DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 30, 2014

COMICS

He’s Back! Swinging his way through Manhattan, conveniently in time for a new movie! Amazing Spider-Man #1 stars Peter Parker and his damn luck - will this be a Superior book? Let’s see! … Valiant jumps forward to 4001 AD for the return of the legendary Japanese warrior ghost of Japan in Rai #1 by Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain. … Buddy Bradley from ‘Hate’ comics returns from indie legend Peter Bagge with 20 pages of new material. What’s Buddy gonna do raising his family in the local dump in Buddy Buys a Dump! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

JC DE LA TORRE’S STAR MAGE: FROM KICKSTARTER TO IDW at 13th DIMENSION

Last week saw the debut of JC De La Torre and Ray Dillon’s Star Mage from IDW. We caught up with JC for a MIGHTY Q&A about his influences, the Kickstarter process and merging a classic war-in-space tale with magic to give us an identifiable teenage hero!

Clay N. Ferno: Thanks for joining us, JC! Care to tell us how you got from Kickstarter to IDW with Star Mage? It seems like the response so far is spectacular!

JC De La Torre: Thanks so much for having me. It was such an interesting process to get to where we are now. The story of Star Mage actually started out as a novella that I was dissatisfied with. It just didn’t feel like it was coming together as I hoped. I happened to be reading an IDW Doctor Who comic and that dim light bulb of mine had a momentary flicker and I realized that Darien’s story belonged in a visual medium — what better place than with comics?

I started doing research and whatnot. I knew I wanted high quality artwork and I can barely manage stick figures — so I needed to hire an artist. I went through several potentials before realizing that if I truly want the best art, I needed to pay for a pro. I found Ray Dillon and he was exactly what I was looking for. I paid for the first issue out of my own pocket but to continue the series we were going to need some help, so we turned to Kickstarter. If our Kickstarter failed, Star Mage would have been DOA. It was thanks to those supporters, my defenders of the realm as I like to call them, we kept the lights on and allowed us to continue to develop the series.

IDW knew of the project thanks to Ray, who had previously done work with them and got some of the artwork of Issue #1 in front of Chris Ryall of IDW. There were a ton of starts and stops in the first year and a half developing Issue #1. There were days where it truly seemed like we’d never finish — but IDW stood by us through and through. When we finished Issue #1 and realized due to his demanding schedule Ray wouldn’t be able to finish the series, they trusted me to find another artist of the same caliber. Franco Cespedes took over and once we got our first three issues in the can, the IDW machine began churning.

Response to Issue #1 has been overwhelming. We’re very close to a sell-out of our initial run and we just had a signing at Heroes’ Haven Comics in Tampa where the line was out the door, the store sold out of their copies and we actually had to dip into our convention stock to be able to support the masses. The reviews have been mostly positive so it appears to really be well liked.

It’s very exciting.

[READ MORE at 13th DIMENSION.COM]

CHARLIE GILLESPIE TALKS 'THE MANY' ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

This week at ComiXology, fans of 2000AD books will get a special treat, a full graphic novel, The Many, from cover artist Charlie Gillespie.

This future world with superpowers, vampire lore and gore ranks right up there withTransmetropolitan or Black Mask’s Ballistic. Both the art and story are rich and colorful.

Charlie Gillespie joins us today for a run on the Cosmic Treadmill!

FOG!: Thanks for joining us today for your ComiXology Graphic Novel The Many! Fans may have seen your work with. 2000AD and Judge Dredd, but can you tell us some of the video games you have worked on as well? 

Charlie Gillespie: Cheers, thanks for hosting me! Off the top of my head, Micro Maniacs, Mike Tyson Boxing, BC, Paperwings, Burn Zombie Burn, Legends of the Guardians, Lara Croft Guardians of the Light (iPhone/iPad),Call Of Duty Black Ops Zombies (iPhone/iPad), Wipeout (from the TV show), and there was work on a few others along the way.

What are some other comics work you have done? Is this your first venture with both writing and drawing a comic?

