Posts Tagged ‘James Ninness’

Semantink State of the Union

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Greetings readers! If you have been checking out our site this week, you might have noticed that we have begun running our blogs in a slightly different manner. I know that change can be scary, so I just wanted to give you a run down of what you can be expecting from us here at Semantink every week:

Every Monday you will get to read the newest strip in our web-comic, THE UNDERGROUNDS. You can also find an archive of all posted UNDERGROUNDS strips at the-undergrounds.com.

Tuesdays still give you Sgt. Angle and his weekly Cinegasms column, dealing with all things movie.

On Wednesdays Akatzen regails you with his weekly Book Report delving into the world of books that don’t have pretty pictures.

Mr. Wolff still owns Thursday with his Hump Day Rant.

Friday sees new Semantink blogger Dr. Cellus delve into all things paranormal on his blog Cognitive Alchemy.

Saturday gives you Admiral Eo’s Soft Shoe Diaries, wherein the good Admiral looks into the world of theater.

Sunday, you will be stuck with me as I talk comics in my weekly Comicopea column.

Not a bad line up right? Well our new blog schedule is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of news here at Semantink. Over the next few months, our site will be getting a bit of a face lift courtesy of the fine gentlemen at SanBox Inc. All of the content that you love will still be here, but the whole place will be prettier and easier to navigate.

For our MYTHOI lovers, I have some great news, our latest issue of the MYTHOI Birth series, TAROS will be out this week. Here is the cover art to the upcoming issue to whet your appetite:

April is going to see the last issue of MYTHOI Births, TOUCH, hit the internet. As always, MYTHOI will be brought to by the electrifying team of James Ninness and Jed Soriano.

The MYTHOI Birth series coming to a close means two things, 1) MYTHOI proper will pick up again in June with issue #2, and 2)the MYTHOI Birth graphic novel will be available around the same time. All of our MYTHOI issues are available for digital download, but this graphic novel will be the only place you can find the whole Birth series collected in in one place. The GN will be chock full of original content as well, so make sure you pick up a copy when it comes out!

This fall we will be launching two new series, THE HEAVEN’S and SIM-I. THE HEAVEN’S will be written by James Ninness and illustrated by spectacular newcomer Turbo Qualls! THE HEAVEN’S is a steampunk power struggle set on the alien desert world of Terra. Joe Pezzula will be writing SIMI-I, the madcap tale of a super intelligent monkey trying to evade vaporization. I will have more information and pretty picture-tude on these soon.

Next month is also the start of convention season for us here at Semantink. We will be at WonderCon and Wizard World Anaheim in April, The Phoenix Comicon in May, the world famous San Diego Comic Con in July, and the Alternative Press Expo and Long Beach Comic con in October.

So, to make a long story short (too late), 2010 is an exciting year for us here at Semantink, and I just want to say thank you for being a part of it. Keep an eye out here for more details on our upcoming projects, and if you have any questions you can always drop me a line.

Benjamin Glibert

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More from THE UNDERGROUNDS

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Welcome back to my week long look at Semantink’s new web-comic, THE UNDERGROUNDS. In the past few days we have all gotten a chance to meet several of the characters from THE UNDERGROUNDS by way of their Monster Match profiles. Monday we got to meet Dracula, yesterday we were introduced to Frank, and today we get to become acquainted with the Wolfman:

Now, I also promised a little more information about the talented people working on THE UNDERGROUNDS, and since I am no liar,  today I want to give you all a little information about two of the fabulous writers working on this project, Joe Pezzula and James Ninness.

Joe Pezzula got his BA in English from the University of Albany, then went on to get his MFA in scriptwriting from Chapman University. Joe has mainly worked up in Hollywood the last few years, but has decided to take his first shot in the field of comics with THE UNDERGROUNDS. If you want to read some of Joe’s short stories, you can find them here. Joe also loves pie and homemade meatballs. Don’t get between Joe and his meatballs.

James Ninness is a name that you have heard of if you visit this site often. James received his BA in English: Creative Writing from Cal State Long Beach, and is also the writer of Semantink’s inaugural title, MYTHOI. However, no one project can keep James occupied, so he got involved with THE UNDERGROUNDS (not to mention a great deal of other projects I am not at liberty to talk about). If you want to check out James’ work on MYTHOI, you can read several issues for free here or if you want to check out some more of his musings, you can check out his blog, The Word Ride.On a more personal note, James likes sushi eaten off of brightly colored midgets.

