My Week Swallowed Me Up

From getting back from San Fran on Sunday night, I was literally running non-stop from place to place. Gary and I were on a game show on Tuesday and squarely got our asses kicked. It was thoroughly embarassing. Been plugging away at both the day job, the writing assignments, and a bit of transcribing every day. I also finally settled down and watched the original BBC version of The Office. I don't know if it's a problem with my BBC America or DirecTV or what, but whenever I'd watch it on TV, I'd go nuts because I couldn't hear what the fuck they were saying, to the point of utter irritation. So, now, armed with the DVD's, I'm almost the whole way through and pretty well in love. I still prefer the American version (Steve Carrel is less irritating and considerably less 'mean' than Ricky Gervais's version of the character which goes a long way.)

The biggest pleasure of the show, which is also the highlight of the American version, is the relationship between Tim/Jim and Dawn/Pam. It's the most honest and natural thing about the show, and it helps smooth over the more forced stuff that surrounds it.

Aside from that, getting the last of the stuff ready to send out for World's End, which'll be going to publishers this week-ish, getting the business plan together on Punks, doing takes for two different properties (a tv show and a comic), and getting ready to pitch for a gig writing a low-budg feature. In other words... busy fucking week.

We’re Indispensable

Or so says Steven Grant's readers Elk's Run is right smack dab in the middle of the list of Indispensable Comics Series of 2005. Take that Fables and Y: The Last Man! We're at the very least alphabetically superior!

Added Some New Stuff on the Side There

There's a little RSS feed of my last.fm thing, so you can see what i'm listening to, and I added a del.ico.us blog roll. Thinking about mounting a redesign of the blog, but I've been swamped just trying to keep up with the three new projects, my freelancing work, and trying to figure out what happens with the rest of my life. So I need a nice distraction, I suppose, I just don't know that I can afford the time to do it.

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Also of note, I started getting art in on my other new project with an artist y'all should know and love. I'll announce it officially once we're more than a few pages in (hate to jinx things). It's been shown to the brain trust, and everyone's pretty ecstatic about it. It's a much more sophisticated action piece than Western Tales of Terror, while still being considerably more accessible than Elk's Run. It's even got a clearly descriptive title that's not quite so on the nose. I do listen to Warren Ellis' advice afterall.

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Elk's Run 6 is going into lettering as soon as Keating finishes colors (which should be any day now) and issue 7 is at least half penciled if not more at this point. It's my favorite of the bunch, and makes getting through the script for issue 8 (le grande finale') tremendously daunting. So much so that I've managed to start (and script) three other projects rather than work on it. This week is it though. I'm putting the son of a bitch to bed, and moving on whole heartedly, and with joy to the next projects.

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Is this format strange?

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Got quite a bit of feedback (although you wouldn't know with how none of you bastards post in the comments) on Punk (as seen below), even had a few publishers sniff around. That's good. It'll be nice to have something come out that a large cross section of people will actually be interested in that I also enjoy writing. Like I said before, doing it feels like it makes my brain stretch, and that's a good thing.

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Being that tonight is my night off (I have transcriptions, a job interview, and Elk's Run 8 to do this weekend), I watched The Jacket (beautifully shot, well acted, hell, even pretty well scripted, and yet... eh. The endng's just not there,) 12 Monkeys (after The Jacket I figured I'd watched the clone, might as well watch the masterpiece it liberally takes from as well), and the first half of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I can't remember what I said about it when it originally came out (it's somewhere in the archives here), in watching it for what is my third time (twice in the theater, dammit), it's finally gotten to the 'Alright, this movie doesn't work anymore' phase for me. Which is a shame. I've listened to the radio show, read the books, watched the BBC show, and played the video game constantly throughout my life. And they never get old. The movie... eh... They softened it too much in the wit and fury departments, and inflated the zany and quirky to a point where it eclipses the other more important aspects of the film. Yes. The Lemon Juice helmet is a funny addition... but, we've got a main character who's reduced to being a babbling idiot for the sake of it. Just hurts the overall movie when all of your protaganists are bumbling idiots except for the one character who seems to get kidnapped constantly.

