All Webcomics and Online Cartoonists Are [NOT] Created Equal

Online Comics Genres Include

• ·       Fanart
• ·       Doujinshi
• ·       Comic Books
• ·       Comic Strips
• ·       Manga
• ·       Indie Comics

A web comic strip is NOT the same thing as a web comic book. Or online manga. They're all different. 

Online comics is a genre and medium, like indie comics and anime, that has different formats and subgenres.

You see, someone's always always gotta have the last laugh....

And I'm afraid it can never be YOU (i.e. me).

Or at least, people aren't "allowed" to know about it.

Well, that's what the American Media Mainstream tells us anyway.

I'm afraid we're gonna have to keep those billion (or so) video views of yours on the hush hush.

Practice and Training

Practice and  Training

Made some friends recently. To celebrate the Season of Evil, I drew some of them....

Listening to: Manson: Long Hard Road Out of Hell

Black Power Struggle (Give a Salute)

COPS! Bad boy bad boy, whachoo gonna doo. Whachoo gonna do when dey poop on you

You can RUN, But ya KANT HIDE from JOHNNY LAW!

Okay, Doujinshi Soldiers. By the time I link this blog entry to twitter.....

I expect to see two very derivative doujin circles draw MANY tributes to it, with HALF those doujin being the worst 6-year-old American art ever created. And on the other end of the spectrum,  I expect to see the polar opposite on the other pages. Gobs and gobs of innovative French and Japanese art, inspired by this.

Gets em every time.....DOUJIN CIRCLE JERKS, GO!!!!!

The Future of Media Lies in the Embrace of Technology

Predictions for Broadcasting and TV, online and off...

Cartoon Network.com is not just a broadcasting leader, but now a tech leader, much like Roku, Netflix, Amazon, and DirecTV, and of course Apple and Google

Online Video, broadcasted through your TV with an HDMI Cable.

Plex on Roku, TV, and PC. An interchanging software device on media servers. An interchanging mix of consumer and media company created, downloaded, streamed, ripped, and torrented content.

Torrents will proliferate, and make it easier and more convenient for people to watch their favorite shows and movies at no cost, but there will probably be more ads in websites and torrents in the future. Content creators will get a bigger piece of the pie

Live Broadcasts (CN) will also proliferate, with much of it being led by stuff like CN Live Broadcasts, and of course, my own site over at ActiontoonTV.com.

I predict it's only a matter of time. Adult Swim WILL branch out into its own Network, and become less connected to its parent company, CN, just like Boomerang and CN used to be with TBS when Turner was in charge, but instead of only being from 9 p.m. - 5/6 a.m., it will be 24/7, for males ages 18-34, with an interchanging daily-nightly lineup of comedy and anime action cartoons

Update: Turns out the technology I forsaw already HAS A NAME, and it is DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), and was released and developed by Sony in 2003.

Why No One Ever Gets Their Own Project in L.A.

People love to think cultural understanding and talent are the only thing that factors into success in the TV and comics industry. It's not.

The prerequisite is you genuinely have to work in obscurity, often if not always without pay or recognition for at LEAST 2 to 3 DECADES. And genuinely you have to be 34 years old, or older before anyone in L.A. even TALKS to you. No one in a truly powerful position ever got their during childhood or overnight...

Hey, Grandma?

Do you have the number of a local locksmith?

I'm gonna have him create a skeleton key to the car you have in our garage, behind your back, so I can, y'know, leave the fucking house more than 2 times a year.........!

Photo's by my wife, Nicole...

Well, sort of wife anyway...She's an amazing photographer....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoportphotographynature/

http://www.fotocommunity.com/photographer/nicole-cook/899525

Atomic Booms of the Day

Anime I'm watchin'?

Street Fighter

Manga I'm readin'?

Billy Bat

&

Claymore

Favorite Free Legal Anime video I'm diggin on at the Moment?

BlazBlu Alter Memory

SPECIAL AWARDS CEREMONY EDITION: THE COOLIES!

