Keeping Your Soul in Creating, Part 1: Comics

            There has always been one taboo in the art community, a taboo that is universally criticized, and longed for; "Selling out." No one wants to be a sell out, but to continue to support a career of creativity, and live comfortably its often the direction one has to take. Selling out usually involves an artist trading off a creative property or properties for their monetary benefit, and usually losing partial or all control over that property. The stereotypical opinion in taking this action is that the property lore can be watered down its story can be twisted and characters can become diluted or warped by its new owners. While this has happened, and I feel is evident in film or remakes like the Great Gatsby it is not always the case. With the rise of the webcomic and crowdfunding there are more individual contributors and fewer middle-men with overarching creative and financial control over artistic ventures. So is "selling out" going the way of the dinosaur?

            I've been given a chance to do a quick Q&A with Vas Littlecrow on her thoughts about this topic, whether its good, bad, or if there is some middle ground. Vas is an out-of-the-box thinker, and underground supporter of the indie artist and webcomic community, who is heavily inspired by Russian culture and history. She created a multimedia comic-based arts collective, which started in 2006 with the launch of her webcomic called Rasputin Catamite (*WARNING This comic contains. content that is not suitible for all audiences & may be NSFW*) The book is a dark comedy that takes place during the fall of the Soviet Union. One of her comrades and collaborators is Ram Lama, whose webcomic, Dark River, I've reviewed in a previous blog post.

Q: Tell us more about your company?

There is no company, actually. I don't do corporate. The idea of giving life to an artificial entity whose sole purpose is to make profit at the expense of everything else, including human life, offends me. The non-profit corporate structure also strikes me as problematic, so I avoid that as well. This is why I run a sole proprietorship known as VAS Littlecrow. Velvet Rasputin is merely its most visible department.

Q: Tell us more about your Velvet Rasputin; what was your mission statement at the start? Has it evolved at all since then?

Originally it was, "FUCK ART!" I mostly have an adversarial attitude towards mainstream art, its mindless slavery to fashion, its rejection of historical curiosity, and its ridiculous snobbery. I still do. Over time, I modified Velvet Rasputin's mission statement to say, "We battle against evil empires through the power of intellectual and spiritual curiosity." It means the same thing, but in a more passive aggressive sort of way. Apparently, its easier to get art funding, if you pretend to give a shit about other people's opinion while avoiding swear words.

Q: Could you go into detail about your current projects and the artwork you are creating.

Right now, the biggest priority for me is Rasputin Catamite since, the Aston/Nicholls studio kindly took over Rasputin Barxotka for the time being. 

Rasputin Catamite is a multidisciplinary project, cleverly disguised as a webcomic. Rasputin Catamite started out as an inside joke about Napoleon Dynamite between project alumna, Caylie Dean, and I. It was supposed to be a throwaway seven-day spin-off from one of my print comics. To everyone's surprise, it has grown into so much more.

Rasputin Catamite is mostly a metaphorical autobiography mashed up with my concerns about the world. Everything actually represents something else, but still comes across as a straightforward dark comedy about young Russian misfits growing up during the death throes of the Soviet Union. The story is meticulously crafted to make the reader feel the emotions that inspired a lot of the imagery, so it's an uncomfortable story by design. I am the creative director and lead writer for the project. Ram is the lead artist for the comic. Studio A.d.H.D heads special projects. Loki Kaspari works behind the scenes as the editor. There is a musical element known as Upir's Mark featuring fellow songwriter, slaveboy thom s.R. wolfox, fellow musician, Narphy La Mancha, with a little assistance from Thibault Kervarech. Flavin works as the current puppetmaster, and is preparing for the day when we will be able to tour as a stage entity once again. It's not happening anytime soon, but it will happen. The end game will be an animated horror musical, if the best case scenario decides to materialize.  If not, we'll have a beautiful glorified storyboard with a neat soundtrack.

Q: What does selling out mean to you?

The willingness to compromise on one's creative vision when dealing with a personally meaningful project. It is also the idea that one has to be a slave to artistic fashion, or violate one's own principles, in order to be a "real" artist. It has nothing to do with money for me. A sell out creates art that speaks to a focus group. An artist bares the soul, money or not, but the creations are better when starvation is not involved.

