I need to print more out and set up Paypal so people can order it (maybe tomorrow), but book seven of Carnivale has been put together. I edited a few panels here and there. The books comes out to 32 pages of wordless goodness.
On a completely different note, I won’t be going to SPX again this year. I sat at my computer for almost two hours this morning, trying to register on-line only to discover the more savvy comics artists just used the back door and paid through Paypal. So the tables sold out even though the SPX registration page never even worked. I was extremely frustrated and disappointed this morning. Putting together the latest book of Carnivale helped a bit.
Still, it’s become a joke between my wife and I about how much of a failure I am when it comes to comics. When I wrote poetry in college, I sent out two, just two, submissions and got published and asked to present at a reading. I have an MA in literature and got a job teaching within half a year. I get good reviews from my students on Ratemyprofessors. I have a black belt in Aikido. I have a loving daughter and a supportive wife. And yet, when it comes to comics I haven’t gotten anywhere. It’s been almost 20 years since I made my first mini comic and I have only been in two anthologies, receive only silence about submissions to publishers, and do not register on the various on-line comics sites. The fiasco this morning was just par for the course. The only solution I have, have ever had, is just to keep working.
Mr. Mullins, you will never be a failure as a cartoonist in my eyes. I check into your blog at least twice a week, looking for the rewards there. I wish I had half your talent and wisdom.
It does perplex me that you’ve not been published yet. How aggressive are you when contacting publishers? Next time i talk to Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics, I’ll put in a few words on your behalf. In fact, i recommend you just CALL Fantagraphics and talk to Eric yourself. You have nothing to lose by being pushy. The world needs your books!
Thank you, Mr. Rickheit. As I get older, I realize that my frustration is actually a source of my art. And I’m really bad a promoting myself. I’m not aggressive at all. But now that Carnivale is coming to an end, I’ll shop it around.
I read your stuff, too, by the way. Folly is one of the few books I have on my iPad. I really love how your art has developed over the years.
Good solution.
I’m looking forward to getting my copy of book seven.
It’s all set up now.
Just for the record: As far as I am aware the joke is not that you are “a failure in comics,” it’s in facing brick wall after brick wall in all things comics while doors fly open elsewhere. And also for the record you are an inspiration to everyone who lives and trains with you for your quiet persistence and passion to illuminate the small details that make love visible to those who are looking. And I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Rickheit, the world needs your books.
Don’t quit! Quitter’s never win and I really enjoy your work.
But with that said, I understand your frustration.
Although I have not been at it as long as you, I get the same feelings a lot. People all over say super nice things, but I sure haven’t quit my day job.
I just heard a story from a painter friend of mine who is much older than I am and has been at her art longer than I have at mine. She went to a workshop this weekend and the teacher tore apart her painting, berating her for not getting the colors right (they were doing plein-air painting). Then to add insult to injury, the teacher gushed about the art of a young student who had only just started painting and whose paintings were just single color shapes and who admitted freely to not being able to draw. To make it even worse, the teacher then told this new painter to get her work into the exact gallery that my friend has been planning for years to submit work to. After she told me this story, she asked “what was I put on this world to do? Did I choose the wrong thing?” I knew exactly what she meant. Maybe this is the doubt all artists just have to push through.