One day to go! We're in the last hours and currently ACTION, OHIO is the David Archuleta of this "American Idol" style competition... if you haven't already could you please click to http://www.zudacomics.com/node/438 by TOMORROW, Thursday, May 29, and vote for us.
In the meantime, check out this interview conducted by Chris Arrant at Newsarama:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=158374
One more day - let's close it out with a bang!
5.27.2008
One Week to Go!
Down to the home stretch and CELADORE and GOLDEN are tearing up the rankings - the first is dead set on keeping that top spot and the latter jumped up to sixth from ninth! Both are good comix and we need quite the push to get into first by Friday so please - if you haven't, get to the Zuda site to vote for and favorite ACTION, OHIO:
Folks are saying some real nice things about the comic and I really hope we get to continue to prove out their support. Here's one great blurb from "The Ray", a nice poster at Gail Simone's YOU'LL ALL BE SORRY message boards:
"Neil Kleid's Action, Ohio not only captures the imagination, but holds it in it's basement for months. If you're not converted to Kleidism (the religious worship of writer Neil Kleid and his works) by the end of the first eight pages, you will be excommunicated and forced live out the rest of your life in a small island in the Mediterranean."
"Kleidism." I quite like that.
Vote on. New post about the Silver Age to follow.
Folks are saying some real nice things about the comic and I really hope we get to continue to prove out their support. Here's one great blurb from "The Ray", a nice poster at Gail Simone's YOU'LL ALL BE SORRY message boards:
"Neil Kleid's Action, Ohio not only captures the imagination, but holds it in it's basement for months. If you're not converted to Kleidism (the religious worship of writer Neil Kleid and his works) by the end of the first eight pages, you will be excommunicated and forced live out the rest of your life in a small island in the Mediterranean."
"Kleidism." I quite like that.
Vote on. New post about the Silver Age to follow.
5.25.2008
People are talking about ACTION, OHIO!
Hey, we're heading into the final week of the May Zuda competition and as Paul and I gear up for one last hurrah, feel free to check out some great bits around the internet about our comic, ACTION, OHIO!
Here's a nice interview I did with Matt Price of the Daily Oklahoman and a follow up at the paper's blog.
And there are a bunch of great Zuda reviews up at ComicFencing.com where they're quite supportive of our comic.
Enjoy reading those this holiday weekend and don't forget to get the vote out! We're in second and need to pull into the top spot by May 30!
Here's a nice interview I did with Matt Price of the Daily Oklahoman and a follow up at the paper's blog.
And there are a bunch of great Zuda reviews up at ComicFencing.com where they're quite supportive of our comic.
Enjoy reading those this holiday weekend and don't forget to get the vote out! We're in second and need to pull into the top spot by May 30!
5.21.2008
Roughs
Pages 2 through 5 in thumbnail form. I remember having a real small window of time to get these done in, and I think they turned out better for it. Unencumbered by the thought process, as it were. Neil ended up making me change things because he hates me.
5.14.2008
Plotting the Fate of a little Town in Ohio
As I've said before, I've been writing ACTION, OHIO ever since it was old enough to cry. The story's gone through multiple iterations since it's inception, but at it's heart it's always been about hiding the truth and sacrificing freedom in order to save the world.
To me, that's also at the heart of what drives many good superheroes - whether it's abstaining from relationships or wearing masks to protect the ones they love or even setting limits on their fantastic abilities, doing what they can to even blot out their gifts (and curses) for the sake of mankind. But how can you and I, the average Joes and Janes, relate to something like that? We don't have powers to hide. We don't have secret identities. What do we know about sacrificing for the greater good?
That's what I want to explore with our heroine, Andrea Bruce. Andi, a tough-talking Detroit homicide detective who appears on the very next page of our comic (she actually shows up on page eight, but her dialogue and story start on page nine!), has not always been a tough-talking homicide detective. She's been a reporter, forced to rein in her devotion to the freedom of the press. She was a hero's daughter, keeping herself in exile from town and friends so that she didn't accidentally spill the beans. But all of those seemed forced to me... and when Paul and I sat down to really hammer out our outline, we decided that Andi, our window into a world of amazing people with amazing abilities, not only had to sacrifice beliefs and ideas throughout the story, but also discovers what it means to be a hero in every sense of the word. From the tough decisions to the triumphant victories, Andi - a woman who enters our story without much use for 'heroes' - learns that any one of us can be one - you, me, her, them.
Why Ohio? I'm from Michigan (Detroit, do or die) and have spent most of my life in and around the Upper Midwest states - Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, parts of Pennsylvania. Though I've been a New Yorker since before Y2K, the Midwest sticks with me, flat accent, love for Faygo Pop, Tigers ball cap and all. Though tempted to set our tale in Detroit, I felt using any major city would take away the wonder and the small town aura Action was going to present. I needed - no, craved - screen doors, cut lawns and hidden woods. General stores and schoolhouses that, long ago, only taught a single class. Sure - this is a town that's kept up with the times. They're wireless and up on current events, but they also dig a nice ice cream soda down at the soda shop and pick up their papers from the newsagent (newsagents of s.h.i.e...?). I chose Ohio for this reason alone; it's flat. Ohio, to yours truly... a driver of Interstate 75, I-80 and the like... has always been the longest stretch of highway with nothing but cornfields, wheat, trees and truck stops. When driving from Detroit to New York, I tend to bear down when hitting the Buckeye State and ready myself for a long four hour haul until I hit Pennsylvania's mountains and some ground that isn't PERFECTLY. LEVEL. Miles and miles of country radio stations mixed with identical rest stops featuring Starbucks, gift shops, Boston market and eight vending machines. It's forever. Forever and several miles. And it's the perfect place to hide if you're a superhero because, dear lord, most people just want to drive on through.
