mkllpz reblogged
Anonymous asked:
Do you ever get frustrated when you are looking for an artist to work with? How do you deal with not being able to work with someone? How many stories have been shelved due to this?
I don’t get frustrated looking for an artist to work with, if you mean it in the sense of it being difficult to find someone to collaborate with. And if by “not being able to work with someone” you mean asking an artist if they’d be interested in collaborating and them saying no, that’s just part of any artistic collaboration, and there’s no point in getting frustrated about it. (I wish I could apply that rational approach to life in general.) Also, every artist I’ve reached out to who has replied back has been incredibly nice and polite whether they say no or yes.
But if by “not being able to work with someone” you mean the collaboration process not working, leading to a project being shelved, that happened sometimes when I’d just started writing comics, and it was frustrating. I can think of maybe four or five times that happened (no big projects, though), but I think it happened partly because of inexperience on my part and the context of those early projects often being unclear. “Who are you?” “What is the timeline?” “Is there any payment involved?” “How will it be published?” If you can answer those questions and present your project in a concise way, collaborations tend to work without much friction.
I almost exclusively work with publishers now, so those questions are not really an issue anymore, but completely new questions arise instead!
mkllpz reblogged
⭐️ And we are LIVE! ⭐️
The Cult of Dreams: A Fantasy Journal is live on Kickstarter! I'll be assisting Oscar as editor on the book, which is as amazing as it looks!
I'll be tabling at Games & Geek Market in Stockholm this Sunday 7 April 11:00-16:00 – first convention of the year!
DECEMBER 2023 (Part 2)
Conventions
I've tabled with Peow at conventions a few times over the years, but this year was the first time I tabled alone, at the Stockholm International Comics Festival. I brought copies of my own books, Berzerkid and A Cold Place Between the Shores, along with a handful of Peow books. It went so well that I decided to table at conventions in Malmö and Gothenburg as well, ending my convention tour back in Stockholm at Heroes Comic Con at the end of the year. I met lots of nice people like @gudgurkan, so maybe next year I'll even try tabling at a convention outside of Sweden!
Autopsy
I was introduced to UK small press Koguchi last year, and this year I contributed to their genre anthology Koguchi; the first two issues of the anthology, Arcana Dawn (science fantasy) and Neo-Future (cyberpunk), were crowdfunded this spring.
Koguchi: Neo-Future, which will be published early next year, includes the story "Autopsy" by me and @mykellpledgerart, in which a mechanic is sent to a walled city to retrieve a machine component but discovers that her mission is somehow connected to the secret history of human clones.
▼ The cover of Koguchi: Neo-Future by @crom-ink▼
▼ Concept art for "Autopsy" by Mykell Pledger▼
▼ A panel from "Autopsy" by Mykell Pledger▼
The Hermes
I started writing my second book, The Hermes, which will be illustrated by Tim Fischer (who I previously collaborated with on "Lápida") and published by Kinaye (in French, as L'Hérmès); English-language publisher to be determined.
The Hermes is set in 1930, when Abelard Berg, captain of the barge Hermes, comes to the city of Les Îles Nobles to smuggle out some goods; Berg meets two children, Luna and Marvin, who are swept into his venture. Can they escape the city without being caught?
Very excited to be writing the book and working with Tim again!
▼ Color tests for The Hermes by Tim Fischer ▼
One Last Thing
I also wrote a script for an anthology set in the world of an unannounced animated series, but there's no publication date set for the anthology yet.
DECEMBER 2023 (Part 1)
Last year I wrote a three-part year-in-review that was a fun way to summarize the year for others and also remind myself of everything I set in motion after returning to comics after a break. Here's 2023's look back at a year of writing comics:
Pulp Literature
Issue 37 of Pulp Literature included "A Cold Place Between the Shores" by me and @ohotnig, a sci-fi story in which the killing of a bear causes tension that may lead to war unless a lieutenant and a bear can negotiate peace. The story was published in black and white (as was "Forgive My Delay" which was published in issue 36), but the story appears in color in my collection A Cold Place Between the Shores (more on the collection below).
