Jamie Gambell

Scissor by Kim Jacinto

2012-02-23T07:30:00.001-08:00

Black Wraith - by Dave Flora

2012-02-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

Quick, everyone, here they come!

2012-02-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

I think this is it, people.

This morning Mark Waid tweeted a link about how he is working on a truly digital comic.

Now this is nothing new, there are some incredible creators out there who have been playing with landscape comic telling for years, who have been playing with digital "reading" for a while, and who have been trailblazing with releases onto reading devices since the battle of the tablets began.

It is, however, one of the first times that someone who has made their name in print comics, someone who has been a success in that field, has mentioned the problems of rising costs and lowering profits as the reason behind them making the move to digital.

Traditionally new creators have used the money saving, near-to-free method of digital publishing to start their lives as comic book creators. The idea was always to make their way "up", to maybe become a "real" print creator somewhere down the line.

Along with Mark Waid's announcement is the recent Million Dollar webcomic reprint, both things which point towards a known fact which has remained hidden from a lot of people - it is possible to build a pretty good following by putting out a webcomic.

So could this be the start of more and more "creators" moving to the digital release method? Graphicly are certainly making it easier for people to have greater control over how they release their work.

Personally, the model I'm looking to adopt is to release comics online with regularity, to offer print and digital versions once available (using a POD service, and also using this to produce physical copies for conventioning), with Trade's also being produced down the line.

There is the idea of creating something specific to the web format, something to make into a digital specific comic down the line. Hopefully more and more people will be doing the same now, too.

Sneak Peek, Intranauts cover

2012-02-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

Here's a sneak at David Brame's inks for the Intranaut issue one cover:

Intranauts is a sci-fi conspiracy adventure, written by Josh Gorfain, with art by David Brame.

Coming Summer 2012 from Monkey Pipe Studios.

ETA: Here's a mock up by Josh for a possible cover design:

Comics in front of eyes, comics into hands

2012-02-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

I'm closing down the Omnitarium website.

It's served it's purpose, and now sits like an infrequently visited gravestone of a distant relative. You didn't hate them, but you were not as close as you might have been.

Heavy handed metaphors aside, the site has run it's course, and I am going to slowly change it over to a new and improved Monkey Pipe Studios website.

Something clean and crisp.

I hope to use the new site as a catch-all home for all the titles coming out from our stable in the coming years - The Hero Code, Omnitarium, Department O, Intranauts and The Black Wraith.

Five titles.

Ideally I'll be able to post a page a week from each series, on subsequent days of the week, so a regular run of updates throughout the week.

I really do think that, as a new creator, it is very important to walk before I run, to put the work out into the world, and let it find it's fan base - comics in front of eyes.

This is all going to take some time, which I am starved of at the best of times, so it will be a slow process. But I'm a patient man, and the longer it takes, the more pages I'll have in the bank.

Once an issue is completed, I would then make a single issue of it available to purchase.

Once a story is completed, I would make a trade available.

I'm a big fan of the digest sized trades of Omnitarium which I recently had printed through the excellent ICGeeks. Slightly smaller than standard comic books, there is something pretty tidy about them.

Comics into hands.

Couple of questions:

1. Should I revisit the Omnitarium series and have it coloured for this new launch?
2. What do people think of the Monkey Pipe Studios logo?

Thanks, all... keep watching the skies!

A change might come... demographics, piracy and other stuff

2012-02-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

A recent announcement that story doesn't really matter for flag-pole movies comes at a strange time.

For the first time, studios are seeing bigger box-office revenue being generated outside of the US market. The need to create for a smaller, less localised demographic is changing.

Story might not matter for flag-pole movies, but flag-pole movies matter less and less to studios and viewers alike.

Could this also result in a change with comics?

Comic books move to wide-screen story telling to increase the scope of the page, but limit the scope of the story, has hopefully had it's day.

Can we move to a time where the less "flag-pole" books are the real revenue generators? Probably not for a long time, but they can be for the creators. More reach is now afford to creators, and the means of keeping production costs down seem to increase every day.

Hopefully we will see a new dawn in creative story telling come to the fore in the coming years.

