Self-Promo: "Sake of the Children"

TIna Young does Africa and activism! Going up online now.

Divalicious Script Complete, Final Pencils Coming In

Not 24 hours after completing the la-a-a-a-ast script revision for Divalicious 2, I caught this piece about Britney Spears' continued, depressing decline.

It was sad and strangely appropriate. When I began Divalicious in 2004, I could laugh at Britney Spears without guilt. It's one thing when a hyperfit woman-girl marries someone for 55 hours and expresses shallow political views. It's another when a less fit mother of two stumbles blindly through a carnival of humiliation and then goes off to do shots in Vegas.

Divalicious has always been a series about Britney's type, not Britney or Lindsay Lohan or Anna Nicole Smith or any other star specifically. And I think that type of person does have emotional weaknesses that can lead her to ruin. But I also think she can be saved, or even save herself.

The series is a bouncy satire first and foremost. But its more serious scenes stem from our concern for the Britney type, and for the girls who are using that type as a role model. Scheduled for release in February 2008... I hope it'll make people laugh and make 'em gasp, and I hope it'll do some good.

Divalicious: "Pop Star"

"Hello, Screen Actor's Guild? I need a new best friend! I'm offering six figures!"

Gisele, Amy and I are airing the first three Divalicious stories ever published on our site. First up is the Rising Stars of Manga piece that got Amy and me started-- it was even wilder than what the series turned into. Click here to begin!

Status Update

"Cadence" is done, despite a six-hour power outage yesterday.

Working now on some Penny and Aggie stuff that I hope to be able to announce here by tomorrow.

Status Report

Fully dialogued all of the Cool Cat Studio finale, which finally has a real title: "The Best-Laid Plans." Working this morning on Divalicious 2.8, "Cadence."

Psssst! Amyyyyy!

Hey, Amy Mebberson!

There's a couple of posts from Dilbert creator Scott Adams that may be of some interest to you, considering where you want to take Thorn...

Thorn!

My friend and collaborator Amy Mebberson has a new strip you should read.

Productive!

Done today:

Five sets of breakdowns for Penny and Aggie. More coming tomorrow, Gisele!

Outline of Divalicious, last two chapters.

Two solicited proposals for short Tokyopop pieces.

Relatively quick session on "Sketch." Unfortunately my best line of today would give the whole project away.

And fixed the Fans RSS feed (with Zach Lewis' help).

I wish every day left me with this much to brag about.

Nice To Be Reminded...

...that Divalicious' critical reception has been largely positive.

What Made My Friday The 13th Complete

The news I got on Friday the 13th was this:

Barring a last-minute rally like the one that saved Jericho, Divalicious Volume 2 will be the last volume.

Amy Mebberson and I were in bad moods after hearing that.

But there are compensations. We will get the chance to revise, retool and expand Volume 2, adding forty-two pages, so that it represents a proper conclusion. And I've found a wonderful collaborator in Amy, one with whom I think I'll be working again.

I've been here before. We'll survive.

Divalicious Promo Art

Book Two is a little more serious than Book One.

EIGHTIES BUFFS: CAN YOU GUESS WHICH MUSIC VIDEO WE'RE REFERENCING?

A Thing Of Beauty

Foobetter 'r Foowurse!

Disgruntled newspaper comics fans, this one's for you.



Obligatory footnote: Amy Mebberson and I have also worked together on Divalicious, as well as the Penny and Aggie story "Weights." You can see more of her early work at this site, and most of my stuff at this list o' links.

Obligatory disclaimer: We have no real insider knowledge about the dynamics of the Johnston household. The above is speculation based on what we do know.

(And unrelated: regarding the Sopranos finale, Sore Thumbs speaks for me.)

Divalicious: B-Day!

No, it's not my birthday... it's BORDERS Day! If you take a look at the Borders search results, you'll see a familiar date next to our book's listing.

A second printing is already afoot, but Borders is now the only place you can pick up a first printing of the first book BECAUSE THEY ORDERED OUR ENTIRE INITIAL PRINT RUN, WHICH I THINK MAY BE A GOOD SIGN.

In other news, I finished the last of the script for Volume 2 last week. Amy's already done the cover for it and penciled the first chapter, because she is a machine.

Thanks to all the readers whose interest has allowed us to get this far. It's a great feeling to be here.

NYCC Con Report, 2006: Just TOO Popular.

Got to the con in the absolute nick of time to cover the much-discussed "Web Comics Panel without webcartoonists." Writeup to follow shortly!

Divalicious' initial orders were a little too good. Borders snapped up the entire initial 4,000-copy print run, leaving me and Amy without any copies of the book to promote. But Amy soared to the rescue. You've already peeked at our convention exclusive minicomic, but I didn't know she was planning to put them in a signed goodie bag along with customized buttons and magnets.

Then again, I shouldn't have been surprised. Amy brings a Tina-like energy to the whole creative process. Taking in the Oscars with her and talking plot points over chicken and pork were loads of fun. The whole Tokyopop crew was good to spend the day with.

I alternated between the T-Pop booth, hustling for work elsewhere, and sitting in "Podcaster's Alley" (like a suburb of "Artist's Alley," but with people who podcast). All three were nice experiences, especially since I got to share space with the Digital Strips boys. But there was a complication to the Podcaster's Alley experience... which deserves its own post. Tomorrow.

Enough vagueries! Beginning promised writeup now!

Divalicious: "Hangin' Chaddy"

Let's start your Monday off right. T-Pop's put the SECOND chapter of Divalicious online for yaz. Look below for a taste, then click the images for more...

