O.K. EROK!

Happy Halloween!

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Capitalism, Drawing and Cartoons (Part 2)

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Read Part 1 of this article.

This article is inspired by some comments by ace cartoonist, John Kricfalusi, about Capitalism and cartooning. I would encourage everybody to read John's excellent blog, but at time of writing, it has been made private. (I left links to John's posts in the hope that sometime in the future he opens up his blog to general readers again.)

My first post considered the nature of work in creative industries from the perspective of animation students.

John K's second post considered the aims of Capitalism. John says that Michael Moore, in his recent documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, makes one of the classic caricatures of social democracy: 'nobody is allowed to get rich.' Of course this is quite fatuous.

It would be more truthful to say that a social democratic system should allow more people to get rich and that all people should have the same access to the means of getting rich. (Okay, maybe they will not be quite as disgustingly rich as today's super-Capitalists, but they'll get by nicely.)

This example seems to illustrate a persistent problem in debates about Capitalism v Socialism: the former is an idea about economics that may mold society, the latter is an idea about society that may mold economics.

Capitalism: What is it for?

Broadly speaking, I believe the aim of Capitalism is to produce markets and from these markets wealth. Socialism (or Social Democracy) is a delivery system for democracy. There is no like-for-like comparison between Capitalism and Socialism. So let's forget about it and just deal with Capitalism and whether or not it's giving us what we want.

Capitalism tries to produce markets. Big markets, small markets, markets for everything: markets for healthcare, markets for entertainment, markets for food. Companies and individuals try to enter those markets with products and services and to control them.

Is that a good thing? Well it's one approach to economics and it's pretty swell, as far as it goes, but there are trade-offs in every economic model. And some of those trade-offs are social (and creative).

Say Acme Animation Studio corners the market in cartoons. They hire the best artists and make the best cartoons. It 's unlikely, but let's just say that if somebody wants cartoons they go to Acme.

Acme can now charge whatever it wants. There is a market for cartoons and Acme fills that demand. Acme can now lower the quality of their product, because there is no other supplier of cartoons, lowering its costs and increasing its profits.

And that is to say nothing of the fact that Acme must buy or put out of business other makers of cartoons and must devalue the labour that goes into cartoon-making to reach its dominant position.

And if you imagine this to be a fanciful scenario, consider that a handful of huge media organisations produce most of the world's entertainment. Capitalism's problem is that it tends towards monopoly.

Individual incentives v Capitalist incentives

Individuals are motivated to achieve success: for some that means heaps of gold and dancing girls on tap, for others it is creating a character that makes them split their sides. Sometimes the goals of individuals and the profit motive of business overlap and everybody wins, but less frequently than we might imagine.

Despite the unprecedentedly wealthy period of history in which we live - even as we try to unf*ck the global economy - the wealthiest Western societies we have been growing steadily less happy over time.

In the early twentieth century, the best, most profitable way to produce cartoons also provided the most creative opportunity. Everybody one: Tex Avery, Bob Clampett and Co produced Looney Tunes and Warner Brothers turned a buck. It was a narrow window of creative opportunity.

Capitalism is motivated by growth and business by profit. There is an obvious disconnect here between the interests of the truly creative person - for whom creativity is an end and not a means - and the capitalist, who wants to make a profit (and for whom cartoons are merely variably profitable widgets).

In search of a profit, Acme must devalue the labour the goes into making a cartoon - by mechanising its production or outsourcing it to poor countries - to maintain the value of its product. So the problem is not merely technical (poor technical skills or standards) but cultural (poor imagination).

Capitalism, Drawing and Cartoons

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

John K has been stimulated by Michael Moore's new film, Capitalism: A Love Story, to post his thoughts about Capitalism and cartoons recently. This has stimulated me to some thoughts of my own about Capitalism, cartooning and drawing.

I certainly have mixed feelings about Michael Moore. He's an entertainer, rather than a polemicist, and he's funny, obnoxious and self-righteous by turns.

In his first post, John makes some interesting points about cartooning students and some less interesting generalisations about college education. But among these he makes some sharp observations about the purpose of education.

I'm currently studying animation - from a very practical standpoint (at I guess what you'd call a trade school) - and I have not drawn a single cartoon yet in any class. And I doubt I will this year.

The entire curriculum is based on observation and observational drawing. The logic behind this seems fairly clear to me. Strong looking and drawing skills underpin cartooning and animation. (This is not to say that you cannot animate a bad drawing, but just that it won't look very nice.)

This is also not to say that if you can draw that you can cartoon. After starting this course I now have even more respect for the great animators whose work I loved before; they were clearly excellent draughtsmen and great cartoonists. Drawing is the basis for cartooning, but in my studies I'm learning that a further layer of visual understanding and skill must be learned.

John makes the point that many students mistake a cartoon style for a cartoon drawing, learning some stock expressions and visual style, without digging down to the heart of what makes cartoons work.

