firehose

In the overwhelmingly male comic book industry, it has been a challenge for some editors and readers to see the ever growing number of talented women currently trying to make a name for themselves. With that in mind, ComicsAlliance offers Hire This Woman, a recurring feature designed for comics readers as well as editors and other professionals, where we shine the spotlight on a female comics pro on the ascendance. Some of these women will be at the very beginning of their careers, while others will be more experienced but not yet “household names.”

Architect and artist Alison Sampson is relatively new to the world of comics, but has done work for both IDW Publishing and Image. In addition to her Image one-shot Genesis with writer Nathan Edmondson (on sale this week), Sampson is also working on the comic Winnebago Graveyard with writer Steve Niles for Black Mask.

ComicsAlliance: What is your preferred form of creative output?

Alison Sampson: Storytelling by any means.

CA: Do you work on paper or digitally?

AS: On paper mainly, with digital lettering so far. I’m very open to working digitally, though, and there should be more of that. My main work has been mainly digital for more than 20 years, so the paper is a bit of a novelty, still.

CA: What’s your background/training?

AS: I’m a chartered architect, meaning, I took an architecture degree and diploma and professional exams. I studied at Cambridge University and the Bartlett School, which makes me a mixture of steady/ thoughtful and progressive (I guess). I worked before, during and after college as an inker and on perspectives and lettering, in drawing offices. You do do a lot of drawing whilst studying architecture, but that was abstract and more than 20 years ago and really, I am learning to draw again. Architecture went over to computers in the mid ’90s and what followed my professional exams has been mainly work in high profile firms, specializing in big schemes, 20th century conservation, education projects, working with artists, public works and making London amazing. I run projects and contracts, oversee design, mentor younger architects, make and publish drawings, spend time on site, and talk to clients and the authorities. Things I’ve helped make are scattered across London, from the O2 in the east to the Heathrow Control Tower in the west. Some people live in my projects, some work there, others just pass through. If you live in London, you’ll know my stuff.

What this kind of work teaches you is many things, but you have to learn to work with other people, keep your eyes open, be flexible and patient, that you will deliver, and (when you do), there are reasons why it needs to be your best.

CA: How would you describe your creative style?

AS: Architectural.

CA: What projects have you worked on in the past? What are you currently working on?

AS: I’m currently working on a mini-series with Steve Niles, for Black Mask, called Winnebago Graveyard, which has been recently announced. I’ve completed Genesis, with Nathan Edmondson, which is out from Image and have some plans for some more comics that I cannot share yet. Previously I’ve drawn shorts with Josh Tierney for Spera, Jon Callan for Image’s Outlaw Territory anthology and with Matthew Dow Smith for IDW’s In The Dark, out a week after Genesis. I do illustrations and pinups, draw people’s children and manage an ongoing world-building project called Think Of A City, with a whole load of people. After so much work for hire, and despite being responsible through all of that, this is the first time in my life I’ve been able to take personal credit for my work. It is a new experience.

CA: What is your dream project? 

AS: To draw comics at all. I’m (still) almost overcome that this is a possibility. I love drawing places I’ve never been to (this is a prime attraction of Winnebago Graveyard). Otherwise, to draw a comic written by Ray Bradbury; to contribute to the 8House universe; to adapt a specific piece of European literature to comics; to be paid to present an unknown world. Can I have all these things? To experiment with the form. I’m also very proud to be able to work with Image Comics and it is a dream to do it again, hopefully in not too long.

CA: Who are some comic creators that inspire you?

AS: The writers I am working with, currently Steve Niles. Artist-wise, Sean Phillips and Nate Powell for their work ethic; Jorge Zaffino and Tony Salmons for their art; Emma Rios and Brandon Graham for their approach and care. Emily Carroll, Boulet, Rob Davis. Damien Worm. David Rubin. The Think Of A City group of artists and writers. The guest artists in Genesis. Everyone who helped us. Many more than I can name.

CA: What are some comics that have inspired you either growing up or as an adult?

AS: I read Watchmen when I was in my late 30s and thought, “This is good,” looked into comics, saw Jock’s work and saw in it something I could relate to practically.

CA: What’s your ideal professional environment?

AS: A clean flat desk in a warm empty room, with a little background buzz to leaven the isolation.

CA: What do you most want our readers and industry professionals to know about your work?

AS: I’m willing to work and learn, I probably have a unique voice, but am a good collaborator. My work is there, and I’m not afraid to try out something new.

CA: How can editors and readers keep up with your work and find your contact information?

AS: Genesis is available from comic shops and hopefully bookshops from 16 April. My own work I record at my tumblr which has links to the rest of my online presence. I can be emailed here.

If there is a woman you’d like to recommend or if you’d like to be included in a future installment of this feature, drop us a line at comicsalliance-at-gmail-dot-com with “Hire This Woman” in the subject line.

