D.J. Coffman - Sequential Artist, Thinker

Dropping some thoughts here. Woke up to my body feeling much better, back is still stiff, but the agonizing pain is gone. Some updates…

Flobots - Doing a bunch of top secret stuff still. On the comic front, Still updating story #1, which is almost finished. I think I’m going to drop 3 full pages this week, M-W-F, and the next story will be in daily installments of a different format. The response has been REALLY good to this so far, I know the story has progressed slowly, and honestly, I’m not even to the “melt your mind” part of it yet, or the actual sci-fi hooks. I can’t wait to get there. I’m also gearing up to do sketchcards to benefit the Flobots.org and something neat for fans. I’ve been strategically practicing on getting much faster and not as picky with my work….

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I find myself in a pretty ackward situation here. But I want to be transparent with the fans of Hero By Night, who are the people who originally voted for it to win the first Comic Book Challenge and who made us the #1 Super Hero Webcomic online, with more regular returning readers than many mainstream titles by the big two.

A couple weeks ago I had reported here on my blog, that Platinum Studios had brought up to me the idea of getting me the print and web rights to Hero By Night back to allow me to continue Hero By Night on my own. This would not be in lieu of any money they owed me, but just something that could possibly keep HBN alive in some form on my own. Not full rights, Platinum would of course still handle all the tv and film and general “hollywood” stuff that’s their bread and butter. Well, that post ended up igniting some controversy and drama around the comic news sites. Not long after that, I did get a check in the mail for some of what I’m owed in back pay, which was pretty helpful for me to payoff some bills that had gotten backed up here. There were a lot of people who wanted to change the whole news into some creator rights fiasco or a “D.J. Coffman was screwed”  story or headline, of to which I actually went out and defended that this wasn’t the case, it was just a case of really bad timing, and late pay. Nobody was refusing to NOT pay anyone, there was just no real clear communication on when past due pays would be showing up, and it was growing increasingly frustrating as time dragged on and I heard disturbing rumors crop up from other creators.

A long story short, I had emailed the folks at Platinum to inquire if there had been any movement about the rights issue so that I could possibly get moving and publishing at least the webcomic on my own before the audience that we built for 2 years completely dropped off. I pretty much got this form letter sounding reply that included this statement:

…Please be advised that due to the controversy stirred up as a result of your recent blogging and interviews, all discussions between us regarding any potential licensing back to you of limited rights to Hero By Night are on hold.  At this time, we cannot say when those discussions might be resurrected. - Brian Altounian

To summarize, “we were gonna, but you talked, and now we’ve changed our minds.” Fantastic!

Wow. This immediately had struck me as a “You’ve been a bad boy, DJ” type statement, and they had gone back on what they had agreed to. I was pissed the moment I read it, but honestly, it’s within their right to completely change their mind or go back on their word. They don’t HAVE to give me back anything. And, obviously, inside the company they were obviously pretty pissed about me saying anything about pay not coming on time. That lead to Rich Johnston reporting on it at Comic Book Resources, and other creators who are not happy coming forward to thim — I’m not sure if by sending me that statement they thought it would make me be quiet now as a “Well, don’t say anything more and MAYBE we’ll “resurrect” talks with you, but that’s how I read it. I received no follow up emails or communications to my reply to them.

Like I said, they have every right to not deal with me now. But I question if that is the right thing for them to do, ethically at this point? If ethics are out the window in this conversation, then fine, so be it. I think the win-win would have been for them to allow me to continue producing it on my own, toss me that bone. The company wouldn’t be taking a loss on it anymore and content that they still could have represented would have been being made with no new costs coming out of research and development. Even if you were completely pissed off at me and hated my guts for telling the truth, this would have been the smart business decision. I know they have similar deals with other creators (Rob Liefeld, I think) , so this clearly feels to me, in my own opinion as just a slap on the wrist to keep me quiet. Wow, that worked out swimmingly, didn’t it.

