Wonder Woman Artist Interview!

Drew Johnson talked to Newsarama about his upcoming Wonder Woman stint. He has a change of style in store for us:

I'm in a different place artistically than I was on my previous run with Greg. I feel like I have a better understanding of how to tell a story visually than I did back then---I learned a lot about that working from Keith Giffen's layouts on 52 recently.

In terms of drawing, I relied heavily on photo reference for just about every figure I drew during my last work on Wonder Woman - in fact Greg choreographed and posed for all of our fight scenes during our run. Since then, I've gotten away from photo reffing figures.

My wife Karen is an animator, and when we were first going out, she introduced me to a whole new set of artistic influences and more fluid, gestural ways of drawing the figure. I've been lucky enough to get to work on my pages at a desk in her studio sometimes over the last year and a half, and getting to watch her and other animators draw really inspired me to loosen up my figures--to make 'em look less posed. My art style, I hope, looks a bit more evolved since I last worked on Wonder Woman.

Also, this sketch spoils a supporting cast member, and the interview implies that the Dodsons will be back after this run is over. But I haven't heard any rumors about the writer to follow Piccoult yet.

To My Older Sister,

During the winter holiday season, when the days get shorter and the nights get longer, and the primal fear of the sun never rising again reaches its height, I feel an irrational need to tell members of my family things that I've kept to myself all year long. Since today is the Winter Solstice, that irrational feeling is at its peak. So in the spirit of the season and for my own peace of mind, I have a special holiday message for you:

I want my copy of Soulwind back.

I know you still have it somewhere.

Season's Greetings,
-- Your Younger Sister.

From Doctor Mid-Nite #1:

This is amusing.

On Tamora Pierce's post about writing female heroes, a livejournal user with the name gailsimone1 comments here. That journal has no public content, and no one friended to view any locked content.

This empty livejournal now has 38 people waiting for her to write in it.

I can't help but think of that interview where she said she didn't find herself all that fascinating.

My newest online obsession

This may be useful for those of you who'd like to catalogue your trade paperbacks online, or maybe look at people with similar collections.

They allow up to 200 books with a free account. I couldn't stop there, though. I have maybe a third of my own personal library on there, and I haven't even gotten to the shelf that is filled with trade paperbacks. It's a bit addictive.

I might put a widget on the sidebar later, when I'm done with my entire collection or I just get bored enough not to enter any more.

(Found through Composite)

For Insight

Try Tamora Pierce's livejournal. Especially the part about people who ask her why she writes female character:

It really hurts when girls ask me this. Are they so beaten down by our culture's superior value on boys that they don't understand why someone would prefer to write for them, showcasing their strengths and possibilities? Do they find it so strange that someone would willingly showcase them? So brainwashed that they think there's something wrong with me that I prefer it, or that I prefer girl heroes, and not princesses, or princesses in disguise, or orphans in quest of families, or loner socialites, or rocker wanna-bes, or girl victims? (Not that I don't value the books in which girls begin as victims--I read them myself, and really like the way the characters learn what's going find strength and a way out. But I prefer a different approach, and when girls ask me why I'm doing it, I need to start asking, "Why aren't more people doing it? Aren't you worth as many heroes as the boys get?"

So far, this has been a bad winter for blogging.

However, I still have time to stop in and accept my Time Magazine Person of the Year Award, or rather, my tiny portion of it as a comics blogger.

The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals — citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web.

I'd like to thank my parents, misogynistic fanboys, and Green Lantern's Butt. (Via)