Not to say there aren't great parts of Ohio - like Liz Lemon, I love the Cleve. I dig drinking in Berwick when in Columbus and I've been to the Air museum in Dayton (quick Ohio joke - where's Engagement, Ohio? Between Dayton and Marion!) Cedar Point in Sandusky is one of my favorite theme parks but you have to admit - if you're from Bowling Green, Youngstown or even good ol' Cincy - there's a LOT of land and most of it is flat, green and dull.
Quiet town, driven heroine, secret superheroes. Nice mix, right? Well, what about you? What about the folks who aren't central to the story... the folks who discover there are superheroes living nearby? One of the things that really interested me with Action's premise was how the world would react. Obviously, the military would jump at the chance to recruit these superhumans while the government would want to examine them — all the sci-fi cliches and Stephen King horror stories would descend on our little Ohio hamlet. Let's step back further: public relations firms? Hollywood? The comic book companies — especially the companies that have been putting out books BASED on these people's lives?! Wouldn't they claim ownership, to some extent? And most importantly to you and I... how would the comic book FANS react?
Here we are, in a day and age where (who would've ever thought?!) a comic book fan is bombarded by posters, billboards, ads and endorsements featuring their favorite hero or heroine — Batman, Iron Man, Hulk, Spidey, Superman, The Spirit and more. I drive down the West Side Highway and there, big as life and four stories high, is the gleaming mug of the Golden Avenger. blocks away, grinning from the side of the building, is the screaming mad smile of the Joker. Doesn't it feel like superheroes are here? Isn't it slightly surreal?
Imagine if they did, kids. Imagine if CNN revealed the existence of these men and women, these heroes and heroines, and then moments later one of them streaked across the sky? How would you react? Would you run to the internet or would you read about them in tabloids?
And, worse, knowing years of history - of secret crises and world devourers and final nights and insane genocidal clowns - wouldn't you want to run beneath your bed and hide?
THESE are the questions this story will explore, should we get the chance. These are questions we'll ask together starting on page nine.
Hey - would you like to read three pages of abandoned script? Sure you would! Here's a few pages I wrote when I was playing around with Andi's introduction. It's still fairly heavy on the captions and mood, and I have long since decided to revise, but I thought you, our intrepid reader, might appreciate it. Enjoy!
Page 1 (SPLASH)
SPLASH
EXT. DETROIT ALLEY - NIGHT
Shot of Detective ANDREA BRUCE, kneeling in a dark alley in her leather coat and bloodstained jeans, cradling a small boy – her brother, in fact – in her arms as his blood seeps out from between her fingers and onto the ground. We’re looking down at her, as if standing to one side like a passive viewer, and we see that we’re actually in a circle of anonymous costumed heroes, ringing Detective Bruce and her brother. We can’t see much of the heroes – boots, capes, leggings, etc. But it boils down to this – a boy died, and none of these heroes were able to help.
CAP: THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS HEROES.
Page 2 (5 PANELS)
PANEL ONE
Shot of several gang bangers holding out their guns, pointing them at us, angry and menacing. We see the heroes behind them – there, but darker than them, grayer… like shades that cannot stop what’s to come.
CAP: NO SAVIORS. NO ROLE MODELS.
CAP: ONLY VILLAINS.
PANEL TWO
Reverse angle – we see Andrea’s brother is alive now, standing in front of her, protecting her as he moves to confront the gang. He’s got be all of seventeen, attitude and bluster. She’s on her knees, trying to get him to stop, to come back, to stop from dying again… but he slips from her fingers. And silently watching, the heroes stand behind them, a wall of silent sinners.
CAP: ONLY HEARTBREAK.
PANEL THREE
Andrea’s brother is pushed around by the gangbangers as she gets to her feet. She’s unprepared, out of her element. The heroes walk towards Andrea’s brother as the gang bangers start to whale on him with bats and crowbars … but their faces are blank and silent.
CAP: THE DREAMS RECUR, DESPERATE AND TERRIBLE, TRAGIC VISIONS I CAN’T LET GO.
CAP: EVERY NIGHT, MY BROTHER FIGHTS THE ODDS—
PANEL FOUR
Different angle as Andrea tries to get her gun out, but she fumbles with the clasp, still down on the ground.
CAP: — AND EVERY NIGHT, I HELP HIM LOSE.
PANEL FIVE
Andrea pushes her way through the heroes, the slate grey, indistinguishable heroes, to get to her brother in the center of the melee.
CAP: SOMEWHERE, SOMEONE CALLS FOR HELP. BEGS SOMEBODY TO SAVE HER.
