You’ve probably heard of the Sam Hiti death scare. You probably saw it as a hoax. You probably saw it as a call for help. Sam is alive, but his condition is private.
I don’t know what’s going on in Sam Hiti’s life.
I’ve only know that the past year has been difficult for him. Clusterfucked with illness, accidents, and a creative absence. I miss his presence, his studies of Claudia Cardinale and musings yielded by thick brush lines, and, most of all, his fierce independence. A lot of what I know from others and have experienced with comics has bothered me about this news.
Comics is a cancerous profession.
An overwhelming amount of people struggle with comics and it spreads them really fucking thin. A lot of people will come off jaded, ignorant, or morose, if not completely alone. It shows. It’s contagious. Its demand and time consumption won’t flow when the effects of production on personal lives destroy motivation and productivity. Especially when publishers try to get you to work at wholesale prices without the benefits you need to keep yourself healthy, support a family, and insure that if something happens to you, you have something there for you and your family to fall back on.
I don’t want to be pessimistic or “realistic” about comics. Comics at its best is one of the most nurturing communities I’ve known. But, as a career, judging from the people I know who struggle from depression and have expressed suicidal thoughts, it has the ability to have the creator running breathless with hooks digging deep into their backs.
Brandon Graham says that his job is “staying excited about comics.” This is important in looking at the self and comics whether it means focusing on yourself so you can continue to be healthy for comics.
But, the best advice is “don’t go into comics.” If you find yourself never quitting, you’ll have a Socratic virtue fulfilled, but at a cost greater for some lesser for others.
It’s okay to quit.
If comics has taken so much from you and given so little and you feel that you need to escape, you should. Trust your intuition. Even if you end up coming back to it a week later, months, years, or never. You are more important than comics.
Respect the people who choose to quit or take a long time to finish a project. Comics are demanding.
Those of you who know me, or follow my personal tumblr, probably know that making comics was one of the only things I was hanging on to when I was trying to kill myself last year. I shelved the project after being hospitalized. In that situation comics made things worse. I’d have panic attacks while inking. I started posting cryptic Work In Progress shots of a skeleton dude and cryptically alluding to plans for my death. I wasn’t healthy and comics were contributing to that sickness.
The tortured artist cliche is bullshit. Never tell someone to use their pain to create. It’s a bad route for them to take. Make sure they’re okay.
When you’re affected by the realities, depressed or sick, you might be incapable of stepping outside of yourself to stop yourself from doing something that will cause pain to yourself or others.
The way Sam Hiti announced his death today was really disrespectful to the people who know and love him as a person as well as his work. A lot of hearts skipped a few beats.
Don’t be angry. Don’t say that this is a hoax to sell books. You’re failing to empathize with a person who obviously is trying to process their future.
Empathy is one of the most important qualities a person can have, and it lacks with the omnipresence of the internet. If you encounter someone who has done something terrible, is going through the shit, or isn’t aware of themselves, know that you can never change a person, but empathy is still the best thing you can offer them.
People do really stupid things to deal with their paint. Some do it to themselves with substance or to others, whether their using people or sexually assaulting them. There are really terrible things people are capable of that you’d be surprised by. Shitty circumstances breeds shitty people more than it breeds great ones. Some of those people will put their trauma on other people and let the infection grow. It’s important to know that we’re all capable of changing ourselves after seeing ourselves as we appear.
I believe Sam Hiti is dead. This isn’t figuratively speaking. Sam Hiti, the cartoonist, has said goodbye, and by the looks of it, this was something that happened a while back. Comics were a part of his being to himself and others, and now that he recognized that has past, that person has passed on. Whether he’ll resurrect and make comics again is up to Sam Hiti, the person.
Also, note: I do not know what is going on in Sam Hiti’s life, nor do I want anyone to believe that’s the reality of his situation until he says something formal, if he does.
Empathize with others as you would yourself. Accept and seek out the help of others. You are important as other people and other people are as important as you.
I’m saddened and going to greatly miss Sam Hiti. I wish him and his family the best.
