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Comics were easy when I was a kid.  I’d put my pencil to the paper and make it up as I went along.  No planning, they just happened.  After a few days of nonstop drawing, I’d entertain my family with stories of dinosaurs eating cavemen and pooping them back out.  I’d set out to do something and it’d be a success.

This method got me through high school, albeit with more mature story ideas...usually.

I was in college before I gained enough knowledge to entertain the idea of putting together a proper “professional style” comic book.  A good friend of mine, Eric Myers, was pretty well embedded in the early webcomic community and we teamed up to develop an idea that we had discussed about 10 years prior when we attended high school together.

We settled on a format that would be a quarterly comic book with a biweekly companion webcomic strip.  We’d split art duties and write together.  It wasn’t a terribly unrealistic goal and we got off to a good start.

In all of our excitement we announced our work to the world with some previews and synopses.  During production I got an itch to resurrect the comic I’d made famous at my high school as a kid, "Adhesive Man."  I decided Adhesive Man would also be quarterly and I announced the return of my hero.  Eric Myers also began working on a comic strip called "SMS" around the same time.

Not long after, I was talking to a friend of my sister’s at a party and some ideas started forming about another property.  We started plotting and scripting this idea and, predictably, we announced it to the world.  This one was coming soon with no frequency decided.

In no time I was drawing books, writing books, and even developing spinoff books for books I hadn’t even produced a single issue of.  Basically, it would be about 9 books a year.  I was living the dream of being a creator.

One day I made a post on LiveJournal that had updates on my various projects and announced another in the works.  That is where reality hit me like a freight train.  A regular commenter asked a simple question: “Will any of this actually be released?  You make more announcements than comics.”

He was right.  I hadn’t put out a single comic.  By that point I’d put out a handful of comic strips with my buddy and a handful of Adhesive Man comic strips.  But ultimately I’d failed them by moving on to new things.  It’s one of the curses of being a creative: Having more ideas than you have time for.

I ended up dropping everything and focusing on Adhesive Man, which ran for a few issues before I stopped to work on something new.  Despite ending sooner than I had hoped, 2009’s "Adhesive Man" was a success for me.  I had finally finished something and had something to show for the work I’d done.

I’d also learned my lesson when it came to announcing projects.  I would no longer announce projects going into development.  I’d announce projects as they came out of development.  It was a great time of growth for me.

Even though I recognize the importance of that failure, I still feel the pain of that LiveJournal comment to this day.  But as Lance Armstrong said, “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”  And I had no intention of quitting.

After eventually producing an Adhesive Man trade paperback, I turned my sights toward continuing the series in an anthology comic, this time with Myers joining me, and my oldest friend, Darren Fitzpatrick, on board.

Kickstarter was all the rage among creators and our product seemed viable, so we pitched it on that platform.  Our goal was modest.  Most of our cost was in printing and shipping, as we produced the book ourselves.  The campaign was a success!  It was followed up with another successful campaign.

In 2016 I wrote a novella called “Blister: A Punk Rock Memoir.”  It was well received and I was encouraged to bring Blister into the comic world.  I also thought it was time to up my Kickstarter game and I asked for double the goal of my previous campaigns.  It too was a success!

A year later I was riding high on some great successes.  I was playing things smart and getting things done.  I teamed up with a newer friend, Gene Hoyle, to write a story I’d had on the back burner (and knew not to announce).  We assembled one hell of a team of indie comic creators and we launched "Dulce: The New Guy" on Kickstarter.

Dulce Base is one of the crazier conspiracy stories I’d stumbled upon, thanks to some crazy television viewing habits. It revolves around a joint operation between humans and extraterrestrials in the New Mexico desert.   A million ideas ran through my head as I processed what life in this place might be like for a new recruit.  Hence, the character of Marcus came into existence.

The idea seemed sound and people seemed to like it.  The expanded art team required a considerably higher campaign goal, and it took every last minute to raise the funds, but we did it.  The Kickstarter was one more success under my belt.

