Welcome to Nervous System, where you can learn more about ThoughtScape Comics and Lifeformed.
NOTE: SUBSCRIBE TO NERVOUS SYSTEM AT THE FOUNDERS LEVEL NOW AND I WILL SEND YOU A PHYSICAL COPY OF THOUGHTSCAPE COMICS #1 AND AN 11x17 PRINT OF JENNA CHA’S FANTASTIC ISSUE ONE COVER (ONLY SIX OF THESE PRINTS AVAILABLE, SO THE PRINT IS “WHILE SUPPLIES LAST”!)
After the arduous assessment of the ThoughtScape Comics #1 Kickstarter in the post-mortems the past couple of weeks, I’m gonna keep things chill and relaxed this week… take a bit of time to look around and get renewed and recharged, which is something I find myself needing to do more and more as the pandemic lingers on and on and on…
BUT, I still love me some structure, so we’ll do the relaxing via a look at some of the works and such I keep more-or-less within reach as I do both my day job (UX design) and my comics job(s). We’ll go from the inside out, or at least from where-I-stand-at-my-desk-all-day out, in concentric semi-circles.
Phew, some STRUCTURE. I feel comfortable again.
Circle #1: Immediate reach
On the shelves to my left and right, we have COMICS. Cherished comics or useful comics or inspiring comics or comics that are all three. The content of these shelves rotates a bit so that I can have different beautiful covers in my field of vision regularly, but here are a few staples…
Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson’s MANHUNTER
Can the importance of this comic in the history of comics or in my own existence be overstated? It cannot. I will at some point acquire the Artist’s Edition of this thing, but for now, I’ve got the trusty old copy I’ve had with me since I was a wee 11 or 12 year old oh so long ago, so we’re talking about the very same Simonson pages which originally blew my mind with both their complexity and clarity and gave me a real predilection for dense storytelling done in amazing visual ways. I refer to this comic frequently when I’m thinking about how much story can go on a page and how it can be put there, and also a lot just for how a great comic FEELS. You should (ahem) hunt this incredible book down and also check out this great Cartoonist Kayfabe video overview!
DEADLY CLASS issues!
My (tied for) favorite long-running book. Nearby for when I need a reminder about following your own interests and voice (Remender) or a reference for innovative, fun lettering (Wooton)… but most of all, for WES FUCKING CRAIG, because holy shit can this modern master pack a page with greatness but also be crystal clear in terms of storytelling.
FIFFE comics!
COPRA FOREVER. My other favorite long-running book. Decades worth of imagination and inspiration. BUY SOME COPRA. COPRA FOREVER. Wait, I already said that…
Tyrell mini-comics!
I have a big ThoughtScape story I hope to pull off with Tyrell Cannon at some point, following up on our collaborations on Drones and A Spy Without a Face, and I am often returning to work on the script for that, so I keep these handy to reference them as needed as I write that up, reminding myself how (and how much fun it is) to write for Tyrell, which is to say, remind myself to just give a kernel of some idea and then get out of the way and let Tyrell go.
In fact, these minis help a ton just with the scripting of any action stuff I’m writing. Tyrell is an action master, and looking at how he accomplishes things in something like IDKFA is valuable no matter who I’m writing for. Also, these things have gorgeous and inspiring covers. Buy some comics from Tyrell!
BLACK HAMMER #1 Director’s Cut
Seeing Lemire’s script and comparing it to Ormston’s beautiful pages is incredibly instructive. What appears in the script that does and doesn’t make its way to the page? A fair amount, it turns out, even if you’re Jeff Lemire, and what is and isn’t there is a micro (please forgive me for using the term) master class in comics storytelling. Highly recommend picking this up if you come across it.
(More) Killer Covers!
These three comics haven’t left the covers-I-stare-at-all-day rotation since they entered it. All so different, all so wonderful. Bonus points for Something is Killing the Children (that Ian Bertram cover!!!) being an incredible ongoing that only gets better and better and features the greatest new character of the last decade in Erica Slaughter, and to Kirkman and Ottley’s bizarre one-off Solid Blood for also serving as a reminder of how important production quality is to me as a reader. I long to one day have a ThoughtScape mini of some kind printed in this completely old school 80s newsprint manner. GLORIOUS.
Alright, in the interest of keeping it mellow, we’ll call it good there. Next week, we’ll look at Circle #2, my office bookshelf! Exciting, I know, but try to stay chill. Here’s a mellow-ish playlist to assist…
Have a great weekend,
Matt
:: Oh, wait!!! ::
I almost forgot, head over to the COMING SOON PAGE FOR THE NEXT THOUGHTSCAPE COMICS KICKSTARTER and HIT THE NOTIFY BUTTON! I’m lining up more great work for books 2, 3 and 4 by the day, but we’ll need to come out of the gate HULK-level strong to reach a pretty epic goal, so the higher that follower count is ahead of launch, the better. Can we hit 200 by November 1st? With your help, I think so.