First off, I have a booth this year at
#1322, sharing with Cliff Chiang and Jill Thompson, and will be there as much as I can when I am not here:
Wed:
7 - 8pm - signing at DC Comics
Thu:
4 - 5pm - Minx Panel, room 10
5 - 630pm - signing at DC Comics
Fri:
11 - 1230pm - signing at DC Comics
330 - 430 - Parsons School of Design panel, room 32AB
430 - 530 - Vertigo Panel room 5AB
Sat:
10 - 1130am - signing at DC Comics
230 - 4pm - signing at DC Comics
Sun:
12 - 130pm - signing at DC Comics
I may also have times at Oni Press, but that’s not confirmed yet.
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Been meaning to post these. Lots of interesting (and flattering) reactions to the book:
Broken Frontier:
You have to wonder how much of Wood is at display in his books. From the ever hiding Megan in Local to the naivete of Matty in DMZ to the reluctance of Sven in Northlanders, the common thread is a social awkwardness. Sven and Matty have to be tough because they are the male hero of their story, and while Megan and Riley are just as tough, they are more likely to wear their emotions on their sleeve. Having met Brian, he is a nice guy. However, it is easy to understand how this quiet and lanky guy may have had a hard time standing out in the crowd. Does he turn inward as easily as his characters or is it an understanding of the human psyche that has come through keen observation of those around him?
The best writers will tell you to write what you know. I think Wood is writing semi-autobiographical stories in his best work, because the way I see it from Demo to this work, he has been meditating on the meaning and ramifications of identity….
Bust Magazine:
Brian Wood has mastered the art of writing female characters.
The comments regress into the “men can’t write women” and “where are the women Minx writers”, and one person even suggested that I am dangerous and creepy for writing this book.
Newsarama - a “Ladies Choice” discussion:
Sarah: …I like that the lead character is a mess. And we get to hope she pulls out of it, but it isn’t neatly resolved.
Janelle: Well, they’re not caricatures or 2-D outlines. They’re very much three-dimensional. And as such, are flawed and a little crazy. Every character in this book is that way.
Sarah: Yes. Which is funny, because they could easily start out as stock characters. The sexy girl, the wild big sister, the socially-awkward girl, the tomboy, the artsy one…I can’t wait for Merissa’s story, personally. (Bonus points for two of the four not being white girls, too.)
Janelle: It starts as stereotypes and then becomes something much more. I can’t wait for any of the other stories. I think that Riley is definitely the one I personally connect with the most, but I also think that it will be interesting to read about the rest of them.
Rack Raids/Trade Winds:
With the setting elaborately rendered by Ryan Kelly, it’s almost like being there. Apartments, cafes, subway cars, taxi cabs, libraries, bars, the interiors breathe NYC just as much as the skate parks, street scenes, museum exteriors and city parks. Over his 12 issues with Wood on Local… Kelly has developed a definite knack for visually capturing the feel and ambiance of a place, just as Wood is able to subtly identify its charm with words. Kelly not only groks the streets and surroundings of NYC, but the people as well
The X-Axis:
It’s a gentle plot, but it works because the characters are detailed and believable enough to make us care about them and their essentially universal problems. New York is used well; to be honest, you could do the same story in any major city with a university, but the story makes good use of the way Riley is able to slip into anonymity and isolate herself in the city crowds.
Shuffleboil
Beaucoup Kevin
Blurred Productions:
The great creative synergy that this team brought to Local is in full display here. The tone of the book skews younger (of course, this is a Minx book) but that doesn’t mean that Wood is talking down to his audience. While it is clear that Wood is playing towards Minx’s intended audience, he never allows whatever constraints the Minx line brings with it to overwhelm his story and his being in evoke character and place… There is no one I would not recommend this book to.
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“Brian Wood has mastered the art of writing female characters.” - BUST Magazine
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This week sees the release of The New York Four, the young adult, aimed-at-teenage-girls graphic novel I created with artist Ryan Kelly, published my DC/Minx. This book is a big deal for me, and I think it came out great. It’s probably not aimed at most of you reading this, so don’t feel bad at giving it a pass if you’re pretty sure its not for you, but at it’s core it’s not so different from something like Local.
The ultimate insider’s guide to NYC is seen through the eyes of Brooklyn-born Riley Wilder. Raised in by stuffy, academic parents, Riley’s a shy, straight-A freshman who convinces three other NYU students to join a research group to earn some fast cash towards an apartment share. Along the way, their unique personalities clash horribly and the stress of school, love, and being in New York City for the first time threatens to unravel it all.
