Interview: Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare

I'll Pour Coffee

"Authenticity. We like the inside story, the secrets. We constantly feel the best, coolest stuff is being withheld from us. In other words: there is never enough information" (72).

-- Dana Spiotta, Eat the Document

I am fascinated by Kickstarter.com. More to the point, I am fascinated to watch as Kickstarter and othercrowd-source funding websites will inevitably gain and lose momentum in the popular culture in years to come. I have backed three projects on Kickstarter and one at Indiegogo. That and a nickel won't buy me (or you) a cup of coffee as the saying goes -- does anyone say that anymore? Just me? Oh, O.K.

During one of my recent b.s.sessions at the LCS, I asked the manager if he thought writers and artists funding projects using Kickstarter would take business away from comic book shops. ''I'll pour coffee,'' he said. When I raised my hand and asked for clarification, he explained that the more money that goes directly to creators, the better. Even better than that is the increased pressure that direct-sales-to-artists puts on Diamond. I'll pour coffee ... And, we have our t-shirt slogan.

The fact that the money goes directly to the creators (even though Amazon, in the case ofKickstarter, serves as a middle-man and therefore gets to dip their beak) is one of the things that appeals to me about Kickstarter. I also feel like I'm getting some sort of 'insiders deal' like knowing about (and loving) a band before anyone else or reading books deemed unreadable. Exclusivity, when it doesn't entirely exclude, can be fun.  That's the thing about crowd-source funding,it's democratizing. It's empowering. It gives a voice and a creative outlet for ideas that aren't ready for primetime … not yet, anyway.

When I toldComics Bulletin publisher, Jason Sacks, that I had backed Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare's HalloweenEve, he said we should interview them about the project for Comics Bulletin. He even took the initiative to email Reeder and Montclare on my behalf. Reeder and Montclare were game and very generous with their time answering my questions. So, thank you Amy. Thank you Brandon. And thank you Jason.

As you read the review, one word comes up again and again, 'process.' That is the ultimate 'insider's deal.' It's authentic. Process is not inspiration or an origin, no, it's the story that develops around an idea, the effort that goes into shaping the idea. It's the work. Maybe that's why I'm fascinated by Kickstarer. It represents the work and the process at the same time. Enjoy! I'll pour coffee.

Interview with Reeder and Montclare on Comics Bulletin

Halloween Eve on Kickstarter (project ends on Friday, July 27)

Review: Batwoman #6

  From the start, J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman’s Batwoman has been about fracturing narrative.  Writ large, Batwoman is the singularity in the sometimes claustrophobic and bossy Bat-family.  From issue to issue, this story often (but not consistently) reminds the reader that Kate Kane is ‘many things: estranged daughter, grieving sister, proud lesbian, brave soldier, determined hero … She is Batwoman.’  Kate Kane is prismatic.  Prisms refract light, splitting it up into its constituent colors, the colors of the rainbow.  J.H.W. III’s page layouts are renowned for their fluidity and for how they break up traditional comic book panel design.  J.H.W. III goes so far as to change the style of his art to depict Kate as different from Batwoman to separate each character – while at the same time astutely playing with the superhero trope of maintaining a secret identity.  Now, with issue #6, the narrative is being fractured further into six (coincidence?) individual stories as regards: Jacob, Maggie, Maro, Chase, Batwoman, and Kate.  Creating multiple narratives is ambitious – especially in a monthly serial – but it is consistent with the tone of the tale being told. 

     Batwoman #6 marks a change in both artist and colorist.  Replacing Eisner winners like J.H. Williams III and Dave Stewart is unenviable; to say the least, and to do so requires intestinal fortitude, chutzpah and confidence -- all of which shows in the work of artist Amy Reeder and colorist Richard Friend.  No, it’s not the same as the previous five issues, so what?  I don’t think Reeder and Friend lost a bet, nor are they the JV squad brought in to rest the varsity.  They’re the real deal.  Reeder’s work does show a confident hand, however, she may have been a bit too ambitious in the final page of Chase’s story.  Reeder draws Batwoman vaulting across the page to take out some toughs.  It’s a difficult image to pull off and I can’t imagine how one would go about drawing a body in motion like that in the first place, but I give Reeder credit for her attempt, which proves her fearlessness as an artist.  

     As much as issue #6 is a new story arc with a new art team, it opens with an in-your-face recall of the most dramatic moment in this series so far, the near-killing of Bette Kane.  I’m sure J.H.W. III and Blackman had fun ‘hooking’ readers into this new arc with such a fantastic visual pun.  This opening is a great example of how – what’s quickly become the book’s stock-in-trade – the two-page spread, is used to serve the story.  Over two pages, Batwoman is attacked, she’s bloody, she’s beaten and she’s about to be gutted and then the page is turned and there’s Bette Kane still in the hospital, still comatose, a living reminder that actions have consequences.  This is not Bette’s story, however, it’s Jacob’s.  I really like the doubling in this scene as it goes from subtle – Jacob says he hopes Bette’s a fighter like her cousin Kate – to direct, Jacob reads Bette Ian Fleming’s ‘You Only Live Twice.’  Point taken.

     Giving each character their own story is a very conventional technique, which when done well can be very effective, its success depends on the resolution.  If I have one ‘nit to pick’ with this structure, however, it’s why the writers (editors?) chose to attach specific times to each character’s story; the scene with Batwoman occurs ‘now,’ whereas Jacob’s story happened ‘one month ago.’  It’s a further fracturing of the story, yes, and, yes, it does establish a timeline, but it also (to use an English phrase) ‘over-sugars the tea.’

     This push-and-pull style does provide a marvelous bookend to the issue when the reader gets to see how working for the D.E.O has its perks, actions have consequences.  ‘I’m a damn Superwoman,’ says Batwoman as she strikes a heroic pose.  Indeed, she is.  Batwoman is ‘many things to many people,’ above all; she is, perhaps, the most complex and compelling superhero of our modern, fractured times.