Jibber Jabber and Making Comics

I found out today that a few of my friends have started blogs. This is interesting. I will expand on that at a later date.

I also found out today that the Champs Sports closed in my mall. Another huge corporate store has just uprooted from a already festering wound that is Granite Run Mall. My boss raided them this afternoon to get some of the their fixtures. Granted he did pay for them, he just paid $10 for the equivalent of something that should retail for hundreds of dollars. I am just glad I didn't have to move any of it. Oh, and apparently, there are some other big stores closing in my mall by the end of the month. This makes me unhappy.

The day was rather slow throughout. My mom wound up not having work because a transformer (not a Go-Bot) blew-up near her work. The area reverted to Amish country. Since she works in a doctor's office, the people that were already in needed to use their cell phones to contact the patients to not come in. The blackout also effected my coworker tonight, but not much. He's rich and has a generator, which is probably run by shoveling in the hopes and dreams of the poor.

I'm trying to think of something interesting. It's tougher then you think. I have no idea how people write works of fiction having to develop a whole world and characters to fill it. They I remember that most of the either found a formula or made a pact with some deity.

Well, I have been doing this whole blog a day thing for two weeks, so that's sort of a landmark, right? I'll take my words in any way. What sucks is that I am usually raring to write at the exact moment that I can't.

I am reading a book called Making Comics by Scott McCloud. I've read a couple of his other books, Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics. The best part is that they are presented in a comic book format.

I first read Understanding Comics years ago, when I was in high school. It is a great book to do exactly as the title suggests. It presents a whole philosophy about comics and the importance of the medium. It was later hat I discovered Reinventing Comics at my college library. I would always search for whatever comic book stuff the La Salle Library held. It turns out quite a bit considering they have one of the largest collections of Vietnam War era related material, like Punisher and The 'Nam comic books. I found the second one a pretty tough read from what I remember. It discusses bringing the the printed medium into the digital age. Personally, I have an affinity and appreciation of the the whole tangible aspect of comics. Hell, even the smell of old comics is borderline euphoric.

This third book, Making Comics, is a different undertaking. It doesn't have quite the appeal for me. Granted, I like the content and presentation, but it is not written for someone like me. It is written for the artist. The whole thing provides guidelines and help for how to structure a comic on the actual page, or screen for that matter, to get a comic to properly flow for the reader. The whole point to for the reader to convey what the artist is trying to explain or describe. Since, I have no aspirations on being a comic book artist, it's not really clicking with me.

I started to read it because: 1) I already owned it, and 2) I am supposed to write a comic for a friend of mine. Okay, I am supposed to write a bunch of things for various people, but have been willfully neglecting them.

I'll go into that crap later. I should head to bed and crash from the caffeine rush.

P.S.: I think I own all The 'Nam comics. I just haven't read any of them yet.