Last week I had the honor of speaking at the 14,000-member New Life Church here in Colorado Springs (yes, *that* New Life Church), where I prayed for the media (well, for everybody except Lou Dobbs) while explaining my limited role in it. Which, of course, made me realize just how long I’ve been gone from this site and this blog. I could explain where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing, but, of course, then I’d have to kill you. Let it suffice to say I’ve been far busier than I can adequately explain, which doesn’t much make up for the fact I’ve been AWOL from many people in my life whom I dearly love. I don’t want to start naming names because I’m sure to leave somebody out, so I’ll just say I really do miss you all, and now that I’ve finally found a few days to clean up my house (both the one I sleep in and my virtual house here on the web), I’m going to take another stab at showing up around here more often and (gasp) actually answering my email.
Speaking of which, I kind of have upstairs email and downstairs email. All the comics-related and business stuff is downstairs email, and I haven’t booted up that PC in many, many months. So, again, I apologize to folks who’ve been trying to email me. All the more so since this weekend’s coma awakening found me switching the site to a shiny new hosting company. They are, like, 25% cheaper than my old company and provide, no kidding, like 10x the space and bandwidth. I’ve been using them for about a year over on the PraiseNet, so I’ve decided to move the less-praiseful Digital-Priest thing over as well.
Which means expect glitches and things moved as I’ve changed some directories and updated some other things. This week, I’m hoping, will be reasonably slow, which should allow me to get my lawn cut (my neighbors are forming a lynch mob) and to get into the Movable Type code, which I’m sure I screwed up. It seems to be working from my end, but enough of you have complained to inform me that something is probably wrong. I think my ultimate goal is to simply fork over the bucks and let them, Movable Type, get in and fix my installations and trouble-shoot my templates. Honestly, a programmer I am not.
The other unfortunate consequence of switching servers is I forgot to pull the mail off of the old one. I’m going to try and go in and grab it, but, to be safe, if you’ve emailed me in, gee, the last four to six months (man, that’s embarrassing) and got snubbed, I apologize. As I said, I have a bevy of good reasons (no, I wasn’t in jail. Yes, I was very sick for awhile, but me all better now). You can go ahead and re-send those messages, I’m doing both the upstairs and downstairs now and trying to streamline the whole email matter.
I’ve been watching a bunch of behind-the-scenes features on the Batman films (Begins and the Tim Burton double-dips) as well as the *yawn* Superman Returns film, and I am haunted by the image of Paul Levitz. Paul was my boss for a few years, and I came to know him quite well. Though he was not, of course, speaking to me, I nonetheless snapped to attention out of habit when he came up on the screen, and I felt kind of accused— “Jim, where’ve you been?”
I don’t know that I want to write comics anymore. I certainly don’t want to write comics to earn a living anymore. I would like to do some Christian comics, but the economics of scale tend to get in the way of most publishing scenarios: comics are expensive to produce, and kids don’t read. Heck, adults don’t read, either. It amazes me to go to these news websites like ABCNews.Com or CBSNews.Com and see how they’ve converted more than half their content to video. I guess, on some level, it’s cheaper to hire a programmer to convert their video to Flash than it is to hire a writer, but it just seems like we’re giving up, we’re not even trying to be literate anymore.
I’d never say never, I’ve had some conversations with editors over the past year, but, honestly, the business I stepped away from was turning into something I was a little frightened of. Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s Batman & Robin, for example, “I’m the goddamned Batman!” No thanks. 22 pages and you’re barely through the first scene—all splash pages and crappy dialogue. No thanks. I’m sure it’s a different business now, new people, new ideas, but I hardly know these new people and, at 46, am considered a relative dinosaur by now (some guy—a grown-up—comes up to me at New Life and tells me, “hey, I grew up reading your stuff!” His collection goes all the way back to Jim Owsley and Power/Fist. Acck).
I don’t know, I’m open to ideas, but I’m not standing outside of Marvel with my hat in my hand. I still love comics, but I think the orderly progression of most comics industry career paths arcs somewhere around Byrne X-Men and then skates down towards Byrne Metal Men. I’ve been lucky enough to traverse the flatlands, avoiding tremendous peaks and valleys, but I also remember freelancers standing outside my door when I was a Marvel editor—wonderful men who’d done wonderful work throughout their careers, but, for whom, the train had left the station. I’m not sure what I want to do next, but I do know I don’t want to be one of those guys, parked outside some 21 year-old’s door. Sometimes it’s all about knowing when to take that bow.
