Ways to Send Me Money (and Get Good Stuff Too!)

This might just fall on deaf ears, but this is a period where, without sharing too much, Some money coming in would be handy. I don't ask for charity, but would love to send you stuff in exchange for funds. There are many ways you can do this:

I'm available for commissions. 

These will not be sketches, but fully rendered drawings, detail depending on the subject you request, but the samples below show how I work. All drawings will be on 8 1/2" x 11" card stock, making them easy to find a frame for. Depending on the subject matter, the medium will be charcoal or ink. Either way, you'll have a nice darkly rendered drawing to show off. The price for a drawing is $25, as long as you're not asking for more than three people in it. After three, add $5 per person.

I'll also do 5" x 8 1/2" for $10, with the same level of detail as the larger drawings.

For those that are really ambitious, 11" x 17" are available for $40, $75 with color.

I hear you asking, how will this work?

First off, e-mail me at jerrydstanford@gmail.com or contact me through Facebook if you friend me there and let me know what you want. If you want a likeness of someone, send me a photo. I draw comics, but for you, I'll draw just about anything. When I'm done, I'll e-mail you a watermarked scan of your drawing, at a resolution of 72 dpi.

Here are some samples:

How do you get money to me? I prefer PayPal, but you can mail me a check, if you want. Once I have the money, I'll mail you your drawing in a plastic sleeve and inside a reinforced envelope, clearly marked "DO NOT BEND." If you have trouble with your mailman bending your large mail to fit, consider having it sent to a work address.

Buy a book.

I have three books available for purchase directly here.

Jet-Pack Jenny and the Factor of 01 is a story of intrigue featuring androids that explores current themes of prejudice and civil rights. Includes guest artwork and complete annotations.

$10.00 with free shipping!

If you're outside the US and want to order a book, just let me know!

 

The Art of Stan Ford is the first full-color collection of artwork done in the years spanning the run of Jet-Pack Jenny and the Factor of 01. 36 pages of artwork, commentary, & sketches.

$10.00 w/ free shipping!

The Mall Preview is a 20 page mini-comic following three characters in a small city where chain stores are affecting locally-run businesses.

50 cents plus the cost of a stamp.

Buy Original Artwork Through Etsy

I am selling original artwork, mainly Alphababes postings through Etsy. There are also some neat little extras there like a Jet-Pack Jenny e-book and a great Doctor Who drawing. Here's some samples:

Those are the ways to help me out a little. Everything is appreciated.

AlphaBabes: Brenda Starr, Reporter

Dan DiDio is Wrong

I've been hesitant to talk too much about the Watchmen prequels. While the situation irritates me from a creative standpoint (read: no imagination to do a sequel or a prequel), it doesn't really affect me. However, recently, Dan DiDio gave comments about the controversy surrounding it and addressed Watchmen co-creator Alan Moore's complaints about the prequels and the way DC has treated him over the years. The article is at the Guardian's Facebook page.


Let's start at the beginning:

"We knew when we were trying to build these books that there were going to be a lot of questions, concern, and a lot of deep introspection about what we're trying to do here. We wanted to make sure if anything that the books could stand on their own merits and their own creative strengths, which is one of the reasons we assembled the teams we did," said DiDio, who admits that at one point, "even our own internal staff were having problems with it". But "we're not going to shy away from the controversy on this – as a matter of fact we're embracing it because we have belief in the strength of the product and stand behind it."

This is something that I can't dispute the facts on, because Didio doesn't give examples of which DC staff members having problems, but given if the treatment of writers recently that have publicly complained about their treatment by DC, I doubt very seriously that anyone complained to Dan Didio, and the staff members he is talking about are ones he is certain exist, but hasn't been able to identify. As far as having belief in the strength of the project, flooding the market with 35 issues is not demonstrating faith in the strength of the product, it's catering to a collector's mentality in the grand old Pokemon "gotta catch 'em all" mentality DC has exhibited under DiDio. Flashpoint, Final Crisis, Darkest Night are also examples of this strategy.

In the prequels, DiDio revealed, the Silk Spectre comic is a coming-of-age story about a girl in the late 60s who rebels against her mother, the Comedian's back story will take a look at "turbulent times in the government", Nite Owl's is "almost a father and son-style story as one man hands the mantle of Nite Owl to the other" and Dr Manhattan's a time-shifting journey through history. Rorschach's story, predictably, is "extremely violent".