As a former punk who is still a musician, I have no shame in admitting that Henry Rollins had a huge influence on me regarding this philosophy of creative integrity.

Q: Have you ever sold an artistic work and regretted it?

No. Art is more useful feeding me and the crew while bringing someone else joy, than sitting in my studio. Physical possessions are less important than the happiness of human beings. The moment you elevate art above humanity, is the moment you start to lose sight of why art matters to the human condition.

Q: In social media discussions you seem to be averse to giving up your intellectual property for a profit. Why is that?

I have absolutely no problem giving up my intellectual property for a profit at all.  If someone paid me $40,000,000 for Rasputin Catamite right now, I will conclude it, make the movie my way, turn the rights over to its new owners and split the profits among all the project participants based upon their involvement. With the remaining proceeds, then I will reinvest a considerable portion of it, and create something even more ambitious and personally meaningful. 

The price I ask for art depends on how attached I am to project, and how much a client is willing to pay me. Hell, if I make a caricature at an art festival, I will sell that intellectual property for $25.00 along with the paper it was drawn on, because it's not worth anything to me. If you don't share your art, it's completely useless as art. As slaveboy thom once told me, "How could someone be an artist if  the art isn't shown to anyone?" If people are willing to pay for you undiluted vision, that's the ultimate compliment

What I have a problem with is people being ripped-off by intellectual property poachers and opportunists who promise the universe and only deliver residuals, if anything at all. Product and money should never matter more than people, and if you are going to demand someone else's creative control, the least you can do is be honest about it. This is why I stopped using student interns. It made me sick to stomach when looked at myself in the mirror to know that I was exploiting people in such a way. It's immoral to me. 

At this time, the team isn't paid as well as I'd like them to be, but what I promise them is exactly what they get. The only time I don't pay, is if someone volunteers to help without me asking for it. I accept such a donation as a gift and an honor.

Q: Is there any point you would sell a creation of yours?

You can go to the Amazon.com Kindle Shop right now and buy eBooks based on my properties, at this very moment. I used to be a graphic designer and a caricature artist, so I did it all the time. Selling my creations is what helped me escape prostitution and starvation when I hit rock bottom.  I still have abstract art prints and fabric designs available for sale all over the place online.  Even an idea can be worth money. Just because I don't sell out, I doesn't mean that I won't sell. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't.

Q: Have you ever created something as a product solely to sell, that you weren't very attached to?

Since age eight, and I haven't really stopped since. I don't get attached to finished art. This is why I burn most of my sketches.

Q: Do you think anything is lost when a person gives up partial or complete creative rights to their property to a larger entity or institution?

Control of the vision. Nothing more, and nothing less. If you have a great contract, solid people and, sufficient compensation, the process of selling creative rights feels downright painless to me.  

Having said that, the same is true for individuals and small entities. In fact, some of the egregious and spectacular screw overs that I've ever experienced in my life in regards to the arts, happened because I split project copyrights with collaborators. As a result, I do not share intellectual property rights for my comics anymore, unless it's a crossover project. My collaborators may have my comic characters and stories over my cold dead body, which is why I am contractually obligated to keep them named in my will.

Q: Is there ever a point where giving up an artistic piece is beneficial or necessary for the creator?

Yes. When it feels right, and the other party is honest about their intentions.

Q: Do you value any project over another?

If it wears the Velvet Rasputin label, it's probably my baby and very special.  All Velvet Rasputin projects are interconnected.

Q: How have webcomics changed the comics scene, in your opinion?

It has obliterated practically all entry barriers to publishing comics.  As a content delivery method, the Internet is absolutely great.  It truly made comics a lot more diverse and interesting. It's especially wonderful for underground stuff.  I love it.  Unfortunately, the indie comics community has gotten a lot more competitive and less like a community, and there are a lot more sub-niches than ever before. Comic conventions now are more like pop-culture promotion events. It's very different than it was back in the late 80's and 90's, and I am not sure that I get it all that well. That's why I am semi-retired now.

Q: Mainstream companies have tried to revolutionize comics numerous times, with digital comic; moving comics, which are similar to the Marvel cartoons of the 60's and having mobile smart phones which can interact with the comic to expand the story. Do you think any of these are truly innovative? What do you think the next revolution of comics will be?

