I'm Back!

[Northcott]

Don't know if any of you merry bringers if mayhem will remember old Ed (except perhaps Sylvie from our long talks on cultural clashes), but work's finally let up enough for me to breathe again. :)

And then I see what's happened to the Flight. My stomach did a backflip.

So, anyone care to give me a short version of what I've missed? I haven't walked into a comic shop in about a year. All I know is that my favourite team went and got gacked on the whim of a writer's itchy trigger finger again.

[DelBubs]

Welcome back Ed, we didn't forget you while you've been off galavanting.

http://forum.alphaflight.net/viewtopic.php?t=1118

While you've been away, AF vol 3 got canned, Hurrah! Most of AF got wiped out in New Avengers #16. A little whisper began about a new series that would please Alpha Flight fans, but wouldn't be Alpha. The speculation was fun and then the actual news was released late last week and the speculation began anew. Oh and by the way, welcome back :-)

[Ben]

Hey Ed! Welcome back! I've been more or less absent myself all summer, but will be back in full force at the end of the month, and half force 'till then ;) Now that I'm all married and moved into our new place, things are starting to calm down a bit for me.

Ben

[RolandT]

Mr. Northcott, the artist? Good you're here.

[Northcott]

Yeah, I'm here -- and I'm flattered you guys remembered me. And thanks for the kind wishes in that link. The Degrassi project turned out to be more of a bear than I thought, though the people I was working with were top notch, and the folks at Epitome pictures are as nice as can be.

Ironically enough, I posted some of my old design sketches at another board I frequent, and that inspired the guy who was originally colouring the pages to finish off the first five. He e-mailed the last of them to me the other night. I may just throw letters on them and set them up for some "what if" kind of viewing.

And there's no need for the "Mr." thing. :) Northcott or just Ed, either's fine by me. I don't stand on formality unless it's been rendered unconscious.

[syvalois]

Don't know if any of you merry bringers if mayhem will remember old Ed (except perhaps Sylvie from our long talks on cultural clashes), but work's finally let up enough for me to breathe again. :)


Allô, nice to have ytou back and we should continue one day our discussion. I liked the challenge :twisted:

[Northcott]

Allô, nice to have ytou back and we should continue one day our discussion. I liked the challenge :twisted:

Heya, Sylvie! :) I'm glad to see you're active. I'd love to continue our talk someday -- though I distinctly remember we bored the Hell out of a couple people. :)

[JohnnyCanuck]

And there's no need for the "Mr." thing. :) Northcott or just Ed, either's fine by me. I don't stand on formality unless it's been rendered unconscious.

I guess that leaves Mr. Ed out then .

Good to see you back.

JohnnyCanuck

[Le Messor]

Welcome back, Ed! Of course we remember you!

(Who's this Ed Norcott again? Uh-oh. How could I tell them that because of the freezing process, I have no internal monologue?) I... hope I didn't type any of that out loud just now...


I don't stand on formality unless it's been rendered unconscious.

'Formal'; 'for' meaning 'in favour of' and 'mal' being French (from the Latin) for sickness, pain, or evil.
So, formal means 'In favour of making people suffer'.

I quite agree with you, Mr Ed! Hee hee hee... Bad Johnny! Making me say things!

- Le Messor.
"Dignity is like a top hat. Neither is good for standing on."

[Barnacle13]

Welcome back Ed! I also remember your beautiful rendition of Alpha Flight. I hope that Mr. Oeming will bring in more aspects of the Inuit mythology, as we discussed long ago in reference to changes you'd made to Snowbird's appearance. It seems with the new Nanuvut Province, it may be fitting to have more of a Native American feel to some characters. Might give the folks in that area a boost to have one of their own protrayed as a hero.

Tom

[Northcott]

Thanks again for the warm welcome, guys. And Tom? That's a beautiful sentiment, man. I agree completely.

There's enough Hell on the native reserves that a respectful treatment... well, it's not likely to reach many of them, but it will reach a few. And if it inspires greater dreams in even a handful of kids, then the effort is justified, in my opinion.

[DelBubs]

Just out of interest Ed, what's occuring with DeGrassi?

[Northcott]

Just out of interest Ed, what's occuring with DeGrassi?

