Posted By dbennett ~ 5th April 2012
I am exceedingly amazed at the fact that I was nominated for an Eisner Award today. To the uninitiated, an Eisner is like the Academy Awards for comic book creators. The fact that I’ve even been considered for this level of recognition is totally unfathomable to me.
Of course, with all of the “you deserve it’s” I know that there is more to it. The comic book medium is a collaborative effort and it would never be possible for me to be nominated without all of the other talented people who were part of each book or company that I’ve worked for. I’ve been put on spectacular teams and I am so grateful for each opportunity that I am blessed with.
This lettering nod is not just me, it’s the staff over at Archaia and Ape. It’s the guys I’ve worked with over the years at Marvel, DC, and BOOM! It’s the independent books I’ve lettered. It’s the various manga companies that I’ve worked for. It’s even the letterer’s who inspire me everyday. Chris, Joe and the rest of the VC gang, Rus, SWands, Troy, Marshall, Dave Sharpe, Dave Lanphear…it’s everyone. It’s thanks to everyone that I can do what I do. I am so humbled and honored to even be mentioned.
Thanks for all of the support and love. You guys are awesome.
Posted By dbennett ~ 29th March 2012
I know I haven’t updated in a while, so this currently working on includes things I’ve worked on during this year that I haven’t been able to post about.
There are a few more, but I’m not sure if the publishers are ready to release information on them, so we’ll save them for next time.
I’ve also been involved in a few indie projects, which is always exciting. A lot of these creators are ready to do big things and I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m hoping to do some individual posts showcasing the independent creators, so I won’t cram it all here, so stayed tuned.
Posted By dbennett ~ 27th February 2012
When I was in grade school, my brother and I used to sell our drawings. Fifty cents here. A dollar there. Business in the lunchroom was booming. We created a name using an acronym of our names, Marlon and Deron’s Drawings…MADD (not that we were worried about litigation from Mother’s Against Drunk Driving.)
We were thinking big. Like Disney big. When we grew up we would make cartoons and of course open a theme park to rival our favorite place on Earth. It would be called (obviously) MaddWorld.
Well of course, things change, people grow and while I was still interested in a career as an illustrator, my brother was not. So alas, I was left without a partner and a name for my future empire.
That is is until 13 years ago today. My daughter was born and I had a new idea. I would use her name instead. It would be AndWorld now (for her name ‘n’ mine). I was young and happy to be a dad, so in my head it made perfect sense as cheesy as it was. Still, I stuck with the name and here I am today with a business that my 13 year old wants as little to do with as possible. Sheesh.
Happy 13th Birthday, Alexis.
Posted By dbennett ~ 23rd February 2012
Last Friday was actually AndWorld Design’s seventh birthday. Not a lot of hoopla for the less-than-public event, but it’s actually a pretty decent milestone. It’s been seven whole years since I returned to Jersey and started freelancing full-time. I remember thinking it was the coolest thing bringing in that not so steady paycheck, until it finally dawned on me that this was serious business and could easily blow up in my face. A friend of my wife’s asked me if what I do for a living could support my family and it was then that I realized, I never really thought about that.
While I could pay my own bills and afford certain things, I never needed to worry about a mortgage, utilities, medical, and all of the things you neglect to think about when you’re young and naive. It actually took some time and a return to the 9-5 life as a graphic design instructor before I was able to return to freelancing full-time. Just to be clear to you aspiring contract workers – this ain’t easy.
It takes a good deal of commitment to make it as a freelancer and a lot of struggle during the lean times. It may not be a big number, but I’m thankful for all of these seven years.
Posted By dbennett ~ 21st January 2012
You can ignore this. Pretty sad that my first post of the year is just an experiment from my iPad. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Posted By dbennett ~ 22nd October 2011
I’ve been pretty busy.
Posted By dbennett ~ 24th September 2011
I can’t think of anyone that I know who isn’t a fan of Jim Henson’s work. And I’m not only referring to my adult peers, but the new generation of children as well. Okay, okay maybe I’m overstating things a bit here – obviously we can’t include newborns – but the fact remains, Jim Henson’s legacy lives on and he still touches lives today.
Who hasn’t enjoyed the puppets of Sesame Street? Adults and kids alike have will have fond memories of the magic that makes that show happen for years to come. The Muppet Show, once thought to only appeal to a child audience, introduced us to characters like that have been making us smile for years. Jim had a hand in some of the most beloved franchises in the world, including Star Wars where he persuaded George Lucas to use the talented Frank Oz to perform as Yoda.
I remember growing up with shows like Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies. I recall being captivated by the movie Labyrinth, which I had no idea at the time was created by the same man who brought me Kermit the Frog and my favorite Muppet movies. I even got hooked on watching Dinosaurs later on, spouting “Not the Mama” along with the rest my friends who watched.