The future of comics are gaming, movies and videos. These formats are better suited for mobile devices the represent the future of computing. If Marvel had not had such spectacular success with blockbusters in the last few years, print comics would already be extinct as a form of mass entertainment. Ad-based webcomics have pretty much self-destroyed as an economic engine, for the most part, even if they aren't going anywhere. If it weren't for crowdsourcing and patronage, almost no one would be making money on webcomics at all. Comics are a semi-obsolete technology, but one that is full of historical significance and accessibility for those who don't have the resources to engage in other creative disciplines. As comic artists we should shift our focus away from the newest gimmick to keep comics relevant, and towards the long-term preservation of the art form and its role as a social muse. A world without comics would be a very sad one, and I think that we need to teach young people that this art form is worthy of existing for generations to come.

Webcomic Review: Wish³

The comic Wish³, by Sylvia T. Leung, is a 400+ page complete webcomic manga. That's right, you could sit down right now and read the book from start to finish! Heck, you can even order the volumes online right now from the same place we sell Greasers, on Lulu.com!

I started reading the book after I graduated high school and it wasn't finished until I had graduated college. I'd check back religiously because there weren't too many cheap sources of entertainment for a student in New York other than Web-comics.

This book starts off with Basil Toback, who is turning 18, eavesdropping on his family. He finds out  the 3rd born of any generation of his lineage is cursed to be the wielder of  three wishes. It is a curse because after the 3rd wish is made the wielder goes insane and dies. Unfortunately, Basil also finds out his family intends to use the wishes themselves with no regards to Basil. Eluding his family he begins a long quest to bring an end to this curse. His journey pulls him through other dimensions and peering back in time to the wishers of ages passed, finding allies, and strange enemies alike.

I really enjoyed Wish³; it captures the feeling of any one who just turns 18. That age brings with it a lot of harsh realities. like the struggle for independence, and finding a purpose. Watching Basil work through these struggles was reflective and cathartic for me. It also encapsulates a lot of interesting aspects of Japanese style and culture.

The supporting cast really stand on there own. Many times the supporting cast become so overshadowed by a lead that they become little more than plot devices, something I like to call "Goku Syndrome." Wish's cast really works, because, while the focus is on breaking Basil's curse, they have their own dilemma's they are facing.

Seeing this work come together before my eyes was really invigorating for my own creativity. I watched the artwork evolve from inks with pencil shading, to grayscale, to full color. It was really remarkable to see Leung's improvement over time, and how the layout and details in her work became more polished. Watching the production and how it comes together is like a bonus form of entertainment for following webcomics.

This style of artwork is a bit underwhelming as it is similar to many other artists who have had manga influences on their work. Even still the story is really beautifully rendered, and action is conveyed creatively. At times, you can get lost in the panels and feel like you need to reread a page to take it all in. Additionally, Sylvia proves herself a master of Prismacolor, her marker brand of choice that is infamous for bleeding a lot. In the age of  the web-comics, most done digitally, it is impressive she crafted this book with analog tools like pen, ink, marker, and watercolor.

Sylvia herself was always quick and open to questions, and sharing her methods. The website is full of concept art and behind the scenes information. She seemed to network very well as we see covers by guest artists like Christopher Berkeley, who worked in the animation departments on the animated Green Lantern, and BATMAN: Under the Red Hood.

I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to fans of anime like Blue Seed, or books like Harry Potter!

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is an artist and anime caricature working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, and The Only Choice.

For any who enjoyed Wish³ I'd recommend reading GryphonKnights's own coming of age story,  Greasers in GREECE!

Webcomic Review: Calachurras

Jesus and Angel Delgado understatingly summarize their webcomic Calachurras as "a few three-arm guys, a beach and a very strange battle."

You are welcomed into this world in a first person POV through the eyes of a churra. The plot is cleanly laid out by one of the leaders of the clan (or Misters) that their clan's purpose is to battle a rival clan, and defeat them before the great wave comes and destroys them all.

You quickly garner the concepts in this society by their castes and jobs. Following two of the Misters, Mr. Future and Mr. Maker you become drawn into the urgency and the innovation they are trying to execute so that their tribe may survive.

