EARTH PRIME TIME: MOTH CITY INTERVIEW WITH TIM GIBSON

Tim Gibson, a New Zealand based artist and writer is taking full advantage of genre, digital comics on devices and innovating how a reader participates in the comic reading experience with his debut graphic novel Moth City. Mainstream and back catalogs of comics have been available on computers and other devices via ComiXology since 2009. Webcomics themselves are nearly 30 years old. Gibson is transforming the page and webpage with panel layers and acting to give a more full reading experience. Moth City #3 is available today on ComiXology. We talk with Tim about process and the importance of word of mouth support for independent comics.
 
DIGBOSTON: Tim, thanks so much for taking the time today to tell us about Moth City! We’re here to talk about comics, mind telling the fans out there some of the projects you’ve worked on in the past? Your name probably scrolled by them at some point.

TIM GIBSON: Moth City is actually my debut comic, I’ve mainly worked as an illustrator and concept designer in the Film and TV industry. The closet I’ve come to working in comics before this was being a designer on The Adventures of Tintin film and some coloring work on The Red Star (Image Comics) when I was working at Weta Workshop (Lord the of Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit, King Kong, Avatar, District 9).

How long has this idea been growing? Are all art projects eligible for funding in New Zealand?

The idea of an entire island under the rule of one damaged man has been with me for a while. There is just something about the isolation of an island that makes bad stuff happening so much worse. It’s been with me for many years, but it was really the Creative New Zealand grant that enabled me to dedicate myself the massive amount kind of time needed to translate ideas into comics.

Completing a graphic novel has got to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

There’s so much work when it’s a solo venture, and the things you can’t do (copy editing, websites etc.) you have to convince talented friends/family to help for the lowest wages (i.e. nil) that they’ve ever worked for.

Moth City - Story and art by Tim Gibson

The funding is really the only reason thatMoth City exists in the way that it does. It’s not easy funding to get, there’s a lot of competition for it.

You put forth the strongest case possible, because you’re competing with published authors, people with track records and whole institutions who look to Arts Funding to do their work.

It’s probably safe to say that this book takes place in an alternate history, around the 1930s, on an island in China. There’s always been cowboys and rich tycoons wearing cowboy hats around the world, such as your Governor McCaw. He’s there to weaponize the Chinese army for profit. What else can you tell us about the city?

The island of Moth City shares a lot of features with Hong Kong; it has a highly condensed city center, a towering peak for the elite and scattered fishing villages and docks. There are influences from both Hong Kong’s history, as well as Singapore’s.

New Zealanders, as (still) a part of the British Empire are obsessed with colonization and imperialism. McCaw’s place at the head of his little empire is a part of that.

The populace certainly doesn’t want him there, but they were effectively sold to him as indentured labour along with the island itself.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

TRIPLE SHOT DIGITAL: Comixology Submit Presents BIKINI COWBOY VOL.1, DEADHORSE VOL.1, NOWHERE MAN VOL 1.1 at FORCES OF GEEK

An unusual cowgirl with a surfboard invades a western town, a man tries to figure out the mystery of his father’s death and a super powered detective gets himself in too deep.

The leader in the digital comics space opened up the platform to indie creators back in March of this year.

Writers and artists now have the chance to publish comics or graphic novels on the browser, tablet or phone using the Guided View technology. Comixology curates the submissions and soon the comic is put into panel by panel production for the viewer. The comics appear right on the digital store alongside all of the major publisher’s books.

BIKINI COWBOY Vol. 1
Writer & Artist: Fresherluke
Price: $5.99
Page Count: 377 pages
Digital Release Date: 5/8/13
Age Rating: 9+ Only
BUY IT HERE

This collection of a webcomic started at the beginning of this year clocks in at an impressive 377 pages of a bizarre twist on a western.

Whisky Jill rolls into town with her surfboard and only a duster covering her bikini! She demands an energy drink from the barkeep and gains the attention of the outlaws in the bar.

It’s not long before a drag out fight and an encounter with a soldier and rescues her new young boy companion Rod McCloud.

A deftly illustrated out-of-time book here with a fun story. Follow Fresherluke on Tumblr for new pages as they appear.

DEADHORSE Vol. 1 - DEAD BIRDS
Writer: Eric Grissom
Artist: Phil Sloan
Price: $9.99
Imprint: Frankenstein’s Daughter
Page Count: 184 Pages
Digital Release Date: 5/8/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

William Pike seeks to solve the mystery of a key left to him by his dead father and as he embarks on his journey, his nice neighbors the Vogels invite him in for a sandwich…of death!

The neighbors are hot on getting their hands on that key but Pike fights his way out. In the second issue, Pike finds himself chased by a man in a Sasquatch suit also looking for the key. With the help of companions Edgar and Elise they keep the key safe, for now.

This is a great book, for fans of the classic illustrative styles of Darwyn Cooke or Moon and Ba.

Deadhorse is a time spanning mystery set in the real world with bizarre twists that keep you laughing as you get deeper into the mystery of the key. 

NOWHERE MAN Vol. 1.1: You Don’t Know Jack
Writer & Artist: Jerome S. Walford
Price: $4.99
Imprint: Forward Comics
Page Count: 37 Pages
Digital Release Date: 5/8/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Nowhere Man is the story of a detective in love with his partner.

Since his accident in 2006, Jack Maguire is impervious to bullets but needs to rely on his street sense to break the illegal arms case in front of the department right now.

Nowhere Man is fun street-level comics starring a cop trying to do right by the death of his father.


