Interview with Jamal Igle, Creator of Molly Danger

I'm very pleased today to present the transcript of an e-mail interview I conducted with Jamal Igle, the creator of Molly Danger, an all-ages comic, funded through Kickstarter, that will be coming out through Action Lab as a publisher.  Igle is a long-time comics veteran who brings years of experience to the project.

As a disclosure, I was a backer of the Kickstarter.  I am a big believer that we need more all-ages comics in the world, and everything I've seen so far of this project leads me to believe it will be a good one.  Molly Danger will be joining Action Lab's Princeless in the publisher's upcoming Free Comic Book Day offering and you can pre-order the first book in the series in the May issue of Previews.

Panel Patter:  Thanks for agreeing to the interview!  For those unfamiliar with you as a creator, can you give a little history of your past work?

Jamal Igle:  Well, I'm a 23 year comics veteran, primarily known for my seven year stint at DC Comics. I've worked on titles ranging from Action Comics, Firestorm, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Superman (I drew the last pre-New 52 issue of that series) and Zatanna. I've worked in some capacity for Dark Horse, IDW, Imag,e and Marvel. I'm also a former editor, art director and comics retailer.

Panel Patter:  What drew you to working in comics?

Jamal Igle:  I fell in love with comics after seeing the original Superman movie, starring Christopher Reeve, when I was 5 years old. I was always drawn to art and animation as a child but comics where the key to my sanity as a kid. I love superheroes, I love the challenge of telling a story visually.

Panel Patter:  Who do you feel are influences on your work?

Jamal Igle:  It's easier to ask "who doesn't influence me?", I do have artists who continue to inspire me like Dave Stevens, Brian Bolland, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Stuart Immomen, Kevin Maguire and Jerry Ordway.

Panel Patter:  Those are some awesome artists.  I can definitely see a bit of them in your work.  Tell me about Molly Danger.  What can readers look forward to seeing when the first book is released?

Jamal Igle:  Molly Danger is the world's most powerful 10 year old hero, the catch is that in actuality Molly has been around for 20 years. While she's still mentally and emotionally a child, she has years of experience. Molly's been the protector of small city in Upstate New York, where she lives and operates from a Museum bearing her name.

The problem is Molly is a "princess in an ivory tower" so to speak. She doesn't have any friends and the only family she knew died years ago. She doesn't have a secret identity and the organization she works with keeps her away from the public when she's not on mission. She's an incredibly lonely little girl and all she wants, more than anything else, is to feel normal, Book One covers this and more. There's a lot of world building in 48 pages.

I like to think of Molly's story as a coming of age story more than anything else.

Panel Patter:  What inspired you to create Molly Danger?

Jamal Igle:  I originally came up with Molly as an animation pitch about 10 years ago. My friend Rich had a small press company at the time and we decided to do the comic through his company.

Unfortunately, things kept getting in the way and it never made it passed the planning stages. A few years ago I was approached by a publisher looking for all ages superhero projects and I felt Molly was perfect for what they were looking for. I reworked the concept from the original take I did and simplified it a bit. I think that what I've written was a mixture of having been associated with titles such as Supergirl and Zatanna, basically being raised by a strong, smart, independent woman in my mother, Clarissa. Then eventually marrying my wife, who has all of those qualities and more and having a daughter of my own.

I wanted to create something I would want her to read and enjoy. I always wanted to create a superhero story like the type I grew up reading in the 1980's, something that everyone could read.

Panel Patter:  It seems like most of the larger publishers aren't taking advantage of the all-ages reading market.  What we do see tends to be licensed work like Boom's Peanuts.  Why do you think that might be and do you think it could cause a "reader gap" that may harm Western comics?

Jamal Igle:  I think it's part of a larger problem with the american market, because you don't see it so much (a reader gap) in European comics. We're beholden to a monthly, 20 page comics format in a world that is increasingly more and more about immediacy. Most people are POP (point of purchase) buyers, meaning they buy things on impulse. They're not trained the way hardcore comic book readers are to be in the shop every Wednesday. It's impossible to capture those readers because they don't want to be forced to hunt down the next issue of a comic book. So we need to rethink how we a) write stories b) publish for the future. One of the common complaints I've heard as well is that there isn't enough material for younger readers, but I think that's changing as well.

Panel Patter:  Can you talk about your experience working with a Kickstarter campaign?  What might you do differently?