In any case, I won’t make a bunch of promises about blogging. I’ll try. I’m probably only abut half as angry as I used to be, and that anger usually fueled my tirades here. I’ll look around and try to find something to be ticked off about. There’s always the president, but I’m about punched out complaining about the guy. I just don’t know how we’re supposed to survive another two years of this man, and I now officially despise most everyone in Congress for being in Election Mode to the extend where they’d rather keep a clearly incompetent man in place (in a blatant attempt to position themselves for various campaigns) rather than protect and defend this country.
Oh, and if you’re a programmer and/or know anything about Movable Type, feel free to alert me to problems with this blog and (better) suggestions for fixes.
Hi everybody—tell me how you’ve been.
28 Comments
I wouldn't use All Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder (aka the title that takes to long to type out) as a measuring stick of the industry. Judging by the internet reactions, most people seem to loathe it, and only buying it in a "It's a slow moving train wreck and I can't look away" manner. (Personally I was hestitant to give my money to Miller after the travesty of Dark Knight Strikes Back and after reading reviews, swore that I would not give him money for at least this project).
I am vaguely curious as to your reaction to the Civil War/Death of Captain America (especially since you wanted to do it first).
I'd love to see you do more comic work, personally. Personally if I was you (and for your sake, that's a good thing that you're not), I'd suggest probably moving towards self-contained stories or limited series. With the push towards graphic novels, stories like this survive better then they did a few years ago, and you might escape the stigma of the "Priest Curse" where if it ends with six issues it's purposeful. Just go up to Marvel or DC and just throw out some random cool sounding limited series and see if anything sticks. If not, well it's not too different then what you're doing now, and if so, then hey, a little extra cash in your pocket and us loyal fans are pleased.
scrawled by JasonD | May 8, 2007 10:01 AM
Hey Jason. Sorry to be gone so long. Actually, I heard about the Death of Cap on Letterman of all places. It felt like a punch in the face, like many other punches in the face that have come before. This is what I don’t like about the biz. I mean, ideally, the best idea should get done. But the economic reality is the best idea by the biggest *name* gets done. I’d rather not complain and sound bitter, so I’ll just wish them well with it and hope it’s great! But I won’t be reading.
scrawled by priest | May 8, 2007 11:36 AM
No worries on being gone so long, Priest. If you mainly blog when you're angry, I'm glad you're not blogging as much.
As for Cap, I really like Brubaker's run, it's really solid stuff. But I have to admit I quirked an eyebrow when I read an interview from Brubaker that said the death (or something similar to it) was something he been building to since the beginning of his run, which if memory serves was close to the time you were still on CA&F. It's quite possible it's coincidence, and Marvel's swearing up and down that his death is the real deal, while if memory serves your pitch was that he is assumed dead for about three or four months, but still, I got to wonder if at least some of your idea may have influenced him.
scrawled by JasonD | May 8, 2007 1:13 PM
Hey priest welcome back man have I missed your intellect I don't buy books to often knowing that your work is absent. I emailed a while ago and told you about my company if you get a chance I'd like you to give me an email and I'll send you a few pix and we can discuss some writing if you are still inerested. Thank you for being you and adding to us
scrawled by mdwaire | May 8, 2007 10:50 PM
Priest:"There’s always the president, but I’m about punched out complaining about the guy."
Just curious, have you (or anyone else) seen the 9/11 documentary "Loose Change"? Although it has some inaccuracies, it is very interesting stuff.
scrawled by Ty | May 8, 2007 11:38 PM
MD—will do. Sadly, I have a funeral to attend today, but I’ll give you a shout tomorrow. You may want to re-send whatever you sent me because I believe I’ve accidentally dumped all the mail on the old server.
Ty: never heard of it Did it play in theaters or on cable or straight to video…?
scrawled by priest | May 9, 2007 9:07 AM
I am sorry about the loss, I hope all is well with those that survive the death of their loved one
scrawled by mdwaire | May 9, 2007 3:48 PM
Don't blame you in re: current comics. It seems I spend more money on Marvel Essentials and back issues than current comics. It's always nice to get 22 pages of story where things actually happen and 15 pages aren't just people standing around trading "hip" dialogue.
Sorry to hear about your health issues, but I'm glad you're recovered/recovering and not "blogging angry."
Self-publishing or religious comics might be the way to go. The idea of playing in someone else's sandbox is just not a fun idea these days.
That said, I do actually like Brubaker, it's just too bad Marvel chooses to rewrite history at times.
scrawled by Hysan Gearring | May 10, 2007 4:08 PM
That seems to be all the rage--ignoring continuity. As a writer, I always found continuity--making it all fit--to be part of the fun. I mean, I explained Happy Pants Panther.
scrawled by priest | May 10, 2007 8:46 PM
Priest: "...continuity...Panther..."