CAP: AFTER, HEART HAMMERING INSIDE MY CHEST, I’LL REALIZE IT WAS ME.
Page 3 (5 PANELS)
PANEL ONE
Andrea reaches her brother through the golem-like heroes, and grabs his shoulder to spin him away from the clutching, pummeling hands of the thugs.
CAP: I’VE NEVER BELIEVED IN HEROES. I BELIEVE IN ME
CAP: MY STRENGTHS, MY WEAKNESSES. MY LAUGHABLE IDEALS AND MY SECRET, SELFISH DESIRES.
CAP; I BLAME MYSELF FOR NEVER BEING THERE WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT.
PANEL TWO
The heroes crowd in and separate her from her brother, pull her back, away from his reaching fingers.
CAP: AND FOR ALWAYS BEING THERE WHEN THE TIME IS WRONG.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
PANEL THREE
Andrea is dragged from her brother, back into a sea of silent heroes. Her fingers reach towards us, stretching and screaming for her brother.
CAP: MICAH, MY YOUNGER BROTHER, DIED TEN YEARS AGO, SHOT IN THE HEART ON HIS WAY TO A MOVIE.
CAP: IF I’D BEEN THERE, MAYBE HE WOULDN’T FILL MY NIGHTMARES.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
PANEL FOUR
Andrea is pulled deeper and deeper into the sea of costumed heroes.
CAP: IF I’D BEEN THERE, MAYBE I WOULD DREAM OF HEROES.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
PANEL FIVE
INT. ANDREA’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
It’s dark and lonely. Andrea is sitting up in bed, the covers thrown back. Her apartment is messy and tossed about, hockey gear mixed with clothes and a backpack. Her jacket is thrown over the other side of her bed. The window is open behind her and we can see out past her fire escape into the grimy, filthy moonlight. Her cell phone, sitting on a nightstand, is ringing and that’s what’s been buzzing all this time.
CAP: INSTEAD OF WAKING TO FAILURE.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
To me, that's also at the heart of what drives many good superheroes - whether it's abstaining from relationships or wearing masks to protect the ones they love or even setting limits on their fantastic abilities, doing what they can to even blot out their gifts (and curses) for the sake of mankind. But how can you and I, the average Joes and Janes, relate to something like that? We don't have powers to hide. We don't have secret identities. What do we know about sacrificing for the greater good?
That's what I want to explore with our heroine, Andrea Bruce. Andi, a tough-talking Detroit homicide detective who appears on the very next page of our comic (she actually shows up on page eight, but her dialogue and story start on page nine!), has not always been a tough-talking homicide detective. She's been a reporter, forced to rein in her devotion to the freedom of the press. She was a hero's daughter, keeping herself in exile from town and friends so that she didn't accidentally spill the beans. But all of those seemed forced to me... and when Paul and I sat down to really hammer out our outline, we decided that Andi, our window into a world of amazing people with amazing abilities, not only had to sacrifice beliefs and ideas throughout the story, but also discovers what it means to be a hero in every sense of the word. From the tough decisions to the triumphant victories, Andi - a woman who enters our story without much use for 'heroes' - learns that any one of us can be one - you, me, her, them.
Why Ohio? I'm from Michigan (Detroit, do or die) and have spent most of my life in and around the Upper Midwest states - Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, parts of Pennsylvania. Though I've been a New Yorker since before Y2K, the Midwest sticks with me, flat accent, love for Faygo Pop, Tigers ball cap and all. Though tempted to set our tale in Detroit, I felt using any major city would take away the wonder and the small town aura Action was going to present. I needed - no, craved - screen doors, cut lawns and hidden woods. General stores and schoolhouses that, long ago, only taught a single class. Sure - this is a town that's kept up with the times. They're wireless and up on current events, but they also dig a nice ice cream soda down at the soda shop and pick up their papers from the newsagent (newsagents of s.h.i.e...?). I chose Ohio for this reason alone; it's flat. Ohio, to yours truly... a driver of Interstate 75, I-80 and the like... has always been the longest stretch of highway with nothing but cornfields, wheat, trees and truck stops. When driving from Detroit to New York, I tend to bear down when hitting the Buckeye State and ready myself for a long four hour haul until I hit Pennsylvania's mountains and some ground that isn't PERFECTLY. LEVEL. Miles and miles of country radio stations mixed with identical rest stops featuring Starbucks, gift shops, Boston market and eight vending machines. It's forever. Forever and several miles. And it's the perfect place to hide if you're a superhero because, dear lord, most people just want to drive on through.
Not to say there aren't great parts of Ohio - like Liz Lemon, I love the Cleve. I dig drinking in Berwick when in Columbus and I've been to the Air museum in Dayton (quick Ohio joke - where's Engagement, Ohio? Between Dayton and Marion!) Cedar Point in Sandusky is one of my favorite theme parks but you have to admit - if you're from Bowling Green, Youngstown or even good ol' Cincy - there's a LOT of land and most of it is flat, green and dull.
