Dan Goldman ([info]dangoldman) wrote in [info]act_i_vate,
@ 2006-10-26 11:17:00
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718 #1 pg8

the story so far


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[info]man_size
2006-10-26 03:25 pm UTC (link)
718? 911! 24/7/365.

So, 718 pulled off some stunt on a bus BEFORE the bizarre subway attack? And, why jump backwards from THAT conflict for a coffee and newspaper break? Will this "rewind" reveal something we need to know about the present subway scene?

Me confused.

I dig the vibe of this page. Only, something about that lettering rubs me wrong. Too squirly.

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[info]dangoldman
2006-10-26 03:46 pm UTC (link)
wait for it; this is a first issue that will tell you everything you need by page 22. if you're still confused by the end of issue one, you can print this post as a coupon to keep Radtke's baby daughter for FREE.

all of 718's fonts are actual handwriting fonts; i wanted every character to have their own little bit of "visual voice"... i'm really bored by all that Blambot/Starkings "comio-book font" style. to me, that's progress-in-reverse; why use high-tech software to make everything look like it was assembly-line lettered by some chain-smoking old fart with a quill in 1963. if you're lettering with a computer, why not gun it and see what it can do..?

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[info]man_size
2006-10-26 04:09 pm UTC (link)
I forget that 718 is not a weekly comic and, in fact, meant to be read in 22pp. I'll reserve judgement until all is said and done.

As for the art of the letterer: shame on you for dissing the likes of Artie Simek, Sam Rosen, John Workman, Ken Bruzenak, et al, and, hell, even Tom Orzechowski, who was forced to convert his bold yet warm hand-lettering into a cold font. Before the digital age, lettering was a true art form that helped make a comic book sing! Nowadays, pencillers & inkers are forced to draw 25% of unecessary comix.

I cherish original comix art you can actually sit with and read like my Jack Kirby DEVIL DINOSAUR page.

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[info]dangoldman
2006-10-26 04:48 pm UTC (link)
oh honey bear... you misunderstand me!

Simek, Workman, Rosen were/are all brilliant geniuses... what I am saying instead is actually in line with what you're complaining about digitizing of Orzechowski's scrawl: that the "font-ization" of past "house styles" has become the over-arching "comic-book style" of the present... and that what should be aesthetic choices are now expectations placed on the shoulders of comix's emissaries, becoming the LOOK of the GENRE [barf barf] in the eyes of the mainstream.

my mini-rant (still going!) is simply that using new tools creates new creative territory and thus enriches this still-developing medium; thus using canned versions of them merely to ape something that's come before feels more cop-out than "classic" to me.

i guess that's why i do the stuff i do out here and huge slices of fandom shrug and fart and dig into the new issue Ultimate Whatever instead. It doesn't matter; all I'm saying is you never know what works until you've tried it twice.

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[info]man_size
2006-10-26 05:40 pm UTC (link)
Gotcha. Back to square one. Easier to read is what makes a comic sing. Forfeit the coolio font for clarity and I will call you "friend," again.

--xoxo

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[info]bobo_dreams
2006-10-26 03:36 pm UTC (link)
And with this page so begins the reveal....a new wave of super-heroes....this is so the shit. I love this new take on the superhero,

You rock Dan.

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[info]dangoldman
2006-10-26 09:15 pm UTC (link)
I wish I could say that 22pgs of issue would reveal the big picture completely... that's really the job of the whole first 5-issue arc "The Body."

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[info]phrawzty
2006-10-26 03:54 pm UTC (link)
Nice - keep up the good work. :)

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[info]lukkucairi
2006-10-26 05:20 pm UTC (link)
As for squirly fonts, I seem to remember a great number of them in various issues of Sandman way back before the Punic wars. You go, Goldman.

Having said that, the last panel reads a little small on my 12" mac monitor.

718 is beginning to resemble the Geico caveman :-)

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(Anonymous)
2006-10-26 05:37 pm UTC (link)
718 is beginning to resemble the Geico caveman :-)

Thank God someone else said it before I had to. I think it's the aforementioned Mickey Mouse ears.