Anyways, go read the book. It's worth it.

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Now, to bed I go.

We got many votes…

In the Comic Bloggers' Poll 2005 So, thanks for voting! We grealy appreciate it.

The Boondocks

So, after much goading, I finally sat down and watched a few episodes of The Boondocks. It's pretty goddamn great. I think it's a bit more inventive than the comic strip, and the characters seem to really come alive when you see them in an extended dose. They really extended the basic feel of the characters, totally preserving what makes the strip work, and expounded upon it. They manage to be political, topical, and extremely fucking funny. There's something unsettling with the anime style art work, but, overall, I really think it works perfectly. It even has the creepy anime style pacing which makes it have this sort of distant feel that really drives the comedy home. It's almost a meta-theatrical style device commenting on the show being so African-American Centric, while being programmed around shows for white twenty-somethings.

Aside from all that, it's really just fantastcally done.

AICN on Elk’s Run #4

Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.:

"ELK’S RUN #4 Speakeasy Comics I first heard about this book after reading Vroom Socko’s excellent review of issue #3 last summer. Since then, I have digested every issue of this series and found it to be one of the most spine-tingling reads I have read in ages. Never have I been more invested in the outcome of a story than I am with this one. The secluded town of Elk’s Run is threatened with interference from the outside world. Recognizing that their parents are a little bit of bat-shit crazy, four kids decide that they need to get out of town…and fast. This book has a tempo, a heartbeat that is ever-present. And as each issue goes by, the beat gets faster. Search out the first three issues of this series and buy issue #4 released last week. You won’t be sorry. - Ambush Bug "

Thanks for the love guys.

ELK’S RUN #4 REVIEW - comiXtreme

ELK'S RUN #4 REVIEW - comiXtreme:

"Now that Speakeasy has released a “bumper edition” of the first three issues (and you can read number three for free online - check the Hoarse and Buggy website for details), there’s no excuse not to pick this up. And you should, because it’s comics like this that give me hope for the medium. "

Thanks for the kind words, Andy!

Ninth Art Lighthouse Awards 2005 - Best Debut

Over at the phenomenally thoughtful and well written NinthArt, Elk's Run got on the Honor Roll for Best Debut book. Here's what they had to say: Ninth Art Lighthouse Awards 2005:

"ELK'S RUN: Let's set the record straight. There are no elk in this comic. If there were, they would not run, unless it was to escape from the pseudo-moral militia who are building up to unleash tragedy in a tiny American town in this tense, slow-burning series. Fialkov, Tuazon and Keating have created a story that's genuinely foreboding, chilling and creepy. It is most assuredly not a funny animal book."

Comics Should be Good names Elk’s Run…

Best Comic Book That No One is Reading:Elk's Run. Okay, according to Jason, maybe 150 people are. But that's not nearly enough. This is a bracing, intense look at a generational war played out in small-town America with enough secrets to stymie the CIA. It's a gripping adventure story but also a insightful psychological piece. The bumper edition (collecting the first three issues) and the fourth issue should still be around. The only excuse you have for not reading it is not being able to find it, which, I admit, is a reason, but people can help. Ask Jason where you can get it. Ask Joshua, the writer. Or, you know, go here."

Click Here for the Rest of Their Picks

And much thanks guys!

Cellar Door Reviews Calls Elk’s Run One of the Best of ‘05

Cellar Door Review Column:

"Elk's Run (Speakeasy Comics) This is a title that had to jump from one publisher to another, but well worth it to find (or ask your retailer). This is quite simply a story of town which has drawn back away from the rest of society. In the hills of West Virginia, this sleepy town is on the verge of an uprising.Joshua Fialkov keeps the story moving with each issue being told from a different character's perspective. Instead of ‘rehashing' events, this style of story telling actually opens up the story more than I expected it too. Motivations, ideas, dreams, and hopes are all expressed by these characters who find themselves in a town like no other. The age old battle of the younger generations ideals vs. their parents ideals gets a whole new spin, as some of the local children realize that what their parents are doing ‘for their protection' seems to do more harm than good. Check out this book for a tale of a town slowly realizing that their way of life is about to get turned on its ear. "

They Did It Before, but This Time for Real!