Jamal Igle:  It was difficult at first because I didn't realize how much work it would be to run and promote the campaign and work on Smallville at the same time. In terms of what I would do differently? I think just streamline my marketing efforts a bit and go more towards venues not traditionally known for comics.

Panel Patter:  As a comics reader/supporter, I've watched Kickstarter become a big way for creators to get their work out there.  Unfortunately, it also means we're starting to see it used for those who might not need it (such as that recent Veronica Mars one).  Do you worry that projects such as that one will "suck the air out of the room" and make it harder for people like yourself?

Jamal Igle:  I don't think so. People have been worrying about "Kickstarter fatigue" for awhile now, but I haven't seen any real signs of it. I think as with any project, you have to take Kickstarter for what it is. it's a vehicle, not the ends to a means. Crowdfunding isn't going to go away, and even if Kickstarter folds, there are other sites that will step up to take its place in some form.

Panel Patter:  How did you become associated with Action Lab for Molly Danger?  Why Action Lab instead of staying entirely self-published or trying for Image?

Jamal Igle:  I've known the guys behind Action since before there was an Action Lab, so there's a trust there for me. I could have taken Molly to Image but I felt that Molly wouldn't get the attention I needed in order to launch the series properly.

Panel Patter:  What's next for Jamal Igle/Molly Danger?

Jamal Igle:  Well, like I said, this is just the first book. There's a story to be told with three more books in this initial arc planned and no matter how long it takes, I'm going to tell it. So where do we go from here?
Up..and Away.

Panel Patter:  Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview.  Best of luck with Molly Danger.  I know I'm looking forward to reading it soon!

Super Lobotomy

Written by Sara Lindo
Illustrated by Sara Lindo
Self-Published

The pair of brains are back, and this time the rear lobe has a purpose and a plan--to become a superhero!  The trouble is that good intentions and a cape aren't enough, as we soon find out in another endearing adventure from Sara Lindo.

Lobotomy was the first-ever story I read from Sara and I was excited to see what would happen when we returned to the characters.  The results don't disappoint.  Though the format is much larger (this is a full-age comic instead of the half-sized mini that preceded it), all of the elements that made the first comic so much fun are back.

Though Sara cheats here and there, none of the characters speak, letting the actions and Looney Tunes-like thought balloons carry the action.  Thus, we get hysterical visuals, such as the frontal lobe picturing his partner as a super-cleaner, even as he ends up tracking dirt all over the coffee table.  In another case, the rear lobe is distracted from helping by the smell of hot dogs.

The story itself is a classic case of causing intentional havoc, as the super brain, after an initial success, moves on to bigger and better things, all of which end up going wrong.  When he tries to right the injustice of illegal parking (and who doesn't hate those who flaunt the rules?), it looks like his crime-fighting career may come to a quick end, only to find redemption by refusing to stop believing in himself and his dream.  It's a great message, done without preaching and fully embedded into the overall, lighthearted story.

Sara's illustrations are as strong as ever.  Her work is incredibly detailed, especially in the way of backgrounds.  Every window is shown distinctly, complete with sills.  Shadows are in the right places, and every character's outfits are neat and individualized.  As in the world of Carl, her lovesick traffic cone, multiple animals and inanimate objects populate the narrative, making it an odd combination of humanoids and creatures that somehow all come together perfectly.

Super Lobotomy is another great mini-comic (maxi-comic?) from Sara and was one of my favorites in 2012.  I can't wait to see what she draws next!  You can visit her website at The Lindo.com or catch her at an East Coast comics show sometime in 2013.

Dust off the Panels: Three Strikes

Written by Nunzio DeFilippiz and Christina Weir
Illustrated by Brian Hurtt
Oni Press

A generally good young man who makes a few bad decisions finds himself facing decades of jail time at the hands of a political District Attorney.  Now he's on the run, facing a ex-cop bounty hunter who won't let the failures of his personal life drain into his professional one.  As their lives intertwine, things accelerate into a climax that leaves the reader questioning everything they're expected to think in this excellent crime comic from Oni.

This was in my "keep or kill" pile that I've been hitting pretty hard in an continuing effort to reduce the number of total books I have in my house.  My hit ratio had been pretty low this week, to be honest, so I admit I opened this one without a lot of excitement.

