Spoilt for Choices

So, we come to the end of 2008, which has been a fantastic year for Insomnia.

Below you can see the finished, fully coloured cover for Layer Zero: Choices, which was delivered well before its deadline as an extra special Christmas present to kick off the holiday season.

Pencils and inks by Scott James

Colours by Jason Millet

Scott and Jason will be joining Cancertown writer Cy Dethan on a project for Markosia next year, The Case Files of Harlan Falk.

Speaking of Layer Zero we are also delighted to have welcomed three new artists into the fold this last week, and paired them up with writers. Say hello to:

• Ben Macleod
  
• Michael Tribble
• Tom Harry

We have also found a very special new colourist for Daemon, by Alasdair Duncan and Daniel Lopez:

• Yelena Zamorskaya Yel has been working on Relentless by Tim Perkins for Markosia most recently, and has also worked with Simon Wyatt, who, or course , is the writer and artist of Unbelievable, which will be out in the late summer 2009.

So, that about wraps up a very busy year.

Thanks to everyone we've worked with in 2008 and we're looking forward to working with a lot more of you in 2009.

We'll See you all again on the 5th of January, and some of you on our first visit to the New York Comic Con - drop by and say "Hi" if you're passing.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to every one, and remember, if you're going to be naughty, play nice!

Trade Secrets

Latest Updates


Here's a quick round up of what's been going on at Insomnia this week:

• Stephen Downey, penciller for Cancertown, went to the a show in Dublin where he was able to hand Jonathan Hickman a copy of the newly printed Cages which features his fantastic cover, hand out lots of badges and get lots of compliments on his stunning artwork.
  
  
• Stref, creator of MILK (out next year) was interviewed about the book for RKYV Online
  and Jazma
  
  
• We signed Death Hunter: Dead Man's Gold by James Johnson with Georgios Dimitriou - Artist, Thanos Tsilis - Layouts, Leonardo M. Giron - Conceptual Artist:
  
  Profit is a haven of fortune that bears more resemblance to a 'Western Utopia' than any familiar backwater town. It has been built from the pockets of one man - a man whose past is about to return and fulfil a forgotten curse.
  
  Welcome to the dead west, where greed and corruption shows its true origins.
  
  
• We signed Six Months by Jim O'Hara:
  
  An uneasy exploration of what happens when, perhaps too late, you discover the answers to what it is that gives your life meaning, the relationship between law and society, and what it means when you longer need to hide anything from yourself or others.
  

Full details on both of these in the new year.

As you will have seen from posts about upcoming books and projects, Insomnia decided a while back to publish "instant trades" or "albums" of all our books rather than any floppies.

This week I thought I would talk about the main reasons for this, as this difference always seems to be one of the main talking points with creators, readers, retailers and other publishers when I get a chance to chat with them at conventions.

When people say "comics" they think of 22 - 24 page "floppies" as representing an entire medium. I find this strange. When people say "books" or "sculptures" or "paintings" they are not nearly this prescriptive in their thinking. I find this close tie between the artistic medium and physical format odd.


"So what's wrong with floppies then?". Well, nothing, actually. One of my most prized possessions is my original run of V for Vendetta. Not the mention the full sensory delight that is taking my Jim Starlin Warlocks out of their box (not only is the art mind blowing but they feel and smell so nice!). And, being a reader-turned-artist I still personally have a pretty hefty pull list that is like a little slice of Christmas when the package shows up every month.

The question is really "What are floppies good for?" and I think the answer to that is "What they were designed for", which is, of course, on-going stories that are produced on a regular schedule and have a loyal audience that waits for each new issue in anticipation.

Of course the form influences the storytelling structure so they lend themselves to the kinds of stories that are naturally episodic and have a pace and shape that leaves the reader satisfied by 22 pages but still wanting more. Maybe I'll talk to some of our writers about doing a piece about structuring next year - that is a hidden art or science that is not seen explicitly on the page in the same way as the art style, or the dialogue, but one that can make or break a story.

