Tuesday, December 31, 2013

As The Last Bridge Burns

It was 2002 when I first developed a passion for fictional writing. I was 18 at the time and much like every other 18 year old, my thoughts were scattered as I struggled with expressing my own brand of storytelling. So I bounced from poetry to short stories to more novel-ish sized ideas. I'm pretty sure I even dabbled in journalism too but the problem was it never seemed to fit. It wasn't until reading Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween that I realized that comics were the only way to express the vision in my head. The idea of storytelling combine with beautiful art made perfect sense.



Around 2007-2008 I began working on my first serious comic project. The idea was simple, what is your plan for when the world ends? Zombies were always a general staple of conversation with my friends so I naturally had a solid answer to the question. After a few months, I had penned and story boarded a 43 page script loosely based on what I would do if/when the walkers came calling. The plan was to release the first script as chapter one with five more single issues to follow before collecting it all in a single volume. The only missing link was an artist. Fortunately I had several talented friends and one in particular was jazzed to work with me. After several discussions, it was decided that the original six issues would be cut to four (with the overall page count restricted to 21-23 pages per issue) and a fifteen page 'add-on' story that would act as an epilogue. While this minimized my original story line I remained on cloud nine. Finally, I was going to break into the world of writing with something I felt passionate about. The project's name was Love In The Time of Damnation, we planned to release the book under a joint venture called Exaggerated Comics and I couldn't have been prouder.



It's the opening days of summer 2010 when I am told that my zombie comic is dead, literally. My artist, John DeCampos, had suffered a vehicular break-in. Among the various things stolen was the messenger bag containing the final pages to issue three. Instead of redrawing the missing pages, John decided to jump ship completely with no plan to ever return. This came as a heavy blow considering four weeks earlier we were celebrating our third year in business at The Collector's Corner on Free Comic Book Day. Things were good, we had a growing base of fans and ideas as we moved forward with eXc. Flash forward to FCBD a year later. After failing to find a replacement for John I walked away from the book, finally admitting defeat. The book was dead, the label was dead. But I was determined to carry on.



This is the part where you'd find the caption 'Present Day'. Things have changed. Agendas, projects, and friendships have changed. I'm sitting in a Legal Policies for Information Systems class when we are instructed to google ourselves in order to find out how much public information on us was available. There, sitting at the bottom of the search engine was this blog. Looking over the 11 posts that I had left shuffled between years left me erk'd. The hope for all that would be was now gone and forgotten. The pride that comes when you finally see something through to the end was left on the side of the road because some dickhead vandal didn't fit into the agenda. It's present day and it still stings like a bitch, just like it did over three years ago.



By now I'm sure you're wondering what the hell is he talking about? Is he going to continue prattling on about life or will he reach some sort of resolution? Will he name names or will he plunge further into the angsty abyss that is mediocrity? While I contemplated all of these things (on many sheets of notebook paper) what I will say is this... It stings because the past three years have been ripe with letdowns, some at the hands of the people I supported and considered family while the rest was my own stupid bad luck. It stings because perpetually taking two steps forward only to take two steps back gets old. You begin to stray from your original passion with the idea "What's the point when you're the only one that gives a shit?". But thankfully, here at the end of 2013, the sting isn't so bad. Despite the setbacks, the past three years have been full of achievements. I have managed to put out a children's book, start my own web-comic and a script about super heroes. I am extremely fortunate to still be a part of several incredibly creative teams, I have a circle of friends who not only support me but have helped me along the way, keeping me afloat when things seemed their darkest. And I still have the drive and the passion for storytelling. I'd be a liar if I said I never dreamed of one day being on the level of such great writers like Mark Millar and Garth Ennis, but what is life if you don't have a dream? Regardless, these past 11 years have been about trying to share my stories with others. I will continue to do so, only now I am able to handle my shit if/when it all goes to hell. And as the last surviving member, I felt it was my duty to tell you this:



Mitch is dead.

Ritchie is dead.

Exaggerated Comics is dead.

And it feels rather fitting that the trigger was pulled by that guy who had it all planned out in the first place.



If you'd like to catch up on what I've been doing, please visit:

www.dangerpug.com
www.HorribleUniverse.com
www.mtrthenetwork.com



No matter what, always remember to stay what you are. Thank you endlessly.


- Dann Dobry

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Time & Punishment

Unfortunately, we have taken a break from the production of 'Love In The Time of Damnation' issue 3. Hopefully John will return to the book soon so that we can wrap everything up and head into the final chapters of our story.

I'd also like to apologize to anyone that came out to the Windup Space show in support of Exaggerated Comics. Excuses are excuses so I'll just leave it at that. But seriously, if you showed up, Im sorry we werent there to hang out.

FCBD was fucking awesome to the max... Of course, by now Im sure you've seen all the different postings from the Collectors Corner and already knew how much the day rocked.


Thanks for hanging in there with us. We'll have new material soon. I promise.


Dann

Monday, April 26, 2010

No Sleep Til Baltimore

Issues 1 and 2 have officially entered their 3rd printing! After an all day print job yesterday we are set for business at FCBD next saturday. Also John is working double time on a few posters that will also be for sale at FCBD. Trust me, you're definitely going to want a copy of John's take on the Green Lantern Corps. It's the single greatest thing Ive ever seen in my life.