Cal goes nuts every time the mailman comes to his house to deliver. Thankfully this entertaining act of protection is on the interwebs for us all to enjoy. Good boy, Calvin!

Submitted by: (via calthedog)

David Lynch’s Twin Peaks might seem like a singularly American thing, but apparently the creepy ‘90s show has fans all around the world. Take, for instance, Melbourne, Australia’s Icypoles. The all-girl group contains ex-members of Architecture In Helsinki and likes Peaks so much that it recorded a cover of “Just You,” a track that originally appeared on the show. That track’s streaming below exclusively on The A.V. Club, and sounds a bit like the XX merged together with some old doo-wop style girl groups.

Icypoles’ new full-length, My World Was Made For You, is out May 6 on Highline Records.

Late Tuesday night, Marty O'Donnell, the composer for the original Halo games trilogy, announced his firing from developer Bungie, where he had been serving as co-composer for upcoming first-person shooter Destiny.

"I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014," O'Donnell posted on his Twitter account. The decade-plus Bungie veteran did not offer any further clarification or comment. Within an hour, Bungie took to its news page with a brief farewell message that stated, in part, "Today, as friends, we say goodbye." We are tempted to assume that O'Donnell's use of "without cause" may bring Bungie's use of the word "friends" into question.

O'Donnell was last seen promoting the score of Destiny, which he had been composing with Paul McCartney and longtime Bungie collaborator Mike Salvatori. In the meantime, we're still waiting on more concrete details and gameplay of Bungie's latest online shooter.

The convenient "send to Kindle" feature lets users send documents, text from websites, and Kindle-compatible ebooks to their ereaders with a click from a web browser, desktop, email, or tablet. Now, Amazon is automatically adding those personal documents to a new folder on your Amazon Cloud Drive for easy retrieval.

"You can use Manage Your Kindle to see a list of your documents, re-deliver them to Kindle devices and free reading apps, delete them, or turn off auto-saving of documents to the cloud," Amazon says in an email sent to customers.

It's a useful feature that comes with a generous helping of free storage: the 5GB that you get with an Amazon Cloud Drive account, plus 5GB for personal documents from your Kindle. It's part of the company's plan to hook users on its cloud storage solution, which competes with the likes of Google Drive and Dropbox. Amazon originally pitched the service for photos and video, but it's now emphasizing documents as well.

In an attempt to promote either democracy, creativity, personal expression, or some slightly convoluted combination of all three, Sweden has been operating a program called Democrativity that's meant to curate ideas for "the most unlikely [video] game ever." Democrativity has been crowdsourcing ideas for unlikely characters, environments, and goals, and allowing people to vote on what they like the most. It's since posted a brief breaking down the top ideas: people were largely in favor of collaborative, nonviolent games that don't involve beating an opponent; they also preferred inanimate and abstract objects to be characters and to play in an abstract environment.

"Democracy is the mother of creativity.

Only around 500 ideas were submitted, so this certainly isn't the most robust analysis of gamers' developing interests, though the results certainly meet Democrativity's goal of highlighting underrepresented ideas from across the world. Democrativity itself isn't turning any of these ideas into a game though: it's instead encouraging game developers to look through the ideas for inspiration for something to create themselves. This will apparently promote democracy because "freedom, equality, and openness" are essential to both it and creativity.

Democrativity's results seem to have come out quickly. The program appearing to have launched just last month alongside a strange inspirational video heralding Sweden's creativity by pointing to famous Swedish output such as Minecraft and Robyn's intense dancing. Democrativity hopes to see several games produced based on its results, and it intends to feature them on its website whenever they launch.

Atari is partnering with gambling and lottery game developer Pariplay to bring the former's classic video game brands to real-money gambling formats, the companies announced.

Atari's game brands — including Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Pong and Tempest — will be brought to Pariplay's iLottery and iGaming platforms as well as its mobile and social online formats. Atari-branded lottery games will also be distributed through Pariplay's network to third-parties who will use these games on their websites.

"Atari was a pioneer in the interactive entertainment space, having built tremendous brand equity through their rich suite of beloved brands," Pariplay CEO Gili Lisani said in a press statement. "We are proud to steward their entry into the evolving iGaming category where players can engage with their properties in exciting new ways."

"Pariplay's expertise in the real money gambling category coupled with their solid back-end architecture makes them an ideal partner," added Fred Chesnais, CEO of Atari. "This initiative, coupled with our recent FlowPlay social casino announcement, supports our broader vision to expand Atari's legacy properties outside of the gaming field."

Last year, Pariplay was acquired by Majesco Entertainment. The division has since been put at the forefront of the company's venture into online casino games and real-money gambling fronts.