Over on the True North Country Comics site I have a list of 10 Go-to comics or graphic novels you need to check out and add to your collection. Read my quick rundown on some of the best the comic medium has to offer and, if you’re missing any, make sure you put them on your reading list!

B. Dave Walters (writer of Dungeons & Dragons: a Darkened Wish) and I met up online to play a special one-shot Vampire: The Masquerade session and talk about our experiences in comics and gaming.

We toggle between an interview chat and the game session, but if you want to jump straight to the gameplay, you can click HERE.

Exciting news: KRYDLE joins Idle Champions next week!

Make your Baldur’s Gate party complete (Delina, Minsc, Shandie, Nerys and now Krydle) or add some extra rogue-ish charm to your current line-up!

Krydle is one of the original characters Max Dunbar and I created for the LEGENDS OF BALDUR’S GATE comic series back when Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition launched.

Here’s how I described him in the original design document:
“Krydle is the half-elf son of Coran (from Baldur’s Gate 1+2), famous patriar of Baldur’s Gate. Estranged from his father, Krydle loathes politics and the schism between the Upper and Lower cities. Beneath his seemingly shallow veneer is a desire for loyal friends and his adventuring comrades may end up becoming a surrogate family in time.”

Krydle is named after a D&D 2nd edition Human Bard I played with my brother Joe when I was a teenager. The name stuck with me over the years and when I finally had a chance to write an official D&D story I knew it was the right fit. Now, 27 years later, Krydle is a canon D&D character who has appeared in five comic mini-series, the Dungeon Mayhem card game expansion and now an official D&D video game.

So amazing.

Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community. I’ve added Bookshop links for as many of my graphic novels as I can to my Buy page and encourage other authors/comic creators to do the same.

Here’s my Bookshop landing page. 87 books listed across 6 categories:
bookshop.org/shop/jimzub

Formal lectures re-start on Monday, but we did a connection test yesterday afternoon.

It was surreal having the class online with students asking questions in a chat window or via audio, but so far they seem to be handling things okay.

By default I had mics muted, but when I did unmute the group I was really impressed with how quiet they stayed, letting each student ask questions and not contaminating the stream with background noise. They did better than our staff during a livestream earlier in the week.

I tested out streaming a video, mimicking what we’ll be doing in the coming weeks for our Animation History class. I’m trying to keep the live component and screening intact. Having mics open and hearing their chuckles during the film brought a lot of warmth to the stream.

After the test, I had an open Q&A, answering their questions and addressing concerns about the next four weeks and as we wrap up the term. Again, it all went well.

At the end, I asked if they had any other questions-

“Zub, how are you doing? Are you okay?”

*Jim’s lip quivers*

I held it together, but I really appreciated that they were thinking of me too. They’re a great group.

It’s been a rough week, far worse for many, many other people, but we all have our own problems we’re dealing with.

Knowing that in the grand scheme of things I’m good and this will pass, but also allowing myself to feel sad and disappointed that this is how my time in charge of the Animation program will end and my sabbatical plans are a flaming wreck is a weird balancing act.

I drove to the school and grabbed a few things before they finished locking down the campus.

Normally when I walk the empty halls it’s because I finished submitting end of term transcripts.
It’s the sign of a job well done.

This time it feels out of sorts, but we’ll persevere.

14 years.

That’s how long I’ve been coordinating Seneca’s 3-Year Animation Advanced Diploma program.

I’ve been teaching at Seneca for the past 16 years, and 14 of those have included managing curriculum development, student issues, instructor schedules, budget projections, and evaluating portfolios.

Being Coordinator might be the longest and most consistent thing I’ve done in my life. I worked at UDON as an artist and project manager for 9 years. I’ve been freelance comic writing for 11 years. When Stacy and I started dating in 2007 I was already Animation Program Coordinator, so it’s been a constant through our entire relationship and marriage.

Until now.

Juggling both teaching and writing, two full-time careers running in tandem, has been a challenge at times. I’ve earned a few grey hairs thanks to it, but also wouldn’t trade it for anything. The friends I’ve made, projects I’ve been a part of, and places I’ve traveled to, it’s been such an incredible ride.