That changed within a few pages of reading.  I was immediately hooked into the story of these two men, both of whom who had made poor decisions.  One of them gets a raw deal because his run afoul of the law. In the case of the bounty hunter, the problems don't lead him to a physical jail--he's in an emotional prison.  Seeing how these pieces interlock really made the comic for me, especially as we race towards the inevitable conclusion when these two men come face to face for the final time.

The writing team of DeFilippis and Weir really do an amazing job of bringing all the parts of the story together and making the most of character archetypes.  None of the characters here are original (good kid gone bad, emotionally distant cop, protective mom, druggie loser, and so on) but they're placed together in such a way to tell an excellent story that reminded me of classical noir.  This is a world where no one is a winner, even those who come out on top.  Normally, I'd feel like I wanted more out of the characters, but I think they work here as pieces of a larger puzzle.  Giving any of them a distinct character would have upset the balance.  We shouldn't want to follow one or the other protagonists and root for them--instead, we should want to see how their tragic story inevitably ends.

Brian Hurtt was a good choice for a story like this.  His characters look extremely realistic, but they aren't photo-modeled.  There's an incredible amount of detail in the background work, allowing us to be immersed in this world.  Hurtt uses cross-hatching and other techniques to vary the surroundings and clothing of the characters.  I do wish he'd have shown a bit more action, but the script involves a lot of talking, so the chances were admittedly limited.  He makes up for it be really hammering home strong eye and facial expressions.

Three Strikes is typical of what made me pick up Oni comics on sight.  Back in the mid-2000s, Oni was one of the highest quality indie publishers.  Their taste and mine have verged apart, so I'm not as big on their material as I used to be, but this one is a hidden gem and worth grabbing if you can find it.

Oily Comics March 2013

I'm out of circle jokes

Today we wrap up my look at the Oily comics I've received so far, taking a brief tour of the five comics I received at the end of March.

If you didn't see the prior posts, Oily is a mini-comics publisher that specializes in short, quarter-sized comics.  They run a subscription program, and I got a six-month sub to see what it was all about.  I enjoy finding new creators and since I'm going to less cons this year, I thought taking advantage of subscriptions like these would be a good way to do it.

Here's a few thoughts on each of the comics for March.  Only one of the series comics returns this time, even as new series begin.

The Buddies 1 by Anna Haifisch is your typical stoner comic, one that I've seen a lot of times before.  Two dumb characters, who I think are a cat and a weasel, order cheap food and end up being really foolish about  it, leading to a shock ending.  It's drawn very well, looking a lot better than others of the genre I've seen.  Unfortunately, it's just not something I'm interested in.

Lou 12 by Melissa Mendes focuses on the parents this time, as we learn how a pair of re-united students form a family, however unintentional it might have been.  The art is stronger this time than in the last issue, and again, this one is head and shoulders above the other continuing stories by making each entry something we can appreciate on its own while knowing it's part of a larger whole.  I do hope we start seeing these parts come together, however.

Noise by Billy Burkert is two short pieces that really couldn't be more different.  The first is an unfunny comedian failing on stage, and I didn't really understand the point.  The second revolves around various objects that have a pattern not unlike the Oily logo, eventually opening a portal.  I'm not quite sure what to make of either one.  Burkert's art style reminded me of Paul Grist and he may be the most detailed of the Oily creators I've seen so far.

Tiger Man 1 by Gabriel Winslow-Yost and Michael Rae-Grant is a recreation of a DC comics character from 1946.  I'm pretty sure the origin didn't involve flying chicken legs back in 1946, but this simple, shape-based comic really caught my eye, with its interlocking patterns and understated humor.  This was my favorite for the month.

Young, Dumb, & Full of Cum by Nick Drnaso is sure to get this blog some rather odd hits that are bound to disappoint the person searching (sorry, folks!).  It's a set of stories, possibly based on the author's life, that follow a young man who didn't have the best experience growing up.  This one does what it sets out to do very well, but I have to be honest, my taste for these therapy comics has waned significantly.  If self-exploration is your thing, however, you'll enjoy this one.

This was definitely a better set of comics, even if two of them were in genres that I'm not particularly attached to.  There was a stronger sense of craft and vision, and it didn't hurt that many of them were in their first installment.  I do think that one thing Oily should make clearer to new subscribers is that the comics are often ongoing series, something I wasn't expecting when I signed on.  Now that I'm used to the idea, I can adjust my expectations.  On a final note, it was nice to see a second female creator involved.  Hopefully that diversity will continue when I get the April batch later this month.