Yeah this is my first big adventure into writing and drawing a comic book, I’ve dabbled with doing both before but nothing that was this complex and hopefully interesting. The other stuff I’ve worked on have been The Judge Dredd Megazine, 2000AD, Shit the Dog, Wasted, Sancho, covers and illustrations for various sci-fi/fantasy mags and Magic Cards and that sort of thing.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 23, 2014

COMICS

Undertow #3 comes out today from Image, a tale of underwater explorers surrounded by bloodthirsty humans! This ain’t your Daddy’s Atlantis, no making fun of these heroes in landsuits attacking the dry frontier. …Yo Joe! Larry Hama puts the Duke in charge of the original Joes while keeping Cobra at bay in G.I.Joe A Real American Hero #201! …The Flash #30 features new creative team Robert Venditti (X-O Manowar, The Surrogates) and Brett Booth (Teen Titans, Superboy) returning Barry to Central City! Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.

TRANSCENDENCE (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosorve, 

Kate Cohen, Marisa Polvino, Annie Marter, 

David Valdes, Aaron Ryder

Written by Jack Paglen

Directed by Wally Pfister

Starring Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, 

Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, 

Cole Hauser, Paul Bettany

Johnny Depp stars as Dr. Will Caster in Transcendence, a look at the singularity whereby artificial intelligence progresses to beyond human intelligence.

A self-replicating computer (Depp) attempts to right the wrongs in the world via technological intervention as Evelyn Caster (Rebecca Hall) is caught between helping her husband’s dream come true and her own humanity.  Anti-tech rebel Bree (Kate Mera) enlists the help of former Caster colleagues Joseph Tagger (Morgan Freeman) and Max Waters (Paul Bettany) and FBI Agent Buchanan (Cillian Murphy) to shut this whole thing down.

We’re introduced to the Caster couple as they are ready to give a symposium on the benefits of artificial intelligence to a sold out auditorium. A member of the anti-tech contingent, RIFT attempts to assassinate Dr. Caster shortly after the presentation. He is not killed, but poisoned by an isotope that infected his blood stream with radiation poisoning. 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

COMIXOLOGY ACQUISITION Q & A WITH TIM GIBSON OF MOTH CITY ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

Moth City (Thrillbent) is one of our favorite and innovative digital comics, so when we heard of the pending merger between ComiXology and Amazon we had questions!

Who better to ask these to than Moth City’s own Tim Gibson?

We get into the nitty gritty of the pinch, swipes, scans, payments and tablet wars with our favorite Kiwi after the jump!

FOG!: Have you ever read a comic on the Kindle app? Kind of atrocious, right?

Tim Gibson: Hah, I’ve only read one comic on my Kindle, and that was Tumor by Joshua Fialkov and Noel Tuazon many years ago. It was a great comic but I haven’t been back to try another comic on that platform.

What’s your initial reaction? Glee, excitement? Disappointment?

Cautious optimism.
  
Do you think creator percentages for something like the ComiXology Submit program will stay the same? How does this affect creator owned projects?

Amazon has always been open about the royalty rates they offer authors, 35% if you sell your work for less than $1.99 or more than $10, and 70% if you sell between $2.99 and $9.99. I believe our royalty rates via ComiXology are locked behind a T&C wall, but they aren’t bad.

There would probably be more comics on Amazon right now taking advantage of that 70% rate if they didn’t also have a strange ‘Delivery Fee’ that cuts into the author’s proceeds for supplying high resolution art at larger file sizes.

I have no idea if ComiXology’s rates will change, but I would like to see our books integrated into Amazon’s store at either rate.

ComiXology seems to be forward thinking and has good customer service (these days). Do you picture a total absorption of the company?

I hope not, and I doubt it. Everything said to date implies that they will keep being the great company they are. Hopefully Amazon just gives them a new audience, and they give Amazon some comic selling tips!

Do you see the iPad comics Apps: iBooks vs. ComiXology going after each other’s throats? At least the competition is healthy, right?  I’d imagine Amazon stops developing it’s various comics properties and shifts all comic attention to the ComiXology app, yeah?

