Voices in the Wind

Recently I have been pursuing my passions as a new career. ‘So what?’ right. In this economy with so many people out of work, everybody is trying to write a book, start a band, take up a hobby for money, etc. It is true; one aspect of the down economy that has been thriving is hobby/craft, music and comic book stores. Just ask the owners, they will tell you. So no doubt I am one of many. When I began, I was alone in my efforts. Lost in the scrabble for some sense of justification and certainly my voice didn’t amount to much among the din of so many other voices. But, I reached out, asked another to join me, an old friend, although we had our differences in the past, with which we had always been creatively stronger together than apart. Together we both reached out, found another, then another and we were rolling. Our collective voices became louder and the wind suddenly didn’t seem so fierce. We labored and worked and produced. While not necessarily professional quality, it was good and it was always getting better. We were (and are) building toward working for and with our collective life-long passions. Yesterday, although I don’t think we consciously realized it at the time, was our first big test (if not for the others, certainly for me). Not necessarily creatively but certainly emotionally. We, as a group, were exhibitors at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, showing off our stuff, meeting people and generally trying to generate interest in what we have produced and what our philosophy is. What I have to say about the experiences there are, of course, mine alone. My friends and partners, no doubt, had their own perspectives. Early in the day, after meeting many of the other exhibitors and finding out what everyone is about as they in turn learned what we are about, I couldn’t help but think, “Crap, here we are again, yelling into a storm so loud it threatens to swallow us. So many others are trying to do what we are doing, how will we ever stand out?” While I was thinking about that many of the others asked us a very direct and interesting question, “You guys are a group of writers, artists and colorists all working together for free? How the hell did you do that?” I began to realize that we were doing something different. The day continued on and I met a professional artist duo. This gentlemen and gentle-lady are so prolific yet relatively unknown (to the public, anyway) that if I were to ask you if you had read (or even have seen the cover) a random comic in the last ten years or even any comic-style children’s book in the last three years than you have likely seen his work. I own their book and read it (and am currently working through their program) and they, in the introduction, outlined their personal and professional philosophy. Admittedly, while talking to him, I wanted to test this. See if, in person, he and his wife were the type of people they claimed to be in the book. The answer is yes! Very much so! In fact, they both made it a point to converse with me. Even more interestingly, he asked about what we are doing, what we had done so far, how we operated, our overall philosophy, etc. There are no secrets here, I wasn’t divulging anything new or unique, I was simply explaining that we are like-minded artists working together collaboratively with the intention of always improving and getting better which will lead us to working professionally in the industry. He said something then that really surprised me. He said, “Wow, you guys get it. You will be fine.” Now, I am not so naïve to think all will be rosy because a professional said I am good to go. I realize my own path (and that of our group) in this field is still long and a great deal of hard work is in front of me (us). Some luck and timing is still (and always) involved, as is the desire and planning to create that timing and luck. But I will definitely take that endorsement and run with it. As the day went on and we met other professionals, the news just got better. One anecdote I must share is my artist friend took his portfolio with what we are working on together, to another prolific/professional pencil artist (had worked with the likes of Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and many others). This guy complemented my friend’s storytelling and characterizations and then went on to give an honest critique on other aspects of his art. He was honest but always encouraging and this artist seemed to genuinely like my friend and his art. Later we talked to yet another professional who is our friend, now owns a comic shop and has never been one to shy away from sharing his opinion. We told him about my artist friend’s portfolio review from said artist and our friend says, “That guy? Wow, are you okay, that guy is a ball buster. He is known for ripping people up constantly.” Our friend said this in all sincerity. Needless to say, I do believe my artist friend is likely still floating up in the clouds. Without continuing on about every anecdote and experience, we did receive other (as a group and individual) positive comments. When the day was winding down I really felt that our voice was loud and clear within the wind. Sure, we know we have a long road ahead and a lot of hard work but yesterday our efforts and desires were reaffirmed and encouraged by some of the very people we aspire to emulate. At the end, I split my meager profits among my partners, they argued, saying I should keep it (I am really talking about, all told $25 bucks or so split three ways, pocket change in today’s world) I insisted because we always agreed the profit of what we had done would always be split a certain way depending on who worked on what. Essentially I wanted my friends to know, even with chump-change, that it will never be about the money between us and that if we didn't start right away, with the correct intent and action regarding even this smell-time cash, then what are we working together for? I hope they got the message. If this isn’t a successful day in working toward your dreams than I don’t know what is.