So far probably most of the greatest examples of the medium have been created to fit this "floppy shape" mostly for business reasons (regular revenue streams, how the logistics of the previews, printing and distribution have worked, creators needing regular paychecks) rather than artistic concerns, but things are starting to change. This change is coming through technology, through a different view of "what comics are" and "what comics can do" from publishers and creators, through classifications being broken down and rebuilt in new forms, through people wanting to experiment with what they love.

Insomnia's format decision, though, springs mainly from our focus on creators and our desire to deliver something different. Neither of these things will work with a "floppies" model for a smaller publisher because:

• Different is understandably scary to readers and retailers on tight budgets
  
• Monthly schedules are practically impossible for newer creators with other commitments.
  

Both of those things contribute to a vicious circle that mean, in effect, you already have to be successful to be successful, retailers already need to know your books sell to try and sell your books and readers already need to know your work to know they want your work a try. Tricky, huh?

But, as has happened elsewhere, the internet has helped. The getting known is becoming easier. One of the good things about comics being the "problem child" of the art world is that the comics industry, and I use the term very loosely, is made up of a fairly anarchic bunch - now technology has got us all talking to each other the biggest question being asked is "Why I can't I do it my way?", "Do you want to try this?", "Are you the boss of me?".

An unfortunate fact is that the independent specialist comic shop is becoming an endangered species. There are now only around 100, give or take, in the UK. Of course you can find comics in other places, but many of those places have no place for single issues in their ordering, stocking or shelving systems.

A bright side is that many more people are discovering the medium from many angles, and by many routes, the audience is diversifying incredibly and the demand for a huge variety of styles and subject matter is increasing.

So, yes, we are producing complete books "from the off" and here are the main reasons why:

1) We can have our books carried by large book chains, independent bookshops, online retailers etc as well as specialist comic shops.

2) A book has a longer "shelf life" than an individual comic which has one month "on shelf" (probably tucked away in the Indie section, realistically, as shops have limited shelf space and have to have guaranteed sellers on show) before being consigned to the back issues boxes and no longer visible to potential customers. This is a big problem for indie books that people may not have heard of, or know to ask for.

3) Many retailers and readers are nervous about taking a chance on a new indie book - will it finish its run, will it come out regularly etc. It is much easier to try something new if you can get the whole story at once.

4)Reviewers like to read a complete story to make a complete review, especially when they may not have encountered the creative team before. Readers like reviews that cover the whole story. It is easier to decide if you want to buy something on a "this was great" than a "this looks promising". We let people read the first chapter for free as an ebook in most cases as well.

5) Our books are mainly for an older (15+) audience, and, within that, people who may not think of themselves as "into comics" or ever have been to a comic shop, but who are becoming more interested as the medium, and its potential, is getting more attention. I once heard Bryan Talbot say that when he was starting out his favourite film was "Don't Look Now" - and why couldn't we have that sort of artistry in comics storytelling? He was 30 years ahead of his time, and I still feel his question stands today. If you get the chance to hear him speak about this, what he has tried to achieve in his career, balancing his commercial and personal work etc at one of his talks drop anything else you had on that day and go.

6) The most important reason of all, though, is that we are trying to provide a new route into the industry for the many extremely talented creators who want to do something different / interesting / challenging with creator owned books, but who have not yet been able to (or perhaps don't even want to) go full time as comics professionals.

By putting a complete book out in one go we are able to agree schedules with our creative teams that mean they can fit working on the books around day jobs, page rate work, other commitments etc without the pressure of a monthly schedule which would not be realistic for them.

Also the "traditional routes" through the major publishers may not be suitable for the types of stories that some people want to tell - and you usually have to be a pretty big name before you get to use your own characters at larger publishers.

7) Finally it also allows us to include some of the "extras" like concept art, script pages, interviews with the creators etc that you normally have to wait (and buy a new edition) for.

So that is why we are doing what we are doing, I hope to see some of you there doing it with us.

Cancer Scans

Cancertown is nearing completion now and new artwork is flowing in for Chapter five.

