Diana Tamblyn posted a writeup at the Trouble With Comics blog of a storytelling workshop with Darwyn Cooke (Parker, The New Frontier) she attended last month. It sounds amazing, covering lots of basics. It was part of a series of events Art Originals put on last month. I hope there will be more! But in case there aren’t, check out her post for some good advice from a master.

It’s an unusual project, but one uniquely suited to the talents involved. Darwyn Cooke (The New Frontier, The Spirit) is adapting Richard Stark’s Parker novels into comic form; The Hunter is the first of four planned graphic novels.

Parker: The Hunter
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I haven’t read any of the original books myself, but since Cooke clearly has a great affinity for retro-styled works, and since crime/noir stories of this type work best with that kind of timeless feel, I expected an excellent match. This brief interview says that Donald Westlake (the writer’s real name) was involved, and Cooke aimed to use as much of his original dialogue as possible, while descriptive passages were replaced with images to use the comic format effectively.

Parker begins his time in New York forging a driver’s license and writing bad checks to buy nice watches he pawns for money. He wants revenge on those who double-crossed him on a robbery gone bad, and he’ll do anything to get it — including berating his ex-wife into suicide. He’s got to trace back a trail to the man behind it all. (Because it’s always a man. The women are just prizes or status markers or plot devices. And it’s not any man, either, only the strong, individual one who matters and who survives.)

There are two ways to read this book: fast, as the page-turning pulp it started as, or slow, savoring Cooke’s skill, his beautiful lines and the single-color cyan wash that provides such atmosphere. For me, it was a pleasant distraction when things got harsh. I could study the face of the blonde, well-done with shading and relatively few lines, ignoring that she’d just been slapped to the ground.

As with most genre fiction, there aren’t many surprises here. A hard-boiled man who wants payback on the wrong side of the law comes to town and gets it. No subtleties, no what ifs, just a single-minded mission. Normally, a straight genre tale where the only point is how many people Parker can kill before he gets what he thinks is coming to him wouldn’t be for me, but although I’m not the audience, I can see the appeal. And the art is beautiful.

(A complimentary preview copy for this review was provided by the publisher.)

In KC’s latest post at the Westfield blog, he recommends Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter, the Darwyn Cooke adaptation upcoming from IDW.

My apologies if you’ve already seen these links — the week got away from me. But I really enjoyed looking at them.

The Amalgam Age of Comics
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Todd Klein analyzes the Amalgam Comic logos. Just talking about Amalgam brought back memories — I was DC’s webmaster during one of the rounds. I recall Marvel’s attitude as being “isn’t this cool? what do you mean both companies have to approve anything related to the project?” Anyway, genius letterer Klein shows how the combined logos were created based on existing influences. There are three follow-up posts. The titles involved are a great reminder of a different time in comics.

This may be the best review ever: First Second Editorial Director Mark Siegel draws a story about reading Scott Pilgrim in the style of Scott Pilgrim. Funny and insightful.

IDW has posted a preview of The Hunter, a Richard Stark novel adapted by Darwyn Cooke. The book will be out in July, and it looks like a wonderful match between Cooke’s retro style and the anti-hero crime story.

In the latest series of promotional interviews to promote the Wonder Woman animated movie due out March 3, Warner Home Video has distributed a Q&A with Vicki Lewis (NewsRadio). Surprisingly, at least to me, she plays Amazon Persephone, described as “one of the key characters in the Amazon’s battle with Ares.”

Also surprising to me is that this is her second DCU appearance. She previously voiced Iris West, the Flash’s fiancee, in Justice League: The New Frontier.

QUESTION: When you read the Wonder Woman script, what was your first impression of Persephone?

VICKI LEWIS: I’ll be honest, I knew nothing about the mythology of any of this. I got the script, and often times I just kind of look at my part, but this is a fascinating story. I ended up spending half a night on Wikipedia going through the real mythology of the character. Persephone is a very fascinating character in Greek mythology and the comic books. I wasn’t a great student, so I love any opportunity at my age to learn something new. So that’s how I prepared.

[JDC: I'm unfamiliar with a Persephone in the Wonder Woman comic, and so is Wikipedia.]

QUESTION: What endeared you to the role of Persephone?

VICKI LEWIS: I do a lot of animation, and mostly I get cast as the whacky character. I play a lot of kids, or the strange neighbor next door, or the really off-the-wall person in the script. But this was really enticing because Persephone is a solid, commanding woman. It was an interesting process to find and place her (vocally) — she’s a powerful character, and the direction was ‘less is more’ in the grand scheme of this Greek tragedy. I’m very rarely asked to play the powerful, centered part of myself. It’s always there, but I don’t get to use it often (in performance). I played Velma Kelly in “Chicago,” so I think I drew mainly on that character. But this was a great experience. I expected to come in and they would ask me to act like an idiot, which is what I usually get paid to do. So this was an interesting recording session.

