New York Comic Con has come and gone, and it was fantastic. Far bigger than anything I'd been to before, but from what I heard, it's still not on the scale of San Diego. Some day I'll make it out there.
One of the highlights at this con was meeting Buddy Scalera, comics pro and moderator for several panels on comics as a profession. He was the best moderator I'd seen, keeping things moving, interesting, and making sure his panelists each spoke and offered their insights on a variety of relevant topics.
I got a chance to meet Buddy later in Artist Alley, and I'm extremely glad I did. I bought a copy of his book "Creating Comics from Start to Finish," and I've been pouring through it since. The book only recently came out, so it's probably the most timely on the shelves for breaking and staying in the business.
In the course of talking to Buddy, he challenged me to create a pitch that mixes my military background with some type of science fiction element, and he offered to chat with me during its development. Since then I've been hard at work on an idea called The Chosen, and Buddy and I have had a chance to chat several times about it. His course corrections have been spot on, and I could not be more grateful at the time he's spent giving me his thoughts and experience. I'm in the early stages now, refining the idea, developing the characters, figuring out their motivations, and coming up with the basics of the plot. It's always the most fun for me, starting with nothing and creating something. First there was no idea, then there was an idea, a seed that started to grow after it was planted.
I'll continue to water this idea and we'll see what sprouts from it. Hopefully something as good and unique as I believe it's going to be.
If you ever get a chance to meet or sit in a session led by Buddy Scalera, do it. You never know what great idea it might lead to.