Our pals over at Buzzscope made it official. We made it on to EIC Guy Gonzalez Best of the Year list, and now we made it onto the Official Best of the Year. Read on! And go check out their other picks, there's really and truly the cream of the crop there, and we're honored to be in such wonderful company.BUZZSCOPE :: Buzzscope Comics: Best of 2005:

"ELK’S RUN, by Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon and Scott A. Keating (Hoarse & Buggy/Speakeasy): Imagine a compelling combination of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' and Stephen King's 'The Body,' with a healthy dose of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, and you'll have a good idea of the overall tone of Elk's Run, the critically acclaimed mini-series from writer/creator Joshua Hale Fialkov that you're most likely not currently reading. Then, imagine the resultant story being told from multiple viewpoints, Rashomon-style, and you'll realize that you're missing out on THE sleeper hit of the year. Noel Tuazon's art is perfectly suited for the eerie but grounded tone of Fialkov's story, reminiscent of Craig Thompson's impressionistic work in the way he excels at making the ordinary interesting and distinctive, while Scott A. Keating's coloring complements him with a simple, but subtly varied palette. A suspenseful blend of familiar genre elements whose sum is far greater than its individual parts, Fialkov has crafted the kind of story that stretches the definition of 'comic book' and is deserving of the superlative tagline: Instant Classic. – Guy LeCharles Gonzalez"

Andrew Foley on Elk’s Run!

HH Skewed Perspectives - Elks' Run Bumper Edition

While each issue of the series provides an interesting read, I’m glad I read the first three issues in this collected edition, as it let me better appreciate the unusual structure Fialkov’s chosen to tell this story. Even though the first story page cleverly foreshadows the plot’s progression, read on its own, the first issue could give a misleading impression of what the book’s about--it appears to be a story of teenage rebellion. While that element is certainly a part of the tapestry ELK’S RUN’s creators are weaving, the story is much larger than that. It’s only by the end of the third issue that we get a sense of exactly how bad things are going to get for everyone in Elk’s Ridge.

Twilight Zone Marathon

Sci-Fi's showing 48 episodes of Twilight Zone. 48 or so. That's forty eight half hours of THE best anthology sci-fi/horror show in the history of TV. That's forty eight half hours that have influenced virtually every piece of fiction since they first aired. The show that pioneered the twist ending. The show that pioneered Sci-Fi in our every day lives. The show that made just about every sci-fi show that came after it possible.

Buffy? Steals from the Twilight Zone. X-Files? Steals from the Twilight Zone. Star Trek? Steals from the Twilight Zone. Tales from the Crypt? Masters of Horror? You guessed it.

This is THE definitive show for Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy fans. It's a blueprint for how to tell these stories properly, concisely, and engagingly.

The best part? They aged REALLY well.

So, go, watch it. If you haven't watched it before, you're in for a treat. If you haven't watched it in a while, go, watch it, relive your past. If you're a junkie like me... then post your favorite episodes.

At the signpost up ahead, the next stop... Television Bliss.

Serenity

Just sat down and watched Serenity on DVD. First time since seeing it in the theater. I think it might justbe the best Sci-Fi movie of the past ten years. Just like the Firefly was the best Sci-Fi TV Show in years, the movie manages to really move leaps and bounds beyond it's contemporaries. It's just an exemplary piece of fiction, based wholly in the realm of characterization, which, frankly, we haven't seen since the original Star Wars. Prior to this, there was The Matrix. The first one. The good one. But, you compare the two, and you see that The Matrix is a movie about ideas. Big ideas. The characters are merely paper dolls the Wachowski's move into position to execute on those ideas. And they do it brilliantly.

Serenity does that too. It's about big ideas. Courage, heroism, love, freedom. But, it's not about the concepts as abstracts. It's not about destiny, and every step of the way you feel the peril these characters are in. You really don't know who's going to make it, and you actually give a fuck because of it.

