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On page 345 of the current Previews comic shop catalog, there is a solicit for Back Issue #56. It’s their “Avengers” issue, and among the pieces in it is my examination of Clint Barton’s Hawkeye. I’m really excited about the piece and the folks I was fortunate enough to talk with about the character. Of course, I would love to have had the opportunity to speak with the late Mark Gruenwald about his epic Hawkeye four-issue limited series, but I was able to talk with the amazing Brett Breeding who inked the first half of that series, and the entire creative team behind the West Coast Avengers limited series – longtime Avengers scribe Roger Stern, penciller Bob Hall, and inker Breeding. I also had the chance to speak with Roy Thomas about the transitions he put the character through in the late ’60s and early ’70s. I had a great time researching, conducting interviews for, and writing this piece.
The Hawkeye story is significantly longer than the Elektra piece I wrote for Back Issue last year, which allowed me to stretch a bit and explore the depth of character added by Hawkeye’s strengths and flaws, specifically the egotism required of a non-superpowered character to be successful in the world he inhabits and the self-doubt resulting from that same set of circumstances.
You can order your copy of the magazine through Previews, or get it direct from the publisher (which comes with a free digital copy of the issue) or pickup just the digital copy at a discounted price for your tablet or PC. There's sure to be plenty of Bronze Age comic-y goodness packed in the issue! Hope you’ll check it out!
I haven’t been able to right my personal creative writing ship that has been listing for months. September was consumed by my freelance writing jobs, and October fell into the oblivion of my day job. Now I find myself halfway through November, and the only groove I’ve found is one of denial.
I have ideas rumbling around in my head, on notepaper floating around my office, and on virtual scraps of Word saved on my laptop, but without motivation to expand on any of them. Unlike almost one year ago to the day, when I laid blame at the feet of Twitter, this year I don’t think it’s about laziness (or Twitter). I think this is about burnout and routine. I don’t know that I could be a full-time freelance writer or write for a living (although much of my day job does involve writing). In preparation for the month of travel I had for work, I wrote non-stop from the moment we got back from our family vacation in mid-August until I left for Jacksonville on that first business trip at the end of September. I cranked out some good stuff too – a freelance piece for ToyFare magazine (although they only published two of the seven articles I submitted to them), a really fun piece on Elektra for a future issue of Back Issue magazine, and my very first comic book script. But all that writing, followed by an intense nearly six weeks of travel, burned me out and pulled me from any semblance of a writing routine.
Thankfully, I’m not alone in my struggles. John blogged about similar creative problems just today. And with similar resolve, it’s time to start putting myself back out here… writing about the things I love and reengaging in the pop culture dialog among my friends and the Interwebs.
Obviously, the blog’s been dark for a while now. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say so much as work has been pretty all-consuming and any free time available for writing has been going to freelance writing jobs.
If you’re looking for a fix of my writing, check out next month’s issue of ToyFare. I covered the new toy and statue releases and exclusives at Star Wars Celebration V. There was all kinds of goodness from Hasbro and Gentle Giant and Lego to be had! The issue (#160) should hit stands around October 13. Check it out!
I’ve also been working under deadline for Back Issue, writing a piece on Elektra for their “Death” issue. While the copy is due next month, the issue (#48) won’t hit stands until next Spring. Here’s the cover image for the issue, though, to tide you over.
Around that same time next year there will be a comic available written by yours truly. I’m really excited about it and have been having a lot of fun scripting it. I can’t give away any specifics yet, but I’m looking forward to finally being able to share details soon and watching it all come together!
I have some writing project ideas for the blog and elsewhere that I’m excited to jump on – some going back to my music journalism roots, others geek related, and some stuff that’s just plain fun. So if you can hang tight until I get over this hump and we get closer to the holidays, we’ll bring the lights back up on Random Thoughts Escaping and hopefully there’ll be a little something for everyone to enjoy. Thanks for sticking around!
I know Random Thoughts Escaping has been silent for a while now, and I wanted to take a moment to let the two or three people who actually stop by here know what’s going on. My day job is very cyclic, and I’m in a really high-churn time right now. I also have four writing projects/freelance jobs that I am ridiculously excited about, but that I can’t talk about yet. They are consuming all of my non-working, non-family, normally-when-I-would-be-blog-writing time.
I have plenty of new ideas to unleash and previously shelved ones I’d like to revisit on the blog. It’s just a matter of time. Of course, there will be Deus ex Comica related announcements, and I can’t wait to share some of the writing jobs I’ve been fortunate enough to land recently.
There is definitely more to come. I hope you’ll stick around for it…
I have been lamenting my own lack of motivation to write lately. I have all sorts of excuses. I travel for work, and I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. You would think that having nights available in a hotel room without the usual distractions would be perfectly conducive to writing, but when you’re on the road you end up working ten to 12 hours a day, and you eat like crap, and it’s difficult to get inspired and focus to write.
But what might be my biggest writing de-motivator... Twitter. Twitter has replaced blogging, email, and forums for me. When I come across something that piques my interest, instead of sitting down and putting a few hundred thoughtful words to paper and publishing it on my blog, I’ll shrink a URL and write a pithy comment and be done with it. Instead of taking the time to write out full-blown emails, I direct message friends short, 140-character well-wishes or good-natured jibes or whatever.
Although I am complaining about the impact of Twitter on my blogging and email, I have to admit the replacement of forums with Twitter has been truly positive. With Twitter, I avoid the general douche baggery of the forum, while still staying in touch with the folks I want to and up on the news that’s relevant to me. (On a weekly basis, from my friends who still frequent forums, I see tweets saying things like they need to get away from the forum before they type something they shouldn't or that their blood pressure is rising because of some comment they read in a forum thread.) Where forums often seem to foster the pompous, long-winded soliloquies of blow-hards, Twitter is a great natural filter (because I'm only following the people whose comments I want to read) and force the writer to get to the point quickly and concisely.
To be clear, I'm not anti-Twitter and this is not a manifesto, I just need to stop using Twitter as an excuse to not work my writing muscles. It’s time for me to shake off this laziness and make the time to flesh out some of the ideas that crop up. Instead of opting for the instant gratification of a quick tweet, I need to go back to my pre-Twitter, pre-too-busy-to-write mindset. The next time an idea strikes me, I’m going to do my best to avoid the crutch of a quick 140-character missive and instead stretch myself and exercise the ol’ noggin with some critical thinking or satire or whatever the situation calls for.
On page 345 of the current Previews comic shop catalog, there is a solicit for Back Issue #56. It’s their “Avengers” issue, and among the pieces in it is my examination of Clint Barton’s Hawkeye. I’m really excited about the piece and the folks I was fortunate enough to talk with about the character. Of course, I would love to have had the opportunity to speak with the late Mark Gruenwald about his epic Hawkeye four-issue limited series, but I was able to talk with the amazing Brett Breeding who inked the first half of that series, and the entire creative team behind the West Coast Avengers limited series – longtime Avengers scribe Roger Stern, penciller Bob Hall, and inker Breeding. I also had the chance to speak with Roy Thomas about the transitions he put the character through in the late ’60s and early ’70s. I had a great time researching, conducting interviews for, and writing this piece.
The Hawkeye story is significantly longer than the Elektra piece I wrote for Back Issue last year, which allowed me to stretch a bit and explore the depth of character added by Hawkeye’s strengths and flaws, specifically the egotism required of a non-superpowered character to be successful in the world he inhabits and the self-doubt resulting from that same set of circumstances.
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