My sister and I are second generation Puerto Ricans. Our father passed away last year, and in celebration of his memory, ministry, and heritage, we are running a live role-playing game on Twitch.TV/jon_matos, this Saturday at 1PM EST.
To help Puerto Rico in their time of need, donate on my Facebook page, or to support disaster relief, participate in the game, and/or get exclusive swag, donate on PodPledge.
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Greetings guys! It's Jon, from GraphicallyChristian.com, posting to ask for help with a contest I've submitted to over at Webtoons.com. I've started a webcomic over there called "Oliver Pitt and the Sentient Salad Bar", which has the chance to be featured regularly on the site. The contest also has a grand prize of $30,000. If I win, it would help a lot with my student loans, and maybe even jumpstart a career in comics full-time. The contest officially ends today, but if all of you could rate my comic a "10", and possibly even favorite and share some of the comics, (part of the judging criteria seems to be socially-based,) that might work to get the judges' attention.
The comic can be found at this link: http://bit.ly/1zCQ5UP
Thanks in advance for any help, and thanks for providing encouragement for my art and walk with the Lord.
As I prepare to draw Episode 4 of my webcomic, (called Oliver Pitt, for the uninitiated,) my brain is still on Christmas vacation. Specifically, I’m remembering with fondness how much I enjoyed the Y: The Last Man hardcover collection my sister gave me. And now, as the visions of sugarplums fade from my dreams, and remember the chapters from Marvel: The Untold Story I used to endure the 3 hour commute home, earlier today. The contrast between Brian K. Vaughn’s dystopian fantasy and the reality of Marvel Comics’s rocky history is startling.
I realize one is just entertainment, while the other is, well, “that’s life”. But, since 2002 (when Spider-man came out,) and I first learned the story of Stan Lee joining Marvel at 15, and revolutionizing comics as we know it, I pictured a glamorous ending of “and Marvel lives happily ever after”. It wouldn’t be long until I learned how many artists resented Stan: for not respecting their creative rights, for not giving them due credit, and for towing the company line; (Marvel was, after all, owned by Stan’s uncle, Martin Goodman.)
But why should this haunt me, a humble web cartoonist? Don’t I have control over my destiny?
Well, no, I don’t. No one does. Even in a world of Kickstarter success stories and accessible web marketing tools, I walk in the shadow of the comic legends before me: like Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, and, as the comic below commemorates, Brian K. Vaughn. The writer of great comics, like Saga, Pride of Baghdad, and Y: The Last Man, also seems to taunt me. Like Ebenezer’s last ghost, he points at his resume in stony silence, like its my gravestone.
So I’ll never be Brian K. Vaughn. And, you know what? That’s okay! It’s time to embrace my inner child, lull him into a false sense of security, and gently snap his neck. My comics don’t need to reference the halcyon days of Marvel’s golden age, nor do they need to deconstruct race, gender, and politics in every panel. These aren’t ghosts to fear, because the more I consume, the more I learn what works and how to take things to the next level. Kinda like Pacman.
Speaking of cute little circular characters, I hope you can check out my talking olive comic, in its current home at Webtoons.com. Its currently in a webcomics contest, and, if enough of you rate my comic a “10”, I could win $30,000 and get the comic featured as a bi-weekly series on their site. For an amateur such as myself, that would be quite a blessing.
And, as a bonus, it wouldn’t be the last time you see “Y: The Last Yam”!
Greetings CCAS family! Jon of GraphicallyChristian.com here to update you on our latest creations, and site innovations. But first, I'd love to hear from some of you about how Alpha Omega Con went. Our site is proud to have been a sponsor of the event, and we hope to get our their next year to celebrate Christ and comics with you guys!
The growing GC team is happy to present our latest issue of Gauntlet Magazine: Banner Over Ashes. Focusing on the theme of "doubt and encouragement", the zine features uplifting poetry from friend and colleague Jessica Contreras, and introduces author Melissa Matos' high fantasy series Gifted. World Without Water, which follows a Jersey tour boat captain dealing with seemingly random natural disasters, such as the sudden transparency of water, continues in Sowing Seeds in Sinking Sand.