Check back tomorrow for more on THE UNDERGROUNDS, and if you missed out on meeting Dracula or Frank, fear not I’ve put links in just below.

Dracula

Frank

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What is THE UNDERGROUNDS?

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to share some very exciting news with you all. One week from today (that’s March 1st for all of you without a calender handy) Semantink Publishing will be offering a free weekly web comic to all titled THE UNDERGROUNDS.

THE UNDERGROUNDS is a comic strip that takes some of your favorite classic monsters, characters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Mummy, and The Wolfman (as well as everyone’s favorite vampire hunter Van Helsing) and puts them to work at a coffee shop.

The strip is written by Marcel Losada, Michael Fountain, James Ninness, Joe Pezzula and Derek Johnson, with art by Daniel Touchet.

Now that you know about our latest project, it’s time to introduce you to the characters you will be seeing there every week. Each of the monsters that work at THE UNDERGROUNDS recently filled out a very telling dating survey for Monster Match, and I thought I would share their answers with you. Today we get to learn a little bit more about Dracula:

From today until Friday I will be introducing you to a new character each day. Enjoy, and mark your calenders for next Monday and THE UNDERGOUNDS #1!

Benjamin Glibert

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The Long Beach Comic Expo

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Hello all!  I was fortunate enough to join the Semantink boys on another convention outing yesterday back to Long Beach, for the Long beach Comic Expo!  The Long Beach Comic Con kicked off its first year just a few months ago, and a second year is coming in October, but the good people behind the LBC’s comic craze decided to give us a one day sort of midpoint break in patience.  While yesterday’s event was only a miniscule sampling of the glory that is the Long Beach Comic Con proper, it hailed a haughty list of talent:

  • Amanda Dawn Wolf
  • Bernie Wrightson
  • Beth Sotelo
  • Brian Haberlin
  • Cat Staggs
  • Christian Beranek
  • Christian Meesey
  • Chris Moreno
  • Dan Brereton
  • Dan Wickline
  • Dan Taylor
  • David Wohl
  • Drew Johnson
  • Dustin Nguyen
  • Eddie Nuñez
  • Eric Basaldua
  • Eric Canete
  • Frank Mastromauro
  • Gus Vazquez
  • J.T. Krul
  • Jim Daly
  • JJ Kirby
  • Joe Benitez
  • Joe Rubinstein
  • Jordan Raskin
  • Josh Dysart
  • Lauren Perry
  • Joshua Hale Fialkov
  • Livio Ramondelli
  • Lou Ferrigno
  • Mark Dos Santos
  • Mark Roslan
  • Michael Lopez
  • Naomi Baker
  • Norm Rapmund
  • Peter Steigerwald
  • Philip Tan
  • Ray-Anthony Height
  • Richard Starkings
  • Rick Basaldua
  • Rob Levin
  • Scott Lobdell
  • Stan Sakai
  • Steve Niles
  • Tim Bradstreet
  • Tim Vigil
  • Todd Nauck
  • Tone Rodriguez
  • Tony DeZuniga
  • Tony Fleecs
  • Trent Kaniuga
  • Trevor Goring
  • Vince Hernandez
  • Whilce Portacio

Sgt. Angle and Benjamin Glibert give R2 the “what’s-what.”

Ben, Sgt. Angle, Ash, Admiral Eo and I made our way up to Long Beach in the wee hours of Saturday morning and pushed through minimal traffic-resistance, arriving at the Convention Center just after doors opened at 10am.  We were greeted by a few cars resembling entertainment icons and pushed past a group of Clone Wars veterans into the expo.  Now this event was not in the main hall, as the convention was, but in a smaller room to the side of the main entrance — but it worked.  There was enough space to get around and sample each of the vendors/artists/writers/publisher’s tables without feeling to cramped.

Admiral Eo and James Ninness don’t mind Huey Lewis, but hate the News.

Once we had our wristbands, we leisurely strolled through the hubbub and ran into Mike Mignola and Steve Niles (both incredibly personable) — not a bad start.  After a very lovely discussion with Tone Rodriguez (who told me that he was in DEXTER, something I did not know), we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping.  One of the booths was selling everything at 40% off, so between the five of us, a few hundred dollars was spent and everybody went home with goodies galore.

