Sketch Fridays #32 – Zion

Apr07
by on 7 April 2017

Sketch Fridays #32 – Zion.

My wife and I recently celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary, kind of. As esoteric as it may seem, the fact that our nuptials are celebrated every year is a nice bonus but is not why my wife and I celebrate on that day since our wedding was, in a sense, our 10th anniversary gift to ourselves. We dated for ten years before getting married, and when we did so, we got married on our dating anniversary. So, instead, we actually recently celebrated our 16th anniversary together (we legitimately got married on our 10th anniversary––to the day), and to do so we did a pretty epic trip through a few of our nation’s most treasured natural gifts.

Our trip was catalyzed by the fact that my wife had never been to the Grand Canyon. I had been twice, but will admittedly reveal that I never really appreciated what I beheld. Part of that makes sense, especially upon this most recent trip––it’s hard to comprehend the vastness before you as you stare into miles of emptiness carved into the earth. I am afflicted with near-sightedness, for which I wear corrective lenses. At many points during our trip, I realized that when I removed my glasses, I could still absorb these vistas with astounding clarity. The one thing I was hoping for, though, was understanding. However, even with my glasses off, the simple act of comprehending such grandiosity didn’t process fully, but more so than before. At some point, I just felt like I was staring at a photograph. The Grand Canyon––as well as Zion National Forest and Bryce Canyon––is so vast that, for whatever reason, its depth evades my perception and, at some point, I’m marveling more at what I know is in front of me rather than what I see.

Sunset at the Grand Canyon. 2017.

Our trip amounted to a big loop. We flew into Las Vegas and drove up to Zion for a few days before hitting Bryce and the Grand Canyon. After those landmarks, we cooled our jets (kind of ) in Sedona before heading back to Vegas to fly home. Overall, it was a satisfying trip and we did a lot, but that first night in Zion encapsulated the scope of what the ensuing week would hold for us, albeit unknowingly.

Our hotel was walking distance from Zion’s entrance. We had a back patio that overlooked an outer Zion wall and even just sitting from the comfort of a hotel patio the scale overwhelmed me. I tried to draw it and the limits of the page kept me from being wholly satisfied. It’s only in hindsight, going to look back at the sketchbook, that I can see––in my estimation––the grandiosity of what I saw translated into sketchy pen marks and rudimentary shading.

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Sketch Fridays #31 – Logan

Mar31
by on 31 March 2017

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Sketch Fridays #31 – Logan. Click to enlarge.

Although it has been nearly a month since Logan was released to theaters, and even though I’ve seen the film twice, I still can’t gather my feelings and thoughts together into a cohesive, singular response. To be honest, I may still be exhausted from the long talk I had about it on my nerd discussion podcast, A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes, where I shared my thoughts about the movie as well as pondered its context within the greater superhero cinema (and my frustrations with both the praise and the criticism the movie drew). The audio link connected to this post is the isolated segment about Logan, in case you wanted to listen to it (though I heartily recommend you go subscribe to the show on iTunes or through whatever podcast feed system you use). My bottom line, however, is just another voice amid the chorus: I very much liked the movie.

More than that, it was inspirational.

My basic approach to creating Long John has been equal parts planning, improvisation, and focused revision. A lot of that was intentional because I didn’t want to sit and deconstruct my favorite westerns or other movies and ask, “What are the best parts from each?” and then compile them into a 150-page genre-referencing pastiche. I wanted it to be “a D. Bethel comic,” representative of my own, innate values and tendencies about storytelling, tone, and theme (and I’m proud to say that it very much is). However, because of the requirement to rely on my own talent and understanding of this world and these characters, I also put a lot of stress on myself. Even though I know I can tell a good story, there’s part of me that still doesn’t trust that I can write a good story. So, there has always been a part of me trying to lay down the track that will lead me all the way to the station at the end.

Up until now, I’ve had broad strokes in mind. Some parts were outlined while others were still gauzy collections of images that I was confident would be sorted out later.

