Mos Def has this track called “Fear Not Of Man”, you can hear it at youtube, but there's a part of it where he's just talking about hip hop, and I always think that you can take out “hip hop” and put in “comics” and it still makes sense.
This is the bit...
Listen.. people be askin me all the time,
"Yo Mos, what's gettin ready to happen with Hip-Hop?"
(Where do you think Hip-Hop is goin?)
I tell em, "You know what's gonna happen with Hip-Hop?
Whatever's happening with us"
If we smoked out, Hip-Hop is gonna be smoked out
If we doin alright, Hip-Hop is gonna be doin alright
People talk about Hip-Hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside
Comin down to visit the townspeople
We are Hip-Hop
Me, you, everybody, we are Hip-Hop
So Hip-Hop is goin where we goin
So the next time you ask yourself where Hip-Hop is goin
ask yourself.. where am I goin? How am I doin?
Til you get a clear idea
So.. if Hip-Hop is about the people
and the.. Hip-Hop won't get better until the people get better
then how do people get better? (Hmmmm...)
Well, from my understanding people get better
when they start to understand that, they are valuable
And they not valuable because they got a whole lot of money
or cause somebody, think they sexy
but they valuable cause they been created by God
And God, makes you valuable
And whether or not you, recognize that value is one thing
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Official Trailer!
So, with a little bit of hard work, a touch of swearing, a tiny aspect of luck, and a whole butt-load of ingenuity, I have managed to get The Official Trailer to The Young Offenders up at youtube.
And here it is.
The music you hear is "Tokyo Drifter" by Chris Public. He's better known (to some) as Lo-Ki from BTK, the fresh young Canadian Hip-Hop group from late 90's Toronto.
I'm a huge fan of Chris Public. The band BTK has been a huge inspiration on me, my writing, my lifestyle, my marijuana consumption, my comics, and like, my soul, since I first heard the Peppyrock single, during my last days of High School.
As much as it is an honor and privilege to get to create my own comic with Peter Severinson, that I get to combine the whole works with one of the most incredible musical artists I've ever heard, just makes it all the sweeter. I can't thank these guys enough. Hell, I don't even know if I thanked them at all.
Anyway, enjoy the tunes and the foreshadowing. I'm sure, if you're reading this, then you've already read most of the story, but that ain't the point. The point, I think, is to create something that's to be enjoyed.
And here it is.
The music you hear is "Tokyo Drifter" by Chris Public. He's better known (to some) as Lo-Ki from BTK, the fresh young Canadian Hip-Hop group from late 90's Toronto.
I'm a huge fan of Chris Public. The band BTK has been a huge inspiration on me, my writing, my lifestyle, my marijuana consumption, my comics, and like, my soul, since I first heard the Peppyrock single, during my last days of High School.
As much as it is an honor and privilege to get to create my own comic with Peter Severinson, that I get to combine the whole works with one of the most incredible musical artists I've ever heard, just makes it all the sweeter. I can't thank these guys enough. Hell, I don't even know if I thanked them at all.
Anyway, enjoy the tunes and the foreshadowing. I'm sure, if you're reading this, then you've already read most of the story, but that ain't the point. The point, I think, is to create something that's to be enjoyed.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Goings throughs the motions.
Here kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty!
Struggling to upload. Nothing too major, just fudging around with trying to get a high-quality video posted up to youtube. I'm trying different ways to make it happen, different methods of moving files around, different extensions to save them under, different ways to get the best visuals popping as I can.
It's a bit of a task. It's a nice time to get some laundry done. It's a very yellow point in october.
Still can't believe we're moving out of this neighbourhood! Surreal! Only 10 days to gooooooooo!
Struggling to upload. Nothing too major, just fudging around with trying to get a high-quality video posted up to youtube. I'm trying different ways to make it happen, different methods of moving files around, different extensions to save them under, different ways to get the best visuals popping as I can.
It's a bit of a task. It's a nice time to get some laundry done. It's a very yellow point in october.
Still can't believe we're moving out of this neighbourhood! Surreal! Only 10 days to gooooooooo!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Turn, Churn, Burn, Spurn
Savage Henry Lee says, "Look out behind you - radioactive man!"
Drama to follow!
Drama to follow!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Thoughts on the first printing of the first issue of my first comic.
The rain is just pouring down right now.
So, as you've seen from the photo, I picked up my copies of THE YOUNG OFFENDERS the other day.
A nice thing about the printing job we got, was that it was done by a local organization, right in the heart of East Vancovuer, where the story takes place. The guys even recognized some of Peter's buildings. If you know East Van, you know where you're at.
Interestingly, on the way over to the printers, I saw these 4 kids. They were sitting out on the steps in front of a closed down business, and they were smoking crack. 4 kids, between the ages of about 15 and 19, sitting outside on the side of the road, on a nice Friday morning, smoking crack.
I really wanted to go back and give them copies of the book, saying that they were a big part of what we were writing about, but... I left them to their smoking. They'd been giving me the junkyard-dog eyes anyway.
Yeah, the rain is pouring down right now. It smells GREAT!
You ever have somebody you don't like do something nice for you? Sucks, huh? Puts you in a weird morally compromising position.
Anyway, though I'm not entirely satisfied with the means of obtaining it, I have managed, for the first time in about 10 years, to get my hands and eyeballs on the comic book poster which massively inspired The Young Offenders, and me.