Things aren't easy though as they quickly encounter red tape, and taboos which pepper this culture and makes for amazing parody & commentary on religion & politics. This satire while silly strikes very close to home for anyone who has dealt with a system.

The art captures one's attention right away. It has beautiful simple landscapes and in its simplicity immediately reminds me of the works of Jeff Smith (the creator of Bone) or Lewis Trondheim. The Brothers Delgado allow the time of day to affect their characters, fully immersing them into this world, a detail which many forget to do. The lighting plays off their civilization indicating the passage of time, as well as ticking down to the oncoming battle, and creating a sense of urgency that continues to draw the reader in.

In most webcomics you see the art evolving or improving over time, but this book has a consistent look throughout its first arc, a nice feature (although I do find see the evolution of an artist's style entertaining.)

The pacing in this book is amazing, the art and dialogue work in tandem to create a time bubble that races you through this story, but leave you wishing for another tome in this epic.

I would encourage anyone to step into the... grabbers of these churras, and experience the difficult battle and complex war they are engaged in. 

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is an artist and acloyte of Chaos Magick working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, and The Only Choice.

For readers who enjoyed Calachurras I'd recommend reading GryphonKnights's Frankenstein Vs. Dracula!

Webcomic Review: Dark River

I used to hate twitter, I didn't understand its purpose at all. However, once I started gryphonknights.com with Sean, & D, it was evident that social media was going to be an extremely important. Since starting our Twitter account (gryphonknights, naturally), I've discovered more and more webcomics.

A couple of months ago, I tripped over digital rock and stumbled across a book called Dark River. Popping open the page, I was met with text. In our image saturated world, the written word has become cheap, and can often alienate visitors. However, these words were bright green,eye-catching, and strewn across a painted starscape; an excellent choice for luring in readers.

The crew of a ship sucked into a Plodt Hole tries to ground themselves and find their way home while navigating misguided scientists and an endangered race of cyborgs. It is a sci-fi adventure similar in tone to Star Trek: Voyager, but peppered with Douglas Adams humor. The panel per page layout, that seems to be becoming more popular with webcomics, makes the story move quickly. It is easy to become immersed, as the layout leads for quick pacing that at times seems like an animated experience.

I can't really criticize the storytelling it, as I along with others helped craft it. In fact, you too could help continue creating this book. Occasionally the book will come to a point where it asks readers how the story should continue. As entertainment becomes more realistic, it still seems to be lacking in interactivity. While the homages and parodies to Star Trek are fun, the humor and ability to make choices keep things entertaining.  I only wish  that the story  branched off into multiple directions like a "Choose Your Own Adventure."

Dark River is a great example where accepting a set of limitations can set you apart and help create a solid work of art. While the artwork seems like it is created on paint and is really rough, the artist makes it work by embracing his limitations and being consistent. His green overlay and color scheme really engages the eye. The pages where you have to choose is the treat, as you are greeted by a panel that almost seems painted, really visually rewarding. I am looking forward to continuing to contribute and seeing how this book evolves over time.

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is an artist and space alien working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, The Only Choice, Meanwhile, and others.

He wonders if his own crew in The WOW Signal! will ever find their own way home.

The 5th of November & the Birth of Meanwhile

Today is the 5th of November. A day one which not only saw the poorly executed "Gunpowder Plot" but a day when our comic strip "Meanwhile..." was conceived by my brother and I, like Joffrey Baratheon. It all started 2 years ago. We were joking about comics, and film and then at one point we said how ridiculous a comedy on V for Vendetta would be if instead of a Guy Fawkes mask he was wearing a Groucho Marx mask.

Every once in a while, to the bane of my editors, I will have, or hear, an idea that will completely consume me until it is completed; because I have to see it. Case in point, Hippopotomus Prime, or the Greasers as Ninja Turtles, or as Green Lanterns, or sci-fi Tinkerbell... Okay, so I sometimes get distracted. And hearing this idea of "Groucho V," I had to make:

I really would love to see this movie

This parody of an iconic image led to a bunch of other parodies, that originally were just for our own amusement. Then in a couple weeks we had 10 images and decided that this would be an ongoing project as we kept tossing out ideas faster than I could draw them. We spit-balled names back and forth, none of which I remember til we came up with "Meanwhile..." A name which fit perfectly as these short clips acted as interludes in our more serious books. We labeled the panels with the logo and then posted them online for all to see. This back and forth eventually culminated in some of our own favorites like "Hipster Starscream," or "Dr. Reality".