Following on from recent announcements of the pro's of piracy from the likes of Neil Gaiman and Paulo Coehlo, and the recent announcement that movie piracy didn't adversely effect box office, I've been trying to think of a term which I think sums up the big problem here.

There is a tipping point, wherein brand recognition and reach/availability means that piracy can and does lead to in increase in sales from those who might not have bought your work before.

However, there is a bottom end, inverse to this, where in the cost of production isn't offset enough by the loss of revenue through lost sales caused by piracy.

If you imagine an hourglass shape, the pinch of which is the point where the brand recognition of a product is cancelled out by the lost sales through piracy (that is a zero effect), then anything above that can lead to a return from regained sales through piracy, underneath a loss of revenue.

Most lesser known creators with smaller catalogues, less reach are going to find themselves below the pinch - any lost sale having a bigger effect, increasing as the reach shrinks.

I still think there is a way of using piracy to the creators advantage, but for now the greatest thing we can still do is to make our work as readily and easily available as possible.

Following on from the internet-wide dislike of the treatment of Gary Friedrich, I made the mistake of reading some comments on a couple of comic-news websites.

I was really angry at the dismissiveness of some of the "fans" out there - some attacking Gary's character, saying he deserves everything he gets.

Fans need to grow up, to stop siding with the corporations that care so little about their precious comic book heroes. The people who created those characters, who crafter the stories that you claim to so love, are not the people who work for corporations, or for the grand-daddy lobby group, the lawyers.

Lets see how good the comics are when the creators leave.

I really would love for some union for the comic book folk out there, but sadly think this will never happen.

It would be marvelous, in my opinion, if the smaller independent creators boycotted Artist Alleys for the rest of the year. Pulled funding away from those people so that they couldn't attract the big names on our dime.

What if we all stood up and said "sorry, but I can't do your artist alley for $100-300 this year, because I have no idea what might happen to me if some kid comes up and asks me to sketch Spider-Man for him... I can't take that risk".

Sadly won't happen though.

I think a change is coming, where publishers won't have us over a barrel so much, where retailers won't dismiss us as sub-par, desperate to stay in bed with the big boys. Where fans actually respect the creators.

It will take time... but hopefully it will come.

Help Gary Friedrich

2012-02-10T13:46:00.001-08:00

In order to help Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich (see early post) I'd like to point you to the following - http://www.steveniles.com/gary.html - a donation service set up by Steven Niles.

If you were thinking of buying one of my comics at the store linked in this website's pages, please donate the money to help Gary instead.

If I do make any sales during February, I will donate the profits to help Gary.

If I don't make any sales, I'll be making another donation at the end of the month.

Thank you all, please help by spreading the word.

Corporate Comics - or how easy it is to like indie more

2012-02-10T00:44:00.000-08:00

The last few days have made for depressing reading in comic-land.

If not the very anti-creator sentiments fueled by the DC announcement of Before Watchmen, it is the news of suing - back and forth, creator vs creator, company vs creator.

One story in particular caused some upset. Gary Friedrich, the creator of the character Ghost Rider (created under hire for Marvel comics) was ordered to pay $17,000 to Marvel in a counter claim. He was trying to get some of the profit from Marvel for use of his character over the years, and from the character's use in movies. They want the money he raised selling prints at conventions of the character.

This implication for any artist attending conventions is pretty scary. A lot of artists make their livings from convention appearances, and from selling original art and prints at those conventions.

Why corporations seem so intent on killing the drive of the creative people who make the product which makes them so much money is beyond me.

With this in mind, I am putting out this open offer:

If any artist attending conventions, or selling prints or art work online or anywhere, wants to use any of the characters from my series, The Hero Code, in those prints, they are free to do so.

Artists need to make money.

All I ask is that you a) include a copyright notice to Jamie Gambell, and b) try to remember that The Hero Code is an all ages book, so please try to keep the characters respectable!

You can see some designs and notes on the characters at the website.

Oh, and for people who are angry or upset at Marvel's behavior towards Gary, let me make this simple for you; don't buy their stuff. If you were going to see Ghost Rider at the cinema, don't. Try to find out if there is a way of helping Gary, and use the money for that instead.

