WHERE'S OSWALD?

April and I live about five miles from Rosehill Cemetery, which happens to be where Lee Harvey Oswald is buried. Since he died 45 years ago today, shot dead by Jack Ruby, and since Jack Ruby is the unofficial patron saint of Antihero Comics (my unpublished attempt at nonfiction), I thought we'd visit his grave site. Yes, I'm one of those morbid JFK assassination history buffs -- minus the conspiracy theories.

Rosehill Cemetery is large, and it's difficult to find a headstone even if you know where it's supposed to be. So, without any plan or guidance, we started walking. I presumed it would be along the fence and far away from everyone else. I mean, would you want to be buried next to Oswald? As we walked, across the street, there was a man tending to a barbecue at his house. He shouted, "Are you looking for Oswald?" Guilty. "Yeah." He walked to the fence where we were, and shared some interesting information. First, we were close. Apparently, they move the body regularly. (Move?! That's kinda creepy.) They changed the name on his headstone to a woman's name, but the initials are still LHO. According to the neighbor, he's somewhere along the fence. He got on his cell phone to call a friend. "Hey, what name is Oswald under now?" Then his neighbors came out, they started pointing: "Oswald's somewhere between those two trees!" We kept walking around, and couldn't find him anywhere. (April's blog about the event.)

I went online, and found a few more details, which may or may not be outdated. First, Rose Hill officials will not tell an inquirer where the grave is located, and no historical marker references the location. Second, a man named Nick Beef is buried next to Oswald, unless they moved him. The Nick Beef story is interesting.

"According to the folks in the black suits at the cemetery office, Nick Beef is the stage name of a comedian who bought the plot and had a headstone with that name installed. In his act, he apparently tells people that if they want to find Oswald's grave (which info the cemetery office will not give out)...just ask for Nick Beef instead and you will find Oswald. Only thing is...now they won't tell people where Nick Beef's grave is either! Once the cemetery folks realized a group of us (Arthur and Margaret Snyder, Bill Hamley, and myself) who were out there already knew where Oswald's grave was and were just curious about Nick Beef, they told us the story. Of additional note...Marguerite (Oswald's mother) is buried on the other side of Oswald.... sans headstone."

Also, according to the site, he's in section "Sunset 18" about twenty feet from the cemetery road. Once again, unless they moved him and changed the headstone. I'm insanely curious. What's his mysterious female acronym? I'll make a return visit, and bring my camera.

WITH BANG DANG, FRANCES, AND THE BOOK DADDY

Friends, grab your calendar!

The Dallas Museum of Art, in conjunction with La Reunion and the Make Space for Artists competition (here and also here), will host a panel discussion on "artist's studios in historical and contemporary contexts, with particular consideration of artists in the Dallas/Ft. Worth community." And yes, I will be on the panel -- along with architect Bang Dang, sculptor Frances Bagley, and an artist historian to be announced. The session will be facilitated by the Book Daddy Jerome Weeks of KERA. Q&A afterwards.

Thursday, December 11 at 7:00 PM. Four panelists will enter, only one will survive! And it's going to be me! Who survives! Not them! And by that, I mean, I will destroy them! With violence!

In other news: I will be part of Art Conspiracy on December 6th and F6 Gallery's Gift Show on December 13th.

EGO, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, IS GOOD.

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much." - Gordon Gekko, WALL STREET

Now substitute the word "greed" with "ego." If greed is the catalyst to a free market economy, then ego acts in the same regard for creative pursuits.

(1) the "I" or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought. (2) the part of the psychic apparatus that experiences and reacts to the outside world and thus mediates between the primitive drives of the id and the demands of the social and physical environment. (3) egotism; conceit; self-importance (4) self-esteem or self-image; feelings (5) the enduring and conscious element that knows experience (6) the complete person comprising both body and soul.

I'd like to add one more definition. I would clarify that "ego" is the exertion of one's will onto their world. Any writer or artist who wants to pretend that their task doesn't involve, on some level, forcing their vision upon others is fooling themselves.

