Re: BENDIS BROADCASTING LIVE FROM NEW ZEALAND...
Apr 16, 2004 3:00 am

Hey Brian,
Give my regards to all the fans and convention staff!

DM

This weekend.
Andy Lee is there lots of other cool artists.
Curions if anyone here is going. I intend to be there.
Stop by and say hi if you are.

I'll have all my trades, prints, original art and Anh's Tranimals.
Will be happy to sign any of my books you bring or pick up at my table with no signing limit.

I'm curions, who here is planning on picking up the new Kabuki series in July?

If you have not read it before, I hope you will pick up some of the trades.

I recommend KABUKI: Metamorphosis and KABUKI: Circle of Blood.

You can start with the new series, but thes trades will give a deeper sense of meaning and history to some of the subtle layers in the story.

check out davidmack.net for info on each volume.

Thanks,
David

I think the con is in Gwinnet (a bit outside of the city of Atlanta). Is that close to where you are at?
Any chance you can make it there Saturday or Sunday?

Thanks!
I'll do a story on each of the Noh. The plan is to continue to alternate. Kabuki story then other noh character story, Kabuki, and so on.
The next Noh story is planned to come after this current Kabuki arc.

Innocentboy,
Hmm. I haven't thought about a category for it.
I guess each of the Kabuki stories sort of varies. There is a lot of action in KABUKI: Circle of Blood. And much of the other books are more of a psychological and philosophical based story.

This one is about the story being a practical blueprint for finding success in your carreer. The principles of how to decide what to do in life as practicle applications. Sort of a spell for creating your own reality.

Much of my own experiences and insights in to creating.

Mattr,

Glad you saw the DD stuff. But I can't help but feel that Kabuki is a better representation of my work.

Go to davidmack.net for a detailed account of each volume.

If you are only going to get one, I'd pick up KABUKI: Metamorphosis which is my fave. And I think represents my most evolved work as a writer and artist in comics.

And KABUKI: Circle of Blood is also a good one to pick up. It is the first one, but it is also ten years old, and I like to think I improve, so I think Meta shows more proficiency. But I think they both have soul, and you can start with either one an get a sense of what is going on.

But Alchemy (the new Kabuki story in July) starts right after Meta, and I think Meta sets the tone for the new series.

I wouln't describe it as anime, but if that category works for Borders, then thats fine with me. I'm glad they carry it.

Glad you are picking up Meta. It has a very varied and wide range in art approach.
And for 272 pages of non-painted work, KABUKI: Circle of Blook is pure pencil and inks that has its own charm.

Please let me know what you thought of Meta.

Well,
I don't have a fixed method for it. Each project and each issue usually developes its own way.

Often i work on several pages at once.

Or when doing one page at a time, it still turns out to be several at once. When doing one page at a time, I try to do the best I can for that page in one day. I do as much as I can figure out for that day.
I know the page isn't 100% done. Maybe 90%, or maybe 50%. But I did as much as I can figure out for it at that time.

Then I set it aside and the next day I just move on to the next page.
Then after having a good percentage of the work done on each and every page, I can see how all the pages fit together.
That is when I know what to do to all the pages to make them work.

This is sort of the most fun part. Because it all comes together, and then I work on all the pages at once. I can spend another two weeks on all the pages at once making them work as a whole and try to tweak to the rhythm of the story. I might change the order of the pages, because one page looks better next to another and has a better effect than my previous plan. or I may move panels around. Or re-write things. Or add panel, or ad different media for contrast at this stage.

And some times I work scene by scene. One scene at a time.

Most of the time for Kabuki, I make rough layouts of each of the pages in the entire issue before I begin doing anything more detailed. I sort of draw it all out, but not in a detailed way. A very crude way just to map it out. That can take a couple days to a couple weeks. It is really when I am figuring out the storytelling style of the issue. The pace and rythm of it. Sor of like writing music.
After that, I go page by page like I said before. I put all of the pages upright on the wall surrounding me as I work. This way, I can come back to some in the morning with a fresh perspective and see what it needs that I couldn't see when I moved on from it to the next one.
And when I have all of the pages mostly done, I come back to them and fit them together. This almost always involves changing the order of the pages, and rewriting the story to accomodate that.
I don't have to do this in black and white, but from the first painted book I did, I've always had to switch the order. The colors add such a different dimension to the story. So while one order worked in the layouts without color, the color adds something else, that I have to switch the pages for maximum contrast and effect. Otherwise, some pages can cancel each other out if the color or mediums are similar and they are facing each other. And likewise, one page can look twice as good if it is next to another one that compliments its colors and media and texture with contrast.

