Ashcan Press

Well this is a weird one. If you know what statements I made on twitter why wouldn’t you just ask me on twitter? Anyway, no, obviously I fucking won’t do that. That is crazy as hell. I am not sure what statements you think I should be retracting but I will attempt to respond to this as best I can.

Firstly, just because Comixology made a statement in the face of an uproar does not mean I take it at face value. I don’t know what happened really, but it is odd to pull a very profitable book because you “guessed” that your business partners wouldn’t like it. At best this is a small mistake for Comixology and Apple but could be a huge one for Fiona Staples, Brian Vaughan, and Image. So no, that is not a reason to sing the praises of Comixology and Apple. They fucked up. People called them out on it. That’s what is supposed to happen.

Now I made two statements about SAGA. The one I liked more was the one where I told Applebee’s to fuck off, stick to Onion Bursts, and leave Saga alone. I wouldn’t apologize for that because it was comedy gold.

The other statement was something along the lines of “I know it’s already been said but nothing good comes from the corporate control of art.” If that is what you are referring to obviously that is not something I would retract. That is art 101. That is basic humanity. Yesterday Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples got fucked over by some weird corpo bullshit. It turns out that bullshit was Comixology guessing what Apple wanted? Well guess what? That is bad for both of them. Why does Apple have rules that their business partners have to guess at? Why do their business partners assume they are at best anti-sex and at worst homophobic? And why does Comixology self-censor rather than letting Apple decide what is ok for Apple? Why do the small people on the totem (and the people who make the thing they all profit off of) get fucked over by guesswork and vague, semi-enforced, and seemingly random guidelines? Now my shot was not specific to Apple or Comixology (both corporations who profit off other people’s art) anymore than it was to Best Buy, NBC, Disney, or any other multitude of corporations who profit from, censor, and control peoples art. However it is interesting that alien sex, lesbian sex, robot sex, orgies, and monster genitals do not set off whatever red flags went off. I am not a conspiracy theorist but my guess is someone, somewhere saw a dick they didn’t like on the pages of SAGA and decided their day would be easier if nobody else saw it. They were clearly wrong. Their day probably sucked. Either way that is not a healthy way to treat art (or business for that matter).

All of that is ignoring the fact that all of this is over a drawing of a dick. What a sad, sad shame that we can see all of the violence, hate, and degradation that these companies can pass through their doors but a picture of a perfectly nice thing to do to a dick makes them freak out. Maybe that is American culture’s fault and they just react, but someone, let’s call them Brian and Fiona, thought it was ok. I will side with them on this because it is. We are adults. Let’s not be scared to act like it and treat each other like it.

Now I don’t have any problem with Comixology. I have some good friends who work there, they have always been nice to me, and I think they do a good job of expanding the comic audience. That doesn’t mean that when they fuck up they are beyond reproach. And as for Apple, they devalue art while robbing artists, they contribute to a level of material elitism that is borderline dangerous, their culture of planned obsolescence is environmentally catastrophic, and they make overpriced shit using near slave labor. So fuck them. Fuck them with all the dicks they don’t want you to see.

In the end though, the real point is neither of these corporations know I said anything. It didn’t impact them in any way. And even if they knew it wouldn’t matter because they don’t have feelings. But Brian and Fiona and the fans of SAGA who were mistreated do. So I said some pretty mild shit in defense of artists against faceless corporations. No apologies. Seems like I bummed you out and I guess I am sorry about that. But my advice to you is maybe start worrying a little less about the corporations who might have got their feelings hurt and a little more about the almost infinite amount of shit that is worth worrying about in this world.

And if you are the social media person from Applebees, I am sorry. It was a joke. Your food sucks though.

First of all, welcome back to comics. It’s always nice to see people passionate about the things you are passionate about. Comics and music are the mediums that resonate most with me and I sadly have almost 0 musical ability so here I am. I think the same goes for Patrick but he makes a ton of music, once again proving that passion will always trump ability. That’s a good life lesson I guess. Anyway, yours is a pretty common story that I think will become even more common in the future with the medium continuing to grow up along with it’s readers.

As for creating your own book, it’s an admirable goal, but one you need to really define more clearly (to yourself, not me. I don’t really matter in this equation). Is your goal to simply tell a story? Do you want it to get published? Do you want to make something you will be proud of in 10, 20, 50 years?

If you don’t want to make comics as a profession then don’t enroll in an illustration course. Don’t pay money for someone to teach you how to do something you are doing for fun. Just draw. Draw until you don’t hate what you are making. Walt Stanchfield famously said “We all have 10,000 bad drawings in us. The sooner we get those out the better.” He was speaking to illustrators, but the same is true for lay people, the number is just much much higher. Obviously there is a ton of technical stuff that classes, school, apprenticeships, and actual work will teach you. Drawing is both a talent and a craft. Some people are just born great and don’t need to work at it, some are born with no talent and just work their way to greatness, but usually it’s a combination of both. If you don’t have any talent at 25 you will have a long and brutal road to being a published artist. (If you are actually talented then fuck yes, by all means take classes and make comics. We could use you.) But none of that matters if you just want to make a comic for you. Just make it. If you don’t like it, try and figure out what you don’t like it and fix it. Do this for the rest of your life.

If you are looking to make something that will stand the test of time in your mind I am not sure I can help you. I hate every single thing I have ever done. I am a neurotic mess but if I had my way I would rewrite every word I have ever written every day. Nothing ever feels good to me. I love that, but it means that I don’t yet have any work I am truly proud of. All I can offer is give it your all and if you don’t like it in a few years (or months or days) do it again. It’s just your time.

I will offer one more piece of advice. I can’t draw. Patrick can’t draw. That is in no way a barrier to making comics. While writing isn’t as glamorous as art, it is as essential and it is making comics. Almost anyone can write a script, literally. Obviously writing, like art, is both a skill and a craft, but the general bar is lower. You can hire a good artist to draw your piece of shit script and some people will dig it. Writing is also a lot less technical than pencilling. If you have a relatable or interesting story you can power through a lot of the “rules” and still get your story out. I read books every day that have major plot, structure, character, and just general problems. They still get made and in some ways they still work. Just deciding you are a writer means you probably aren’t going to drop a masterpiece on the world, but you are more likely to make something palatable than deciding you are an artist.

I (Matthew) will be at MoCCA for a few hours on Saturday to hang with friends. Maybe on Sunday, depending on my mood, the stars, and who wants to sneak me a pass. Patrick will be upstate recording vocals for his other band Drug Church. We didn’t get a table this year because last year nobody gave a fuck about us at MoCCA, but if you want anything from us let me know and I will bring it and try to find you.

Good news! With THE URN #2 finally coming along we are feeling good about putting THE URN #1 up for sale places other than conventions. We are hoping to have our webstore go live in the next month. Please don’t die before you can send us money for the comic.

Hey. Good news. You can probably still call, email, or stop into your local comic shop and ask them to order the book. It would be a huge help to us if you did too. Orders are due on Friday I believe. Many shops probably already ordered their books for the month but good shops are always happy to tack on an order for a customer. Make their lives easier and give them this code: MAR130906
Also, if you don’t have a shop use www.comicshoplocator.com to find one.