[JDC: And that's a good part of what interests me about her in this role -- it is very different from the performances I've seen her in.]

Wonder Woman
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QUESTION: Was there a favorite moment for you during the recording session?

VICKI LEWIS: When you have 900 people staring at you through the glass of the recording booth, and whispering but you can’t hear them, you really want to make sure you give them what they want. And I felt like I got it, because I understood the emotion. This character, Persephone, has some very heartfelt and sad moments, and it was really vulnerable and really human. It wasn’t cartoony — it touched something somewhat real. So I was actually affected by it in a way I didn’t expect to be.

QUESTION: Was it fun playing the bad girl?

VICKI LEWIS: It’s always fun being the bad girl. When I was young, I had Barbie dolls and I made them fly. And then my friends deserted me because I turned them into witches. I was always THAT kid. I didn’t even know what a comic book was.

[JDC: Thank you, Vicki, for pointing out how silly that question is. Trust a PR person to stick with the obvious.]

QUESTION: Much of the fanboy populus is into gaming. Are you a gamer?

VICKI LEWIS: I’m not into the games like the kids play today, but I was addicted to Tetris. I had the Trio, and the Tetris was on it and then my fiancé got me the iPhone for my birthday and I love it. But it doesn’t have Tetris. So I’ve kept the Trio’s battery alive to play Tetris. I used to be addicted to Pacman. We were doing “The Wizard of Oz” at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre, so we were stuck in the middle of Kansas and we would go to the House of Pies every night because they had a Pacman machine in their lobby. And we were obsessed with it.

[JDC: I believe that should be "Treo", like the Palm smartphone. And I don't know what this question has to do with the Wonder Woman movie, unless someone said "isn't there ANYTHING geeky she can talk about?"]

QUESTION: You glide smoothly between stage, film, television and animation voiceover performances. All three require different techniques. What’s the trick to making the transition for voiceover work?

VICKI LEWIS: I started out in theatre in New York and then I did movies and I’d been out (in Hollywood) for nine months when I got NewsRadio and it was all a really interesting transition. Somebody who’d been around for a long time came up to me and basically said that the difference between stage and film and television is that on stage the proscenium is where you can see it. Film and television, it’s really got to be here (spreads her arms wide). In terms of turning that into voice work, sometimes the voice is very subtle, and sometimes I’m so loud they have me move away from the mike. So in voiceovers, you learn where the proscenium is in your voice. As far as acting, I’ve been working for so long that I can basically tap into any emotion. I’m like a little trained monkey at this point. So it’s just a matter of finding that place, and adjusting vocally as you would onstage or in film.

For voiceovers, like Wonder Woman, I feel really blessed that I’m able to do this and that Andrea (Romano) continues to hire me. She always lifts my spirits, she always makes me better, and she’s always so gracious. I keep thinking, ‘When is she going to see through me, that I don’t have any of this talent she’s thanking me for?’ She’s just so great, such an amazing director.

And now, here’s the reason I wanted to run this: an adorable picture of Vicki Lewis with New Frontier author Darwyn Cooke at WonderCon 2008.

It’s already become a blur, but I had a terrific time at the Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend. Between catching up with friends and staff duties, aside from the Harvey Awards (where I helped with the ceremony), I don’t know any of the news or announcements.

Nick Cardy: Behind The Art
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But KC and I had the pleasure of meeting Darwyn Cooke and his wife Marsha, where we got one of the few last copies of his sketchbook Retroactive. We’d brought our copy of the Absolute New Frontier to get signed, the only book we dragged along from home. We were praising it to him, when he responded that it was a shame that it had been out of print for over a year, including when the DVD adaptation came out. That seems foolhardy on DC’s part, but believable.

I greatly enjoyed congratulating Nick Cardy on his Lifetime Achievement Award. The actual award has a Hero Initative logo on one side and an embossed version of a classic cover done by the artist on the other. In Nick’s case, it was Bat Lash #2, the image of Bat Lash hiding behind a tombstone. When he saw it, he said he wanted to take it home and make cookies with it.

He’s a wonderfully charming man; it’s hard to believe he’s almost 90. I also had him sign a copy of the upcoming Nick Cardy: Behind The Art, a gorgeous book that TwoMorrows had advance copies of. Here’s a picture of him with my friend Roger Ash, showing off a Bat Lash sketch he’d just drawn.