Art is something we experience and appreciate perpetually. It’s everywhere and more often offered for free. It is taken for granted. I know there’s a lot of preaching out there about supporting the arts, but seriously, support the arts. Send artists you love money and praise, buy their products, go out and see them when there are events close to you. Keep them going because keeping yourself excited about comics involves everyone. For someone to go about that task alone, either they’re endowed with a great spirit or crumbling slowly.
Hoax or not, I bought Sam’s goodbye package. I suggest you all consider showing him the final support and respect his decision to kill the cartoonist and join him in sending himself off.
Hey guys, I’m getting a lot of asks about the same things, mostly questions about how to make comics, how to “break into comics” (haha, oh dear), working with publishers, that kind of thing. I’ve done some blogging on many of the subjects, so instead of repeatedly replying in private with links to those posts, I’m going to do a master post thingie with links to all my blogging about how I work. Hopefully some of you will find some helpful nuggets in there! I remember when I first started trying to transition into making comics for a living, and there wasn’t much information about that online. I spent a lot of time wailing about it on a locked livejournal. XD But anyway, I hope my blogs help a wee bit.
Disclaimer: these blog posts are all based on my own personal experiences as a cartoonist, and the advice therein might not work for everyone. The most awesome thing about comics is that there is no one way to make them, nor is there one direct route into becoming a full-time cartoonist. The more pro cartoonists I meet, the more it drives home how different our methods and origin stories are.
Anyway, here you are! (With all of these, scroll past the placeholder image at the top of the post.)
Okay, I think that’s it! Whew! The remainder of the Friends With Boys blogging archive is here. It has some other bloggings that aren’t advice-related (mostly ramblings about comics I like), if you’re interested. If you have any other comic-related subjects you’d like me to blog about, feel free to drop a suggestion in the ask box.
I hope this was helpful. Share and enjoy!
Updated 08/12/15
I added some of the more recent blogging I’ve done on making comics to my Making Comics Master Link List (1A, 14, & 15), and tossed a couple of dead links. If there is a comic making related question you’d like to see me write about, drop a question in my ask box.
Hey guys, I’m getting a lot of asks about the same things, mostly questions about how to make comics, how to “break into comics” (haha, oh dear), working with publishers, that kind of thing. I’ve done some blogging on many of the subjects, so instead of repeatedly replying in private with links to those posts, I’m going to do a master post thingie with links to all my blogging about how I work. Hopefully some of you will find some helpful nuggets in there! I remember when I first started trying to transition into making comics for a living, and there wasn’t much information about that online. I spent a lot of time wailing about it on a locked livejournal. XD But anyway, I hope my blogs help a wee bit.
Disclaimer: these blog posts are all based on my own personal experiences as a cartoonist, and the advice therein might not work for everyone. The most awesome thing about comics is that there is no one way to make them, nor is there one direct route into becoming a full-time cartoonist. The more pro cartoonists I meet, the more it drives home how different our methods and origin stories are.
Anyway, here you are! (With all of these, scroll past the placeholder image at the top of the post.)
Okay, I think that’s it! Whew! The remainder of the Friends With Boys blogging archive is here. It has some other bloggings that aren’t advice-related (mostly ramblings about comics I like), if you’re interested. If you have any other comic-related subjects you’d like me to blog about, feel free to drop a suggestion in the ask box.
I hope this was helpful. Share and enjoy!
Updated 08/12/15
I added some of the more recent blogging I’ve done on making comics to my Making Comics Master Link List (1A, 14, & 15), and tossed a couple of dead links. If there is a comic making related question you’d like to see me write about, drop a question in my ask box.
kryspixable: hi, just a curious query for your 'Making Comics Master Link List'. do you have any advice/have read anywhere on how to promote your work if you live in a country that has little to no industry and is very hard to get into? Im Australian, and we dont have a lot of cons or anything in my part of the country. so just interested to see if you knew anything, if not, all good :)
You’re in luck: you may be physically far from the major comic book industries (Japan, France, the US), but you have the power of the internet at your disposal. The internet, email, etc, has made it possible for people who live far from the North American comic book industry to promote their work or break in to comics. As for the best way to promote your work online, that’s kind of a mystery to me as well (if anyone has any good article links or wants to share wisdom, please do!).