Oily Comics: February 2013

The thin rings mean Oily had years of drought.

Yesterday, I spent some time looking at the Oily comics I received in January.  Today we'll move on to February's batch.

In case you're coming to this new, Oily Comics is a mini-comics publisher that works heavily on subscriptions and is run by Chuck Forsman, whose own series, The End of the Fucking World, has been serialized through Oily.

I enjoy getting the change to be exposed to comics I might not otherwise find, given that my desire to spend gas an hotel money traveling is lower this year.  Subscriptions to mini-comics is a great way for me to find new things.

Here are a few words on each comic that I received from Oily in February.

The End of the Fucking World Part 16 by Chuck Forsman.  This coda really requires a reader to know what has happened, and since I only came in at part 15, that's hard for me to do.  I am intrigued by what I did see of this, and am happy to hear the whole thing will be coming to Fantagraphics.  Forsman's art style is minimalist, he does a great job showing character emotions, especially with very few words.

Lou 11 by Melissa Mendes is once again the only comic from a female creator.  I'm not sure if that's typical or just happened twice in a row.  Like Forsman's comic, we're in the middle of a long-form story, but as with part 10, Mendes does a good job of making this a fairly self-contained story. This time, we meet two teens (I'm assuming) who are running a pizza place and hiding a secret from the police.  The art felt a bit rushed this time, with rougher edges and less-defined characters.

Outside 1 by Marc Geddes and Warren Craghead is extremely experimental, with words sliding so far into the art that you can barely read them.  Craghead mixes definitive images with abstract lines, and this actually works pretty well for what it is, though I wish they'd have made the words just a bit clearer to read.

Real Rap #2 by Benjamin Urkowitz is our humorous entry.  Two friends and rappers get into short adventures together and separately.  One of them likes to drop the f-bomb like candy and the other is an underground favorite.  This was a strange one, going everywhere from a swinging couple to commentary on gangsta rappers.  There's a lot packed into the small comic which will either amuse or offend you.

Word & Voice 4 by Aaron Cockle is yet another continuation.  A family leaves the city, which appears to be damaged, then meets up with survivors, while others read/speak in a strange language.  There's no attempt here to help out a reader who comes in blind, and I'm afraid I wasn't able to enjoy this one at all.  Cockle does well at telling something is happening without words, but because I missed the first three parts, I have no idea what it is.

Overall, I have to admit to being a bit disappointed in this batch of comics.  Two required being a part of the series from the beginning, one had some artistic issues, and another's experimental style made reading it difficult.  Tomorrow, we'll finishing catching up by examining the March bundle.

Oily Comics: January 2013

Stare into the soul of Oily Comics

So Oily Comics had a sale on its subscriptions and I opted for one, because I enjoy mini-comics, I enjoy variety, and I support things that bring both to my door at an affordable rate.  (Sadly, I missed the one for Retrofit, because I'm an idiot.)

I figured it might be fun to do a review for each month's worth of comics, to see what my thoughts are and whether I am leaning towards re-subscribing.

Of course, I'm already behind in doing this, but what else is new?  So, better late than never, here's my thoughts on the first back, which I got roughly in January.

I'll do this in order of title, with a few words on each story, anthology-style.

The End of the Fucking World Part Fifteen by Chuck Forsman is the Oily Comics publisher's ongoing series that reaches its penultimate issue with this comic.  Having not read the others, it was a bit difficult for me to pick up the narrative mid-stream.  What I saw of the story was that two characters who are involved in a major event have their final struggle together.  I'm very curious what the struggle was.  Forsman's lines are simple and thin, not unlike a daily newspaper strip, and the action is clear, crisp, and quick.  It should make for good reading as a complete collection, which I assume Forsman will do at some point.

Foreground by Andy Burkholder got off to a bad start with me when I had to go to the website to figure out the title of the comic and who wrote it.  While I am a fan of the experimental, this one just made no sense to me, with characters changing shapes randomly and seeming non-sequitur moments.  It was my least favorite in this month's batch.