It's a poster by Darick Robertson, and it's of The New Warriors. The New Warriors were a mid-90's comic about kid's with superpowers, in the Marvel universe.
The image of these strange kids standing in a dark alley, filled with strange powers and youthful anger, has been in my mind for years. The poster's called “All They Want To Do Is Change The World.”
The poster came to me in the mail, the same day I got home with the printings of The Young Offenders. Having the book, and the inspiration for the book, showing up on the same day? It was a nice feeling. A powerful feeling. A feeling like something is happening.
So, as you've seen from the photo, I picked up my copies of THE YOUNG OFFENDERS the other day.
A nice thing about the printing job we got, was that it was done by a local organization, right in the heart of East Vancovuer, where the story takes place. The guys even recognized some of Peter's buildings. If you know East Van, you know where you're at.
Interestingly, on the way over to the printers, I saw these 4 kids. They were sitting out on the steps in front of a closed down business, and they were smoking crack. 4 kids, between the ages of about 15 and 19, sitting outside on the side of the road, on a nice Friday morning, smoking crack.
I really wanted to go back and give them copies of the book, saying that they were a big part of what we were writing about, but... I left them to their smoking. They'd been giving me the junkyard-dog eyes anyway.
Yeah, the rain is pouring down right now. It smells GREAT!
You ever have somebody you don't like do something nice for you? Sucks, huh? Puts you in a weird morally compromising position.
Anyway, though I'm not entirely satisfied with the means of obtaining it, I have managed, for the first time in about 10 years, to get my hands and eyeballs on the comic book poster which massively inspired The Young Offenders, and me.
It's a poster by Darick Robertson, and it's of The New Warriors. The New Warriors were a mid-90's comic about kid's with superpowers, in the Marvel universe.
The image of these strange kids standing in a dark alley, filled with strange powers and youthful anger, has been in my mind for years. The poster's called “All They Want To Do Is Change The World.”
The poster came to me in the mail, the same day I got home with the printings of The Young Offenders. Having the book, and the inspiration for the book, showing up on the same day? It was a nice feeling. A powerful feeling. A feeling like something is happening.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
No headphones during action sequences, dammit!
OK, so page 3, and one of my first/favorite references. I never get tired of explaining this, I guess because I'm an enormous geek.
In this panel, The Spaz is listening to, and singing along with, a song performed by Mos Def & The Roots. The song is called “Double Trouble,” and is a reference to the duo Double Trouble, who were a part of the Funky Four Plus One.
All of these things, from Mos Def, through the Roots, on to the Funky Four Plus One, are awesome. Purely awesome. I was introduced to the Funky Four Plus One through the movie WILD STYLE!
But there's more to it than that. Isn't there always? The lines themselves are from RUN-DMC's song, “King of Rock.”
Let the Poppers pop,
And the Breakers break.
Now me, I take that as, “Let that pop music shit burst, and let the makers of real music take over.” I could be wrong – It's just an interpretation. But it's my interpretation.
It's funny – If you listen to Mos & The Roots on the song, it's not a very up-beat ass-kicking tune. It's a very “laid back and feeling groovy” sort of song. Not the sort of thing you might want to be rocking on your headphones if you're about to jump into a giant fight with riot control cops. But that's The Spaz. He takes it easy. He smiles. He has fun. Hell, he's so fast he's untouchable and strong enough to bounce back from just about anything.
Double Trouble was one of the first tunes that really inspired The Young Offenders. I was listening to it a lot when I was first coming up with the characters, long before I met Peter. One of the best bits, not what Spaz quotes, is when you get toward the chorus...
“Either stand tall or just sit the fuck down!”
Yeah.
To me, that's what The Young Offenders are all about.
In this panel, The Spaz is listening to, and singing along with, a song performed by Mos Def & The Roots. The song is called “Double Trouble,” and is a reference to the duo Double Trouble, who were a part of the Funky Four Plus One.
All of these things, from Mos Def, through the Roots, on to the Funky Four Plus One, are awesome. Purely awesome. I was introduced to the Funky Four Plus One through the movie WILD STYLE!
But there's more to it than that. Isn't there always? The lines themselves are from RUN-DMC's song, “King of Rock.”
Let the Poppers pop,
And the Breakers break.
Now me, I take that as, “Let that pop music shit burst, and let the makers of real music take over.” I could be wrong – It's just an interpretation. But it's my interpretation.
It's funny – If you listen to Mos & The Roots on the song, it's not a very up-beat ass-kicking tune. It's a very “laid back and feeling groovy” sort of song. Not the sort of thing you might want to be rocking on your headphones if you're about to jump into a giant fight with riot control cops. But that's The Spaz. He takes it easy. He smiles. He has fun. Hell, he's so fast he's untouchable and strong enough to bounce back from just about anything.
Double Trouble was one of the first tunes that really inspired The Young Offenders. I was listening to it a lot when I was first coming up with the characters, long before I met Peter. One of the best bits, not what Spaz quotes, is when you get toward the chorus...
“Either stand tall or just sit the fuck down!”
Yeah.
To me, that's what The Young Offenders are all about.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
10 years old and she's already public enemy #1!
It wasn't an intentional thing, but in this panel Dot's silhouette really reminds of the Public Enemy logo!
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