AND NOW, THE COOLIES NOMINEES ARE:

Uncyclopedia
Anime News Nina
Broken Element (YouTube AMV Grand Master)
CidTheKittyIsFun
Raynart
Fung Chin Pang
Franime
Williams Street
Titmouse

And the winner IS!.......[opens envelope]

Fuck it, YOU'RE ALL WINNERS IN MY EYES!!!

I love what every single one of you do!! Keep up the great work guys and gals!

What a Lovely day (and night)

Gee. Things sure do get a lot easier when certain people stop attempting to win "by turning everybody against you" anymore.

I did find it kind of funny....

and ANNOYING...that so many on DeviantART often thought I was "ripping off" Bleach.

All I can say is, CHECK THE TIMELINE! It doesn't lie, at least in terms of AMERICAN history...

Latest Graphic Masterworks, from the Master's Castle....Oh boy. It's a Holiday Again: Better Art Firepower Day

Happy Better Art Firepower Day

Things I do now with my art, techniques and whatnot, that I DIDN'T do before?

Make art a  HABIT. Make it a LIFESTYLE. Don't make art a "Market Product" or "Job", or even "some talent you want to show off and impress people, and make friends with". Make it something you love to do all the time, not something you HAVE to do to please your superiors. As impossible as it might have seemed 20 years ago in our "little" industry, the internet has made this kind of creator lifestyle possible. Live to draw, and Draw to live. But don't draw to "make a living". That would be missing the point. Especially in the current international comics climate. 

I always made writing a habit, but never my art. The only reason I got these 4 comics pages done in the last 2 days (what has ended up being roughly 2 unconscious pages a day, not counting sketchbook abstracted stuff) was because it IS becoming a habit for me. It's slowly beginning to turn into something I do compulsively. When in doubt, DRAW CLOSE-UPS. Not made "for the internet", but instead "for me, myself, and I."

Publishing your comics you draw as a hobby, online, in a blog or on DeviantART is icing on the cake. But it should definitely be an afterthought. Not the Bulk of your Thought. Publication doesn't have to be your motivation for drawing comics. Besides, the internet has made the definition of "modern day publishing and distribution" as subjective as the definitions of art and literature itself!

Want to know who my favorite person is?

My favorite artist and writer? Me

My favorite person? Me

Person I like the most? Me

I don't think I'm better than everyone else because I'm not, but I do trust, like, and love myself enough that I like myself the most out of all the people I know.

I'm not the greatest artist or writer in history. But that isn't the point.

I trust myself. And I like myself. My admiration of myself has become something of an unshakable foundation.

I'm my favorite person. That happens when your self-confidence and self-esteem increases, you gain enough experience to appreciate your own originality and uniqueness, and you realize you're more unique of a person than you used to give yourself credit for. It comes with spiritual growth and experience

Loving Thyself also makes it easier to stay in shape and get more work done.

How to draw Combat and Fighting: It's All About Reference Material

Punching: In terms of what to draw inspiration from, Mavel, DC, and manga/anime shonen and seinen are GOOD,  but the best poses in fight drawings usually are based on real anatomy and poses. I find not just martial arts, but general sports (boxing, kick-boxing, MMA), make for really great reference, in terms of drawing realistic and fast looking punches. It can be difficult to act out punches if your not athletic, as I am not, so sports photography online for sports in general provides you everything you need to portray the human anatomy in action.

Punches can be difficult to draw and engineer from just your imagination. Boxing photography in particular is all about the authentic motion of the punch in a "controlled environment", without, you know, getting into an actual street fight.

I've always liked fighting, when I was 8 years old and going to school, I would constantly check out books on sports boxing from the school library. I really honestly wanted to become a boxer when I had the energy of a kid. I was a lot stronger as a child than I am as an adult. Athletes aside, isn't every guy?

Self-Improvement Binge Thursdays

Didn't draw or write much today. I reserved today for hard things:

Reading 5-10 pages of spiritual literature
Making my dinner
Grooming
Meditating for 10 minutes in total, in 2 5 minute sessions
Walking on the treadmill for 5 minutes

Just spending the whole day pursuing what is essentially good old fashioned self-mastery

Didn't really go on the internet today, other than to blog a little bit.

