Hi there,
Today on the site Frank Santoro presents an interview with Twelve Gems author Lane Milburn by Ben Humeniuk. Twelve Gems is an excellent new space opera graphic novel that highlights Lane's goofy sense of humor, lush drawings, and cosmic character and scenerio designs. Anyhow, here's a taste:
How does a painterly approach translate to meticulous black-and-white linework like in Twelve Gems? Do you try to maintain the same mindset when you’re relying on hatching and spotted blacks as when you’re working with a range of values and tones? Is there any frustration in that process?
I do try to maintain the same mindset as with painting though it’s translated into the realm of black ink and print. I think it all comes down to my love of texture. In a painting you can give the surface a rich physical texture and I try to translate that effect into my comics through the use of stippling and hatching. I was home in Kentucky recently and I saw one of my old paintings on the wall. The paint was daubed on just like stippling! I love how these realms bleed together.
Did you conceive it as one big book or as serial installments? Didn’t you publish the first chapter in an issue of CCC?
Yeah, I drew a sort of preliminary story in CCC 9 featuring two of the main characters. When I started working on the book I had envisioned it as a series, and now it’s hard for me to imagine why. I feel it works just fine as a standalone graphic novel. Sometimes I envision projects that just go on and on and on and on… maybe one day I’ll do a series, who knows?
And Max Robinson reviews James Stokoe's Wonton Soup.
The premise of Wonton Soup is familiar by design; culinary prodigy-turned-slacker Johnny Boyo and dreadlocked, sex-craved sidekick Deacon Vans carry exotic freight across the galaxy, stumbling into adventures and generally trying to put some distance between them and their respective homeworlds. The book exists in the background of universes like Dune or Alien, it’s Star Wars if The Empire Strikes Back spent its run time following that Ice Cream Machine Guy in Cloud City instead of Luke and Leia.
Elsewhere in the internet cosmos:
Here's a good review of the new S. Clay Wilson book, which deserves all good things.
TCJ-contributor Bob Levin has his very own web site now. Go and spend time with Bob.
Speaking of Bob, he recently reviewed Ariel Schrag's new novel, Adam. The author herself talks about here.
There are a ton of wonderful new comics on Believed Behavior. Go and enjoy.
Jared Gardner on a handful of otherwordly graphic novels.
And Publishers Weekly has a Fall 2014 books roundup, including one I'd not heard about: a Puck collection from IDW.
