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Greetings!
Both our Advanced Coloring and Intro to Comic Book Writing courses are open for enrollment. Sign up before they sell out! We also have a ton of community news, from CE alum Alex Wilson's story becoming a finalist in the Eagle Awards to Bobby Curnow's Night of 1,000 Wolves hitting the stands, and lots more!
Plus, upcoming guests (including Lucasfilms' Pablo Hidalgo) and more of iFanboy's Make Comics Podcast!
Jump start your comics career with Comics Experience!
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New Courses Open for Enrollment!
| | ADVANCED COLORING &
INTRO TO COMIC BOOK WRITING
OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT!
 ADVANCED COMIC BOOK COLORING6/4/12 - 7/16/12 Online Course
If the introduction course got you geared up to learn more and take a crack at paid professional work, then the Comics Experience course on Advanced Coloring is for you! If you're a working professional looking to improve your skills and learn in a group setting, then dig in, because colorist guru Chris Sotomayor has cooked up an incredible seven-week course that builds upon the skills developed in the level one course!
SPECIAL GUEST LAURA MARTIN WILL JOIN THE CLASS ONE NIGHT AS WELL!
Covering how to customize paint brushes, dealing more in-depth with layers and special effects, creating time-saving Photoshop Actions, customizing your palette, enhancing your experimental styles and increasing your overall skill level, this course is packed with insider information, tricks, tools, and insight that you can't get anywhere else!
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 INTRO TO COMIC BOOK WRITING7/25/12 - 8/29/12 Online Course
In this six-week course, not only will you learn comic book writing from former Marvel and IDW Editor Andy Schmidt, but the course will also be packed with practical, real-world advice on the industry and "breaking in" to help you pursue your career in comics!
That's why Comics Experience alum, Nick Spencer, tweeted: "For all aspiring comic pros asking for advice on craft/breaking in, I once again highly recommend Andy Schmidt's @ComicExperience courses."
In this class, you will conceive, outline, write--and rewrite--a complete 5-page comic book script, just the way the pros do it! If you've ever dreamt of writing your own comic, you can't afford to miss this course!
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Upcoming Workshop Guests!
| | ANDY SCHMIDT & CHEE ON "5 DAYS TO DIE"! PLUS, LUCASFILMS' PABLO HIDALGO!
 On Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 9pm Eastern Time, writer (and Comics Experience founder) Andy Schmidt and artist Chee will be joining us for an online Creators Workshop Book Club discussion of their creator-owned book 5 Days to Die published by IDW!
5 Days to Die follows Ray Crisara, a tough cop who has to make an impossible decision with just five days to live.
A trailer for the book can be viewed right here.
Make sure to join us for this Book Club session with Andy and Chee that our members have been requesting for a long time!
 Then, just one week later on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, our next live, online Creators Workshop special guest will be Lucasfilms' Pablo Hidalgo!
An expert on a variety of genre obsessions, from classic animation to shape-shifting robots, Pablo Hidalgo started writing about fantastic subject matters professionally in 1995 as a freelance author for roleplaying games.
 In 2000, he changed careers from a visual effects concept artist and digital compositor in Canada to a full-time Star Wars authority at Lucasfilm Ltd., working with their marketing department.
Pablo is the co-author of both The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia and the Transformers Vault: The Complete Transformers Universe. He was also instrumental in the creation of StarWars.com as the main source of information for fans.
Join us May 22nd for a discussion of managing continuity, as well as all things related to the great properties Pablo has worked with!
There's still time to join us at the Creators Workshop to take part in these great discussions!
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Finalist in New Talent Competition!
| | "THE TIME OF REFLECTION" A FINALIST IN EAGLE AWARDS COMPETITION!
 Alex Wilson (a Comics Experience alum and Creators Workshop member) and artist Silvio dB had their submission, "The Time of Reflection," selected as one of the two finalists for the MCM Expo Award For New Visionaries (sometimes called "The Huntsman's Challenge" or the "Eagle Awards New Talent Competition").
 "The Time of Reflection" was shortlisted in both categories of art and story and can be viewed in full on Alex Wilson's website right here.
