cymbaljack

I am seeking an artist to partner with on an original graphic novel suitable for periodical release.

Who I’m looking for: I know "ideal" may also mean "impossible." But to give you some idea of who I'm seeking, if you’re my ideal partner:
• You are skilled at drawing and at page layout. You understand how comics work because you’ve studied them. You’re passionate about this medium.
• You’re a responsible person who likes to finish projects. When you encounter difficulties, you communicate about them and address them rather than trying to cover them up.
• You like sci-fi and fantasy weirdness (see below for some examples of what I like) and are good at making up alien or fantastic creatures.
• You can draw convincing or appealing or cool looking scarecrows and dragons and robots and zombies and horses. (Actually, I don’t know if horses will be in the script, but if they are and you draw them poorly my wife will never forgive us.)
• You’re good at expressions.
• You want to be a collaborator rather than an employee. While I have a strong vision and strong opinions about stories in general and this one in particular, I want someone who will give me feedback and bring ideas to the table. I’m looking for someone who will enjoy building something together. (And someone who can afford to invest time into this knowing we don’t get paid until we sell the thing.)
• You’re cool with me exploring stuff about God and faith in the context of an adventure story. Whatever your personal beliefs, you don’t think it’s bad to ask serious questions and playful questions about metaphysical stuff, and you won’t be put off by working with a writer who’s a progressive Christian.
• You have a sense of humor that at least has some overlap with mine.

If you’re an “I can do it all” artist who inks and colors and everything, that’s great, but I’m perfectly willing to work with a skilled penciller who fits with me and the project. We can work together to find the rest of the team we need.

What you’re buying into: Here are the two pitches I’ve developed for this project at present. They may get refined as we work.
Short pitch: Chaos is a scifi/fantasy story of a group of misfits saving their strange home. It’s an adventure/comedy about accepting uncertainty and change. It’s conceived as a graphic novel but is suitable for single-issue release.

Longer pitch: Chaos is set in a strange world made up of a bunch of different, overlapping realities. Our heroes are a team called the “Salvage Squad,” a group of talented misfits gathered together to solve problems that the regular “Peace and Security Force” can’t handle. While their leader fights to get his team the support it needs to be able to operate, the squad stumbles across a plan to detonate a “reality bomb” that will keep the world from changing or, more likely, destroy it altogether. They overcome interpersonal conflict, departmental politics, a traitor in their midst, and zombies, robots, and various jerks to save the day.

At the moment I have about 40 pages scripted and a general idea of where the story goes. I’m working on a more detailed outline of the rest and will continue to produce script while I’m looking for a partner. I don’t think you’ll ever have to wait on me to catch up to you unless you’re some kind of superspeed artist.

Who I am: Here are a few relevant bits about me:
• I’ve always loved comics. I’ve been making a pretty serious study of them for about the past five years.
• I’m old enough to know better, which means I bring a certain maturity and stability to the table. On the other hand, it may mean I’m not fully in touch with the 16- to 24-year-old crowd.
• I’ve been teaching writing for over ten years and have written many things, including long projects. Although I don’t have any comics writing credits to offer you, I am convinced that I can do my part of this project, but I also realize that I will learn as I go. I want a collaborator, and I want to collaborate. And when I have someone waiting on me for something, I almost always beat the deadline.
• I’m going to list some things I like that each have at least one thing in common with this project. None of them are quite like what I’m trying to build here, and I’m not claiming that I’m near as good as any of these creators, but this list may give you some idea of my taste and my ambitions: Creature Tech by Doug TenNapel, The Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew, Firefly by Joss Whedon et al, Astro City by Kurt Busiek et al, Farscape, Mystery Men, Eureka. I have many, many other influences too, of course. But if you hate all of these, we may not be on the same page.
• I want to do something that’s cool and fun and funny and also serious and meaningful. I’d like to make writing comics my full-time job if I can because I think it’s exciting to create and because I’m increasingly convinced that real, powerful stories can do more good than most anything else I’m capable of.

Before I pick anyone I have to see not only sample drawings but at least 4 pages of sample comics work. Ideally these would be pages that you did from a script, so you can show me the script and the finished product. If you want to see something more from me, I understand and will try to comply.

If you’re excited about some of this but this particular project doesn’t appeal to you, I have a couple other ideas on the back burner that we could talk about.

If you’re interested, you can reach me at cymbaljack@gmail.com with questions or expressions of interest.

Labels: artist, collaboration, comics, graphic novel