I’m not sure that any independent creators are using iBooks or Amazon in anywhere near the same capacity as they are using ComiXology. But yes, I would hope that Amazon would follow ComiXology’s lead when it comes to technology and systems for comics. I imagine they’ll continue publishing their own stuff through their imprint Jet City Comics.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 16, 2014

COMICS

Aw, yeah! Captain Action Cat #1 from Art Baltazar, Franco and Chris Smits is the dawning of the Aw Yeah Age of all ages comics! No crossover too silly! The time stream needs new shoes! … Frank J. Barbiere (Five Ghosts) takes on Solar Man of the Atom in a new #1! Dr. Phil Seleski is back, in a new series from Dynamite! …An all new Hulk #1 smashes its way onto shelves today with our favorite Marvelites Marks Waid and Bagley! This new volume follows up the conclusion of Indestructible Hulk! …Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

ASBURY PARK COMICON SPOTLIGHT: CHRIS CLAREMONT, X-MEN LEGEND AT 13th DIMENSION

One of the headliners at this weekend’s ASBURY PARK COMICON is writer Chris Claremont. Here, he talks with Clay N. Ferno about his new Nightcrawler series, his approach to writing — and his first comic book!

Chris Samnee’s cover

Clay N. Ferno: What is your Secret Origin? How did you get to write your first comic?

Chris Claremont: Thanks to the aid and intervention of a family friend, Al Jaffee of Mad magazine, I got recommended to Stan (Lee) to work for a couple of months as what now is an intern, back then we were just gofers. I worked at Marvel, end of ‘68, beginning of ’69.

And you are returning to Marvel for your latest project?

I’ve never left, I’ve been a contract employee at Marvel this time around since ’03-’04, the beginning of the century! It is at their discretion if they utilize me or not, but I am returning to print with new material, but I’ve always been Marvel property I suppose. Now I’m working on Nightcrawler.

Is there any new approach you are taking to Nightcrawler?

It is sort of in the ambiguous state where it is listed on the rolls as being an ongoing series, but is being treated — at least in the initial run — as a mini-series, until the office can get a sense of whether there is sufficient reader interest to justify a longer run on it. On the same token they are keeping their options open. As opposed to just signing up for a mini-series and having to reboot it down the line.

At the moment, the interesting aspect is, as seems to happen quite a lot in the X-Men, he is back from the dead! With someone like him, who is a devoutly religious person in his own unique way, he is dealing with life, death, afterlife and now life again. He has been to Heaven. He, for necessary personal reasons, has come to life. It’s comic life imitating television art in that he and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have that in common. On the other hand so do he and Logan, he and Betsy, he and quite a few other X-Men have sadly — or not so sadly — preceded him on this pathway. There will be ramifications that I will be able to play out over the next few issues.

[READ MORE AT 13th DIMENSION]

HOW I MADE THE WORLD – THE COSMIC TREADMILL INTERVIEW WITH LIZ PLOURDE & RANDY MICHAELS AT FORCES OF GEEK

How i Made The World is a new independent autobiographical comic book getting a lot of attention already. I spoke with writer Liz Plourde and her artist Randy Michael for some insight into the after-hours art school adventure showcased in Issue #1. With honest storytelling and classic Hernandez Bros. inspired cartooning, FOG! thinks they have a hit on their hands!

Liz and Randy took some time to chat with FOG! about the upcoming release of the first issue.


FOG!: Hi Liz, thanks for joining us today! How did you meet your illustrator Randy Michaels?

Liz Plourde: We’re thrilled you enjoyed the book.

I met Randy when we were working at a local TV station on a nightly news magazine. We realized we had many shared interests; in that frenetic environment, we had a lot of laughs. Before long, I was showing Randy my short stories, and he was sharing his illustrations. I thought they were so cool. 

I was an English major at the time, and because Randy was also an editor—really, he’s a Renaissance man—he started helping me hone my craft. One day, he showed me that he’d adapted one of my short stories into comics form. It was a slice of life tale about a college friend. I wrote more stories about college life, and we began developing the main characters in How i Made the World together. Becoming a collaborative team happened very organically.

Randy - how is it collaborating with Liz on her scripts?

