The latest issue of HEEB magazine features a one page strip by yours truly called, "Workin' Girl Golem". The comic tells the sordid tale of what happens when a lonely office denizen spends a little too much time with his obedient clay secretary…things get more than a little fukakta.
Warning: this comic contains some dirty jokes…of course it does! She's made of clay, oy vey!
Click the graphic above to see the full comic.
By Chris Arrant
Earlier this week, a new comic debuted on the webcomics collective Act-I-Vate. Or is it new? That's part of the story to The Transmigration of Ultra-Lad, which was "brought" online by Eisner-nominated cartoonist Joe Infurnari (The Process). According to the cartoonist, this comic was found in the attic of his childhood home that dates back to the early 1950s. The never-before seen flagship comic to a failed start-up known as Jolly Brand Comics. In the comic, Ultra-Lad goes through the rigors of youth, arch-enemies and adventure.
For more, we talked with Infurnari.
Newsarama: So, what is your comic, The Transmigration of Ultra-Lad about?
Joe Infurnari Well, I'm reluctant to call it my comic because it's more a reprint of a lost piece of comics history called The New Adventures of ULTRA-Lad!
While rummaging through the attic of my childhood home, I found a very mysterious old comic. I had been up there to look for some of my older comics from when I was a teen and this comic, The New Adventures of Ultra-Lad was not at all familiar to me. I did a little research on it and it appears to have been a comic printed very shortly before the Seduction of the Innocent controversy and as a result of that, this ashcan comic never saw print as it was ultimately intended. In fact, the New Adventures of Ultra-Lad was to be the flagship of the startup, Jolly Brand Comics. Publisher Arnie F Junio had sunk all of his money into getting Ultra-Lad off the ground and the whole venture collapsed when the gavel fell and the writing was on the wall for comics. The artist and/or writer for this book are not credited and I fear their name(s) are lost to posterity.
So there I was with this rare comic whose art and dialogue is remarkably ahead of its time and whose story ties in strongly with my own work! I couldn’t let it or the creators pass away into obscurity. When the opportunity to do a webcomic on Act-i-vate came up, I discussed a few possibilities with Alexis Sottile. This time around we thought I should do something unconventional and post up pages from this comic that has inspired me so much. It’s a way for this lost tale to be brought to light and made available for anyone to enjoy for free. The comic itself is at times funny and campy but not without serious subtext. It deals with a lot of the issues of youth, growing up and growing old; things that will resonate with many comics readers in today’s market: the older comix reader who thrills at being transported to his youth and the young comix reader who delights at Ultra-lad’s outrageous feats of daring adventure and action.
NRAMA: Are you sure about this, Joe?
JI: Yes, yes I am.
NRAMA: ...okay. Moving on... How does what you're doing for Act-i-vate fit in with the Eisner Nominated webcomic you do called the Process?
JI: It does...a lot! After reading this very rare comic another feat of cosmic coalescence triggered the realization that this book had encapsulated many of the themes I was already dealing with in the Process. Some of these include identity, ideas about one's interior life versus the external world, looking at your life from its beginning in youth and infancy and from its end in old age and death. It's also an example of an idea that I hold dear. That is, taking a medium or in this case, genre, not accustomed to such philosophical and grand themes and use it to tell stories laced with such primordial concerns. In the case of this ULTRA-lad! book, it deals with an old man at the end of his life and his struggles with his Jungian shadow, ULTRA-lad!, who represents his lost childhood and vigor and in many ways his frustration with the fragility of his own life and the failed promises of youth. The arc of this story is the grappling with one's life and moving beyond it without regrets. To free oneself from the shackles of your past and to grant oneself acceptance of a life on one's own terms. Of course, this is the subtext that is buried within a hilarious, campy and action packed romp of a comic! It's also one of the major drives behind the Process.
NRAMA: What are the virtues of working on a webcomic over print?
JI: For the ULTRA-Lad! story, the virtues are that a lost piece of comics can be brought to light and made available for free! The incredibly successful rediscovery of Fletcher Hanks that seems to have sparked a desire to unearth other under-appreciated comics creators like Boody Rogers and Rory Hayes shows that people want to look at and read this stuff. I'm not entirely sure that ULTRA-Lad! will stand anywhere near as tall as these other figures from comics' past but I am hoping to simply give this character his chance to shine in the most democratic way I could think of, on the internet for free.
NRAMA: How did you get hooked up with Act-I-Vate?