The winning story will be included in May's MCM London Comic Con show program, printed in conjunction with Snow White And The Huntsman from Universal Pictures. Universal will also provide a selection of prizes.
The contest, judged by Steve White, Tony Lee, and Mark Buckingham, required a dark fantasy story (complete with five pages of color art!) with only a month from announcement to deadline. Two other Creators Workshop members, Paul Allor and Amy Chu, also were named to the judges' shortlist!
Congratulations, Alex and Silvio, and all our members who submitted work!
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CE Alum's Book in Comic Shops Now!
| | "NIGHT OF 1,000 WOLVES" HIT COMIC SHOPS MAY 9TH!
 IDW's Night of 1,000 Wolves hit comic shops this week, May 9, 2012!
With art by the Eisner-nominated Dave Wachter and story by writer Bobby Curnow, Wolves is a classic horror tale, set in the Dark Ages, about a family with dark secrets who find themselves under siege by hordes of wolves.
You can check out a multi-page preview of Night of 1,000 Wolves on Comic Book Resources:
Preview of Night of 1,000 Wolves on CBR
 Bobby Curnow is both a Comics Experience alum and a member of the Creators Workshop, where he offers members pro critiques on their work.
Bobby is also an editor at IDW where he began by editing titles like Robert Bloch's That Hellbound Train and John Layman and Alberto Ponticelli's Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths before moving on to his current position working on both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla franchises.
On the writing front, Bobby recently wrote Godzilla Legends #5 as well as the Battle Beasts Ashcan released at C2E2.
Wolves was "workshopped" in the Comics Experience Creators Workshop, and it, along with the recent Rex, Zombie Killer #1 (released last week), are the first scripts workshopped in our community to hit comic shops across the country via Diamond Distributors.
The Creators Workshop is an online community where aspiring and professional creators can critique each other's work, offering feedback and serving as a sounding board for creators seeking to hone their skills.
Congrats on the release of your miniseries, Bobby
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Andy Schmidt Interviewed!
| | ANDY SCHMIDT INTERVIEWED ON "FICTIONAL FRONTIERS WITH SOHAIB" ON WNCJ!
 In April, Andy Schmidt, former Marvel and IDW Editor (and Comics Experience founder), was interviewed on Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib airing on WNJC-1360 AM in Philadelphia.
Fictional Frontiers is the nation's only weekly radio program dedicated to a serious discussion of and about popular culture including film, television, comic books, literature, and other entertainment mediums.
 Host Sohaib I. Awan called Comics Experience "the Jedi Temple of comic book training" (what an intro!) and they then went on to discuss the origins of Comics Experience, the curriculum and approach to the work, a description of how the live, online courses work, and much more!
If you missed the live radio broadcast, we're happy to provide a link to an extended version of Andy's interview right here:
Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib - (Episode 197) - Andy Schmidt Extended Exclusive
Sohaib is the host and founder of Fictional Frontiers. Prior to Fictional Frontiers, Sohaib was the founder and managing partner of The Law Offices of Sohaib Awan. He is also a member of the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA).
You can listen to Fictional Frontiers every week on WNJC or check out www.fictionalfrontiers.com for more information!
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Additional Community News!
| | CE ALUM JEFF MARSICK INTERVIEWED BY DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI ON MULHOLLAND BOOKS!
 Writer and CE alum Jeff Marsick and artist Scott Barnett were just interviewed by Duane Swierczynski on the Little, Brown and Company's Mulholland Books website about their new comic book, Dead Man's Party.
Dead Man's Party is about an assassin who puts a contract out on his own head to a select group of his peers. It's a party that will allow him to go out on his own terms, at the top of his game. The invitations are sent...and then things go horribly wrong.
Interviewer Duane Swierczynski called Dead Man's Party, "one of the best single issues of a comic book I read last year...a fast-moving, lean and mean hit man thriller that contained some truly crazy surprises."
Read the full article here
NEW TRAILER FOR RICH DOUEK'S "GUTTER MAGIC"
 CE alum and Workshop member Rich Douek recently released a trailer promoting his planned five issue miniseries, Gutter Magic.
