Geek Speak TV Sneak Peek Brisbane Supanova Episode

As you can see from the still from the Video Clip above, my booth and ugly mug pop up in the trailer from the upcoming BRISBANE SUPANOVA POP CULTURE EXPO 2012 special (about 1: 16). I was lucky enough to be a guest at the convention, and Amanda and the boys from 'Geek Speak' dropped by for an Interview, where I probably spoke a fair bit of jibberish. So, sorry about that ;P

Thanks again for the support, lady and gents ;)

Look out for an interview with my mate, and Zenescope illustrator Paul Abstruse (0:36). He and I were announced on facebook (rather early, mind you ;P) as guests of 'Gifts for the Geek's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY celebrations, to be held at their store in Geelong, Victoria on Saturday, 4th of May, 2013. A little more info and links via the Soldier Legacy website http://thesoldierlegacy.com/?p=571

Name Check on TV? Thanks, Folks!

While watching the locally produced 'The Late Nite Show with Scott Black' last Thursday, I was surprised not once, but twice! by the reference to me and 'The Soldier Legacy'

...That check must have cleared ;P



4: 05 seconds in, referenced in the monologue joke. I'm touched, thanks mate :D

But then, my friend Amanda Bacchi from Geek Speak TV was a guest, talking Geek stuff...


...12:20ish, Mr Black does it again! Champion :)
Thanks for the kind words, Amanda. And great to hear Stewart McKenny, 'Zombie Cities', and 'Winter City' get a plug too.

I very much appreciate anyone acknowledging the existence of 'The Soldier Legacy', let alone the praise :D Nice work as usual, Mr Black and Flash, and thanks again.

Girly Geek Speak Article- Spider-Man's Origins etc. By Paul Mason

http://girlygeekspeak.com.au/blog/spider-mans-origins/

Hey! So I wrote another article for the great guys at Geek Speak TV/Girly Geek Speak this week, all touching on Spider-man's origins, both inside and outside the comic book, and bits on the upcoming 'Amazing Spider-man' flick next week.

Here's a chunk that I ended up axing, because overall, the first draft was very pseudo- academic (or "dry" :P). Thankfully, this was pointed out to me by Geek Speak co-Host Amanda Bacchi on first read before upload. Oops. Fixed. Comic-ers might appreciate the jabbering below:

"This simple story thrown in to the back of a defunct sci-fi comic, is a fantastic example of concise, compelling storytelling- All we learn about Peter, this basic, original blue print for Peter’s life exists in a mere 11 pages. Even Grant Morrison points out the comparison between the 11 pages of Peter’s origin story Lee and Ditko tell as opposed to the six 22 pages it take to tell an updated version in ‘Ultimate Spider-man’. Of course, Bendis’s version lays out more detail and introduces the villain connections to Spider-man’s origin (much like many Hollywood films where the hero and villain have that family-like connection, as this helps to create empathetic tension and inner conflict within the hero- but I’m getting off topic). The point is, in only 11 pages we are treated to Peter Parker’s full gamut of emotions, with the events unfolding leaving him forever changed. That’s scriptwriting/character development 101 in a neat package, folks."

Ditko tells this story visually with very little bravado, using a 3 tier, loose grid layout for the majority of the comic to tell the story. In this sense, the panels don’t necessarily come into play by emphasising a point in the story, unless called for, such as the bigger panel focusing on Uncle Ben’s Killer’s identity. Ditko’s panels subconsciously make the reader immerse themselves panel by panel into the narrative itself without distracting or confusing the eye with a splashy layout; just character posing, scale of figures, and clear, uncluttered artwork. Whether consciously or subconsciously deliberate, deadline driven or not, the comic is concise, straight to the point, effective storytelling. Why waste a page or two on introducing normality of the character’s home life, when we can get a sense of Peter’s loving home life and relationship with his Aunt and Uncle in 2 panels?

It took over 6 months for sales figures to come back before Martin Goodman realised that there was something more to this ‘Spider-man’ character, with ‘The Amazing Spider-man’ #1 published the following year. With Peter’s life kicking off were AF #15 left off, Lee and Ditko set the foundations for one of comic’s biggest successes. With a rogues gallery established upfront that rival Batman’s or Dick Tracey’s for weird, wonderful and downright diabolical, I look forward to seeing how this reboot will fair in adding to the wealth of Spider-man stories that have been told in one form or another since that 11 page little origin story in 1962."

Penciling sneak peek, and more Geek Speak shout outs

Ok, just briefly, Folio book to the printers, there's a heap of stuff in there that hasn't been seen before, a big sequential pencils section (a snippet above), and a load of colour pinups. Cover pic to come :)

AND, thank you for the shout out by the Geek Speak crew in their recent podcast :D

http://girlygeekspeak.com.au/geekspeak/geek-speak-live-podcast-11/

Paul Mason: Article writing for Girly Geek Speak: Retro Comic Review of 1963's 'The Avengers'

So last week I did something a little different from my usual deadline/thesis work, and thanks to the good people of 'Girly Geek Speak' (of Geek Speak TV), I wrote a review of sorts for 'Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers volume 1'. THe whole idea was to warm up for thesis writing, by discussing some of the earliest appearances of characters that are now raking in the dough in international cinemas.

You can find there article here at: http://girlygeekspeak.com.au/books-comics/retro-review-the-avengers/


Back to work!

Geek Speak TV gives 'The Soldier Legacy' some love ;D

(Aussie comic great, and Supanova Art director Tim McEwen snaps Chris Sequeira, Paul Abstruse, and me (at a rare moment away from the table ;P) while I shop for back issues of 1960's 'Tales of Suspense': Captain America by Kirby and Sinnott= Awesome ;P)

Haven't done the post-Gold Coast Supanova recap yet, but just wanted to give a big thanks to Todd, Amanda and the Crew from KaBoom Comics at Toowoomba, Queensland, who are the folks behind Geek Speak and Girly Geek Speak- Podcasts, posts and TV show that reviews all sorts of comic book/pop culture stuff. I was pleased to discover that 'The Soldier Legacy" Comic books are selling very well in my sunny state, and was honoured to have been interviewed by the show, and mentioned on the blog and podcast, in the same breath as Stewart McKenny and Tom Taylor, and among gentlemen at the con such as Brian Michael Bendis, Carlos Pacheco and Aussie Tristan Jones. All the links below, thanks again guys. I look forward to seeing my nervous stammering through Amanda's questions ;P

The write up: http://girlygeekspeak.com.au/geekspeak/the-soldier-legacy-paul-mason/

The Supanova recap by Geek Speak: http://girlygeekspeak.com.au/blog/geek-speaks-supanova-experience/


The kind mention in the Post Supanova podcast: http://girlygeekspeak.com.au/podcasts/geek-speak-live-podcast-7/