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The New York Four is the classic first-semester-away-at-college story skewed a bit. Four girls - Riley, Ren, Merissa, and Lona - are all at the top of their class and decide to earn some extra money after hours by joining a research group, the goal being to escape the dorms and all move in together by New Years’. But they barely know each other and soon enough it becomes clear to all these aren’t the stereotypical squeaky-clean academic types. RIley’s shy, a virtual recluse who prefers to interact with the world through texting. Lona is a spooky perfectionist-turned-voyeur-turned-stalker who has a real problem with how her professors are grading her papers. Merissa is a manipulator, pure and simple, ruthlessly using whomever to make her days go by that much easier, and Ren has zero boundaries when it comes to the opposite sex - too old, too young, married, crazy, completely inappropriate - she doesn’t see a problem.. and she wonders why nothing works out.
The primary focus of this first chapter is on Riley Wilder, who’s been haunting her estranged older sister’s Facebook page for months, determined to track down this black sheep of the family once she’s safely out of the parent’s control and off at college. She also falls in love with a boy she’s never met, a guy online who goes by the name ‘sneakerfreak’. Spanning the course of the first semester, the four girls struggle to keep their heads above water and their unique personalities from threatening their goals: the dream apartment and maintaining their group friendship.
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PIXU2 part mini series
by: Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá.
Limited signed and numbered special edition, 1000 copy print run. 50-ish pages in Vol. 1.
Part one will be released on the San Diego Comic Con International. Part two will be out in September.
This is not going to be distributed by Diamond. If you’re not going to San Diego and you want to save your copy of PIXU, it will only be available through KHEPRI.COM.
They are already taking pre-orders.—
Been doing some last minute tweaks and rewrites to the final scene of Northlanders #8, the end of the Sven story, successfully getting over my initial hesitations on what emotional beats to hit (or rather, how hard to hit them). I’m also listening to Whiskeytown’s STRANGERS ALMANAC outtakes on headphones as I do this, so in a couple months you’ll see what a Viking epic that ends with an alt-country soundtrack reads like.
(Hervor’s Death by Peter Nicoli Arbo)
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Official Press Release
Coming this September, all twelve issues of Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s LOCAL are collected in a beautiful hardcover bookshelf edition. What does it mean to be a “local”? Where do you call “home”? Each of the 12 issues of LOCAL stand alone, while tying in thematically with one another. The series follows the travels of Megan McKeenan as she discovers herself, while she discovers America. Crossing genres as it crosses the country, LOCAL examines how where you live impacts who you are. Each issues gives the reader another year in Megan’s life, as she tries to find a place where she fits in, where she can truly be local.
“LOCAL is the book I’m proudest of, hands-down,” said Eisner nominated writer Brian Wood “and the care and trouble Oni Press has shown in collecting it in such a gorgeous hardcover really completes the whole experience for me.”
Oni Press Editor in Chief James Lucas Jones commented, “I really can’t put into words how excited I am about the LOCAL hardcover. Brian is such a versatile storyteller; he’s able to move from horror to romance to action seamlessly, and Ryan’s able to adapt right along with him. They have both done their research to make these stories not only visually accurate, but emotionally resonant as well. Each town has its own vibe, and these guys capture that completely.”
Managing Editor Randal C. Jarrell stated “Beside the intrinsic value of the work both as art and narrative, the fact that the book comes in at a $29.99 price point makes it a must own for any serious comic scholar or collector. LOCAL is simply one of the best series ever made.”
The LOCAL over-sized hardcover comes cloth-bound, smith-sewn, with gorgeous full color cover including a special metallic fifth color. Inside you’ll find 384 pages of some of the most stunning black and white art ever set in print along with a series of extras including all the original and reprint full color covers and all first printing issue essays.
“Perfect three-minute single. You’re going to want this one. Trust me.” - Warren Ellis “the sharpest slices of life the medium has ever seen. Highly recommended.” - Brian K. Vaughan “a rare and enviable thing… painfully easy to enjoy.”- Gail Simone “the coolest short film never shown on the IFC or Sundance Channel.” - Sequential Tart
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The final issue of the series wraps up this week, a 32-page story expertly executed by artist Ryan Kelly. Say goodbye to Megan.
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NORTHLANDERS #9
“Lindisfarne” part 1 of 2
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Dean Ormston
Cover by Massimo Carnevale
An all-new story arc begins! Lindisfarne, England: An ancient center of religion and learning, and the infamous site of the first Viking raid. Described as “demons from hell,” the Vikings kicked it off with a vicious attack on a monastery. See it all from the perspective of a native – a young Saxon boy who dreams of the larger world, of better things, of heroes and myths and foreign gods. Are the Vikings what he’s been waiting for? Featuring guest art by Dean Ormston (LUCIFER)!
Vertigo | 32pg. | Color | $2.99 US | Mature Readers
On Sale August 27, 2008
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Superb comics retailer and friend Rory Root died yesterday. Rory was someone I often turned to for advice over the years, but what I’ll always remember is the day very early on in my career I did a signing at his shop and no one came. Literally no one. I was mortified and tried to apologize, but he just laughed it off and treated me to Indian food.
Our entire industry is in mourning, and with good reason. He was that nice, that smart, that friendly, that utterly genuine. I’ll miss him terribly.
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