Inkwell Awards Roundtable Interview

I'm not one for blowing my own trumpet, but this interview might be of interest to people. All of the main participants of The Inkwell Awards were contacted for a roundtable interview, which we all did, via email with some interesting results. Hopefully it might also help clear up some mystery surrounding the awards, so go and have a read. You'll find gems of wisdom from Tim Townsend, Bob Almond, Jimmy T, Mike Marts, Bill Nichols and myself.

Two things that I'd like to share, in case you can't be bothered having a read proper (and shame on you if you don't read it).

This answer sums up, perfectly, why we're having these awards. And trust me, Mike knows what he's talking about here:
THE PULSE: I think some of our readers might not know the difference between what a finisher does and what an inker does. What sets them apart?
MIKE MARTS: If an inker is asked to come on a project as “finisher” that generally means that the penciller only did “layouts” or “breakdowns” on the assignment, in other words - not complete pencils. In these cases the inker is actually doing a part of the penciller’s job - completely rendering out loose pencils - and so a finisher usually gets more credit and greater compensation that a standard inker would. Finishes come about mostly due to time constraints with getting a particular issue to production, though sometimes certain inkers (like Tom Palmer or Klaus Jansen) are specifically brought on board because their finishes have a distinct look that editors and readers enjoy.
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I was kinda happy with at least one response of mine though, and it appeared that the other guys, God love them all because I do, also were happy with it. Again allow me to share:
THE PULSE: In our industry it seems as if an inker usually gets the blame for when art looks bad, but hardly ever gets the praise for when art looks perfect. Why do you think that is? DANIEL BEST: Happy to answer that one as a non-artist. It's simple - as readers and fans we rarely see any pencils, so if the art is bad then it must be the fault of the last man to touch the pages - the inker.

Growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s I read books and comic books like whales eat plankton, and after a while I knew my artists and what their work looked like. I knew that Jack Kirby looked great when Joe Sinnott or Mike Royer inked his work, but he often looked ordinary when Vinnie Colletta inked him. So that must have been the inker. I never twigged that perhaps Kirby might have supplied full pencils to the likes of Sinnott and Royer and the merest of breakdowns to Colletta. Why? Because despite what anyone else might want the world to believe, when you begin reading this stuff as a kid you're not an expert on artists and techniques. That comes with time.

One of the biggest shocks I got as a reader was discovering magazines like Comics Interview and Comics Journal where they'd print interviews in which artists would discuss the merits of inking and pencilling and display pages of raw pencils. I'd sit there, look at the pencils and wonder, "How the hell did anyone make sense of that?" That's when I started to realise that if an artist had been inked by say, Terry Austin, Dick Giordano, Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott, Jim Mooney, Frank Springer, Bob McLeod or any number of inkers and it looked great then it was probably a combination of both the penciler and inker. If it looked average then it was probably due to either a penciller or inker having an off day or just hacking it out. If it looked horrid - and let's be honest, there's some rank jobs out there - then it was might have been due to a penciler supplying the merest of breakdowns, even preliminaries in some cases, and expecting the inker to fix it. It wasn't long before I stopped looking at the penciler and began to look at the combination.

As a youngun I learnt very quickly that John Byrne looked great inked by Terry Austin and merely interesting when inked by Walt Simonson (and I adore Walt's work). I learnt that Frank Brunner’s work looked great when he inked himself but amazing when he was inked by Alan Weiss or Dick Giordano. The same applied for Marshall Rogers – he looked amazing inked by Terry Austin, but when he inked himself, or another artist inked his work, a certain magic was missing.

This industry loves pencilers. They're superstars. They make the big bucks. They're hyped that way by both the companies and the press, both professional and fan alike. However a great penciler can look stunning with the right inker - look at Paul Neary over Bryan Hitch, for example (indeed, Neary over almost anyone) and then look at Hitch when he inks his own work. It’s good, but not as good. A good inker can be just as vital to the creative process as a penciler, if not more so. There's very few pencilers who can pencil an entire book with enough talent to make it look good uninked.
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Jaysus I can rant when I climb that soapbox!

Voting is still in full swing for the Inkwell Awards, so after you've had a peek at the interview, and left a comment, then scoot over to the site general and cast your vote!

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Now here's the full interview:

THE PULSE: We'll start at the beginning, what are the Inkwell Awards?