PLEASE don't mention those two words in the same time zone, ever again. I won't even begin to get into all the stuff that's happened since you've been gone. I can't speak for everyone obviously, but as far as I go, let's just say that...THE WRITER has been missed!! (Even though one of your old co-workers might still save the day.)
As far as that documentary I mentioned, it was a 2005 straight-to-video release and all I can say is, Wow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loose_Change_(video)
Even with the admitted inaccuracies, there is so much info in this piece that has yet to be refuted that it makes me a believer in the overall premise of the video, and a bit scared that there is a strong possibility that this coulda taken place.
Note to you and MD:
I don't mean to pry, but if you guys are discussing a comics related project and ever entertain the notion of experimenting with a comic book "soundtrack" (an idea that Priest flirted with during his "Crew" run), let me know. I just expanded my recording studio and would love to get down on something like this for fun. There are a good number of talented clients of mine who would jump at the chance to do a so-called "comicbook-mixtape" for you. I have clients from all genres, so the "soundtrack" could be very diverse as well. Again, I apologize for budding in but if you're interested, let me know.
scrawled by Ty | May 11, 2007 12:07 AM
Ty: will do. I'll also get a look at that doc soon as I can.
FTR: I tried talking MD Bright into recording "Medicine Woman" a few years back. JoeQ was going to sing lead (i.e. play Woody). Doc: "That's stupid."
Which, btw, was Doc's general reaction to most every Q&W idea I had, so I shuld have done it anyway. I actually wrote the song.
What's *in* a recording studio these days? Last I looked, it was all ProTools and space junk I don;t know how to operate. My engineer has a 42xx8 Mackie desk but hardly uses it for much. He says he keeps it just so people wil "feel like" they're in the studio.
scrawled by priest | May 11, 2007 7:56 AM
Priest:"What's *in* a recording studio these days? Last I looked, it was all ProTools and space junk I don;t know how to operate."
"Space Junk" LOL :-)
You're not to far off with that analogy. Honestly, most sessions these days can be recorded and mixed strictly In_The_Box (in the computer). I myself keep my console around mostly for the bands that come in. (AND to "show off" to some younger clients, as your engineer told you).
There are a good number of signal processors and synthesizers/samplers that are software based these days. Most can be used within ProTools and Logic(my favorite digital audio workstation to date). Most of the newer Keyboards are workstations in themselves and some even allow you to record audio tracks. Personally I don't have a need for them (I just get the module versions for the nice sounds).
In a 2-3 months though I'm getting rid of my old boards and going all out and getting an SSL or AMS/Neve and some other digital control surface for ProTools/Logic. I'm starting an audio engineering and music production school so I have to have the latest gear for the students to work on and learn from. I'm very excited about this.
And about that "Loose Change" video, if you get the time, do check it out. That link I gave you has other links where you can even view it for free over the web. The makers are even encouraging everyone to bootleg it and pass it on. And if I recall correctly, Virgin Airways even started showing it on their flights. I'm telling you, it totally erased just about everything Michael Moore did and really messed up my thought process concerning the whole 9/11 event.
scrawled by Ty | May 11, 2007 10:21 AM
I have a handful of junk from my old demo studio. A couple of compressors, Alesis microverb (stop snickering). I had a big ol' Yamaha 1204 desk but bought a 20-channel Behringer that has built-in FX. Not the best quality FX, but for web-based stuff, for editing sermons, it's fine.
I'm a bit chagrined to realize these tiny mixers out-perform some of the older big desks. But clients need to *see* the big desk and all the blinking lights before they believe they're in a *real* studio.
and my friend uses Logic over ProTools as well. I bought an old copy of logic but haven’t messed with it yet. For me, it’s a time thing: I used to have time to be in the studio all day. Now, I really don't. and I'm way too old and fat to be Prince anymore.
Priest: The Fat Old Prince.
scrawled by priest | May 11, 2007 5:07 PM
Microverb? i ain't snickering at all. Believe it or not, those things still move pretty well on Ebay. Not to mention I still have my Alesis Midiverb in my rack too.
Yeah, back in the 90's, Mackie pretty much shoved a huge slice of humble pie into the mouths of the big boys who own/run the larger console/desk companies. Then Behringer bit off of Mackie's designs, and so forth.
I still use my mackie 32x8 in my small control room. mostly for Hip-Hop session. It's funny because the clients are impressed and I only use 3 channels on the thing: Mic input and 2 channels for stereo returns. But clients see the LED and VU meters movin and bouncin so they are more than happy. LOL
BTW, do you have a PC or Mac. If you use a PC, I may have some stuff for you. A lot of nice shareware, (audio format converters, etc.) and some other things as well. I'm sure your engineer friend can hook you up as welll, but just in case you need another source, the stuff I have is just a compressed email file away.