Joss Whedon shops at my comic shop. Or, at least he did. I haven't seen him in a while. The shop is populated by luminaries. I manage to see Bruce Timm hanging out there just about every week, as well as a slew of other big name comic pros, animation guys, and film and tv writers and directors. (Apparently, the entire writing staff of Alias comes in together every Wednesday, for example.) And I generally greet, talk to, wave, or nod to all of them. But not Joss. I'm outright terrified of him. The work he's done, specifically as a genre creator initimidates the fuck out of me. He is the real deal. This guy pulled himself up and redefined television. Really. Think about how many shows with such in depth continuing stories there were Pre-Buffy. Think about how many shows there were that so effectively hit such a wide demographic, yet never felt targeted or market researched to death. St. Elsewhere. Homicide. Hill Street Blues. Twin Peaks. That's really about it. Even the stuff David E. Kelly was doing back then lacked the true feeling of continuity (and not in the fanboy "Please see episode 2x04 for more information" kind of way.)

Joss turned 'genre' into a successful model. I truly believe that his work paved the way for the renaisaance of Superhero movies, action movies, and animation. (I mean, c'mon, he did work on Toy Story that gave it it's wittiest banter.)

What's saddest about watching Serenity now is knowing that this is probably the last we'll see of the characters. When I saw it in the theater, there was a palatable feeling of hope... that this was the time when something good would win out over something safe and mediocre. But, now, we know that Star Wars Episode III: Ruining a Generation's Childhood would go on to be one of the biggest hits of the year, and Serenity wouldn't even make back it's budget.

But, Joss came out of it a film director and screenwriter. He's got his horror movie in the pike, and then Wonder Woman. Which means finally there might be an even bigger audience for a man who might just be the most talented son of a bitch in Hollywood.

Can't Stop the Signal.

BUZZSCOPE on Elk’s Run #4

BUZZSCOPE :: Weekly Review Roundup: December 21, 2005:"ELK’S RUN #4 – BUZZSCORE: A

By Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon and Scott Keating * Speakeasy, $2.99

If there were any reservations about declaring an 8-issue mini-series one of the best of the year based only on its first three chapters, Elk’s Run hits the halfway point with a bang, cementing its status in my mind as THE sleeper hit of the year. After last issue’s shocking turn of events saw two state troopers killed for prying too deeply into town affairs, Fialkov switches perspectives again, showing the immediate aftermath through the eyes of the four teenagers charged with disposing the bodies as they come to grips with what’s happened and debate their escape. “Who knows what else they’ve done…?” Flashing back periodically to a hunting expedition, Fialkov continues to unfold his story of a tightly knit community coming apart at the seams, deftly fleshing out motivations and balancing even the most extreme actions within a very human context. Tuazon and Keating complement the story’s mounting tension with atmospheric visuals that will look great when some smart director brings Elk’s Run to theaters, Sin City-style, in a couple of years. Don’t let the ghost of Christmas past pay you a visit and make you regret missing out on the source material. --Guy LeCharles Gonzalez"

Marc Mason Reminisces about Western Tales…

Right here are some mighty kind words from Marc Mason about WToT. To answer his question of "When is there going to be a trade?" We're actually talking to some people right now. Chris Arundel (publisher and business partner extraordinaire) will read this and then IM me saying "What people?" cause I haven't told him yet.

David Welsh on Elk’s Run #4

When something like the Speakeasy situation happens, I usually just sit back and look at what smarter people have to say on the subject. Because really, what I know about the economics of comics publishing and anything resembling high finance could comfortably fit in half of a hollowed-out Skittle, with plenty of room left over. (And to anyone who got a good chuckle out of the use of “comics” and “high finance” in the same sentence, you’re welcome.) But reading the updates and analysis and noting that the fourth issue of Elk’s Run is due out today, I find myself a little more wistful than I would normally be at yet another industry implosion.

Click Here for the Rest

ER 4 Review/Preview Round Up

BUZZSCOPE Previews ER4 Fossen Reviews ER4

More to come...

IGN’s Year End Award Noms Are In!!!

IGN.com's year end awards are up, and Elk's Run is nominated for Best Indie Book, and H&B is nominated for Best Indie Publisher! Go team!

Elk’s Run Review… In German!

Elk’s Run Review is in German! And he likes it! I think. Damn google translator.