Using his powers makes him stronger, but Jack is a tortured man on the inside. For fans of The Punisher, Luke Cage and Powers.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for June 12, 2013

 




COMICS

It’s Superman week. Man of Steel hits theaters. Will fans be disappointed (Superman Returns) or is this the start of a beautiful friendship (Batman Begins)? May as well hit you over the head with the big two DC heroes in the picks this week. …Superman Unchained drawn by co-publisher Jim Lee and written by our man Scott Snyder. … Where do you go when the Year One story has been set in stone? Head backwards for another Scott Snyder book starring the shadow to Superman’s cape in Batman #21 - Zero Year. … Black Beetle #4 of 4 concludes this week as Colt City’s noir vigilante takes on Labyrinto. We hope to see more of Francesco Francavilla’s best-selling throwback crime story soon! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Pass the Daily Dig along! Your friends can sign up here!

TRIPLE SHOT DIGITAL: Comixology Submit Presents THE ACCELERATORS #1, SECUNDUS #1, HELL’S BREW at FORCES OF GEEK

This week at our ongoing coverage of creator-owned digital comics reviews at Comixology Submit we time travel for gladiator battles and hot rod desert races.

The leader in the digital comics space opened up the platform to indie creators back in March of this year.

Writers and artists now have the chance to publish comics or graphic novels on the browser, tablet or phone using the Guided View technology. Comixology curates the submissions and soon the comic is put into panel by panel production for the viewer. The comics appear right on the digital store alongside all of the major publisher’s books.

The Accelerators #1
Writer: R.F.I. Porto
Artist: Gavin P. Smith 
Cover: Walt Flanagan
Price: $2.99
Page Count: 29 Pages
Imprint: Blue Juice Comics
Digital Release Date: 5/22/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Time crimes! The story starts out in the future in a gladiator arena, good and bad guys throughout history are pitted against each other for dominance. Stormtrooper vs. Caveman, The Mayan vs. The Professor.

We then cut to a doctor being chased by a soldier through time and pick up a smart teenager along the way.

The time travelers are using a device shaped like a donut to travel through time.

By the end, the chase has led our heroes back to the arena, surely to face combat in the Games.

Fun story here, I’m a sucker for time travel stories and superhero battles like Deathmatch andAvengers Arena. Looking forward to issue #2.

Secundus #1
Written and drawn by: Mike Tomas
Price: $2.99
Page Count: 32 Pages
Digital Release Date: 5/22/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Secundus is the story of a brave warrior in Roman times, also set in a battle arena.

He always wins his battles, and he got his name by always fighting two at a time.

After winning his last battle and gaining freedom, he’s challenged by a magician who conjures up a creature to aid him in his battle against the mighty Secundus “Secundus fights two”! 

I loved this mostly black and white story, at once a parable and classic story set in ancient time.

A very quick read but a story that makes you think!

Hell’s Brew #1
Story & Art: Michael Liggett
More info: TBA
Imprint: Forgotten Dialect Publishing
BUY IT HERE

This book is drawn like underground comics of the 60s, and is also set in an alternate history 1968. In this land, muscle cars, or ‘firebugs’ are king, and this is the story of infamous racers The Brothers Garcia.

There’s a fun car chase, an element of a murder mystery and some romance in the first issue. I’m really attracted to the art in this book, with a minimal color palette and sometimes awkward but not bad storytelling.

Overall, it works and I enjoyed this hot rod tale.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

EARTH PRIME TIME: SUMMER OF VALIANT ’13 PART 1 WITH 8-BIT COVERS

We’re at a year into the relaunch of popular ’90s comic book publisher Valiant Comics and just in time for another Summer of Valiant. We’ll try not to get any water on these comics as we sit by the pool, drink in the sun and follow the adventures of Archer and Armstrong and Shadowman in our summer series that celebrates successes on our first birthday of our cherished Valiant Comics. Also, we take a look at their cool 8-bit variant covers and Harbinger Wars: Battle For Las Vegas free retro video game for iOS andAndroid.

A look through the Earth Prime Time Archives will show you what we have an affinity for, and that’s the story of an independent publisher rising from near obscurity. Valiant was fortunate enough to have a loyal fanbase to rebuild on their properties long thought lost to many die-hard comic fans. It is the underdog story that Bostonians write about ad nauseam and tend to wear on our sleeves. This column was only a few months old when X-O Manowar #1 hit the shelves, and naturally we have covered most major events in the universe since then.

What can we say a year in?

There is likely a better reaction to the Valiant books, on a whole, than after the first twelve months of DC’s New 52initiative.

Marvel NOW! reaction from fans seems to be split between both positive and negative, with a varied selection of titles appealing to different kinds of fans.

Valiant’s strength lies in not relying on a 75 or 50 year history to complicate matters.

Over at the new publisher, they can make the same kinds of superhero and supernatural books with the industry’s top talent and a completely clean slate. There certainly are nods to the previous continuity as fan service, but with low-numbered issues and trades, the appeal to a new audience without being intimidated by continuity allows for an easier entry point.

As far as the old characters go, Valiant has paced the introduction of new books, concepts, leading heroes and villains, and background information on the shared universe in a way that paints a lush tapestry but does not rely on throwing everything at you at once.

Let’s take a look at two books that are coming out today, Archer and Armstrong #10 and Shadowman #7.

Both books ship with an 8-bit variant cover that ties into their cool 8-bit side scroller Harbinger Wars: Battle for Las Vegas (Storm City Games).

[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]