BLACK FRIDAY
November 27th, 2009
Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving, also known as “Black Friday.” I really like the sound of that. Kinda rolls off the tongue, don’t it?
Anyway, here at the WORLDOFHURTONLINE headquarters, we’re still bloated on turkey, dressing, sweet potato pie and tripping off tryptophans, so I’m admittedly phoning it in today via the time-honored tradition of link-blogging!
- This week, on his Omnium Gatherum column at ComicsWaitingRoom.com, Vince Moore wrote a really nice review of WORLD OF HURT, and I encourage you to give it a read. My favorite line is his reference to Pastor as “…larger than life and down-home all at the same time.” That’s a fantastic summary of the character that really encapsulates what I want Pastor to be, and I’m glad that comes across. Thanks, Vince, especially for giving me billing over Twilight in your column
and for including me with author Steven Barnes. I am a huge fan of his work, particularly the novels Lion’s Blood and The Kundalini Equation.
- WORLD OF HURT also received a shout-out on Chris Sims and Eugene Ahn’s podcast juggernaut, WAR ROCKET AJAX, this week. Before I started this webcomic, I was originally going to work with Chris and the equally talented Chad Bowers on a book called The Hard Ones. The fault lies entirely with me that that particular team-up didn’t work out, but Chad and Chris were always extremely supportive and understanding. Besides, they found a fantastic (and fast) artist in Rusty Shackles to bring The Hard Ones to life. With that triumvirate of talent and madcap ideas, I’d put good money on you seeing the book in stores very soon.
- Finally, speaking of podcasts, this week, I was the special guest of Dwight and Swain on their incredible podcast SiDEBAR – Four Color Conversations On Comics, Art & Pop Culture. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting them both last year at HeroesCon. When I checked out their site, I was floored by the level of talent they had on the show and the easy rapport they were able to establish with them. I love listening to their podcasts while I’m inking. Therefore, I was honored that they would chose to have me on the show. I had a great time talking with them. Although my episode hasn’t been posted yet, I would encourage you to listen to the great interviews Dwight and Swain have in their archives, because they’re chock full of audio gold, and, to quote Bill Cosby in Fat Albert, “If you’re not careful, you might learn a thing or two.”
As always, thanks for dropping by. I look forward to seeing you again next week. Have a great, and safe, weekend!
- JEP
Jay, you are more than welcome. You are deserving of any praise I lavished upon you and your strip. It’s definitely something I need to see since there just aren’t enough strong black heroes out there. Especially ones who aren’t born of stereotypical hip hop ghetto backgrounds and influences. Nice to see other brothers reading Steven Barnes’ work. If you liked The Kundalini Equation, check out Blood Brothers and Iron Shadows. Both books are considered by Barnes to be spiritual sequels to Kundalini. Take care.
Mr. Moore,
Again, thank you so much. I think the lack of leading Black comic characters means that those that do exist become more representational of the Black community as a whole, for good or for bad. I think creators of all stripes who write Black characters understand this, but the responsibility is particularly acute among Black artists, or at least it should be. As long as it is for the sake of the story and consistency of character, I don’t necessarily have to approve of everything I have Pastor do, but at the end of the day, I tried to take pains to create a character I could respect at the end of the day.
Also, I had no idea that there were follow-ups to The Kundalini Equation, so I’ll hae to track those down. Thanks for the heads up!
- JEP