BOB ALMOND: It's an annual awards event targeting ink artists specifically. The impetus for this was a noticeable abatement of inker credits in traditional areas like collected works credits, solicitations, sample art credit, etc. Also some major shows wouldn't credit their inker guests and the Eisner’s consolidated the best inker category into a 'best penciler/inker team' category. By creating this site we have the opportunity to reward our oft-unsung heroes with recognition and appreciation for their quality work. And at the same time, through explanation, links to sites, databases, special features, etc. we can inform and educate folks about what we actually do in the hope of boosting our craft to the level of awareness it deserves.

TIM TOWNSEND: As Bob says, awareness is the key to this endeavor. On the surface, we simply want to honor our own in a light that doesn't set us aside as second or third class citizens in the professional community. At the heart of it all though, we want to bring awareness to what it is we really do, why we are important to "the process", and why we are deserving of recognition. We get plenty of recognition from the pencilers but we want the fans at large to really understand that there’s more to this than they might think. This is an art in and of itself.

JIMMY TOURNAS: The Inkwell Awards was created to credit inkers, by fans and peers alike, for their hard work and skills in creating comics, as well as to educate and inform readers of the inking process.

THE PULSE: How did these awards come about?

BOB ALMOND: When I was noticing the attention to ink artists diminishing, combined with the use of Photoshop digital darkening (sometimes incorrectly called digital inking) becoming more common, I wanted to do something about it because the craft of inking was getting disrespected. We'd always had an uphill battle in having our fans understand what we do because inking was a production step/ position created solely in the world of comics in order to expedite production. This meant that the public had no reference point to relate to our job description.

Everyone in general knows what a writer, a colorist, a letterer, even with an editor and a penciler people have a hint at what is required, but you mention an inker and they come up with numerous guesses ranging from coloring, to filling in blacks, to the most-dreaded and condemning word, tracing. Over time, while always considered a quantity aspect of comic production, the skill developed into a worthy craft and quality feature. But with the lack of insight few understood our contributions. So while many inkers mumbled about their treatment and receding credit I felt the only action was a positive one. I began assisting sites and news venues with credit identification. I was hired by fellow committee member Bill Nichols, editor of SKETCH MAGAZINE, to write a column in his publication so I created my Inkblots column where I could discuss inking shop talk and my experiences but also inking history, artists, and other related matters. Then for a column topic I came up with 'The Inkblot Awards' which was a smaller scale version of what actually developed. After some input from Bill and my peers on the Inkwell mailing list, we changed the name to the Inkwell Awards (Inkblots sounded too similar to SDCC's 'Inkpot Awards' and Inkwell simply sounded better). From there I contacted the fine folks sharing this conversation (Adam thanks to Tim) and we were off and running to get our message out. Within about 2-3 weeks of discussion and debate we had all the important items worked out.

BILL NICHOLS: For me, it started with Bob Almond asking me what about it for his Sketch Magazine column INKBLOTS and should he open the discussion to our fellows in the Inkwell Yahoo Group. It sure took off from there.

JIMMY TOURNAS: From discussions on the inkwell.

THE PULSE: I think some of our readers might not know the difference between what a finisher does and what an inker does. What sets them apart?

MIKE MARTS: If an inker is asked to come on a project as “finisher” that generally means that the penciller only did “layouts” or “breakdowns” on the assignment, in other words - not complete pencils. In these cases the inker is actually doing a part of the penciller’s job - completely rendering out loose pencils - and so a finisher usually gets more credit and greater compensation that a standard inker would. Finishes come about mostly due to time constraints with getting a particular issue to production, though sometimes certain inkers (like Tom Palmer or Klaus Jansen) are specifically brought on board because their finishes have a distinct look that editors and readers enjoy.

TIM TOWNSEND: Mike said it perfectly. Inker is the general title given to what we do. Finisher is more of a job description, something we are called upon to do from time-to-time. Finishing requires more drawing but typical inking requires this as well....just a little less so. Many inkers do finishes on a regular basis to one degree or another and don't get credited as such.

JIMMY TOURNAS: I would say that a finisher is an inker that literally finishes the art with inks. For example, an artist draws loosely the pages and the finisher tightens them up, sort of what John Beatty did on the Punisher over Mike Zeck.

An inker takes the pencils and adds depth by way of line thickness or hatch shading. Then the inker has to find light source/sources and balance those properly. Inkers look for mistakes along the way and try to keep the artist basic style intact in the process. There is much more involved but those are the two main items that come to mind.

