The Synformers Universe
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Monthly Archives: January 2011
Textcast: Kotoricon Wrap-Up Edition
IT’S A WRAP!
Kotoricon came and went and I left more motivated than ever before.
Lets recap this shindig shall we?
I wanted to get there in time to catch the Arcana Comics panel since Arcana is a real comic book company that I have seen with big booths at cons and I wanted to get any and all advice they could give me. I wasn’t disappointed that’s for sure. VP of Arcana Mark Poulton, Dexter Weeks and Steve Sistelli who held the Arcana panel were telling me their story from where I am now to how they got to where they are and it provided infinite amounts of insight. They gave me tips about copyrighting, anatomy, inking, and how to submit work to the publisher and much more. They told me all about how their book Koni Waves is being optioned in Hollywood and all about the experience of San Diego Comic-Con. These guys are doing exactly what I want to be doing and any advice they could give me was priceless. I mean these guys created the AND1 logo!
After the panel I got to talk to them one on one and told them all about Synergy and gave them the new postcards to which they replied “Now THATS a card!” They also told me to go get my pencilled Synergy pages and my portfolio so they could check it out.
This is where in my head I freaked out a little. A publisher/studio wants to see my work, I know my work isn’t worthy of their time and could be 10 times better but I knew they would help me out and offer some insight.
I brought my pages over to the Arcana booth and the checked em out…these pros actually seemed to like it! They commented on how nice my costume designs were and gave me some inking tips. Steve, Mark, and Dex didn’t have to give me a minute of their time and instead they gave me all the time in the world and I can’t thank them enough. Making this connection and going home would have made my day a great success all by itself but alas…I still had to do a panel after this!
I think if it wasn’t for the events that transpired earlier in the day I would have been nervous but I actually went in pretty confident.
I started off the Panel and noticed most of my crowd had been wearing hats with animal ears which of course I found pretty funny. So I had to bust on them…they took it good and I think it started off the panel on a good lighthearted note fo sho.
So I started talking about what got me into comics and art and just told them everything that got me into it and some of my first comics. I even brought some of my first art books…yikes.
Oh and half way through my panel Dexter from the Arcana booth came over and watched with another artist Brielle. I was pretty much in full on HOLY CRAP mode at this point…but I had to keepgoing for all those girls in the animal hats dang it!
So I told them to come up and draw their own characters on the dry erase board…so everyone (for the most part) came up…
Here are the final results…(I did the quickie Synergy of course)
I then told them to come up with stories for some of the characters and emphasized the importance of story and how one picture can tell a whole story…the sad girl drawing was a perfect example of this and the girl who did it just happened to hve a whole story behind it already. The group (including Dexter) also helped come up with a story for the pikachu-ish drawing and we all cameup with pepe the churro thrower which was definitely original thats for sure.
From there I went into the site and who Synergy is and what I hope happens with him in the future…
I also showed off the Vega Valley Forum and how it works and everything on the SmartBoard.
Overall Kotoricon was amazing…I made a ton of new friends, met an amazing group of professionals, and had a lot of fun…I cant even begin to say how motivated the whole experience has made me…Lets just say I was off for MLK day and I spent it finishing off another page in the book!
I want to thank everyone who came out to my panel you guys fuel this engine…and a big thanks to Steve, Mark and Dexter…you guys are awesome.
Check out their site at koniwaves.com!
Until Next Time…
~John
Textcast: Anime Edition
Welcome everyone to another fun-filled Textcast!
This Saturday is the big day…KOTORICON!
Kotoricon is an Anime and Game convention which is for all fans of the geek culture including games, comics, movies, anime etc. It is its second year and it is a huge hit on the campus of Gloucester County College, (where I spent 2 years of my college experience by the way) bringing in close to 300 people last year and should bring in even more this year.
I am pleased to be doing a panel at this great event and can’t wait to see who comes! My panel will include audience participation, a history of my art life, music, video, and anyone who comes will be able to purchase prints and look at the first four pages of SYNERGY! This event will also debut the new Synergy postcard as well as anyone who attends the panel will receive a FREE COMIC!
Hopefully the audience latches on to the emphasis that Synergycomic.com is a creative community that can become a place where people can come and see some art, read some nerd news, and watch some interesting videos.
KotoriCon comes to Gloucester County College’s campus, 1400 Tanyard Road, Deptford, on Friday, Jan. 14 and Saturday, Jan. 15. The event kicks off on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and continues on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Register online at http://anime.gccnj.edu for $20. Limited tickets will be on sale for $25 cash the day of the event. My panel will be held in the College Center in Room 210 starting around 4:40pm!
I figured since Kotoricon is for the most part an Anime convention I figured I would take the time in this Textcast to discuss what my favorite Anime cartoons are! Now be warned, I havent seen too much Anime, I have never seen One Piece, Naruto, Evangelion, Tenchi Muyo, Yu-Gi-Oh, Last Exile, Ghost in the Shell, or many other popular titles. It’s not because I hate them, it’s because I have never had the opportunity to do so. So if you read this and recommend one of those titles or any other titles please let me know!
So on with the list!
5. Pokemon
Ok this seems silly but in 1997/1998 when the Pokemon craze hit, it really was the cats meow. It was a show about adorable pocket monsters that fought each other and a team of kids (and evil agents named Team Rocket) who were out to “Catch em’ all!” Although the US flooded the market and kids have grown up it is still something I know me and many others will never forget. Heck, I even bought a Charmander toy because I thought he was so gosh darn cute. After all these years Pokemon still remains popular to this day, the latest DS iteration of Pokemon still sold a ton of copies and even at Kotoricon they are having a Pokemon Tournament!