Admiral Eo, James Ninness and Ash think Anakin acts like a girl. ;-)

Cosplay was ensuing, with quite a good many fantastic costumes, and a few not so good ones…  But it was great to see fans out in force, enjoying each others geekery.  While I wish that there was more, I understand that this was a $10.00, one day event and I’m not complaining, I just wish there was more to see or do.  There were no panels (understandable), no contests (again, understandable) and no incentive to stay after doing a couple laps around the showroom floor.  It was, as one would think it to be, simple.  We went, talked to some amazing people, met some courageous fans, and bought some fantastically priced merch — a fine time.

ZBladeXX scares Sgt. Angle

I look forward to the Con-proper in October (assuming I’m invited again) and have to hand it to the Long Beach organizers, MAD Event Management and the Long Beach Comic Convention, they made a lot of people very happy on an otherwise plain February afternoon — so a very special thanks to them!

YouTube Preview Image

Talk to you guys soon!

James Ninness

PS:  The response to MYTHOI has been overwhelming — thank you all!  I hope you continue to enjoy it!

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MYTHOI Continues!

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Good morning!

The next exciting installment of the MYTHOI saga is now available! We here at Semantink are proud to present MYTHOI Birth: YUKI from the creative team of James Ninness and Jed Soriano. The best part? It is absolutely free!

You can find a downloadable PDF on our MYTHOI site here, along with the first two parts of MYTHOI Births (also free). However, for the best viewing experience possible, I recommend checking out YUKI through issuu, which you can do here.

From all of us here at Semantink, we hope you enjoy the issue, and if you did, feel free to tell a friend, get the word out, share the MYTHOI love!

Thanks for stopping in folks, enjoy the comic and check back in tomorrow for another book report with Akatzen.

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MYTHOI Birth: VITO!!

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Greetings Semantinkers!

Ben was kind enough to let me share the exciting news — Vito is here!  Jed and I have been working very, very hard to push ourselves with each issue and we’re both very proud of MYTHOI Birth: Vito — I hope you like it!  Vito is the smallest of the MYTHOI gang, but he’s also the most gruesome…  If you like vampires, Gothic culture, or anything Brahm Stoker, I think you’ll find Vito an entertaining read!  If you like Twilight, well…  I’m sorry?

Suck it.

There are a few viewing options at your disposal here.  Option 1: Go here and download your very own copy of Vito as a pdf — for free!  Or for the viewing method preferred by many of us here at Semantink, you can go here and check it out on ISSUU!  Either way, be sure to check it out and as always: LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!  The best publicity is word of mouth.  We want you guys to enjoy it and tell your friends, remember: it’s 100% free!

I’m honored that you’ve taken the time to check out the beginning of a story I’ve invested the last four years of my life into.  It’s very exciting to see Jed breathe life into these characters and even more so to hear back from you guys about the good times your having reading them. You guys are the best.

Benjamin’s also asked me to mention that Semantink is currently being “re-imagined.”  I’m not privy to all the details, but I do know that the site will be relaunching with all new designs and a complete interface overhaul.  I think I’m allowed to tell you that they’ve just finished negotiations with a new team of bloggers to be producing new content every day, as well as production on a yet-to-be-titled web comic, released every Monday.  All of this coming to you in mid-February…  So stay tuned and hold on to your butts — good stuff’s a-comin’.

Keep on keepin’ on!

James Ninness

PS: In case you haven’t figured it out already, there is something else going on between the pages — here’s a hint: read the ads.  Have fun!

Semantink.com

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Hump Day Rant: James Michael Ninness

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Greetings kiddos and welcome to another Hump Day Rant.  Today we’re going to do something a little different and depending on your tastes it’ll wither be a treat or a complete snooze.  I’ll let you decide, though if you opt for “snooze” you’re probably either a moron, a sorority girl, or burdened with some degree of mental incapacity.