What do you use your equipment for? During sermons or to distribute material later?
Last thing. Was your link in your previous post supposed to point to your faith website??
scrawled by Ty | May 11, 2007 11:21 PM
Hey Ty,
Priest is a producer he has skills in many things. I can't produce but I can co-produce(ha ha ha). I write and I am a very spiritual person I am like a mini priest in training but I can't find the maste's feet so I don'y know my place to sit.
scrawled by mdwaire | May 12, 2007 1:31 PM
Ty: I use the gear mainly to edit audio stuff for the websites. I used to do local radio show as well. Most of it has been dumped here and there, traded or is sitting in a closet.
The link points here, but if you're not reading the site in frames, it defaults to the PraiseNet. Try viewing the blog in frames. It's not that big a deal, it's an old demo.
scrawled by priest | May 12, 2007 10:35 PM
Just wanted to thank you for all your work. Sad to say you're "leaving" comics, but I think your body of work will continue to be remembered by literate readers.
I re-read Xero recently, and your themes still hold up. As do BP, etc. I will always describe you as the creator who was criticized for bringing too much story (!) to comics! Ha!
Best of luck in all your future works.
--TSB, aka "takufan4" online
scrawled by Todd Steven Burroughs | May 14, 2007 3:50 PM
Mdwaire: Wassup? Its been a minute since I've known that the "The_Artist_Formerly_Known_As O....." has MANY skills. He almost reminds me of the Jamaican that Damon Wayans played on "In Living Color"...you know, the one that held down so many different jobs. LOL ;-)
Priest: How do you get your analog audio to the digital realm? Are you a little bit analog-to-digital savvy or does your engineer take care of that for you??
scrawled by Ty | May 15, 2007 4:38 PM
Todd: thanks. Yeah, the older you get, the more bits and pieces of worthless knowledge you tend to pick up.
Ty: I have a variety of means. Like most Hollywood pictures these days, you tend to combine a bunch of approaches to blend together (CGI, miniatures, live effects, etc.) for the most convincing effect.
Most of the heavy lifting is done by a couple of simple stand-alone CD recorders, those which are swiftly vanishing from the market since everybody’s using a PC now. The old tapes were dubbed onto CD, and once in digital, I mainly used a pair of MiniDisc recorders (love them gadgets!) to edit. I also have WaveLab, which is extremely easy to use for editing, but I prefer analog EQ so I tend to run everything through a little Behringer board. I also tend to do a lot of crossfades “live,” just lining up a couple of CD players (and/or MD players, depending on where the edited tracks are), and doing my crossfades on the fly. It’s a pin if you blow it, but by now I’m so used to it a catastrophic miss is rare, and the human being running those crossfades sounds better than when I use a PC to do it.
scrawled by priest | May 16, 2007 9:19 AM
Man, that process seems like a lot now that I've moved to almost strictly digital. It's funny to think that it has really only been a few years since i was doing the same things you are. Then again, maybe I'd like to think that it's only been a few years. The older I get (41) the more I tend to find myself shrinking actual lengths of time to fit my purpose. (Is there a scietific formula or theory for time compression?)
Anyway, how long are your sermons/projects? If they are lengthy, then I wish you were nearby me. I could probably shorten your production time by 40%-60% by showing you how to do your final mix digitally. It's not that hard either.
You've already got the editing down with Wavelab...that's a good program. Once all of your pieces are created, I'd just import them into Logic as .wav files and line 'em up track by track according your timeline. Crossfades are trmendously simple to create and edit. Automating them even gives you the opportunity to audition them before you bounce. And as far as EQ, it's just a matter of finding a digital one that you like. Heck, I have about 40 - 50 EQ plugins at my disposal in LOGIC alone, although I only use about 2 or 3 religiously. I like Analog EQ to, depending on the device, but it wasnt hard to make digital EQ work for me enourmously.
Obviously, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But if your creation process is taking more than 1 to 2 hours to do, then maybe i (or your friend with Logic) can help you gain back some Letterman watching time. :-)
scrawled by Ty | May 16, 2007 11:50 AM
Welcome back Priest. I hope that you do continue writing comics but if you don't, we will miss your work. You're Black Panther legacy remains though. Dwayne McDuffie is utilizing your Wakandan contingency plan for a threat from Galactus.
http://www.popcultureshock.com/fantastic-four-546-preview/41783/1/
scrawled by Tony | May 16, 2007 8:10 PM
Huh?
