Amazon & WikiLeaks

Moment of honesty: Even though I believe my use of the swastika in the above cartoon is an apt, if not perfect, addition to my statement, hindsight makes me realize that it actually distracts from the message. But would I do anything differently if given the chance? We’ll never know.

Anyway, my plans for adapting my comic book Lynchpin to the Kindle Reader is abandoned. I will not associate with Amazon. My main letter to Amazon is below, but Daniel Ellsberg said it better than I did. Anyway…

My letter:

Hello. As you can see, I’ve been a longtime customer of Amazon.ca. I am very upset that your company, a bookseller, does not value freedom of information.

In my opinion, booksellers – like librarians & printers – have a social responsibility to freedom of expression. To legally sell your server space to a news organization to legally report its news, & then rescind that service because the government doesn’t like the news published, is shameful on your part.

Until you issue a public apology to both WikiLeaks & to our greater society, I will no longer being buying my books, comics, movies, etc. from your organization. You have struck a blow to human civilization.

Sincerely,
William Brian Maclean,
author & cartoonist of…” (& I linked to this cartoon on my website)

I didn’t keep a copy of my 2nd, but I asked for complete deletion.

This Thursday! SpeakEasy’s Annual Comic Book Show

I will be upstairs at this year’s SpeakEasy’s Annual Comic Book Show. It happens Thursday, November 4th.

I will be displaying finished comic book & webcomic art on my wallspace, plus have my portfolio of original art on hand.

Also, I’m going to do my best to cover the night for Pete DeCourcey’s comicbookdaily.com. It’ll be a good excuse to meet the other artists, none of whom I know. I have met Tyrone from Guerrilla Printing, though, as they print my Lynchpin dead tree comics.

Press release: Toronto is home to some of the best known comics artists in North America. We have an active and vibrant community putting out some of the highest quality comics to be found anywhere. The SpeakEasy Comics Show features an eclectic mix of Toronto’s talented comic book artists – from those who do newspaper strips and political cartoons, to underground comic and mainstream superhero comic books! The event promises to display an exciting cross-section of the comics community here in Toronto, as well as a glimpse into how good comics are made. As the old cliche goes, there really will be something for everyone.

Time & Space:
Thursday November 4th, 7-11pm
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West
Second Floor Lobby

2010 Participating Artists:

1. Guerilla Printing – Printing for the People!
2. Chris Hatzopoulos & George Todorovski, The Bear Stories
3. Ian Daffern, Blowout Productions
4. Attila Adorjany
5. Lamin Illustration & Design
6. Gibson Quarter Illustration
7. Matthew Daley
8. Ad Astra, Toronto’s annual literary science fiction convention
9. Lubomir Arsov
10. Marvin Law
11. Benjamin Rivers
12. Sarah Ennals, Personal information
13. Christopher Yao – Yaoza Graphics Studios
14. Eshwin Dhir
15. Daniel Lafrance, ‘Starthrower in Haiti’.
16. Ken Turner
17. Lezley Davidson, Peeling Onions Press
18. Marvin S. Mariano
19. Shaun Bolden, Beanpie Promotions
20. Toronto Cartoonists Workshop
21. William Brian MacLean, RoosterTree
22. Dale Camus

Cover:
Pay What You Can ($4.00 Donation Suggested)

http://www.yelp.ca/events/toronto-speakeasys-comic-book-show

SpeakEasy Show; Reviews; Interview

There’s been a lot of activity around here lately. Two new reviews of Lynchpin #1 have been posted – one by Elevate Difference & the other by Xerography Debt. As well, there is Elizabeth Barrette’s review of my new webcomic, OpinioNation.

I’ll be getting back into the public eye for an evening at Gladstone Hotel during SpeakEasy’s Annual Comic Book Show. It takes place on Thursday, November 4th, 2010. I’m nervous. I need a new hat.

I was interviewed recently by Lynn Alexander for fullofcrow.com‘s PRATE Interview Series. I usually don’t like talking about what I do too much, cuz it always feels like I’m overthinking or overanalyzing things, but it was nice to get some theories straight in my head.

I wonder if I’ll have Lynchpin #2 ready for the SpeakEasy show?