Though none of these has had the same reach as one strip our writer Dimitrios came up with. Jesus Loves George R.R. Martin. Yeah... you're just going to have to read that one for yourselves

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is a poor artist and potato working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, The Only Choice, Meanwhile, and others.

Webcomic Review: Jesus Christ Comics

Religious webcomics aren't new, and it can be really challenging to stand apart from the mass of artwork that is out there. When Dave contacted me the other day to check out his Jesus Comics (www.jesuschristcomics.com), I thought it was funny because before I did comics I was pretty religious. I attended church regularly, studied Greek, Hebrew, Biblical Archaeology etc... Yes, comics have taken me off the path of righteousness, that or helped me realize that religions can be a little nuts!

I still get a kick dealing with the topic. For example The Book of Genesis illustrated by R. Crumb is one of my favorite things ever. It's page after page of detailed illustrations interpreting passages of Genesis. Its a massive, beautiful book, and contains all 50 chapters.

In this case, however I was confused with Dave's introduction.  "...The subject matter is [too] controversial," he said. referring to the story of the birth of Jesus, one of the most retold stories of all.

But I dove in! It was a pretty quick read; 4 parts, 11 pages each. It's a bare bones retelling of the greatest story of all, but Dave's imagery seems to stand out in certain points, where the pictures end up being accidentally hilarious. For example, there is these gory images of a Rabbi standing over John and Jesus with a pair of sharp, bloody scissors.... post-circumcision. A panel with the caption "King Herod was also upset." has the image of a man clutching at his sliced throat while an interesting combination of Hades from the Disney's Hercules and ZigZag, glares in the foreground.

Herod, actually is my favorite things about this comic; his design and the creepy way he carries himself stands out. He isn't the only character in the book who has a face-lift; the angels look more like the common interpretation of Djinn from Islamic mythology.

Over-saturation of this type of comic makes it tough to compete in the market. Even though it isn't the strongest book I've seen there is a lot of potential and while needing refinement the artwork stands out as stylistically memorable. The coloring is also good for a webcomic made by only one guy. Dave shows some competence in lighting and storyboarding which other neophytes lack.

Jesus Christ Comics has the potential to be something really awesome if he allows more character exaggeration like he does in Herod.

Again thanks to Dave for showing me his book!

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is a poor artist and carpenter working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, The Only Choice, Meanwhile, and others.

He also wonders if Herod is worse than Emperor Septimus from Greasers in Greece

Webcomics Review: Fighting Stranger

I draw a lot of webcomics for GryphonKnights Studios  but on my down time I also like reading and discovering new webcomics. Sometimes they really pull me in and I find myself waiting for the next update. Usually it's only a one page update; the story doesn't progress much. But once in a while that one page changes everything.

Fighting Stranger written by Adam J. Monetta & Illustrated by Juan Romera, starts off with a beautiful splash page; A man in a cloak finds himself standing over a city remembering no more than the city's name. He wanders into the tiny cramped metropolis, and finds it to be a  mostly, deserted wasteland. He's tries to kill a fugitive mutant and is led out of the city towards another.

A man in a cloak finds himself standing over a city remembering no more than the city's name, This purposeful repetition and mimicry of the event that starts the book is what immediately sets Fighting Stranger apart from any other dystopian sci-fi. When I came to this point, I wondered if I accidentally started the comic over, and my sense of disorientation and uncertainty at this moment made me realize that I was sharing the feeling of the main character of the series. Arriving at a similar point, not sure exactly if we've been here before. It's this ability to allow the reader to empathize with it's protagonist that made the series go from entertaining to riveting, as you begin to wonder and read as the mystery of these cities and the stranger slowly unravel.

The Stranger isn't a very compelling character. He is a worn rugged mercenary archetype. The supporting cast, however, kicks ass! The citizens of this world are constantly trying to manipulate the stranger for their own ends. The Strangers stoic persona, is countered by these characters from C4D to Lacey, whose rough existence creates entertaining, dark humor which immerses me in their world.