Divalicious: "Sake of the Children"

You know what makes my day better? Free comics make my day better. And right now, Tokyopop's website is showing the first story in Divalicious Volume 1, "Sake of the Children," absotively FREE. (Yes, you do have to sign up to get it all-- but I've been signed up with Tokyopop for a year and they haven't spammed me yet.)

What the hey, I'll get you started. Click the images to get to Tokyopop's Divalicious page, then click the link under "Read" to get the rest of it. And once you're done and still hungry for more, well, why not buy the book while you're there?

Divalicious: Into the Groove...

Work on Divalicious continues at a reasonable pace, all things considered. Wish I could tell you anything about the chapter I just finished without spoiling Volume 1.

Oh, what the hell! SPOILER WARNING: It was the FOURTH chapter.

Got my advance copy of Volume 1 yesterday, and OH IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL. How did I manage to trick Amy Mebberson into working with me, again?

Tomorrow: more freeviews.

Divalicious: An Auspicious Meeting

This is the other reason Amy and I were busy last week-- we had an important meeting to take.



Tina's ideas were... interesting, but Shaquille soon assured us that she had neither the time nor the inclination to be a truly "hands-on" editor. So that's a load off our minds as we scramble to get Divalicious: The New York Comic-Con Special ready for the show.

Yeah, just read that last sentence again. I kind of snuck it in there.

Divalicious Progress: Thumbnails

Thumbnails from Amy, based on the "Grrl's Got The Goods" sequence from volume 2:



More to come...

Divalicious: Funny...

I didn't really expect to find myself writing these characters again.

Divalicious: Resources

Do you remember this old thing?

The International Lyrics Server was the first site to show me the potential of the Internet. It's long gone now, early prey to the same kind of legal predators who later cut out the soul of Napster. Ten years later, writers still face obstacles to quoting song lyrics directly in their fiction-- even their fan fiction! Aggie's outrage over this situation mirrors my own, and I still grind my teeth over this compromise (at least it's in character: we established Katy-Ann as the sort who might make up her own lyrics. But still... argh).

But... today, you can find lyrics for almost any song with a simple Google search... from many, many sites that seem able to post the lyrics without fear.

All of which helps a lot in the making of Divalicious 2, which is taking inspiration not only from the "pop tart" stylings of Britney and Lindsay but the sultry beats of Shakira and the brutal poetry of the Wu-Tang Clan (and just a little Beatles and Monkees). Also helpful is the Spanish lyrics translation forum, which finally allowed me to get my head around the themes of Latin music.

It's an exciting time to be writing, with all this information at your fingertips. Even if you have to be a little careful how you use it.

Divalicious Progress: "Grrl's Got The Goods" Lyrics

Usually the songs are the hardest part of scripting Divalicious, but not this time.

She’s got poise
She’s got toys
She’s got all life’s pretty joys
She’s got fun
She’s got unh!
She’s got mon-ay

She’s got style
She’s got guile
Got a trillion-dollar smile
Damn, she’s taut
Got a hawt
Little hon-ay

She’s got fame
She’s got game
She’s got all the world’s acclaim
And you know
She’s a pro

How you know?
Yo yo yo

GRRL’S GOT THE GOODS
And everything you desi-errr
GRRL’S GOT THE GOODS
You know she’s dancin’ on fi-errr
Owns the charts
Owns your hearts
She’s a mistress of pop aaaaaaaaarts...
...
GRRL’S GOT THE GOODS.

If it's mindless, I've done my job...

Bits and Pieces

Couldn't get this out of my head today: a preview for Narbonic, the motion picture, set completely to Oingo Boingo's "Weird Science." (Lyrics -- Video) Lots of shots of Helen Narbon's handiwork, and the main characters in various mad-sciencey adventures. Very jumpcutty, very fast. Ends with Helen's maniacal laughter, then living letters assembling themselves into the word "Narbon." The last "n" gives birth to an "i" and a "c," which grow to full size, and the dot over the "I" begins to glow pink, then explodes into a shower of hearts.

Biggest accomplishment today: beefed up the P&A forums. I restored the "view newest post" feature and enabled IP blocking. Just in time, too, because we're currently under a serious spampost attack. I've blocked four IPs already and it may get worse before it gets better.

Gisele and I have been looking into a variety of auto-update programs; I've been testing some. Your suggestions are always appreciated.

The new Penny and Aggie book has hit the proofing stage.

Beyond that, today was pretty much just odds and ends and dull financial stuff. Still not getting done: any serious scripting for Divalicious 2. Let's see how tomorrow goes.

Divalicious -- Last News of the Day

The Divalicious news is flying in thick and fast today. I've just learned that Amy will ALSO be at New York Comic Con, meaning that Tina's "parents" will actually be in the same room for the first time ever.

And you can pre-order the book on Amazon! Even though its Amazon page currently has no description and mis-parses both my name AND Amy's. Yeah, I'll ask the Tokyopop folks if theys can fix dat.

Divalicious on MySpace

All the credit for this awesome thing belongs to Amy Mebberson. It's just so... MySpace!

NYCC.

I'll be attending the New York Comic Con this year, where I'll have a table to represent Meanwhile and sign some early copies of Divalicious at the Tokyopop booth. And I'm sure there'll be a few other things to do. Hope to see you there.

Divalicious Interview

Newsarama has an interview with me and Amy Mebberson about Divalicious. I talk way too much in answer to simple questions, but go there for the rare look at Amy and the five-page preview.