The Power of Now, The Power of the Now Moment, the only moment that actually HAS POWER

Do you want power? Spiritual Power? Material power is less important, as many people have attained material power and still do not feel love, happiness, satisfaction, joy or fulfillment in their lives NOW, even though they include Business Leaders and Magnates, Celebrities, Artists, Writers, Directors, Producers, Success Stories, Beautiful People, People with drugs or sex, Politicians, Managers, and Billionaires.  How is someone happier than all those other people and yet has less than one-tenth the power. Because the powerful people of this world are not living in the moment. They are not seeking true power, which is spiritual power. The power to live whole-heartedly in  this moment. Most of us, when we start off, only have one True Power, and that One True Power is What We Do With Our mind and spirit and being in this very moment. The Now Moment. If we are wasting that moment, the Now Moment, there is really no hope for us, because The Now Moment, this Moment happening Right this very minute, is the only Moment in our Lives that we can truly control. We will only BE productive with ourselves, our personal lives, and our careers if we LIVE IN THIS MOMENT. NOWHERE ELSE.

Current Activities

So I'm saving up my paychecks to pay for a cushy office downtown. A second home, where I can work, do my paperwork, and build onto my newest business idea.

In terms of the Southeast United States, in terms of comics and animation, now many studios of animation just refer to themselves as "offices". That's exactly what I'm going to do. I always wanted to have my own office. You start off small, paying a monthly fee, getting your act together. But things build up over time. It's a crash course in the business world you don't need to  go to school for. Rent out an office space.

And well, that's ONE way to get an office job. Rent an office space in an office building and start your own. It's a guaranteed hire and you  get to be your own boss. 

Seeing Nicole start her own photography business in Oregon, made me want to start my own local business as well, but in an actual office in my own industry. Media and Tech. I don't WANT my wife to be the only one who starts her own business in my life. Seems like a sweet, comfy gig to me. 

How much of my company will be an office, and how much will be a studio?

Animation companies tend to call their base of business operations "studios", and Tech and Comic Book Publishers tend to call their HQ "offices" I prefer offices.

But if you're going to start an enterprise on a higher level, you need some form of a base of operations. Technically, you don't need a license (business or otherwise or connections) just to rent out an office or offices. It really only takes money to make payments on the lease.  

Japanese Animation and Comic Book Art. The New Status Quo Rock and Roll of American Art

Being an American artist and sketching Japanese anime and manga drawings is the new normal. Anime-influenced comic books is the new normal. That's how everyone draws now. It's normal. It's then new status quo to draw in the anime style on paper with a pencil or ink. Definitely makes things a bit easier to get done when it's like that, when it's not in the minority. With American artists my age, anime is the majority. Not the minority.

Teachers and parents hated rock and roll, The Beatles, and Elvis too, when the Beatles and Elvis first got big. Now rock music is so ubiquitous, it influences almost all other genres.

Video Editing, Literary Self-Publishing, Video Broadcasting, and other things the Internet Made 100 Times Easier

No one used to know the first thing about video editing, self-publishing, and video-broadcasting. Because to do those said things in the past, require a massively higher price to create and manufacture, engineer, launch, and make on a computer. They all used to need esoteric and elaborate computer software and systems. Now if you have the right software downloaded for free, and the right website that specializes in these fields, you can carve out your own stake in these emerging fields too.

Anyone can. That's the amazing part of it, even if it still  takes a lot of business, file management, software knowledge, and marketing smarts to succeed at it. Overall, it's easier to get a lot more done, and the potential for individual profit might increase quite a bit in the near or distant future. 

True, these fields still take raw know how. Just not as much as they used to. 

The Importance of ISBN in Self-Publishing Comics and Books

ISBN #

If you want to publish a book or comic book, you're going to need a ISBN and the barcode that goes with it. An ISBN can be used by retailers to identify things like price, category, and the title of your work. It is crucial if you want to sell your work.

Nuff said.

YouTube? The Inventor?

You don't GET groupies, money, fame, or fans for inventing YouTube the way you do when you make a bestselling comic, movie, novel, manga, or TV show. You don't get ANY rewards, including credit for inventing YouTube.

Trust me. I know.