JI: It was a strange confluence of events that can only be attributed to a powerful coalescing of cosmic synergy. Out of the blue, Dean Haspiel contacted me through Facebook about an online anthology he was putting together. We wrote back and forth a couple times before I was on board to do a story for his series of Next-Door Neighbor. Simultaneously, I had been in contact with Heeb/Smith Mag comics editor and Act-i-vate minister of hype, Jeff Newelt about doing some comics with him. I knew he was involved with Act-I-Vate but hadn't been thinking about the uber-collective when I was writing him. At best, I thought I might get a comic inHeeb (which I did). Behind the scenes, Jeff sent a link to my site, www.joeinfurnari.com, to Dean as somebody to invite into Act-I-Vate. Dean agreed and when approached to do it, I leapt at it!
NRAMA: Why'd you choose to this comic out through Act-I-Vate and not your own solo comic website like you have for the Process?
JI: I didn't include it in the Process site despite being a 'chapter' of the Process because it's really it's own thing and should be able to have it's own life on it's own terms in a more neutral space. The Process site is great. I am very happy with it and how it's grown, I just felt that this comic should be given it's own due and the best way to do that would be through Act-i-vate.. I've incorporated it into the chronology of the Process but I feel it also benefits from being somewhat separate. I've also tried to look at it that the 'universe' of the Process is vast and to have it on another venue helps expand it's readership beyond just www.theprocesscomic.com.
NRAMA: What else are you working on?
JI: Readers should check out the latest issue of Heeb magazine for my one page comic called "Workin' Girl Golem" and keep their eyes peeled for my Next-Door Neighbor contribution with writer Alexis Sottile. It's called Vs. and I guarantee it will definitely leave an impression. It's a true story of my hilarious and horrific New York rental history and is not to be missed by anyone who's ever lived in this city or considered moving here. I'm also resuming my work on the Process as well as the Borrowed Time series with Neal Shaffer and Oni Press.
To read the first installment of The Transmigration of Ultra-Lad, go to http://www.act-i-vate.com/56-1-1.comic. For more of Joe Infurnari's work, visit www.joeinfurnari.com.
I think there might have been a couple of you that I didn’t see at the show last night. That’s cool, good thing is you’re in luck because they now have an audio podcast of the entire thing! You can visit the CBC site and comment on it or you can listen to the podcast directly here. Of course, iTunes users can listen to it by following this link.
Well, it's finally official. My none too subtle hints and news leaks have been pretty transparent but here's the official announcement. Look to the Act-i-vate site for my upcoming webcomic, "The Transmigration of Ultra-Lad" in early June. I'll have more exact information as we approach launch so please stay tuned.
This story is a future chapter of the Process and it is a standalone story. It's comprised of scans of a long lost comic from early in the last century so the print quality and pages are a little worn and deteriorated with age. The comic title is "The New Adventures of Ultra-Lad" and this issue's story is entitled, "The Transmigration of Ultra-Lad". Here's the logo design as best as I've been able to reconstruct it.
So there you have it. Aren't you excited! I sure am and I'll be posting more teasers prior to launch. Once we get that show on the road things will get a little more regular here on this site as well. Your patience and my hard work will be rewarded.
Tonight, Tuesday May 27th, I'll be joining the folks at Comic Book Club at the Peoples Improv Theater for a discussion of comics including Borrowed Time 3, the Process and my upcoming project for Act-i-vate! So if you're in the New York area, please consider joining us. I'm sure you'll find my squirming nervousness punctuated by spurts of lofty loquaciousness entertaining and enlightening. The Schadenfreude alone is worth the price of admission. Here is all the relevant info:
COMIC BOOK CLUB A Live Weekly Talk Show about Comic Books
***BEST OF NEW YORK PRESS 2007***
Hosted by Justin Tyler, Pete LePage, and Alex Zalben
Tuesday, May 27th @ 8:00 PM
Featuring: Selena Coppock (Boston Comedy Festival) Joe Infurnari (Eisner Nominated "The Process")
Tickets: $5 Online: ThePIT-NYC.com Phone: 1-800-838-3006 Questions? 212-563-7488
The Peoples Improv Theater 154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor Between 6th and 7th Aves.
Check out our website: http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub
Check us out three times a week on Pulp Secret: http://www.pulpsecret.com
The show is sponsored in part by Midtown Comics: http://www.midtowncomics.com
Check out our podcast: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=273148505
If you can't make it, you can always listen to it via podcast. I'm sure my awkwardness will be palpable even in that medium.
Big Shiny Robot has interviewed my friend and colleague, Neal Shaffer, to talk about his comics work including Borrowed Time as well hint at current and future projects. It's an excellent read and has some cool insights into the creative life of this comics creator.
Check it out here.
