have wings, will travel

Check out my new business card.  It combines the image from Escape From Blanderburg with the recurring sketchbook motif in my work, emphasizing the unpolished nature of my universe. You can get one of these from me at Comicpalooza this weekend. Look for me. I won’t have a table, but I will be there Friday and Saturday and on Saturday morning I will be on two panels: a zine panel at 9am and an indie comics panel at 10 am.

Saturday

Underground in H-Town with Miranda Schott, Lindsey Simard, shane patrick boyle and Damian Louis Morales 9:00–9:50 am • Panel Room 3 • PG Houston area creators of zines and minicomics discuss Zine Fest Houston, DIY publishing and the Texas alternative arts scene.

H-Town Indie Comics … with shane patrick boyle, Dirk Strangely and Paul Maybury 10:00–10:50 am • Panel Room 3 • PG Comic creators from Houston talk about what goes into breaking into the local scene and tips every Texas artist should know.

Comicpalooza takes place at the George R. Brown Center.


i think i know this guy

Check it out. Examiner.Com’s Pam Harrison did a profile on me at Examiner.Com.

http://www.examiner.com/article/independent-comic-artist-spotlight-shane-patrick-boyle

 

the Crisis on Infinite Earths had a major impact on me. Not just my comics, but my life. My continuity has been constantly rebooting since the original Crisis.”

 


cluttered mind

This illustration depicts an artist’s (or writer’s) struggle to process all the clutter in their head and figure out how to put it down on paper. It was originally drawn as a page in a 24 hour comic I did on 24 Hour Comics Day 2005. The comic was printed as shane #5 and the image was re-used as the back cover. Since then it has appeared as two different sized prints on t-shirts, on a canvas, on a sketch journal cover and most recently as the cover of the envelope for the shane Starter Pack.

Cluttered Mind 11X14 signed and numbered print on white cardstock shipped in poster tube $12 postpaid

shane Starter Kit $32 postpaid

(For t-shirts and other Cluttered Mind merchandise, please inquire.)

For ordering info, contact: shane.patrick.boyle@gmail.com

A partial view of the Cluttered Mind shirt (one of many versions available). Books not included.


some important writing advice (link)

Comic Book Writer Paul Tobin, writing for the Night Bazaar blog, recently offered some good advice for male writers writing female characters. Think of them as people.

“In writing, once a gender is established… it’s often best to leave it alone. A  woman does not need to walk to the door with a decided roll to her hips  that a man would not have. She just walks to the damn door. Likewise, a  man does not need to reach out for a cup of coffee, all the time  grunting, thinking about football, about how hard it is to follow a map, and  how much he believes he could beat a tiger in a knife fight… the way we  guys are always thinking.”

It’s actually pretty basic advice, but so many writers, particularly in genre fiction and comics, are better at creating aliens that act convincingly human than at writing convincing female characters. (And if you believe women are like aliens, you will probably have problems not only with your fiction writing, but also in real life.)

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http://night-bazaar.com/roll-out-the-roles.html


Are Comics Maps?

Reblogged from :

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Comics scholars often compare comics to maps, and sometimes claim outright that comics are a type of map. There is nothing wrong with this  as a useful metaphor – there is clearly some sense of the verb “to map” such that comics map (fictional) three-dimensional spaces onto (real) two-dimensional pages, and a much more mysterious sense in which comics map the dynamic (again, fictional) passage of time onto static images on (again, real) paper.

Read more… 387 more words

"Pencil, Panel, Page: Questions About Comics" is my favorite comics blog and today's topic relates to Dylan Horrocks' Hicksville, which is one of my favorite graphic novels.
Continue reading

flying man/ walking man

Waliking Man doing what Walking Man does. This scene takes place on Heights Blvd. between 10th and 9th.

 

Flying Man and Walking Man are probably my two best known characters (with the possible exception of myself).  Even though they have only appeared in one story each (so far), they are the Superman and Batman of my universe except they don’t really do what Superman and Batman do. Flying Man just flies and Walking Man just walks. Well, Superman flies too, but Flying Man just flies. He doesn’t have x-ray or heat vision or super strength and he can’t even fly very fast. Also, within his story, he doesn’t actually doing flying (though it is established that he can). Not only do we not see him fly in this story, but we never see him in costume. Mostly, he just has a conversion with his ex girlfriend. Walking Man does walk and doesn’t talk (at least not in his first appearance), but people do talk about him. He is sort of a legend.

