I just want to start things off my telling you that I have removed all paywalls on marksnewsletter.ca. I haven’t decided if I’m going to stay on Substack or not yet, but I am putting some serious thought into a Wordpress newsletter instead. For now, I’d like to remind everyone that I do have a Patreon set up that does allow you to join for free. I’ll be posting the same content there as you have been receiving here.
The Old Hard Drive
We had an issues with water getting into our basement a couple weeks ago, so I had to pack up EVERYTHING and move to another dryer location, still in my basement. While unpacking I found an old hard drive I had not seen in years. To my surprise, it powered up and provided me with files I thought were lost to a computer that died on me years ago. This was the hard drive I used to back up everything I deemed important, like the first thirty comic strips I made when I decided I wanted to be a cartoonist. They were bad. Really bad. I found one that I didn’t hate. The rest, will sit there as a reminder of how bad I was, and how far I’ve come. As a reward for making it this far, here is that one comic strip I didn’t hate:
This one made me chuckle a little. That computer dying on me was a good thing. It forced me to look at what I was doing and pivot to other failed projects. Luckily, each failure taught me something new about comics:
Colour in CMYK whenever possible.
Public Journal Comics are a bad idea. Keep them in your sketchbook.
Don’t base characters on people you know.
Script before you draw.
Don’t compare yourself to others. You’ll never be Jim Lee, so focus on being yourself instead.
Expensive art supplies and technology are nice, but they won’t make you a better artist.
Word balloons and the dialog within are important. Learn how to use them.
Ask yourself “Why?” before committing to anything. “Just because I can!” is not a good answer.
Some ideas are just bad. Get them out of your system and move on.
Before committing to a comic idea, ask yourself “Would you pay to read this?” If the answer is no, then maybe put it on the back burner until you can find a way to rework it.
I could go on, but most of you stopped reading at point #4. If you made it THIS far, say “Gabba Gabba Hey!” in the comments.
What I’m Reading
I found the JLI Vol. 2 Omnibus on Amazon the other day, and couldn’t help myself.
JLI, in my humble opinion, is the pinnacle of superhero comics. It was the right blend of humour and drama, that very few comics have been able to achieve in the modern day. Once I get my hands on Vol. 3, my collection will be complete, and I will find myself a new hobby.
I’ve also been reading I Am Ozzy on my kindle.
I enjoyed his music, but admittedly, don’t really know anything about the man. I never watched the reality TV show, just because reality TV isn’t my thing. He was an interesting guy who lived an interesting life. I’m looking forward to his final book, Last Rites, this October.
That’s all for this week. The kid goes back to school this week, I have the oddest job interview to prepare for (I’ll write about it once they tell me I’m not the man for the job,) and I have two videos I need to record for my YouTube channel.
Again, I’m uncertain about the future of this newsletter on Substack, but MarksNewsletter.ca will continue. If there is a loss of communication, you’ll be able to still read these posts, free of charge over on Patreon at patreon.com/marksnewsletter.
Best of luck getting your sites sorted. And happy labour day!