28 years ago today a poor woman had her water violently bludgeoned open, and gave birth to one of the most talented (albeit unattractive) writers I’ve had the pleasure to know: James Michael Ninness.  James grew up in San Diego and after high school, spent a few years traveling through Europe and the Southwestern United States, ending up with a degree in English: Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach (additional alumni include: Steve Martin, Steven Spielberg, and X-Files Chris Carter).  Eventually he realized that travel doesn’t give you anything more than a confused worldview (and in some cases a proclivity for bisexuality) and moved back to San Diego with his better half, Kyleen.  The latest news in James’s life is the birth of his daughter: Natala James (what a fucking ego) Ninness.  So why are we interviewing this bum?  Well, he’s the creator/writer of MYTHOI, Semantink’s inaugural comic.

Mr. Wolff:  Hello James, good to see you again.  Happy early birthday.

James:  Yeah man, thanks.  Thanks for having me.

Mr. Wolff:  You look confused…

James:  [laughs] Yeah, well — you make me a bit nervous.  When Benji (Benjamin Glibert, Director of Publishing for Semantink) told me that you’d be doing the interview I thought for sure I’d done something to offend somebody.

Mr. Wolff:  Ah, don’t worry.  I’ll be gentle.

James:  Please!  I’d appreciatte it.

Mr. Wolff:  Well then, let’s get to it with my first question.  I’ve read MYTHOI Issue One and both of the completed issues in the  MYTHOI: Birth series and after careful contemplation I wanted to know: Did you perform any sexual favors to get this published, or was Benjamin just desperate?

James:  Wow!

Mr. Wolff:  This is me, nice.

James:  Okay.  Fair enough.  Um, no.  I didn’t have to perform any favors for Benji, we’d been sleeping together for some time.  I’d say he was sick of me to be honest.  He probably just wanted to give me something as a thank you.

Mr. Wolff:  Good answer.  Seriously though, what drugs were you on when you came up with MYTHOI?

James:  [laughs] Yeah, I guess it kinda reads that way.  I’ve always been a big mythology fan.  When Ben and I were in school we tossed around the idea for a comic book set in a world where every mythology, religion and folktale existed simultaneously.  Once I set out to do some research my five mythoi (protagonists: Vito, Yuki, Wiglaf, Touch and Taros) just jumped off the page.  The plot proper was the most time consuming part, you know?  Getting all of these guys to come together and then uniting them for one purpose, without the book becoming “superhero” or anything.

Mr. Wolff:  What do you have against superheroes?

James:  Nothing!  I love those books, but the ones I love are-  Well, let me choose my words carefully.  My favorite books are the ones that have existed for quite some time: Batman, Spiderman, the X-Men, you know?  It’s rare that I find a new book in the superhero genre that really jumps out at me.  For the most part they seem like rehashes of something somebody else did better.  I just don’t want to be another copycat.

Mr. Wolff:  So in order to be original, you stole from religions and mythologies from around the world?

James:  [laughs] Yeah, I guess I did.  I’m a hack.

Mr. Wolff:  Clearly.  Another interesting thing about MYTHOI is that it has an end…

James:  Yes!  I actually wrote that first.

Mr. Wolff:  The end?

James:  Yeah.  I knew where I wanted to go once I had the characters fleshed out.  The fun part is getting them there.  J.J. Abrams is a story teller I really respect–

Mr. Wolff:  He’s great.

James:  Man, that guy knows his shit.  Well, he said something in Wireless magazine about, and I’m not quoting because I don’t remember the quote verbatim, but he said he tries to emphasize journey over climax.  He was referencing the public’s need for spoilers and their desire to know the end of something so bad that they neglect to enjoy the experience getting from beginning to end.  Well, by writing the end first I was able to let my geek flag fly and really embellish in the story as it unfolds.  I knew where I was going and I knew where I was coming from, but the journey was a blast to ride.

Mr. Wolff:  How does it feel being the first book out of the Semantink stable?

James:  Terrifying.  [laughs] I don’t know what Ben was thinking!  You know, I just hope people have fun with the experience of MYTHOI.  I’m not trying to write the quintessential mythology book or anything.  As a writer, I just try to tell stories similar to the ones I enjoy reading.  Hopefully there are one or two people out there who have tastes akin to my own–

Mr. Wolff:  We’re gonna go bankrupt if we don’t have more than that.

James:  Yeah!  I guess so.  I try not to think about all that stuff.  It’s not my job.  Benji hired me for MYTHOI, not my business savvy.  If a few people enjoy MYTHOI, then I feel like I’ve done my job.