Both stories were conceived around the same time in late 2003, early 2004, but Flying Man debuted first as a mini comic called Flying Man: An Illustrated Story in early 2004.  Later that year Flying Man was reprinted along with the debut of Walking Man in shane # 2. The juxtaposition of these stories was intentional, as they thematically played off of each other. The two stories didn’t directly cross over, but both characters did appear together on a holiday card in 2005.  The Walking Man story also appeared by itself as an unofficial Free Comic Book Day comic in 2005 and for a Walking Man became the mascot of a Walk-On Houston, a short-lived organization dedicated to encouraging Houstonians to walk more and drive less. Walking Man was later launched in 2008 as a seperate mini comic while Flying Man remained out of print for a while. In 2010, they were finally rejoined under one cover, as Flying Man/ Walking Man and the following year, a prose adaptation of Flying Man appeared. The following year, I published a prose version of Flying Man.

Flying Man/ Walking Man and the Flying Man Prose Special are still available. More appearances of both characters are being written as we speak. They will, of course, crossover with each other and they will also be interacting with the rest of the characters of my universe.  I am  working on films based on  the original stories for both characters and, in the nearer future, I am planning a deluxe version of Walking Man.

Flying Man, out of costume and not flying, but just sitting down for coffee with his ex-girlfriend. Laura. From the front cover of Flying Man/ Walking Man (reprinting shane # 2).

Flying Man/ Walking Man: $4 postpaid.

Flying Man Prose Special: $4 postpaid

Both: $6 postpaid

(Both books are also included with all copies of the shane Starter Pack)

To place an order, email me: shane.patrick.boyle@gmail.com

Flying Man, Walking Man, Laura, and the dude who claims to know the Walking Man appeared on this 2005 holiday card along with some other characters from my universe, including myself.

“It’ll only take you 3 minutes or so to read, but you’ll remember it vividly.” Review of  Flying Man: An Illustrated Story on the BookCrossing website by “Thinkbolt” (I like how this reviewer classifies the genre as romance.)


comicpalooza is coming

Comicpalooza’s logo is shaped like a word balloon, because Comicpalooza is what everyone in Houston is talking about right now.

Comicpalooza, the Texas International Comic Con, is coming to the the George R. Brown Convention Center May 25-27. This is the fifth Comicpalooza and their third year in the George R. Brown Covention Center. The first Comicpalooza took place in the lobby of a movie theater. It was smaller than Ted Closson’s miniature convention that took place recently as a performance piece in an exhibit in the gallery at DiverseWorks (or roughly the size of the first Zine Fest Houston). The following year, they moved to West Oaks Mall. Since moving to the convention center, they have expanded the amount of space they occupy every year. At this rate, they will eventually outgrow the convention center. Maybe on day, it will be a city wide festival.

All aspects of comics, science fiction and media fandom are represented at Comicpalooza from the super, in your face mainstream to the invisible underground and small press. I will be there as the one of the representaties of the lower end. On Saturday the 26th at 9am, I will be on a panel about the Houston Zine Scene with Jason Poland, Lindsey Simard, Miranda Schott and Damian Morales, so mark your calendar and set your alarm clock. If that seems early, just keep in mind that registration starts at 9am and the dealers room opens at 10, so that gives you something to do for the first hour of the convention. However, to make sure you don’t miss any of the panel, be sure to get your tickets in advance. If you do miss it, I will also be on an idependent comics panel at 11am.

The big news about Comicpalooza, however, is that George Takei will be there. Takei played Sulu in the original Star Trek series and plays Hologramps on the Nickoledeon series Supah Ninjas. As a child during World War II, Takei was  held in a US run internment camp for Asian Americans and is today part of the effort to make sure this sad chapter of history is not forgotten. A few years ago, he came out and since then he has been a high profile advocate for lgbt rights and a strong opponent to bullying. He is best known, however, as one of the funniest people on Facebook. Chances are, you are probably friends with him, but even if you never heard of him, some of your friends have probably reposted his clever memes.