Culture Days

Martin House hosted a Culture Days event yesterday; at Derek Martin’s request, I took part & it was an honour to do so. He & Tracey Martin are gracious hosts with a lovely workspace & great friends whom, I hope, will become my friends.

For my part, I penciled a few panels for an upcoming webcomic. When asked, I showed off the cartoon portraits & few pages of original art I’d taken with me. In a future Culture Days post, I’ll describe the musical experimentation I was lucky enough to indulge in.

I’m bad with names, so I won’t introduce the Martin House Culture Day co-conspirators until I have contact information for them, but I do have someplace to start.

It turns out Roy Hickling is a mutual friend of several people I know in the Orillia area folk community; Jennifer Ives, Don Bray & Paul Court were names dropped in passing. Roy’s a remarkable & diverse artist. I listened to his gallery of original songs while peeking through his painting, sculpture & photography; it’s vibrant & full of emotion & I have no doubt you will be as impressed as I am.

LYNCHPIN #1 – Indie Non-fiction Comics

Depression does entirely stupid things to your decision-making process. Frex, I haven’t blogged since May – I didn’t even blog about releasing a goddamned comic of my very own or the totally sweet review it got over at Optical Sloth.

I’ve certainly been a larger dunderhead at points in the past, but that was noteworthy. Speaking of the review, here’s a few well-chosen snippets…

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this comic (which I thought would be in the “humor” pile by that cover) is a brutally honest take on sexual assaults on women. It was a horror story brilliantly told, and kudos to the man for putting it out there. I’m not sure what else this guy has up his sleeve but it’s pretty clear that he wants to try some new things, and I’m genuinely curious to see what he does next. This isn’t an easy read but is an important one, and well worth the effort to hunt down.

You can ask Miss Apple Pie – I glowed for several hours after reading this. And then it was back to work. LYNCHPIN #2 will be ready shortly, & I’ve been eking away at a webcomic which will be unveiled soon enough.

I’m currently redesigning both roostertree.com & wbmaclean.com – the RoosterTree ComicLit site is getting touched up & the comics’ descriptions rewritten, and my personal site is being completely overhauled.

I’m going to make a better effort to blog more often. Of course, it’s easy to make a promise like that with a belly full of BBQ wings & chocolate soy milk. Mm-mm-mm.

Bret Easton Ellis’ Apparent Sexism

I believed Bret Easton Ellis when he claimed American Psycho was created to be a feminist book. Notice my use of the past tense – this is only because I _got it_ at the time & haven’t thought about it too much since. I wonder if I’d still agree. Anyway.

Some creators are dull when interviewed; not so Ellis. To boot:

There’s something about the medium of film itself that I think requires the male gaze. We’re watching, and we’re aroused by looking, whereas I don’t think women respond that way to films, just because of how they’re built. [They have a level of arousal] that’s not so stimulated by the visual.

He sounds like he’s given the subject a lot of thought. He also goes on to say that, based on 2010′s films, he’s rethinking his arguably biased opinion. Nevertheless, he raised the ire of nearly everyone who commented; true to form, I felt compelled to do likewise:

I offer that many of these commentators would be better off worrying less about the opinions of a man they dislike (some claim to have disliked him long before this interview) & focus more on the attitudes of the men around them.

Have you spent time in a town more than 50 miles outside a major metropolitan area? The metropolitan men I know tend to be fairer in their assessment of the intellect & creativity of women than their countryfolk brethren. Try working in a factory in a city of 200,000; do you know the _jokes_ about being monthly, or about two black eyes? There are countless men who are serious when they say these things, & they’ve never cracked heavier literature than an Archie comic, let alone read Ellis or Mailer.

Like many intelligent men before him, Ellis has made an assumption based on a combination of his life experience & his view of the culture. Men used _logic_ when they declared the Sun revolved around the Earth, that bleeding the sick was a good idea, that smaller penises indicated intellectual superiority.

Assumptions are the worst form of reasoning; at least Ellis claims to be rethinking things, based on new life experiences, where the filter is Ellis himself. Besides, if he’s talentless & has failed as a novelist since his first book, his words shouldn’t resonate in the culture’s consciousness, & so shouldn’t be thought of as an influential spokesperson.

