Eric Johnson Comics

Mark Heike,  editor of AC Comics writes some stuff that leaves me INCREDIBLY flattered in this article he put on the AC website.

The first few sentences are about the FemForce chraracter Stardust, and then the rest of the article sorta becomes about "the writing of Eric Johnson."

Feel free to read the article and find out why I was blushing yesterday.

Link:   http://www.accomics.com/accentral/stardust-in-the-spotlight-in-2012-by-mark-heike/

Just got the thumbs-up from Mark Heike on a new script.

Mark asked me to write more scripts featuring the main FemForce characters. Now, this isn't the first time I've written non-giantess material for AC. Previously, I've written the dialogue on two Yankee Girl stories, and did a two-part story with She-Cat, Ms. Masque, and Firebeam. But this is part of a shift where I've been told I should feel more free to write side stories with the FemForce main characters and submit them, in addition to being a regular submitter with some of the giantess characters.

I need to take advantage of this opportunity, and write enough FemForce stories where I have a larger body of work that I can show off, without the giantess theme being quite as overwhelming. Which, hopefully, will give me something to point to if I ever pursue writing opportunities with larger comic book companies.

Which doesn't mean I won't be writing more of the Gammazon Housewife or Marla "Humonga" Allison. Those stories are fun!

As to the script itself. It's an 8 page story, featuring Stardust. Takes place in outer space, so I do get to use my science geek knowledge for a plot point or two. Also turns out, AC had a piece of cover art sitting around featuring Stardust which they hadn't been able to use for a while, so my story gives them an excuse to use that cover.

I think FemForce #158 is mostly in the can, and #159 (March / April) already has cover set, so I'm guessing this story will be in FemForce #160 or thereabouts, maybe sometime in June / July?

Well, I've long neglected my little website here.

But, I managed tonight to update the links on all the comic book issue pages.   Everything has been re-pointed to the correct links, required because AC comics did a big revamp not to long ago.   Check out the new AC website, they've got spaces for comments on every single back issue.

New page entry for FemForce #156 also posted.

Pretty soon, I'll do some reorganizing of the Commissioned Art section, and add some new stuff there.

Check out this post by AC Editor Mark Heike on the AC website:

http://www.accomics.com/?p=7373

In this news item, Mark partly answers the question "What does a comic book editor do?" with an example.

You'll see how Mark advises artist Dan Gorman to alter his approach to drawing page one of an upcoming story I wrote.   It's a great example of the collobrative nature of comic book production, as Mark advises Dan to deviate from drawing exactly what I wrote, and re-interpret the scene to serve the story better.

A quick little "behind the scenes" peek at the process of making comic books work, for those who are interested.   I feel a little bad that it's my script that causes the artist difficulty. But it becomes a good learning experience, at least.

The latest issue of FemForce is now available in the AC comics webstore.

Issue #155 of FemForce (or known as Gargantarama #18 on the flip-book side) is up for purchase here:

http://accomics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ACS&Product_Code=F126&Category_Code=FOTOAB

Again, this issue has two stories with my writing contributions.  Script work on the Yankee Girl story.  And both plot and script to the Humonga vs. Garganta story.

If you buy the issue, you can read my stories!  Then you can tell me if my dialouge in the WW2-era Yankee Girl story is corny!  Or complain to me about the puns in the witty banter in the Humonga vs. Garganta fight!

Diamond Previews DCD Number NOV100686 

For anyone who cares:

The upcoming issue of FemForce, issue #155, will have two stories with my input.

One is a Yankee Girl story, plotted and drawn by an Italian artist (Gianluca Cerritelli), then I provided the dialogue script. Gianluca had a basic script, but his english isn't the greatest. And editor Mark Heike wanted me to "punch up the script" a little, improving the dialogue, and adding some details to the plot. I'm pleased the final results.

The story takes place at the very end of World War II. For fans of super-strong ladies, it has Yankee Girl beating up nazi supermen. Along with obscure golden age gal Lady Fairplay, and new character Freedom Gale. And the baddies are lead by an uber-strong villainess named Baroness Von Schreck.

The other story is one that I wrote from scratch (and rewrote, and retooled, and rewrote again).

It's another story with Marla Allison, aka the giantess anti-heroine Humonga. Story is called "Making a Big Scene" and centers around a confrontation between Marla and the equally giantess-sized heroine Garganta at a movie shoot. More giantess catfight than I've ever written before in a single story.

If you are interested in this issue, and want to order it from your local comic store, here's the info you need to tell them:

Diamond Previews DCD Number NOV100686

If you do pre-order from your local comic book store,  try to get the order in by Feb 15th!  That way, it will count for the volume count for AC Comics through Diamond Distribution.  Need to keep that number up, so Diamond will continue to carry AC!

Just got a new script accepted by AC Comics and my editor is sending it off to the artist!  Well, it's not a NEW script, it's actually the oldest script I've written for AC that's still unpublished.    It's THAT script, the one which has gone through more drafts than ANYTHING I've ever written before. 

And boy, did Mark Heike and I go back and forth, hammering out the issues he saw with it.  In the end, we had both back-burnered it as not worth the trouble.  Today, he read the latest revision (half the length of previous version), liked my final tweaks,  and saw it fit really well with some current other plotlines in FemForce.

Feels really good to see the efforts from literally years ago poised to produce some end-product.

New section to the web site, for highlighted pieces of commissioned artwork, as appropriate to the website.

Opening up with the efforts of two talented artists:  Jean Sinclair from Brazil, who I've been buying commissions from for years, and Eric Alan Nelson, who's drawn two stories for AC Comics, and soon to be published with Avatar Comics.

Check it out here:   http://www.ericjohnsoncomics.com/commissionedart.htm

Well, I'm going to admit I totally neglected my commitment to keep this blog up.

But, I have been doing some writing every day.  Private writing exercises on a very regular schedule.  So, there is that...

Work and other stuff has been very time-occupying lately.  I have gotten a little progress on a script for AC.  And I have some other nibbles on other projects.

Hope to have news and more significant stuff to post soon.

Mark Heike, the editor at AC Comics accepted the script I mailed him this morning.

And he's already assigned it to the artist I preferred for the project.

I probably shouldn't reveal anything substantial about it.  Not my place.  Should wait for the AC sales blurbs to come out.

But I'm sure it's okay to say it's another "Ali Bastur and her Forty Feet" story.

It may also be my most laugh-out-loud funny script yet. At least I think so, allowing for the fact that humor is subjective.

The cartoony characters of Ali Bastur and the giant genie Shakurbuti do lend themselves to less subtle humor than I put into the stories of Humonga or the Gammazon Housewife stories.  Of course, variety is the spice of life.

It's an 8 page long story, so it will be longer than any previous "Ali Bastur" story.  But it's still a tight little script, accomplishing quite a bit while having comedy on every page. It's got an interesting and amusing dilema for the protagonists to overcome, and I think a clever and fun solution in the end.

Really looking forward to seeing how it turns out.   The big drawback of the comic book industry, the final product is now months away.