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What do you think?  I haven’t put in the text yet, but it’ll eventually say SUPERHERO NATION, obviously.  Any thoughts on what we should use for a background?

What I loved:

• The clothing, particularly the tweed details on Agent Black’s suit and the way that Agent Orange’s sleeve looks so much looser and less uptight than Black’s.  My visual reference for Black had a black suit on, but Banu used a brown suit that fit better with the tan trenchcoat.  Great improvisation!
• Agent Orange’s hand and claws, particularly the patterning on the hand.
• The characters have themes.  The uptight Agent Black has tight clothes and boring, dark colors.  The wackier Agent Orange looks brighter, more surreal and has looser clothes.

What I liked:

• Banu smoothly depicts Agent Orange as larger, particularly in the arms.  It’s noticeable but not overly distracting.
• The drawing is well-balanced horizontally and vertically.

What I didn’t like:

• The orientation of Agent Black’s arm/clipboard.  His elbow juts out to the right, which takes up valuable horizontal space.
• The execution of Agent Orange’s suitcase.  The handle is nice, but the rest is disjointed by the briefcase’s opening slit.  Also, I don’t think that the the suitcase’s placement was ideal– it’s half cut-off by the bottom margin.  I would have preferred the entire suitcase to rest on the bottom margin or perhaps even raise the suitcase above the margin.
• The seal on the suitcase is hard to read.  I’d be thrilled if it were possible for readers to read “OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS” without straining too much.

What I hope this book cover accomplishes:

• It hooks readers with a highly unusual visual: a reptile holding a government briefcase.
• It emphasizes that the book is about a relationship between a somewhat uptight IRS agent and the aforementioned reptile.
• It helps the readers visualize the characters but lets them imagine the characters’ faces for themselves.

What I think this book cover could also accomplish:

• It doesn’t adequately sell the book as a comedy.  (That’s my fault far more than Banu’s, though).
• We need a background, ideally something fresher than a monochrome or a picture of an American city.

(I should probably add that publishers typically provide book covers for novels they publish.  You don’t have to go out on your own to get one done).

Exhibit A:

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Picture taken from one of the Marvel Civil War comics. #1, I think.

(This comic had a convoluted plot; Batman wore funky costumes to prevent anyone from noticing that Robin’s arm was in a cast).

B. Mac, a regular customer of freelance art, offers this article for freelance artists that want to maximize their sales.

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Fans of trippy science-fiction novels everywhere can rejoice that Neuromancer is getting a movie. In other good news, the movie poster shown by i09.com looks pretty stylish and suggests that it won’t be a remake of Swordfish.

The bad news is that Hayden Christensen, the same “actor” that ruined Star Wars and Jumper, is starring as Case. Dare I say that John Travolta could do this better? Egads. How could we have come to the point where John Travolta is the lesser of two acting evils? Hayden [censored]ing Christensen.

I just got back from an art show where I was most impressed by the landscapes of Amy Taylor.

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It’s time for our monthly header update. I’m embarrassed to admit that I drew some inspiration from the writers of the computer game Mass Effect… Continue Reading »

This article gives nine tips to writing a title that grips readers and sells your book.

1. Tell us enough about the book to make us want to read it. This is what separates bland, forgettable titles like The Dragon from classics like His Majesty’s Dragon. The more we can surmise about the plot, the better.

2. Do not use imaginary place names. Readers haven’t heard of Asgardia, Lukawanda, or whatever your fictional kingdom or city is called. Your invented words won’t interest us because they don’t mean anything to us. The only place names that will attract prospective readers are those that use English words, like the Temple of Doom. We can guess what a temple of doom is.

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Picture of Earth courtesy of the HSCD School Board, atomic bomb courtesy of the Department of Energy, and Bill Nye courtesy of TVgasm. All blame for the low quality Photoshopping is ours.

I’m tempted to add some snarky comment about unemployment causing Mewtwo to cling to guns…

Picture taken from Path-e-tech-graphics.

Picture courtesy of the US War Dogs Association.

In this article, Jacob walks you through how to illustrate speech and thought bubbles for comic books, webcomics and header art.  He also has a few free samples for your convenience.

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On May 29, we replaced our old header. We recount the changes and explain some of the editing changes we’ve made along the way below.

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Hi. We’ve revised our guide to making header art. In addition to the standard reformatting and stylistic changes from Cadet Davis, I added a small and not particularly technical case-study on the evolution of Superhero Nation’s headers. If you have high hopes for your website, particularly a writing website, I recommend it.

Yours,

J.M.

Picture c/o http://www.bastroplibrary.org/mckinneyroughs06/rough500gator.jpg .

For an explanation of the Jimmy Carter killer rabbit attack, please see here.

If you would like this bumper-sticker on your car, you can look at it here. We’re selling it for $4, of which $.45 goes to the “Save the Starving English-Major Fund.” No pressure! Five will buy us a McDonald’s fish sandwich, 15 will buy us a Chipotle burrito, and 25 will buy us a panini sandwich and a glass of orgo-soy milk. [B. Mac adds: anyone that spends $3 on a glass of milk, let alone FAKE milk, deserves to starve].

Perhaps you’ve heard the proverb that teaching a man to fish goes farther than giving him a fish sandwich. That’s true. “So how can I teach a starving English-major to feed himself, Cadet Davis?” Well… if you’re feeling especially generous and have a large vehicle (like a hummer or an aircraft carrier), I’d estimate that I’m 250,000 249,998 bumper-stickers south of an English degree. At that point, I still won’t be able to pay for my own food, but at least I’ll know how to write grant proposals.

[B. Mac adds: hey, don’t forget the Starving Political-Scientist Fund! These bumper-stickers don’t write themselves, you know. *winks*]