Randy Michaels: I liked Liz’s “voice” from the very beginning. Her writing is smart, but she also writes extremely funny lines that come at you when you least expect them. Liz and I read through her scripts with my sketchbook in hand, and we map out the pacing and major plot points and how they’ll play out on the page. Sometimes, Liz will suggest a particular angle to draw a scene. Or I’ll suggest text changes, such as additional dialogue. We brainstorm together and make it fun. There’s no embarrassment that one of us might come up with a bad idea. 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 9, 2014

COMICS

Celebrate 50 years of Daredevil, as our blind lawyer heads to San Fran and has revealed his secret identity in Daredevil #1.50! Fifty years without fear! … Shutter #1 is being toted as Indiana Jones for the 21st Century, with a smart female protagonist! … Iron Fist returns to a new series in Iron Fist Living Weapon #1 bringing back the street level kung fu Marvel action we expect from Danny Rand. Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER REVIEW at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Kevin Feige

Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Based on Captain America by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, 

Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell,

Toby Jones, Maximiliano Hernández, Garry Shandling, 

Robert Redford, and Samuel L. Jackson

The First Avenger is back in his blockbuster sequel, joining Iron Man and Thor for in-between The Avengers movies solo ventures.  Chris Evans is back as Captain America Steve Rogers, and in contrast to the introduction of the character, the movie is set in present day, after the events in New York in The Avengers.

Flashbacks occur to move the story along, and are welcome callbacks to the WWII story of Cap and Bucky vs. Hydra, but there is much more going on with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and introducing Sam Wilson as Falcon (Anthony Mackie) as the Scooby Gang of espionage S.H.I.E.L.D. is on watch.

Former Community/Arrested Development producer and director team Anthony and Joe Russo add humor to the mix in a subtle way, but more importantly pack so much action and tension into this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we hope to see more from them with Cap 3.

While closest to Iron Man conceptually, the flavor of this Marvel Movie is all espionage Cap and Secret Avengers—a combination sure to make comics fans as well as Avengers fans excited, intrigued and headed to the theatre more than once for a taste of this non-stop action.

This is certainly the most meaty of stories and filled with the most Avengers since the franchise took off.

Nick Fury and Black Widow have a lot of screen time, and introduction of Stan Lee and Gene Colan’s Falcon as Captain America’s wingman makes for a great team. While this is still a superhero movie, we are taken to the world that Ed Brubaker established in his run on Cap. Throw in the main, practically unavoidable spoiler that Winter Soldier is in fact Cap’s erstwhile partner in justice Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and you have a complicated past mixed with a technologically advanced future. 

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

COSMIC TREADMILL: 'AVENGERS CONFIDENTIAL: BLACK WIDOW & PUNISHER' (REVIEW) at FORCES OF GEEK

Ramping up for the big Cap movie this weekend got us all excited, preened and pumped for some small screen Marvel action, NOW!

The weekend brought us to the store for a DVD copy of Thor: The Dark World and a stranger, peculiar animated relative (second cousin?) Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher.

Mixing Anime and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (I think) made for a great sequel to the Madhouse produced Marvel Anime series, but underserved as a rally cry for this weekend’s live-action Winter Soldier. The Cosmic Treadmill ran with this on the HUD, and here’s what worked and what didn’t! 

The Punisher, for better or for worse, has always been a favorite Marvel character. I grew up with his War Journals, his Armory, his War Zone and throughout the ‘80s. Artists like Jim Lee Mike Zeck drawing Frank Castle and his family’s murder was my raison d’être! One day, I thought, I’d be rich and sexy enough to buy Amazing Spider-Man #129. I thought wrong!

As for Black Widow, co-star of this movie and The Avengers, I’ve only been interested since Iron Man 2. ScarJo’s stoic yet sexy expressions and her trickery over Loki in The Avengers certainly puts her in the front lines of the squad, but ‘back in my day’ Black Widow was second string. I have more Mockingbird comics in my long boxes than Natasha Romanoff!