Drop Marvel. Drop DC. Help creative people directly.

Thank you.

Books coming along nicely...

2012-02-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

Both of Monkey Pipe's new titles, Intranauts and The Black Wraith, are coming along nicely.

Intranauts, written by Josh Gorfain, art by David Brame, is the most along - Josh has scripted about half of the first issue, and David is well into character designs.

Josh is also finishing off the logo design, from this basic idea:

The Black Wraith team is now together, with artist M. Lee Harris joining writer Brett Williams on that book.

Lee is starting character designs now, so hopefully we'll have something to show you soon.

These two books will be joining The Hero Code and Department O (with art by Jonathan Rector and Andrew Ross MacLean, respectively) on our roster.

Heather Breckel is onboard as colourist for all titles.

I'll be spending the rest of the year getting these new books moving, hopefully getting a couple of issues of each done.

The Hero Code remains my priority, though, and news on issue two will be forthcoming.

Hero Code issue 2 cover - mock up

2012-02-06T22:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a sneak peak at the cover for Hero Code issue two - art by Jonathan Rector, colours by Heather Breckel:

White Shade pin-up

2012-02-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

Some days your in-box just wants to make you happy!

Here's a pin-up by Old City Blues creator, Giannis Milonogiannis of White Shade:

Thank you, sir!

Department O logos

2012-02-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick design for a possible Department O logo:

The thinking with this series is that this will appear on the back cover, with the front cover being pure art, containing the Department O name somewhere within the art.

We liked the idea of this appearing on the back as the file (issue) was being closed at the end of the case (story).

Department O is going to be a new series by myself and Andrew Ross MacLean.

Logo design by Josh Gorfain.

The Black Wraith Logo's

2012-02-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some early logo designs for the Black Wraith book - logo's by Josh Gorfain.

We know which one we like, what about you guys?

ETA: Now with added "The":

Here's a final run at the logo:

Nothing up my sleeve...

2012-01-31T22:20:00.000-08:00

Misdirection.

That was always the keyword for The Hero Code.

Remember when you'd pick up a comic book as a kid and it would say something like "Everything you know is wrong!"?

That was one of the tones I wanted to bring to the series.

Misdirection.

Is it a super-hero story? Sure. Why not? At least for now...

I'm terrible at pitching or hyping my own books for two reasons, one, I have too many ideas and points of interest tied up in my head, I feel like I'm cheating some of them to distill them down to something digestible. Two, misdirection - the story is going to change direction, a lot. I have it planned out to a fine point, but it will change direction.

One aspect to bear in mind is that a lot of the story of the Hero Code is set in a reality which is pressed up against other realities. Sometimes those points of pressure create weaknesses between them. Sometimes what is real for one reality is not necessarily true of another.

Misdirection.

With this in mind, I'm pretty excited to announce some plans that are coming together.

As well as the main Hero Code book, which myself and Jonathan will be working on, and Department O, which I'll be working with Andrew Ross MacLean on, I am spinning off two further titles under the Monkey Pipe Studios banner.

The first is most obviously connected to The Hero Code universe.

The Black Wraith will be a techno-pulp metaphysical adventure, written by Brett Williams, and featuring The Black Wraith character. Is it the same Black Wraith from The Hero Code? Maybe...

Misdirection.

We are in talks with a fantastic artist, someone I have long admired, but cannot announce a name until things are concrete.

The second series skirts by The Hero Code universe, but less obviously so.

Intranauts is a sci-fi action mystery, dealing with the protectors of one of the weak spots between realities, a pressure point of imagination.

The series will be written by Josh Gorfain, and feature the art work of David Brame (you can view some of David's work here).

What are the plans with these stories?

We are still working stuff out - they may appear on-line first. We may put out a book featuring chapters from all the stories. We may put out separate books.

We're open to thoughts on that one.

Stay tuned though, for what we hope will be exciting times!

So how did it go...?

2012-01-31T22:02:00.000-08:00

A little over a week ago, I offered up a link for downloading the completed series, Omnitarium.

People were free to download the series, read it, share it, do what ever they wanted. If they felt inclined, they could leave a tip via a PayPal donation button on the site, but there was never any obligation to do so.