I was tempted to use _spokesman_ as the last word, but thought better of it; I assumed the prevailing sense of humour wouldn’t go there, based on personal experience. Does that make me bigoted? Before you say it makes me smart/thoughtful/sensitive/modern/what-have-you, it’s still an assumption, & assumptions are unacceptable.

As for my Archie crack…

Honouring a Childhood Hero

Just posted to the forum at ronniejamesdio.com.

Since Monday, all my waking hours at home have been filled with the voice of Ronnie James Dio. Until this moment, that’s as much tribute as I’ve managed; you see, I heard the news of his passing at 5:30 Monday morning, one hour after my first grandson was born. (I’d updated my Facebook status & messaged my partner, Miss Apple Pie, about the good news. Before long she was at my side with personal congratulations; she’d heard about RJD’s passing while on her way over.)

I haven’t been as devoted a fan as others, either. I was 14 when I first heard The Last in Line. I was quickly introduced to Holy Diver, Heaven and Hell & Mob Rules; Sacred Heart, Intermission & Dream Evil followed, earning respected spots in my listening habit, & Ronnie’s voice became a major part of the soundtrack of my youth.

Then I got to college. My musical world opened up to Prince, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits… the list goes on. Much of my 80s vinyl collection has been neither revisited nor contemplated nostalgically in any way.

Ronnie’s music is one of those rare exceptions. From the machine-gun snare intro of We Rock, to the staccato beginning of the lead guitar passage in Egypt, to the screaming crowd bookending King of Rock’n'Roll, to the mesmerizing 3D effect of the gunshot leading into Shoot Shoot, there are so many wonderful musical moments that are burnt into my memory & each has a unique quality in my reminiscence.

And then there’s his voice. All the Fools Sailed Away. One Night in the City. Stand Up and Shout. Neon Knights. Man on the Silver Mountain. Voodoo. I Speed at Night. Like the Beat of a Heart. And, more recently, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

And who didn’t squeal all tween-girl-like when he popped out of Jack Black’s poster in The Pick of Destiny? If any moment honoured Mr. Dio’s place as a pop culture icon, that was it.

Now that I’m older, I’m able to recognize that, on top of his scary-impressive voice, a major part of RJD’s talent was in writing & singing lyrics about swords & sorcery with subtext that was universal; Egypt’s Chains Are On us, our ‘Evil’ Eyes seek knowledge of the world & ourselves, we are the Night People who are lighting our lives with the artificial light of TV & computer screens… I could go on.

I will conclude with his own words:

“Race for the morning;
you can hide in the sun
till you see the light.
We will pray it’s all right (gotta get away).
Between the velvet lies
there’s a truth that’s hard as steel.
The vision never dies;
life’s a never ending wheel.”

Ronnie, you are the Holy Diver, an inspiration to everyone you’ve left behind. Thank-you for sharing yourself with us.

In loving memory,
William Brian MacLean

Recognition of Creativity

I believe I’ve just acknowledged what drives me to create. It’s a sense of incompleteness, perhaps in me personally, perhaps in my immediate surroundings or even the greater world.

As a child, I escaped into fantasy – drawing, building with Lego, playing with miniatures (especially die-cast *dinky* cars). Then, for years, I strove to manipulate the air around me & affect the brain through music. Now I work visually with words & images.

I’ve also realized that if I’m in the middle of something & am struck by the desire to draw, then I must drop everything & draw. The sense of incompleteness in the current task is influencing me on some level.

(But it’s only with drawing, never writing. The only thing I lose if I choose to not write is that particular idea; there’s always another idea waiting. And since other writers’ notion of inspiration is that of a fickle lover, I nearly always honour literary inspiration with the necessary attention & time; I have not been doing this with pen & ink. I wonder if part of it is the sense of security I have by always drawing according to the script, & so there’s nothing to lose by waiting. Except, of course, the inspiration to SIT DOWN & draw, a small but vital difference.)

