At long last I’m starting a blog to serve as a repository for longer form ideas that are simply too much for social media to handle comfortably. I’ve chosen a blog for now as it seems less compulsory/invasive/or otherwise annoying than a newsletter. Maybe at some point that kind of thing will feel more appropriate, but for now our time together is best spent in a more agreeable fashion such as this.

So, the reason for calling you all here today is to take the opportunity to write a bit about the absolute honor I have to work with Black Crown Publishing on a forthcoming book called Hey, Amateur. This is to be a monsterous hardcover tome of 9 panel comics  instructing readers on how to perform a number of activities on a professional level. My involvement will see me teaching the reader How To Make a Talisman (and then destroy it), but more on that at a later date.

I met Shelly Bond at Emerald City Comic Con earlier this year. I can’t lie, I was starstruck, she proved to be every bit the dynamic powerhouse I had long imagined her to be. My familiarity with her work likely began not long after she came on to the Vertigo imprint at DC Comics. Later when she would take the reins following Bergers departure, Bond’s creative impact only became even more apparent, and I was eating it up.

To my mind there are two kinds of good editors, the kind of editor who, like an invisible God, helps creators shine bright and rise to new levels without so much as an aparent whisper. Then there are the kind of editors like Shelly, they leave their mark on everything they touch. You know a Shelly Book well before you check the credits, it just has this… je ne sais quoi. In the wrong hands this can be a real problem, if the sensibilities of the editor are even slightly askew, or if their stroke isn’t absolutely masterful this becomes a turd hanging off an otherwise potentially beautiful thing. A collaborative creative process is like that, a Christmas tree of ideas. The writer pops up a couple ornaments, the artist goes to work wrapping lights and hanging ribbons, and the colorist, letterer, both putting up so many often underappreciated, beautiful, critical things. But the editor… the editor can either make sure the star up top is nice and straight, or can knock the whole thing over with bad notes, ego, too much interference, or possibly the worst thing -indifference.

Shelly always sets it right, and you don’t have to believe me, her track record is available to view with a few simple keystrokes, or you could do me one better and go grab one of her books. Do that enough times and you will find a throughline of intelligence and excellence of execution. The books are undeniably hers in a way that doesn’t feel like the creative team has been shoehorned into something they don’t belong in. There are really few things worse as a comics fan than flipping open a book and hearing the editorial notes in your head. We all know the horror stories from Hollywood about studio interference, this kind of thing is endemic in comics. If you don’t believe one need only reflect on the last bad big crossover to see how great creators can have their light snuffed out to serve the “greater good”. 

This brings us to Black Crown Publishing, Shelly’s carefully curated corner of the IDW Comics empire. When this was announced I was really excited to see the results of an imprint that was hers from top to bottom. The outcome has been some of the most innovative and exciting work the comics world has seen in many years, and again, I encourage you to do some reading and see for yourself.

So when Shelly came to my table I was understandably shook. Here she was, the Queen Bee herself, someone I have wanted to work with before I even realized that I could make a lifestyle out of this passion. That said, I was also well aware she wasn’t stopping by the table to see what Mr Whatshisname was working on, she was there to say hi to a friend, my partner and muse, Becky Cloonan. The two had worked together on a number of projects and Bond must have noticed her while making her rounds. I must have looked like a real creep staring silently as the two spoke… that’s Shelly Fucking Bond (her Christian name). 

Shelly casually mentioned this project, then in it’s formative stages, and I pounced. The embarrassing delirium of this kind of interaction clouds exactly how the exchange played out, but I think I gave her some of my self published work and expressed an interest in being a part of her plans. Again, lack of oxygen forbids me from reporting how all this went with much clarity, but she made the error of giving me her email…

When we got back to Texas I had no choice but to begin to digitally badger Shelly (not Miss Bond, Her Highness, or any of the other names one might be compelled to use, simply Shelly… you only gotta tell me once) about Hey, Amateur a project I only had a tangential bit of information on. I didn’t know who would be involved (this is something I will continue to cover here) or what the scope of the project was, but I knew that it would give me the opportunity to work with someone I had long respected and admired. After some back and forth and some samples, and some pitches, I was added to the project.  

Shelly has worked her ass off to get this thing where it is now, and with the kickstarter live I am excited to see it all come together. As the full roster of talent is revealed it will come into sharper relief as to why I am so excited to be a part of Ms Bo- Shelly’s project. It’s really an honor to be on this thing and I’m looking forward to sharing more as the roll out continues.

There we go, that wasn’t so bad was it? A BLOG!? Let’s check in soon so I can gush over the fact that Jill Fucking Thompson (her Christian name) has also been announced as being in Hey, Amateur along with a murderers row of other incredible creators that will only grow as the announcments continue. Click the link to the Kickstarter to see what is known thus far, pledge your support, and soon enough you will go from “Novice To Nailing It” before you know it.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

M

Here is the link to the Hey, Amateur Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sxbond/hey-amateur

Here is the link to Shelly’s imprint Black Crown Publishing http://www.blackcrown.pub/