I tend to follow these three covenants:
1) Make good work
2) Post it online
3) Make your contact info easy to find (this is so important)!
That’s how I broke into comics, and how I promote my work.
A few years ago I was at a dinner with a bunch of people I knew casually. They all worked in the arts, mostly in animation. I was the only one who worked full time in comics, although other people did comics in their spare time. One guy who I didn’t know started talking about how he went to the Joe Kubert comics school in New York, but that it never lead to any paying work in comics.
“You have to live in New York to work in comics,” he said. I was like, no, you don’t. I work in comics full time and I don’t live in New York. I lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 2005-2015 (I just moved to Vancouver for my boyfriend’s work last month). During those 10 years, I started getting comics published. I had 10 books published in about 8 years. For the most part, I’ve found publishers don’t care where you live. If your work is good, they’ll hire you.
Also, with the internet helping to broach geographical distances, I personally haven’t found conventions to be the key to breaking into comics, although they can be helpful. For years I didn’t go to conventions, mostly because I was shy and poor and lived in Nova Scotia, a plane ride away from most good cons. I was extremely socially awkward for many years, and the idea of going to cons to “promote” my comics was terrifying to me. So I focused instead on making a lot of comics and putting them online. That turned out to be the right thing for me, and eventually publishers noticed and started hiring me.
I didn’t start going to conventions until I started getting published, and then it was very few. My first convention was in 2007 (when my first book was published), and I’d do one or two a year until about 2013, when I started getting invited to conventions, which was super cool!
I’ve never done a portfolio review or chatted up an editor at a party. I’m bad at parties, and the idea of having an in-person portfolio review is terrifying to me. Those methods of breaking into comics don’t play to my strengths as a cartoonist and a person.
I have another dumb story. In 2008 I went to San Diego Comic Con. I was very broke at the time and spent (for me) a huge chunk of money. At the Con, I got to talk with the editorial director at First Second Books, and pitched him my graphic novel Friends with Boys. A month after the convention, First Second bought the comic. I was thrilled! I was so sure that being at SDCC in person had tipped the scales for the book, that my publisher had bought it because I was so winning while pitching it. It was my great shining moment.
In 2013, I brought up this moment to Mark. This is what happened:
HE DIDN’T EVEN REMEMBER THE MEETING.
The moral of the story is: sometimes being physically in the same place as the people who publish comics can be a very good thing! Sometimes it doesn’t matter one bit. :P
This is the sex ed video I wish my school had shown. Growing up in a religious school environment only taught me to be ashamed of my body and sexuality and I’m still unraveling it as an adult years later.
Artistic burnout is a problem many artists experience at some point in their career. If you’ve never experienced it, then consider yourself lucky. But if you have, I wanted to talk a little bit about it as someone who has been there.
Let’s be honest, art is a pretty awesome career. We’re extremely fortunate to get paid to do something we really love. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to turn a hobby into a career, and something I am truly grateful for. But like any career, sometimes it’s stressful and difficult, and it requires a lot of effort. It can be frustrating when that thing you used to do for fun in your free time becomes the thing that is causing you stress. It’s the one unfortunate side effect of turning your hobby into your job. Sometimes you’re just not going to enjoy it.
Hey Tumblr! I just wanted to send out that I’m looking to pick up a freelance gig or two- I still work full-time, but I’m really fed up with Student Loans, so trying to bury them faster!
If you need some character designs or environment designs\painting, get in touch! More work and contact info at justinoaksford.com!
The NDP also have a section of their policy book dedicated to LGBT rights:
Halting any rollback of achieved rights, including
spousal benefits and same-sex marriage.
Supporting international struggles against discrimination
against LGBT persons, particularly against
the criminalization of homosexual relationships
between consenting adults.