And YES. I realize I might be an idiot for even opening my mouth and jeopardizing those talks. If they want to take this other path, I’m not going to be heartbroken about. I’m a smart person and I knew that was a possibility, But like i said before, the readers are very important to me, I had to let them know why issues they were buying, even in the TOP SELLING titles at sites like HeavyInk.com on preorder for weeks, wouldn’t be coming out afterall. And it wasn’t because I didn’t live up to my deadlines or anything in my own contract. I’ve been told by some people that I was actually TOO NICE in my original statement, but I didn’t hold any malicious intent or ill will for Platinum, I wanted to see the company do what was best in this situation where everyone was being told to hold on, and that they understood I needed to do what I needed to do. The plain truth is, I asked several times to several different people there, what should I say? What should I do? How long should I wait? What should I tell the fans? — and I got no clear answers from anyone, and I was left with the tough choice I had to make. It would have come out either way I suppose, but I didn’t feel right with having our readers or sites like HeavyInk preordering our issue 5s that wouldn’t be coming out.– I guess I could have said NOTHING and just went radio silent. Let fans wonder where their books are, or assume it was the reasons that are usually why books are late. But Jason Embury and myself always took great pride in being on time and delivering vibrant, quality and entertaining books.

I guess to the people at Platinum Studios, I’d say it’s not too late to do the right thing here. I know they won’t be happy about me writing this, and probably leaves an unpleasant taste in their mouth, but to them, I say, for all the times you praised me or my work ethic, and told me that you wished all creators worked like me, for all the times I went to bat for the company or people there, for all the times you needed something tomorrow and we had it to you today– make this situation right somehow. Because, at least to me, it feels pretty wrong right now.

I’m the same straight shooter that they hired in 2006, and praised for it. I’m afraid they can’t have it both ways.

I’ve had a lot of private conversations with other creators who have approached me, none of which I’d like to get into in detail yet unless those people want to pipe up themselves. But I can say this… these creators are pretty puzzled that they haven’t been paid, some pretty past due and in worse situations than I am, but then they see all the great press releases about Platinum upcoming movie deals, and the real kicker was hearing that Platinum was firing up a whole new line of comic publishing with Vanguard Animation. Some of these creators have told me privately, they are afraid to speak up, thinking they won’t ever be paid, but I’m not afraid to let both Platinum Studios and the world know that at least 7 of these people think that news about a new comic publishing line was ridicously unethical when you owe a bunch of current creators money. I had no idea the situation had gotten that bad behind the scenes with other creators or a breakdown in clear communication, but it’s really sad.

I always said from the get-go this wasn’t a creator rights issue, but now with talking to other creators, I think it’s sort of become one as I hear the other stories. I kinda feel like I’m not only speaking up for myself, but a lot of those creators who are currently pretty frustrated and pissed off, and possibly future creators out there, to maybe not go blabbing and being as transparent as D.J. Coffman. Or, maybe as others have suggested, this is how things get accomplished, and things change for the better. For creators AND publishers.

I guess it’s safe to say I’m pretty transparent. I’ve been “blogging” since 1999. There are times though where I can’t talk about something that’s too personal, or if I’m working with companies I can’t go around blabbing about things I overheard, or told to me in confidence or trade secrets, or who’s in talks to play what on what movie before they’re locked in, that sort of thing. I think it’s just that I like being honest, I think it’s the best policy, in all things.

Also… Ethics. I like thinking about ethics, more and more as I grow older. There are indeed different forms, based on different codes of morals, from Stoicism to Determinism, Causality and on and on… but they all boil down to a few things. Seeking the truth, getting to the truth, finding the truth, telling the truth, and doing good things to others. Most of society now have lost many of these values, instead people are just out for themselves. Many more than not will say anything or do anything to protect their own personal bottom line, even when it’s not the truth and not the right thing to do.

I bring up ethics because, as I was taught, these different codes of conduct all came about by great thinkers, who would try to determine WHY something was the right decision to make, and when do you know how to come to that decision and what it is. Some codes even go as far as to look beyond what the consequences might be, and you know it’s the right decision if ultimately the path lead to something good.

So yeah, I guess I know what’s right and wrong pretty well. I know how to dance the line between, the tightrope called satire. There’s a reason in my bookmarks I call some of my favorite bloggers “thinkers” instead.

Transparency can get you in trouble I guess too. I know a few bloggers who were fired from their jobs because of something they wrote or expressed. But was it the truth? That’s what I would ask. Here’s something, a story that just popped to mind, and I won’t name names in case said person is reading and doesn’t want his situation outed, but the story should be told.

A cautionary tale, I suppose.