Jim Henson and The Henson Company continue to touch lives today. Not only through the shows that have endured, but new programming as well. Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train are two of the many shows that my preschooler and I have enjoyed watching together.
So the magic lives on. And today, I’m proud to be part of some more of that Jim Henson magic. I was already blessed to have worked on The Muppet Show Comic Book and Fraggle Rock. But I was recently commissioned to create a font based off of Jim Henson’s handwriting to letter Tale of Sand – a beautiful adaptation of an unproduced screenplay written by Jim. So today I present not one, but two special gifts in honor of Jim Henson: a preview of Tale of Sand and Dark Crystal:Creation Myths from Archaia Comics. I am so thrilled to be part of both. Please Enjoy.
*As an added bonus…if you go to google.com today you can interact with the Google logo in puppet form! If you click on the link (hover over it for a while) it will take you to the Tale of Sand preview.
Posted By dbennett ~ 3rd August 2011
I wrote a paper in college about blacks in comics. I’ll have to dig around and find it on a floppy disk somewhere, but the main point of it was to bring up the fact that comics lacked a decent portrayal of black superheroes. I suggested that from the earliest examples of comics, people of color were either non-existent or depicted as stereotypes or caricatures. Even in the modern era of comics, I felt that the mainstream black heroes possessed no qualities to identify them as black beyond the color of their skin or physical features.
Fast forward a bit and today (actually yesterday) it has been revealed that Ultimate Spider-Man will feature a half-black, half-hispanic incarnation of the web-slinger. KUDOS to Marvel. It is a bold move and one that is shaking things up quite a bit on the interwebs (pun sort of intended). I’m certainly glad that we are seeing a bi-racial hero, but I still have my reservations. Most notably, I wonder if famed writer, Brian Michael Bendis will do the character justice. Let it be known, I have the utmost faith in his ability to write a FANTASTIC story, my concern is mostly – will the character actually be black/hispanic in more than just name.
The thing people love about a Peter Parker Spider-Man is that his character and personality make him so unique. A different set of challenges are presented to him because of who he is. His ongoing conflict to resolve his personal life with his alter-ego’s make his stories more pronounced. So will the same be said of the latest Spider-Man, Miles Morales? Will we see some conflict that revolves around his race? And if so, can it be authentic? Will he face issues that deal with his mixed heritage? These are all important questions that should be attached to the character. If not, then why make him black/hispanic in the first place?
Because then it becomes a question of “was he created just for diversity’s sake?” I’m all for creating diverse characters, but there has to be a compelling reason to do so. I felt that the Milestone Universe had it right. There were heroes from all walks of life with compelling, character-developed stories that were true to life. Static was one of the superheroes that came out of that and has since become a popular lead in his own right. Later this year, he will again be given his own comic as DC relaunches its catalog of titles. I’m looking forward to that title as well, helmed by a new writer, to retain some of the distinguishing cultural features that made his character so appealing in the first place.
The idea of creating diverse superheroes is something we should all be embracing. I’m not sure what the naysayers are saying (I refuse to check the boards in an effort to maintain my temper), but I know that increasing the diversity of characters only serves to reflect the reality of the world. It’s already a win for Ultimate Spider-Man to feature a bi-racial superhero. I’m just hoping that the ethnicity of characters like Miles and Virgil will be portrayed in a way that can give me and my kids (who are bi-racial, by the way) someone to root for.
What do you guys think? What will make Miles Morales a great bi-racial superhero?
Posted By dbennett ~ 26th July 2011
Day 2 was the day I actually began to make the rounds – panels, networking, swag-grabbing, etc.
I kicked everything off by hitting the DC Comics panel, The New 52. Because this has spawned so much attention, the guys over at DC had one of these planned each day of the Con to distribute as much information as possible. I felt they did a pretty good job of addressing some concerns long-time readers may have had. I went in with a friend, who was very skeptical of what they had in store and he walked away with a lot more confidence in the direction they were going.
I did my best to live-tweet the whole thing. I don’t have a smart phone, ipad, or laptop (at least not on me) so I’m not entirely sure it was successful, but I did what I could. It was my first time, but I think I did at least a half decent job of disseminating information.
In general, the panel was about discussing how the idea had spawned. Essentially, during a war room meeting, DiDio, Lee, and company were trying to figure out ways to make the stories fresh. I think it’s a common perception that everything has already been done with the stories of our treasured superheroes, DC or otherwise, so it’s certainly a worthy notion to address. DiDio had talked about how the mythology of Superman had changed and the overall excitement for the characters wasn’t the same.
Of course sales also factored in and just making comics more accessible in general were the topics that were all on the table. The solution that Dan wanted was to do all number ones with the exception of Action and Detective Comics.
