Shifts in Story Making

From comics to cinema to comix

As I type this, I have a Superman story that I illustrated (written by Sina Grace & colored by Patricia Mulvihill) coming out in SUPERMAN: KAL-EL RETURNS Special #1 the week after Thanksgiving, and the eighth installment of my BILLY DOGMA story being serialized in the IMAGE! 30th ANNIVERSARY anthology is landing the day before Thanksgiving. I'm currently a week or so away from completing a new comix collaboration with Nightwork Studio mate, Whitney Matheson (stay tuned for details), and I have no other paid work lined up. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. But I'm not freaking out.

Yet.

I've grown accustomed to the ebb and flow of the freelance life. I've experienced the terrifying lulls. I have faith that -- as long as I put myself out there -- the work will come but the truth is I have to work harder these days to develop stories for the market. And the older I get (I'm 55 now) the less interested I am in the business of comics -- probably because I'm not very good at it (and because I never really wanted an agent or a manager; the people with their ear to the ground and the Rolodex). Ultimately, I'd rather write and draw a project I have passion for than one that only pays the rent. 

Comix will always be my favorite storytelling format. All it takes is an idea, a blank piece of paper and a pencil (or a digital tablet) to visualize a story. But, at this crossroad in my life, I wonder if I should take my own advice -- the very thing I would tell a friend or a veteran peer aching to create something different -- and try to write and direct a feature film.

(((GASP)))

I've just finished the first draft of a screenplay. I'm not quitting comix but I'm not ready to empty my bank account and accrue credit card debt just yet. I know some folks in the film industry and I'm gonna lean on some friends for advice and favors. Ask them to read what I wrote. See if its got legs. Devise some calculated risks and double-down on my desire.

Meanwhile, I've cracked a possible Kickstarter comix project. Something I wrote in the middle of the pandemic. A cockamamie love story set in the not-too-distant future that would appeal to fans of Judge Dredd and The Toxic Avenger. I'll keep y'all posted because I'm gonna need each and every one of you to help me realize this independent swerve in my career.

I don't usually discuss the books I read because, frankly, I don't read enough books. But here's a couple of books I recently liked:

NO ENCORE FOR THE DONKEY by Doug Stanhope. My favorite living comedian, this is Stanhope's third memoir, and it's just as good if not better than his first two. The man has a provocative and salacious way with words that begs re-reading AS YOU READ IT (akin to three punchlines per joke) and, for a self-admitted jerk, Doug (who I once met at a rest stop where he gifted me a rainbow flag that I still have in the glove compartment of my car) has a heart the size of New Mexico and would happily crash a mental ward to make sure everyone wearing a straitjacket had the last laugh.

CINEMA SPECULATION by Quentin Tarantino. Honestly, this book could've been edited a bit but then we'd lose Tarantino's conversational cadence which I've come to enjoy in a William Goldman way. This book could easily serve as a semester of cinema where Tarantino talks about a handful of movies that influenced him (for better or for worse) that also ties into movie history. Some of it is enlightening and some of it is autobiographical (my favorite parts). None of it is academic (thank god). "Quint" talks about the power of his mother Connie's attitude towards cinema and the permission it granted him which is quite lovely. My father was a lot like Quentin's mother when it came to letting me watch challenging stuff at an inappropriate age, fomenting a desire to indulge and, maybe one day, truly contribute to the medium (I believe I was ten years old when I saw a revival of William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST in the movie theater). The last chapter is almost unexpected yet bittersweet. It made me cry.

Speaking of cinema, here are some recent movies I watched and liked, a lot:

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, directed by Edward Berger
PLEASURE, directed by Ninja Thyberg
COPSHOP, directed by Joe Carnahan
BOSS LEVEL, directed by Joe Carnahan

DRESSED TO KILL, directed by Brian De Palma (The Criterion Collection version). I saw this movie when it came out (I was 13. Thanks, dad!) and I forgot how much of it plays almost like a silent film. Killer cinema!

HALLOWEEN ENDS directed by David Gordon Green. A surprising and entertaining twist on the Michael Myers myth. I enjoyed it despite what I felt was the miscasting of the male lead (sorry) who I wanted to root for more than I did. Like the fan backlash of the original Halloween 3, I feel this movie will ultimately recommend itself. Curious to see what they do next with the franchise.

On the book docket:

THE WHEEL OF DOLL by my good friend Jonathan Ames
ALL THE WOMEN IN MY BRAIN by Betty Gilpin
LIFE'S WORK by David Milch
CORNROWS AND CORNFIELDS by Celeste Doaks
NOT WITHOUT OUR LAUGHTER, Poems of Humor, Joy, & Sexuality by Black Ladies Brunch Collective, edited by Celeste Doaks
THE SCARECROW ALIBI by Denver Butson
SECRET IDENTITY by Alex Segura
FOLLOW ME DOWN by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
KEEPING TWO by Jordan Crane
INVISIBLE WOUNDS by Jess Ruliffson
CATWOMAN: LONELY CITY by Cliff Chiang

I got to enjoy a theatrical version of my short film, THERE IS NO TRY, performed November 16-19th, 2022 at Rutgers University via the Rutgers-NJIT theater program. "The Directors' Project" was coordinated by Emily Edwards (of IT'S GETTING TIRED MILDRED alumni) and featured eleven short plays by eleven emerging directors and actors. My play was directed by Christian Gonzales, starring Lucas Valerio Melo and Michael Kruk. BIG UPS to them and to Emily for recruiting me in the first place and realizing my short film into a play. There truly is nothing like theater, an experience-only effort that remains in the heart and mind.

And, if you haven't already, you can watch my version of THERE IS NO TRY made during my film school boot camp at The Manhattan Film Institute earlier this year:

Also, our short film, DENNY BARRACUDA is online for a buck ninety-nine!

It was written by Whitney Matheson and directed by Shannon Goldman, starring Madeleine Morrell and Lawrence Trailer, and co-produced by me.

Watch the trailer!

SAVE THE DATES:

Visit painter Jen Ferguson’s open studio on Saturday, December 10th, 2022 from Noon to 4pm. A part of Shop The Studios in DUMBO, BK/NY.

TIME CAPSULE: Look at us in 2010 at King Con, Brooklyn, NY. In the background we can see the late/great Seth Kushner talking to my gal/painter Jen Ferguson while Jonathan Ames and I wax about what makes Brooklyn great...

Gobble Gobble!
xo
--Dean

SCENE BY SCENE WITH JOSH & DEAN is a podcast I did with Josh Neufeld that breaks down the film American Splendor, Harvey Pekar's legacy and growing up making comix in NYC.

Instagram / Twitter / Website/Blog