So, how did the experiment fare?

In terms of generating views to the site, it was a big success.

The posting regarding the project garnered more views in the one week it has been up than the next most viewed posting has managed in two and half years.

The total views, at time of writing, stands at 478.

Downloads floated around the 10% mark (+/- a couple of percent) and as of now the book has seen 61 downloads.

Donations, as of now, stand at x2 very generous and very happily received (thank you both!).

I posted about the experiment on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ - with Twitter proving most successful in terms of re-sharing the posting.

DeviantArt proved to be the least successful, in terms of sharing. As far as I could tell, no downloads came from posting there.

I should note, however, that I posted multiple times on Twitter, and engaged with other creators, pros, followers and news sites (all of whom, I thank for helping spread the word).

I also received a notice on the website The Comics Reporter, in a run down of comic news for the day.

So far I have not heard back from anyone who downloaded the series as to whether or not they liked it.

What did I learn from this?

Not everybody wants something for free.

Twitter can be a very effective tool for spreading news.

Even with free things, creating can be a vacuum.

I'm going to keep the link up for as long as it wants to stay around, but I'll not be posting links and updates about it any more.

Thank you all, and I hope that some of you, if not all, enjoyed the book somewhat!

Comic "fans"

2012-01-30T06:36:00.000-08:00

I had breakfast with a friend yesterday, someone who it is always a pleasure to see.

We spent a long time talking about the range and reach of comic book creators.

The industry wide slump has everyone navel gazing, looking for causes, finger pointing and the problems - distribution, creators, fans, pirates, etc.

One thing we did talk about was to speculate on what the actual number of comic book fans there were out there.

If the top selling book on Diamond at the moment is around 150,000-200,000 (it's hard to pinpoint exactly because return numbers are hard to factor in) does that mean there are that many "fans"?

Are books shared? One report years ago suggested each book was seen by at least three sets of eyes - so half a million fans?

But most books sell way below that. Most are lucky to hit the low teens to mid twenty's range - something which could sustain a book for years!

So who are we aiming the books at? In the past writers created great stories which elevated the reader, made them think, brought new ideas to the fresh, and lifted the medium. Artists matched their writers.

Now books feel more and more disposable, but costs are at the luxury point. My wife, a most-definite non-comic book fan commented the other night "they are awfully short, aren't they - a few pages and then a lot of ads!" - and the costs keep rising.

Are books aimed at the small group of readers who obviously aren't buying much of anything? (the drop off from top selling books to medium is sharp, fast and hard). Are books aimed at the group of store owners who obviously are not taking time to stay abreast of their product (apart from Marvel and DC, most stores could care less about titles new, creators interesting, books with buzz)?

Are we, the creators, not doing our part to lift the books up in quality - not just physical quality, but creative quality - and elevate the medium?

Why are we writing for this fickle group who seem intent to ignore our work?

Should we all be striving to create for the rest of the fans?

Let's see how this goes

2012-01-24T23:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've been speaking a lot about making creator owned work readily available recently, and making it a price point to match.

So I've decided to undertake a little experiment.

I'm going to offer up a link where you can download the full Omnitarium story - all four 24 page issues in one book.

If you feel so inclined, you can leave a tip as thanks via the donation button on the left - any amount you deem suitable.

You can download the file from here.

Please spread the word, as far and wide as you can.

Thanks.

Tipping Names

2012-01-24T06:11:00.000-08:00

On the drive to work yesterday, I switched off the radio and decided to daydream.

I was thinking that if I had unlimited resources, which spin-off books would I want from the Hero Code universe, and which creative teams would I want on them.

Unlimited.

It got me thinking, and waffling on at Twitter (where I tend to 'hang out' @jamiegambell) about the state of the comic book industry, and the notion of super-star creators.

When I was growing up and starting out, there was really only two creators whom it seemed everyone knew - Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

Pretty soon an Englishman with a beard and crazy ideas, and a wirery and firery ninja-obsessed New Yorker were the creators everyone cared about. And by everyone, I mean everyone.

Comic super-stars seemed to be a thing. Sometimes the artist are calling the shots, sometimes the writers.