Silk Spectre's mother drove her to the Crimebusters meeting. Her mother pushed her into being a super-hero. If she were rebelling she would have quit the costumed gig like she had in the original story. The Golden Age Nite Owl didn't know who Dan Dreiberg was until well into the near ending of his career by the Keene act, there was no passing of the mantle, and no father and son relationship, not even in the original story. I find the Dr. Manhattan time shifting story as wholly unoriginal, as Alan Moore used it as a plot element in the original story, and as a way to tell the history of the characters. Rorschach was meant as an homage to not only Ditko's Question, but Mr. A as well, a crimefighter that sees the world as black and white. The ultra-violent nature was only a side effect of the perceived insanity created by his failure to save a small child. If an Ultr-violent story was desired, I would propose the Comedian for the venue, but putting out a violent story for the sake of a violent story is not good writing. The violence in Watchmen reinforced the characters, progressed the story and resolved sub-plots. It wasn't there for the sake of being there.

The Ozymandias prequel "is basically the string that ties it all together, from his story of how he first formulates his idea of how to save the world to the moment when he decides to execute that plan", and the Minutemen miniseries will chronicle "the final days of the Minutemen and how that team really came apart". The first book in the series, Minutemen #1, is out on 6 June, with a new issue to follow each week.

This is strictly retelling the same story that got told in much briefer form in the original story, and in a way that revealed the nature of the Ozymandias character. The Minutemen falling apart was not a "final days" story, but a final years as everything slowly deteriorated as society changed. The story was also told already by Alan Moore.

DiDio is hopeful the books might just help save the struggling comics industry. "Honestly, it dates back to when we started the 'New 52' line of books and relaunched the entire DC universe. The industry we saw was fading, for several reasons, whether the strength of the product or the fact there's been so many other distractions taking people away from buying comics. We saw our sales not just in DC but across the industry starting to flag a bit and we knew we had to do something about it, take some dramatic steps in order to reinvigorate our fan base and get people excited about comics again," he said.

The industry is fading for several reasons, competition for entertainment dollars from video games, the Internet, and a distribution system that does not reach out to find new readers in places that they already go. The industry also loses fans when editors like DiDio tell them to buy more every few months. DC has produced good books, but over saturation of pricey collections like the Absolute Editions and leaping from event to event has demonstrated no confidence in those creators. DiDio goes for the fast solution, instead of the slow build. Look how long it took for Sandman to generate it's fan base of people who didn't read comics. DC squandered that by not building another book that people that don't read comics can get behind while that fan base were buying Sandman. The only title to come close has been Fables, which started six years after Sandman ended.

"Once we reintroduced our line it gave us the strength to say we should look at other things that we knew would excite the fans. When you have a product like Watchmen that is as worldwide known as it is, and the fact there are millions of copies in print, we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't go out and say, 'is there other ways we can grow new material from this?' We went out and reached the original creators and they had passed, but we still believed this was the right choice to make. And in doing so we went out with the strongest creators possible, so while you may question the decision you can't question the quality of the product and the quality of the people behind the product."

He's making a straw man argument here, because I don't believe anyone is question the quality of the work that they haven't seen yet or the quality of the creators. They are question DiDio's ethics. He can't defend the later so he creates the former to swat down.

DiDio says he can understand Moore's perspective. "Honestly I can understand why he might feel the way he does because this is a personal project to him. He has such a long and illustrious career and he's been able to stand behind the body of work he's created. But quite honestly the idea of something shameless is a little silly, primarily because I let the material speak for itself and the quality of the material speak for itself."

Then why is he talking so much about it?

As for depending on Moore's ideas, DiDio says that "all the characters in all the universes and all that we do in comics, we're constantly building on other people's lores and legends. Watchmen in some ways fits that bill as we have done in so many series in the past. In this particular case we feel very strong about what we're doing and honestly I'm going to let the product speak for itself."

Again, then why is he talking so much about it?

Even Moore himself has worked with characters he hasn't created, points out DiDio. "Realistically some of Alan's strongest works at DC outside of Watchmen were built off of characters like Swamp Thing which was created by Len Wein, Superman, Batman, so many of our great characters he's worked on and they helped build his career."

However Alan's strongest work has probably been outside of DC. From Hell, America's Best Comics, Miracleman and so many more were done without DC having creative input behind it, either literally or historically. Many of the stories Alan Moore did for DC, outside of Swamp Thing, which was some of his earliest American work in a market that had few outlets for talented, yet relatively unknown creators. DC has also made use of those few stories for some of their biggest projects over and over again, cheapening the impact. 


The majority of characters that Alan Moore has used that he hasn't created have come from the public domain, and in many ways the depth of redefining that he has done with those characters shows Alan Moore's talent for creating something out of whole cloth that no one else thought to try in nearly a century. It also shows Moore as a well-read writer with interest outside of comic books, albeit a genuine love for them, although that love has been deteriorated by his treatment from DC over the years.