New Art Lesson: How to Draw the Things & People You HATE: The Ugly and Unwanted

It's nice that people draw what they like. But it's easy to get artist's block if you only draw the things you like.

What you should do is draw EVERYTHING. Get a knack for drawing bad and ugly things too.

Like all those unpleasant animation cartoon show images on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. As one of my art teachers once said, in response to me pointing out an ugly repulsive advertising art piece in a Rolling Stone issue

"Well. SOMEBODY had to draw it. Didn't they??"

If something scares, threatens, or attacks you in the media, it's your job to confront your fear and caricature the faces, people, and things on TV and the internet and newspapers you don't like. In many ways that takes away whatever form of power it has over you. Whatever fear-power something has can be taken away by getting caricature treatment on your page.

SCORPIO: Mah gurl, Nicole, is ah, Gemini. SCORPIO'S MY ZODIAC SIGN

Here We Go....Freestylers!

"SCORPIO"

Cop Drama

So I had a long, LONG conversation with a police officer at my front door, giving my testimony to a case involving a longstanding dispute between me and either one neighbor or numerous bad, noisy neighbors in my backyard and general neighborhood. It's reached what seems to at least be a bit of a turning point in my favor. The cop was very kind to me, and sympathized with me. Explained to me what she could and could not do about the situation. My stress level from being in social conflict did not help. The investigation is ongoing.

You do know I'm gonna call the COPS on this douche, right Mom....? She didn't seem to think I'd go through WITH calling the cops on my neighbors

And that's exactly what I did.

I filed a noise ordinance violation complaint against the noisiest guy in my entire neighborhood.

Balls of steel I have. Were you aware?

I may be passive sometimes, but I'm no pushover like that guy thinks I am, and I proved it to him today.

It's a very Nightmare Next Door-esque situation. I live in one of the creepiest neighborhoods around, and I don't have enough money or friends to get the hell out of there. People expect me to just lie down on my bed and let myself get ear tortured by sociopaths.

That's the second time I've called the cops on my neighbors, two separate incidents.

But I wouldn't be doing all this if I didn't think I deserved some peace and quiet too, and not have to be a victim of YOUR drinking habits.

"New" FIlmmaking, Comics and Storyboard Storytelling Tropes Are Finally Established....

In Pop Storytelling Culture.

But actually, as a comic book and film theorist, I've been aware of these storytelling elements for a long time. All my favorite comics use these tropes: Akira, Moebius, Cerebus, Blame, Blade of the Immortal, Manga, indie comics. 

Just slowing things down and letting the reader wander about the story.

TV Tropes refers to said concepts as "Decompressed Comics" and the "Aspect Montage"

They were not always called this, but these two names seem to be turning into a pair of internet buzz terms, so sure, I'll flow with it.

I recognize these storytelling tropes because you can in many ways find them in my own paneling design style.

Social Media Profiles

Social Media Profiles:
Joseph Social Media Profile

Blogger / http://jm-macabre.blogspot.com
YouTube / www.youtube.com/user/SplitAtomBoom
Twitter / www.twitter.com/SplitAtomBoom
DeviantART / http://spindack.deviantart.com
Webcomics Nation / www.webcomicsnation.com/jm
Adult Swim dot come / user name: Spindack
Lulu http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/joseph-alberts/end-times-one-shot-volume-1/paperback/product-21038693.html
LinkedIn / www.linkedin.com/pub/joseph-m-alberts/60/94b/360

Peers and Colleagues

The only peers my own age who are around the actual same age as me, that I'd actually want to acknowledge would be Raynart and FCP (Fung Chin Pang).

They're Asian artists who are famous online too. I hope I get to meet them some day, even if it means traveling to Hong-Kong, France, and Japan.

Chinese and Franco-Japanese manga and anime, those two specific region based style of anime and manga, are on the rise, and there is some very creative stuff coming out of those regions.

The Best American-Made Shows to Emerge in the Last Five Years

      Here is a list of the most well made American made shows, in recent memory. 

      Ben 10: Alien Force

·        Star Wars: The Clone Wars

·        Aqua Teen Hunger Force

·        Breaking Bad

·        Toonami

·        Regular Show