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School has officially started for me this week. I haven't had any kids yet, but they'll be there on Monday. It's hard leaving my little buddy and beautiful wife to work all day, but I endure it because I want to provide for them.

Got some writing done yesterday and a little drawing done too. Oddly enough, even though I technically have less time to work during the school year, the structure of it actually helps me get more accomplished than in the summer.

Hopefully will have some new art to share soon, and maybe by this time next year I'll even have a book or two finished. We'll see.

Keep Soaring,
Branson

What comics/graphic novels would you recommend to a friend who had interest in getting back into comics? 

Off the top of my mind I would say, in no ranking order; Batman Hush, Superman Birthright, The Walking Dead, Y the last man, (Samson the Nazirite of course :) ... but I'd like to hear what this group would recommend.

CCAS went hispanic this week with coverage from Integridad.com and EnlaceMusicial.com Zondervan y Sociedad Cristiana de Artes en Comic-Con 2012.  

See http://www.integridad.com/noticias/sociedad/zondervan-y-sociedad-cristiana-de-artes-en-comic-con-2012/

That's a question I've been dealing with lately.  

If you poke around my art posted here, you'll discover a web comic that did for a short time called Outcasts.  It was an allegory of how traditionalism was making our churches incapable of doing what the Lord called us to do.  Then, after actually serving on staff at a church, I came to realize that the argument isn't so cut and dried, that there are things on the "nontraditional" approach that are just as paralyzing.  (As I said in my previous post, the Lord had a lot to teach me over the years.)  So, I went back and started to rewrite my outcasts story, giving it a more balanced view.  Well, in the process of writing, I came to realize that it felt like it was the middle of a story more so than the beginning of one.  I needed a prequel to establish the world I was creating these characters in.  

Hence my most recent project, for now simply titled "MM."  I've drawn and redrawn the first page four times now, and the script that I started writing tonight is completely different from any of those four versions.  If I were to take all the time that I've spent starting this project over and over again, I might have been finished with it by now.

The good news, though, is that I'm very pleased with how the script is turning out now.  It took a while, but this project is finally starting to take shape in my mind.  

FYI:  If you spend the time figuring out the details of your characters and the settings, getting to know them as intimately as you can and fleshing out every detail you can think of, then writing the actual plot becomes so much simpler.  

Excited for where this is going, and what the LORD plans to do with it.

Keep soaring,

Branson 

Hello everyone,

Wow....to be honest, I completely forgot that I had this until I received a message a little while ago. How is everyone?!?

I've been spending the past couple of years honing my skills a little, reading some books and trying some different techniques and things. I can definitely see improvement in my work, so praise God that he's working in me still.

Still nothing new on the project list. Still have a ton of ideas, several started projects, and too little finished ones. But, given all that I've learned in the recent months concerning art and story writing, maybe I didn't need to finish them because I still had some things to learn. I look back at my artwork from four and five years ago and think, "Wow...I used to think that was my peak!!" But now, I can see how God has matured me and taught me that, while I can be satisfied in what He does through me, I should never think that I have nothing new to learn.

Encouraged about what neurons are firing in the brain. Perhaps one day soon, some of them will see the light of day. Until then, I will continue to wait as God grows me and changes me into what He wants me to be.

Keep Soaring,
Branson

The Remnant is a project by Joshua David Ling (Me) to write action-oriented stories around the rhythm and rhyme of hip hop. Most albums are exciting full stories from beginning to end. The purpose of this style of storytelling is 1. To Glorify God, 2. To bring back bardic storytelling in a modern way, and 3. to speak to teens and young adults about standing up for what they believe in.

All music from The Remnant is free. If you wish to pay however, we will graciously accept your gift and put it toward making The Remnant’s stories even better.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this. Stand up brothers! Never stop praising God!

To download or listen to the music: http://joshuatheremnant.bandcamp.com/

For More Information: http://theremnant.imaginationchronicles.com/

My good friend and acclaimed horror writer, Author Sue Dent,(http://www.suedent.net/)...who I lovingly call "The Queen of the Chiristan Undead"... has started an online campaign to fund my adaptation of her wonderful novella, Electric Angel, into a graphic novel.