Quiet town, driven heroine, secret superheroes. Nice mix, right? Well, what about you? What about the folks who aren't central to the story... the folks who discover there are superheroes living nearby? One of the things that really interested me with Action's premise was how the world would react. Obviously, the military would jump at the chance to recruit these superhumans while the government would want to examine them — all the sci-fi cliches and Stephen King horror stories would descend on our little Ohio hamlet. Let's step back further: public relations firms? Hollywood? The comic book companies — especially the companies that have been putting out books BASED on these people's lives?! Wouldn't they claim ownership, to some extent? And most importantly to you and I... how would the comic book FANS react?
Here we are, in a day and age where (who would've ever thought?!) a comic book fan is bombarded by posters, billboards, ads and endorsements featuring their favorite hero or heroine — Batman, Iron Man, Hulk, Spidey, Superman, The Spirit and more. I drive down the West Side Highway and there, big as life and four stories high, is the gleaming mug of the Golden Avenger. blocks away, grinning from the side of the building, is the screaming mad smile of the Joker. Doesn't it feel like superheroes are here? Isn't it slightly surreal?
Imagine if they did, kids. Imagine if CNN revealed the existence of these men and women, these heroes and heroines, and then moments later one of them streaked across the sky? How would you react? Would you run to the internet or would you read about them in tabloids?
And, worse, knowing years of history - of secret crises and world devourers and final nights and insane genocidal clowns - wouldn't you want to run beneath your bed and hide?
THESE are the questions this story will explore, should we get the chance. These are questions we'll ask together starting on page nine.
Hey - would you like to read three pages of abandoned script? Sure you would! Here's a few pages I wrote when I was playing around with Andi's introduction. It's still fairly heavy on the captions and mood, and I have long since decided to revise, but I thought you, our intrepid reader, might appreciate it. Enjoy!
Page 1 (SPLASH)
SPLASH
EXT. DETROIT ALLEY - NIGHT
Shot of Detective ANDREA BRUCE, kneeling in a dark alley in her leather coat and bloodstained jeans, cradling a small boy – her brother, in fact – in her arms as his blood seeps out from between her fingers and onto the ground. We’re looking down at her, as if standing to one side like a passive viewer, and we see that we’re actually in a circle of anonymous costumed heroes, ringing Detective Bruce and her brother. We can’t see much of the heroes – boots, capes, leggings, etc. But it boils down to this – a boy died, and none of these heroes were able to help.
CAP: THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS HEROES.
Page 2 (5 PANELS)
PANEL ONE
Shot of several gang bangers holding out their guns, pointing them at us, angry and menacing. We see the heroes behind them – there, but darker than them, grayer… like shades that cannot stop what’s to come.
CAP: NO SAVIORS. NO ROLE MODELS.
CAP: ONLY VILLAINS.
PANEL TWO
Reverse angle – we see Andrea’s brother is alive now, standing in front of her, protecting her as he moves to confront the gang. He’s got be all of seventeen, attitude and bluster. She’s on her knees, trying to get him to stop, to come back, to stop from dying again… but he slips from her fingers. And silently watching, the heroes stand behind them, a wall of silent sinners.
CAP: ONLY HEARTBREAK.
PANEL THREE
Andrea’s brother is pushed around by the gangbangers as she gets to her feet. She’s unprepared, out of her element. The heroes walk towards Andrea’s brother as the gang bangers start to whale on him with bats and crowbars … but their faces are blank and silent.
CAP: THE DREAMS RECUR, DESPERATE AND TERRIBLE, TRAGIC VISIONS I CAN’T LET GO.
CAP: EVERY NIGHT, MY BROTHER FIGHTS THE ODDS—
PANEL FOUR
Different angle as Andrea tries to get her gun out, but she fumbles with the clasp, still down on the ground.
CAP: — AND EVERY NIGHT, I HELP HIM LOSE.
PANEL FIVE
Andrea pushes her way through the heroes, the slate grey, indistinguishable heroes, to get to her brother in the center of the melee.
CAP: SOMEWHERE, SOMEONE CALLS FOR HELP. BEGS SOMEBODY TO SAVE HER.
CAP: AFTER, HEART HAMMERING INSIDE MY CHEST, I’LL REALIZE IT WAS ME.
Page 3 (5 PANELS)
PANEL ONE
Andrea reaches her brother through the golem-like heroes, and grabs his shoulder to spin him away from the clutching, pummeling hands of the thugs.
CAP: I’VE NEVER BELIEVED IN HEROES. I BELIEVE IN ME
CAP: MY STRENGTHS, MY WEAKNESSES. MY LAUGHABLE IDEALS AND MY SECRET, SELFISH DESIRES.
CAP; I BLAME MYSELF FOR NEVER BEING THERE WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT.
PANEL TWO
The heroes crowd in and separate her from her brother, pull her back, away from his reaching fingers.
CAP: AND FOR ALWAYS BEING THERE WHEN THE TIME IS WRONG.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
PANEL THREE
Andrea is dragged from her brother, back into a sea of silent heroes. Her fingers reach towards us, stretching and screaming for her brother.
CAP: MICAH, MY YOUNGER BROTHER, DIED TEN YEARS AGO, SHOT IN THE HEART ON HIS WAY TO A MOVIE.
