

    Tom

  5. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by John Calimee
    I'm curious is you want spandex heroes in action against clearly defined bad super-powered villains?
    Yes. (Spandex optional. See Sasquatch or Hulk.)

  6. #36

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    The best villains are also very human! Nothing makes a better villain than someone who is just at the end of their rope. I think that's why we've been able to see some villains like the Thunderbolts rehabilitated. They found another way to use their powers and had to struggle with their past sins. Mach V was a great character early in that series as he dealt with his guilt and responsibility for past actions as the Beetle.

  7. #37
    Semper ubi sub ubi Legerd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Calimee
    I find sitcoms and trek shows very much like comics because they have a recurring cast in essentially one and done stories. Who does one and done anymore?
    The BBC with Doctor Who!

    Quote Originally Posted by John Calimee
    I don't read enough of today's comics to know if this is true or not: but I sense the kind of super hero/capes comic of the 60's thru 80's has been entirely set aside. Villian threatens world. Hero intervenes. Big slug fest. Hero wins. -Is any of that around any more? Do any of you want that around anymore?
    While I (somewhat) miss the the whole B/W of good guys vs. bad guys, I prefer a more complex story. Give me a straight forward, honest hero who will do the right thing even if it means he/she will have to sacrifice something to do it. Then stick that hero into a story where the B&W is all grey. The villain, I feel should be the more complex of the characters. I guess you could say I like a simple hero in a complex story.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Calimee
    If you could have it any way you like, what kind of stories would make for a good AlphaFlight comic book? The type of stories/covers/plots/writing of today? Or a 'Byrne' type run? Or some other approach? -Not that I'm engaging in the popular comics now vs. comics then battle found often on the JB forum. I'm curious is you want spandex heroes in action against clearly defined bad super-powered villains? Has comics story telling grown beyond that?
    In AF's case, yes I would like to see the spandex and clearly defined villains. The story doesn't have to be a simple punch-em-up style, but like I said above, simple hero complex story.

  8. #38

    Default A mess of stuff.

    As to Star Trek, STNG is the series out of all of them that I regulary watch. Episodes that I enjoy most are 'Skin of Evil', 'Measure of a Man', 'Drumhead', 'Yesterday's Enterprise'. I can't say there where any bad episodes, but the one's mentioned stand out for me.

    I wasn't a fan of DS9, because to my mind the same type story is told in Babylon 5 and B5 is by far the better series to my mind. Voyager is watchable, but if you can't empaphyse with the central characters then half the battles lost. I managed to get through season one of Enterprise before my eyes gave up and I started to read books again.

    I have deliberately left STOS to last, I feel like a traitor and some kinda low life for not liking it. "You can't enjoy Star Trek, without enjoying the classic", hmm, yes I can. Why couldn't Kirk have been disfigured and Pike go and boldly go?

    Reading through all that, one thing occurs to me, I don't care what the story is or whether there is any action or whatever, just as long as it's told well. I enjoyed Ellis's year run on 'The Authority', not really character driven, biff bang boom in your face action, but told well. While his 'Transmet' is prolly more character driven. To be able to figure a five year story with beginning, middle and end, that's good story telling imho. Fabian Nickezia (sp) did an excellent run on 'New Warriors', his first 25 issues stand up pretty well alongside Byrnes AF run. All well written stories that drew me in. Oh and I nearly forgot, the first eight issues of 'ClanDestine', their return prolly next best news after 'Omega Flight' . I don't think how a story is told should be the main focus of anydiscussion, what happened in the story and how the characters react should be the talking point.

    Oh and for any one wondering... 2nd Flight
    Del

    Driftwood: Well, I got about a foot and a half. Now, it says, uh, "The party of the second part shall be known in this contract as the party of the second part."
    Fiorello: Well, I don't know about that...
    Driftwood: Now what's the matter?
    Fiorello: I no like-a the second party, either.
    Driftwood: Well, you should've come to the first party. We didn't get home 'til around four in the morning... I was blind for three days!

  9. #39
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    I haven't seen much Enterprise, but you're right, that's T'Pol. The only main characters who are Vulcan are: Spock, Tuvok, and T'Pol.

    The Moriarty episodes are 'Elementary, My Dear Data' and 'Ship in a Bottle'. For what it's worth.

    And, wow aren't we getting off topic?

    Great art, John! If you're not working in comics these days, what do you do for a crust?