So if you have a hankerin' to see me dive back into GN and sequential artwork, take a visit and do what you can to help make this a reality in 2013:

http://www.indiegogo.com/electricangelgraphicnovel

Hey all, I was hoping someone who really has a talent for stories and such wouldn't mind reviewing a 20 page script I made for my Pilgrim's Digress story. It is the story of floating islands, and zombies, and all that silliness that I posted back a few years ago but never finished:

If you are pretty good at the art of storytelling, and if you would be kind enough to review the DOCX file, and give me some input, I would be ever so grateful! Just message me, and I'll send you the DOCX! :->

Being primarily a fan of more mainstream comics like Marvel and DC superheroes, it sometimes takes me a while to hear about and get into comics of other genres and companies. But I had heard about Image's series The Walking Dead from several people and wanted to check it out. So, earlier this year, I started reading the collected graphic novels from the beginning, and I was quickly hooked. I flew through all the volumes that were out at the time (1 through 15) in about a month. And I can safely say now that The Walking Dead is not quite like any other comic book series I have ever read.

In case you're unfamiliar, the book is about the zombie apocalypse and the adventures of Officer Rick Grimes and others as they struggle to survive in a world ruled by the dead. But it's also more than that. It's also about Rick and the other characters as people, as individuals, and how their traumatic circumstances strain their lives and characters and relationships. It causes them to rethink everything they thought they knew about life and humanity and morality, and thereby poses thought-provoking questions and dilemmas to the reader as well. In the introduction to the first volume of the series, author Robert Kirkman stated that he wanted The Walking Dead to be more than the shock value of zombies jumping out from behind corners and scaring people; he wanted it to be a realistic and poignant character progression as well. Having now followed all the characters on their journeys up through issue #100, which was just released earlier this month, I can assert confidently that Kirkman has achieved this goal well.

Like I said, this comic is not like most comics I have read. It features zombies instead of superheroes; the protagonists don't wear colorful costumes or have extraordinary powers, and they don't always even act heroically. The story is set in a grim, gritty, mostly realistic world (except for the obvious fact of the zombies) in which danger and death are very real. When a character dies, even a main character, they can't just come back to life a few issues later due to a clone or a retcon and act like nothing has changed; they are dead, truly dead. The only way they can come back is as a zombie which has to be re-killed, and the other characters all feel the weight of death hanging over them. It can be a rather sobering story.

The Walking Dead is a good, exciting story with well-developed characters, but of course it isn't for everyone. Aside from the subject matter and the realistic setting, another thing that makes it different from most mainstream comics is its content. As a zombie narrative, The Walking Dead contains a lot of violence and gore, as well as strong language and some sexual content. Even though the illustrations are all in black and white instead of living color, this much dark content might be enough to have a desensitizing effect on some readers instead of a sobering one. Readers, especially Christian readers, should use discretion when considering reading The Walking Dead. Although there are some benefits that can be possibly gleaned from the story, it may be necessary for some readers to forgo this series if it's too disturbing or offensive to them, and there is absolutely no shame in following such a conviction.

But, you may ask, what benefits could possibly be gleaned from reading such a dark, violent comic? For one thing, as I have said, the character development is great. The reader gets to see people from all walks of life unite together under a common threat. Throughout the course of the series, we get to know Rick and his wife and son, his best friend and fellow police officer, a simple farmer and his family, some prison inmates, a wandering woman with a sword, and lots of other characters. Their interactions and relationships with each other are usually portrayed believably and enjoyably. There are even some religious characters who I believe have been portrayed fairly and accurately, despite the secular content of much of the series. The farmer, Hershel Greene, retains his strong faith in God despite the tragedy he has endured, and reads from 1 Corinthians 13 when his daughter Maggie gets married to Glenn. Later in the series, a minister named Gabriel struggles with guilt over not trying to save more people when the zombie attacks first occurred. Kirkman introduces a variety of different characters with very different backgrounds and personalities, but develops them all well and depicts them all fairly.

