Shooting for the Stars

Blink’s Super-Keen Wonka Wonka Kochalka Kickstarter Campaign is approaching its FINAL WEEK and there’s still time for you to participate!

Yes, the initial goal has already been reached, and I am astounded by the support I’ve gotten from Blink readers thus far. Seriously, you guys are the greatest!  I’ve gotten a few question over the past few weeks and I want to address them while there’s still time.

First of all, THIS CAMPAIGN IS NOT A CHARITY. All the money that’s raised through this Kickstarter campaign will go towards funding my various Blink related expenses (the printing of books, posters, t-shirts & promotional materials as well as costs involved with putting on the Blink Gallery Show in March at the Wild Goose Creative). After the campaign ends on Jan 31, the total amount raised will be deposited into my bank account (minus the percentage that Kickstarter keeps for services rendered).

You can contribute any amount ($1 or more) to the campaign and there are lots of options for people who want to give more (and if you give more, you get more). The bottom line however is that I’m essentially asking people to pre-order the “Wonka Wonka Kochalka” book for $10 (which includes shipping*). The book is going to be over 60 pages and if you’ve enjoyed Blink so far, then this new stuff is sure to knock your socks off. 

Now, one of the “premium” rewards is a painted color version of this Blink Star Wars homage poster. I’ve had this drawing around for a couple of years and figured I might as well put it to good use. So I contacted my friend Matthew Swift and asked him to make this drawing of mine look more like the original (with color). Matthew is a professional colorist—he works with DC and Marvel and a few other comic companies, so he knows his way around a color pallet. (Check out our last Blink collaboration here.) I’ve seen a snippet of the final and it’s gonna look SUPERB!! In fact, I am so pleased with what a good job Matthew’s doing, if I reach 200% of my goal, I’m going to add an oversized postcard version of the final painted poster to anyone who pre-orders the book. 

So, if you haven’t become a Blink backer yet, there’s still time! I’d love for you so to put your name on the 2-page Kickstarter “Thank You” spread that will appear in the book when its printed in March.

*Please add $5 if you live outside the U.S.

Interviews-A-Plenty

Yowza. I've been interviewed twice in the past week and a half! 

I already mentioned Interview #1 here on Saturday, but just in case you missed it, it can be read at Best of Columbus, which is a new-ish website showing off what cool stuff & people Columbus has to offer. 

Interview # 2 was conducted & filmed at Packrat Comics in Hilliard, OH just this past Sunday while I was hanging out with my cartoonist friends from the Sunday Comix group. 

And both interviews mention my Kickstarter Campaign! 

The Pen Is Mightier…

(This blog post is dedicated to the hundreds of comic book letters columns that I read and enjoyed but never wrote in to and the handful of ones that I did)

I don’t buy serialized comics these days. I wait until I can read the completed story from beginning to end and, as a result, I have four bookcases full of graphic novels (both original GNs and trade paper back collections of comic books). Like most good old-time geeks, I also have comics stored away in longboxes (four of them, coincidentally); old comics that I have either not yet to get rid of or will never get rid of.  One of the cool things about those serialized comics that I’m missing out on is the letters columns. There are still some comics that have letters columns (like  Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo and NIX Comics Quarterly, edited by Ken Eppstein), but I think a lot of readers letters have been relegated to message boards, Facebook pages and blog comment sections. “So it goes.”

Like the others, I use Facebook and Twitter and this blog/website to keep in touch with readers of Blink, and I’m grateful for the feedback I receive, the comments, the “likes” and the retweets are all very nice. But you know what I’d love more of?

Letters.

I’d love to get more letters.

Letters akin to those old school fanboy / fangirl ones that appeared in Marvel or DC comics.

And do you know what? I want to PRINT those letters in the Blink comic books. I’ve done that in the past way back when I was printing the Blink books as photocopied digest books, but as Facebook and Twitter have grown, the length and substance of letters of comment have dwindled. I’m not harping on the lack of input from people who read and love Blink, but FB comments like  “Cool!” and “Love it!!! XD” aren’t really going to make for interesting reading in a letters column.

Now, I’m not asking for this as an ego boost kind of thing. What I’m looking for is a way to incorporate the community of Blink readers into the Blink books themselves. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and I even have a name for the letters column: PLATONIC SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. The plan is to have a 3-page PSI letters column in the individual chapters (more pages if I get enough letters), along with my usual Creatorial and Sketchbookery / Story Notes sections.

I have a couple of letters in the PSI queue right now, but I’d like a few more.  You can either send me a letter through postal mail, email, FB, or use this contact form.