So who are the super stars today?

Are there names today who will absolutely guarantee you big sales? Even if you were to put out an indie book, or even a self-published book, who are the names who push you into that magical number of sales which mean that you make a profit?

If they exist, could it be done? Could a self publisher hire a recognized writer and artist on a book - a spin off from their own title - and make money? Would it extend to other titles?

Until my resources are a little bigger, I'll not be trying to find out. Perhaps a lottery win or something will allow me, though, to put together a team, and find out if the world is ready for Warren Ellis and Giannis Milonogiannis' Intranauts series?

The Black Wraith pin up

2012-01-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

The oh-so-excellent Michael Neno was kind enough to produce this beautiful pin-up of the Black Wraith for The Hero Code:

Seeing this has really got me thinking how cool it would be to produce a newspaper strip story of the adventures of The Black Wraith.

Maybe a single contained story about the character, told across a series of strips which could be posted online.

What do people think?

Scarcity and free comics

2012-01-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

SOPA has been sent packing.

A swell of public objection to a rather poorly worded bill forced through by old media to get the new media upstarts in line seems to have done the job, for now.

I am very much against any kind of censorship, and really do genuinely believe that the internet should be a place of freedom, a place of collective and shared opinion, knowledge and wisdom. A place free of the bullshit that comes with politics.

Politically speaking, I am disillusioned. I would say that most of my thinking leans more to the left - sometimes a lot more - but I do not fall into supporting any camp. I do object to politics being controlled by money, I do object to tax money being wasted. Mostly I think it behoves us to support the needy, to help the desperate, to keep the playing field level, and to listen to each other and actually debate points rather than shouting down opinions and slurs against those who differ from us.

I also think that it is far too easy, and, anyone with a modicum of history should know, far too prevalent a thing to create scapegoats rather than dealing with problems head on.

Piracy of ideas exists. It happens a lot with big businesses, who have the strength of litigation and time/money on their hands. It happens with spoilt kids who don't see anything wrong with not paying for stuff they want.

On the one hand, I applaud the resources of some - able to find the thing they want and get it instantly.

On the other, creativity is not a hobby. For many it is their lively hood. Be it an artistic endevour, or one of commerce. It's simple - reward the creative people, and you enable them to create more, grow more, move us all collectively forward.

It's called progress.

Copyright law, as it stands at present, is getting pretty close to being the antithesis of progressive. It's the same as economics - if you allow too much of one thing to be held by a small minority, it lessens the strength of the thing overall. Too much money = less growth. Too many IP's = less creativity.

Scarcity is an interesting argument for piracy, one I almost agree with. In this day and age, one simply must make what they are selling as easy to purchase as possible.

However, if you are pirating something which is readily available, then you are basically hurting the creators of thing you want to own. If you are going to do that, at least be nice and try to spread the word about the book. Maybe someone along the line will pay for it, helping the creators out.

Comics are an interesting model - most, by a vast majority, do not make much money. Of all the books I have created, not one of them is "in the black". Not anywhere near the black. Pretty effing far from the black, in fact! And so I want to make them readily available.

Digitally, physically, easily. If someone asks "how can I read this?" to a self publishing creator, they need to answer "easily" and often "quickly". We are up against a lot of competition in a busy and small market.

One thing I like to do, once a series I am working on becomes more than an issue old, is to offer the first book for free. It doesn't always lead to someone buying issues 2, 3, 4 onwards, but it does help get the book into someones hands. After that, the next issues have to be available easily and quickly.

We are currently working on issue 2 of The Hero Code. Once this is finished and available, issue one will be available for free digitally. I plan on keeping the series evergreen - both in terms of availability and relevence. I also hope to one day put the series, even an issue of it, in the black.

Hopefully, this will be soon.

Response Time is a Factor

2012-01-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

Comics seem stuck in a mire.

I've mentioned before the problem with the cycle of supply and demand - that comics play the same beats because that is what sells, but it is what sells because it is what is offered at most stores - and think that comics will continue to spiral down until this changes.

Firstly, and I want to make this clear, I do not think the blame rests on any one group here.