A new character has also been recently introduced who, while not necessarily religious himself, may still be acting as a religious symbol of some sort. In issue #91, the reader sees a man from another community besides Rick's. The man has long, dark hair and a beard, and when he eventually introduces himself to Rick, he says that his name is Paul Monroe, but his friends have given him the nickname of Jesus. After all the hardships they've been through and enemies they've had to fight off, Rick and his group are initially distrusting of Jesus and tie him up for a while. However, Jesus just wants to introduce Rick's group to his own community of survivors, hoping that they can be mutually beneficial to each other. Although he has only appeared in a few issues so far, this Jesus character has not shown the reader any indication that he is deceitful or treacherous in any way, and Rick's son Carl affirmed that he thought Jesus was a good guy. Maybe this character is Kirkman's way of trying to bring a symbol of hope and genuine goodness into the dark, broken world he has created. I'll be interested to see more of this character and where Rick's interactions with him will take them in the future.

In addition to all the well-developed characters and the entertainment purposes for those who can tolerate it, I believe that one of the chief benefits of The Walking Dead is simply that it reflects truth. It shows us truth about humanity, namely the truth that we are broken and depraved and incapable of saving ourselves from destruction.

You see, the interesting thing about this series is that, even though it features zombies, the zombies are not really the villains. The zombies are mindless creatures acting only on natural impulses, incapable of putting together any elaborate, villainous scheme; they're more like a force of nature, a mere established fact of the way things work in this fictional universe. The real villains who oppose the humans are, in fact, other humans. Sadly, the breakdown of society as we know it does not see all the survivors working together for the greater good; instead, it brings out the worst in humanity and shows what people are really like when driven to madness by tragedy and not constricted by society's laws. Human survivors fight each other, betray each other, torture and rape and kill each other, often senselessly and needlessly, sometimes for fun, or sometimes just to gain power or survival in this depraved new world. In addition to protecting themselves from zombies, Rick and his allies have to deal with conflicts within their own groups, and with other groups of humans who want only to steal, kill, and destroy. Sometimes, when reading through the issues, I would get so enthralled in the human vs. human conflict and the character development it brought about that I almost forgot the story was about zombies. In short, it is not the case in this story that the humans are the “good guys” and the zombies are the “bad guys.” Despite the black-and-white drawings, the characters' moral standing is much more complex and multifaceted, and humans cause just as much death and destruction as anyone else.

The Walking Dead reminds me of a quote from the famed twentieth century American author Flannery O'Connor, who was a devout Catholic. She once said that sometimes the author of a story or literary work can, without necessarily pointing overtly or directly to God as the solution to our fallen nature, still show the truth that we are lost and fallen. She writes, “[the author] may find in the end that instead of reflecting the image at the heart of things, he has only reflected our broken condition and, through it, the face of the devil we are possessed by. This is a modest achievement, but perhaps a necessary one." I don't know what Robert Kirkman's personal beliefs are, and given the content of his work, I somehow doubt that he's a Christian. But, based on some characters he's written, he seems to be at least somewhat interested in and open to Christianity, and at the very least, whether or not he was trying to, I believe he has used The Walking Dead to illustrate poignantly and believably that mankind is twisted, depraved, and in need of salvation.

However, even I, after reading the series for so long, still sometimes have to wonder how much dark content I'm willing to tolerate and at what point it becomes less of a criticism on humanity's flaws and more of a reveling in violence and gore. There have been some excellent storylines and character moments over the course of the series, and I hate to say it, but after 100 issues, it almost seems like the book is getting a bit redundant. Similar plot lines continue to develop; Rick and his group will meet a community of allies who they can benefit from, or a group of enemies who they must overcome. People always die along the way, and sooner or later, any form of good civilization they could have is ultimately overrun by the zombies or by one man's evil to another. The current villain, Negan, seems very similar to the earlier and better-known villain, the Governor, in terms of his mercilessness and needless brutality; so far, I haven't seen much development that would make him a distinct character of his own. And this most recent issue, #100, featured an extremely violent act by Negan against a protagonist who had been in the story for a very long time, and for whatever reason, this act seemed to disturb me more than all the other violent ones I had seen so far.