DC says Watchmen was "a work for hire agreement at the start", however. And it provides such a rich basis for prequels, according to DiDio. "The stories and ideas are so well defined, and there are so many throwaways in the body of the original work, a one-line mention or a side item or a cameo shot of a character, that were basically great wonderful springboards we could grow the world from," he said. "That's why when everybody says this is a finite story, true if you're looking at the beginning, middle, end of that particular story itself. But when you're talking about the characters, there's nothing finite about them. They have endless possibilities in the types of stories we could tell with them. And like I said we've found the right creators to tell those stories."

Again, we come to the straw man argument, DiDio doesn't address the contract, and the company line is that it was work for hire, although it has been firmly reported that the rights were meant to transfer. However, instead of defending the companies enforcement of its side of the agreement, that it is within their right to keep it in print as long as it makes them a profit, he goes back to the potential that the characters have for more stories.

The artists and writers working on the books – including Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke and Len Wein – have "an incredible résumé of classic stories which have really helped change what comics are today", said DiDio. "From our standpoint we wanted to make sure that regardless of what people feel about how this came about to be, they have no question that this isn't the best people possible to do it. If it was ever going to be done, these are the people that should be handling it."

Again, I don't think anyone has criticized the creators. I certainly wouldn't, because for the most part, I actually think that they're all quite competent in their ability to craft a readable and in most cases, an enjoyable comic. I don't know why DiDio keeps coming back to his straw man after he's already knocked it down. I appreciate that he's standing behind his talent, I just wish he would when they disagree with him publicly.

He has not spoken to Moore about the prequels, but said that if the British author "did get a chance to read them, I hope he looks at them with an open mind and a chance to understand this is a love letter to what he created, and more importantly that the strength of his work is allowing other people to grow and tell other stories which will hopefully inspire other creators along the way. In the way he was inspired by the creators when he was younger, we're hoping these ideas and these books are inspiring new people, so that we continue to grow the comics business as a whole."

Nothing DiDio has done has strengthened the industry. Its shaken down readers for more money from more product. All great stories produced by DC has been in spite of his leadership, not because of it. Grant Morrison can write a good Superman story. Adam Hughes will always produce a cover that will catch the eye on a rack. Bill Willingham can modernize and humanize characters. I can go down the list, but all the great work that DC has put out under Dan DiDIo has not been affiliated with his massive editorially driven events. I remember Final Crisis as anything but interruptive. I remember Darkest Night as annoying, I remember the New DC 52 as forgettable. 

Will there be more Watchmen follow-ups? "Let's wait and see how these work first," said DiDio. "At this point the audience will decide that." So who watches the Watchmen? It's up to you.

I have a well read, stained, first print of the Watchmen TPB. I keep it on my shelf and it remains an example of what a super-hero comic can be. Nothing has come close. It doesn't need anything else to make it complete, I never wondered about what happened in between those scenes because frankly, it never mattered. The story was told, and it was finished.


Now I just wish Dan DiDio would be as well.

Oh, Perspective, How's I Eyes Ya

The advantage to re-drawing about half of the Factor of 01 to be consistent in print format means I get to completely rework things I have not been entirely happy with. Originally the first panel, while it worked, wasn't entirely what I wanted. This is closer, and while I don't think I've got the handle on 3 point perspective that it demands, I think it's good enough to serve the purpose.

I also won't be replacing this on the web site until the next strip is redrawn. I've completely changed the beat of the action. That's the worst part of the original artwork. I really do not like staging fight scenes in my comics, so I do it badly. In the first Jet-Pack Jenny comic, there's actually two strips that were all black as a cop-out, albeit done on a dare. That second panel is also the second part of my lesson in how harsh a mistress perspective can be. Never ever say you can fix perspective in Photoshop, it will still not look 100% right.

01/02/2012

Happy Endings!

Credit for the happy ending goes to my lovely and loving wife, who in seeing the original ending, which was very close to the end of the previous strip, suggested a happier ending. A little rewriting to the courtroom scene got us to the point we have here, where Ione finds Tom and they reunite.

It is a little melancholy in that their son is still gone, but that part of the story was written way before the ending was finalized into its present form.

There is a secret to Factor of 01 that I've only revealed to a few people and if you can break the code, it's actually in the comic itself, three times. I'll give a special gift to the first person to e-mail me with the secret, or to put it into the comments.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now for the future plans. The detailed plot for Hanamori's Circus is still being finished. I'm still undecided on how to format it, whether to go with horizontal or vertical and if to go with a strip format like I've been doing. I'm leaning away from it, as the only thing pulling me to strip format is that I have about three pads of Bristol cut to the format.