Takei will be doing two panels. The first is a panel on Cultural Representation in Science Fiction at 3pm on Saturday the 26th. The second is a general panel at noon on Sunday the 27th. I am particularly looking forward to the first one as my primary interest in Science Fiction is in how it can function as social commentary. The first of of a two part interview with Takei, conducted by Neil Ellis Orts, appears in the current issue of OutSmart.


shane # 6: scenes from gay bars

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In my previous post, I talked about how one of my earliest sketchbook comics (shane #4: Season Finale) came about. After completing that project, I went through a more intense than usual phase phase of carryying  a sketchbook with me nearly everytime I went out in public  — to coffee shops, to restraunts, to musical performances and parties, but mostly during this period I carried it to bars, particularly the gay bars in Montrose where I lived at the time. I also developed the habit of ccasionally dividing the sketchbook pages into panels.

In 2006, I decided to do another sketchbook issue of shane. This time, when I went through the sketchbooks, looking for common themes, gay bars stood out. It seems during this period of my life, I spent quite a bit of time at one in particular, The Montrose Mining Company.

I put  together a 48 page book in the small format known to verteran zinesters as “true mini comic size” (4.5×5.5) which first appeared as a part of an APA called Shiot Crock and was later reprinted as shane # 6. With all the sketches I had in this genre, I could easily have put together 2 more such books. In the three years following, my sketchbooks and I became a regulars at the Montrose Mining Company and I created many more sketches there.

This represents some of my most sketchy work.  On the pages I reproduced, I left the drawings in the sketchbooks while reproducing them, even including the spiral edges, to call attention to the fact that they came from a sketchbooks. For the most part, they were drawn in dark bars, usually while smoking with the other hand, sometimes while drunk. There is a sense of urgency here, as I attempt to draw people who are constantly moving.  “Sketches of faces, conversations, the odd butt here and there, a barely heard conversation. It’s a fascinating wordless little book, but it’s sloppy as can be (as it is all taken from a sketchbook, probably in a darkened bar)  . . . . ” is the way one reviewer (Kevin Bramer of Optical Sloth) described it in his mixed review.

Once upon a time, you could buy your copy of shane # 6 directly from me if you saw me sitting at the bar, sketching at the Montrose Company Company and if you also bought me a Shiner and let me bum  a cigarette from you, I would even draw a quick sketch on the inside cover. These days, however, I don’t drink, I quit , I no longer live in Montrose and shane #6 is out of print (though leftover copies are occasional included as part of the shane Starter Pack), but a new edition under the original title, Scenes From Gay Bars will soon be available. To be notified when I start taking orders for this book, email me: shane.patrick.boyle@gmail.com


shane # 4: season finale

 

shane # 4 was the product of an exercise to prepare for 24 Hour Comics Day 2005. The idea was to fill up two entire sketchbooks (150 pages each) with comics as quickly as possible. It was not important to tell a story or even to include word. I just divided the pages into panels and began filling panels with images.

I carried the sketchbooks with me wherever I went: to coffeeshops, to bars, to work, to the park and Rothko Chapel and even to parties. Naturally, many of the images I drew were influenced by what I saw (people at parties, a pirate, sculptures, the interior of the Rothko Chapel etc.). but I also drew from the strange things in my imagination. In most panels, imagination and reality merged and  mixed with other weird random shit. Most of the pages were wordless, but a few stray lines overheard in conversation found their way in.

In just a few days, I filled up both sketchbooks. When I was done, I went through and picked out 24 pages and arranged them in an order that seemed to be telling a story. There was, in fact, no story except for the narrative that readers created on their own. The effect I was going for was something like watching a critical episode of a very strange television series (think Twin Peaks or Lost) with the volume turned off for most of the episode when you have never seen any previous episodes. In my mind, it was a tv show called Season Finale.

shane #4 is currently out of print, but remaining copies are often included with the shane Starter Pack. I plan to reprint this issue soon, under the title, Season Finale. To be notified when it is available, email me: shane.patrick.boyle@gmail.com

 

 

 


gotham comes to blanderburg

This drawing, titled Blanderburg Gothic (or Gotham Comes to Blanderburg) is available as a full color, signed and numbered  cardstock print in 8.5×11 and 11×14. The smaller one is $11 postpaid, mailed flat and the larger one ships in a poster tube for $20 postpaid. To order, email me: shane.patrick.boyle@gmail.com


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