THE PULSE: How did you become involved in the Inkwell Awards Committee? What made you want to see this go from idea to reality?

TIM TOWNSEND: I was graciously invited to come aboard as a committee member by Bob. I have somewhat of a reputation of a loudmouth and an inker activist. I'm of the belief that everyone is entitled to an opinion as long as it's an informed one. On the subject of inking, I've discovered that there are relatively few truly informed opinions from the general public. This is, in no way, a slam. It just goes back to the fact that this is a largely misunderstood art. I saw this award as an opportunity to get the word out to the fans, to make them want to look harder, to try and understand what it is they may have missed. If all we do is trace, why the big "to-do"?

BILL NICHOLS: Basically, Bob Almond asked me to be on the committee, but really, other than me chiming in occasionally, those guys have done all the work. I’m just glad to be able to lend my support when and where I can.

MIKE MARTS: I was invited to be a part of the judging committee by two good friends, Bob Almond and Tim Townsend. I’ve worked with both guys a lot over the years, and both guys are true professionals, so when they asked me if I felt like jumping, I responded “how high?’

JIMMY TOURNAS: I actually had started seeing differences a couple of years ago in books being printed straight from pencils and thought they were horrid. They looked unfinished to me, very amateur-looking. I posted about it a few times on the Yahoo Groups Inkwell mailing list and noticed there were a lot of people that felt the same way. Then I noticed inkers names were being left out of books and trade magazines. Inkers are kind of looked at as throwaways. I talked with readers at a couple of a good friends store locations in Massachusetts and asked what they thought. Over 90% of the buyers said they put down books with art that looked unfinished.

Bob Almond was actually writing about it. So over time and different discussions, Bob came up with the idea of an awards program that would let people know what the inker does as well as showing inkers there were people who cared about quality in comics. I volunteered.

DANIEL BEST: I became involved when I read Bob's original message on the Inkwell Mailing List. I thought that the idea both had merit and was long overdue and was something that people could both get behind and really learn something from. My original offering to Bob was that I'd set up a site with both domain and hosting, and donate my time and resources to make this happen. By that point I believe Bob already had the core of the group together, himself, Tim and Jimmy, and wanted to have a non-artist on board. The invite was extended and I accepted (like I was ever going to say no to Bob, Tim and Jimmy). Personally, for me, being involved is a great honour, and I'm not being glib when I say that. There's some serious talent on board with this and to be part of that company is a thrill.

THE PULSE: In our industry it seems as if an inker usually gets the blame for when art looks bad, but hardly ever gets the praise for when art looks perfect. Why do you think that is?

DANIEL BEST: Happy to answer that one as a non-artist. It's simple - as readers and fans we rarely see any pencils, so if the art is bad then it must be the fault of the last man to touch the pages - the inker.

Growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s I read books and comic books like whales eat plankton, and after a while I knew my artists and what their work looked like. I knew that Jack Kirby looked great when Joe Sinnott or Mike Royer inked his work, but he often looked ordinary when Vinnie Colletta inked him. So that must have been the inker. I never twigged that perhaps Kirby might have suppled full pencils to the likes of Sinnott and Royer and the merest of breakdowns to Colletta. Why? Because despite what anyone else might want the world to believe, when you begin reading this stuff as a kid you're not an expert on artists and techniques. That comes with time.

One of the biggest shocks I got as a reader was discovering magazines like Comics Interview and Comics Journal where they'd print interviews in which artists would discuss the merits of inking and pencilling and display pages of raw pencils. I'd sit there, look at the pencils and wonder, "How the hell did anyone make sense of that?" That's when I started to realise that if an artist had been inked by say, Terry Austin, Dick Giordano, Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott, Jim Mooney, Frank Springer, Bob McLeod or any number of inkers and it looked great then it was probably a combination of both the penciler and inker. If it looked average then it was probably due to either a penciller or inker having an off day or just hacking it out. If it looked horrid - and let's be honest, there's some rank jobs out there - then it was might have been due to a penciler supplying the merest of breakdowns, even preliminaries in some cases, and expecting the inker to fix it. It wasn't long before I stopped looking at the penciler and began to look at the combination.