Mr. Wolff:  How’d you find Jed (artist for MYTHOI)?

James:  He’s awesome, isn’t he?

Mr. Wolff:  I don’t know about “awesome,” but he’s a damn fine artist.

James:  I met Jed through a mutual friend — we were both working on a music video; I was doing some writing and he was storyboarding.  We just chatted up and throughout our conversations I pitched him MYTHOI.

Mr. Wolff:  Was he a hard sell?

James:  Not at all!  Jed was the first artist I had spoken to who seemed to be as gung-ho about MYTHOI as I was.  It was awesome to feel the passion in his heart for the story.  We drafted some stuff up and that’s when Ben called me.  It all just fell into place.

Mr. Wolff:  I just want to clarify one thing.

James:  Yeah?

Mr. Wolff:  I’m quoting you here, “It was awesome to feel,” Jed’s, “passion?”

James:  [laughs]  Yeah.  All over me!

Mr. Wolff:  Well, we’re almost out of time–

James:  We’re being timed?

Mr. Wolff:  No, but I’m too busy for you — I have to get back to playing Dragon Age.

James: [laughs] Oh!  Got it.

Mr. Wolff:  Are their any other projects you’re working on right now?

James:  Yes!  I’m in negotiations with Ben and an artist named Turbo in Orange County for another book, which I hope to put out through Semantink and I’m also working on my first novel.

Mr. Wolff:  Did you steal those ideas as well?

James:  Umm, I don’t think so…

Mr. Wolff:  Thanks for speaking to me James.  You know I love your stuff.

James:  No problem Wolff — thanks again!

That was it!  If you have any questions for James that don’t suck, drop me an email at info@semantink.com and I’ll see if i can corner him for another few moments.  If you haven’t checked out MYTHOI yet, WHY NOT?  You can peruse the Birth series here for free, and purchase Issue one here for $0.99.

Until next time,

Mr. Wolff

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MYTHOI update!

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Good Morning!

I know that usually Monday is a day of list-filled goodness, but I’m going to interrupt our regularly scheduled program to talk a bit about MYTHOI. For those who don’t know, MYTHOI is our inaugural title here at Semantink, and something that we are all very proud of. In September, MYTHOI #1 was released, and so far the response has been overwhelmingly good.

MYTHOI #1 Cover

Now, most of you who visit the site probably know all about MYTHOI, and already have your copy of issue #1 (if you don’t have your copy yet, go get it now, it’s okay, I’ll wait) and are eagerly awaiting the release of issue #2, due out this month. That is what I am here to address.

MYTHOI #2 coverI just wanted to let everyone know that issue #2 of MYTHOI is going to be on hold for a few months. WHAT THE HELL!? you might be yelling at your computer screen at this very moment (which is unfair, the computer didn’t do anything to you), but take a deep breath and relax, because I have some news that is going to make your day.

In a few weeks, Semantink is going to be releasing a brand new MYTHOI comic, and the best part? It’s going to be FREE! Yes, I said it, FREE! The comic will be available online, and as I just said, completely gratis. The storytelling team of James Ninness and Jed Soriano are still in place, so don’t worry, there will be no drop off in the quality of story.

This comic is going to be the first of five origin stories for our MYTHOI characters and be titled MYTHOI: BIRTH. The first MYTHOI: BIRTH will focus on a character named Wiglaf. Who is Wiglaf? Well, let me show you a picture:

Mythoi_origins_pg04 colortest1(2)

Pretty neat, huh? So, for those expecting MYTHOI #2, I’m sorry for the delay, but I guarantee, you are going to love the MYTHOI BIRTH issues. And fear not, MYTHOI #2, while a bit tardy, is still coming!

For those who want to be kept up to date on all the latest MYTHOI news, or just want to talk other ofther MYTHOI lovers out there, feel free to become a fan of MYTHOI on facebook.

Oh, and one more thing, just to warn you: there is a secret hidden inside of MYTHOI: BIRTH WIGLAF, that you are not going to want to miss out on. Can you find the trail?

Thanks for stopping in folks, see you tomorrow.