The art and coloring of this gritty, arid planet draws you in. The colorist is excellent at conveying texture on every element of the set, from the cold metal of a gun to the rocks to the red sky. I am also a fan of the lettering, particularly  the robots' font.

I would be loath to forget mentioning the action sequences. They are amazingly story-boarded! The fights with the mutants each is laid out like a video game boss-fight, as certain mutants only have a couple of weaknesses.

So step into the rough world of The Fighting Stranger and then let me know what you think of the series, and we can theorize together!

Signing off!

T Griffin would also be remiss to forget to mention his own sci-fi, non-dystopian works WOW! Signal and Felix and Saw

Your Promiscuous Comic

So your into comics, huh?

The truth is comics have been around.

There's not one comic that exists that you can claim as yours. The X-Men issue #1 you own was handled by at least one factory worker, at least one distributor, and at least one retail worker before those perfect corners, luscious colors, white gutters, even staples ended up in your hands.This was before you sent it to CGC services to get it graded and slabbed.
Thank God, those CGC guys use protection when handling your book! Who knows what those other guys had!

Maybe you can claim the comic you wrote, or drew is yours. What about the copy that ended up with a 5 year old? She colored in the black and white parts. She showed her mom who congratulated her for a good job and asked for her autograph. The black and white parts were a snow scene in your story, now thanks to the orange and red Crayolas, there is a lava portion instead. Did you collaborate with that 5 year-old? Are you going to denounce her book as non-canon? You can probably claim it's yours, if you claim the child is yours.

Did you create the character that appears in a comic? Did you come up with the plot? What about the readers who offer their interpretation of what happened? What about those who assign a meaning, to what happened, one you never thought of? Are you going to disagree with them in public? Or secretly claim that was your intention all along?  That character has left your hands and has been handled by someone else. They've made stories you couldn't dream of. You'll still get credit. After all Icebox and Ovenflame wouldn't exist without your initial guiding hand. The sad part is when Alan Moore reinterpreted them and brought about their sexual awakening, where we learn Ovenflame is a pyro-sexual and that that's ok, fans have started to ask for the "realistic" version. Your version is the cartoon version. It's dated, and for kids. At least, to those aware of it. Most people won't ever remember you were involved. No one will say it's yours.

No. No comic is ever yours. But there is a time where you pick one up, read it, and get invested in the story you read. That's the only thing you can claim ownership of:

The moment.

It's also true for when you hit save on the Word document, or add that final touch of India Ink to page 23. That moment is yours and it's precious, and the only unselfish thing to do it to share it.

Check out the gooses in Greasers in Geese

A lesson about comics, and maybe life.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to respond below.

Dimitrios Fragiskatos
Author and new contributor to this blogspot

Check out our comics at Gryphon Knights Comics

and patronize us here

The Resource Known as Patreon

Greetings and salutations!!!

I wanted to turn you guys onto a resource the small comic company I run with @DimitriosFragiskatos & @HarperArsenal have begun to use. 

Our comic company has expenses as any company or artist does. Website costs, advertising, convention costs, and (what is often neglected) pay for any work we've done to for our company. We weren't sure how to meet these constant costs, and for a long time these expenses came out of our own pockets.

Finally we found Patreon! Patreon is a crowdfunding service that functions similarly to other CF services, except this one donors can contribute per month, or with comic books can donate per page published. Its pretty handy especially if you have regular readership. Those who are already interested & investing in your book are likely to donate. While the rewards are more difficult to figure out, many users have dollar subscriptions that just support their comic and $3 subscriptions that allow readers to see extra content on the Patreon.

Visiting a variety of users can soon help you garner some ideas on how to reward those who are faithful contributors. Things from one time rewards like sketches to monthly prints of pages of the comic. Another way to garner contributors is using a twitter management tool like justunfollow.com or others to set up automated messages to new followers providing the link to your comic and to your Patreon!

In the end it also never hurts to ask for contributions from those who have expressed interest in your book!

We've had good success with it thus far, and have actually found other people on the site that we ended up donating too. Also at the time of this writing Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC) Was making $100,000 a year. They are one of the most successful Patreon users there are. 