I did the first issue of Echo this way too. But the remaining issues, I did not have time to map it out first. I just went page to page, without mapping out the entire book in layouts first.

Just the first page, the best I could think. Then the next one off of that and so on without seeing how the pages are mapped out. It was a fun change.

When doing Kabuki, I like to have 2 months for each issue to accomodate, the whole thing including lettering, letters collumns and design.

With Echo, I did the first issue in 2 months. But the rest of the issues, I had to do in closer to one month each. Thus the new method. And I didn't have to do all the production work with Echo.

Hope that helps!

I'm guessing it is Atlantacomicon.com

Here is some info they sent me:

David,
The con is still in Gwinnett - the same site it has been. We've switched host hotels, to the Holiday Inn Gwinnett on Sugarloaf Parkway. The hours are Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM.
Here's a blurb from our message board regarding the sketch jam party if you'd like to use it:

"The Atlanta ComiCon Sketch Jam for Charity to benefit legendary illustrator Jeffrey Jones will take place Friday, April 16 at the Holiday Inn Gwinnett (6310 Sugarloaf Pkwy) at 8:00 PM. A maximum of 50 sheets of bristol will be made available for a donation of $25 per sheet, profits from which will be donated directly to Jeffrey Jones.

Artists scheduled to participate so far include Humberto Ramos, Ragnar, Mark Brooks, Mike Kunkel, Eric Powell, Ken Meyer, Jr., Gaijin Studios (Cully Hamner, Adam Hughes, Joe Pruett, Kelsey Shannon, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story) and Dave Cook. We should be adding a few more names as the week goes on.
This a fantastic opportunity to support one of the industry's top talents, and take home an amazing one-of-a-kind collectible at the same time. We will take a very limited number of reservations before the show, then all remaining sheets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve a sheet, email Thom Trainor at and include the subject line "Sketch Jam Reservation".
Even if you have no plans to participate in the Sketch Jam, we invite you to come out and mingle at this impromptu pre-con party. The Holiday Inn has a great lobby, with a fireplace and plenty of lounging area. There is an outdoor deck off the lobby, and a bar and restaurant in the lobby, as well. We hope to see you there!"

I will post a message that says "David Mack is hoping to participate, depending on his arrival in town Friday evening". I'm going to have a few people in this same situation. Of course, it will probably go on well into the night, so we'll play it by ear.

Well with Echo, they double shipped the first 2 issues. So then I had to spend less time on the other issues. There was no option of it being late.
The Marvel knights deal with Marvel at that time did not allow any more late issues. Not even a week late. So I had to bring it in at the exact time they said.
When working for someone on their book and their dime, that is the nature of the business.

With Kabuki, I set the schedule myself, so I can take the full two months on each issue if I need to.

Back to top

Thanks for checking out the trades. I have to get back to work now.

But keep the posts coming. I'll check in later.

I always stay the entire day.

I intend to be there up until the very end. If anything changes, I'll update it on this board ahead of time.

Hope to see you
David

Thanks for the responses so far.

Falanius,
She said she'll e-mail asap about the art you requested. It's just been way busy lately.
The first one you listed (from #2) is sold, but I think we have the rest, and she'll get back to you with the prices asap. Thanks for your patience.

Glad to hear so many people are starting to read the trades.

Like someone said, it is a fun journey to read all six of them in order. There is an evolution with the characters and with myself growing as writer and artist.

But if you are only going to start with one or two, KABUKI: Metamorphosis and KABUKI: Circle of Blood are the most important of the books to give you the most depth of the story. Then I'd say KABUKI: Skin Deep is the third most important book. Skin Deep sets up the Meta story and introduces the Akemi character.

Of the books, people have read so far, or if any have read all six, which is your fave and why?
I'm always fascinated to hear what grabs readers from each book or why one relates to them more than another. And it's interesting to hear when readers have diverent (but valid) experiences and interpretations of the same book.