The Walking Dead has indeed been good for showing us our broken condition and the devil we are possessed by, but if it's already shown us that time and time again, then is it still necessary to keep doing so? I don't know, and I'm hoping The Walking Dead hasn't reached that point yet, but I'm starting to fear that it might have. Part of me wants to keep reading the series, and I probably will read at least a few more issues, to see what happens next and if the storyline takes any new and interesting turns and if anything edifying or profound is done with the character called Jesus. But if the series begins to repeat itself over and over without doing anything new or different or more uplifting, then I may stop reading it soon.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that The Walking Dead is a well-written, truthful story that can be good for those who are mature and discerning enough to appreciate it--but each individual reader must decide how much they're willing to tolerate and how long they want to stick with the series. There is no verse in the Bible that says, "Thou shalt read this comic book because it only hath some violence, but not that comic book because it hath a lot more violence," so Christians must rely on their own conscience and convictions in deciding what to read, and not read anything that would tempt them into sin or desensitize them to the darkness of the world. Optimistically, I'm hoping to be able to enjoy and learn from The Walking Dead for a good while more to come--but only time will tell what the future of this series will bring, whether it will continue to reveal truthful insight into the nature of humanity, or just more unnecessary death and destruction. 

HarperCollins’ Zondervan & the Christian Comic Arts Society Experience Multiple Levels of Success at Comic-Con 2012.

 CCAS Talent and Professionals Shine at the Largest Comic Book & Pop-Culture Convention in the World

San Diego, CA – Last week, the CHRISTIAN COMIC ARTS SOCIETY completed their biggest fan and industry outreach of the year at COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO 2012.  At this, the largest pop-culture entertainment event in the world, the CHRISTIAN COMIC ARTS SOCIETY (CCAS) in partnership with ZONDERVAN, a HarperCollins company, reached thousands of people and exposed over 135,000 attendees to the growing genre of Christian graphic novels and comics, as well as connecting and supporting Christians who are professionals working in all areas of the comics business, championing and creating product for various audiences.

CCAS hosted three official Comic-Con events, including a mixer and two professional panels.  Their booth was active and staffed on the exhibit hall for five full days, which offered thousands of opportunities for conversations about Christ, as well as the distribution of approximately 4,000 graphic novel samplers of Zondervan’s The Book of Revelation.

Zondervan is thrilled at the reaction that The Book of Revelation received at this year’s Comic-Con. The last book of the Bible is the most visually arresting, image-rich book of the Bible, and the 4000 attendees who received samplers were very intrigued to see this difficult text so intricately illustrated. Artist Chris Koelle was excited to be part of panel discussions with like-minded artists, and his comments on his creative process were well received by panel attendees. ”We couldn’t be happier with the final product,” says Chip Brown, Senior Vice President and Bible Publisher at Zondervan, “or the reaction of graphic novel lovers of every stripe who gave us such positive feedback.”  Zondervan is looking forward to the release of The Book of Revelation in January 2013.

New for 2012, over 4,000 copies of the Passport to Christians in Comics were handed out to interested event-attendees.  This info-graphic charted the location of Christians who are active in the Comics Industry, and literally offered a map where they could be discovered at events and booths throughout the Comic-Con event.

Doug TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim, The Neverhood, Creature Tech and Ghostopolis saw the positive effects of CCAS’s presence at Comic-Con firsthand. “In my profession,” he explains, “it’s almost always considered a ding against your career if you’re a Christian. It was nice to get some extra traffic at my booth because my name showed up on the Passport to Christians in Comics. I saw readers follow the map to my booth then start looking through my books. I hope this idea develops and continues!”

While the event is filled with chances to showcase faith-based and faith-friendly comics and projects, one of the key reasons CCAS participates in these events is simply to network with key Comics Industry professionals to connect them together and to encourage them.

“I love the mission of the Christian Comic Arts Society!” explains Scott A. Shuford, Founder and President of FrontGate Media and CCAS Board Member. “Rather than protesting and picketing, CCAS is participating in and changing pop-culture from the inside out, living out Biblical truths in both word and deed for all the pop-culture world to see.”