Finally if you haven't seen our work yet you can really our various webcomics on gryphonknights.com! If you have and you love our artwork & storytelling then please help by donating to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/gryphonknights! Each donation allows us to focus more time on the comic, and will hopefully one day make us full time artists!

Tom Gryphon

PS. Hippopotamus Prime thanks you for any & all contributions you make!

Gryphon Knights at PETE's BASEMENT!

Last night we were invited over to Pete's Basement to talk about a bunch of our books, and upcoming books including, the soon to be published Frankenstein Vs. Dracula: Throughout the Ages!

We also got to discuss a bunch of indie issue ones, as well as some big events like Godhead, the female Thor, and the new Captain America. While they touched on certain things like the new Cap reveal, which was amusing because (spoiler alert!) Sam Wilson, acknowledged how much that it wasn't a surprise because of all the press and media in RL that focused on the event. 

However, I want to touch on something that I felt was relevant to the discussion but wasn't as light. I have mentioned in the past that its interesting how the mantle of our patriots passes on, and how our perspective of the Gods change, but how white, wealthy, Tony Stark is still white, and wealthy and in charge. Gail Simone recently asked on twitter "what hero do you not understand the appeal of," and for me it is none other than Tony Stark.

I have a lot more feelings on this topic which I might revisit later.

In the end the only thing that hasn't changed, and I repeat it here, is that the wealthy white guy is still in charge, and I would love for Tony Stark to be removed from the Marvel chessboard permanently.

In other news we had a great meeting yesterday with George Tsouris from GIVE UP GAMES, I believe we mentioned this company a bit on the podcast but I wanted to go in depth with our discussion yesterday. We talked to them about creating a fighting game for our recent franchise Frankenstein vs. Dracula. We brought some concepts with us, and he was sincerely excited about the concept. 

If you would also like to see a game like this let us know!

Parody & Radiation

Our one book, Meanwhile started because we all have a good sense for satire and parody. One day we were just sitting around having a few beers and discussing the real results from being bitten by something radioactive, or being exposed to serious radiation, or even getting struck by lightning around a series of chemicals. The results were amusing to hilarious, and I decided to draw up a few of the jokes we had made. Eventually these added up and we decided to share them as the book you now know as MEANWHILE...

The ideas continued, parodying other cliches and unwritten rules comics seem to be plagued with, but it eventually evolved into thinking about what certain characters would be like in different situations, including turning one of the seagulls from finding Nemo into an orange lantern. It was a perfect fit if I don't say so myself.

The name "Meanwhile..." was chosen, as these short strips would be interspersed between our more serious books, implying that these humorous tidbits were always going on in the background of our minds, even when we weren't directly considering them.

It was amazing how parody which started out as fun banter actually stretched our creative muscle and was very directly entertaining. People already knew the content from the mass media, so changing the context allowed them to understand the humor without having to stick with a story for ages. Some might consider it cheating because we are using someone elses premise to provide humor but humor can open people up to alternate ideas or complex ideas that are buried in the subject.

For example, poking fun at how a hero would more likely die from radiation, then successfully mutate also opens up the question of what would the probability be that someone could successfully mutate from radiation into an alternate species?

What would their abilities be?
Would they be able to procreate?

Perhaps our visions of superheroes isn't so unlikely after all, just very improbable, and that's what makes the situations humorous, or capture our imaginations, because we know that there is that slim potential.

I guess there is truth in humor, even when it is not purposeful.

Dollar Store Combine

     A friend posted a few pics of dollar store toys that he frankensteined one day and I was in love. I thought the concept the execution and the final product were amazing. They were so good I decided to draw some fan art of two of the characters from his lot.

 

     We eventually posted this image on our site with a title "Felix & Saw." It originally was an april fools joke as the image just seemed so ridiculous, but eventually it grew into something bigger--an idea, that my brother and I eventually fomented into an actually title.

     You can see all of Dollar Store Combine on their tumblr http://genustoys.tumblr.com/

T Gryphon

Location, Location, Location!

In a variety of our comic series we have locations that are drawn from real life. It is these locations that help give our fictional worlds life.

In the second issue of HERO we are immediately taken to a location called Mitchel Airforce Base. This was a real airforce base out in Long Island, NY. While it was viewed as a strategic launching point by the Germans during WWII the base was never really more than a distraction.

