First off, there are no Holger Danske related updates to relate. Why? Well, let's get to that in a later post so we don't lose momentum like a comic book project going nowhere fast...
On the upside, Cody and I have finally cracked the published world with the advent of THE ENERGY TRADER which was published on November 8th by Cloudscape Comics in their e-anthology EPIC CANADIANA. It is available for purchase on their website as a downloadable PDF. It retails for $2.95 and Cody and I even get a kickback! That is something to smile about--though, I haven't gone out and bought an island in anticipation of selling the film rights just yet. I can't speak for Cody, though. He's reckless like that.
Another positive bit of news is that I finally received the feedback we were promised for our story that we submitted to Top Cow Comics talent hunt last year. Obviously, we didn't win a chance to write or draw for Top Cow, however, the experience was useful nonetheless. Unfortunately, the feedback was only on the story and not the art which I assure you, was up to Cody's usual perfectionistic standards. The critique was the first of its kind that I have ever received on any work that I have submitted anywhere. The conscientious reviewer at Top Cow gave praise and suggestions for improvement and said that our action beats were excellent and that our characterizations of their established characters were spot on. He suggested tightening dialogue further, meaning that everything that doesn't directly move the plot forward should go. Always a tricky balance to strike but especially true in the case of comic books where brevity is the soul of 22 page story arcs. He also said that we had talent and that we would be a major contender in their contest this year.
Alas. We aren't participating this year. However, it is nice to know that we aren't missing the mark by a mile but by inches. The problem is, a miss by inches is still a miss. But we aren't completely crazy in pursuing this--apparently, we just need to be rejected a few more times in order to refine our craft. (Or, maybe we'll have it down for next time. That would be amazing.)
(I sent a thank you email for his feedback and heard back immediately. He was just saying thanks for my thanks--completely unnecessary! I need to find a way to harness that sort of responsiveness for queries. )