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Crazy APEs

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Ben and I weren’t to sure what to expect at APE (the Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco this weekend.  We packed our bags on Thursday night and hit the road bright and early Friday morning, leaving San Diego some time around 9.  We drove up to San Francisco with a few brief stops and arrived here while the evening was settling in across the bay.  We’d never been to APE before and while we knew it was meant for independent publishers, we didn’t know what that means — would there be anyone we were familiar with?  Was this the right place to try and sell MYTHOI?

We arrived at Ben’s brother’s place, who had been kind enough to offer up his couch for our resting, but upon arrival we realized that there were cats present, two of them.  As Ben and I both suffer from a disease called allergies that usually ends with us killing cats, we thanked his brother and found accommodations elsewhere — at 12:30am.  Most places were booked for either APE or the Treasure Island Music Festival and if they weren’t booked, the price was a mere $250.00 per night and nobody had rooms for both that night and Saturday night, just one or the other.  So right about the time we began discussing the legitimacy of sleeping in Ben’s car right outside of the Concourse (where APE is held) we got a hold of the greatest man in San Francisco: Gandhi.  Not that Gandhi.  Our Gandhi is the late-night concierge at a hotel without a name in an alley behind a bar in the Mission District.  And bless Gandhi for all time because he got us a room for both nights, under $100.00 per night, free valet and only 2 blocks from the Concourse.

SF Concourse: where red paint goes to die.

SF Concourse: where red paint goes to die.

The only other thing we did that night warranting any recognition was to make a brief appearance at the ISOTOPE party (thanks Amir Malekpour) featuring Dean Haspiel, (THE QUITTER, OPPOSABLE THUMBS, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, and THE ALCOHOLIC).  Ben and I both agree that it is one of the coolest comic book shops we have ever seen and if you are ever in the San Francisco area, stop in and say hi to James Sime, the super-friendly owner.  The whole thing is 1-part comic book store, 1-part nightclub, and 1-part design — just go, trust me.

Isotope: The Geek's Nightclub

Isotope: The Geek’s Nightclub

Ben and I awoke on Saturday, trudged down to a coffee shop and made our way towards APE.  And what did we think?  It was awesome.  If San Diego Comic Con is meant to blow your mind with all the million-dollar bells and whistles, and Long Beach Comic Con is designed for the more intimate encounters with industry professionals, then APE is a secret fort where only fans congregate to go over their own good ideas and opinions on art, writing and everything mainstream.  Sure, people are there trying to sell their product, but at APE you can talk to them and find out why…  Writers grill each other on the presentation of information and misinformation, Artists trade work with each other and discuss their inspirations, while Publishers peruse through the aisles, taking it all in and maybe picking up some new talent…  It’s very neat — like the Swap Meet of Comic Cons.

APE from entrance: Left

APE from entrance: Left

APE from entrance: Center

APE from entrance: Center

APE from entrance: Right

APE from entrance: Right

Obviously, since it’s cheaper than some of the other cons, there are a lot of people presenting who, well, maybe shouldn’t.  But what’s great about APE is that they can!  One man’s Koontz is another man’s King!  Right?

Well Ben and I went through every single booth, one at a time, over five or six hours and met some great people, many of whom you will probably hear us mention in the future… or now.  Like John C. Narcomey Jr. from High Tower Comics, or Russ Kazmierczak Jr. and Brent Otey from K.O. Comix.  All good people, with good products, so check ‘em out when you get a chance…

High Tower makes death pretty.

High Tower makes death pretty.

Check out the blog -- Nice guys!

Check out the blog — Nice guys!

After the convention Ben and I went back to the hotel, vegged out with some Dexter episodes and cleaned up before jumping into our favorite out-of-town-convention activity:  Drinking.  Luckily, the bar next to our hotel was fantastic:  Bloodhound.  This bar was perfect for us.  Good beer?  Check (and served in mason jars).  Nice people?  Yup.  Environment?  Got that too.  We moseyed down, caught the end of the Angels/Yankees game (and sighed when the Yankees won — damn them), had a few beers and talked to some, uh, interesting (?) people.  Then it was time for sleeps.

Drinks, Games and Entertainment!

Drinks, Games and Entertainment!

We’re not going to APE today.  Instead we’re going to head home.  APE is a doable-in-one-day kind of event as it doesn’t have much change from one day to the next and is more for floor-walking than anything else.