▼ A page from “A Cold Place Between the Shores” by Artyom Trakhanov▼
Last Chance to Find Duke
Shang Zhang’s Last Chance to Find Duke, which I edited, was published by @peowstudio at the end of 2022 and quickly sold out; it was reprinted this year but sold out again. It was selected as one of the Beat’s 30 Best Comics of 2022 and was also nominated for an Ignatz Award for ‘Outstanding Graphic Novel’. Hopefully it'll be reprinted again soon!
▼ Last Chance to Find Duke by Shang Zhang ▼
A Column of Ashes
Book of Fuligin, an anthology inspired by the work of Gene Wolfe, which includes the sci-fi/horror story "A Column of Ashes" by me and H. Berlin, was successfully crowdfunded and will, after a few delays, hopefully be published early next year (as is the case with the similarly delayed After the End, which includes the story "Lápida" by me and Tim Fischer).
● "Lápida"
▼ A panel from "A Column of Ashes" by H. Berlin▼
A Cold Place Between the Shores
I reprinted A Cold Place Between the Shores, my self-published collection of three short stories: the titular story illustrated by @ohotnig; "The Tea House" illustrated by @lemlemur; "Dafina" illustrated by @davidaguado142. I redesigned the cover of the reprint and added a few pages of sketches and concept art for each story.
The collection is now distributed by Strangers in the US and is otherwise available directly from me.
● “Dafina”
▼ The cover of A Cold Place Between the Shores by David Aguado▼
▼ The back cover of A Cold Place Between the Shores by Artyom Trakhanov▼
I'll be tabling with Seriefrämjandet/The Swedish Comics Association at Comic Con Stockholm this weekend (at table F:00E) selling A Cold Place Between the Shores and Berzerkid (and more)!
mkllpz reblogged
I'll be at the comics convention "Seriefest i Väst" in Göteborg, Sweden - next week! (27th and 28th of October)
I'll be right next to @mkllpz
Can't get to Göteborg? Do not fret! I sell physical copies of my books on ko-fi as well https://ko-fi.com/oscarwestberg/shop
I'll be tabling at Seriefest i Väst in Gothenburg next weekend with lots of books, both my own (Berzerkid & A Cold Place Between the Shores) and a handful of @peowstudio books (and @gudgurkan will be there as well)!
mkllpz reblogged
A very nice promo by Oscar for the Malmö Comics Festival this weekend where we'll share table 33 on Saturday (but I'll be there Sunday as well)! I'm bringing a big suitcase full of my books and Peow books, and Oscar will debut his new collection, Knights & Comics!
A Cold Place Between the Shores, a collection of three stories written by me and illustrated by @ohotnig, @lemlemur & @davidaguado142 is now available to buy at the Strangers shop!
mkllpz reblogged
Some preview shots of Autopsy. A comic illustrated by me & written by @mkllpz . Will be apart of the Neo-future issue of Koguchi Anthology Magazine.
For the cyberpunk issue of Koguchi Press’s Koguchi Magazine which will be published this fall.
Last Chance to Find Duke by Shang Zhang, edited by me and published by @peowstudio, has been nominated for an Ignatz Award for 'Outstanding Graphic Novel'! It was recently reprinted and is available again in the Peow shop
I'll be at the Malmö Comics Festival 2-3 September with my books A Cold Place Between the Shores, and Berzerkid, a bunch of @peowstudio books, plus special guest @gudgurkan (Saturday only) who will be bringing prints and books. Swedes, Danes, and everyone else – come and say hi!
mkllpz reblogged
This is the penultimate page of the story and is a great twist, beautifully executed. (Heavy Metal #302 2020 – Page 142 The Tea House by Lopez and Lem)
I'll be at table H65 at the Stockholm International Comics Festival this weekend (May 13-14) with a reprint of A Cold Place Between the Shores (a collection of stories written by me and illustrated by @ohotnig, @lemlemur, and @davidaguado142), available to buy soon at the Strangers shop! I'll also have copies of Berzerkid (my collaboration with @gaxix), two big boxes of @peowstudio books and riso prints, plus a few copies of @simon-roy's Griz Grobus and The Envoy and the Warrior, Simon's collaboration with @turndecassette2!
(Above, the cover of A Cold Place… by David Aguado, and the back cover by Artyom Trakhanov.)