Stores are business and need to be run as such. They will order books that sell, and get better deals on well known publisher's titles. Better deals, better return. Well known books sell better. No brainer. Space is limited in most stores, and the rotation of stock is such that most people do not want to be left holding too much of one thing. Supply and demand. Scarcity drives up prices.

Publishers have to create what sells. For the most part, that is well known properties. However, the bigger publishers have an unfair advantage in that they get preferential treatment in the distribution model, often have the backing of a bigger creative force, command free advertising in the form of press releases to internet and other news outlets, and have a 50-80+ year brand recognition on their sides.

What sells is events. What will they produce then? In a shrinking market (a target audience with no back door, no new "clients") it is best to not try anything too risky. Even the big apparent risks are little more than distractions, gimmicks under different names, which ultimately lead into the status quo.

The reader demands a certain type of book. They have flocked to see the big-budget, multi-character, moment-minus-character type story telling. It's mostly about the moments collected in trade-sized story chunks. And they love them. They want violence, questionable morale and ethical stances, the same old stuff, but like a mega-budget movie - comics are not for kids!

Here are the problems though.

Comics should be for everyone. Not aimed at kids, but suitable for everyone, regardless of age, gender, race. Why? Because it just makes good business sense, that's why. Aim for everyone, get more people. Aim for a select few, you might get some of them.

Also, comics need to stop limiting themselves to the mega-budget movie model. They should be trying to be more than that. Here is a quick-response cultural art form, limited only by imagination and talent, and yet it continues to aim low.

Too many creators are limiting themselves. I understand why. You create a book that gets you noticed by the big boys, maybe they'll give you a chance. Maybe they will actually pay you to do this, rather than you losing money to put out your book!

Then, maybe, just maybe, you'll get a little name recognition and people will go back and order your creator owned series - the one that you hoped would make you rich.

Indie and self-creators can be a new hope.

I think that the books being created away from the direct market, away from the confines of the need to pamper to a small audience, and free to actually try new things, could invigorate the comic book medium in a huge way.

Benefiting from the ever-green model, and free to ensure that a book is available always and readily could really help make something happen. It may take time, but I think it is the future.

But everyone has to join in.

Stores have to provide an outlet for these titles.

Creators have to put the effort in to make the books something special.

Readers need to take a chance on something new.

Maybe together there will be a future in this funny book business.

Hero Code issue 2 - Jonathan Rector's cover

2012-01-14T16:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the inks for The Hero Code's issue two cover by Jonathan Rector:

Department O

2012-01-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

So last night on Twitter I announced the new comic book series I am currently working on.

Originally intended to be a revamp of Omnitarium, I changed direction slightly and came up with Department O, A dark-humoured horror series.

A secret service of the crown, Department O are the people who protect the realm from those things which go bump in the night. They are all that stands between us and everything else.

Two things got me thinking about the change. A couple of people had mentioned that they weren't that into the name Omnitarium, and with the chance of a fresh start, it seemed right to go somewhere else. Secondly, Omnitarium volume one is done. The story is finished. I loved working with J.C. Grande on the book, so why not keep that universe where it is, maybe go back to it with J.C., and bring something new to the table?

That's what Department O is. It will touch upon matters from the Omnitarium world, but it is a new series, with a new team.

The series will feature art by the incredibly talented Andrew Ross MacLean - someone who I love and have admired for years, and who I was lucky enough to work with on a short story for the Samurai The Graphic Novel anthology (our story should be appearing in issue two of that series).

We are in the early stages right now, the first arc is plotted and I am 15 pages into the script for issue one, but I hope that we will have some character designs to show you soon.

Stay tuned folks! 2012 will be all about Hero Code with Jonathan Rector, and Department O with Andrew Ross MacLean!

Hero Code review copies available

2012-01-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in receiving a review copy of The Hero Code issue one, please send an email to me at theherocode[at]gmail dot com and I'll get a PDF of the book out to you.

Please link back to the series website - http://www.herocode.net - and let me know when and where reviews have been posted and I'll be sure to link to them.

Many thanks!

Digital Subscriptions - now available!

2011-12-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

Digital subscriptions for the Hero Code are now available from the website.

I will be making print subscriptions available in the near future.