At the end of last year, we finished our 5-year program review. Animation broke records for applications and portfolios for the fourth year in a row. Our student body is enthusiastic and focused. Our instructors are top notch. Our graduates are working for some of the biggest animation, game, and special effect companies in the world. Seeing all that laid out in black and white in front of me, it felt like a good place to evaluate my own progress as well.

As I looked ahead to 2020 and beyond, I realized how much more would be required, both with the creative projects I have lined up and the expanding needs of one of the college’s most popular and successful programs. Something had to change, otherwise I’d burn out trying to keep doing it all at the same time.

So, I spoke to Mark Jones, a dear friend and Seneca’s Chair of Creative Arts, and requested a professional leave from the college. My professional leave starts late April 2020 and continues through to end of August 2021 – 16 months to focus on my writing and other creative development, working away on some stuff that’s already public along with a couple secret projects I’m excited to see come to life.

When I return after my leave, I won’t be picking back up the Coordinator mantle. After 14 years of building and running the Animation program, it’s time for someone else to take charge. Sean Craig, current Coordinator of our post-grad 3D Animation program and the 3rd year Digital Animation stream, is stepping up to take over. He and I have been discussing this changeover for many months and he has a rock-solid vision for where the program needs to be in the years ahead.

So, that’s the news. After April 22nd, I’ll be focused on writing and other creative endeavors along with expanding my travel schedule so Stacy and I can go places we’ve never been and spend more time in the places we enjoy. I get to see what it’s like to have one crazy creative career instead of two and a half. 

I got into this business (art, animation, comics, games, teaching, all of it) because I love storytelling. Getting to work with so many skilled people who love it as much as I do has been a dream.

What comes next? Keep watching and we’ll find out together as the future unfolds.

Wish me luck,
Jim

I know the recent BBC article on comic piracy was intended to be helpful, but it skims so lightly along the subject that the whole thing becomes anecdotal. The fact that I’m “quoted” twice, but just from tweets not an actual conversation with me, makes it even more awkward.

I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but since it’s on the BBC site it’s hitting a more mainstream audience than usual and now I’m getting a swath of messages praising/punching me for it.

The anecdotal nature of the article really annoyed me, but I also realize that it strikes at the heart of why the piracy conversation always goes sideways so fast:

Anecdotes are all we have because the actual help/hindrance of digital piracy is nearly impossible to accurately measure.

There are stats of a sort (page views, torrents, downloads) but we have no way to measure how that translates to sales lost or visibility gained.

Some readers justify why they do it or explain how it helped them and then project that experience across the whole thing. Equally, creators see their own struggles and the shakiness of the system and project those losses on to the whole. Neither is accurate, but neither is completely wrong, either.

I’m not a fool. I don’t think every illegal download is a lost sale. I know it’s complicated and everyone can point to themselves or others as reasonable/justified/worthy customers who pirate stuff for the “right” reasons. The complexity destroys any reasonable discourse.

The fact that it’s digital and a whole other segment can get pedantic and explain that it’s not actually “theft” because it’s a just a copy and nothing was physically stolen muddies the whole thing even more.

Piracy is a diffused mess of disparate data injected with enough anecdotes and frustration that none of us has to change our opinion or behavior.

Everyone sees what they want to see and keeps on screaming.
Which is online discourse in a nutshell right now.

The easy play is to just smile and nod and pretend it’s all good.
“Fuck you, I got mine” feels very 2019-appropriate.

There isn’t much else to say that hasn’t already been said-
Be good to each other.
Be honest with yourself.
Support creative work the best you can.

Thanks for reading (my work, not the social media vortex).

I just added a whole slew of new links to Indiebound over on my BUY page, listing a variety of outlets where you can order my books. Indiebound represents a huge community of independent bookstores benefiting individual store owners and their local communities. If you want to buy comic collected editions (or really, any books at all) and support your local retailers, please consider using Indiebound!

Head on over to my BUY page and you’ll see Indiebound links for almost every book I’ve contributed to. It was a bit time consuming going through them all to add them to the database, but I think it’s important to have as many choices as possible so readers can easily find their next favorite book.

Thank you, as always, for your support!