The writer, Cy Dethan has been writing on his blog last week about how it feels to see your script come to life as a comic, and I thought that it might be interesting for readers to see the stages as well.

In a departure from my usual blogs, I am going to keep this one silent and let the process speak for itself. I am going to show you how issue five, page four took shape. Yes, this is a page from deep in the book, I chose it because it is one of my favourites. This shouldn't be a spoiler though, as you'd have to know what happens in the lead up to this for that to be the case.

Click on the images to see bigger versions that you can actually read.

Cancertown Script: Issue five, page four: by Cy Dethan


Cancertown Pencils and Inks: Issue five, page four: by Stephen Downey


Cancertown Colours: Issue five, page four: by Melanie Cook


Cancertown Letters Issue five, page four: by Nic Wilkinson


And that's how you make a comic.

I love it when a plan comes together!

Also this week:

• Cages went to print with our wonderful new printers, Warpton, more on them at a later date.
  
  
• Insomnia got a brief mention on the famous Forbidden Planet Blog in John "Down The Tubes" Freeman's "Best of 2008" round up. Thanks John!
  
  If you don't know Down The Tubes go over and check it out now. It is probably the best source of British comics news out there, and John Freeman is not only a champion of independent comics, but a talented creator himself.

Until next week (and then it will be nearly Christmas!)...

Alasdair Duncan reveals his Daemons

This week I'm taking the helm on the blog as Nic's away. Thankfully you're not stuck with me rambling on as Alasdair Duncan, writer of the upcoming album, Daemon, tells us some more about the story.

Revenge is sweet.

So thinks former pilot Guy Shearman as he festers in a hospital bed. Now a quadriplegic from a terrible accident, all that keeps him alive is seeking retribution on Andrea Robinson, the woman who put him into this state.

Only it’s not that simple.

Released from his living prison through the corruption of a medical research project, Guy discovers where the blame for the accident really lies.

Having seen what it can do and to stop his research falling into the wrong hands, project director Philip Bletchley unwittingly opens a door to a place where revenge is all. Taking pity on the countless victims locked in a senseless cycle of retribution he makes it his mission to lead them all to freedom, regardless of the consequences.

Fate decides the only two people who can understand this madness are Kelly, Bletchley’s assistant, and Andrea herself. But should they, or will they, shut Bletchley’s doors? As to do so they will need the help of the one person neither wants to deal with, Guy Shearman. Kelly was used and abused by him while Andrea lost her only daughter in the same accident which crippled Guy.

Revenge is not sweet.

Revenge is complicated.

Very complicated.

Daemon is pencilled by Daniel Lopez with letters by Nic Wilkinson and is due out in 2009.


I also managed to tear Alasdair away from his busy schedule to answer a few questions about the writing process in the following interview:

Insomnia:
How did a writer of novels (and some described as ‘too polite’ at that) come to write a horror comic?

AD:
You can only spend so long banging your head against the same brick wall. Four novels later and still with no agent, I had a stack of rejection letters big enough to fill a black bin liner. If nothing else I felt I needed a change to stop madness setting in and a friend of mine who reads comics suggested we collaborate on one. We decided we’d really push all the boundaries we could and turn all the conventions we could find on their head. The result was awful.

However the opening chapter where the main character becomes a quadriplegic had promise, so having thrown away the rest this first chapter gradually evolved into Daemon and that when Crawford got involved and the idea of Insomnia floated.

Insomnia:
Is there a difference between writing novels and comic books?

AD:
And how! What fascinates me is when journalists think they can write novels or when novelists try to write poetry. All the disciplines are so different that they use completely different skill sets.

Writing for a comic was so liberating, not least the fewer words you had to use. There’s no room for the three and a half pages that Arnold Bennet devotes to describing Anna’s dressing table top in ‘Anna and the Five Towns’. It really is true that every word has to earn its place on the page. If it’s not needed or is a repeat of what went earlier then it shouldn’t be there.

Suddenly I found I could maintain momentum in the story and I love the idea of trying to find a hook on every page to draw the reader on to the next one. It gave my work the pace it sadly lacked in novels. I’m not saying comics are easier to write, just that the demands they make matched the skills I have better than writing novels.