Even something as mundane as waiting for the end of a movie or getting to the end of my new email messages brings about a sense of accomplishment – completeness – that seems to bring about a sorrow that my current task is finished, a feeling of finality, a sense of loss. It consistently destroys every notion of creativity in me until I can distract myself with new brain fodder.

This is something to bring up at my next psychiatric session.

Artist’s Block

I don’t get what artists usually call artist’s block, that lack of inspiration or subject or what-have-you. Except for those times I’m doing a portrait, I always & only draw from scripts. I don’t even keep a sketchbook; unless what I’m working on ‘counts,’ I can’t seem to care enough about any object to render it. It’s akin to Diane Warren’s approach to songwriting.

What happens to me is I get to a panel & I have no idea how to approach it. I know what it’s supposed to be, because I put it in the script, & ofttimes the image (POV, perspective, etc) I had in mind is still in mind; I just don’t know how to start, what the first shape is, the first line.

My most recent bout of The Block ended a few days ago. I hesitated for more than two weeks before I could bring myself to pencil panels one & two of page two of LYNCHPIN #2.

That’s, like, ONE THIRD OF EVIL! (digression…)

So, here I am, back at it. My nose has been to the grindstone (just not with a pencil in hand) & I’m on page five. It is PISSING ME OFF! Allow me to explain.

The illustration is going smoothly. This page is a rarity for me: three horizontal rows of two square panels each; I avoid this format when I can. All the panels are nearly identical, & it’s for this reason that my thoughts are getting under my skin.

Tracing is as rare to me as a 3×2 page, & then it’s usually because I’ve drawn a pair of (what I think are) drop dead gorgeous hands, just to learn I mixed up the character’s left & right. Tracing anything other than your own art is a sin of the highest order. I don’t buy the crap notion of learning by tracing; that’s what your eyes & ruler (& possibly calculator) is for.

The cool thing I’ve learned to do in these situations is to draw all the near-identical panels at the same time – line one, panel one; line one, panel two; line one, panel three; etc. When the basics for all six panels are down, then I’ll usually finish panel one, paying attention to the different needs of each. Working like this certainly shows off the flaws in my penwork, but better to be honest & flawed than a perfect cheat. I avoid a lot of erasing by doing strong thumbnails & having a very good idea where my text will sit.

In my opinion.

I keep thinking of guys like Greg Land. Comic, to him, aren’t art – they’re commerce. I believe the twain can meet, just not in his studio. His is welcome to change my mind/prove me wrong anytime.

Of course, I’m torn. There are artists much greater than me who are slavishly devoted to the old school & never use any digital techniques. I imagine them looking down at me & saying “You aren’t doing it right. You don’t feel it.” Except I’m pursuing what I hope is a unique style.

I also picture commercial illustrators *like* Land look down at me & saying “How can you waste so much time? Life is too short. If you can finish your work quickly, you can do more.” Except if I were to do what I feel is dishonest art, I’d rather not do it at all.

All in all, everyone draws the lines in the sand they can live with. I will be honest about my ratio of physical to digital work &, in so doing, reserve judgment when I see art being shat on in favour of commerce.

TCAF

I had an excellent time at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Day 1
As on most public outings, I was initially a shy, bumbling oaf (specifically Saturday). I had a brief, stuttering face-to-face with Chester Brown before he was *ahem* rescued from the annoying fanboy. When I realized this, I was, & remain, suitably embarrassed. *sigh* He was gracious & apologetic.

Dalton recommended Miss Apple Pie & I introduce ourselves to Dave Lapp. He signed our copy of Children of the Atom with a left-handed penis! Too friggin awesome!

Dave Draws Dick, a delectible dealio

Jim Woodring was also really cool to talk to. And such beautiful, flawless work! Anthro-pomorphic comics rarely appeal to me, but, after hearing him speak on Saturday & then meeting him, I must say I’m driven. This, of course, will be after I read every as-yet-unread book in my possession, which is why Dave Lapp’s book was our only trophy of the weekend.

Day 2
We spent Sunday exclusively at The Pilot. The highlight for me was speaking to Seth for a few moments about perhaps not stressing so much over lack of perfection, quite a humble notion from someone with such an exacting hand.

All in all, we attended several seminars over the two days, & were given a lot to consider. We’ll see what happens.