Gnomes by Sam Gasken is a cute joke comic where everyone's favorite lawn ornaments frolic together and do mischievous things, like tricking trolls or having a tickle fight.  Each vignette is short and drawn with thick sharpie pen lines, giving it a bit of a blocky feel.  It's not technically brilliant, but it was a lot of fun to read.

Lou #10 by Melissa Mendes is the only comic from a female creator for this month.  It's another continuing story, but was a bit easier for me to digest because the plot in this case is pretty self-contained.  The story involves a group of young people who look like they're in for some trouble.  The art reminded me a bit of Forsman in its simplicity, using short, direct lines to give us the characters without a lot extra.  I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of this one.

The Virgin by Scott Longo is another more experimental piece, but it was easier for me to follow.  A narrator randomly expresses his (sometimes unpleasant) thoughts and the artwork wanders in structure to match the feelings, going from clear pictures to abstractions.  It's an interesting idea, though definitely not for everyone.

I walked into this subscription with no real idea of what I might get.  Overall, I was happy with the comics, especially since I was buying this blind.  Liking two of the five and being okay with two of the others is a pretty good ratio.  My only thought at this point is that it might be better if only one comic out of the five was a continuation, since not everyone subscribes from the same point.  (This is why I never understood having a subscription to Shonen Jump.)

Next time, we'll check in on February's comics!

Admin: Google Reader and the Future of Panel Patter

Hi All,

I know it's been awhile.  When I am in teaching mode, sometimes Panel Patter takes a bit of a back seat.  I hadn't realized it had been this long.  Thanks for hanging in there.

Many of you are probably aware that Google has killed Google Reader.  It's not dead yet, but the patient is flat-lining and the King of RSS is left without a worthy heir.  (At least not one that I can find as of yet.  Feedly has been the best so far, but lacks the simplicity I loved in Reader.)

Why am I talking about this?  Because I think it impacts heavily on the future and viability of Panel Patter.

I don't know why Google has such a hatred of RSS, because it's really the ideal way to read blogs.  You don't have to keep an unwieldy bookmark file (this never worked for me) and you can pick up where you left off, which is good for those of us who sometimes cannot get back to our favorite sites for a few weeks.

I'm sure a lot of this has to do with monetizing blogs.  I'm not in this for the money.  I don't care about earning ad revenue.  I care about sharing a love of comics, especially those comics that wouldn't make it to the level of the bigger name sites (or even the bigger-name comics bloggers).

It's easy for people to remember to go visit the larger sites (like, oh, say, Newsarama, where I work as a comics reviewer) without an RSS.  It's easy for the mid-range sites (I'm thinking Johanna Draper Carlson's Comics Worth Reading) who have 10+ years to keep people coming back, or even to create a special Twitter/Facebook/what-have-you account that people would follow to get updates.

But I think for those of us who are in the lower-end, who have an audience that's steady but smaller, this is going to have a huge impact.  A person who might have seen a link to our work from a larger site might throw us in an RSS and check us out from time to time.  They are less likely, I think, to sign up to follow updates on a social media page for a person they don't know as well.  (Perhaps that's just my bias?)  Without RSS as a major player, I fear that it's going to make it more difficult for low-level blogging to continue to be viable.

Ultimately, what does this mean for Panel Patter (and its less-used sister blog, Book Stew)?  I don't know.  I   have a home for my as-they're-published comics reviews at Newsarama, and I love it there, but they don't gnerally cover mini-comics or really small indie books or allow me to rave about something from 2009 that I'm only just now discovering.  I really want to keep talking about those things and engaging the comics community in a way that's more on an individual level than I do at 'Rama.

The problem is that I'm no longer sure this is the best way to do it.  Or if I do keep using a blog, will I even have Blogger to do it?  (I know there's Wordpress, but I don't like Wordpress, and I do not want my own site, which would involve coding things.  Me and computer code do not get along.)  Further, if RSS is no longer a viable option, how can I best share things with others?  Create a new Twitter account that's only for posting blog notices?  (My current panelpatter Twitter is personal and blog-related, and I would not want to stop using it to talk about everything from baseball to zoology.)  I tend to feel a little weird about sending things across various social media, but I suppose that's how this game is played, eh?

I'm posting this mostly because a) I don't think I'm the only one thinking about this and b) I'm very much open to suggestions on how to proceed.  In the meantime, I'll keep up here, at least until I see how Google turning out the RSS lights impacts on things.