Insomnia:
But what about working in a team? In a novel it’s just you and the paper. Surely sharing your work is hard?

AD:
A blessed relief actually. In novels you bear the rejection letters on your own; have to work through plot problems or character wrinkles alone. It’s a real grind. As part of a team producing a comic (with the right team I hasten to add) you all build on each other’s work and suddenly the whole exercise becomes so much more than the sum of its parts. In Daemon maybe I didn’t give enough direction to Daniel, but on the other hand he had enough of the bones to provide the flesh, and what flesh! Many of the small, clever details are not mine but come purely from him. Then he too is surprised by what Nic can do with the lettering, taking the whole page on yet another step further.

For me it comes very naturally, as I used to act and direct plays, and so am used to sharing a creative process and therefore trusting the others you have along with you for the ride. As with all teams – if you’re pulling in the same direction you can reach some extreme speeds, but if not, then you never really get going. Thankfully, Crawford is particularly good at getting the right people in the right place.


Insomnia:
Will this be the beginning of a long series?

AD:
In novels I have a particular dislike of never ending series as they go on and on and on. Think of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ and its interminable sequels, or Julian May’s ‘Many Coloured Land’ not to mention Stephen Donaldson. All began with a good book and ended with rotten ones.

Having said that. I like the characters in Daemon and they have more of a story to tell, but not that long a story! Maybe there’s one more to come, but only if it remains as hard and true as the first one. And a long series? I don’t want to end up in the same place as Messers Herbert, Donaldson and Ms May!

Insomnia:
Thanks very much for giving us some insight into the writing process. I can't wait to see the final pages!

That's all we've got time for this week. Hopefully we'll return to normal next week with Nic back in charge of The Red Eye.

If you haven't done so already be sure to check out our Myspace, Comicspace, Facebook and Linkedin.

The Nightly News

Well, it's been a very busy few weeks with the Birmingham, MCM Expo and Thought Bubble Conventions. Insomnia becoming a limited company with shareholders and everything (meaning we can now offer better contracts to all our creators), and that sugar fueled frenzy of signing up new books that I mentioned last week.

Now that's all done and we're able to catch our breath we can tell you what all that means for Insomnia, and give some well deserved congratulations to some of our wonderfully talented writers and artists.

Layer Zero Update

Layer Zero: Choices is almost full now. Take a look at this:




Wow, right?

This amazing piece of work-in-progress will be the cover. By the time you see it on the shelves it will be in colour, but I was so excited I wanted to give it a preview here. It is by the brilliant Scott James. Scott is one of those artists you can just say a few words to and trust he gets completely what you want. A few days later you will open your email and something like this will be waiting for you. Just like magic, it is exactly what you wanted, but also so much better than you could have imagined.

So, what else is going to be in the book? Well, so far we have confirmed:

• The Proposal: script and art by Scott James
• Butterflies and Moths: script by Corey Brotherson and art by Ariyana Vida
• Magpie: script by Richard McAuliffe and art by Mark Chilcott (more on these two later)
  
• Waste: script by Cy Dethan (more on a new book from Cy later as well)
  
• Waiting For The End: script by Martin Conaghan
• Time Wave Zero: script and art by Adam R Grose
• Devil's Due: script by Richard Casey and art by Preston Asvedo
• Beggars Can't Be Choosers: script by Christopher Barker (more on him later, too)
• The Devil Road: script by Rich James Johnson and art by Leonardo M Giron
• The Right Choice: script and art by Stephen J Butler
• Hobson's Choice: script by Thomas Romeo
• The Turtle Guitar: script and art by Ben Powis
• Erratum: script by Matt Gibbs
• Nearest and Dearest: script by Greg Carruthers and art by Monty Borror
• Soul: script by Steven Stone
• Death in Therapy: script by GM Jordan
  

We are still accepting submissions until 31st of Dec.

The theme of the next anthology will be "Survival", and I have one story signed for that already.

