Year of the Indie Comic

Indie Comics have always been on that bleeding edge of where comics are going. The type of stories, the level of creative energy is what keeps the industry going and thriving as an art form. For those of you that are tired of corporate comics and looking for something different here are some creators that are pushing the boundaries of Comics by telling different types of stories with different styles. This is the year of the Indie Comic!

Joshua Hale Fialkov
Last of the Greats - A superhero god emperor wants revenge on mankind, and takes it, one poor bastard at a time. 

http://www.tfaw.com/Profile/Last-Of-The-Greats-TPB-Vol.-01___399611

http://www.thefialkov.com

Gerimi Burleigh

EYE OF THE GODS is a psychological thriller Graphic Novel about a man
whose life spirals out of control when he is cursed with the ability of
remote viewing. Original Graphic novel, 144 pages, black and white

MORNINGSTAR - Before he was the devil, He was Lucifer Morningstar, …Marshall of Heaven. Issue one, 24 pages black and white

To buy: http://optichouse.com/Dan "Smif" Smith

Blue Knights
Lord of the Rings meets Training Day.
A
rookie knight has to deal with a corrupt system while solving the
murders of the city's ruling council before the festival of H'rrk burns
it down.

Buy it straight from the creator for $6.00/$11.00 for a sketch copy (includes shipping cost in USA). email smifink@earthlink.net

Jamie Gambell
Hero Code - The first issue in the new ongoing sci-fi, super hero saga. Super-powered
people are popping up all across the world, but what is their purpose?
Are they here to help? What exactly is The Hero Code?

Can be got:

Print - direct from me - http://monkeypipestudios.bigcartel.com/

Print - indyplanet - http://indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6316

Digital - Graphicly - http://graphicly.com/monkey-pipe-studios/hero-code/1

Digital - Drivethru - http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=96053&filters=0_0_0_44517&manufacturers_id=2942

Jesse Mesa Toves

Trouble, Guts & Noir - a three issue
future noir adventure in three parts by Battlestar Galactica effects
artist and animator, Jesse Mesa Toves

Available digitally on Amazon Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Guts-Noir-Book-ebook/dp/B004GUSAPW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326354498&sr=8-1

and in print from Indyplanet.com

http://indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3085

Hal Hefner

Gates is an evolving transmedia franchise centering on a family who creates a form of revolutionary organic technology and the affects it has on the world. Told through various media platforms, the first installment focuses on a dark, dystopian science fiction comic book following the exploits of the title character, Gates, a young man trying to survive the oppression of a sci-tek religious government that wants him dead.

http://www.gatesthecomic.com

Story First....Blockbuster Second

I think this is an interesting opinion piece on the state of storytelling in Hollywood.
http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/01/10/the-devins-advocate-james-cameron-calls-out-the-story-crisis-in-hollywood

I post this because the influence of the blockbuster has by default become the basis for many Comic Books. Comic Books make for big blockbusters so creators seem to be pre-editing their work to fit the movie format. In the end this weakens what Comic Books have to offer as a medium for more complex storytelling. It has generated this strange storytelling loop.

Comics tell stories
Movies are made of those stories
Comics are made to be like Movies.
Movies are made of Comics

A copy of a copy of a copy.


Between the companies that try to pass off "pitch books" as real Comics to the Comics that look like a series of storyboards for a movie that has yet to be made. There is a point where someone has to say it's okay for a Comic to just be concerned with being a Comic. Everyone has their eye on potential outside of Comics. You would be doing yourself and your work a disservice if you didn't. At the same time the art form of Comics has it's own unique style of storytelling that seems to be glossed over in order to tell a story that makes it easier for a producer to see how this could be a movie.

I was once told the best thing about a Comic is that "it's budget is your imagination.". You don't have to put money aside to pay for ILM when you are making a Comic. If you can think it up and you can draw it, it's possible in a Comic. That limitless storytelling potential combined with the ability for a single individual to create a comic on their own and deliver it in a popular format, either through print or digitally is one of the last frontiers for the storyteller with vision. I try and remember that when I go to the board and start drawing or when I sit in front of the computer and dream up ideas.

IMHO it takes a distinct vision to tell a great story. There are many entertaining stories but really there are very few stories that stir something deeper in you. Delivering that vision to an audience becomes the challenge of any storyteller in any medium. When it comes to Movies the cost of delivering that vision has a serious price tag. If a movie fails and statistically most of them do, there is a lot of money on the line. When there is so much money at stake more people want their opinion figured into the final product. Everyone of these people create a layer between the person with vision and the public. Sometimes it can be helpful other times it just pushes the idea farther and farther away from the source. Weakening whatever made it interesting in the first place. As a Comic creator the barrier of entry into the market (because of cost and the layers between you and the reader) are much less. That close relationship with it's level access to each other separates Comics from other visual storytelling art forms. It's an advantage we as Comic creators as well as Comic fans should hold sacred and always be aware of what makes this art form special.