Maybe you use less violent language, but a writer or artist presents their work and says, "This is my world. This is my truth. Embrace it." Artists, in any media, are stubbornly committed to their vision. Thus, why some of the world's greatest novelists, poets, painters, and filmmakers are famous egomaniacs. (Andy Warhol and Alfred Hitchcock come to mind.) The challenge is for the artist to compartmentalize their egotism, and save it for their art; balance it with compassion. This does not mean the ego-filled artist shouldn't listen to criticism or collaborate with others, but they do not give their trust easily. The priority is always to make their work better.

We may have to get past this negative connotation associated with ego. There is good ego, and there is bad ego. When I write a story, from first notes to final draft of the script, I am the person responsible for caring about my work. I am the person who must write it. If it doesn't happen, it's my fault. I'm the only person who can compromise my work. I'm the only person who will defend it. From my perspective, taking ultimate responsibility is an act of ego. After I've written it, if it's an honest work and skillfully executed, there's an audience for my story. Too many writers allow their insecurity to play the role of editor, and they mutilate their story until it lacks any voice or personality. There is no "I", no ego. If you are going to fail, fail with your own ideas.

YOU MAKE THE CALL: AM I A DOUCHE BAG?

Anytime you work in a field with creative people, it's difficult, because you are occasionally put in a situation where you evaluate each other's ability. Is it better to keep your mouth shut and play the role of a nice guy? Or is it better to offer honest critique for their benefit? I guess, it comes down to the invitation. Did they ask for your advice or opinion? Sometimes people only want to hear the positive, even if they ask you to be honest. Artists and writers are sensitive creatures. I've tried my best to sugar coat criticism. Lately, however, I think I've gotten more harsh. Maybe my experience as a Creative Writing teacher has tainted me?

Someone sent me a graphic novel and asked for my thoughts. It was a mostly glowing review. However, I did say...

"That being said, I do feel like (name deleted) is still finding his footing with the dialogue and overall plot structure. However, it's nothing that will damage this story. As a writer, it reminded me of my first steps into the process. No one else will notice, but in your gut, you know it could be more polished."

They never responded to my email.

Another person sent me a few issues of a comic book he was marketing. He asked for some feedback.

"That being said, the art is not good, and it corrupts the entire work."

"(name deleted)'s sense of anatomy, perspective, ability to render backgrounds, and his inking are sloppy and lacks a personal style that comes with being comfortable in the illustrative process. With some hard work, I do not doubt he'll develop as an artist, but he's not there yet."

"The writing is a little awkward in places, especially on the use of captions. It takes away from the pace more than it adds to the tone."

As before, they did not email me back.

I met a talented up-and-coming writer at Wizard World Texas who wanted me to review their work. It was very good, but I did notice some glaring grammatical errors.

"I apologize for nitpicking the grammar -- but I think if comic book writers are to be taken seriously, we need to hold ourselves to the same standard as other professional writers. Need to proof read for these mistakes."

In this instance, they responded. No problem. They were professional and tolerant of my advice.

Then just yesterday, I feel like I overstepped my bounds in a critique to a peer. I don't want to go into details, but I did apologize.

Any thoughts? How do you handle criticism? How do you give it? (pause) How do you really feel about my comics?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

It's official. My dad is now 60 years old, and in better health than me. It's partly my friend Leah's fault. I'll explain. Leah Wilson is senior editor at BenBella Books, which published THE CHINA STUDY. My parents picked up this book, and they've jumped into the study with great enthusiasm. It basically advocates a vegan-like diet. Leah explained it to me, and I have no doubt the findings are dead on, but never in a million years did I think my dad would become vegan. My dad, the man who (while I was in high school) grilled meat for dinner at least four days out of the week. My dad, the man who taught me how to grill, which steaks to choose, when to flip and when not to flip. The man I've had discussions with concerning the greatness of Stubb's beef marinade. The man who taught me the joys of a crock pot and pot roast. He's a vegan now. Not that I'm complaining about my Republican dad become a hippie vegan. They've lived in California long enough for it to displace the Texas influence. It's good to have a dad who eats healthy, exercises daily (golf counts, right?), and doesn't smoke. He's a grandfather now, so it's important for him to be able to keep up with my daughter. Kennedy asks about him and "Grandma Nancy" all the time. It'll be good to have him around -- and THE CHINA STUDY knows a thing or two about longevity. It sucks, because now I have to start being healthy too. It'd be a little embarrassing to have your parents outlive you through "natural causes." I'll live to be 80. They'll live to be 109. Way to go, Leah.