CAP: IF I’D BEEN THERE, MAYBE HE WOULDN’T FILL MY NIGHTMARES.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
PANEL FOUR
Andrea is pulled deeper and deeper into the sea of costumed heroes.
CAP: IF I’D BEEN THERE, MAYBE I WOULD DREAM OF HEROES.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
PANEL FIVE
INT. ANDREA’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
It’s dark and lonely. Andrea is sitting up in bed, the covers thrown back. Her apartment is messy and tossed about, hockey gear mixed with clothes and a backpack. Her jacket is thrown over the other side of her bed. The window is open behind her and we can see out past her fire escape into the grimy, filthy moonlight. Her cell phone, sitting on a nightstand, is ringing and that’s what’s been buzzing all this time.
CAP: INSTEAD OF WAKING TO FAILURE.
SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ
CONTEST: Neil gives YOU presents on HIS birthday!
Hey, folks!
If you've been paying attention, ACTION OHIO is in the middle of it's second week of the Zuda competition, and to help get votes, favorite and page views, we're starting a contest to coincide with something happening during our third week: the writer's birthday!
On May 21st, Neil turns 33 and to celebrate, we're going to offer you, our supporters, a chance to get a present too.
All you have to do is get as many people as you can to favorite our comic and post on the comments thread that "(Your Name) told me to visit Action, Ohio" by May 21st.
The person who sends the most visitors to the thread will win an Action, Ohio prize pack including:
- Signed copies of NINETY CANDLES, Neil's Xeric-winning graphic novella; Puffin Graphics' adapted version of Jack London's CALL OF THE WILD by Neil and Alex Nino; and X-MEN UNLIMITED #14, featuring an 11 page Colossus story by Neil and Mike Oeming.
- More importantly, a signed, original page of ACTION, OHIO art by illustrator Paul Salvi!
Just have your friends, family and pals visit http://www. zudacomics. com/node/438 by the end of May 21st, favorite our comic and post that they visited because of you - we'd love for them to vote for us too, but that's not necessary for you to win the contest.
And, heck - because we're generous souls, anyone who gets 33 people by the 21st will get a signed and sketched copy of NINETY CANDLES, too!
Remember - Neil's turning another year older, but YOU'RE the one who'll get the goods! What're you waiting for?
If you've been paying attention, ACTION OHIO is in the middle of it's second week of the Zuda competition, and to help get votes, favorite and page views, we're starting a contest to coincide with something happening during our third week: the writer's birthday!
On May 21st, Neil turns 33 and to celebrate, we're going to offer you, our supporters, a chance to get a present too.
All you have to do is get as many people as you can to favorite our comic and post on the comments thread that "(Your Name) told me to visit Action, Ohio" by May 21st.
The person who sends the most visitors to the thread will win an Action, Ohio prize pack including:
- Signed copies of NINETY CANDLES, Neil's Xeric-winning graphic novella; Puffin Graphics' adapted version of Jack London's CALL OF THE WILD by Neil and Alex Nino; and X-MEN UNLIMITED #14, featuring an 11 page Colossus story by Neil and Mike Oeming.
- More importantly, a signed, original page of ACTION, OHIO art by illustrator Paul Salvi!
Just have your friends, family and pals visit http://www. zudacomics. com/node/438 by the end of May 21st, favorite our comic and post that they visited because of you - we'd love for them to vote for us too, but that's not necessary for you to win the contest.
And, heck - because we're generous souls, anyone who gets 33 people by the 21st will get a signed and sketched copy of NINETY CANDLES, too!
Remember - Neil's turning another year older, but YOU'RE the one who'll get the goods! What're you waiting for?
5.12.2008
Interview with Neil at io9.com
Check out this great interview I did with Graeme McMillan at sci-fi website io9.com:
http://io9.com/389345/neil-kleid-finds-action-and-superheroes-in-ohio
And if you're around the NYC area, please swing by the People's Improv Theatre at 8pm to see me talk comics with fellow webcomickers, Kevin (FISHTOWN, TODT HILL) Colden, Molly (BACKSTAGE) Crabapple and John (BACKSTAGE) Leavitt:
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub
http://io9.com/389345/neil-kleid-finds-action-and-superheroes-in-ohio
And if you're around the NYC area, please swing by the People's Improv Theatre at 8pm to see me talk comics with fellow webcomickers, Kevin (FISHTOWN, TODT HILL) Colden, Molly (BACKSTAGE) Crabapple and John (BACKSTAGE) Leavitt:
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub
ACTION, OHIO slips to #2 - Get the Vote out!
So, ACTION, OHIO begins the week slipping into the number two spot behind CELADORE - but just because we're down, doesn't mean we're out!
Now is the time to get the word out - please vote for us if you haven't yet:
http://www.zudacomics.com/node/438
If you've already voted, please send the link on to friends, family and co-workers and make sure they (and you) add us as your favorite comic, rate us with 5 stars and leave us some nice words on the comment thread - all these things are taken into account in the final analysis.
Come visit Action, Ohio - and let's retake our rightful spot at the top!
Now is the time to get the word out - please vote for us if you haven't yet:
http://www.zudacomics.com/node/438
If you've already voted, please send the link on to friends, family and co-workers and make sure they (and you) add us as your favorite comic, rate us with 5 stars and leave us some nice words on the comment thread - all these things are taken into account in the final analysis.
