UPDATE!

P-whew! Let's blow the dust off this old thing, shall we? Some news (as it says in the title!) first...

APE was a blast - Friday night I got in late, had a quick drink with the boys from Frequency Press (Hello, Dan and Nate!) and hit the hay.
Saturday Morning came early and I went to the hall and helped set up after an on-the-go breakfast of danishes and coffee. then i headed over to another part of SF to do some shopping for my gal (there are some stores in CA we just don't have up here!) and got back to the show hall a couple hours late! No worries though, i still ended up doing plenty of sketches and we even sold a few books!

We headed over to the Isotope after the show and got there a little early. That gave us time to gorge ourselves (Dan, Nate, Shawna [nate's girlfriend] and myself) at Noriega Teriyaki on some of the best Chicken Kara-age I've ever had (ok probably the only chicken kara-age I've ever had, but it was still damn good!). After that we headed to the Isotope down the street and got our party on! We headed back to the Hotel at which point we continued the party! Nate headed to bed early with Dan Shawna and I closing up around 2 or 3 in the morning.

Ok, hung over Sunday isn't so bad if you don't have a comics show to do. i still managed to do a few sketches and sell a couple of books, as well as find the time to hang out with Larry Young (AIT/Plante Lar) and Ian Yarborough (of Isotope fame). I talked briefly with James Lucas Jones from Oni and will be pitching there soon. As well, I met/talked to Josh Richardson, Josh Hale Fiaklov, Rob Osbourne, Josh Cotter, Seth (on the plane!), the Atomika guys, Sean Z (at the table next to ours), and of course, James Sime (and other Isotopians, including Jared and Kirsten)!

I had a great time and frankly, the con was WAY too short... oh well, there's always next year!

Yesterday was the Hobbystar Fan appreciation 1 day show, which was a lot of fun. I did a few sketches, sold some books and got to sit beside Chip Zdarsky, which is an experience in and of itself. Chip's a great guy and put up with my endless prattling on very well. Thanks Chip!

I've put together a complete list of DRIVE's reviews, which you can scroll down and read (I've made it last in this post, since it's probably long and boring for most of you...)

Upcoming: this weekend marks my second appearance in artists alley at the Paradise Comicon in Toronto. Come by for a magician, some art and of course COMICS! I hope to see you there!

As well, I have a six page story in Varied Scaries #2 coming out from Ronin-studios.com and a 2 page contribution to "Commercial Suicide" an anthology that Kieron Gillen and Alex de Campi are putting together. Maybe I'll use my copy(ies?) as a prize if I come up with a cool contest someday!

As well, Wallball (working title)is trucking along... I have to finish the last few pages of the Lone Slinger this week, Commercial Suicide and maybe a Batman story I'm slated to do (for an independent guy - don't get too excited!) and some more roughs for a tory called "Forgotten" 5 pages in all, but not due until the end of next month. Throw in a couple of covers and some inking for a pitch and you've got yourself a fun filled week (and a con at the end to top it off!) Wish me luck.

Oh yeah and here's that list of DRIVE's reviews I promised/threatened you with...

DRIVE REVIEWS


Drive (www.frequencypress.com) by Nate Southard & Shawn Richter - Nate Southard is an Austin native, so I actually got the chance to meet him about a week before the show and get a copy of this ashcan, but he was handing them out at the show to promote the release of the first issue in January, so it counts as far as this column is concerned as a San Diego comic. Drive is based on the story of a cabbie and what happens when a guy gets into his car, puts a gun to his head, and says "Drive." Assuming that makes you want to find out more (it did for me), you can check out the ashcan online at the Frequency Press website, and then you can anxiously await issue one along with me and everyone else who got a copy of the ashcan in San Diego.

Randy Lander, Monitor Duty
(http://www.thefourthrail.com/features/0802/monitorduty15.shtml)


DRIVE, written by Nate Southard, with art by Shawn Richter and introduction by Larry Young. Brian Ray has a maniac with a bag of narcotics in the back seat, a pair of crooked cops on his tail, and a mafia heavy lurking in the shadows. His girlfriend's on his case and a best friend's on his nerves. Time to put the pedal to the metal and drive. 88 pages of crime and action in beautiful black and white, $11.95. Available in February 2005 from Frequency Press.

Steven Grant, Permanent Damage
(http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?article=2006)


PLUGGING THE GAPS

"Drive" is an original graphic novel written by Nate Southard and Shawn Richter handling the art chores. It deals with drugs, violence, cabbies, crooked cops, burnt out mafia heavies, car chases and a bunch of other really cool things. Larry Young writes the introduction. Available from Frequency Press in late February/early March. Free preview here.

Rich Johnson, Lying in the Gutters
(http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2075)


Nate Southard- www.natesouthard.com

Nate was gracious enough to give me a copy of his GN Drive with art by Shawn Richter and published by Frequency Press. It is a story about a cabbie struggling with life who inadvertently gets involved in a high speed car chase with a gun to his head and that is just the beginning.

This story has it all, Drugs, the Mafia, crooked cops and a chance for fast money. The art is amazing, and of course is my favorite style with its gritty, noir feel. Nate Southard’s writing is powerful, it draws you in and does not let go until it has had it’s way with you. I would compare him to similar writers but I feel that he is too damn good and his work definitely stands on it’s own. A DAMN good read. (On a personal note, he is also quite good looking!)