As a youngun I learnt very quickly that John Byrne looked great inked by Terry Austin and merely interesting when inked by Walt Simonson (and I adore Walt's work). I learnt that Frank Brunner’s work looked great when he inked himself but amazing when he was inked by Alan Weiss or Dick Giordano. The same applied for Marshall Rogers – he looked amazing inked by Terry Austin, but when he inked himself, or another artist inked his work, a certain magic was missing.

This industry loves pencilers. They're superstars. They make the big bucks. They're hyped that way by both the companies and the press, both professional and fan alike. However a great penciler can look stunning with the right inker - look at Paul Neary over Bryan Hitch, for example (indeed, Neary over almost anyone) and then look at Hitch when he inks his own work. It’s good, but not as good. A good inker can be just as vital to the creative process as a penciler, if not more so. There's very few pencilers who can pencil an entire book with enough talent to make it look good uninked.

TIM TOWNSEND: It's always struck me as funny when an inker gets blamed by the fans for a book looking bad. I mean...they never even saw the pencils. How on Earth could they know who did what?! Generally speaking though, as an inker, it is our job to play the silent partner to the penciler. Our job is to make them look as good as possible without drawing attention to ourselves. The penciler is the star and we don't begrudge that fact in the slightest. We don't ask for much, just credit for what we do. More and more these days however, that seems to be a bit much to ask for some odd reason. Which brings us back to this award.

BILL NICHOLS: Maybe it’s the easiest answer, to blame SOMEBODY, but I’ve seen cases of both. If something doesn’t work this time, forget the blame and try harder to next time.

BOB ALMOND: We're the final hand on the black & white art, the face of the work. What fans see in an issue is the ink artist's interpretation of the original drawing. Sometimes this drawing was great to begin with, sometimes not so much. Between that fact and the unclear distinction of what we do it's easy to put the blame on us (and that's not to say that it isn't sometimes deserved due to an inept inker or a need to rush the job for whatever reason). If more folks saw a pencil to ink comparison it would help in the perception. That's why comic art collectors tend to appreciate what we bring to the table because they are usually aware of the process before and after.

MIKE MARTS: Actually, it’s rare that I’ve ever heard that complaint, be it from a reader or from a superior of mine. In my opinion it’s usually the company first, the editor second, and the penciller third that gets the blame for a poorly received issue.

JIMMY TOURNAS: It seems that artists are held in high esteem, and some are really good at what they do. But there are a few (inkers included) that have a high opinion of their art uninked, more than they probably should, this along with an editor that may or may not be in a time bind will let a book out without inks. It may have decent initial sales and so they go with it, then a few more, darkening their pencils, for whatever their reasons, and now you have not only an uninked, but poorly printed page due to saturation of the line to clean it up. Put this together with the digital inkers (tablets and pressure sensitive pens) who digitally clean the artwork and then trace the image without necessary line weights and little minute hatch changes or feathering, and you have a book that does not give the crisp slickline that inkers produce. Now a reader will say, I know this artist is good but the inker screwed it up.

On the other hand you have a weak pencil artist who has tremendous eye for telling a story but pencils loosely. His inker may be a super finisher like Bob McLeod, and the art looks wonderful and the reader enjoys the story. This pencil artist now does another job and someone inks digitally or darkens the pencils, the reader assumes the new style is because an inker screwed it up.

THE PULSE: How are you hoping these awards will change the perception of inkers?

BILL NICHOLS: I think each phase of the comics-creating process is important and inkers have been an important part of that process. I’ve heard that inkers will be phased out as art is done more and more on the digital plane. Whatever. For me, the combination of a penciler and inker is the synthesis of two artists collaborating toward a common goal. Each is an artist and each contributes and the role of the inker is important in that way.

BOB ALMOND: It certainly isn't rocket science but if the public began to understand that we are illustrators specializing in inkwork and not tracers, something almost anyone could be trained to do, that would go a long way.

Like most comic creators, we certainly don't do what we do for the money. We're happy as long as we can work to pay our bills and get credit and recognition for our work.

DANIEL BEST: My hope is that people will realise just what they're missing when they pick up a book and see it reproduced from the pencils only. If you want proof look at WOLVERINE: ORIGIN. Adam Kuberts pencils looked good didn't they? Now imagine how cool that'd have looked if inked by Tim Townsend or John Dell, or, especially, Terry Austin in his prime. Makes the mouth water.

MIKE MARTS: I’m hoping they get a little more of that R.E.S.P.E.C.T. that they deserve! Everyone within the industry knows that inkers are the unsung heroes in the production cycle of a comic book. I say let’s change that perception and start singing their praises!