I love the concept of a flyer ward. And I will not be a bit surprised if 718's "baby boo" turns out to be some aspect of The Goddess, and the way he "calls" her is some ritual using the phonecard.

I do agree with those who think the lettering is a little dicey; variety is good, but not at the expense of ease of reading. I learned that the hard way with my mission statement in the Angstrom preview.

Ken A.

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[info]dangoldman
2006-10-26 05:43 pm UTC (link)
718 is gonna beat your ass for talking about his ears; "perfect" people are so boring to draw... and I think his ears are cute.

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(Anonymous)
2006-10-30 10:46 pm UTC (link)
I didn't say they looked BAD, just BIG. And YOU were the one who said they were Mickey Mouse ears. Can we have the court reporter read back the defendant's statements?

Ken A.

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[info]man_size
2006-10-26 05:38 pm UTC (link)
718 looks like Magilla Gorilla after a bad bout with Crack!

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[info]lordrexfear
2006-10-26 06:01 pm UTC (link)
I really think Radtke and you have something special here.

I only have one concern, what's the right usage on things like "New York Post" or that coffee cup?

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[info]dangoldman
2006-10-26 09:12 pm UTC (link)
Thanks, Reid... we think so too.

The real-world stuff is the same as SHOOTING WAR; if the trademark is defamed or promoting something, then that's bad. Otherwise, it's the real world.

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[info]iconotrast
2006-10-26 06:25 pm UTC (link)
718 and the Pet Sitter think alike! : )

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[info]benchilada
2006-10-26 07:41 pm UTC (link)
Groovestyle.

But like Dino, some of the lettering bugs me.

Actually, just the last panel.
Hard to read, like...ummm...those books...about the dog...

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[info]mikedawsoncomic
2006-10-26 07:45 pm UTC (link)
Super-nice looking work! I want to find out more about this 718!

Sorry, I have to agree with the comments about the lettering... Maybe it'll be easier to read when not on a computer (in the eventual printed version), but on my screen it's a little bit of a strain.

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[info]mikedawsoncomic
2006-10-26 07:48 pm UTC (link)
Wait - I take it back - I like the design of the lettering, it's just the size of it that's giving me trouble. Just make it a bit bigger!

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[info]man_size
2006-10-26 08:25 pm UTC (link)
WAIT.

But, no.

WAIT!

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[info]gdwessel
2006-10-27 04:36 am UTC (link)
Dan promise me that if I ever get anywhere with this comix writing lark that we'll work together sometime? thanks.

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[info]dangoldman
2006-10-30 01:03 am UTC (link)
i can't promise anything, but stop referring to your comix writing as a lark and we might just be onto something.

seriously man...take your work seriously and treat it with respect, always. comix are powerful magic.
we are the music-makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.

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[info]gdwessel
2006-10-30 03:59 am UTC (link)
Well, shucks, when you put it that way.

Seriously tho, it was more a comment on myself rather than comix in general (obviously). But, er, yeah. You're absolutely right.

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All caught up.
[info]imbrettjackson
2006-10-28 02:48 pm UTC (link)
I'm all caught up and loving it. Every page is a bento box with each compartment containing a flavorful bite. Taken together a toothsome meal. A meal which stresses the urgency of smashing the system.

I wanna see that flyer. Can we get a page with that flyer? Was that the bottom panel of ish (page) 7?

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Re: All caught up.
[info]dangoldman
2006-10-30 12:58 am UTC (link)
Thanks, bretty! glad you are tasting all the delicious trifles we've loaded into the comic... there's a lot of love in this thing, poured over everything like ketchup.

It was indeed THE FLYER, eagle-eye. Our plan is to use the flyer itself for the inside covers of issue #1... but we're also going to make it a downloable PDF for 718's stay on ACT-I-VATE.

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Re: All caught up.
[info]imbrettjackson
2006-10-30 04:14 pm UTC (link)
I can wait for seconds.

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suggestion
(Anonymous)
2006-10-30 03:50 pm UTC (link)
I'm hope you will consider product placement in the future.

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