I think that a student without competent drawing skills - understanding of tone, colour, line and form and the ability to represent them - will be unlikely to pick up the principles of cartooning - line of action, hierarchy etc. - let alone produce good cartoons.

And here is where the capitalism comes in. Drawing is not a career; but cartooning is. Drawing doesn't shift any commercial units; cartoons on the other hand are big business. Imagine if every would-be animation student was told that he or she had to be proficient in drawing before they could study the subject. Admissions would drop through the floor.

For a number of reasons, but mostly because investing time in developing drawing skills is not directly saleable, whereas illustration and animation, commercialise that skill. This is why would-be animators draw cartoon characters from shows they grew up watching; they don't envision themselves as professional draughtsmen.

Next week: Who's to blame for the state of contemporary cartoons? It's the Economy stupid!

24 Hour Comic Day!

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Beware! The biggest, best ever 24 hour comic day kicks off tomorrow, with lots of workshops and minicomics on offer.

What is a 24 hour comic? Well, it is just that: a comic (ideally 24 pages) made in 24 hours. Scott McCloud has bragging rights on its invention. Twenty-four hour comics days now exist all over the world. It's not quite a benchmark of civilisation, but it is as close as you can get to a celebration of comics.

I guess technically you could start at midnight tonight, but if you get lonesome, you might like to join some of Ireland's finest comics creators at the Central Hotel, Dublin, for lots of laughs (and coffee probably.)

Thugged-out Thursdays

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Thugged-out Thursdays, THE quality online personal introduction service for single villains.

David Brussels is a former model and professional skateboarder from San Francisco. David is currently a burglar and safe-cracker. David WLTM a curvaceous blonde with a sadistic streak.

If you would like to meet David Brussels, please leave a message below.

Conan's Favourite Joke

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Great post of a short Conan story, drawn by Bruce Timm at Kev Langley's blog!

Harvey Pekar Interview

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Nice interview by Josh McCutcheon of Harvey Pekar (writer of American Splendor) for Smith Mag, if a bit try-hard with the production.

(via Forbidden Planet)

Something for the Weekend: Cooties

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Seeking a dog-faced bean, with a penchant for trivia? Look no further! From Japan, of course.

(via Drawn!)

Congratulations to Conor and Gill

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Congratulations to friends, Conor and Gillian, who became proud parents this week! Also welcome to their son, Jamie! (Re: the cartoon strip above; I'm free to babysit. Do babies like pizza?)

Something for the weekend

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

This is pretty awesome.

(via Drawn!)

Watching comics on my Iphone

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

The redoubtable Brigid Alverson (of Comic Book Resources) posted a good round-up of the various comic reader apps available for the IPhone/IPod Touch. There's actually a lot on there, once you get hold of a portal app such as Comixology or Iverse.

I think the IPhone market is going to be a huge and I see a lot of indie comics creators adopting the platform to push their work. I read a lot of stuff on my IPod. It's the comics equivalent of an mp3 player; I just load it up with comics and then I can dip into a comic whenever I'm sitting on a bus or having root canal treatment.

Ironically, I think consuming comics in this way might be closer to the throwaway pulp roots of the medium than the wrapped-in-uv-protective-plastic, fetish culture that developed in the 1990s.

After a bit of testing I've come to prefer the ComicZeal reader, which combines a good display (it stays clear even zoomed in), PDF support (I don't just read comics on it) and very easy-to-use syncing.

I'm not holding my breath for the mythical Apple Tablet (aka "The Big Ipod Touch") - which is supposed to CHANGE THE FACE OF COMICS FOREVER!!! - but apart from the size (an inch longer and wider and it would be perfect), I see little wrong with the current platform.

(via Robot 6 and Forbidden Planet)

Thugged-out Thursdays

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Thugged-out Thursdays, a quality online personal introduction service for single villains.

Vasily McMenamin.

If you would like to meet Vasily McMenamin, please leave a message below.

Blood Upon the Rose

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Gerry Hunt's non-fiction graphic novel (must find a better term for that) Blood Upon the Rose, has just been published by O'Brien, which seems to the Irish publisher interested in comics and comic artists.

There was a patronising write-up in this weekend's Irish Times, of the 'Zap!-Pow!-Comics-aren't-just-for-kids-anymore' variety. Nary a mention of whether or not the book is any good or what the art and writing are like.

Ignorance of the medium might have been excusable in the 1980s, but with every other Hollywood property based on a Marvel franchise, you'd have to be fairly dopey not to be aware of it nowadays. Ireland really is twenty years behind the rest of the world (at least when it comes to comics; and roads, the roads are shit too).

Gerry and BrenB (Hunt's long-time collaborator, and I'm guessing the colourist on Blood Upon the Rose) seemed patient with the witless reporter, but the nerves had to be frayed:

“If you watch a Disney movie when you’re a kid, it doesn’t mean that when you grow up you stop watching movies.”

The very fact that poor BrenB had to point this out made me cringe.