We had fun and we’ll definitely be back next year…

James Ninness

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James Ninness, the Long Beach Comic Con and MYTHOI…

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Hello fans of fiction!

My name is James Ninness, writer of Mythoi, lover of the Bootie and closet fan of Heroes (don’t tell Mr. Wolff).  I’m flattered that Ben, Mr. Wolff, Ash, Street Fece and Akatzen have asked me to write a little something-something in preparation for our departure to Long Beach for the first annual Long Beach Comic Con this weekend!  Ben tells me that we’re getting t-shirts to wear with the Semantink logo, so if you see us meandering about please feel free to come up and say hi!

I’ve known Benji for a while and I knew that he’d been talking about starting/running a publishing house for some time, but I was honored, elated and nervous as hell when he asked MYTHOI to be Semantink’s premiere property!  I’ve published a few short stories and some poetry here and there, but writing comic books has always been a dream.  All I have to do now is make out with a midget and I can officially die a happy man.

I was born and raised in San Diego, California, but I got my degree in English: Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach.  I did a bit of traveling and-  Okay.  This is boring.  How’s this:  Once I hog tied a crazy, drunk girl and threw her in a trailer because she threatened to stab me in my sleep.  True story!  She wriggled her cell phone out of her pocket and called the cops, but didn’t know where she was.  When I checked on her an hour later she was still on the phone with them so I took it and found out that several cop cars and a helicopter had been scouring Irvine looking for the motor-home she was in!  I gave them my address and when they showed up they asked me to keep the girls phone so she didn’t bug them anymore.  What does that have to do with comic books?  Nothing.  But it’s more fun than knowing anything about my education, publishing history and/or travel experiences.

So, as you’ve hopefully heard, I’ve got this title coming out through Semantink called MYTHOI.  I actually wrote MYTHOI almost four years ago while I was in college.  The idea for the premise came out of my fascination with mythology, legends and all things supernatural.  So, I picked elements from my favorites and created my players…  Combining ghosts, Buddhism, dragons and yeti, I got Yuki (our only femme fatale).  Vampires, werewolves, mummies and zombies gave me Vito, the oldest 10-year-old-bodied vampire ever.  The Terminator movies, Universal Soldier (yeah, Lundgren and Van Damme), anything post-apocalyptic and ninjas helped to create Touch.  Wiglaf arose from ancients texts like the Bible, Beowulf and Norwegian texts.  And last but not least came Taros, birthed out of my love of Greek/Roman mythology.  Now take all of those parent-ideas and all of the concepts, ideas and beliefs about each of them, throw them in our world, right now and shake it up — that’s MYTHOI.  Actually, let me introduce you to one of the minor characters, Cat — This is a sketch from my amazing artist, Jed Soriano (ironically, Cat is a werewolf):

Kat_prev2

Kat_prev1

MYTHOI is 60 issues long.  That’s it.  After 60 issues the story is done.  And while I can’t give away too much of the plot, I can lead you with a few questions…  If all gods ever conceived actually existed in today’s world where they are forgotten and cast aside, don’t you think they’d be a little upset?  If so, who would protect us humans from the big, angry gods?  I should also tell you that there are no superheroes in MYTHOI.  That’s it.  I’m afraid I can’t say anymore.  If you want to know more you’ll have to pick up issue #1 here.

comiccon_verBory_rev2

If you haven’t already bought you tickets for the Long Beach Comic Con then you should do so immediately.  Even though it’s their first year, they’ve rounded up a pretty kick-ass line up:  Stan Lee, Jim Lee, Thomas Jane, Berkeley Breathed, Seth Green, Tim Bradstreet, Jeph Loeb, Jon Bogdanove, George Lazenby and many, many more!  I’ve been poking around the people who set the whole thing up and I have to say, they seem like a good group to be throwing this shindig.  I’m sure Benji will do a write-up of the whole event when we return, but if you care at all for comics and are anywhere near the Long Beach area you should definitely roll out this weekend (10/2 — 10/4).

I think that’ll do for now.  I hope I’ve piqued some of your curiosities about the comic and haven’t bored you too much.  If you want to write me, feel free to at jamesninness@yahoo.com.  Otherwise, enjoy MYTHOI and I hope to meet you soon!

James Ninness

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