I know a guy who worked for a company in New York involved with real estate. I think it was real estate, but that’s probably the wrong industry, but it involved this company buying out other companies, sometimes buildings and property, and then resell it to other companies. Sort of like an auction maybe. Well anyway, this agent guy I know, he was their best agent. Always on time, bringing in different deals, always talking up this group and how great his job was. Then one day he was on the instant messenger in a very bad mood and his status line was disturbing so I asked what was wrong. He told me he hadn’t been paid for awhile, like 4 months, but continued closing deals for this company. Why would he do that?! Well, they kept making him promises of this and that to make up for the lateness, and he trusted them because they all seemed like good people with good ethics that would do the right thing when the time came. Plus, he had a contract, which ironically the company had broken first by not paying him on time. So they promised him this house in a really nice area of New York, it was “like a Puff-Daddy” mansion, his words. My friend also found himself spending money he didn’t have to get by. He’d been living off credit cards and loans thinking he’d be able to pay it all off easy. Well, suddenly the well ran dry, and he got an eviction notice, he was losing his apartment. From his Dad’s place in New Jersey he made an update on his blog, explaining the situation he was in so his friends and family would know where he was at with limited net access, etc, but he finally had to tell the company he was done doing deals for them until they paid him what he was owed. He wasn’t happy at this point. I asked him, how could this company not afford to pay him what he was owed, but they’re selling all these high rises, and in some cases bringing in income from some of the office rentals? He said he was told it was because of budget errors, where they had bought other properties ahead of time in hopes of selling them off, they had golf courses, office buildings, small companies they owned, but nobody was buying as the market had bottomed out. Maybe that was the truth, and it was just a shitty situation. My friend didn’t feel that way though, he was pretty infuriated. The company in trying to buy some time with him dangled the offer to  him again on this house near the Hamptons, but my friend knew he couldn’t afford the gardner bill at this point, but he figured if they wanted to give him this property he’d try to make this work while waiting to be paid.

Weeks went by, and there was no word, only voicemails unanswered. When he finally did get ahold of them about the “deal”, they said they had changed their mind because they had read his blog post about not being paid, and it had stirred up a bunch of controversy. He was one of thier best agents afterall, and they blamed him now for some deals not going through, and some properties being complete losses to them and that’s why he and the other agents weren’t being paid. The company took no responsibility whatsoever. Suddenly, these people he thought were good friends, were reduced to a cold email that started with “Dear John” - He said the last contact he had with the company before they went bankrupt 2 months later was them telling him in a round about way to be quiet and maybe they’d get back to talking with him about his deal. My buddy ended up persuing legal action of some kind, but he said it wasn’t worth the time or money, he basically got nothing. I asked him if he regretted blogging about it, and he said not at all. He gave me the advice that if I were ever in a similar situation, to tell the truth. And to not wait as long as he did. He wished he would have spoke up sooner when they originally had broken their contracts. My friend is doing well again for himself, and that story is just a cautionary tale from his past.

This is a very odd to me, because I find myself in a  similar situation now, not the same, but similar to the point where it makes you wonder if there are patterns in these things . My friend e-mailed me and said, hey, remember when I worked for that property company?…. yeah. yeah, I remember.

I guess no matter what, I have the truth. People should ask themselves though, are the decisions I’m making the RIGHT thing to do? Or am I just being a dick?

Maybe I’ll have much much more to say about this topic if situations don’t improve within the next 24 hours.

No post yesterday. I was kinda busy working on other things.

Not much sleep last night as the dog was up lurking around and making noise, then the hamster wheel started whirling. I thought to myself at 6am, this isn’t me being tired.. this is me about to test myself, to push myself. So that’s what I’m gonna do.

It’s been ironic to me that ever since I went on hiatus with Hero By Night, it was in the #1 position at DrunkDuck and I couldn’t figure out why, besides the rush of new curious people looking for drama, most of the traffic was still coming from Yirmumah.net. I’ve turned off those spickets and now you’ll likely see HBN drop way down or out of the top 10 perhaps. I had given it all the prime advertising spots on Yirmumah, even though that comic wasn’t running it still got a good deal of traffic because of all the links out there since 2003, and the beauty of topic tagging. That was probably retarded to do on my part, because I could have been making some money from those ad spots, but like anything I’m working on, I wanted to give it my all.  I still get hate mail from Beau Bice fans.

The markers I’ve been waiting forever to get our arriving today. They will aid me in some upcoming design work I’m doing for Flobots, possibly doing some sketch cards and commissions. Gotta pay those bills, and with the economy in the toilet and people tightening their belts everywhere, I’ll just have to work even harder.