Throughout the year, the CCAS seeks to:

• Provide Christian products for loving evangelism and Christian values reinforcement
• Encourage comics professionals who are Christians working in the industry
• Draw attention to and celebrate Christian values and themes in comics & entertainment
• Maintain our online social community for comic pros and fans.

“As an industry professional, I believe in the Christian Comic Arts Society mission,” continues Sergio Cariello, artist/illustrator for Marvel, DC Comics and David C Cook. “To be able to combine my profession and my faith is a great gift and blessing. I’m honored to serve as a guest on the CCAS panels as they bring the topics of faith and spiritual issues into the Comics Industry’s largest events.”

Look for the Christian Comic Arts Society at upcoming 2012 industry events including Stan Lee’s Comikaze on September 15-16, and Tucson Comic-Con on November 3-4. Additional events will be announced for 2013.

ABOUT CHRISTIAN COMIC ARTS SOCIETY
Christian Comic Arts Society (CCAS) was formed in 1984 to locate and link Christians interested or active in the comic book/graphic novel medium. CCAS sponsors comic industry activities at various comic conventions across the country, and Alpha Omega, the APA of Christian comics.  The CCAS is governed by a volunteer board which includes Buzz Dixon (Snokie Stories), Ralph Miley (New Creation), Holly Knevelbaard (Illustrator), Leslie Ezeh (Stop n Go Productions), and Scott A. Shuford (FrontGate Media) along with numerous volunteers from the comic industry and the Church. For more information on the Christian Comic Arts Society: http://ChristianComicArts.com, http://Facebook.com/ChristianComicArts, or http://Twitter.com/ChristianComics.

ABOUT ZONDERVAN
Zondervan, a HarperCollins company, is a world leader in Christian communications and a leading Christian publishing brand. For more than 75 years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian experiences through general and academic resources by influential leaders and emerging voices, and been honored with more Christian Book Awards than any other publisher. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., with additional offices in Miami, Zondervan conducts events and publishes its bestselling Bibles, books, audio, video, curriculum, software, and digital products through its Zondervan, Zonderkidz and Editorial Vida brands. Zondervan resources are sold worldwide through retail stores, online, and by Zondervan ChurchSource, and are translated into nearly 200 languages in more than 60 countries. Visit Zondervan on the Internet at http://www.zondervan.com.

CCAS Comic-Con Panelists from Sunday:

From left to right: Scott Zambelli, Chris Koelle, Sergio Cariello, Buzz Dixon, Billy Tucci, Eric Jansen. 

# # #

For more information or interviews, please contact

Lori Lenz-Heiselman – FrontGate Media
714-553-5181

(Note: I originally posted this on my blog. You can see the original post here.)

I feel like I should write something about Batman–both the recent movie itself (but this post does not contain spoilers) and the horrible tragedy that accompanied it. Both are topics close to my heart, and people have asked me to write about them, so I’m going to try. But I know that much has been said on this topic already, even in the short time since it occurred, and I’m somewhat still sorting through my own thoughts and feelings as well. So please forgive me if this seems at all incoherent or redundant or like a rehash of my last post on superheroes and their real-life implications.

As I stood in line at the theater late on Thursday night in my Batman costume, next to my brother Jared dressed as Robinand his friend Michael dressed as Bane, I was expecting to watch a completely epic, awesome movie.I fully expected to see Batman sacrifice his life in a heroic move to save the people of Gotham from Bane, and to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s character  take over as the new Batman. In the comics, Bane is the villain who is famous for breaking Batman’s back so that someone else had to wear the cape and cowl for a while until Bruce Wayne was well enough to return to his role. But in this darker, more gritty, more realistic trilogy, I expected that Bruce would not recover, which had been a prediction of many fans before the movie, and that his victory this time would come at a very high price indeed.