JIMMY TOURNAS: People can visit links provided on he site to see what inkers do and the changes between a seasoned penciler and a seasoned Inker.

THE PULSE: Why should inking have its own awards? Aren't there best inking categories in the Eisners, Wizard Fan Awards, Harvey and other award-type ceremonies?

TIM TOWNSEND: Years ago I was nominated for a Harvey for Best Inker along side of a certain group who had digitally inked a book by darkening the pencils....literally. I asked to be removed from the ballot unless they were willing to nominate a spell checking program for Best Writer. It just showed me how little some people in this business understood.

BOB ALMOND: The Eisners (probably our industry's academy awards), no. And while the others do, we felt that an award event with categories and hall of fame nominees chosen from among inking community's fellow artists would go a way in expressing different aspects of a quality inker to the public to consider, even if some of the questions are more shop-centric and targeted more for the professionals and art collectors.

JIMMY TOURNAS: Inking categories were stopped with the Eisners, I thought. There has only been a single category I have seen in awards and these were relegated to three or four people that were on the hottest books or they were actually a person that pencils more than inks (which to most of us would make you a penciler).

DANIEL BEST: Some do offer inking categories and too many times they're won by a penciler who inked a book. George Perez, God help me, what a talent, isn't an inker. He's a penciler who inks every so often. And didn't George win an inking award not so long ago in a year where he didn't ink anything, including his own work?

Other awards are more geared up for 'names'. This award is geared up for inkers. There's a criteria for this award, that an artist should have inked more pages than they penciled, other awards don't make that distinction.

THE PULSE: What were the challenges of coming up with the categories?

BOB ALMOND: Coming up with a well-rounded variety without getting pretentious and overly convoluted. My first list had: Favorite Finisher, Most-Adaptable Inker, The Workhorse Award, The Lifesaver Award, Most-Influential, Props Award, Favorite New Inker, Call of Duty and Hall of Fame, with the first five categories all having retro and modern designations. For various reasons we whittled away at, deleted, edited and added to this list until it became what it is now. And most-likely, these categories won't be set in stone over time as we live and learn.

DANIEL BEST: Challenges? Whittling the categories down. Loads of to and fro as to what awards, names and the like. You should have seen what we started with! Hang on, you can….

JIMMY TOURNAS: They were mostly out of Bob's head. He thought carefully and gave us a good list to narrow down after discussion.

TIM TOWNSEND: Yeah, we definitely have some tweaking to do. We're getting very valuable feedback as we go along. We'll have it nailed down before long.

THE PULSE: Why, out of all the legendary inkers from comics past, did you pick Joe Sinnott as your Hall of Fame type award?

BOB ALMOND: We felt that he best embodied ink art excellence: an innovative, influential, prolific ink artist with a popular style, a respected reputation, and an inspiring career of being a true professional and gentleman.

DANIEL BEST: In the world of comic books one name is universally synonymous with high quality inking: Joe Sinnott. It's like asking why name a guitar award after say Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen or Eric Clapton? Because when you hear some names you don't have to explain, or ask, why that person is a legend - everyone knows who they are and what they're famous for, and if they don't then their education is lacking.

JIMMY TOURNAS: He is a wonderful person himself. He is a skilled and prolific Inker, and his work exemplifies all that is good in a pro inker.

TIM TOWNSEND: Exactly, Joe represents the very best of us in every aspect.

THE PULSE: What are the requirements to vote on these awards? Are they fan based of professional based? [include the voting URL please]

BOB ALMOND: It's open to both the professional community and the public. All categories are write-ins except for the Hall of Fame award. The nominees need to be full-time ink artists known for usually inking other pencilers. But there's a little wiggle room there and the categories will become better defined in time (like perhaps in regards to pencilers known for inking themselves almost exclusively) but the committee ultimately decides eligibility. Digital darkeners are not eligible. We are pondering a category for digital inkers but there's only a few such artists in comics active right now that 'ink' themselves to warrant it's own distinction.
http://www.inkwellawards.com/ballot.html

BILL NICHOLS: Anyone can vote and that’s a good thing. It isn’t exclusive to just the pros and it isn’t just a popularity contest, but a combination of those ideals, which is good in terms of balance.

DANIEL BEST: The requirements to vote are simple: that someone has an opinion and wants to share it. That's it. It's not closed off to professionals and it's not fan based. It's open for anyone and everyone.