Elsewhere, I did finally get to meet Scott Kurtz, who with Kris Straub, Brad Guigar, and Dave Kellett, was very fun to talk to. Scott was kind enough to do me a quick sketch of his Savage Critic character as a momento.

Sunday was a wind-down. We had a lovely lunch with Tim O’Shea and his new wife Ellen. After that, I started saying goodbye to people. I realized how tired I was when I kept saying “Top Shelf” when I meant “Top Cow”. That’s a pretty weird mistake to make. Got home safe, still enjoying the warmth of the show, can’t wait ’til next year.

The Harvey Awards were presented Saturday, September 27, 2008, at the Baltimore Comic-Con.

The Harveys, named after the legendary MAD founding editor and master storyteller Harvey Kurtzman, recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories. They are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals.

The winners this year were diverse, ranging across publishers and even media, with webcomics and online outlets successfully competing against traditional print publishers. All Star Superman was a favorite of voters, taking home three awards for Best Continuing or Limited Series, Best Artist, and Best Single Issue or Story for issue #8. Nicholas Gurewitch’s Perry Bible Fellowship won both Best Online Comics Work and Special Award for Humor.

Nick Cardy was honored with the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award after a touching speech by friend and writer Todd DeZago. The Harvey Awards also thanks Brian Michael Bendis for his keynote address and Kyle Baker for serving as Master of Ceremonies.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Writer: Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man, Vertigo/DC Comics
Best Artist: Frank Quitely, All Star Superman, DC Comics
Best Cartoonist: Darwyn Cooke, The Spirit, DC Comics
Best Graphic Album – Original: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Oni Press
Best Graphic Album – Previously Published: Captain America Omnibus Volume 1, Marvel Comics
Best Domestic Reprint Project: Complete Peanuts, Fantagraphics Books
Best American Edition of Foreign Material: Eduardo Risso’s Tales of Terror, Dynamite Entertainment
Special Award for Humor: Nicholas Gurewitch, Perry Bible Fellowship, www.pbfcomics.com
Best Online Comics Work: Perry Bible Fellowship, Nicholas Gurewitch, www.pbfcomics.com
Special Award for Excellence in Presentation: EC Archives, edited by Russ Cochran, Gemstone
Best Single Issue or Story: All Star Superman #8, DC Comics
Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation: Reading Comics: How Graphic Albums Work and What They Mean, Douglas Wolk, Da Capo Press
Best Cover Artist: Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Dark Horse Comics
Best Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos, Daredevil, Marvel Comics
Best Colorist: Laura Martin, Thor, Marvel Comics
Best Inker: Kevin Nowlan, Witchblade, Top Cow/Image
Best Syndicated Strip or Panel: Doonesbury, Garry Trudeau, Universal Press Syndicate
Best Continuing or Limited Series: All Star Superman, DC Comics
Best New Series: Umbrella Academy, Dark Horse Comics
Best New Talent: Vasilis Lolos, Last Call, Oni Press
Best Anthology: Popgun Volume 1, edited by Joe Keatinge and Mark Andrew Smith, Image Books

And now, the editorial comments.

I was disappointed to see Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) shut out of the awards after being nominated for eight. I don’t know that his work was more deserving than the others that won, but he’d brought a lot of his family to see him. And I suspect the voters’ unfamiliarity with the work might have been a disadvantage, since many of the winners are “big names” from big traditional comic publishers.

I was also suprised to see so few winners attending the awards. I can maybe understand why a small publisher like Oni Press, located across the country from the show, wouldn’t send a representative, but someone like Mike Mignola, who was appearing at the show, not coming to the ceremony when nominated, I don’t get.

All I remember about Bendis’ keynote speech was him saying “Lawyer up” when Hollywood comes calling. Oh, and the cursing was completely unnecessary, especially since there was a kid in the room (who promptly left with Mom when he started). If these kinds of events are to be taken seriously, people participating in them need to act like adults, with a sense of decorum. At least Bendis didn’t wear shorts, like he did to the Eisners the last time I went.

Overall, though, it was a lovely evening, with a great group of people. The dinner was delicious, and it’s so nice to have that chance to relax and dine with industry people. (I sat next to Kyle Baker! Not for long, though, since I kept popping up to check on presenters.)

Douglas Wolk perfectly sums up the problem I have with Jonah Hex:

“Gray & Palmiotti’s ongoing series about sexual assault in the Old West…”

Have they done an issue yet that doesn’t include rape?

They’ve managed to get some wonderful guest artists, though, with Darwyn Cooke having drawn an issue, and J.H. Williams III illustrating the latest.