December 7, 2011
Want some fantastic resources for the aspiring comic artist in your life? Check out these IMPACT Books titles in our shop or through your favorite retailer for some great gift ideas for the holiday season.
November 1, 2010
“The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels” won an Eagle Award last week! (The Eagle Award is comparable to the Golden Globe, just for comics instead).
Congratulations to Andy Schmidt, author, and everybody who worked on this book. Great job guys!
If you want to find out what makes this book so good, head over to the North Light Shop.
November 23, 2009
Andy Schmidt, director of Comics Experience, Senior Editor at IDW Publishing and author of The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels has announced the beginning of his 2010 lineup with industry pros such as Chris Sotomayer and Mark Guggenheim.
Check it out!
–Mona
by editor, writer, teacher, Andy Schmidt
November 4, 2009
Andy Schmidt, Senior Editor at IDW, founder of www.comicsexperience.com and author The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels was interviewed by iFanboy.com in a special edition of Talksplode. You can listen to Andy’s interview here.
Learn more about Andy’s book, The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels.
October 8, 2009
Fellow IMPACTians, wait no more. Today we bring you badass designer Wendy Dunning’s third installment about her adventures at Mid-Ohio-Con last weekend in Columbus, Ohio:
Lots of folks think small press publications when they think indie comics, but nothing is more independent than putting the entire thing together yourself. That’s what Ryan Claytor does with his autobiographical series And Then One Day. This is no straight-up autobiography; rather than Ryan telling the story of his life, he asked his friends to do the work and then translated that into comic form. Check the series out on Ryan’s website www.elephanteater.com. It’s a great site, and you can preview samples from his books as well as order them and other assorted goodies.
I first saw Ryan in San Diego at the 2008 Comic-Con, and with this con being a little less crazy, I stopped to ask him a few questions:
Q: When did you know you wanted to do these comics?
A: It was shortly after college. I’d collected comics as a kid, but just kind of forgot about them. Then a friend asked for a ride to a comic store, and I just got inspired again, especially by the work of Sergio Aragonés. Then I did an internship with Marvel, and I’ve been doing my own stuff for about 5 years.
Q: What’s your favorite comic?
A: Groo the Wanderer
Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
A: I like to watch HGTV. I’m hoping to own a house someday.
For more on creating your own comics check out Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels or Manga Pro Superstar Workshop.
September 3, 2009
For those of you in the NYC area, IMPACT author Andy Schmidt is offering a 6 week intro course on writing for comics. Classes start September 8. You can learn more about course here.
Can’t make it to Manhattan? Not to worry! Check out Andy’s book The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels.
July 29, 2009
IMPACT had another great year at the San Diego Comic-Con last week. Many authors did book signings at our booth, and it was great to spend time with them: Scape Martinez (GRAFF); Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton (Comic Books 101); Randy Martinez (Creature Features); Harry Hamernik (Face Off and Cartoonimals); Brian and Kristy Miller (Hi-Fi Color for Comics); Peter David (Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels with Peter David, Revised); and Andy Schmidt (The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics).
Many authors also had their own tables or booths, such as Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (Dreamscapes), and many participated in our IMPACT University panel on How to Write and Draw Comics and Graphic Novels along with Comics Buyer’s Guide editor Maggie Thompson.
As Editorial Director of IMPACT, for me, the con was filled with scouting authors, promoting IMPACT, noting trends and absorbing as much as I can about the entertainment and comics industries (despite its name, this convention is not just about comics—it’s popular entertainment of all sorts). There were lots of panels, including many how-to art sessions, and it was great to see what’s coming up from the plethora of creators and publishers represented in all of the popular styles IMPACT covers. Lots of new ideas and contacts I’m excited to follow up on—a great time!
Pam Wissman, Editorial Director
IMPACT Books
ArtistsNetwork.tv
North Light Books
July 8, 2009
Going to San Diego for this year’s Comic-Con? You’re not alone. Once again the show is sold out. But for those of you lucky enough to score some tickets, make sure you swing by the IMPACT Books booth to see what your favorite IMPACT authors are up to. Here’s our entire schedule of events, so you won’t miss a thing:
Thursday, 7/23
11:00 a.m.
Harry Hamernik, author of Face Off and Cartoonimals
1:00 p.m.
Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton, authors of Comics 101
2:00 p.m.
Randy Martinez, author of Creature Features
Friday, 7/24
11:00 a.m.
Andy Schmidt, author of the Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels
12:00 p.m.
Kristy and Brian Miller, authors of Hi-Fi Color for Comics
1:00 p.m.
Peter David, author of Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels
3:00 p.m., Room 30CDE
IMPACT University: How to Write and Draw Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga and Fantasy!
Saturday, 7/25
11:00 a.m.
Scape Martinez, author of Graff
1:00 p.m.
Peter David, author of Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels
2:00 p.m.
Kristy and Brian Miller, authors of Hi-Fi Color for Comics
3:00 p.m.
Harry Hamernik, author of Face Off and Cartoonimals
3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Portfolio Review Area
Pam Wissman, IMPACT Book’s Editorial Director, Portfolio Reviews
April 15, 2009
Newsarama.com posted a review of Comic Books 101: The History, Methods, and Madness by Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton today. Check it out here. The review lists Chris and Scott’s web site as comicbooks101.com, but their web site actually is comics101.com. Check them out here.
Writing for Comics & Graphic Novels with Peter David and The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels by Andy Schmidt also get a nod of approval in the review.
Comic Books 101 will be available June 5. You can preorder it here on Amazon.
February 9, 2009
Just in case you missed Andy at the weekend’s New York Comic Con, and well, even if you didn’t, here are some cold (and not so cold) facts about the insider behind The Insider’s Guide to Comics and Graphic Novels.
Name: Peter Andrewes Schmidt
Nickname: Andy
Hometown: Fairmont, West Virginia
Current residence: San Diego, California
Kids and/or pets? Son: Cale Richard Schmidt, born 7/1/07
Favorite food: Peanut butter
Favorite candy bar: Milky Way
Favorite TV show: Farscape
Favorite movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Favorite website(s): My own! www.comicsexperience.com
Favorite blog(s): I don’t read any with regularity.
Favorite comic(s): I’ll always be an X-Men fan. But V for Vendetta is probably my all-time favorite comic.
Do you collect anything else? Nope.
First job ever: Digging ditches in Mobile, Alabama during the summer.
Best job ever: Freelance writing and editing comics at Marvel.
When did you know you wanted to be an editor/writer? Dawned on me when I was getting a masters degree in 2001.
Give us a taste of your latest project? I’m currently writing a 4 issue comic book limited series for Boom! Studios that combines my love of geography and submarines with my love of story and character. It’s called Challenger Deep.
Talk about a time you felt starstruck in your line of work. I met George Perez. By the time he and I met, I had already met a dozen of my childhood heroes and I knew how not to act like an idiot. Then I met George who is honestly a huge inspiration to me and probably why I fell in love with comics as a kid. I was slackjawed. I’m such a dope.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received? Don’t worry about what everyone else is getting or doing, just make sure you’re getting what is right for you and that you’re doing something you love.