The issue is FREE on GraphiclyChristian.com, but for those who want to read it "on the go", it is also available for purchase in our new eBook store! Issues #1 and #2 can be bought for $2.99 per eBook bundle, which includes that Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire, iOS, and Adobe Reader compatible files.
Hope to hear from readers old and new, and some stories from Alpha Omega Con! God Bless, everybody!
Jonathan Matos
Greetings, artists and writers! My name is Jonathan Matos, and I’m one half of Graphically Christian Comics.
For a few years now, my partner-in-crime Matt Snipes and I have been working hard at bringing our creative visions to life: making a statement while also being creative. Our statement? That our great God wants to be worshipped with good art. Our creative medium? For now: magazines.
Our first issue, “Call to Action”, was a combination of comics, short stories, poetry, and single page art. It is being received fairly well, but we as look to use Patreon to fund our initiative, we believe our fans need more for their money.
This is where you come in. Our goal is to create enough material for two separate magazines every season. This fall, our theme is “doubt and encouragement”. Create a webcomic, graphic short story, or start a full comic series with us, and after reviewing it, based on its spiritual and artistic merit, we may include it in our anthology: Gauntlet Comics!
Or perhaps you’ve been writing Christian poetry, short stories, essays, or you use photography and digital illustration to express yourself spiritually. Whether you’re in the valley or on the mountain spiritually, your writing could be just what we need for Gauntlet Magazine, Issue 2!
To submit, simply send your comics or graphic narratives to: contact @ jonmatos.com, with “GAUNTLET COMICS SUBMISSION” in the subject line.
If you’re send in you’re writing or one-shot graphic piece, send that over to: jdmatos @ graphiclychristian.com, with “GAUNTLET MAGAZINE SUBMISSION” in the subject line.
Our first priority is to make this initiative a self-sustaining project. We assure you that, while we cannot offer salaried positions or royalties, we are not profiting from your work. All the proceeds from the site or magazine sales are going right back into the costs of running the company. Once our profits begin to exceed our outreach budget, any potential benefits will go right to our contributing artists and writers.
In addition to your submissions, we ask for your thoughts and prayers as we attempt to make Graphically Christian Comics a bastion for worshipping through creativity!
- Sincerely,
Jon Matos
As Christians, I think it's our duty to preach not only where righteousness comes from, but also where evil comes from. And it doesn't come from video games:
This exhibit sounds awesome! So jealous of the Brits!
Can anyone else vouch for these books?
Anyone else hear of the new Leftovers series? Here's my take on it: http://graphiclychristian.com/?p=326
Please allow me to introduce myself... (Leave it to me to start my first post on a Christian site with a line from "Sympathy for the Devil"...) My name, as you can see, is Jonathan Matos, but I mostly go by "Jon". I've been doing comics projects for the past (7?) years, although since most of that was in between school and church work, there wasn't really time to blossom. However, after four years of Graphic Design experience, I'm ready to get out in the field in any way possible.
My dream, I would say, is to make creator-owned work, written by me, or at least helping to publish comics by others doing amazing work. I'm working now on a monsters book that deals with Hinduism and Christianity, and hope to submit that out in the next few months.
I'm also blogging, mostly about comics and Christianity over at GraphicallyChristian.com. We're also working on releasing the first issue of our magazine, The Gauntlet, first at Wizard World Philadelphia and later this summer online. We hope to get Christian artists to submit anything from short comic stories, single page art pieces, poetry, photos, and short stories. We just launched our Facebook page and Twitter, which you can follow if you're interested. (We'll be posting the theme for issue #2 around June 20th.) We also have forums and would love to see you guys posting in there. I'll probably posting links to my blog posts here, as well as supporting any other creators I can on the site. Looking forward to the encouragement and criticism, (however the Spirit leads. lol.)
Overall I'm excited to find a community of Christians who art into comics, and hope to get to be a blessing on this site and through my own.