Including gender identity and expression as
prohibited grounds for discrimination in the
Canadian Human Rights Act.
Strengthening laws against hate propaganda
and hate crimes.
e Eliminating any discrimination in the justice system
based on sexual orientation or identity.
Ending censorship of artistic works dealing with
questions of sexual orientation or identity.
Stopping discriminatory practices against LGBT
persons in immigration and refugee procedures.
Investing in programs to promote equity for
LGBT persons, offering more help and support
to young LGBT people who face discrimination,
violence or hate.
Respond to the concerns of gay and lesbian
veterans who were forced out the military with an
eye to removing the “dishounourable discharge”
from their records.
While I have not seen any particular policies specific to trans people in the Liberal platform it is well known that the party is supportive of LGBT issues.
The Green Party has an LGBT platform which can be viewed below:
Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to explicitly include gender identity and gender expression as protected grounds of discrimination;
Amend the Criminal Code to include gender identity and gender expression in the hate sentencing and hate propaganda provisions;
Repeal s.159 of the Criminal Code;
Support public education to end prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity;
End the targeting by Canada Customs of LGBTQ+ bookstores and other LGBTQ+ businesses;
Ensure Canada advocates internationally for an end to state-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ people.
The Conservatives are not allies to any LGBT rights or freedoms. They’re responsible for an NDP bill that would have granted trans Canadians legal protection being killed in the Senate.
allthecanadianpolitics the Strength in Democracy/Forces et Democratie candidate for Avalon is transgender. They’re a fairly new party but it’s evident they support LGBT rights from that.
Okay, here we go, this might be the first post of mine that really pisses some people off, but I am getting sick of this guy’s shit. In the Huffington Post, Justin Trudeau is quoted as saying this about his position of Bill C-51:
“Perhaps it was naive, perhaps [it] was something that I put forward and
said, ‘you know what, we can take a responsible position at a time of
politics of attack and division’,” Trudeau said.
The arrogance inherent in those words is just fucking infuriating to me. Not only is he saying that we’re all wrong about C-51, but he’s implying that if we weren’t blinded by Stephen Harper (or Tom Mulcair), we’d agree with him. We are, apparently, too stupid to realize the truth of the gospel of Trudeau.
Why wouldn’t he think that, though? He is the chosen one, the son of his of father, heir to the Liberal’s position as the “natural party of Government.” He spent his four years in the wilderness, and emerged a leader, ready to heal this broken country, or raise it from the dead, or maybe just walk on water (which is not a particularly impressive feat during a Canadian winter). He seems to be of the opinion that a few years in the wilderness, a leadership change, and some empty words of reconciliation are going to be enough, and I think it will be a very fucking rude awakening for him in October if he doesn’t bring something real to the table, and soon.
In contrast, of course, we have the excellent words of Brad Lavigne on the difference between Mulcair and Trudeau:
“Mulcair opposed the bill because it was flawed, despite its initial
popularity. Trudeau [supported] the bill because it was popular, despite
its flaws. That’s not leadership.”
He’s not wrong. Leadership involves more than the belief that we should assume Trudeau is right because he’s a Liberal, and Liberals are the self-appointed “natural party of government” in Canada. Leadership involves more than blaming the people who hear your message for your failure to make it stick. And leadership has to involve more than cynicism dressed up as naiveté, innocence, and youth.
So Justin Trudeau, for all this bullshit, you can go fuck yourself, repeatedly and without joy.
Hi, I'm Tim Lai! I'm a cartoonist living in Ontario, Canada. I like drawing cute and colourful things. This blog is a hub where you can find all of my Tumblr, DeviantArt, Flickr, Blogspot, and other posts in one place.
About My Work
I write and draw Lemon Inc., a comic about a seven-year-old who wants to be a business tycoon when he grows up. Until then, he runs a lemonade stand. You can read it at www.lemon-inc.com.
I have done some professional web and graphic design work, including designing the website for the webcomic, Just Joel. I'm also a member of the webcomic collective, Ink Bomb Comics.
August 20, 2015 00:11
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