    - Le Messor
    "As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information."
    - Benjamin Disraeli

  10. #40

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    Oh, I'm supposed to answer that...

    My non-paying activities include studying the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Flemish primitives in particular. And my endless struggle at writing my own comic book. Someday to see the light of day. Either self published or pirated for work for hire.

    Paying activities include portrait commissions in the afore mentioned Flemish style. -And torturing art students. Teaching them, actually. But they like to pretend they're being tortured. I don't want them to end up as I did: carting around a college degree worth less than the paper it was printed on.

    Perhaps as good an example of missing the human element in storytelling has to be Image Comics. When they launched, those guys had the world in their hands. They had talent, opportunity, and the full acceptance of the comics audience. They did deliver flashy art, seriously bad looking villians and take no prisoner's looking heroes. Alas, the sparkle and glitter aren't the 'thing.' Nor is spikey hair, shiny lights, computer coloring, or heroes that say !$#^%!$ a lot. Imagination. Energy. Humanity. You can't go wrong with that mix.

    Are my fifteen minutes up? I think I'm pushing it...

  11. #41

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    More pushing, but I have to get this out:

    I feel every generation of hero comics is face with a problem: define what is bad, or evil in a way that is relevant to the times. By defining evil, one begins to define good. Evil has to be sufficiently plausible to the times, otherwise the whole thing risks being irrelevant.

    Monster movies of the 50's effectively tapped into the angst of that generation. Aliens touched and BattleStar Galactica is touching something in our collective conscious. With all the wars, global warming, etc. etc., are we secretly pondering the question: Do we deserve to be wiped out by machines?

    Comic book movies are hit and miss on the topic. Superman came in just under the wire. Spiderman 2 was spectacular. The last Batman was just short of brilliant, except they went overboard with the poisoned water bit. And the FF... what a load of @!#$#* that was.

  12. #42
    Harvester of Sorrows Department H
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    You've payed your dues; you're pushing nothing!

    Torturing, teaching... You say tomah-to, I say tomato, you say potah-to, I say chips.

    That's why I never read Image; it looked to me like it never got past its name; image. I want character, people I can care about, if not relate to.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Calimee
    I feel every generation of hero comics is face with a problem: define what is bad, or evil in a way that is relevant to the times.
    See, what worries me (and you; see our debate on Mal in Serenity) is their definition of 'good'. The further it gets from mine, the less I want anything to do with the (comic / movie / book).

    I liked Spiderman 2, but felt that it was more remake than sequel.
    Agree on Batman, not sure of Superman... Just seen it once.

    - Le Messor
    "At an Oxford college, they were debating what to do with all their money. The consensus was to buy land, since "for the past thousand years, land has proven to be a very wise investment for the college." A crusty old patriarch piped in, "True, but the past thousand years have been atypical."
    - Greg Benford

  13. #43

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    I enjoyed Batman Begins a lot, and was very pleasantly surprised by Superman Returns. I had very low expectations and thought it delivered far beyond what I had imagined. I'll agree with John in that the heroes are (or should be) defined by their villains. If the hero doesn't have to work hard and sacrifice something in order to achieve victory, the reader / viewer will probably not be interested in the conflict. Tapping into fears of the time is something that's a little harder to do though...

  14. #44

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    I've just discovered this thread and am very heartened to find John Calimee and Mike Oeming attending this forum. Wooty woot! John's work, which Del very kindly shared, is awesome and I verily nearly fell out of my chair when I saw his AF/Dreamqueen image - it is classic AF/comic heroism done big and done superbly.

    John - were these commissioned work, or just for fun? Either way, they are outstanding.

    Anyway, I really just wanted to confirm that the artwork is wonderful (and this is from an AF fan from way back who did persevere through the Calimee-Manley issues and who saw John grow as a penciller even way back then).

    And welcome Mike Oeming to this forum (belated though it must be). It is so refreshing to find someone involved in an (incarnation of) AF who isn't into hyping the series (though this may change later this year? ).

  15. #45

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    I'm buzzed about Mike being around here as well.

    The images here were a delightful break from the skull crushing attempts I make at plotting/writing a comic. Guys who can do it amaze me. Anyway, these are just push and go. Drawing is easy. Thinking, not so much.

    Del wanted an AF image and I had so much fun I kept doing them. By Wizard World Chicago, I hope to have about 50 of them done.

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