FFDD! It's here! On Time!
FFDD! It's F&G Dot Com Final Friday! You know what that means?! A bite-sized edition of Monstrous May with all the trimmings!
Latest
The Makings of a New Wave Monster
I've been kicking myself for taking so long to come to this conclusion: Every idea for a comic book can be told in one sentence, 4 pages, or 24 pages**. I kid you not. But the KEY is to consider...
Riding Shotgun with Jayde Perkin on "Violator"
This 2-pager is a long time coming: since the fall of 1985 to be exact, 2020 to be sure. Enter German-born artist and fellow Bowie über enthusiast, Jadye Perkin. I wrote this for her to illustrate because I had a feeling she would get it.
F&G Annotated Continues!
Why give them pause for thought? You want them to notice you fast--so one page or less is what you get to capture and hold their attention. Plus the top 10 books & comics & tracks that will keep you overpowered to make comics!
Oliver's Lament & Bad Haircut
I caught up with Oliver earlier in the week. I bring you video proof and another Riding Shotgun from Fast Times In Comic Book Editing.
Repeat Offenders Mixed Bag, part 3
We're wrapping up some of my quick tips for making comics utilizing the bare bones of a 9-panel page. Here's what comes to mind when I approach the third wave, counting down to the grand finish of a comic.
Deconstructing & Tangent Spotting
I've taken your comments to heart about the type of material you'd like to see via this Deluxe Level, and designed something that might appeal. See what you think of the two different ideas below, Deconstructing & Tangent Spotting.
Repeat Offenders Mixed Bag, part 2
Here's tier 2, panels 4 through 6, of my quick tips for making comics. Head back to last week's post if you want to refresh your memory on tier 1. If not, scroll on...
Repeat Offenders Mixed Bag
Here are the edits I make on the regular that I consider the greatest editorial saves on earth. And perhaps, one day, that will extend to the moon.
Final Friday Digest Delivery: The First 48
Phew! We found it! The first 48 hours are critical in a missing-persons case. Or the case of a missing digital digest. Luckily, we wrapped up with 5 hours to spare before they released the cadaver dogs.
Chewing the Fat & E.A.T.(ing) Records
A lot to digest including a 64-page downloadable Editing Workbook in your very near future. Plus: An Invisibles surprise?!
RIDING SHOTGUN
It's not nice to play favorites. But sometimes a story starts breathing with the character sketches. That's a great collaborator for you.
F&G Annotated Chapter 01
Apologies again for the delay in getting this in front of your eyeballs. I've always been a big fan of cheatsheets and time clocks, but without regular maintenance, everything falls apart. Sometimes, things fall apart anyway.
Thursday Dispatch
A few of you reached out to ask about specific sticky situations that an editor might face when it comes to problem-solving on sequential art. I'm preparing a presentation to share at our live Saturday AMA...
Repeat Offenders & The 5 Qs
Back in March of 2024, I taught a 4-week class on weekends called F&G 102 and created a (Secret) Workbook just for the occasion. I wanted to share some of my favorite pages that involve REPEAT OFFENDERS and the 5 QUESTIONS I ask myself at each stage of editing comics.
process
Thursday Dispatch
Back by popular demand: It's another dispatch chock-full of deconstruction as we RIDE SHOTGUN on Where's Willingham?, part 2 of my Comico short comic from Fast Times in Comic Book Editing, wherein it's 1989, the editor is a kid, the writer is at large, and the game's afoot!
Annotating F&G - The Opening Act
I’ve wanted to annotate F&G for eons—long before it was written and drawn. Mostly because the hardest part of making comics for me and probably anyone—writer, artist, newbie, vet—is knowing when to call a page a finished page.
Final Friday Digest Delivery
Happy Final Friday of March! Here's The New British Invasion!
Road Work
Greetings from the road as I make my way towards the Philadelphia airport. Spent a week on the east coast and managed to concoct a special “In Conversation” event with the legend that is Caroline Cash.
DEEP DIVE 012
I need to fall on my sword for this next comic. In classic "Shelly" fashion, when I saw how easily Asimina connected with my comics-about-making-comics ideas, I sent her a few first drafts with blind abandon...
A 4 Chambers vid & Annotating F&G
A 4 Chambers vid with Asimina & Annotating F&G starting with the cover image.
4 CHAMBERS of Riding Shotgun
One of my favorite things to throw at artists and writers is the 4 CHAMBERS grid. I love to see how they make it their own. I could spend the next quarter-century writing one per day and still not exorcise my thoughts on the human condition.
One Night Only!
Thursday Dispatch #010
Second Saturday & The Style Sheet of My Dreams