Thugged-out Thursdays

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Thugged-out Thursdays, a quality online personal introduction service for single villains.

Dermott Flannery.

If you would like to meet Dermott Flannery, please leave a message below.

Milt Kahl's Mowgli

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Wonderful to see this pencil test by Milt Kahl, courtesy of Victor Ens's Pencil Test Depot.

(via Drawn!)

Something for the weekend: Steve Lieber interview about Whiteout

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Mike Russell gets a really frank interview with Steve Lieber about the 'development' of Whiteout for the big screen.

(via Scott McCloud)

(via)

Something for the weekend: Indiana Jones (1951)

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Brilliant!

(via Boing Boing via Neatorama)

Penguin on fire

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Penguin Books does (do?) it again, with another fantastic cover for a modern classic. White Noise, by Don DeLillo is one of my favourite books. Michael Cho does full justice to the toxic airborne event in his atmospheric illustration for the cover.

(via The Beat)

Thugged-out Thursdays

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Thugged-out Thursdays, a quality online personal introduction service for single villains.

Mother Death.

If you would like to meet Mother Death, please leave a message below.

Zuda has some serious Symptoms

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:00:00 +0000

The Eclectic Micks have been experiencing in Symptomania as they celebrate Will Sliney's Zuda entry, The Symptoms. I really enjoyed the first installment of The Symptoms - reminded me a little bit of Mike Allred's Red Rocket 7 for its mix of rock and sci-fi - and hope it does well.

Zuda - the webcomics offshoot of DC Comics - highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of the webcomics millieu. Many Webcomics are amateurish in execution, tend towards the throwaway and while the democracy of the platform can make it hard to for the reader to edit, lowering the barrier for participation in the medium can only be good in the long run.

By contrast Zuda is exclusive, high quality fare, which mainly encourages entries from established professionals in the comics industry (such as Sliney). Zuda applies some of the editorial expertise from the comic medium's print tradition, some of the 'wisdom of crowds' from the internet (in the form of voting) and I broadly think this is a positive development.

However, Sean Kleefeld and Jake Forbes made some interesting points recently that caused me to think about it again, especially in light of Tokyopop's decision to put more of its content online.

The problem arises, not in quality of design or content, but in distribution. Both Zuda and the Tokyopop sites currently online (such as Ikki) format their comics as Adobe Flash, which means that readers cannot subscribe to the comics as they would a blog feed, but have to visit the site to read the comic.

Forbes summed this up nicely:

"As a reader, I should have each of these needs addressed:

I liked this comic. Now tell me what to read next.
I want access to it NOW, regardless of who publishes it.
If it’s serialized, give me the option to subscribe.
I want access to it at home or on the go. What’s an appropriate screen viewing size should be up to me.
I should be able to preview before I buy."

I didn't think about this until I read about The Symptoms. I realised I hadn't visited the Zuda site in months. I read a moderate amount of webcomics, but all of them are 'pushed' to me, via my feed reader. I almost never visit the websites themselves.

I think most readers understand that finding a business model for publishing online is in everybody's interest, but the 'pull' model that Zuda and other established publishers adopt on the web needs serious reconsideration if they want to build an online readership.

Something for the weekend: Whiteout

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

I'm a fan of the Graphic Novel, but Kate Beckinsale is in it. I'll set Optimisim to 5, Caution to 8.

Thugged-out Thursdays

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Thugged-out Thursdays, a quality online personal introduction service for single villains.

Ruthless Joe.

If you would like to meet Ruthless Joe, please leave a message below.

Welcome back

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:00:00 +0000

In the words of LL Cool J, don't call it a comeback. (Okay, call it a comeback if you like.)

After a hectic summer break (reclining on the couch, wrestling Irish bureaucracy, having my bike stolen, letting the torrential rain wash over me) OKEROK is back, with lots of tasty news about animation and comics culture.

It's been a busy summer for Irish comics. Perverted uncle of Irish comics, Bob Byrne, has emigrated to Spain. (Fucker! I mean good for him.) The talented trio of Patrick Lynch, Katie Blackwood and Phil Barrett organised the excellent Summer Edition mini-fest for Irish small press. And finally the Comic Cast celebrated its first birthday, in fine style, with musical and comedy support, minicomics and plenty of party-goers.

There is plenty more to look forward to this fall, as Octocon and Dublin City Comic Con loom, accompanied by a new-and-improved 24 Hour Comic Day.

It's good to be back, rockin' the mike.

On hold

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Apologies for the lack of regular posting over the last three weeks. I'm redesigning the blog from scratch and planning new and exciting content, so stay tuned. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Gene Luen Yang, American

erik@okerok.com (EROK!) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Here's an interesting little video profile of Gene Luen Yang, talking about the experience of creating a new identity in America. (Ignore the slightly creepy propaganda vibe.) I've been meaning to check out his graphic novel, American Born Chinese.

(via Scott McCloud)