Happy birthday, Dad!

MY MANGA MISEDUCATION CONTINUES

In the past year, I've been reading a lot of manga. I'm trying to get a sense for this huge segment of comics that I largely ignored. Here's what I've read so far: DEATH NOTE, VOL. 1-12, YOTSUBA&!, VOL. 1, CASE CLOSED, VOL. 1-2, AKIRA, VOL. 1, BUDDHA, VOL. 1-8, ASTROBOY, VOL. 1-2, BLEACH, VOL. 1, and RANMA 1/2, VOL. 1.

Some books I enjoyed more than others. I wasn't too keen on RANMA 1/2. It was a little too goofy for my tastes. In contrast, I absolutely love DEATH NOTE, YOTSUBA&!, and AKIRA. Any other manga you'd recommend?

AFTER A HIATUS IN 07, IT'S BACK.

For those going to Wizard World Texas on November 7th, I wanted to remind you about...

OUR 4th ANNUAL HOUSE PARTY AND COOK-OUT

April and I will host a cook-out, and you're invited. It'll start right after the exhibit hall closes, around 6 PM and late into the evening. Come anytime. However, burgers will only be available for the early evening attendees. (If you are a veggie-lover, I'll have some non-meat burgers available too!)

If you want more information, contact me via this website.

Hope to see you there. Bring friends. Bring family. It's a fairly laid back event.

WE WANT HAPPY COWS.

My friend Clay Harrison videotaped a small portion of yesterday's Ray Bradbury panel at the Mesquite Library. Watch in horror as I dumb-down America's comic book history.


If you want a more interesting (and intelligent) perspective on comic book history, you need this.

THIS MADE MY DAY.

Thanks to Dave Levinthal for mentioning our "unauthorized" D Magazine comic in the Dallas City Hall Blog.

I'm guessing David Hopkins and Paul Milligan are really fun guys to have a beer with. Anything depicting Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert attempting to sock Big Tex in the groin is at least worth mention. Dudes, you're officially invited to my Halloween party.

Dave, I would love to have a beer with you. Anytime.

MAKE SPACE FOR ART... INCLUDING COMICS

KERA's Art & Seek is creating an online gallery of art spaces, a virtual studio crawl. Inspiration came from a contest called "Make Space for Artists - Design-a-Studio," sponsored by La Reunion TX and The Dallas Museum of Art.

To encourage the project along, they approached several local artists (including me) to talk about their work area. Click here for the full tour.

David Hopkins

Media: comics/graphic novels

Number of years in this space: 5

What do you enjoy most about working here? When my girlfriend, the product designer, moved in, we had the office divided in two — one side for her desk and one side for mine. It took us an hour pushing furniture around to finally come to an arrangement we could tolerate. I like sharing the room. As a necessity, I junked my funky amoeba-shaped Ikea desk, opting for a more efficient Container Store table. The self-important amoeba took too much space. How much square footage does a comic book writer need? Smaller desk, less mess, and while some might feel cramped, it's actually rather cozy.

What would you improve if you could? A rug might be nice to make the space a tad more friendly. Also, a rug would prevent me from wearing a hole through the wood floors when I scoot around in my roller chair. Most of my wants are computer oriented. All the cool-kid scriptwriters use Final Draft; I'm stuck with Microsoft Word. It's hard to justify the cost. I have an external hard drive, but a back-up to the back-up would help me sleep better.

THE INTERNET IS SMALLER TODAY.