There were some touch-ups that needed doing last week. I finished the last of them. Madison is now prepping the package for publication and it should be out (I think) in late October/early November. Probably with the second volume, by another artist, following hot on its heels.

I've unfortunately had to walk away from the project due to occurances in my personal life. These caused the delay in the first book by a period of months, murdering my page production speed, and turning it into a torturous endurance match. I was spending upwards of 16-18 hours a day at the drawing board and still barely inching along, when my original page speed for working in that more cartoony style was 1-1.5 pages a day in a 10 hour workday.

So after eight months of Hell I've backed off. The people at Epitome, who own the property, and the folks at Madison, who are putting the book together, have kindly expressed their regret at this, but have been very, very kind about it. The people who created the series apparently love the depiction, and the fan reaction has been overwhelmingly positive when Madison's shown the book off at conventions. (It was at the Toronto comic con a couple weeks back) I'm burned out and in no condition to continue with it at the moment, however. Hit a little too close to home. So I'm looking for something more escapist with my next project. They've been kind enough to offer me another crack at Degrassi if the series keeps going, however. All I need do is ask. I'm quite flattered by this. I'm also going to be painting the covers for the rest of the series.

I talked briefly with Richard Comely about Captain Canuck. He's been talking about a relaunch and I'd love to work on the character I adored as a kid. Richard's a good man. I'd be proud to work with him.

I may also chase some work painting book covers. I need to get on that pretty soon.

Plus my daughter's nearly a year old right now, and I've missed a lot of her early time because of my mad work schedule. I'm spending more time with my family now.

[Barnacle13]

Thanks again for the warm welcome, guys. And Tom? That's a beautiful sentiment, man. I agree completely.

There's enough Hell on the native reserves that a respectful treatment... well, it's not likely to reach many of them, but it will reach a few. And if it inspires greater dreams in even a handful of kids, then the effort is justified, in my opinion.

Yeah I've read that the province is very sparsely populated and the high school graduation rates are low. I think a book like this could be an excellent opportunity for Marvel to step up and lend a hand in the literacy and development of Nanavut. Give the Inuit people a hero to look up to and a good reason to read at the same time. Marvel has to have some literacy programs they contribute to. At least I'd think they would. This would be an excellent outreach opportunity. And if not Marvel, then perhaps the Canadian government. I've also hear something like 80-90% of Nanavut's budget comes from the Canadian government. This would be a small step, but it could help begin the process of putting this province on its feet and starting them on a path to more independence from the central goverment. For that matter, we could do something at our level. We could always start a campaign to send subscriptions to schools in that region. It'd take some coordination though.

[Northcott]

Thanks again for the warm welcome, guys. And Tom? That's a beautiful sentiment, man. I agree completely.

There's enough Hell on the native reserves that a respectful treatment... well, it's not likely to reach many of them, but it will reach a few. And if it inspires greater dreams in even a handful of kids, then the effort is justified, in my opinion.

Yeah I've read that the province is very sparsely populated and the high school graduation rates are low. I think a book like this could be an excellent opportunity for Marvel to step up and lend a hand in the literacy and development of Nanavut. Give the Inuit people a hero to look up to and a good reason to read at the same time. Marvel has to have some literacy programs they contribute to. At least I'd think they would. This would be an excellent outreach opportunity. And if not Marvel, then perhaps the Canadian government. I've also hear something like 80-90% of Nanavut's budget comes from the Canadian government. This would be a small step, but it could help begin the process of putting this province on its feet and starting them on a path to more independence from the central goverment. For that matter, we could do something at our level. We could always start a campaign to send subscriptions to schools in that region. It'd take some coordination though.


I'd be loathe to do it without a very strong, very respectful native presence, though... which Alpha has very rarely had. Byrne's take on things was so far off that it wasn't funny. It often crossed the line from ignorance into insulting. The current environment has native groups being very protective and reactionary, and sometimes understandably so. Other times, not so much. It would have to be a very carefully broached subject.


Edit: And to be frank, the government is highly unlikely to support the idea of an American company with an American writer and artist taking part in defining elements of Canadian culture.

[Phil]

Good to see ya about Ed :D