PITCHED 2: Something a little different

And now for something a little different.

I’ve wanted to work with artist, colorist, and photographer Ian Sokoliwski for some time now. He’s not just a very talented guy, he’s also funny and wacky and unusual in all the right ways. (Check out my interview with Ian to see what makes Ian the Professional Colorist tick.)

So needless to say, I was pleased when he agreed to jump on board for Pitched 2, the second in my series of comic anthologies. Ian has paying work that has to take priority, you see, so I’m honored he carved out time for me. I was inspired by his Gothic photography, specifically his series of doll pictures, and had a story in mind based on the visuals he was creating.

But I wanted something that wasn’t very traditional. Maybe wasn’t even comics, exactly, but rather something that merged his evocative images with my words in a way that managed to be its own thing. Something along the line of the text-and-images pieces in Dave Sim’s brilliant Jaka’s Story. Ian liked the idea and the rest is history.

Will we succeed in creating something great? I don’t know. It will be a challenge. I’m setting lofty standards for myself. Ian sure isn’t making living up to my end of the bargain easy when he creates images as amazing as this one:

That’s good stuff right there, featuring Ian’s assistant, Kelsie, who helped stage the images. I’ve got me some writin’ to do.

This is the reason I do these Pitched anthologies. Because it gives me a chance to push myself in unexpected directions, driven by talented people like Ian and Kelsie.