What watching Logan did––and why I’m thankful for it––is tell a completely sober, character-focused story while still being bold and big and a bit ridiculous, too (all terms I would easily use to describe Long John). I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m not a plot-heavy writer. I like characters and watching them move forward; I like getting into people’s personalities and showing their flaws and nuances. I like to break them down and build them back up (for readers of my previous comic, see this in action with the character Ninja Dan’s arc through the storyline, “3-Ring Bound”). That is exciting for me, even if all of that happens during the course of a car ride. That is what Logan does to its title character and it’s really kind of beautiful.

It showed me that a character-focused story (again, the plot is pretty simple, much like Long John. In Logan, the plot is simple, “He takes a child north”) but its success proves that simple can be engaging if the characters are rich and volatile enough. Rather than being a direct influence, Logan ended up being the pep talk I needed. And now, Long John‘s track runs all the way to the station and I couldn’t be more excited about getting the train there.

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Part of the Plan: Kyrun Silva

Mar20
by on 20 March 2017

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Part of the Plan is a proposed interview series about process where D. Bethel talks to creative people of all media about how they make their work. It’s an investigation into the process of creativity that threads together the spectrum of all creative people from popular culture to strict academia. It’s a celebration and critical investigation into how people make stuff.

Shaman’s Destiny creator, Kyrun Silva, loves comics absolutely. I’ve said it before, but with as cynical as I can get, especially with superhero comics, Kyrun can show up and all of a sudden, I’m talking about ’90s X-Men and early Image Comics work (like WildC.A.T.s, Deathblow, Youngblood, and Spawn) with as much vigor as I had when I was neck-deep in it as a teenager. Kyrun is able to bring any of your latent fandom out and elevates your current fandom to new heights, his passion for the form is infectious and toxic (in a good way). By the time we finished the hour-long session to record his interview, I was well and ready to record another hour solely talking about ’90s comics (and we’ll get to it eventually, but probably for my weekly nerd discussion podcast).

Kyrun Silva. Creator of Shaman’s Destiny and founder of Big Tree Comics.

His book, Shaman’s Destiny, is Kyrun’s spin on the format and stories he has loved since he was a child, and the passion breaks through in the layouts and art of the book. There’s a deep reverence for the characters and the story they play a part in. It is almost a metanarrative––it’s like these characters know they’re in a comic and wholly respect the job they’ve been tasked to do and do so in as epic a style as possible.

It’s funny that Rob Liefeld is Kyrun’s favorite artist because Liefeld is the person of whom Kyrun reminds me the most. Say what you want about Liefeld––and I’ve certainly said things––the dude is not only one of the most famous (and infamous) comic creators of all time, but through all of his years writing and drawing comics and all the ups and downs he has experienced, Liefeld is still a super fan. He loves comics and even if you have nothing but vitriol for his art and business practices, to a point where you actually have personal feelings about him as a person, I dare you to watch an interview with Liefeld and smile. He loves comics and is still so exhaustingly jazzed about them. So pumped is he about the medium that your fires naturally get stoked, too. Kyrun has that same energy and passion and it’s fantastic to be around. If there’s anything I learned about how Kyrun makes comics during the talk I had about the process with him, is that he trusts that passion and love for the medium and it guides his hand from pencil to ink to print.

Cover for Shaman’s Destiny #5. Art by Kyrun Silva and Michael Dorman. Check out the Kickstarter campaign to collect the series as a trade paperback collection.

Be sure to check out his Kickstarter campaign to collect all six issues of Shaman’s Destiny in to a trade paperback collection (I think I have a pinup of the main character, Malik, in issue #5) at btcreates.com before it ends on March 31. A pledge of $20 gets you a physical copy of the trade itself.

Thanks again to Kyrun for letting me test out this idea on him. If more Part of the Plan interviews get made, the structure may change and bend as I figure out exactly what I want it to be, but even in this primordial stage a lot of good stuff came out of the conversation and I couldn’t have had a better first subject for this potential series. Once I get my bearings to the point where I can have fun conversation and probe even deeper into interesting thoughts and issues, I’d love to bring Kyrun back for a round 2 (and, ultimately, that talk about ’90s comics!).

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