Either way, story wise, this is a great pairing. You know what you are going to get with Frank Castle. He’s the opposite of Batman—killer, judge, jury, executioner. Black Widow, a former Russian spy, now S.H.I.E.L.D. spy under the thumb of Director Nick Fury (Cinematic, Samuel L. Jackson version) is one who must answer to military protocol and her higher ups.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 2, 2014

COMICS

Bendis’ Ultimate Comics Spider-Man run is record breaking and groundbreaking! Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, now starring Miles Morales as the Web-Slinger hits #200 (with timey-wimey numbering) as everyone celebrates the memory of Peter Parker! Surprises guaranteed! … Vegans! Hardcore Kids! Comic Fans! Run to Liberator - Earth Crisis #2 from Black Mask and #OccupyComics. This issue guest starring the animal friendly tattooed hardcore legends. … Angel and Faith Season 10 #1 is out today, with 200% more Zombpires and Magic! Picks this week from Robin Hood: Outlaw of the 21st Century on Kindle!

League of Ordinary Gentlemen Podcast Episode #187: A Very Special Leaguepodcast...

This week, on a very special League Podcast, Adam Rivera and MC Frontalot join us to talk about their post-PAX shows, the Star Wars “Machete Order,” appearing in an issue of the Walking Dead, and Frontalot’s awesome new merch, because that’s what feeds the babies!


Illustration by Evan Dorkin

Discussed in this Episode:
Adam Rivera Music



MC Frontalot 


Music:
Intro: “Gray World” - Adam Rivera

Outtro: “First World Problems” - MC Frontalot

 

TRIPLE SHOT WITH A DIGITAL CHASER: G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO #200, STAR SLAMMERS #1, ROCKY & BULLWINKLE #1 PLUS DEPARTMENT O #1 - FORCES OF GEEK

Yo Joe! 

With Larry Hama delivering us the milestone issue of G.I. Joe #200 this week, we also have an 80’s Marvel graphic novel reprint in the form of issues with Walt Simonson’s Star Slammers #1 (remastered).

Mighty Mark Evanier & Roger Langridge team up just like their title characters inRocky & Bullwinkle #1.

Over in ComiXology Submit land, wash this down with a spooky British team in Department O #1.  

G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO #200
WRITER: Larry Hama
ART: SL Gallant
Publication Date: March 26, 2014
Price: $5.99
Publisher: IDW Publishing
UPC: 82771400148820011
Buy it HERE

“Yo, Joe!” - That’s what you’ll hear like the shot heard round the world tomorrow at 11 or noon when the shops open up in your town.

In fact, here in nearby Somerville, Tim Finn of Hub Comics is giving away 200 copies of this six dollar book for free today! All coming from a love for the ninjas, soldiers, tanks, reptilian villains and military banter sensei Larry Hama has given us since the first comic series (there have been many since) in the G.I. Joe franchise!

My heart fluttered in anticipation of reading the book and suddenly I was 12 years old again! 

This double-sized issue has a climactic standoff between our arrogant and whiney Cobra Commander and top notch Joes, including original Joe Coulton (played by Bruce Willis in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. 

There is one page, near the end of the book that is fan service to us loyal RAH fans. Joe Headquarters The Pit is given a reboot and boy howdy is it cool.

IDW even reenlisted the letters page, ‘Postbox: The Pit’, where a young Clay N. Ferno was first published way back in 1991 (Issue #110, Saw-Viper)! You best believe it, I wrote in a gushing Postbox letter immediately. If I’m in the Joe letter page twice in my life, I’m dropping my microphone and walking away!

Happy Anniversary to Larry, Herb Trimpe, and new artist SL Gallant (and of course all of the great RAH artists, too many to mention here)! Dinner Wednesday: frozen pizza, grape soda, and little chocolate covered donuts! 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

MIGHTY Q&A: A G.I. JOE #200 EXTRAVAGANZA! - INTERVIEW WITH TIM FINN OF HUB COMICS AT 13TH DIMENSION

Tim Finn is a G.I. Joe expert. He’s also the owner of Hub Comics in Somerville, Mass. He’s also giving away 200 copies of G.I. Joe #200, starting Wednesday, the book’s release date. 

CLAY N. FERNO has the interrogation!

Clay: What was your first Joe comic?

