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Belated congrats, Dlotemp!
Sorry I haven't been around. Not that I need to be around or anything, but still. I've been reading everything posted, and have received numerous emails and sneak peeks for me to comment on. I'm afraid my involvement is going to be sketchy at best for the next seven months. I had honestly not expected this level of intensity in my classes. I've had to abandon blogging, I just wrote my mom and brother for the first time in two weeks, I've received at least three emails asking me if I'm still alive, and there hasn't been a week since school starts that I haven't had to pull at least one all-nighter. I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining. I'll be a better artist at the end of it, and hopefully that will come through in some Jenny projects.
Speaking of which, I've snuck her into some of my schoolwork. We had to do three characters with "heroic proportions" (How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way style, 8 3/4 heads tall) so I did Jenny. She looks like freaking Wonder Woman. And no, you can't see it. On to the mailbag!
Perse, I'll get you a scan of the zine shortly. It's b+w, with the same headshot Nelson created for the t-shirt iron-on, just cropped differently. A resources section might be cool. I'm sure there are plenty of existing sites like that we can link to. I think the print specifications are still kind of important. By no means does someone have to stick to them, but if they don't, they aren't likely to get into a zine with stories that do stick to those proportions. If someone doesn't care about any of that jazz, their contribution can still make it to the site, of course, and even into a zine with similarly proportioned stories. I know that I have at least one story brewing that doesn't fit the bill, so there you go.
I think if someone has put effort into creating a Jenny story, and they want to show it on the website, then, with a few exceptions, it'll get on. That's why we have a suggested limit of 8 pages, so that someone won't spend time drawing a graphic novel and having it denied. The few exceptions? I guess we'll know it when we see it. I'd say that stories that deal heavily in hatred of one form or another, or something that had absolutely no effort put into it, would be vetoed. Obviously, different people may have different interpretations of what the above could mean. I'm a pretty meat and potatoes guy, so the subtleties of various theories go right over my head. In the end, if there's any doubt on my part, I will confer with other creators whose judgement I trust.
For Tony Walsh's story, I wouldn't mind putting it on the site, maybe with a note that the rest can be read at his site. The Jenny stuff seems pretty self-contained so far. The audience is in the same situation as Jenny, not knowing what's going on or who these characters are. But I always assume that if someone has a Jenny story on their own site, they don't necessarily want it on ours.
While I trust Perse to post new stories without putting them past me (this thread was the first I had heard of Holiday Pandemonium), I'd be worried that a story might get posted which would later be taken down for some reason or another, and we'd have to deal with the complaints after the fact.
The open source vs. public domain thing. I'll admit to knowing nothing about open source. Sleaze pointed out ot me that it may mean that people can base, and improve, their contributions on other creators' Jennys, and not just on the first sketches and description that I provided. If true, it's a slight difference, but an important one. For instance, while Thor is public domain, if you wanted to use the character, you couldn't use any of the specifics in the Marvel version that are unique to their interpretation (shakespearean dialect, blond hair, costume, etc). Dorothy in the (public domain) Wizard of Oz books does not have ruby slippers, but the (still copyrighted) movie version does. Therefore, one cannot use the ruby slippers. There are countless cheap Snow White cartoons, but none of them look anything like the Disney character. I think basing Jenny on other creators' versions (and not just mine, especially if that version is not readily available) is inevitable, but some people might get ticked off down the line. Happily, this does not apply to any secondary characters, stories, or locations. Still, this is something we should probably decide upon. If any computer geeks can explain open source, please do so.
"Bring 'em on, and may the best meme win."
Ringht on. I once said something along the lines of if someone did a story where "Jenny" was tall, thin, blonde, buxom, caucasian, etc. it wouldn't necessarily be included on the Jenny site, but could still be called Jenny, and may in fact become the predominant Jenny. I mean, imagine if, say, Mark Millar wrote a Jenny story. It would no doubt be the big kahuna of Jennys to most people who know of her. That's the way the concept works. Jenny is controllable by no one. We can talk about how much we dislike certain characteristics or stories, but there isn't a damn thing we can do about it other than try to present our own version as strongly as possible. I've done up a model sheet of Jenny where she has the same proportions as a few of my friends (who were kind enough to pose for me). Watch your back, Nelson. My Jenny's large and in charge.
