To PHOQUE: Re: How do you break into the bis?
Oct 27, 2003 8:35 am

This is to Phoque:

There seems to be a little misunderstanding here. It's no big deal and not worth getting upset over. I don't think anyone here hates you (though I'm sure that some people were rubbed the wrong way by your use of the word "f*ggot").

This board is generally a humorous board where many of the posters like to joke with one another and friendly poke fun at what people say. The poster that mentioned the salad was not in any way poking fun at you, but trying to make a joke about getting work in this business.

And when I said "Just do Joe Quesada" that is not directed at you, but is a refference to an ongoing joke on this board where someone else had poked fun of something that I said on the Daredevil DVD. On the DVD I say that Brian Bendis told me to Just do Joe Quesada's art style for a sequence in the DD Wake Up story we did. Brian told me to "Just do Joe Quesada", meaning to draw in his style and niether of us saw the other connotation of the phrase or thought it was funny. But then someone on this board started posting that quote to show that they thought it was funny out of context. So that was a sort of running joke I have seen on this board for a bit and I did not take it as a personal insult. Just people mentioning humor where they see it.

When you may have thought the early responses to your posts were meant to insult you (even though they were not an attack on you), and you used the word "f*ggots" and said that funny line about Will and Grace, some posters tried to show that there was just a misunderstanding, but others were annoyed by your attack (which explains the other posts).

So I hope you can see that for what it is and not worry about it. If you read threads on the rest of this board, I think you may start to get a sense of the general tone of humor and sociability on this board.

As for breaking into the biz, the secret is to just continue to work and work and develope your own particular look and approach to your work. After years of developing it and drawing hundreds of pages of storytelling, or when you are confident that you have found your own direction, either make your own book and show it to creator-owned publishers, or show your work to the mainstream publishers if you want to work for them. I'm told that going to conventions and showing your work in person is helpful. At conventions there are many professional artists and editors who can give you thier opinions and insights. As well as many non-professional artsist looking for work that you can talk to and learn from. It is a very fertile place for learning about the nature of the business and diversity in approach to comicbook art.

I'm glad you are interested in comics and interested in developing your own work. If you are ever at a convention or a signing that I am at, please introduce yourself and I will be happy to talk you about it in more detail.

I don't know if my opinion on breaking into the biz matters to you (as I've seen you insutling me and my work on another thread on this board. Perhaps that is because you really don't like my work, or perhaps it is because of the misunderstanding here.). Either way, I wish you the best in your artistic endeavers. And I will be happy to discuss it with you, or answer any of your questions should we ever meet at a signing or convention.

My kindest and warmest regards to you.

David Mack

Hi Tess, Murdock's girl Friday (thru thursday?),

Thanks for the kind words! You have good taste, and snappy banter.

Best,
David