Tim: Issue #90, which I got a few weeks before heading to summer camp. The cover shows two Joes about to get brainwashed, so I couldn’t not buy it, even though I wasn’t into comics. And the “Next Month” blurb shows a ninja fight, but that issue was off the stands by the time I got back home from camp, and it was two years before I tracked it down.  Those brainwashed Joes are fine, by the way. More or less.

What does Yo Joe Cola taste like? I think R.C. Cola, not The Big Two.

Yeah, RC or a supermarket generic. I always liked that the Joes had their own cola to counterbalance the Dreadnoks loving grape soda so much, even though it makes about as much sense as Delta Force having its own line of jeans.

[READ MORE at 13th DIMENSION]

UPDATE: Picked up by ROBOT 6 at CBR!

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for March 26, 2014

COMICS

Yo Joe! Followers of the League picks know we have a special place in our heart for G.I. Joe! Celebrate sensei Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero issue #200 by heading to Hub Comics in Somerville for your free copy of the $5.99 book! 200 copies available! … Silver Surfer #1 from Dan Slott (Spider-Man) and Mike Allred (FF, Madman) apes Doctor Who by grabbing a companion for his long space journey with the Power Cosmic! … Gaiman’s Sandman is back with J.H. Williams III on art, issue #2 of Sandman: Overture is out today. Picks this week from Robin Hood: Outlaw of the 21st Century on Kindle!

FACEPALMBOOK: FIVE SOCIAL MEDIA ‘DON’TS’ WITH THE MIDDLE EAST’S CLAY FERNALD, WHO HOSTS A MMMMAVEN WORKSHOP FRIDAY NIGHT - VANYALAND

Social media is tricky business, and as the practice becomes more essential to promoting a band or art, the more we’re seeing people fail miserably. Clay Fernald, however, has been kicking ass at it for years, ever since he landed on the cover of the Boston Phoenix in 2005 for having nearly 3,500 MySpace friends. Now as general manager of the Middle East in Cambridge and curator of DigBoston’s comic-mad League Podcast, the former frontman of punk band Wild Zero has social media promotion on lockdown, both personally and professionally.

Tomorrow night (Friday, March 21) Fernald teams up with the MMMMaven Agency for a social media workshop in Central Square, Cambridge. Designed to educate bands, DJs, artists, and anyone else interested in promotion through social media, the session provides expert advice in an innovative forum.

Since one of the tenants of Fernald’s social media approach is communication through conversation, we asked him why he feels social media in 2014 is so vital to an independent artist’s success.

“This has to be the greatest time in human existence to be a musician and an artist,” Fernald tells Vanyaland. “Damn — if you say the right thing on twitter orpost the right video on YouTube, you can be an overnight sensation. Besides that, you gotta talk to your fans and the venues you are playing at via social. Your access to your heroes is unprecedented. Holler at your influences, get a star favorite, ride on cloud nine all day!

So what makes a band successful at social media: Friend counts? Followers? Interaction?

“Of course likes and followers are great, but the real important part is the interaction, the listening, the talkback,” he adds. “The conversation. Pretend everyone is sitting next to you at the bar. It might be three people, it might be 30. Be cool and people will want to know what you have to say!”

Since Fernald will be busy educating those at tomorrow night’s workshop on how to have a successful social media campaign, we decided to flip the script and ask him to break down what not to do. Here are his five suggestions:

5.Don’t Be a dick

Do you think Thom Yorke cares that you think “name your own price” is a lame idea? Fine, get over it. He’s not gonna respond anyway. Try some PMA! “Don’t deride when you can go along for the ride!”

4.Don’t troll

C’mon, man. Setting up a fake twitter account to keep an eye on the bassist that quit your band? He ain’t comin’ back, baby!

3.Don’t tag band members of other bands in your Facebook check-ins at the big concert

At the Big Concert, a Big Band Member told me he/she HATES this. Sure it is cool you are friends IRL, but Big Band Member knows where he/she is and you are totally humble bragging to your Friends List right now.

2.Don’t announce a big show with big band via Twitter on a Saturday morning.

Timing is everything — don’t scream at an empty room. Be a normal band mate, wake up hungover on Saturday, eat Rice Chex and watch the new Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Practice when you get out of bed at 4pm.

1.Don’t use the Javascript INVITE ALL to Facebook events.