Another location featured was in the draft of WOW Signal issue 1. In it, there is a landscape that includes spaceport America in the middle of New Mexico, and behind it a fictional city called Branson City that grew up nearby. The writer felt that if asteroid mining took off it would cause a wave of industry and for people to travel there like they would any other port city.

It's interesting to note that on the day of the writing of this article that Richard Branson talked about delays in Virgin Galactic's first commercial space flight.

Part of the writers goal with the WOW Signal, is to create a book not so far in the future so that readers can become excited but technology featured in it that is in present just theory.

Finally the last book I am going to talk about today is Felix & Saw. This sci-fi, comedy, has one of the protagonist's emerge in a water reservoir by Kensico Dam. This doesn't play a huge role in the book except for the writers giving a nod to an area, and a landmark in which they grew up nearby.

You can read more about any of these locations by clicking on the links!

Crowdfunding on Patreon

Things with crowds can be a lot of fun, crowd surfing, protests, crowd funding, mob rule... well not all of those things are a lot of fun but it does show that people en masse can make huge changes.

That's why GryphonKnights Comics have started a crowdfunding page on Patreon. Patreon is was created to enable fans to support and engage with the artists and creators they love. Empowering a new generation of creators, Patreon is bringing patronage back to the 21st century. As a small comic book company it was our desire to be more receptive to our fans and contributors.

Our goal in making books is two fold. We have printed books that we sell to try make profit, but we have our webcomics to be available for everyone to be able to read. Having free webcomics was very crucial to us as no matter how large we get we wanted to have free content for anyone to be able to enjoy. I know that when I was out of work I curved my buying habits because comics were very expensive, whether it was trades or single issues, during that economic trial comics was something I just couldn't do. That's when I began discovering loads of webcomics.

There were so many quality webcomics out there, Ava's Demon, Calachurras, The Fighting Stranger, Hench girl & many others, that our team decided to take some of the books we've been working on and adapt them for web viewing, and then make other books better adapted to the webcomic format.

Gryphonknights was a great experiment to see if a comic publisher could function paperlessly, with mostly webcomics. Garnering books, artists, and writers as we grew. One of our recent editions to the site is Tony Wolf's Greenpoint of View. Greenpoint of view was his autobio created as a comic book. Tony is one of the many artists who has done work on our book Frankenstein vs. Dracula. When we saw the work he was doing the webcomic we really wanted to showcase it on our page. 

Currently we have 6 titles on our site, with the addition of two printed graphic novels. Our first book Greasers in Greece is in print, we have a second about to be printed called Frankenstein Vs. Dracula.

Please check out our work and consider becoming a patron, so that we can continue to cut the middlemen out of creativity & to help us allow comics to be available to everyone!

T Gryphon

A GREASY Preview

Ever hear of Greasers in Greece? Well the best way to summarize it is if Zack Snyder directed Grease the musical. Time-travel, fighting, races to the death, & elements of the silver age of comics all blended into a smoothie of hilarity.

Now you can preview the first ten pages of the book on our blogger pages, or over at our official website www.gryphonknights.com! But that's not all! Their exclusive webcomic series, Greasers in GEESE has begun!

Following up their zany travel in time, they are now resuming their humdrum lives in their home of Logtown Ohio. However their need to prove the validity of their tale has them breaking back into nebula's lab. What ensues can only be described as a jaunt of miniscule proportions. What does this mean? FIND OUT IN-- GREASERS IN GEESE!

GRYPHON KNIGHTS: The Blog

For those without flash, we decided to upload our books to ol' faithful; BLOGGER. Its on this platform that we hoped that those who weren't able to read our books, for whatever technical reason, on our website could instead access them here.

Blogger allows us to do a few things. One is get more direct reader feedback through the comments, to give you our thoughts on our books as they develop, as well as explain any delays, and so that if there is any technical problems with our site so that you can still tune in to see the latest pages.

True to form of trying something new, you might see that we still have some tinkering to do.

In the Meanwhile feel free to browse around and read the first chapter of our book HERO. Just one more note, we appreciate your readership, as well as any other help you can provide through resources like Patreon, or any time we have a Kickstarter!

Til next time.

Stay Zazzy

Sincerely Sir Tom, D Frag, and Sean Grizzle