This was a key piece of information for me. A lot of people question why they were re-doing the entire line. Suffice to say that if they didn’t go all out, the perception would be that they are not taking this seriously and were not behind the idea 100 percent. To have any credibility they had to go all out.
Looking at the artwork and hearing what they had to say was certainly reassuring. Subtle things like re-imagining the costumes to convey more of a team concept or the change in the way powers would visually manifest themselves were all welcome ideas to me.
And they aren’t trying to rehash origin stories or do year ones. They are taking the basic core mythology of the character and presenting them as if they had never been shown to an audience before. I admire that.
After that, I ended up at Mattel’s MattyPalooza panel. They showed off their plans for DCU, MOTU, Voltron, and Ghostbusters. I was particularly excited about the MOTU stuff as you probably have guessed. Coming next year are some pretty sweet new characters and there is even a contest for the fans to come up with one of their own to be released at the end of 2012. I’m really looking forward to the Sorceress, ThunderPunch He-Man, and BattleGround Evil Lynn.
We walked away from the panel with a mini-comic that will be a package insert, just like the old days. I love that idea. I didn’t really feel the story represented the MOTU world, but hey, nostalgia always wins.
My big plan that Friday was to check out the ThunderCats screening. The line was outrageously long, so I missed out. But I was able to better gauge how long before I needed to get in line for the viewing of Avatar: The Legend of Korrah, which was necessary for Day 2.
All was not lost though. I got to the Nintendo booth/play area and got my first hands on with Skyward Sword. The game is pretty sweet. You got to choose between a few different demo types: A boss battle, a dungeon playthrough, and a flight challenge. All were pretty darn good. The motion control didn’t impress me, but the game plays well nonetheless and feels true to the Zelda spirit. It’s a top quality franchise and it delivers.
After that, I met up with a few friends and had dinner. Topics were all over the place from the future of manga, to digital delivery, to the DC relaunch, and even a long discussion on the CM Punk episode that occurred at the WWE panel. That’s how we roll at the Con. Anything sub-culture related – we got it covered.
Ended it by hitting the Hyatt, where we bumped into a few friends and a few famous faces (at least to a comic book nerd such a myself). I actually was within arms-length of Richard Starkings, one of the many letterers whom I admire. I chickened out and never spoke to him. I like to blame it on the fact that he was already engaged in conversation.
Before heading back to the hotel, my night was brightened by a bit of good news. My buddy and editor, Paul Morrissey had an Eisner Award in hand for his work on Mouse Guard. Though I’ve congratulated him many times, let me just say it again, “Congrats, Paul! You deserve it.”
Posted By dbennett ~ 25th July 2011
Comic Con is always such a blur that I never really remember everything that happened. I’m hoping that putting it all down in writing will give me time to collect my thoughts and keep track of everything I did and saw for future reference. As a side bonus, maybe it’ll give you guys (if you missed out) some insight as to what went down in general and provide some topics of discussion. On the other hand, it may just all be BS of no interest to you, who knows.
Day 1
My first day at the convention center was marred a little bit due to the fact that I started the day off searching for a phone charger. So I missed out on quite a few panels that I was looking forward to and was forced to use most of my time to kind of lay out a new plan and get a scope of what I wanted to do. Ended up mostly talking to friends and associates, making plans for later in the evening.
One of the panels I was particularly looking forward to was the Digital Comics panel. There’s been a lot of conversation about the death of print, the reluctance of fans to accept the digital format, and other such craziness. A friend of mine made the analogy that print was the horse-drawn carriage of comics and digital is the car. Sure, you can still enjoy the antiquated carriage, but the car is the better vehicle.
I see room for both. And I’m for whatever gets comics into reader’s hands, so I wanted to sit in on the conversation and see how everyone else was reacting. If you were in attendance, please comment and let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear what went down.
I did stop by a couple of booths and meet some of the creators whom I worked with on a number of titles, but never actually met. Introduced myself to Warren Spector, Tad Stones, Eric Seaton, the teams at Archaia, Ape, BOOM!, and loads more.
Also did a little bit of shopping at the Mattel booth and The AFX booth. I’m old school, so I gots me a Mumm-Ra and Voltron. The Mumm-Ra came with an exclusive Ma-Mutt, so that was pretty cool. Should look good on my shelf.
I got in line to see the Voltron Resurgence panel, but it was waaaaaay too long with the overcrowd from the Batman Preview. So sadly, I missed that as well.
Ended up hanging with some good friends at the Gaslamp that evening. It was my buddy’s birthday, so we went out in celebration. It was a fun night altogether. No real Con news or events for me, but I did get to enjoy the day and get my bearings on day 1.