5,349 people invited. Three Attending. Five Maybes. And one “Block All Requests From This User” is coming your way from me.

SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP WITH @CLAYNFERNO :: Friday, March 21 @ MMMMaven, 614 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 203, Cambridge, MA :: 6 to 8 p.m., all-ages, $30, 617.849.9321 :: Eventbrite Page :: Facebook Event Page

[READ MORE AT VANYALAND]

NOAH (GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW) - AT FORCES OF GEEK

I’m not the first to run to a tome about some bible story, admittedly, and seeing previews initially for the upcoming Noah starring Russell Crowe made me a bit skeptical.

Do we need a Darren Aronofsky’s reimagining of this biblical story, like oh-so-muchBattlestar Galactica?

Thankfully, there is more to this beautifully illustrated graphic novel than a chromed out Old Testament boat. Based on the first draft of the movie’s script, this 256 page hardcover or digital graphic novel is worth the high price tag for fans of the medium and comics that exist outside of the vacuum that is mainstream superhero comics. This book could exist comfortably at Vertigo as a mini-series.

Noah
Story By: Darren Aronofsky
Story By: Ari Handel
Art By: Niko Henrichon
Price: $29.99
Diamond ID: JAN140537
Published: March 19, 2014


There is plenty of controversy surrounding the movie of course, with religious peoples of all faiths protesting the portrayal of our first animal and environmental activist.

Most of the controversy is based on how Aronofsky is attempting to comment on our environmental issues of the day, and I’d be hard pressed to prove those critics wrong.

And we thought comic fans were bad! Superman in shorts vs. no shorts is no comparison to the debate waging on about how Noah’s Ark is to be portrayed on film!

Getting into the book in front of us today, yes, your cursory knowledge of the Noah’s Ark story will do you just fine.

God is angry with man, He wipes out the world with a flood, but only after asking Noah to take all creatures 2 x 2 onto the Ark.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

MUSICAL TWONKS: SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP FOR BANDS, DJS & ARTISTS WITH CLAY FERNALD - DIGBOSTON

Wow! I got interviewed! Thanks, Shannon!

“Is there anything better than a ‘like’ on Instagram? I don’t think so. When your ‘likes’ go from a bunch of people’s usernames to a double-digit number, that’s the highlight of my day,” says Clay Fernald (@ClayNFerno), manager of the Middle East Nightclub in Cambridge and a self-made social media expert for bands, producers, DJs, and fine artists.

Fernald was thrust into the social media world in 2005 when he earned the title of “The Most Popular Man in Boston” and wound up the cover of the Boston Phoenix. While the story of how he got there is really more of a funny coincidence – “I broke up with a girlfriend and I was on MySpace at the time, so to get back at her I expanded my network and got popular through ‘revenge friending’”  – the connections he made were real and only continued to grow as he furthered his career in publicity and branding.

On Friday, March 21st, Fernald will be teaching an intensive workshop on the importance and utilization of social media for those in the music industry – he’s adamant about how vital the Internet is for artists of all types, especially now. “The way that we used to do shows when I was a punk rock kid was going up and posting fliers everywhere,” he explains. “Today, you have no choice. [Social media] needs to be part of making music and putting it out there. Like making t-shirts, like picking a band name…out of all the things that are important to a band, having a Twitter account should be just another part of the process.”

Young or old, established or new and local, Fernald insists that his workshop is for any one wielding a guitar. Or pan flute. As anyone who has ever listened to music knows, the relationship between an artist and his/her/their fans is one that is highly personal, unique, and often passionate. And Fernald believes that social media will only continue to improve these relationships – it’s a tool that’s truly vital for artists of any type trying to get exposure and find their audience.

“There’s nothing in the world like a retweet,” Fernald says. “There’s nothing in the world like a favorite. And that’s the message I’m trying to convey in this workshop – that social media can facilitate real person relationships. You might not sell a person a t-shirt or a CD, but if they’re at your show and you talk to them, then that’s the most valuable relationship in the world.”

[MMMMAVEN. 614 Massachusetts Ave #203. Cambridge. 7-9 PM/ $50. MMMMAVEN.COM.]

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