Artist
Emily DeJesus recalls a time when her husband, artist Robert DeJesus,
was told by Marvel Comics that he needed to stop drawing in the
Japanese manga style and create characters in the American comics style
because "Manga is never going to make it in the American market." To
which Emily responded at a Nekocon panel, "See how wrong they are."
Manga graphic novels are among the strongest sellers in the U.S. comics
industry, and those publications that are based on the Japanese
tankobon compilations have knocked the wind out of the monthly small
pamphlet comics. They've also inspired a generation of American comics
artists that emulate the manga style and look for success in that
genre. Among the hopefuls are Damien and Trish of Novablade Studios,
who are among the artists who want to ride the web comic example to
commercial success. "It's been interesting to watch, starting from
nothing to getting the point that people pay attention to you," Damien
said at an interview session. "Slowly but surely, if you keep
pressing toward your dreams, it'll work out."
Novablade
has a goal of creating original stories and characters, and Damien said
it was hard to get the point across when they started with print
binders of their sample works at conventions. Fans gradually had to
accept that Novablade wanted to push their own art, rather than create
fan version of popular anime and manga series. Part of the promotion
was Novablade's web comic, part of the worldwide trend toward creators
releasing their series on the web instead of old-style printed
fanzines. "A web comic is a very good way to promote a project without
spending a ton of money," said Damien. "It's a good way to get
something out - people love the stuff." That is free stuff, of course -
the disadvantage of web comics is that their relatively low cost also
has few profits, if any. Damien acknowledged that there's little money
coming from their web comic, but they have found it's a good way to
draw people to their work.
Yes,
Damien does resemble longtime semi-pro animator Shawn the Touched, who
also was at the interview session. Shawn has spent a decade working on
his short animations, trying to get his work in front of an audience
and looking for a breakthrough. I kept working on things, kept doing
animation even though there wasn't much of a return at first," Shawn
said. "Eventually there was enough built up that it became something
that allowed me to keep going and make a career out of it." In an era
where Flash is a growing animation medium, the goal still is to find a
way to make money from something that remains a labor of love, he said.
Artist
Emily DeJesus recalls a time when her husband, artist Robert DeJesus,
was told by Marvel Comics that he needed to stop drawing in the
Japanese manga style and create characters in the American comics style
because "Manga is never going to make it in the American market." To
which Emily responded at a Nekocon panel, "See how wrong they are."
Manga graphic novels are among the strongest sellers in the U.S. comics
industry, and those publications that are based on the Japanese
tankobon compilations have knocked the wind out of the monthly small
pamphlet comics. They've also inspired a generation of American comics
artists that emulate the manga style and look for success in that
genre. Among the hopefuls are Damien and Trish of Novablade Studios,
who are among the artists who want to ride the web comic example to
commercial success. "It's been interesting to watch, starting from
nothing to getting the point that people pay attention to you," Damien
said at an interview session. "Slowly but surely, if you keep
pressing toward your dreams, it'll work out."
Novablade
has a goal of creating original stories and characters, and Damien said
it was hard to get the point across when they started with print
binders of their sample works at conventions. Fans gradually had to
accept that Novablade wanted to push their own art, rather than create
fan version of popular anime and manga series. Part of the promotion
was Novablade's web comic, part of the worldwide trend toward creators
releasing their series on the web instead of old-style printed
fanzines. "A web comic is a very good way to promote a project without
spending a ton of money," said Damien. "It's a good way to get
something out - people love the stuff." That is free stuff, of course -
the disadvantage of web comics is that their relatively low cost also
has few profits, if any. Damien acknowledged that there's little money
coming from their web comic, but they have found it's a good way to
draw people to their work.
Yes,
Damien does resemble longtime semi-pro animator Shawn the Touched, who
also was at the interview session. Shawn has spent a decade working on
his short animations, trying to get his work in front of an audience
and looking for a breakthrough. I kept working on things, kept doing
animation even though there wasn't much of a return at first," Shawn
said. "Eventually there was enough built up that it became something
that allowed me to keep going and make a career out of it." In an era
where Flash is a growing animation medium, the goal still is to find a
way to make money from something that remains a labor of love, he said.