New Books Signed

Our newest signings are:

• The Ragged Man by Cy Dethan
• Shiver by Christopher Barker
• Oz: The Fall of The Scarecrow King by Peter Forbes
• Damaged Goods by Richard McAuliffe and Mark Chilcott

All of these will be getting their own posts over the next few weeks with all the details.

Congratulations Due

And finally, give it up for our fantastic creators:

• The first full review of Cages appeared this week, prompting the reviewer to call it "a mother of a compelling read"- well done Xander and Mel
• Simon Wyatt, creator of Unbelievable is the winner of the Pow! Cataclysmic Contest of Awesome Art - judged by none other than Stan "The Man" Lee himself.

Until next week when I will be handing over blog duties to Crawford as I will be away.

Night Thoughts - Thought Bubble 2008

On Saturday the 15th of November Insomnia had a stand at the 2nd Thought Bubble convention as part of the Leeds Sequential Art festival.


This is a fantastic show with a really great atmosphere. It seemed more creator focussed than other cons and we met a lot of very talented people, all of whom had many unique and interesting ideas they wanted to talk to us about.

There was very much a sense that creating comics is suddenly, dizzyingly, possible, that people are no longer believing what they are told and are finding new ways of cutting through, tunnelling under, bounding over or just completly ignoring what they have been told for decades were impassable obstacles. This is exactly why Crawford Coutts formed Insomnia, and it was a real pleasure to meet so many of you face to face.

The drive and creativity of the indy scene is staggering - and extremely inspiring. The generosity of creators is always heartening and hearing how many people were recommending each other for projects, or introducing people to each other because "they need to meet" is great to see. We have seen some amazing work and met "just the right person" so many times this way, which we would, most likely, never had done so were it not for this collaborative attitude.

The visitors, publishers and creators were the most diverse mix I have seen at a comics event, and it is really becoming very apparent that comics as a form are making their way out of dank back bedrooms and clammy collectors paws to stand proudly alongside any other storytelling media. Kind of reminds me of what happened to computer games when the original Playstation made it into clubs and front rooms and gaming became not only socially acceptable, but cool. Still, I digress.

Different cons have different feels and so each is better for getting particular things done. The buzz and enthusiam from creators from all aspects of the industry made being a publisher at Thought Bubble like being a kid in the world's best sweetshop. Now we get the great job of stickily making our way through all the goodies we gathered and signing up our next wave of books and creators in a sugar fuelled frenzy.

As well as meeting up with lots of old friends and seeing people "live" for the first time that we had only spoken to online, particular Insomnia Related Highlights from the show were:

• A great meeting with Barry Nugent where we discussed how the Fallen Heroes adaptation is going to work in practice.
  
  
• Signed up several new stories for Layer Zero on the spot, and discussed ideas with several more writers who want to make submissions. Watch this space for a Layer Zero update about some of the stories, writers and artists very soon.
  
  
• Found several new artists for our longer projects on the strength of some stunning portfolios on show. Any artists who brought portfolios and but didn't get to speak to us please drop me a line at nichola@insomniapublications.com (the biggest file I can receive is 7mb in one email, though)
  
  
• Discussed several full length Graphic Novel proposals of exactly the kind of challenging, left field, thought provoking stories we are after. For those wanting to make submissions, but could not make the show then have a look at our submissions guidelines page.
  
  
• Had a brilliantly in-depth meeting with Chris Barker about Shiver a creator owned original graphic novel that we first discussed at BICS. In the last few weeks it has gone from an outline concept to a full proposal for an unsettling story that is by equal turns , horrifying, moving and, best of all, deeply troubling. I can't reveal more at this stage, as nothing has been signed, but I am hoping to be able to tell you that has changed in the very near future.
  
  
• Spoke with Markosia boss Harry Markos, MyeBook and the Superman of Independent Comics Publishing, Shane Chebsey about a plan to make it easier for readers and retailers to find out about independent books in a bit more depth than you get from Previews. We know all about how annoying it can be as a reader or a retailer to hear about an independent book from a friend, online, via a review or whatever and just not be able to find any details about where to buy it, or how your local comic shop can get hold of it for you. Big thanks must go to Manny Armario of Whatever Comics for adding a veteran retailer's experience to this discussion over the last few months. More on that as we work out the details.
  