A couple funny things found this morning while reading through boards… Over on the DAILY CARTOONIST, there’s an interview with Jim Davis of Garfield fame, where he mentions the last comic he laughed at was Scott Kurtz’s PVP and that pretty much webcomics are where it’s at. In the comments section there, Scott Kurtz posted a tongue in cheek “IN YOUR FACE!!!” comment and it erupted to over 60 comments. My theory now is, just scan that page at Daily Cartoonist and look for the comment counts…. you’ll see 1 comment, 3 comments, maybe even sometimes a whopping 14 comments, but if you see 40 or more, you know it’s a lively discussion about webcomics that more than likely involves Scott. Say what you will, it’s entertaining. He knows how to “sell the drama”. Drama is like the fucking FORCE, and I think a lot of us have ended up mastering it for use for a greater good, instead of hammering each other over the heads with it.

And Newsarama has a roundtable interview about the webcomics business being recession proof.

Webcomics…. it’s the way of the future. It’s the way of the future. It’s the way of the….

Been up since 6am again. Yeehah. Spent about an hour trying to wake up and dealing with itchy eyes that only get itchier when you rub them. Suck. I took an allergy pill which is like rolling the dice to see if I’ll pass out over drowsyness or not, but sometimes it makes you wired. I guess i’m somewhere in between.

You know what kinda sucks? When people are only reading my blog to get updates on Platinum Studios or to see if there’s some sort of drama. I’ve noticed the increase in traffic and return users and IP addresses and where in the country they are (yeah, I know who you are)– I’m kinda sick of thinking about all of it, and seeing things mentioned on news blogs or fucking complete idiots chiming in and speculating on things. I now feel like there are dudes I don’t even know watching my blog to see if I’ve been paid, so they can run and complain and pitch a bitch that they haven’t been paid, but not understanding that many of us have different deals set up. There was even an email sent out from the COO to creators that someone passed on to Rich’s gossip column. I never got that email, probably because my situation was already public, but that was the first time I had really read it. But seriously, it’s probably not a smart move, especially if you’re owed money, to be sending those emails around, no matter how ridiculous you think they are or how you think it was a veiled legal threat or something. UGH. Probably not a good move on anyone’s part.

All that being said, the good news for me is a check finally came in the mail (I’m not saying from where ), and it’s given me some money to catch up on my bills and financial situation here. It didn’t come in time to save the Hero By Night situation, but I’m sure it’ll all work out in some way. I’m going to have to focus on setting up some other things now instead of having all my eggs in one basket. That IS my fault I guess. I’ve had friends warn me of that for awhile and i didn’t listen. I like throwing myself into something 100% like I’ve done with HBN and I think it shows. But yeah, I guess i need to invest my time into some other eggs.

Here’s one of the eggs now.

The other one probably starts with a Y and ends with an H.

This might be a long one… here it goes!

So, I’ve visited a few of the “news” and blog links about the new of me putting Hero By Night on hold. I’ve noticed that quite a few people are pushing their own agendas and grudges and passions in regards to this issue, and painting it with a broad brush as if I’m a creator who’s been screwed over by Platinum Studios, and even that I’ve “separated” with the company– this is just not true.

The DJ from two years ago, would have told someone like Lea Hernandez to go sit on something and spin if I read a post like she wrote this morning. “D.J. Coffman splits with Platinum over non-payment” — which anyone saying non-payment, it’s more like “late payment” which isn’t a crime. What really irks me again is, that crowd, the same crowd of people I fought with back then, still paint this as a creator rights issue, when it certainly is not. If I was out there complaining about that, or saying I was fooled or bamboozled, that would be another story. I knew from DAY ZERO what I signed, what I renegotiated, and again, at least MY contract is a solid deal. In fact, not to spite my face here, but I probably had one of the BEST contracts Platinum has EVER drawn up, and they were happy about it and so am I. Present tense. Can everyone get what I got? Probably not. I’m pretty damn driven and I deliver a TON for anyone I work for. Anyone. Ask anyone I’ve worked for– So I was bringing a lot to the table, handling a lot of things, and doing a lot more than just drawing a book and waiting for a check to come. — People like Lea, who I actually don’t have anything against now– she’s PASSIONATE about these issues of creator ownership and rights and that– but I don’t fall into that category. I willingly, knowingly and ON PURPOSE made my deal with Platinum because it works for my situation, and believe you me, I was more than fairly treated!— I think it’s way unfair for them to whip out that old brush right now and lambaste Platinum over the creator rights and contract issues– How could that even be brought up in my case, whenever I’ll likely still walk away with the rights— and it may shock you to know that it would be my choice with Hero By Night either way, to have Platinum represent it for Film and TV, because the people there working those departments are some of the best people in the world. — Is that cheerleading? No– that’s telling you that behind what people perceive as some evil corporation only worried about the bottom line, there are GOOD people who would go to the ends of the earth for you. Sure it’s not PERFECT— nothing is. — But to paint a broadstroke and say the way she wants it should be for ALL CREATORS, like “I’m Lea Hernandez, this is how you should do stuff, or you’re a big dummy.” — Nah. That’s ridiculous. — The old me would have called her a name, and told her to shut her piehole, then laughed and chuckled at the online drama that would ensue as pageviews inflated across the board, OH, DRAMA, YOU SWEET BITCH!– the NEW and IMPROVED me actually thanks her for being PASSIONATE about this stuff. It is VERY important, and future generations will be reading all we talk about, long after we’re dead and gone. There are totally things I have that I would never sign to anyone, for ANY price. It’s true. Yirmumah is not for sale.