Gutter Magic tells a tale of sword, sorcery and sixguns in an alternate history where a magic-fueled World War II drove the world to the brink of apocalypse. Written by Rich, the series includes art by Brett Barkley, colors by CE alum Donna Gregory, and edits by CE staff member Paul Allor!
The trailer has been a big hit, even garnering coverage on Bleeding Cool! (What If Wizards Won World War II?)
Check out the full article & trailer here
GENESIS -- A NEW ANTHOLOGY FROM COMICS EXPERIENCE ALUMS!
 The latest anthology created by Comics Experience writing alums is now available!
Tales from the Comics Experience: Genesis is a 54-page, black and white trade paperback anthology that contains stories written during the September 2011 Intro to Comic Book Writing course.
The stories in Genesis contain adventure, romance, and betrayal, and run the gamut from the brutalities of war to the fringes of space and beyond. The book also contains a Foreword by former Marvel and IDW Editor (and CE founder) Andy Schmidt.
Read the full article and check out art here
JANINE FREDERICK APPEARS ON "I SELL COMICS" WITH THE "COMIC BOOK MEN!"
 On April 19, 2012, CE alum Janine Frederick was a special guest on the I Sell Comics podcast, discussing her past and upcoming projects as well as Comics Experience classes and the Creators Workshop.
I Sell Comics is the podcast recorded live at Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash, the home base of AMC's television show, Comic Book Men. The podcast is hosted each week by two of the "Comic Book Men" themselves, Michael Zapcic and Ming Chen.
Janine talked about her approach to writing, her experience as a down-to-the-wire finalist in the DC Comics/Zuda competition, what it's like being part of a comics couple (with her husband/artist, and CE alum, Ken Frederick), as well as a project they are both currently contributing to called The Hudson Valley Zombie Apocalypse.
Check out the full article (& the podcast) here
"VODKA O'CLOCK" PODCAST, EP. 1206 FEATURES 3 CE ALUMS ON MAKING COMICS!
 Episode 1206 of the Vodka O'Clock podcast, hosted by CE alum and Workshop member Elizabeth Amber-Love, recently featured two more CE alums, Amy Chu and Georgia Lee from Alpha Girl Comics. It was a Comics Experience trifecta!
Amber and her guests offered an inside perspective on making comics from women that have started their own imprint, Alpha Girl Comics.
Their work features a variety of genres and subject matter that appeal to teen+ readers of either gender, while being female-friendly, but not female exclusive.
Their creative teams include male contributors such as CE coloring instructor Chris Sotomayor, CE Workshop member and letterer E.T. Dollman, Editor Paul Allor (the CE Book Club Manager and alum) and others...
Read the full article (& listen to the podcast)
JOE SERGI ANNOTATES THE HISTORY OF COMICS CENSORSHIP FOR CBLDF!
 CE alum, Workshop member -- and attorney -- Joe Sergi recently attended a C2E2 panel on the history of censorship presented by Charles Brownstein, the Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF).
Inspired by the panel, Joe shared his notes on his Cup of Geek blog, along with extensive thoughts, pictures, and annotations on the history of censorship. And the CBLDF liked it so much, they published it on their own website!
Charles' presentation -- and Joe's article -- covers it all; from Dr. Frederick Wertham's campaign against comics to the underground comix movement, and from the Spider-Man "drug" issues to the more recent cases involving Manga.
Check out the full article here
BOBBY CURNOW'S "BATTLE BEASTS" ASHCAN FROM IDW HITS C2E2!
 Writer Bobby Curnow had a new book debuting at C2E2 this year: the Battle Beasts ashcan published by IDW!
Bobby is both a Comics Experience alum and a member of the Creators Workshop, where he offers members pro critiques on their work.
Bobby wrote the Battle Beasts ashcan story, with art by Valerio Schiti (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron), and a cover by Dan Brereton!
Battle Beasts is being produced by IDW in conjunction with Diamond Select Toys. The story will continue in Battle Beasts #1 in July 2012, premiering at San Diego Comic-Con (July 11-15).
