The Fabler

I thought I would pop on here and peek my face briefly. Some of you loyal fans to our new burgeoning site are probably so enthralled with our talented journalist Kevin DV that you had forgotten I was around. Fret not, as I’ve been hard at work in the background ironing out kinks, and working on strategies to help bring more & better to you through not only the blog but also improve thefabler.com as a whole. In fact I’m doing such a good job that I am a bit ahead of schedule and have some time to share these with you. Oh, and before I go on, I’ll note that I’ve even left my desk to work remotely out east in Toronto, sitting now in Montreal, and will very soon make my way to New York. So yes. To answer your question, I will be coming back to actually help some of these additions and improvements come to fruition. However I won’t quite divulge our launch dates, as I don’t want to give away the cow, just his left rib for now. BBQ anyone?

I find it interesting, as I’m diving deeper and deeper into the business; I would like to clarify two very major points. I will say that my friends, Riley Rossmo, of Proof, Jim Zubkavich, of Udon Entertainment, and Salgood Sam, of the Sequential blog (and various other cool works), helped me realize this during my adventures in Calgary, to the east in Toronto, and quite recently in the last few hours as I wake up in Montreal, coffee not quite yet in hand, before I write this.

The first note I want to point out is that in all of this is the point of thefabler.com. We are trying to create a place to both enable and maintain Creator Owned Comics. There seems to be muddy lines in “indie” comics, where print on demand, print quality, poor cartoonist artwork, expressionistic visual storytelling, etc, seem to leave a bad taste in some peoples mouths, and for that matter make it relatively difficult to define. In fact these mediums and outlets aren’t low quality at all. I recently purchased a book in a Montreal store (Planete BD), called, “Drowtales: Moonless Age,” by a team of very skilled fabler’s who come collectively all around the globe. Salgood Sam also did a very good job and pointing my nose to some mainstream comic artists and writers, including himself, that create very awesome black comic self published books such as the very rare, “Revolver.” The guys at Transmission-X have created an opportunity where they can tell their own stories in the midst of their more sanctioned works. These in fact help push the boundaries of visual storytelling and can become opportunities for trade paperbacks you may see in the future. Will most of these see the light of the high volume offset press then to the big screen? Maybe not in the very near future, but they do help fuel the passion for this unique industry by everyone from the upper escalon to the outskirts.

Despite all the flash, dazzle, alternative press, distribution opportunities, blah blah, we may throw your way, our goal is to adhere to your best interests always. I’ll make a point that we’ll do our very best to support and you as creators, small press, fans, and retailers in your path to success. I assure you also that we will probably get it wrong. I say this because it’s important that you, our community knows, that you have a voice and we do, and will continue to listen, to your ideas, suggestions, or even concerns. That’s not to say we can implement the farm, but we will do our very best to remain conscientious of that which we do put in place.

Secondly, there is no secret war between what would be “indie” and mainstream. I want to thank Diamond, Marvel, Red 5, Arcana, and the guy down the street from my house. If you take a hard look at the playing field, you’ll realize that one evidently could not exist without the other. Creator Owned Comics, allow new talent opportunities in the books from mainstream that you may very well read religiously. I’d have to say that one of my favorites so far is “Proof,” by Alex Grecian, and Riley Rossmo. The dedication and passion of these two rising stars is astounding. Marvel closing their open submission policy wasn’t a slap in the face to upcoming talent, but a way of saving costs through economic turmoil, to an industry mechanic that wasn’t functioning as intended. They are right when they say not everyone can be at the top. Otherwise we’d all be there. But don’t give up hope. A friend said to me recently, discover and know what your good at, but let passion drive and define you (okay I interpreted and paraphrased a little. Thanks Jim). To make it to the top takes a complex combination many elements including little luck. Understanding however in your journeys as a cartoonist, a comic artist, a writer, a retailer, an events creator, etc, regardless of your current professional stature, though we can’t all be Scott McCloud’s, Todd McFarlane’s, or Neil Gaimen’s, there is a place for you somewhere in this industry.

As The fabler, we may open a few doors from time to time. Thanks to all you loyal fans that frequent our pages, and for you new guys out there, expect to see some interesting things as even we The Fabler, find our place in this sea of opportunity.