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one of the best comics of 2005. The following year she won a MangaCast Yomi for Best Global Manga of 2006. And in 2007b Dramacon was placed on YALSA's list of the Best Graphic Novels for teens.
...I managed okay--the schools in Russia are paced a little differently so I was further ahead on some subjects than my Canadian classmates of the same age. I was literally falling asleep in math class, because the stuff that was being taught I'd already known for at least a year. But when it came to English, Creative writing, History, etc., things were much more, um... challenging. LOLIt seems only natural to me that Chmakova would gravitate toward graphic work to communicate ideas. Comics are truly an international language. the interview goes on to reveal that after graduating from Sheridan College's esteemed classical animation program, she found the animation had "dried up". After attempting to get an illustration career off the ground, Chmakova began to explore comics and fell hopelessly in love with the medium.
In the cultural sense, I adjusted very easily--Canada is a very accepting country with a strong multicultural community and people tend to be very friendly overall. I blended right in.
I still love animation very much and would like to do some, time-permitting. But I've come to realize that I'm a storyteller just as much as I am an artist, so I am not content just drawing. I need to tell stories! The comics medium is perfect for me.I bought the first Dramacon to try it out and immediately had to have the remaining two. At first, I was taken aback by the soapish quality of the story (I am not the target audience after all!). But soon, I was devouring the book. The storytelling was clear, compelling and drove me forward through the story, speeding me up and slowing me down as needed. The dang thing was so addictive I was itching to buy the next two right away. I contemplated purchasing the hardcover Dramacon collection this Christmas for my niece but one or two scenes forced me to wait until she's a wee bit older.
, which premieres in Yen's monthly anthology Yen Plus this month, explains part of the initial problem.With critical and that elusive commercial success for DramaconOne reason for the initial fan rejection of OEL manga was the weakness of some of the early properties, according Yen Press publishing director Kurt Hassler. “People who loved manga but had very little instruction were being given contracts early on, putting out full books without the kind of guidance you need on a professional level.” By contrast, he said, Japanese and Korean editors spend a lot of time working with their creators.“The biggest reason for doing a monthly magazine in Asia is to let the artist grow,” said JuYoun Lee, the editor of Nightschool and of Yen Plus. “You get more feedback from readers, and you see how the characters get their own power—they go in a different way sometimes from the initial setup of the artist.”
and Nightschool
secured, Chmakova has launched several side ventures, including speaking engagements and classes, how-to-draw manga manuals, toy designs and a return to her animation roots as designer and co-creator of the forthcoming Teletoon animated series, My Life Me.
I met Cindy years ago when she was the Director of Creative Development at Vancouver's Bardel animation. She was one of the most approachable execs out there. She was about to start story editing Silverwing
, the animated series based on Kenneth Oppel
's series of fantasy novels. She's also the co-writer (along with Geoff Berner) of the animated holiday special, The Christmas Orange.
Look, when our artists decide to create their work in the pamphlet format, they are making a decision that this will just be sold in comic stores. When the main distributor for comics stores decides to institute minimums that may affect their work in pamphlet form, we — as both their publisher and not just their biggest fan — have to have an honest conversation with the artist if this is the best way to publish their work and if we, as a company, can continue to publish it as a pamphlet to a declining audience that is beyond our control, no matter how good the comic. The alternative of publishing books to an increasing audience is a win-win situation for everyone involved — author, publisher, retailer, distributor. This may sound like a sacrilege — such an obvious mixing of art with business. I would imagine our artists and fans know that we place art before commerce about 99% of the time, more often than not, to our disadvantage.So many established publishers are hesitant to make a decision about what to publish and how to adapt at a time like this, it creates a bit of a vacuum and opportunity exists for those who will take it. As Steven Grant notes in his latest Permanent Damage column on what it really means to "break into" the comics business, there are more avenues for doing comics available to all than there have ever been before.
The "comics business" is far bigger and more fractured than it was in 1978, when I broke in, and Marvel and/or DC are no longer "the comics business," no matter how much fanzines and newssites and their own propaganda push that notion. "The comics business" is all over the place: newspaper strips, online comics, manga, animation, mini-comics, indie comics, alt-comics, original graphic novels... It doesn't matter whether any of these have the critical mass to challenge Marvel/DC "hegemony," it only matters that your contribution pulls in enough eyes to make it worthwhile for you. Which doesn't necessarily mean you'll be making money in a hurry, or at all. The question isn't really income but audience. Build a large enough, faithful enough audience and you will end up making money. There are all kinds of ways to make money.
Audience is the true grail now, not assignments.
The year before he was inducted himself, I managed to convince Quebec bande dessinnée legend Pierre Fournier to serve as a judge on the Hall of Fame Committee for the Joe Shuster Canadian ComicBook Awards. I remember how confused he was over the distinction we made between comics and comic books.
"In Quebec," Pierre assured me (and, as near as I can tell from my limited perspective, in Europe and most of the non-North American world), "there is no such distinction. The comics are the comics whether they appear in the newspapers, in a graphic novel, on the internet or in a comic book." In short, comics are bigger than the form in which they appear. That may define how they are presented in each case, but it doesn't define the medium itself.
The Comics aren't dead, people. Neither is music. They way we interact with and receive them is ever-changing, though. Want proof? Events like the upcoming Toronto Comics Arts Festival celebrate comics in all their varied glory. More information on this year's event can be found here.
When I see the massive public attendance and enthusiasm for the bi-annual event it always reaffirms to me that the comics aren't dead, nor is a general love and passion for them. The form is merely adapting to new forms of distribution.
Embrace change and you discover that all the things you love about comics are still around, somewhere.
Beavers Up!