Come visit Action, Ohio - and let's retake our rightful spot at the top!
5.09.2008
5.08.2008
ACTION, OHIO is in first place! Celebrate at Comic Book Club on 5/13
Thanks to your vote and support, after the first ranking, ACTION, OHIO is in first place!
But this contest isn't over and we're going to have to fight to stay there... so please continue to ask friends to register, favorite and vote for us all throughout May at www.zudacomics.com/node/438
To promote the comic, I'm taking ACTION, OHIO on the road - I'll be appearing as a guest of the Comic Book Club, New York's only improvised comic book talk show, this Tuesday night at 8pm! Please come and celebrate with me, Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler and Pete LePage as we talk comics, Zuda and the wonder that is beer. Oh, we'll go get beer after. Yes, we will:
Also, 'dig' us at Digg, friend us at MySpace and watch this space for upcoming interviews, contests and ACTION EXCITEMENT!
And, of course, make sure you get everyone else to keep us on top!
-Neil
But this contest isn't over and we're going to have to fight to stay there... so please continue to ask friends to register, favorite and vote for us all throughout May at www.zudacomics.com/node/438
To promote the comic, I'm taking ACTION, OHIO on the road - I'll be appearing as a guest of the Comic Book Club, New York's only improvised comic book talk show, this Tuesday night at 8pm! Please come and celebrate with me, Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler and Pete LePage as we talk comics, Zuda and the wonder that is beer. Oh, we'll go get beer after. Yes, we will:
Also, 'dig' us at Digg, friend us at MySpace and watch this space for upcoming interviews, contests and ACTION EXCITEMENT!
And, of course, make sure you get everyone else to keep us on top!
-Neil
5.06.2008
Promotional Image
Step 1.
Step 3. (Step 2 was blowing up and inverting the rough on a photocopier at work. Then I tightened it up in pencil on the back of the copy using the visible rough as a guide.) This was inked with PITT markers.
I'll color this later. Also I will learn to draw guns and hands.
Step 3. (Step 2 was blowing up and inverting the rough on a photocopier at work. Then I tightened it up in pencil on the back of the copy using the visible rough as a guide.) This was inked with PITT markers.
I'll color this later. Also I will learn to draw guns and hands.
5.05.2008
The Gift of Mythology
Yes. You do recognize some of those characters.
Back when I wore short pants, in the summer of Ought-Four, I was knee deep in a handful of comic books that deconstructed superhero continuity, taking characters we know and love and turning them upside down, shaking them like a martini and dropping them into a cocktail glass of fictionalized wonder. Watchmen. The Authority. Planetary. I admire writers that were able to spin new worlds, new dilemmas using history and mythology, like James Robinson's Starman, and wanted to try it myself.
When I first wrote Action, Ohio, I'll readily admit that it was a cut and dried pitch for Marvel Comics. Entitled Marvel, Ohio, it gathered the Stan-Jack oeuvre and dropped them in a real world situation where their powers weren't necessarily a gift, forcing them to face their responsibilities when the veneer Stan and Jack created to hide them from the world was slowly shattered by the rude awakening of a group of rebels and misfits. Over the years, I struggled with the story - even going so far as to recruit a co-writer - and the themes and motivations changed, the character went through dramatic transformations but there was always the fascination of the mythological Silver Age comic books. What I finally understood was that I was pigeonholing myself - rather than focus on Stan and Jack's contributions, I would use them as a door to open the Pandora's Box of the entire Silver Age of comic books.
It was Paul who helped me understand what the story was about and how to frame it - it's a murder mystery, yes, but it's also a soul searching exploration for heroism, courage and the truth. It's about sacrificing what you want for what's right. And who among us can't relate to that?
Should Action, Ohio continue - whether at Zuda or somewhere else - you, the dedicated reader and our new neighbors, will be able to pull each layer back to let the flash of recognition strike you, tug at your memory and our hope is that you'll be like I was - drinking deep from the shaken cocktail of characters I know and love, mythologies and legacies I grew up with as a young comic book fan - and that you'll join us at Antony's General Store, pull up a checkerboard and set a while.
If only to see what happens.
Back when I wore short pants, in the summer of Ought-Four, I was knee deep in a handful of comic books that deconstructed superhero continuity, taking characters we know and love and turning them upside down, shaking them like a martini and dropping them into a cocktail glass of fictionalized wonder. Watchmen. The Authority. Planetary. I admire writers that were able to spin new worlds, new dilemmas using history and mythology, like James Robinson's Starman, and wanted to try it myself.
When I first wrote Action, Ohio, I'll readily admit that it was a cut and dried pitch for Marvel Comics. Entitled Marvel, Ohio, it gathered the Stan-Jack oeuvre and dropped them in a real world situation where their powers weren't necessarily a gift, forcing them to face their responsibilities when the veneer Stan and Jack created to hide them from the world was slowly shattered by the rude awakening of a group of rebels and misfits. Over the years, I struggled with the story - even going so far as to recruit a co-writer - and the themes and motivations changed, the character went through dramatic transformations but there was always the fascination of the mythological Silver Age comic books. What I finally understood was that I was pigeonholing myself - rather than focus on Stan and Jack's contributions, I would use them as a door to open the Pandora's Box of the entire Silver Age of comic books.