I won’t tell you whether or not my predictions came true–partially because I don’t want to reveal spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, and partially because I’m not entirely sure what happened myself. As the film concluded and I walked out of the theater, I thought I knew what had happened in the movie, but since then, others have pointed out details that made me question that conclusion. Just like Christopher Nolan‘s last film, Inception, the ending of The Dark Knight Rises was perhaps a bit ambiguous. Just like all Nolan films that I’ve seen so far, the plot was laced with so many complex intricacies that I’m going to have to watch it at least one more time, and probably more, in order to understand them all, and doing so may possibly change my opinion on the outcome of the film. I enjoyed the film greatly and will say that I thought it was indeed an epic conclusion to the trilogy, but I have heard from those who thought it was lacking or subpar compared to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Since there are parts that I’m still unclear on, since watching it between midnight and 3 AM may have made it even more difficult for me to notice and think clearly about some details, I will refrain from commenting much here on the overall quality of the film and its story. Suffice it to say for now that, beforehand, I fully expected and wanted Batman to become the ultimate, noble, selfless hero by giving up his life to save the people of Gotham City.

What I certainly was not expecting was to hear, when I got online after sleeping late the next morning, that, in another part of the country, tragedy had befallen the midnight showing and some depraved, horrible person had taken it upon himself to emulate Batman’s enemies and cause panic at the theater by shooting, gassing, killing, and injuring many of the moviegoers. I didn’t know what to say or do. I don’t know how to respond to or make sense of this tragedy other than to continue praying for the victims and their loved ones, and to look again to the God of mercy and goodness for peace and solace in this fallen, broken world.

But this is just the sort of senseless violence that, in most versions of the story, drives Bruce Wayne to dedicate his life to fighting crime and protecting people as Batman. This is just the kind of tragedy that makes me wish (as I always have) that superheroes were real and that I could somehow be one. I was dressed as the heroic Batman that night, but there was and is little I can do here in Lynchburg, Virginia for the hurting people of Aurora, Colorado. This may sound strange and is almost certainly illogical, but a small part of me even wished that I could have been there to try to stop the murderer. I know that this is real life and not a comic book; I know that if I actually had been there, I would have wished to be anywhere else on the planet instead, and just because I was wearing a Batman costume doesn’t mean I would have been any good at all in a fight against an armed murderer. But I have always desired and striven to be a hero to others, and when I see heroes, real and fictional, who are willing to sacrifice their lives for others and for causes greater than themselves, it inspires me with a longing to do the same. I’m not suicidal; I enjoy and cherish life and do not long for death, and I most likely will never be in a situation that requires me to give up my literal, physical life to save someone else’s. But I hope and pray that, if for some reason I ever am in such a situation, I will have the courage and ability to do just that.

Of course, giving up one’s life isn’t the only way to be a hero. In our disagreements about the ending of the film, some friends have pointed out to me that dying for others is certainly dramatic, but usually not necessary in real life day-to-day circumstances, which is a truth that I’m trying to accept, both in regards to the film and to my own heroic pursuits. Besides, someone much more righteous and capable than myself (and even than Batman) already did it about two thousand years ago. Instead, one can be a hero by offering an encouraging word to those who need it, by showing legitimate care and concern for others through one’s actions, by living out love instead of hate, peace instead of terror. Having only watched it once, I forget the exact line, but at one point in this movie, Batman commented that even something as small as putting a coat on the shoulders of a troubled, hurting young boy can be a heroic act.

There’s a line in the movie that is one of my favorites and was even before the movie came out, because I heard it inthe trailer. It’s when Catwoman says to Batman, “You don’t owe these people anymore. You’ve given them everything,” and Batman responds with, “Not everything. Not yet.” This attitude of being willing to give everything of oneself for the good of others is one that I want to emulate with my life as well. Similarly inspiring to me are Jesus’ words that, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). But laying down one’s life doesn’t have to mean literally dying. It can mean just being selfless toward others, denying our own lives and desires to serve those around us and a cause greater than ourselves.  That’s what Jesus did, that’s what Batman does, and it’s what I want to do too. So let’s do it. Let’s lay down our lives in whatever ways are necessary to be heroes and show love to our fellow man. That may include dying, but more likely it’ll be something far less dramatic, but which could still mean the world to someone else and have an overwhelmingly positive influence in their lives. And in a dark, twisted world where someone would be sick enough to kill a bunch of innocent people at a movie, this world needs all the positive influence, self-sacrificing heroes, and genuine love it can get.