Taking off from what Dlotemp said, remember that many people contributing are novice artists, and may have barely any artisitic experience, especially when it comes to anatomy or keeping a character consistent. I'm surprised no one has put her breasts up on her neckline, or made her legs half their normal length, quite possibly my two favourite common mistakes.
On a side note, I have plans to draw a Jenny without some of her signifiers in particular stories, including her goggles, scarf, jacket, etc. Heretic!
All sorts of people have written or talked to me about the inherent flaws in the project, and there hasn't been one yet that I haven't already thought of ahead of time. I know it seems like this whole thing is very improvisational, but I've put an incredible amount of thought into the whole thing. You know that Exclaim article? My contribution was about 1/30th the actual amount I wrote to Tony (I know. Unbelievable). I anticpated the "well, someone could do a Jenny rape story" before I posted the first picture of Jenny on the board (speaking of that pic, is it on the site? If not, maybe it should be, just so we have the common base available for viewing, though by this point it's probably not necessary). This project isn't perfect. It has advantages that sole ownership doesn't, but it has disadvantages, too.
Despite the tone of the Exclaim article, I personally didn't think of Jenny as being anything that would be big or innovative, or a replacement for other systems. In fact, when asked what words of wisdom I'd like to impart to future contributors, I think I said "Have fun! Rock out!" which isn't nearly as intelligent as saying we're subverting intellectual property laws. Like most of you, I have plans for my own creator-owned projects as well. I had hoped that at least a few people would take a common character and have some fun creating comics they wanted to see made. That's it. The whole thing has already surpassed my personal expectations. This isn't to say I don't want to see it go further, but I don't feel it has to to be any more of a success then it already is. Obviously some of you feel differently, and that's cool, too. One of the great things about the project is that with this decentralisation we can have different goals (and, my favourite part, easy distribution in multiple countries) without all conforming to one game plan. We've had parents write to say that they've introduced Jenny to their kids for them to play with, and teachers who are looking to include her in their classes, and people who hate every single story made so far, but love the concept and are looking to kick ass. That makes me smile everytime.
Perse, jennyeverywhere.com is so a fan site. We're just twiddling our thumbs until some guerilla group swoops in and clobbers us. it's inevitable.
The reason I don't care to get an actual comic in actual comic shops is because I, personally, don't care to reach actual comic shop patrons. The Canadian Jenny zine was placed in practically every indy-friendly record, queer, feminist, magazine, video, head shop, anime, sex, etc. shop in Toronto and Ottawa. I pounded that pavement. For a fraction of the cost and effort, I tried to get the word out to the people who I was interested in getting involved, where they may not have thought of comics as a viable medium of expression, or had considered it but hadn't had that push yet, could find something fun to try their hand at. My agenda is obviously much different from others.
It's true that we haven't seen a huge influx of female creators (though how you can tell over the internet, I don't know), but I have received word from a number of (supposedly) female writers who would like to contribute, if they can find the time. Seeing as I'm in the same boat as them, I can't blame them. The short strip submissions should help that come along slightly. Hopefully we can see some more creators from outside Britain, too. Why no one has picked up on that angle is beyond me.
Think about how you would respond if you just happened to stumble across a character like Jenny. Would you get involved? Honestly, I wouldn't. I know that sounds horrible, but one of the reasons I think so many people are involved on Barbelith is because of the sense of community and involvement with the character from its origins that we all have. Why do people create? Maybe they want a character and story that's all their own with ultimate freedom of expression, possibly the most common type, so they wouldn't be interested in Jenny. Or they want money, so they're out. Or its a character that has meaning to them, like a superhero or fanfic, so we can't rely on them. Truthfully, Jenny isn't perfect for any story. A lot of the mini-comics folk I know tell very personal, oftentimes non-fiction, stories that would be completely ruined with the inclusion of Jenny. That potentially leaves very few people who would be interested. I think that the longer we put out good, solid stories, the more people will like and relate to the character as we do. Slow and steady wins the race.
There. Now that you're all sick of me again, I can disappear for another three weeks.
P.S. Hunter, I think Flyboy meant Clea, the supporting character from his Jenny stories, though he does seem to be the type who would be attracted to the Sorceress Supreme, so I can see how you'd make that mistake. |
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But even if I do, she's an open source character and these sort of risks come with the territory. And don't worry, Imp's script is kick-ass!