I have an RSS and Atom feed on this site, but only because other people have requested it. I haven't ever used a site feed reader before. Normally, I would simply go through my bookmarks and repeatedly visit a site until it updated. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Oh yeah, old school. However, I've now caught up with the rest of you. I discovered Google Reader when I finally cleared out my inbox (a personal goal accomplished). With nothing in your inbox, gmail rewards you with this message: "No new mail! Want to read updates from your favorite sites? Try Google Reader." Hmmm, I guess I will. Lo and behold, it was surprisingly easy to find all my friends' blogs and my favorite sites. What usually takes me an hour, I finished in ten minutes -- I visited all the sites I like to visit. I sat at my computer trying to figure out what to do with my extra time. Crap, I guess I have to get some work done. It's frustrating to be left without excuses.

FOR PEOPLE WHO MARK CALENDARS

From the Writer's Garret Weekly e-mail newsletter:

Inspired by Bradbury: Presentation & Panel Discussion
moderated by John Cordova
Thurs. Oct. 23, 7 pm

Graphic novelist David Hopkins will present the very personal and professional ways in which Bradbury and his work have inspired new generations of writers and readers over the years, including Bradbury's role in the early history of comic books. Hopkins is a comic book writer, an essayist, and a regular contributor to D Magazine and the Smart Pop Series from BenBella Books. This "Writers as Readers & Readers as Writers" Moderated by John Cordova.

Mesquite Public Library
North Branch
2600 Oates Dr.
Mesquite, TX 75150

All events are FREE and open to the public.

Click Here for Big Read Events!

CONCERNING CRITICS

Heidi MacDonald posted some fascinating commentary on the quality of the comics and the rigor of comic book critics (here, here, and here). Heidi's blog is consistently good, and today's post (On the Critic's Role) was no different.

I would like a critic who can write outside of the first person. Not that first person writing in reviews should be banned. But with many, we get a little too much "I".

If a comic book can be judged and evaluated for its merit, then critics should also be judged and evaluated for their merit. Some are better than others. Then again, maybe like the British and their terrible food, we haven't developed a taste for quality writing on comics. Before someone starts another blog and applies for a Comic-Con press pass, I'd recommend chapter 18 of William Zinsser's ON WRITING WELL: "Writing About the Arts, Critics and Columnists." I've spent years trying to become a better writer. I expect the same effort from critics. Please, say whatever you want about my latest book, but I'd rather take it from someone who has shown a level of dedication that makes their opinion count.

In a three part series for Pop Syndicate, I interviewed five comic book critics (Randy Lander, Andrea Speed, Ken Lowery, Eric Lindberg, and Johanna Draper Carlson) on this exact topic -- A Critical Look at the Critics, one - two - three.

BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT... THE HENCHMAN

For the first time anywhere, I present THE HENCHMAN. I scripted this short story two years ago as a collaboration with Jim Lujan, Justin Stewart, and Phillip Ginn. (I wish I could take credit for the acronyms. You'll see.) Thanks to Vinh-Luan Luu for lettering the pages. As always, Jim Lujan's art is wonderfully fun and offbeat.

Consider this a rough demo tape, a garage band project with just a group of friends doing whatever the hell we want. Enjoy. Share with others.

POST MORTEM ON MINX

If you haven't heard, DC Comics recently announced the cancellation of their Minx imprint. Having purchased every single one of the Minx titles, you can imagine I was a little disappointed. Yes, I know the imprint was intended for the YA demographic. No, I'm not a teenage girl, but I'm always interested in reading new stuff. Okay? If my bookshelf can contain Deathnote, Strangers In Paradise, Concrete, Scott Pilgrim, Queen & Country, Fantastic Four, Watchman, Street Angel, Hellboy, Cerebus, Walking Dead, Bone, Maus, Black Hole, From Hell, New X-Men, Blankets, Epileptic, Babysitters Club, and Buddha -- surely, there is space for Minx.