TIM TOWNSEND: Hopefully, just an informed opinion! 8)

JIMMY TOURNAS: Anyone can vote, fan and peer alike. I am seeing more fan than peer though. Voting has been good.

THE PULSE: When and where is the Inkwell Award Ceremony going to be held?

BOB ALMOND: While we are aware of venues that would be warmly receptive of such an event (and we have even been approached about this matter), for the time being we are keeping the awards activities strictly online. After tabulating the results, we will ship the trophies to the winners.

JIMMY TOURNAS: Up to Bob

THE PULSE: Who designed the Inkwell Award?

JIMMY TOURNAS: It was a wonderful and talented Inker/Artist Dan Panosian.

BOB ALMOND: Tim brought Dan in for that work of brilliance.

THE PULSE: What kind of response have the awards gotten so far? Do you think you'll be able to do this on an annual basis?

BILL NICHOLS: A great response and the answer would be ‘Yes’!

TIM TOWNSEND: The response has definitely been tremendous. We anticipated it taking some time to build credibility and get some legs under us to really get the award off the ground but, with the way things are going, we're already more than half way there. This will definitely be an ongoing award. You will be hearing us mentioned along side the Eisner's, the Harvey's, the Wizards, etc. in years to come.

BOB ALMOND: Just try to stop us! Jimmy, our star site designer, has reported to us as having received an overwhelming wave of ballots. This has been a rewarding validation to us that this affair was established at the right time and necessary. We have received gratitude from not just inkers but even pencilers, writers, colorists and fans and art collectors. And we're now in the midst of scheduled convention appearances so we look forward to that sort of interaction as well.

DANIEL BEST: So far the response has been heartening, both positive and negative (and to be frank there's been both) and there's a lot we'll take out of this years award that will carry over into next year and beyond - it's an ongoing learning process. The best response, for me, so far is the amount of people who want to be involved but were very quiet when Bob announced it originally. My hope is that we can continue this on year after year. Certainly I'll be there for the long haul, or until the other guys decide they've had enough of me ;-) If nothing else then the guys can count on me to support the awards in any way, shape or form possible.

JIMMY TOURNAS: We have gotten a tremendous response, better than expected and as for the latter, I hope so, and from comments received it looks like we may.

THE PULSE: We've talked awards, but where can our readers see your comic book contributions in the coming months?

TIM TOWNSEND: You can see myself and Chris Bachalo in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man. Our first story arc just appeared in issues #555 through #557. Good times!

BILL NICHOLS: I’m the editor of Sketch Magazine, so I can always be doing something there and we now have Sketch Magazine online (www.sketchmagazine.net) where we adding to the print magazine and I’m doing a blog about some of the same things of creating comics, but on a daily basis. I’m also now the co-publisher with Bob Hickey of SkyStorm Studios (www.skystormonline.com) and we’re doing Blood and Roses, Tempered Steele and a host of other projects in addition to my own Sparta Bay imprint/project/whatever you want to call it…

BOB ALMOND: When not perusing the Inkwell Awards site, you can check out my own official site The Bob Almond Inkwell at http://www.almondink.com and keep a look out for the all-new and improved Bob Almond Inkwell later this year!

MIKE MARTS: Any folks wanting to read a finely-crafted, vintage Mike Marts-edited comic book need look no further than DC’s Comics’ Batman family of titles, including BATMAN, DETECTIVE COMICS, BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS and more. We use nothing but the purest ingredients, the best artists, the most delicious writers...oh yeah - and the best inkers money can buy!

JIMMY TOURNAS: Shylock #3 will be out this year as well as the mini series Full Moon Craze. I have a few other books my work will be in this year but too early to name. My site is http://www.comicspace.com/jimmyt/

DANIEL BEST: My blog and site (ohdannyboy.blogspot.com and www.adelaidecomicsandbooks.com) are going along quite nicely, as are the sites that I maintain (www.dave-simons.com www.alankupperberg.com www.brianpostman.com and Norm Breyfogle's forum). I'm having a rough time getting interviews transcribed (so if anyone out there wants to earn a few bucks - hint hint – then get in touch) but new content is going up all the time. Comic book wise I'm working with Alan Weiss on a creator owned project for First Salvo. Book wise I'm still working on a major biography of Norm Breyfogle and I've got a new book to announce once everything is signed off on and I begin work. This one will amaze people no end.