CRACK BANG BOOM CON, Argentina--PART TWO

WHY IT ALWAYS PAYS TO TALK TO STRANGERS...

10.21.10
DAY TWO... Now i know that your mother told you not to talk to strangers, but here’s why it pays...

First, I’m at breakfast in the hotel and this big guy in an Green Lantern t-shirt (ok, it was really a t-shirt from our competitors, but i’m trying to work in a plug here!) approaches me to say that he loves Vertigo, owns a store in LIMA, PERU where he’s organizing a show and would i like to be a guest next year?”.... hmm...let me check my schedule...uhhh, YEAH!

Nice way to start the day...but with time to kill my lovely wife, Kiki and I decide to hit some antique shops. She’s an interior designer so every trip is a hunting expedition. On the street we pass a gaggle of people who are clearly comic book fans (i can smell the comic pheromones! They give us a wicked double take, but I figure they’re just checking out the obvious Americanos so i let it slide.

Anyway, we dip into a cavernous architectural salvage shop and start to browse. A minute later this really nice young guy pops up from behind a dusty armoire and says in perfect English, “Aren’t you Will Dennis?” Now this happens to me all the time so i’m not at all put off by it....errr...this NEVER happens to me EVER (except sometimes my kids say it when i get home from work) so I’m sorta of stuck for an answer. But, i gather myself quickly and we start to talk. Come to find out, his name is Andre, he’s from Ohio but lives in Cordoba, Argentina and is here for the show. He one of the kids that passed us on the street minutes before – as we talk, all the other people start popping out from behind the furniture like ninjas! Hysterical!

They want to know if we’ve had ASADO (Argentine BBQ) yet. I tell him “no” and they insist that they want to take us for some! They’re plan to pick us up at the hotel the next day and take us to lunch...Brian and Jim too if they like...i don’t know what to say other than “sure”. I’m so quick with the quips. Then like ninjas they are, they all sort of vanish. We’re not really sure what just happened but i think we’re going to Peru in the spring and having a cookout tomorrow. And it’s not even noon. I heart Argentina.

Risso and Azz picked us up and we stopped at Eduardo’s studio since it’s right across from the convention center. It’s always exciting to see where my artists work – his studio is very neat and modern with a lovely view of the river and plenty of natural light. It’s filled with original art, photos, awards and a swank leather couch. Perfect.

We hit the show about 4pm (so civilized!) and it’s a madhouse. I can’t walk ten feet without being stopped to sign an autograph (wth?!) or look at a portfolio. I have no idea what’s going on but clearly these people are starved for celebrities. haha...Actually, everyone is so warm and gracious and genuinely happy to see us there. It’s amazing.

There’s the usual vendors and booths but the center-piece of the show is a large exhibition of Argentinean comic artists like Risso, Horacio Altuna, Ariel Olivetti, Marcelo Frusin, Juan Bobillo, Leo Fernandez and many more. It’s inside old railroad tunnels so it’s a very surreal space to look at art. In one corner of the space is a wall of works by someone named JIM LEE...the kid looks promising!

I met Azz for el fresco beers and two fantastic things happened. First, we got a dog...yeah, you read that right ... a DOG. For some reason, wild dogs are all over Rosario. They wander around, lie in the streets and beg at cafes. Anyway, we had this big German Shephard come and plop down right at Brian’s feet like he just wanted a pal. Cute. Secondly, we saw someone order what we would later learn was called a SUPER PANCHO. Basically it’s a foot long hotdog covered with Pico de Gallo and French fries! Now i’m a bit of a hot dog connoisseur (my dream is to open my own hotdog stand someday) so i know i need to try one, but we’re late for dinner so it’ll have to wait...

Dinner was again at 10pm...a beautiful “cafe” that we would get to know well called EL CAIRO. It’s part restaurant/part book shop/part performance space. An infamous hangout for comic artist and political cartoonists in Rosario. It’s teeming with people and the waiters are notorious for being cranky...but compared to New York, they’re as friendly as Care Bears. Jim gets accosted by some drunken fans from Peru and it causes a big stir with the Argentines. He’s his usual cool and gracious self and we avoid a rumble...for now. (heh heh)

The talk turns to comics...sad, i know...and the line of the night is “They’re ALL villains!”. I won’t name names though...haha. I polish off some late night HELADO (ice cream) and we’re tucked in bed by 3AM. ZZZZZZ....