4. Akira
Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo’s supernatural power leading to bloody death, a coup attempt and the final battle in Tokyo Olympiad where Akira’s secrets were buried 30 years ago. I admit I was late to the Akira boat but I think I can appreciate it more now that I have seen it compared to todays animation. Akira started off as a Manga and ended up being totally reconstructed into the most expensive Anime films ever at the time of its release. In 1988 Akira introduced American audiences to the craze we know today as Anime, and it blew minds then and it continues to do so today. I wouldn’t recommend it as someones first foray into the Anime world since it does get kind of wacky at some parts but it is a masterpiece in the Anime genre that’s for sure. It’s intense, unforgiving, and beautiful all at once.
3. Dragon Ball Z ( History of Trunks)
Dragon Ball Z is a worldwide phenomenon that I loved when I was a Freshman in high school and can still appreciate today. Although the show contained fights that lasted weeks, shots of people gritting their teeth and making weird sounds, and various forms of Saiyan…I loved it. Nowadays I find the show kind of hard to watch, however one character that I LOVED and still love is Trunks. Trunks is from the future where his world is destroyed by 2 evil Androids and he goes back in time to defeat the androids in the past to save his future. DBZ put out a dark gloomy and emotional special movie called History of Trunks that details Trunks dismal future. It shows the Androids run rampant, kill his best friend Gohan, and shows what caused Trunks to go back in time. Its a great standalone movie tha has a phenomenal soundtrack and basically plays as a “Days of Future Past” in the Dragon Ball Z Universe…when I sold off all of my Dragon Ball Z stuff I kept this DVD.
2. Green Legend Ran
“Sometime in Earth’s future, giant monoliths that came to be known as Rodo fell from space and turned the earth into a vast desert, devoid of greenery and water save for a patch of forest known as the Holy Green near each of the monument-like Rodo. After generations of living in this harsh world, many humans have become Rodoists, joining a cult that serves the Rodo. Another organization, the rebel terrorist group Hazard, has devoted itself to fighting against the tyrannical rule of the Rodoists. Somewhere in between are what is left of the Earth’s population, scraping out a living in the desert.
One of the people in between is Ran, a daring boy who aspires to join Hazard, but is also searching for the man who killed his mother. When Ran runs across a silver-haired girl named Aira, he gets his chance to join Hazard. But there is something special about Aira–even she’s not sure what–and both Hazard and the Rodoists want it, leaving Ran to choose sides amidst what is rapidly turning into an all-out war for the future of the planet.”
Back in the late 90s The Sci-Fi Channel used to have a Saturday Anime Block that would show various obscure Anime movies and I was lucky enough to catch this one saturday morning. It is a mix of Mad Max, Dune and Star Wars, the characters are multi-layered, and the story is full of curve balls. I would recommend this to anyone looking to get into Anime and anyone with an open mind. It is one of my first experiences watching an Anime film and I still pop it in from time to time…Green Legend Ran could be best described as a Love, Redemption, Revenge story…Check it out!
1. Ronin Warriors
Although it has its cheesy moments, Ronin Warriors was my first Anime and it is still my favorite. Ronin Warriors or Samurai Troopers in Japan, is an Anime that originally aired here in the United States the summer of 1995 on Fox. Since then, it’s popularity and fan-following has grown tremendously. The story is about five teens with mystical armor fighting to save modern-day Japan from the evil Talpa, who wants to take over the mortal world. Whenever the Armors combined to form the White Armor of Inferno you knew someone was going to get an asswhooping! The series has 39 half-hour episodes and 3 OAV Movies: Gaiden, Kikoutei Densetsu, and Message. It is one of the most faithful animes to be broadcasted on basic cable; the footage was never cut or edited, and the dialogue remains true to the original. I used to record them on tape back then and Iwas fortunate enough to pickup the entire series on DVD a few years ago. Since then prices for the DVD set have gone as high as $300, proving that this show means something special to a group of kids from 1995 who fell in love with it. If you want to look for a cheap DVD set check out ebay or you can watch them on youtube…just watch it!
That’s all for this week…Hope to see all of you at Kotoricon it should be a fun time and I hope I’m not too nervous…it is my first panel hopefully we make some new fans and meet some great people.Remember panel people get FREE COMICS and the new postcard!
Wish me luck!
~John
Textcast: Post Christmas Break Edition
Hi there my friends it has been FAR too long!
I hope everyone had a great Holiday and got lots of good stuff and ate some good grub…I know I got a ton of awesome things and I can’t thank my friends and family enough for them.
So lets get right to the big news, I have a gig coming up!
I will be appearing at Kotoricon in New Jersey on January 15th! It will be my first ever convention panel, for those who have never been to a con, a Panel is usually an open-ended discussion or seminar on a topic which is somehow related to the theme of the con.
Basically I will be up in front of a gaggle of people and telling them about this Wonderful World of Synergy we have here!
I will basically run through what Synergy is all about how I got here, what inspires me, and how to go about getting a comic from idea to paper.
It should be a great show! It is at Gloucester County College and starts on January 14th with an evening Smash Bros. tournament and will open bright and early January 15th.
All the info can be found at anime.gccnj.edu
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