Read the full article
ROB ANDERSON TALKS COMICS EXPERIENCE WITH DECAPITATED DAN
 Comics Experience General Manager and writer Rob Anderson recently appeared on the Discussions with Decapitated Dan podcast, Episode #90, and discussed Comics Experience, in addition to his recently released comic book, Rex, Zombie Killer.
During the show, Rob discussed how he got involved in creating comics, joined Comics Experience as a student, and eventually became part of the staff.
He also gives an overview of the history of Comics Experience, talks about Andy Schmidt's background in the industry, and the Comics Experience curriculum.
Plus, if you've ever wanted to know more about the Creators Workshop community -- how it works, the professionals involved -- Rob gives a run-down of that as well.
Read the full article (& listen to the podcast) here
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Podcast on Breaking In & Making Comics!
| | IFANBOY'S "MAKE COMICS" WITH ANDY SCHMIDT PODCAST, NEW EPISODES AVAILABLE!
 iFanboy's Make Comics with Andy Schmidt podcast continues to release new episodes each week!
Below we've provided a list with links to every episode released to date.
Tune in each week for more great discussion and advice!
Episode #20 "Page Turns"
Episode #19 "Where Should I Live?"
Episode #18, "Comic Book Coloring with Chris Sotomayor"
Episode #17, "Art Portfolio with Robert Atkins"
Episode #16, "Conventions and Critiques"
Episode #15, "Pitching"
List of All Episodes
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Great Reasons to Join the
Comics Experience Creators Workshop
RIght Now!
| | The Creators Workshop is an online community for comics creators! Here are four reasons you should join!
 1. EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the Workshop Forums where you can discuss comic creation with your colleagues as well as pose questions directly to our comics professionals, including writer/former Marvel and IDW editor Andy Schmidt, artist Robert Atkins, colorist Chris Sotomayor, Editors Nicole Boose and Alejandro Arbona and others. We've got a diverse group with equally diverse knowledge. And what better way to grow as a creator than with friends who happen to also be creating comics? Answer: No better way than this!
2. CRITIQUES - Have your work reviewed by colleagues and professionals, and learn from reviewing the work of others; a tremendous way to improve your skills. And getting feedback on your work is a hugely satisfying way to approach your work and improve it every time. And no worries, this is an encouraging, flame-free, but honest and articulate place to get your feedback. The Workshop really is the best place to get professional level feedback on your work.
3. THE WORKSHOP LIVE SESSION meets once a month online and covers an industry or creator topic in-depth. Past Live Sessions included: CREATOR COLLABORATION--how to make a good relationship great and survive business together; MARKETING COMICS-- special guest Jim McCann (formerly with the Marvel Marketing team) provided invaluable tips and suggestions on how to get your work noticed by publishers and the world; BUDGETING YOUR COMIC--an eye-opening look at the costs associated with creating your own comic book and publishing it; and INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY-- special guest attorney Gamal Hennessy (formerly with Marvel Comics) discussed how to review a contract and protect yourself, your partners, and your interests. Each month's session is recorded and viewable for a full month if you miss it!
4. PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS from working creators in the industry are great for not just the person getting reviewed, but for the group as a whole. Every month, one writer and one artist who submitted work that month is selected for a special review of his or her work! We've had the likes of PETER DAVID, JOHN ROMITA JR., and JASON AARON do reviews already, and there's more to come!
These are just the top four reasons, to join the Creators Workshop. There are more and I could go on and on about what a warm, encouraging, and insightful group we've got, but this newsletter is already too long!
Click here to read more about it! And join today!
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Comics Experience was founded in 2007 by Andy Schmidt. Every course he develops is one he WISHED had been available when he was trying to break into comics 10 years ago.
Our mission is to provide the best possible, most comprehensive courses, available in the world that are specific to comics and taught by working professionals who love teaching. So far, so good. Four years strong and growing.
Join Comics Experience today. You won't regret it!
Sincerely,
Rob Anderson
General Manager
Comics Experience |
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