It was Paul who helped me understand what the story was about and how to frame it - it's a murder mystery, yes, but it's also a soul searching exploration for heroism, courage and the truth. It's about sacrificing what you want for what's right. And who among us can't relate to that?
Should Action, Ohio continue - whether at Zuda or somewhere else - you, the dedicated reader and our new neighbors, will be able to pull each layer back to let the flash of recognition strike you, tug at your memory and our hope is that you'll be like I was - drinking deep from the shaken cocktail of characters I know and love, mythologies and legacies I grew up with as a young comic book fan - and that you'll join us at Antony's General Store, pull up a checkerboard and set a while.
If only to see what happens.
Live less than a day and already endorsed!
Only a few hours in and the voting is hit and fierce... there's some excellent comics up there including Brendan McGinley's HANNIBAL GOES TO ROME... which is co-endorsed along with ACTION, OHIO by Val D'oRazio at the amazing blog, Occasional Superheroine:
http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-zuda-crew.html
Thanks for the leg up, Val!
http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-zuda-crew.html
Thanks for the leg up, Val!
Hello? Yoo-Hoo!
"Brand yourself and toot your own horn!"
-- Donald Trump
I suck at talking about myself. Never blogged before. Assumed if I did, no one would care.
I'm giving it a try now, though, since you, the at-this-point-hypothetical ACTION, OHIO reader, did care enough to click over here. Forcing myself to try new things is the main reason I signed on for this. I've never had the confidence to follow through and put my work out there in a big way, to let go of it and let it be what it is, to make the mistakes you need to make to learn and grow as an artist. But I am now because I promised Neil I would.
When I approached Neil about drawing a superhero story he mentioned on
Panel and Pixel, I knew him from interviews, columns, message boards. I knew him as a man whose name I knew, which meant he was accomplishing things that I want to accomplish. I hoped that by working with him, some of that would rub off on me. And since I now have a webcomic and production blog and at least one production blog reader to my name, I guess a little of it has.
I warned Neil that I'd never done any proper panel-to-panel comics work before, but promised that if he took a chance on me I'd do my damnedest. And he did. And I did. And here we are.
All right, let's can the mushy stuff. On to hardcore production blog action!
I lucked out after committing to the project, when the story I agreed to draw turned out to be good. ACTION, OHIO is like things I like. It has elements that remind me of pulps and serials, good old-fashioned stories about men who punch other men in the face.
Reading the initial pitch I pictured the heroes of the story, imperfect and burdened by reality, as resembling something out of the cliffhanger era. I saw them in cheap wool uniforms that tend to bunch and packing heat like the Republic version of Captain America, the notion of the gunless hero having proved too romantic for their world. Then the Kirby influence the story called for layered over that, just a little Jack creeping into their reality so I can get away with not making myself look even worse by attempting to ape his style.
Among the first drawings I sent to Neil was this generic male, an indicator of the sort of build and costume style an ACTION, OHIO character might have.
Then I tried one of the main characters, the Scarlet Wasp.
Neil informed that the Wasp was a dude. (I got confused.) I like to think I made up for my dumbness with:
I suck at talking about myself. Never blogged before. Assumed if I did, no one would care.
I'm giving it a try now, though, since you, the at-this-point-hypothetical ACTION, OHIO reader, did care enough to click over here. Forcing myself to try new things is the main reason I signed on for this. I've never had the confidence to follow through and put my work out there in a big way, to let go of it and let it be what it is, to make the mistakes you need to make to learn and grow as an artist. But I am now because I promised Neil I would.
When I approached Neil about drawing a superhero story he mentioned on
Panel and Pixel, I knew him from interviews, columns, message boards. I knew him as a man whose name I knew, which meant he was accomplishing things that I want to accomplish. I hoped that by working with him, some of that would rub off on me. And since I now have a webcomic and production blog and at least one production blog reader to my name, I guess a little of it has.
I warned Neil that I'd never done any proper panel-to-panel comics work before, but promised that if he took a chance on me I'd do my damnedest. And he did. And I did. And here we are.
All right, let's can the mushy stuff. On to hardcore production blog action!
I lucked out after committing to the project, when the story I agreed to draw turned out to be good. ACTION, OHIO is like things I like. It has elements that remind me of pulps and serials, good old-fashioned stories about men who punch other men in the face.
Reading the initial pitch I pictured the heroes of the story, imperfect and burdened by reality, as resembling something out of the cliffhanger era. I saw them in cheap wool uniforms that tend to bunch and packing heat like the Republic version of Captain America, the notion of the gunless hero having proved too romantic for their world. Then the Kirby influence the story called for layered over that, just a little Jack creeping into their reality so I can get away with not making myself look even worse by attempting to ape his style.
Among the first drawings I sent to Neil was this generic male, an indicator of the sort of build and costume style an ACTION, OHIO character might have.
Then I tried one of the main characters, the Scarlet Wasp.