Someone like Scott Kurtz, who I’ve been at odds with in the past as well, can actually see the many sides of this spectrum. Scott, it seems, has learned to not just open his mouth and speak from the heart spontaneously, even like I use to, but to take an issue and disect it and look at all the points. They pointed out on their Webcomics Weekly podcast a while back, that EVERY CONTRACT can be negotiated. You totally shouldn’t just sign something put in front of you without reading it, if you don’t understand the language, have a lawyer explain it to you, and KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. Because of course the other side of a contract wants whats best for them too. That’s why it’s an agreement! — Well, I’m proud of Kurtz and crew for not getting embroiled in DRAMA for the sake of Drama. There’s a certain crowd in webcomics, myself included, that have all GROWN UP, and we all see the much bigger picture… it might shock you to know, that we’re all working together, exchanging ideas, systems— SHARING to make everyone stronger. Even the dudes who are beating all of our asses by drawing stick figure comics.

I still feel a bit painted like I got screwed over here– don’t use me as an example of that with the creator rights issues. It was all a financial decision on my part, and it’s safe to say I’ve made more money with Hero By Night than if I would have been self publishing it, or doing webcomics. And I have a BIG stake in it. Like I said, this was all about timing and the fans, and money. Not non-payment, but “late payment”- - In my situation and budgets here, for MANY creators actually its like this, I have to be paid on time. I’ve always made that clear with everyone throughout time and space. All of that stuff WILL work out.

The only reason I HAD to bring this up publicly was for the fans. There was an “ongoing” series going on, which we have to work well ahead on, readers order well in advance and buzz was building– Behind the scenes I was nervous that issue 4 wasn’t going to make it to deadline, I busted my ass to make sure I beat my deadlines like usual. But with certain circumstances coming up, i just knew no matter what, it wasn’t going to make it to the printer. For too many reasons actually– and I couldn’t leave readers not only hanging, but they’re now ordering issue 5 in Previews— I didn’t turn in the issue 6 cover for the August Previews either– I could have— but I don’t want to be a part of what’s WRONG with the comic industry and that distribution system, late books, and readers never know why— This isn’t ANYTHING news, it happens ALL THE TIME– just this past couple weeks companies like Archaia who have HIT books like Mouseguard are announcing they are RESTRUCTURING (aka broke!)- TokyoPop, same thing thing, maybe even worse.

And behind the scenes at MANY indy comic publishers, things are pretty damn bleak I’ve been told. Sure, it would be easy to blame it on the economy– but that’s a fucking cop-out like non other– this is entertainment dollars, and go look at what INdy Jones, Iron Man and even Sex in the City just made, with higher ticket prices, higher everything prices. — In comics the problem is… drum roll…. the direct market.

TokyoPop’s CEO has a quote, that’s less of a copout - “TOKYOPOP CEO and Chief Creative Officer of the TOKYOPOP Group, Stuart Levy, explained the reasons for the reduction in output. “The time is now for us to focus our publishing business to overcome current market challenges. Few releases will allow for less cannibalization at retail. We must adjust our overhead to properly execute this new business plan. We are doing it with a heavy heart. It involves saying goodbye to 39 of the most talented, creative and compassionate people I’ve ever known.”"