Ronée Garcia Bourgeois, What A Girl Wants
(http://www.comixtreme.com/forums/showthread.php?p=194451#post19441)


DRIVE
by Nate Southard & Shawn Richter (Frequency Press)
Format: Graphic novel
Price: $11.95
Website: www.frequencypress.com

I'll start off with a disclaimer: Nate Southard is a friend of mine. I see him pretty much every weekend, and he's the guy who introduced me to the wonder that is the Flametrick Subs and Satan's Cheerleaders, so the guy has lots of credit in the bank with me. He's also the writer of Drive, which happens to be a damn fine graphic novel. Nate says that I pitch it better than he does at this point, so here's the basic idea: It's the story of a cabbie, and a guy gets in his cab, puts a gun to his head and says "Drive." The story is about what happens after that. That's how I'd pitch it. However, at Staple, when someone compared the book to the Michael Mann flick Collateral, Nate came up with a line I liked even better, which was "Yeah, it's like that, if Jamie Foxx had outsmarted Tom Cruise in the first twenty minutes and the rest of the movie was about what happened afterwards." However you describe it, though, Drive is a really fun, fast-paced little crime story with a side dish of romance on the rocks, troubled friendships and a lead character who is just too dumb to know when to quit and too smart to just get offed by the corrupt cops or the hitman who cross his path in this story. Richter's artwork is hit and miss with me, as I like his general storytelling (the car chase/shootout is great) and see a lot of potential in his style, but his characters look a little bit strange, almost deformed, to me. They're solid enough, but their expressions always seem kind of frozen and limited. Fortunately, the art, combined with the solid dialogue, is good enough to convey the emotions of the story, which are as much about being a screw-up in life as they are about what to do with a bag of illicit drugs that landed in your lap by coincidence.

Randy Lander, The Fourth Rail
(http://www.thefourthrail.com/features/0305/monitorduty23.shtml)


Drive Away with Cover Art
Headline, posted April 01, 2005

Frequency Press is taking a bold step to promote their graphic novel, DRIVE, at the Alternative Press Expo, April 9th and 10th in San Francisco, California. They're giving away the book's original cover art. Anyone who purchases a copy of DRIVE at APE, April 9th and 10th in San Francisco, receives a chance to win artist Shawn Richter’s original cover pencils. There will be a drawing held on Sunday, near the end of the expo, to determine the winner of the artwork.

"Shawn's pencils are beautiful," says DRIVE writer Nate Southard. "When he offered them up to help promote the book, I was astounded. The chance to win this piece of artwork for the cost of a book is an amazing opportunity. I wish I was eligible!"

DRIVE tells the story of a cabbie whose life descends into chaos when a fare forces him into a high-speed car chase. The book marks the North American comics debut of both Nate Southard and Shawn Richter.

Broken Frontier, Headlines
(http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/details.php?id=401)


DRIVE
by Nate Southard and Shawn Richter; Frequency Press.
What would have happened if Jamie Foxx had killed Tom Cruise in the first five minutes of Collateral? I've not seen the movie, so I really can't say, but that's the central idea behind Drive, according to author Nate Southard.
The book is set in Las Vegas. Brian Ray is a cab driver, hoping that the evening will bring good tips so he can get his share of the rent money to his girlfriend. Instead, a guy with a handgun and a bag gets in the back seat and orders him to drive.
That sets the book in motion, quite literally, with a high speed chase and gunfight through the city as another couple of crooks attempt to capture Brian's passenger. They manage to get away of course, and when he realizes that his nameless passenger is going to kill him anyway, Ray takes advantage of the guy forgetting to put on a seatbelt and rams into a wall. The crook ends up dead, and Ray gets out to figure out what to do next, which leads to my biggest problem with the book.
You've just led a high speed chase through the streets of Las Vegas, causing a couple accidents and trailing bullets up and down the strip. You've wrecked your cab and killed a man with it. And you have a very large bag of drugs in the back seat. Do you call the cops, or do you grab the dead guy's gun and bag and make a run for it, leaving behind a cab that will surely be traced back to you?
Ray decides to make a run for it. I can understand that there might be some situations where it seems feasible for someone to try to turn a quick profit with some illegal goods left in your cab, but not when every cop in the city is going to be looking for you.
Once you get past the logical disconnect that moment causes, the story proceeds down a fairly predictable storyline, though there are a couple interesting twists along the way.
Shawn Richter's art is solid, though I think he'd do better with a different inker, or at least a different inking style. Particularly in the close-ups he seems to use lots of small lines, rather than solid strokes. It gives the art an almost grainy feel, which could be a deliberate choice, but just doesn't work for me personally; it looks a little more like raw pencils then your average comic.
I'm sounding more negative about the book then I really feel. It is a genuinely good read, particularly if you like crime comics, and a solid if not spectacular book from this creative team and Frequency Press. And if you're one of the horror movie addicts out there, keep your eyes on these guys; their next book will be a zombie story.
www.frequencypress.com

Joe Helfrich, BACKLOG 9: Ape Finds
(http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%3Bf%3D36%3Bt%3D003693%23000002)



2 days til APE!

I'm trying to get everything I need ready for APE, so I'm making business cards, making t-shirts, etc. etc. I hope to have my pitch stuff ready for the weekend, so i can have some leave behinds for those people that might want one (Larry Young, the ONI people, Top Shelf...) I'm going to hit the website today to see which publishers i should prep stuff for.
I also got a rejection letter from Marvel today. Pretty exciting, man. Signed by Joe Quesada himself. I guess I should put together a new batch of submissions... Probably that "My Little Babies" thing...