That success was nice, but the reality was that my personal life was not going very well.  After 12 years of marriage, my wife and I were filing for divorce and it was devastating.  Of any failure I have ever endured, this was the most important.  The repercussions of this failure will haunt me the rest of my existence.

Art has always been a positive emotional outlet for me.  As had happened many times in my life, art became my security blanket.  I worked through a script with Gene and we sent it off to our team.  While managing the production of "Dulce: Tour of Duty," I worked on a second Blister comic.  "Blister: Hot for Teacher" was the follow up to "Blister: Angela."

The Blister comic was released low key.  I sold it at shows and on the website, but the cost of producing it was not great enough that it warranted the torture of a Kickstarter campaign on top of everything else I was dealing with.

"Dulce: Tour of Duty" was different though.  So we funded the product out of pocket, with plans to recoup the cost with a Kickstarter.

The premise of the story was that Marcus has been working at the alien base for a short time now.  It picks up with an investigative reporter hunting him down and hijinx ensuing as we spend some time showing off the operations of the base and reveal a new “big bad.”  It was an insanely entertaining ride and we were proud to put it out on Kickstarter.  It would be an awesome return to comics and while it certainly wouldn’t do much to reconcile the greatest failure of my life, silently I envisioned a bit of a phoenix moment.  Rising from the ashes and all that dramatic nonsense.

Unfortunately, I was so eager to release the book that I didn’t consider promotion too much.  Despite the great success the year before, the second issue Kickstarter launched to the sound of crickets.

That failure hit me hard.  I’d only had successes on Kickstarter prior to that.  Four of them.  I hadn’t even considered failure as a possible outcome.  It was easy in the moments following the “Unfortunately, your project, New Dulce Base Comic Book! Dulce: Tour of Duty, was not successfully funded.” email to feel like a massive failure, and I did.

I put on a front, like since I knew why it failed, it didn’t matter and I’d just try again.  But that sucked.  I was beginning a  failure streak.  While it might not match my early failures in quantity, the quality of these failures dwarfed any others.

But, again, pain is temporary, but quitting lasts forever.  Quitting is just not an option.  In the time since the divorce I had pulled my personal life back together.  I was proud of what I had accomplished there.  I was not about to let Dulce die.  I don’t require a dramatic phoenix moment, but those characters deserve a second shot and my team worked too hard for Dulce to be a failure. 

The truth is that failing and being a failure are two different things.  I’ve demonstrated here several times I’ve failed.  But I am not a failure.  And I’m excited by the progress that Dulce has made in its current Kickstarter campaign.  It is tracking to be a success. 

I am certain that you have felt failure in your life.  Maybe a lot of it.  Maybe you’re lucky and have had very little failure.  Regardless of all that, you are not a failure if you don’t quit.  Take some time to learn the lessons of that moment and you can go on to that great success that you deserve.  I know I needed to hear that myself in recent history, and I hope that message catches somebody else at the right time.

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Eric Cockrell is an Aster Award-winning video producer, comic book creator, author, and a co-host and producer of the web video series "Strange Tales Weekly." He is best known for the comic book adaptation of his book "Blister" which follows a group of punk rock kids in their formative years and is very loosely based on actual people and events.  His comic book “Dulce” has it’s second issue running on Kickstarter right now!

A graphic novel biography of the American legend who inspired the hit Broadway musical Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton was one of the most influential figures in United States history--he fought in the Revolutionary War, helped develop the Constitution, and as the first Secretary of the Treasury established landmark economic policy that we still use today. Cut down by a bullet from political rival Aaron Burr, Hamilton has since been immortalized alongside other Founding Fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson--his likeness even appears on the ten-dollar bill. In this fully-illustrated and impeccably researched graphic novel-style history, author Jonathan Hennessey and comic book illustrator Justin Greenwood bring Alexander Hamilton's world to life, telling the story of this improbable hero who helped shape the United States of America.

