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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

New York Comic Con 2009 is taking place today through Sunday at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. If you’re lucky enough to be there, click here to download this handy guide to the educational panels (thanks to Buddy Scalera for providing us with the link!).

Several IMPACT authors (Steve Ellis, Andy Schmidt and Buddy Scalera, to name a few) will be hosting panels, all of which are free with admission, so be sure to check them out!

Click here to go to the official New York Comic Con website.

The Insider’s Guide to Comics and Graphic Novels hit bookshelves and internet shops everywhere last month, so I figure we’re due for a little insight into the author who so deftly shares his experiences and gathers expert advice from comics greats such as Neal Adams, John Byrne, David Finch, Klaus Janson, Karl Kesel and John Romita Jr.

Andy Schmidt edited comics for five years at Marvel Entertainment, where he started under Tom Brevoort in the “Marvel Heroes” line of books. There, he lent his talents to everything from The Fantastic Four to the Avengers, to Civil War. He spent a few years assistant editing, and began full editor duties in 2002 on Captain Marvel and Spider-Girl. He developed Madrox and later X-Factor with writer Peter David and artist Pablo Raimondi. He also spearheaded the 25-part, galaxy spanning, space saga called Annihilation with a wealth of writers and artists.

His favorite projects to date have been Secret War, Madrox, Alias, Civil War, New Avengers, Young Avengers, Ms. Marvel, Annihilation, The Pulse, Defenders, Union Jack, X-Factor and X-Men.

He is now Senior Editor at IDW, the owner and operator of Comics Experience, an education-based business dedicated to helping comic book writer and artist hopefuls fulfill their dreams, and a freelance comic editor and writer who has written for several publishers including Marvel Comics, Th3rd World Studios, Markosia and Boom! Studios.

Stay tuned for IMPACT’s Q+A with Andy!

Cheers,

Mona