Neil informed that the Wasp was a dude. (I got confused.) I like to think I made up for my dumbness with:
5.04.2008
ACTION, OHIO: Promotional Animated Banners
Hey, Actioneers! Want to get the word out on Action, Ohio? Feel free to use these fun little animated banners in your signatures, on message boards and across the electronic interverse. The headlines are inspired by some classic mottos and taglines and if you've got suggestions for more, feel free to post them in the comments section. The best one will grace the next Action, Ohio animated banner and get plastered across the online community.
Right-click to save to your desktop, share and enjoy!
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_comics.gif
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_amerway.gif
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_cowardly.gif
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_responsibility.gif
Right-click to save to your desktop, share and enjoy!
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_comics.gif
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_amerway.gif
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_cowardly.gif
www.rantcomics.com/animaction_responsibility.gif
Welcome to Action, Ohio
Hi there, and welcome to the online production blog of Action, Ohio, a webcomic created by Neil Kleid and Paul Salvi. All this month, you can head over to the Zuda Comics site and vote for us out of nine other comics - if, at the end of May, our comic wins, we'll be given a year long contract by DC Comics/Zuda in order to tell more of the story.
This blog is where Paul and I will give you some behind the scenes stories, sketches and offer our thoughts about comics and some cool images you can use to help get the word out. it's also a place for you to come and tell us what you think (you can also comment at the comic when on the Zuda site!) and get in touch with who and what we are.
A bit about me - I'll let Paul introduce himself:
I received a Xeric Grant to produce a graphic novella entitled Ninety Candles and in early '06, Brownsville, my graphic novel about the Jewish mafia, debuted from NBM Publishing. I have written for Marvel (X-men Unlimited #14), Image Comics (The Intimidators, Comic Book Tattoo), Puffin Graphics (the adapted Call of the Wild), Slave Labor Graphics (Ursa Minors!), Papercutz (Tales from the Crypt) and Random House/Villard (Postcards) and am currently working on mini-series and graphic novel projects for IDW Publishing, NBM, EW.com and niche Judaic publisher, Seraphic Press. I am also a founding member of the Chemistry Set, where you can read two issues of my comic, Todt Hill, and write a bi-monthly column, TAKE THAT!, for Blog@Newsarama. Feel free to look through my website: www.rantcomics.com
Action, Ohio is a labor of love for me; a project I've been working on for over six years. It's taken many forms and encompassed many characters, themes and storylines to get to it's current state. It's weathered collaborators, editors and artists and I couldn't be happy to find it in Paul's hands and on the Zuda site. I'm a firm believer in the instantaneous power of the webcomic and the wider audience a comic like ours can receive via the internet. If our comic had been self-published or even done up through a house like Image (where, who knows, it could eventually end up?!) I doubt it would garner the eyes and views it's getting at Zuda. Our hope is that people dig it enough to vote for it in order to see more.
Trust me when I say there's more story to see. And you'll love it.
Over the next month, I'd like to blog about the origins of the comic, inspirations and influences and introduce some of the characters you might see should we continue. I hope you feel comfortable enough to stop for awhile in our small town in Cuyahoga County, set a spell in the general store and watch the heroes go by.
-Neil
This blog is where Paul and I will give you some behind the scenes stories, sketches and offer our thoughts about comics and some cool images you can use to help get the word out. it's also a place for you to come and tell us what you think (you can also comment at the comic when on the Zuda site!) and get in touch with who and what we are.
A bit about me - I'll let Paul introduce himself:
I received a Xeric Grant to produce a graphic novella entitled Ninety Candles and in early '06, Brownsville, my graphic novel about the Jewish mafia, debuted from NBM Publishing. I have written for Marvel (X-men Unlimited #14), Image Comics (The Intimidators, Comic Book Tattoo), Puffin Graphics (the adapted Call of the Wild), Slave Labor Graphics (Ursa Minors!), Papercutz (Tales from the Crypt) and Random House/Villard (Postcards) and am currently working on mini-series and graphic novel projects for IDW Publishing, NBM, EW.com and niche Judaic publisher, Seraphic Press. I am also a founding member of the Chemistry Set, where you can read two issues of my comic, Todt Hill, and write a bi-monthly column, TAKE THAT!, for Blog@Newsarama. Feel free to look through my website: www.rantcomics.com
Action, Ohio is a labor of love for me; a project I've been working on for over six years. It's taken many forms and encompassed many characters, themes and storylines to get to it's current state. It's weathered collaborators, editors and artists and I couldn't be happy to find it in Paul's hands and on the Zuda site. I'm a firm believer in the instantaneous power of the webcomic and the wider audience a comic like ours can receive via the internet. If our comic had been self-published or even done up through a house like Image (where, who knows, it could eventually end up?!) I doubt it would garner the eyes and views it's getting at Zuda. Our hope is that people dig it enough to vote for it in order to see more.
Trust me when I say there's more story to see. And you'll love it.
Over the next month, I'd like to blog about the origins of the comic, inspirations and influences and introduce some of the characters you might see should we continue. I hope you feel comfortable enough to stop for awhile in our small town in Cuyahoga County, set a spell in the general store and watch the heroes go by.
-Neil
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