Dwayne is writing comics again? Has hell indeed frozen over?!
Wow-- he and I have traded spaces...
scrawled by priest | May 17, 2007 10:25 AM
Oh yea. He's the current ongoing Fantastic Four writer. Reed and Sue are on hiatus to work on their damaged relationship (due to the events of Civil War). So Panther and Storm are temporarily replacing them. The events of FF are overlapping with the events from Hudlin's Black Panther.
McDuffie also wrote a mini-series called BEYOND that sets up the events of the current FF arc.
scrawled by Tony | May 19, 2007 6:17 PM
Not sure how out of the loop you are (so please excuse me if I'm telling you things you already know)...
But McDuffie was, indeed, out of the comics game for a while. But a stint as one of the head writers for the recent "Justice League" cartoon really catapulted his 'name status' with comics fans.
He even wrote the script and dialogue for the recent "Justice League Heroes" video game.
Anyway, he made his comback (as it were) with a miniseries called "Beyond" for Marvel that was, in essence, 'Secret Wars III.' That led to the "Fantastic Four" gig.
* * *
Don't know what you have in mind, but I know I'd love to see you writing for either one of the Big 2 at some point in the future.
*keeping my fingers crossed*
scrawled by Bagheera | May 19, 2007 9:35 PM
Good to see you blogging again, friend Priest, although I might hope that reasons for joy rather than anger might provide more excuses for your postings in future. Dwayne's return to writing on a regular basis certainly counts as a good reason, to name but one example.
I'm working in my own comics sandbox right now - more on that at my own blogs - which I suspect, as you do, makes the most sense for building a career in this still-crazy business...
scrawled by Dwight Williams | May 21, 2007 1:53 PM
Bagheera: alas, uncross. I’m thrilled to hear Dwayne’s writing again—the door was shut no him for a very long time. Oddly, the door at DC and Marvel seems to be open (if not *wide*, I’m certainly still getting calls). I just suck. I just got *really* burned and disappointed from CREW and CAF. When you really invest yourself, the crashes are just tough. I’m pretty sure I’m wounded pretty badly and tired of being beaten up for six months in development only to have the series cancelled before issue #1 ships (an exaggeration, but not much of one). Never say never, but I’d be much more interested in novels and so forth, but have been too lazy to pursue that seriously. I loved, *loved,* writing the third GL: Sleepers book, in fact, I wish time had allowed me to write all three. That kind of work is a quick yes from me, even though it pays almost nothing (believe it or not, novels pay way less than comics and require, literally, 10x the work).
Dwight: where’s your blog URL?
scrawled by priest | May 24, 2007 6:15 AM
Is it too late to jump into this thread and say "welcome back"? I'm going to assume it isn't, and give it a shot. Welcome back, Priest. Glad to know everything's (relatively) well.
Like most people here, I'm sad to know that you're not planning on jumping back into comics anytime soon. I've been following your work since STEEL (ten years ago, now!), and pushed a BLACK PANTHER TPB on a friend just a few weeks back. I learned a lot about writing from you; these days, I make a living writing fiction (for video games, mostly), so I can blame at least some of that on the likes of T'Challa, Dr. Villain, and Xer0.
That said, your choice to stay out of the comics game for the time being is understandable, and I hope you find yourself engaged in more fulfilling pursuits. Even if you never go back, though, I hope you'll keep finding ways to reach an audience--even this blog counts, and although there's plenty I don't agree with you about, hearing your thoughts about the world is almost always a rewarding experience.
Anyway, enough fannishness. Just felt compelled to make my appreciation known, in case life takes you away from the blog again.
Best wishes.
scrawled by Alex F. | May 29, 2007 9:08 PM
Thanks, Alex-- I really appreciate it. And, never say never: I briefly discussed doing STEEL as a VERTIGO title about a year or so ago, but kind of lost interest when I discovered they'd made Natasha into the new Steel or some nonsense like that.
My goodness, the fanboys are just running rampant up there... missing the *entire point* of Natasha: becoming a super-hero is the last thing she'd ever do, unless it would help her sneak into a party or something.
Boris and Natasha formed the Greek Chorus of the series, the sardonic critics of the very comic-book they were in. Turning Natasha into Steel just completely violated her character and the premise of the series (a satire of the whole Superman premise).
Might have made a fun Vertigo book, where I'd have been freed from the DCU constraints of heroes-v-villain of the month, but Vertigo's interest wasn't where it needed to be and, without Nat, neither was mine.
scrawled by priest | June 1, 2007 10:44 AM