“current market challenges” — are that people will eat comics up for free online, and INSTANT, while in the comic industry you have to rely on preorders and people, REAL people, going into comic shops to ask to preorder a title they weren’t going to carry in the first place. Oh, and current market challenges are also that by my estimation 75% of comic shops out there REALLY FUCKING SUCK when it comes to customer service. I can’t tell you the number of times online (you can go check the site for yourself in the comments alone) that my readers online have told me “we tried to order over at Joe Fuckbrain’s Comicverse, but they treated us like idiots” “They wouldn’t order it for me.”— I actually CALLED a store once after a reader told me this, and I told them the situation and asked why my reader couldn’t preorder the book– they just said “because we don’t carry it.” — but, wait, they have money in hand and ready to pay in advance??— “We just don’t do special orders here.” —- Many shops WILL, but still, even to get a new person through those doors asking for a preorder… they fucking blew it. — So for a title like mine that relies on kind readers to preorder, and only relies on ONE big page in a Previews catalog that ONLY the insiders of this insulated market see— well, for me, and many others, it’s not enough to sustain a title.

WEbcomics are where it’s at of course. You’re going to see, you’ve ALREADY seen, a bunch of print publishers trying to come on this scene and define it, when it’s already been defined. They’re laughed at privately by the real scene. When a company comes on with their exciting idea to have PDF downloads available, or just slap their print comics online– or check out their awesome new WEEKLY update—- webcomic readers don’t care about that. Webcomics is about MUCH more. Comics are about MUCH more. Read McCloud’s Reinventing Comics,page 56 “Negative Land” to understand how complex this “market” is, how many middlemen there are and then page 72.. chapter called CONTACT– that’s the future of comics.

Contact, communication. Transparency. — As far as companies owing creators money, that’s nothing new either, Crossgen, Dabel Bros, just two of the companies that spring to mind who have had headlines about this on major news sites, not to single them out— but it is what it is. The truth is, the money to pay creators WAS there at some point, but it was mismanaged, maybe too many softball games at Crossgen– they had an employee cafeteria there so I heard! Wow, fancy! Big and fancy, Crossgen had a friggin COMPOUND to work from– they blew through money like it was a bad habit on a relapse day. I’ve seen companies have extravagant parties, expensive dinners, really put on a show. Shoot, it even looks to a lot of people like WIZARD MAGAZINE might be going under soon or in some serious trouble currently –

The REAL bottom line is that creators are the LIFE BLOOD of anything, creator owned or not in comics. They need to be paid FIRST and kept happy, or shit will hit the fan– history proves that. Some ignore it. LOTS ignore it, hoping that they’ll get that one big payoff. The companies need to REALLY understand COMICS and creators before stepping into this playing field. The second thing is, you HAVE to respect the audience. So many companies have gone belly up because they didn’t do this ONE thing. They never GOT IT. It’s so fucking simple.— Such a complex thing, because even if you have all that stuff going for you, your stories, concepts, books, movies, webcomics, tv shows, dancing wallpapers– CAN ALL STILL SUCK. And guess who will be the first to tell you that…. the readers. They use to just tell you with their wallet— now they tell you online in news and blogs that they’re unhappy with you– and it’s easy to ignore conversations. I like taking them head on– that’s what makes me such a defender of the folks and things I believe in.

Ok– much actual WORK to get done today– there will be some fun posts this week about Flobots stuff, so tune in. I’ll write later today about my Flobotic Adventure to Cincinnati and how my wife and I drove home against tornadic weather. I think it was the government trying to hit me with a tornado. WEATHER CONTROL, MAN! WEATHER CONTROL!

I do feel like a big weight has been lifted off of me by being transparent here. Thanks for all the nice words and well wishes, both in the comments and via emails. It’s been a really tough time behind the scenes with a lot of things crushing down on us– I can’t say I’m too happy right now.

I’m headed out to Cincinnati until tomorrow night– going to see the Flobots tonight– looking forward to meeting up with them and talking about some exciting things coming down the pipe very soon. Of course, I’ll keep the ol’ blog updated here. Gotta get moving…. I’ll probably be twittering or sending photos to my facebook if you want to check in– http://twitter.com/djcoffman - on Facebook

Dont let it kill you baby, dont let it get to you
Dont let em kill you baby, dont let em get to you
I’ll be your breathin heart, I’ll be your cryin fool
Dont let this go to far, dont let it get to you

I can’t remember a time in my life where I was more energized and excited about the future–but completely nervous as all hell at the same time.