To give you a taste of what you can expect to see, here’s a sample of what will appear in WWK:

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I often go out and about to work on drawing Blink—usually at a library or a coffee shop. So long as wherever I am is well lit and not too busy, I can get my work done. I like the flow of people around me while I work, and most of the time I am left to my own devices.

However, being as I am creating art in a public place, from time to time there are people will notice me and notice what I’m doing and maybe take a passing glance or proffer a comment or question. Typically, I will explain what I’m doing (making comics) and ask the person if they read any comics. I’d estimate that half of the time the answer is “no” (which I appreciate) and the other half is '”yes” (which I love). Whether or not they read comics, I offer them a free Blink mini comic and autograph it with a sketch as a sign of appreciation for their interest.

There are times when their interest in my work is a step above curious and that’s when I offer them a copy of BLINK: SO FAR. (I keep a few stashed in my backpack for such occasions.) There have been times when people have bought the book on the spot (which is awesome) and other times when they decline (which is understandable). On a few occasions, the people are genuinely enthusiastic about the book, but have no funds with them. And so I give them the book—with the mutual understanding that they’ll pay me when they can.

On a recent afternoon, while working on Blink at Stauf’s Coffee House in Grandview Heights, I struck up a conversation with a pleasant young lady, Norah who noticed my work.  Although the chat was brief (she’s a freshman at OSU and had homework to finish), she was one of those people who was “a step above curious” and a lover of comics, which prompted me to give her a copy of BLINK: SO FAR.

Later that evening, I received an email like none I had ever gotten before--

Dear Max Ink,

I cannot tell you how happy I am to have met you at Stauf’s! It was really the most wonderful timing and I want to tell you why. Somehow, over the past few months, I have found myself in this ugly depressed state. It is the most unusual thing. I've always been very happy, and curious, and quietly silly, but lately, it's been hard to keep hold of these innate Norah qualities. I have felt very alone because I have known no one else who thinks like me, until this evening when I met Blink. Without a doubt, “Blink” is the loveliest comic in all the world. Reading it has given me a revitalized sense of self, which I really needed at this time. Please allow me to pay you back for the book.

Wishing you all the best,
Norah

You know what, Norah? There are lots of times when I feel the same way about the comic, and I create it. Thank you so much for your letter—your response is one of the key reasons why I write and draw Blink. It is my sincerest wish that you find some people with whom you can relate to in a mutually understanding way. However, as a supplement, I’m happy to continue making this “loveliest comic in the world” for you and anyone else who’s interested.

---

So…

That’s the sort of letter writing  and response that I’m wanting for Blink’s Platonic Social Intercourse letter column. Of course, I don’t expect `em all to be that naked and heartfelt—but I’d love honest letters, thoughtful letters, letters written with sincerity and curiosity.

Or jokes.  That’d be nice, too.

Who's the BEST?

Well, if you know me, then you know that I'm not a bragger--but I am proud of what I comics I make and I DO have a tendency to talk a LOT about them. 

So I looove interviews.

I recently spent a little time with Emily Journey of the Best of Columbus website answering her questions about my work habits, Blink, Kickstarter and what makes Columbus so awesomesauce. Why not head over there for a looksee, alright?

Fighting the Good Fight (with snowballs)

“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts- such is the duty of the artist.”
-Robert Schumann

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

Wednesday, January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  For the past few years, Lora Innes and Crystal Yates have organized the Comic Creators for Freedom project which helps raise funds to fight human trafficking.  You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year. Unlike slavery in the past, what is happening today is happening in secret. It won’t end until awareness is raised, and people like you and me take a stand.

The Comic Creators for Freedom (CCFF) is a group of over 100 comic book creators who volunteered our artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause. Each creator contributed an original drawing of one of our own female characters, and Lora & Crystal then combined them into a single wallpaper image which is available for download when people donate to the cause.

The hope is that readers will be excited to participate in the donations drive (there's a PayPal button on th Comics Creators for Freedom site), and that the wallpaper will be used to generate interest in the project. The wallpaper features characters from all over the web, including Girls with Slingshots, Heart of A Colt, Dressed For Success, Next Year’s Girl, Earthsong Saga, Greg The Megabeaver’s Prehistoric Sideshow, Plus One, The Dreamer, and tons more (as you can plainly see)! 

There will be a Donations Drive that will last for two weeks, from Monday January 9th – 20th and everyone who donates gets a copy of the wallpaper. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love 146 and Gracehaven House- two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.

To learn more about the CCFF visit www.comiccreatorsforfreedom. To learn more about the problem, visit http://love146.org/slavery. (Note: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)