My schedule for the debut of Hanamori's Circus is not set. I want to get five installments in the can before it debuts. My collaborator is really wanting it in color, so we may just see another full color comic. In the meantime, you never know when I may fire off a one-shot strip just to exercise those muscles.

12/12/2011

The end is rapidly approaching.

The two ladies in the first panel are the same ones from before, that hit on Jenny's boyfriend. As for the waitress, you have to wait to find out.

11/21/2011

Tom is in the midst of his depression and goes somewhere that will remind him of his wife. That last part was an addition, and not in the original draft for this strip. Tom originally was going to go to a bar and just drink, but I wanted it to be someplace seedier. Making an appearance in the strip is Sketch Charlotte member Henry Eudy who just happened to be sitting across from me as I was drawing the panel. The fact that the dancer resembles Starfire is a comment on how she's being portrayed lately in the New DC 52.

Hopefully the next strip will be a little timelier, but with the holiday, I won't promise next week.

What Comics Are Capable Of, Part Three

Apparently, all the criticism is getting to Tom Batuik. This is just too meta.

10/24/2011

There's only two more strips to go in the story. The next strip is started and should be done in a couple of weeks, if only because I have a lot of other stuff lined up in the next seven days, not the least of which is getting some character designs nailed down for  Hanamori's Circus.

08/22/2011

These last strips focus more on Tom coming home to his entire life destroyed. His son is dead, his wife has gone missing and a fugitive from the law. Life pretty much sucks, even though you've just been cleared of a serious crime.

08/08/2011

Four more strips to go. I've redone the commissions page last week to reflect my new availability to do commissions. If you'd like examples of my work, you should go there, or to either of the new links over on the right, Sketch Charlotte, or Big Dog's Studio. I post stuff over there from time to time, not to mention over at DeviantArt.

Now it's time to talk about what comes after this story ends. I'm going to be working with a nice young creator named Pan D'Attac (yes, it's a pseudonym) on a story divorced from the 23rd century, all while I put together a collected Factor of 01. I'm not putting together a timetable yet, since I don't know yet how long this will take. In September, The Art of Stan Ford will be available in the store for purchase, or in person if you find me at a Sketch Charlotte meeting.

04/28/2011

One more step until the end of the story begins! Anthology commitments are just about over, so the pace should pick up soon!

03/21/2011

While this strip's action may be a little confusing, especially in the last panel, the next strip, already penciled, should clear stuff up and take us into the home stretch.

02/24/2011

From here on out, there will be quite a few wordless strips.

02/05/2011

Holy crap, it's two days early!

Until the story is over, these things are going up as they get done, so you better keep up to date or you'll show up and be three strips behind. I may just have another strip done by the end of the weekend, but no promises.

01/31/2011

This was posted a little late, but the weekend was really busy, with a couple days of outside work to get some cash, followed by a day at the zoo with the family. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you've seen the picture of me feeding a giraffe. A lot of people were scared of the giraffes, but I had zero fear.

Maybe having a Great Dane prepared me for having a large headed animal eating from my hand.

01/24/2011

This strip and next week's strip was not planned to be included, just because I wanted to end it by December 31.  However, I have a very specific ending in the works which first got suggested to me back in April and sometime in September, got revised a little bit by my wife.

The next strip is gonna be one of those mega-panels, just because I want to establish the courtroom as a location. After that, we have Ione's testimony and that leads us into the conclusion of our story.

By the way, I've been reading the Jaime Hernandez art book "Secret of Life and Death" and if you haven't looked at this, then do so. Also, be warned that if you click the "be a fan on Facebook" link on the right, then you get to see these strips as soon as they're done, scanned and pre-dated. I also plan to start sharing some special stuff over there soon.

Can you spot Elton's "01"?

Shopping for comic books in Charlotte isn’t difficult.

Where do you go when you need a weekly fix for comics? Where do you go if you also want some sweet comics swag? Charlotte has the advantage of having several comic shops, each of them with their area of speciality. Here’s a brief overview. 

Read the rest of the article here.

I've started writing comics for examiner.com's Charlotte site. I'm out to do two articles a week, focusing on local aspects of comics.  There will be a link over on the right to go directly, so please subscribe to the feed and check back there regularly.

12/20/2010

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the rest!

This year, I've really rediscovered my Christmas spirit thanks to M. The best present I could ever hope for is given by her every day.

Apologies if you did not get a Christmas card from us this year. My printer ran out of ink and by now, it's just too late to get them in the mail.

11/19/2010

Whew! Bet you thought there wasn't going to be a strip today, didn't you?