First the nervous part— My finances have been, well, to put it bluntly, completely jacked up the past month. My pay didn’t come on time as expected, not sure when it’s going to come although I’m sure it will at some point– but it’s lead me to make some pretty tough decisions personally and professionally here. My production schedule has pretty much been boned here, and it’s out of my hands now.  I can’t sit living off my savings and watching it dwindle down to nothing. My wife is back out now on job interviews, thank god for that stability, although I’d rather her not work and stay home with the kids– but this isn’t the 1950s I guess. People are often shocked when I say my wife hasn’t been working. Checked the mail… the closest thing to money was one of those “pre approved $5500″ loans offers from CitiFinacial. It was the first time I was actually tempted to call and take it…. but I’m smarter than that.

The exciting part though– I feel like I might have found something that was missing from my life, and a way to channel that inner rebelliousness that’s been there all along. I use to do it through satire– but now I think I might have put the pieces together in a way where, by god, it could actually make a DIFFERENCE out in the world. At least once or twice a week I get emails from people saying how my work has inspired them to go on with their own art and comics work, or peruse their dreams— and that feels pretty great– but now I’m thinking of expanding that to life in general. The idea that someone might read a story I’ve done and just not want to give up on life. To know they aren’t alone in their situation and that others have pulled out of it. TO hang in there! — Channeling my inner “Ben Franklin” as well, with some powerful imagery and counter propaganda. Finding these people of a similar mindset seems like a bit like the fickle finger of fate brought us together in some way. —

I’ll be able to show off some new stuff I’ve been working on real soon. Until then though, it’s back to the drawing board and the waiting games. The waiting is the hardest part.

I’m more and more forgetting to blog daily… I’ve been doing more sketching and having fun experimenting with my time that has opened up.

- Wow– it seems like every bit of conversation I have with the Flobots gets better and better. I can’t get into specifics, but there’s a MUCH bigger picture they have their eye on and they want me to be a part of it– I’m pretty humbled by that. It almost feels like I might have found my calling. We’ll see. It also feels like something like I did with ORIGINS might have been good practice for stories that are brewing in my head that I want to tell. Other people’s stories.

- Saw Indiana Jones with the family on Friday. Yeah, there were some parts that were way corny. But my kids loved it. I guess looking back you could say it was fun… but I’m nostalgic I think for that magic that I remember in Crusade and Raiders. Not so much in Temple. — Still, when Indiana Jones comes out, you HAVE to go see it… it’s like Nerd Church. Same goes for Star Wars or any comic book movies…. although I think I’m skipping the HULK– besides Ed Norton, it’s looking pretty bad. Batman soon though… that’ll rock.

- This is the part I skip, because I’m still not sure how to exactly phrase something or the way I’m feeling right now. I guess I’ve settled on the fact that I’m feeling a bit let down lately though. You can’t sit around and worry about it though, it won’t solve anything. In the end, honesty will be the best policy.

- Off to eat grilled meats at the in-laws. I still wish I could stop eating meat… I’ve tried, but my body and mind end up hating me.

Forgot to blog this morning. Not that it’s required–  it just slipped my mind. I was actually pretty stoked to wake up and jump right into work on some stuff for the Flobots comics, and some conceptual stuff.

Speaking of Flobots, I was officially given the number Flobot-13 by Jonny 5 of the Flobots yesterday. I’m not letting anyone take that from me– you’ll have to fight me for it!

As I’ve worked today, my thoughts have wondered away from thoughts about just drawing comics… but the idea that I might be able to draw comics that can actually educate, inspire… I might have the real opportunity available to get that accomplished now. I’m not sure exactly how I’ll make money doing it, but it’s something i can say I actually want to do. I think a goal of mine is to actually be able to do just that full time.

Someone told me recently that I should think about just going all out and drawing big boobed sexy chick books, but I just can’t bring myself to that. I don’t want that to seem like I’m looking down on that stuff of the people who do those types of books— but for me personally, I think I want to create things and leave things behind that make people think, get great reviews— that’s more important to me than making a quick buck.  Hero By Night might not sell a bajillion copies (no comic does anymore sadly) but there’s an underlying positive message in it, about choices… it’s not JUST a super hero book. — But now I’m getting back to thinking– I don’t have to disguise these stories as other things. I seem to have a knack for just telling these stories straight up…. and that’s an exciting thought for the future.

I’m sort of swimming in the unknown right now.