TOMORROW: WE VISIT THE NATIONAL BANK AND EAT TOO MUCH MEAT!

Back in the 1970’s, DC war comics like SGT ROCK started quietly featuring a slug at the end of the issue that read “MAKE WAR NO MORE.” It was a simple and honest appeal on the part of the creators and the company to a nation still trying to heal itself from the wounds of The Vietnam War.

DC has had a long tradition of publishing war comics right up to the present day as evidenced recently by Joe Kubert’s DONG XOAI - VIETNAM 1965, DMZ, UNKNOWN SOLDIER, recent issues of SCALPED and more. And while these comics are often action-packed, adventure stories, there’s always been a strong message that war has a horrible – and too high -- price. It takes a heart-breaking toll on all of us – the civilian and the soldier alike.

Memorial Day is a day to remember those men and women who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice in battle. In that spirit, I’d ask you to take a moment away from your picnics and parties to reflect on what this day really means and work towards a day when war is just a distant memory of a more uncivilized time.

Until that day...MAKE WAR NO MORE.

-- will dennis

Now here's an excerpt from DONG XOAI, Vietnam 1965 by Joe Kubert (The Joe Kubert Library):

The direction of SCALPED is never what I think it’s going to be...which probably sounds strange coming from the editor -- No snarky comments please! It’s a book that constantly challenges me – to question, to argue, to THINK. It presents me with conflicts and ironies and ideas that are hard to reconcile at times. Every character has layers and contradictions and dark sides and beating hearts.

So to that end, lately we’d been presenting some different sides of Rez. Issue #35 told the poignant (and unexpectedly upbeat), story of an aging couple struggling to get by. Issues #36 & 37 focused on Shunka...Red Crow’s right hand man and one-dimensional heavy, right? Sorry, but no. Those two issues dealt with his secret life as a gay Native American man. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? Don’t feel bad, neither did I.

Which brings me to issue #38 and the page below.

It’s a one-shot called FAMILY TRADITION. It takes place in Vietnam on the day of the fall of Saigon. I won’t ruin any surprises...but just look at that first page as beautifully drawn by series co-creator RM GUERA. It’s a six panel history lesson...the lesson? A centuries worth of Native American soldiers fighting – and dying – for the U.S. Government. The same government that broke 300 years of treaties and forced an entire race of people to live in what amounted to open-air concentration camps.

THINK about that for awhile and get back to me. I’ll wait.

Will Dennis

HOW TO BREAK INTO COMICS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

On the eve of SCALPED VOL 5 coming out next week and as the editor credited with “discovering" writer Jason Aaron, I thought it’d be cool to tell the tale of how it all began...cue wavy flashback camera shot...

Sometime in 2003, when Jason first approached me (literally out of the blue) with what would become THE OTHER SIDE, he was very polite, persistent without being annoying, professional in his correspondence (too much alliteration!) and all the other things you need to be to "break in"...but I still was putting him off since I had no idea if he could actually write.

And given the number of writers who pitch me stuff every week (right now I have a stack of about 10-15 pitches I still need to answer post SDCC), I have to make decisions based on what I know of their work. Easier said than done.

But here's the difference with Jason...he actually WROTE it. His last ditch effort was, "I know it's long shot but I wrote the first script cus I HAD to and I think it's pretty good. If you read and like it, cool. If not, thanks for your time." So I read it and I LOVED it and that was that. Now he's a big star and I look like a genius...ok, not really. I mean I am a genius but he's only a medium-size star. heh heh.

But that's the EXCEPTION.

You might be shocked how often new writers tell me that they either haven't written the script or haven’t planned on writing it yet or don't want to write it on spec. When you’re at that “starting out” level, my advice is always, "Look, you're gonna have to write this thing sooner or later so if it's a question for me, write it and I’ll have more to go on. Worse case, you’re gonna have a legit editor give you unbiased feedback.” That falls on deaf ears (or worse people get combative) more often than it doesn't.

Bottom line -- you need to do the work. Then do it again. And again. And again. Sitting in a bar calling yourself a writer is not the same thing as BEING a writer. Writers write. End of story.

And yeah...it has to be effin GREAT...so, as Jason often says, stop worrying about playing the game/breaking in/getting ahead and just focus on the WORK. Make it kick ass. It WILL find a home somewhere.

Will Dennis

“The most important thing is WORK” – Lou Reed