I’m speechless. Unfortunately, that isn’t conducive for writing posts so I’m putting aside all stupefaction to confirm that the Process has been nominated for an Eisner Award in the Best Digital Comic category! This is the single greatest honor (besides winning) that could be bestowed on this project and I am very fortunate to be in such esteemed company as the other finalists, The Abominable Charles Christopher by Karl Kerschl, Billy Dogma, Immortal, by Dean Haspiel, PX! By Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson and Sugarshock!, by Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon. The awards ceremony, held during San Diego’s Comicon International, will be at a gala event on July 25th, 2008.
When this really sinks in, I’ll write a followup post but in the meantime, I’d like to thank the judges for their consideration and thank YOU for supporting this project.
Best,
Joe
I'm catching up on posting about some recent press for the Process.Tyler Chin-Tanner over at Broken Frontier has written about the Process in his column, Delusions of Grandeur. Here's the article in its entirety.
Thanks, Tyler!
Studying the Process
As I said last column, many of the webcomics that exist at this time are actually print comics that are using the internet as an alternative means of publication. One of the biggest reasons for this is because it is no longer viable to publish a successful limited series that builds to a graphic novel. Too much of the target audience will wait for the eventual graphic novel. Thus the development of the webcomic to graphic novel publishing model.
One great example of this model is Joe Infurnari’s webcomic, the Process. This concept was created as a graphic novel, but chapters and pages of it are posted as a webcomic. What really appeals to me about this project is that while the concept is intended to be a graphic novel, there is a reason for it being a webcomic other than to just post pages as he completes them.
I asked Joe if he would help explain the Process:
JI: If my ideas and work are going to be presented in a medium, namely the web, it should make use of the things inherent to that medium (interactivity, updates as-you-go, and endless editability)…. I had the idea that I would try and involve people in its creation and thereby benefit from testing it in front of its audience. Readers are participating in an art project that is about creating a graphic novel. They should be encouraged to comment because that's how things will get better. I'm showing them a lot of what goes into its making so that they can see the creative process at work, gain a better appreciation for it and participate in it.
So in other words the Process is a webcomic that invites the reader to view the process of creating a graphic novel all while reading a story that involves the creator as a character interacting with the story he is in the process of creating while the audience is in the process of reading it. Have I said “the process” enough yet?
I’ll let Joe continue:
JI: That's something unique to this blog and web medium where visitors can drop in and out of this digital diary of a comic's conception. They get insights into how I do things and what I am thinking as I create these pages. Ideally, readers would also participate as well by telling me what works and what doesn't. Out of all of this, there will be a comic that's been market tested with a lot of the kinks worked out prior to publishing.
The strength of Joe’s webcomic lies in the fact that it is a very engaging look into the creation of a graphic novel and how he works as a creator. The design of the website makes the story particularly interesting to read, and it doesn’t hurt that the art is fantastic either. Its weakness, though, is that for such a long and involved story, it comes out so infrequently. This contradicts one of the cardinal rules of successful webcomics.
As Joe puts it:
JI: Regular updates are important. Visitors to the Process know that I am lousy at this but it is an important aspect to keeping readers engaged. If they can count on your comic being up every week or day, then you'll have a devoted following.
As a result:
JI: The economics of this has been a hard nut for me to crack and I still haven't been able to make any significant money from it… A webcomic, a medium that most people experience for nothing, is harder to generate an income from in my experience. Until it has a huge following, a webcomic is hard to get paid to create. I sometimes feel that frequent visitors to these free content sites who enjoy what they are getting should donate or contribute in some fashion. If I only got 50¢ per unique visitor a day, I would have a nice little perk every day! Contributing in whatever way possible is a way to ensure that you get your fix and it's just plain the right thing to do.
For what it’s worth, I think Joe should take heart in the fact that the purpose of his website is to promote a graphic novel. He’s getting exposure and reviews that usually come at a cost. While he may not be making any money, he’s saving on costs that would normally go into promotion and printing. Plus, the idea is that the eventual graphic novel will sell well based on the quality of his webcomic. It would certainly be nice for webcomics to bring in money from donations, but realistically, you can’t really expect that.
The only way I know of that webcomics generally make money is by having such a regular following visiting for consistent content that advertising generates a substantial revenue. In my opinion, a creator is better off choosing either to use a webcomic to promote their graphic novel or to use their content to promote a regular webcomic.
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Tyler Chin-Tanner started his own publishing company, A Wave Blue World, and writes and draws layouts for Adrenaline, its flagship series.
© 2008 Tyler Chin-Tanner. All rights reserved. Email: tyler@awaveblueworld.com www.awaveblueworld.com
