When the Devil Drives

I can't imagine it's a coincidence that the day I talked on the phone with no one and e-mailed no one that I finally managed to really sink my teeth into the INCURSION rewrite. The people behind Unusual Project 1 (and only, for the moment) have decided they've got better things to do than get back to me on the thirty pages of script and forty-pager outline revisions for the moment also helped, letting me focus elsewhere for a bit without feeling guilty.

As INCURSION is a paying job, this isn't the worst thing in the world. As it doesn't pay as well as UP1, which itself doesn't pay as well as straight WFH honestly should, it's not the best thing in the world, either. The glass is most definitely half-something. In an effort to not have Jay Bardyla kick me in the groin, I'll not say either empty or full.

I'm hoping to have the INCURSION #1 script done and off by Wednesday night, and, if UP1's guys don't get back to me any time soon, to get the whole damn thing done and off for the end of the month. What was initially pitched as a relatively insignificant rewrite has turned out to be a major overhaul and corresponding pain in the ass. Note to self: next time hold out for more money.

On the Nomoneyup Front, just got word from The Future of Comics (II) John Keane that he's back in the game after a rough couple of months. Work on the first nine pages of BadBoy has resumed, unfortunately not soon enough for The Manager to "go out with it" before Hollywood Pitch Season officially closes down for the summer. I'm just glad John's finding some joy in drawing again--for awhile I was seriously worried that the Future of Comics (II) was going to throw in the towel and start 9-to-5ing it, which would effectively kill THE SPOOKY KIDS and GEMINI for the foreseeable future.

Still waiting for word from The Manager re: ERSATZ. Which itself now feels like last week's news as I move on to other, shinier and/or better-paying jobs. As soon as I know what I'm doing with it, I'm sure my interest level will pick up.

Yesterday I, quite by accident, came up with a brief outline for a three-volume comic series that's practically begging to be pitched to TokyoPop. Of course, pitching to TPop's become something of a controversial thing to do these days, on account of the company's IP acquisition-based publishing model (as opposed to a creator-owned model). Also making the rounds (detailed a bit in today's Lying in The Gutters at ComicBookResources.com) are rumours of the company's dumping OEL material on the market with minimal promotional support. Been there, done that. But if they do pay a decent page rate for writers and get an art team on-board...

I'm feeling a bit dispirited at the moment. As it stands, barring extraordinary circumstances, I'll have no new comic work out this year, probably no comic work at all, and that's a galling situation to be in at this stage of my so-called career. Making matters worse is the fact that the material that is out there isn't going to be benefit me or my collaborators even if anyone noticed D2D and PARTING WAYS are still out there and decided to buy them (other than me, of course--I've got a fairly steady flow of both coming to me through Happy Harbor. Well, as steady as Diamond will be with Markosia books, anyway.)

In light of that, I find myself in the irritating position of considering publishing terms I , just a few months ago, swore up and down I'd never accept, simply in order to get something new out there. I continue writing and I've already made more money this year than I did last, but as far as getting stuff published goes, my comics career has stalled. Getting it going again is likely going to take either some serious luck or accepting terms I find disagreeable, to put it mildly.

Needs must when the devil drives.

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