If you cant make it out to FCBD, I will be in attendance at The Windup Comic show on May 22nd at The Windup Space in Baltimore. I'll have copies of both issues 1 and 2 as well as a stack of issue 3! We're gearing up for the big finale, so you definitely dont want to miss out on the action.

That's all for now. Thanks for hanging in their with us and we'll see you at The Collectors Corner!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Dont Blame Me, Blame My Xbox

Sorry for the lapse in posts again. I made the foolish mistake of buying both Mass Effect 2 and Final Fantasy 13 back to back.

Production of 'Love In The Time of Damnation' issue 3 is running smooth. I havent seen any of the pencilings yet, but knowing John, he is pulling no punches as we get closer to the final issue. We will hopefully have everything wrapped up and ready for Free Comic Book Day '10. While we are on the subject, John and I will both be at The Collector's Corner on FCBD. We are very excited and proud to join the line-up:



Jo Chen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Runaways)

Sunny Lee (Gen 13)

TentativePat Carlucci (Hotinks Studios)

H.C. Noel (Mr. Scootles)

Michael S. Bracco (Birth & Novo)

Nathan Getz (No One)

Tony Calandra (No One)

GW Fisher (Image Comics' Shadowhawk)

Frank Zeigler (Waki & Rusty)

Carlos Taylor (Local Artist)

Chris Hewitt (The Living Corpse)

Dave Lentz (Registered Weapon)

Rob Simmons (Registered Weapon)

Ver Curtis (Moonstone Comics)

Vince Sneed (Forty Winks, Pixie)



FCBD 2010 will be one to remember as we celebrate at the BRAND NEW Collector's Corner. The grand opening of the new store will be April 3rd if you live in the Baltimore area, so come out and have fun! The new address is 7911 Harford Rd. Baltimore, MD, 21234

I've also been working with some new people the past few weeks and am happy to report that big things are on the rise. Mike Simms of Inhuman Union has asked me to head up writing a few projects that are sure to grab readers attention. I will have more on that as things develop. Ive also been given the opportunity to get my journalistic integrity on with Charm City Geek. I'll be reviewing all sorts of stuff with the fellas there, so make sure to check http://www.charmcitygeek.com/ every week/day/hour for everything awesome in the world of gaming, comics, movies and more! On top of that, I recently got in touch with a really cool guy who goes by the name of Scoob. Scoob runs his own horror blog which (if you're a hardcore horror fan like myself) you need to be a fan of. You can check it out at http://musingthetrauma.blogspot.com/


That's all for now! If you're reading this, then thank you for hanging in there with us and we will see you at FCBD!


Dann

Friday, January 15, 2010

7 Years Later....

Jesus Christ, I'm a lame excuse for a blogger. I mean, really, you think a person who spends at least 63% of his time on the net would be able to keep up with things.

Again, I'm sorry.
But fuck all that bullshit, here is whats new:

1. Exaggerated Comics Vol. 1 (a comp book of art and strips we have collected from our first year makin' the scene)
2. The Misadventures of Max & Johnny (A new on-going series that follows two guys who happen to be jerks)
3. The Dark Ones (Another new series forged from the rock & roll depths of John's brain)
4. 100 Ways I'd Kill Myself (This is what you get when you listen to bands like Portishead and worship Jhonen Vasquez)


With a little luck, a little talent, and a lot less procrastination we will at least have 2 of these new projects ready by Free Comic Book Day '10 with hopes of all four being ready by 2010's Baltimore Comic Con. And yes, this year we will have a table at Baltimore Comic Con. '09 was a lot of fun for us, we managed to give away all our copies of 'Love In The Time of Damnation' within 15 minutes of attending the con. We met some awesome new people, slapped hands with a few buds, and bought a bunch of cool stuff.


So there you have it. Thanks for hanging in there with us. And we promise to make 2010 the best.


- Dann

Monday, June 29, 2009

Stuff of Interest

Sorry for the lapse in posts... again. The past few weeks have been a blur, but I wont bore you with the details. The important news is that Issue 2 of 'Love' is coming along smoothly. On top of that, our projected release date is July 17th. We'll be selling copies at Dija/Dong Fest on July 17th, so all you need to do is come out to the Sidebar. After that, you'll be able to find it at The Collector's Corner in Parkville.

I wish I had more to say, but I dont. Writer's block fucking sucks like that.


Dann

Thursday, June 4, 2009

What Day Is It?

Damn, its been awhile since the last post.

Things are going well with Issue #2 of 'Love In The Time of Damnation'. With any luck we'll have it out by the end of June/early July. Ive been writing as much as possible but am still coming up short in some departments (It doesnt help that I just got into FallOut 3 either). But still, everything is everything and I couldnt be happier. We started a comicspace page, so youll be able to check out all the different sketches, strips and what nots we have to offer. I promise to keep this thing updated as much as possible... well, I can atleast promise to try and keep up with updating as much as possible.

Laterz!!