I've read numerous opinions on the fate of Minx. And as usual, Jennifer de Guzman is the smartest person in the room. (read her report)

I particularly enjoyed her wry summation of the book industry:

"Traditional publishing is a confusing mass of former small publishers (which worked rather the way independent comics publishers do now) that were encompassed by larger ones and then by larger ones until publishers were bloated, sprawling citadels and suburbs with no defining vision, populated with new CEOs who have never worked in publishing, disaffected and dread-filled editors, chummy agents, superstar and attempts-at-the-next-big-thing authors who receive mind-boggling advances, writers whose talent aren’t enough to get them book deals because all the money was used up on advances for other authors, and the very occasional author who finds success and can make it stick. And they’re all a little nervous about their futures."

Another observation:

"And consider this -- shelf space isn’t just a matter of the bookstore chains’ systems of categorization; prominent placement is also for sale: Kachka writes in his article, 'Publishers also pay for placement in big bookstores, which they call ‘co-op,’ under a complicated arrangement meant to cover up the fact that it’s payola (or, as some call it, extortion).' I won’t speculate about whether DC paid for prominent placement for Minx and what the potential answers to that question say about why the imprint 'failed.' (I don’t think it actually did fail; Minx was not around long enough to fail or succeed.) I am interested in this detail because it reveals that the bookstore system is much different from the one comics publishers are used to. If we offered money to comic book store owners for prominent placement, it might be called bribery. If they asked for us to pay in order to get good placement in their stores, our sense of ethics might balk."

I doubt anyone believes that Minx's untimely demise heralds the end of YA graphic novels. The market is there, and comic books are fun as hell. It's chocolate and peanut butter. The two belong together, and they will be -- just not with the Minx logo.

JINXVILLE RETURNS

One of my favorite artists Diana Nock has re-launched her website. Diana's art is the kind I really connect with. If you haven't noticed, I love working with people who are more "cartoony" in their approach. And yet, it's great when these artists take that sensibility and push the emotive aspects. Diana does this very well. I'm convinced she can draw anything. Diana has a solid career ahead of her.

AFRAID TO READ BORING SCRIPTS

Lately, I've been listening to the ON THE PAGE podcast by Pilar Alessandra. It deals with the craft and business of screenwriting. I enjoy the podcast, and about 80% transfers nicely to scriptwriting for comics. In contrast, a few weeks earlier, I listened to a podcast on prose writing and found it wasn't helpful at all. Nope, I'm hooked on Pilar.

She keeps coming back to one bit of advice: You should take time to read scripts. I don't do that as much as I used to. I'm especially bad about reading comic book scripts, when people email them to me and want an opinion. It's odd considering when I first decided to write comics; I immediately bought the POWERS SCRIPTBOOK by Brian Bendis. Read it cover to cover in one afternoon. In fact, I have a whole shelf dedicated to scriptbooks. I've read the entire FREAKS & GEEKS series, THE OFFICE (BBC), BUFFY Seasons 1-3, ROYAL TENENBAUMS, AMERICAN BEAUTY, FARGO, QUEEN & COUNTRY vol 1, and FOUR FILMS OF WOODY ALLEN. I enjoy scripts, but recently I've been dragging my feet. In particular, comic book scripts. I need to break that habit. But many of them are so poorly written (sorry), it's near impossible to visualize what the writer had in mind or get a sense for the story.

I realize I'm opening myself up to all sorts of criticism. My scripts are available on this website. You are free to read them, and let me have it. I'm not trying to step on toes. Since a comic book script is an isolated correspondence between writer and artist, and there isn't much formal training for comic book scriptwriting, I think we've gotten lazy. A script should be so good it can stand on its own merit. And instead, we depend on the artists to carry our sloppy writing. That's a shame. Once again, I apologize for the inclusive "we". I'm writing this post mostly to challenge myself to fine tune my craft -- read more scripts, read more books on writing, attend seminars and workshops, teach a seminar or workshop, get some consultation or find a script coach, challenge people to challenge me. A year or two ago, I asked Nunzio and Christina to read my ASTRONAUT DAD script in exchange for designing their website. (Updates coming soon, N&C!) The feedback was helpful. The mentorship was invaluable. I need more of that. At the same time, acknowledge that these things can sometimes become deceptive distractions from actual writing. A subscription to CREATIVE SCREENWRITING does not equal an improved sense of voice and style.