Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on May 5, 2014 8:22:32 GMT -6
Three Michigan comics shops have put together a collective to help comics creators produce and publish their work. Collector’s Corner of Midland, Cashman’s Comics of Bay City, and Coy’s Comics of Saginaw have joined forces to create the Michigan Comics Collective, and their first work will be an anthology to be published in August.
www.ourmidland.com/accent/comics-collective-encourages-aspiring-comic-creators/article_efc738bb-669a-51be-ab19-737e3b6e0ab7.html
Three area comic book stores have recently created a new group designed to help aspiring writers, artists, publishers and other talented comic-minded people get together and produce their own original works. The Michigan Comics Collective, was created with input from staff at Midland’s Collector’s Corner, Bay City’s Cashman’s Comics and Saginaw-based Coy’s Comics.
The project, entitled the Michigan Comics Collective, is intended to be a meeting place for those hoping to put their ideas together with other artists to complete a finished project.
“This all started out when my friend Travis McIntire self-published his own comic,” said Andrew Iwamasa of Collector’s Corner. “He had a lot of growing pains and he wanted to help others going in that direction.”
John Cashman of Cashman’s Comics joined the collective because he saw it as a good way for Michigan comic creators to network and further their art.
“It is a really good way for all of the comic book stores to connect and work together to promote Michigan books and Michigan artists,” Cashman said.
To get the ball rolling, the collective is set to publish their first work, “The Michigan Comics Collective Anthology Volume I” in August. The anthology will be a collection of Michigan based works, with stories from science fiction, horror and other classic comic genres.
“There is some really good stuff in there,” Iwamasa said of the book. “We will have a story from Japanese folklore, a 1980s indie style comic book in black and white, along with some more traditional superhero pieces.” Iwamasa is lending his writing to one of the stories as well.
“This is a way for people that may not be able to draw but who can write or have good ideas contribute to a comic,” Cashman said.
And if the idea of a Michigan-based comic anthology wasn’t cool enough, the group plans to donate sale proceeds to ArtServe of Michigan (www.artservemichigan.org). The ArtServe website describes the organization as: “ArtServe Michigan is the statewide nonprofit organization leading advocacy for the arts, culture and arts education and the transformative power of the creative industries in Michigan. Our mission is to cultivate the creative potential of Michigan’s arts and cultural sector to enhance the health and well-being of Michigan, its people and communities.”
“We want this (collective) so people can come to the site and find people to help make their ideas come together,” Iwamasa said.
Cashman said the collective is another way for the close-knit local comic sellers to help each other and their medium, and ultimately, their customers.
“It is almost like the chamber of commerce of comics where we all throw ideas at each other,” Cashman said. “We are all friends (local comic store owners) and we want to see each other succeed.”
For those interested in seeing some of the new anthology before it is officially published, a special “ashcan” edition detailing some of the stories and the behind-the-scenes work will be available to the first 75 customers this Saturday, May 3 at the annual Free Comic Book Day at Collector’s Corner, 4011 N. Jefferson Ave.
The Collective will also host a special screening of “Legends of the Knight” a documentary about Batman’s impact, at 7:30 p.m. May 14 at Goodrich Saginaw 12.
For more information about the Michigan Comics Collective, www.michigancomicscollective.org
www.ourmidland.com/accent/comics-collective-encourages-aspiring-comic-creators/article_efc738bb-669a-51be-ab19-737e3b6e0ab7.html
Three area comic book stores have recently created a new group designed to help aspiring writers, artists, publishers and other talented comic-minded people get together and produce their own original works. The Michigan Comics Collective, was created with input from staff at Midland’s Collector’s Corner, Bay City’s Cashman’s Comics and Saginaw-based Coy’s Comics.
The project, entitled the Michigan Comics Collective, is intended to be a meeting place for those hoping to put their ideas together with other artists to complete a finished project.
“This all started out when my friend Travis McIntire self-published his own comic,” said Andrew Iwamasa of Collector’s Corner. “He had a lot of growing pains and he wanted to help others going in that direction.”
John Cashman of Cashman’s Comics joined the collective because he saw it as a good way for Michigan comic creators to network and further their art.
“It is a really good way for all of the comic book stores to connect and work together to promote Michigan books and Michigan artists,” Cashman said.
To get the ball rolling, the collective is set to publish their first work, “The Michigan Comics Collective Anthology Volume I” in August. The anthology will be a collection of Michigan based works, with stories from science fiction, horror and other classic comic genres.
“There is some really good stuff in there,” Iwamasa said of the book. “We will have a story from Japanese folklore, a 1980s indie style comic book in black and white, along with some more traditional superhero pieces.” Iwamasa is lending his writing to one of the stories as well.
“This is a way for people that may not be able to draw but who can write or have good ideas contribute to a comic,” Cashman said.
And if the idea of a Michigan-based comic anthology wasn’t cool enough, the group plans to donate sale proceeds to ArtServe of Michigan (www.artservemichigan.org). The ArtServe website describes the organization as: “ArtServe Michigan is the statewide nonprofit organization leading advocacy for the arts, culture and arts education and the transformative power of the creative industries in Michigan. Our mission is to cultivate the creative potential of Michigan’s arts and cultural sector to enhance the health and well-being of Michigan, its people and communities.”
“We want this (collective) so people can come to the site and find people to help make their ideas come together,” Iwamasa said.
Cashman said the collective is another way for the close-knit local comic sellers to help each other and their medium, and ultimately, their customers.
“It is almost like the chamber of commerce of comics where we all throw ideas at each other,” Cashman said. “We are all friends (local comic store owners) and we want to see each other succeed.”
For those interested in seeing some of the new anthology before it is officially published, a special “ashcan” edition detailing some of the stories and the behind-the-scenes work will be available to the first 75 customers this Saturday, May 3 at the annual Free Comic Book Day at Collector’s Corner, 4011 N. Jefferson Ave.
The Collective will also host a special screening of “Legends of the Knight” a documentary about Batman’s impact, at 7:30 p.m. May 14 at Goodrich Saginaw 12.
For more information about the Michigan Comics Collective, www.michigancomicscollective.org