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As some of you might know, I used to do quite a few comic book reviews. Sadly, I don't have as much time these days so I leave most of that to my staff over on Geek-o-Rama. Still, when I get the chance, I still reach out and grab it!

This book was the perfect for that kind of thing. It has three of my favorite things: comics, history, and a great "story".  Let's break this one down in one of my favorite ways: The Good, The Bad, and The Summary.

The Good:
This book is full of information! It may be a biography of Hamilton, but it also covers a lot of what was happening during that time, not just here but in other countries that would get involved. The dialogue included quotes from actual letters and pamphlets of that time period. That's some serious dedication to the project and I love to see that kind of effort put into a project.

The Bad:
While I generally enjoyed the art, it was sometimes tough to keep track of who was who. After all, there were a lot of white men wearing white wigs! The only other thing is that the language in this books makes it more suitable to an upper level high school student versus anyone younger.

The Summary:
All in all, if you like history, have an interest in Hamilton (the musical), love graphic novels, or a combination of any of the above, go ahead and check out this book. I think it's going to be a really good addition to my books on history shelf.






I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.
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A step-by-step guide to all aspects of comic book creation--from conceptualization to early drafts to marketing and promotion--written by two of the industry's most seasoned and successful pros.
Every aspiring comic book creator wants to know: what separates the beloved comics of major publishers like Marvel, DC, Valiant, and Image from all the rest? Fan-favorite comic book writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente reveal the secrets of comics' top talents in "Make Comics Like the Pros." The authors take readers step by step through the comics creation process from idea to finished work, and along the way offer examples and insights from their own careers as well as their collaborators'. Not only that, but Pak and Van Lente also join forces with Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Colleen Coover to produce an original comic inside the book! With its unprecedented level of insider access, "Make Comics Like the Pros" gives comic book hopefuls the tools they need to reach the next level of sequential arts stardom.

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 Ever wondered just how many people it takes to make a comic book and what all of those fine folks do? This could just be the perfect book for you. It covers everything and does it in such a way that is easy to follow along and learn a lot along the way. Throughout each section, folks in the industry tell you how they do their job and do it well. As someone who has a minor role within this industry (both as an editor and reviewer), it was a delight to see the full behind the scenes make up for any comic.



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A comprehensive guide to creating and developing comic book and graphic novel art, from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), one of the world's leaders in sequential arts instruction.

Artists seeking a way to break into the exciting world of sequential art first need to master the tools, techniques, and habits used by their favorite pencillers, inkers, and digital artists for creating dynamic, exciting comic artwork. In Foundations for Comic Book Art, the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)—a leading force in art and design education—enlists one of its top instructors, John Paul Lowe, to provide aspiring comic book makers with a thorough primer for creative comics, featuring must-know concepts like contour drawing, mastering perspective, using photo-reference, and adding digital patterns. Examples from the works of SCAD faculty, alumni, and students are paired with Lowe’s easy-to-follow, step-by-step lessons and exercises for readers, demonstrating the vital processes all would-be sequential artists have to know before joining the ranks of the comic book–making elite.

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As soon as this book came out of the envelope, there was a mad grab for it by my thirteen year old. He's really the only one of us who has any amount of artistic ability (at least when it comes to drawing) and as he flipped through the pages, I could tell that he would be coming back to this book many, many times. When I had a chance to read through it, I was especially taken with the fact that the author appreciates individuality and leads the reader through the book in a series of chapter leading from easiest to most difficult. So long as you don't skip ahead, anyone with artistic drawing ability should be able to follow along and certainly to learn. I know that I learned a lot and while I had a very solid appreciation for what my artist friends do when they work on comics, this just cemented just how awesome that they are. If you have any interest in comic book art, becoming a comic book artist, improving your own artwork or just want to flip through a book with some amazing work in it, written by someone who is down to earth, pick up this book. It's another that I'm suggesting for the holiday gift giving season.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.

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