  
• Spoke to Neil "Dynamo 5, X-men, Iron Man" Edwards about drawing a new OGN by Cy "Starship Troopers, Cancertown" Dethan. More news as and when, if everyone's schedules work out so it can happen.
  
  
• While I was having all the fun talking to creators, our sales manager and co-founder of Insomnia, Alasdair Duncan, was doing the hard graft of manning the stand and talking distribution and logisitics and all the organisational side of things with various retailers and chains. He really knows his stuff, and we are pleased to say that if your hometown has a comic shop it won't be hard to find Insomnia books on the shelves.
  
  
• Alasdair also found time to run the interactive "Monster Wall" where you had a chance to design your own monster. This been succesful at cons in the past but was a huge hit this time.
  
  
• I was gratified by the number of people who said they were reading this very blog, and the fact that people were coming over to speak to us about project because they had heard good things about working with us. But you'll have to ask them about that.

Which is all a very long and round about way of saying the con was great for us - if there is any chance of you making it next year I highly recommend you take the trip to Leeds.

Thanks to Tamsin, Lisa and all the other organisers for making it happen.

Until next Monday...

Ben Templesmith Caged

This Saturday (15th November) Insomnia will be at the Thought Bubble festival in Leeds for the first time. The comics convention is part of a longer festival in the city designed to "celebrate sequential art in all its forms".

At the show you will be able to get your hands on a limited number of pre-distribution copies of Cages by Xander Bennet and Melanie Cook before its official release in December.

We sent a copy of Cages to the Horror Master Ben Templesmith himself. Here he is with Xander, and the book, at San Diego Comic Con, ready to sign some copies. Everyone who pre-ordered a copy of the Layer Zero special edition at this year's Bristol Expo was entered into competition to win a copy signed by Xander Bennett Melanie Cook, Jonathan Hickman, and Ben Templesmith.


Being a lovely man as well as one of the most talented artists working in comics today, he agreed to write us a foreword. Here are some of the things he said:

"Cages is quite a book.

You can tell from the first page there's a love for the medium. You can clearly see the labour of love gone into this book, and clocking in past 100 pages is no mean feat in an age when many artists struggle to merely pencil a 22 page book.

I have to say, I'm a sucker for tentacles (yeah, bad pun). If anyone is familiar with my work, they'll know of this... and probably worry that I've got some rather strange fetishes. But by Odin's hairy balls, it's not a real book unless there's some tentacle action, if you ask me.

Cages has it in spades. You can't beat talking critters in bio-tubes either. In fact, the world Melanie and Xander have created here, the vibe they've given the work, is really quite lovely. And disturbing. Let's not forget disturbing."

And really, you can't argue with that.

If you want to see the tentacles in action before making up your mind to buy, then head over to myebook where you can read the first chapter for free or visit the Cages Comic website for more from Xander about the book.

In other news this week:

• Insomnia have signed up the cult hit Fallen Heroes by novelist and co-host of the Geek Syndicate Podcast, Barry Nugent for adaptation into a graphic novel. Fallen Heroes is a stylish supernatural thriller with a rich dark heart. The sharp, multi-layered plot and slick characters of modern crime writing juxtaposed with shadowy agencies, ancient magic and pulp adventure heroes make for a heady fusion of action romp nostalgia. The creative team is yet to be confirmed but details here as soon as it is.
  
  
• Average Joe by Thomas Romeo and Kelvin Chan has also been signed up for publication in around 12-18 months time. Joe is an ordinary Glaswegian who has become Death, the job having been passed on to him randomly after he freezes to death one night in his car. The story of how the team for this project came about, and how it came to us is an inspiring tale in itself - but that deserves a post of its own. For now we will just say "Thanks to Millarworld".

Time's up for this week, come by and say hello if you're going to Leeds.