Comic Book Resources

Idol Thoughts 11/20

Here is my Q & A with Comic Book Idol 3 WINNER, Jon Reed!

Enjoy!

1. For the finale, did you find yourself checking the polls constantly, or did you just wait until the end?

I have to admit that I checked the polls a number of times during the final vote of Round 5. I didn’t get much work done at my job that day.

2. How did you prepare yourself before the voting results? Do you do the ol’ “prepare yourself for the worst” routine or what?

Yeah. I guess I did prepare myself for the worst. I’d just remind myself that “I should be happy to have made it this far”. But with the amount of exposure granted by this contest, I really think I could have been voted off in Round 3, and after a few minutes of feeling bad, exited the contest with nothing but a big smile on my face. Heck, I was totally prepared not to even get picked to be in the top ten.

3. Who is the most surprising person to you who voted for you? Any old seventh-grade classmates?

There were more than a couple people from high school that had found out about the contest and voted for me. It felt good to see some old friends take some time out of their day and show some support. It’s not a horribly involved process, voting, but it’s also an easy thing to hear about and ignore. If you read this, thanks a million guys!

4. Did any of the comments from any of the judges over the course of the competition strike you as unfair at all? Which comments were right on the mark?

I will never forget the words Marc Silvestri wrote about my work. The guy is a legend. And he gave such great critiques for all of us. Thanks so much to Marc and it’s awesome how J., Jonah, and Brandon got him as a judge. The other judges were great too. Sorry to single out Marc. I’m just a big fan. But who isn’t?

I wouldn’t say that any of the judges were unfair. Some guys sugar coat things and some don’t. I’ll take whatever I can get when it comes to a critique. Not that it doesn’t hurt sometimes. But hey, Marc could have walked all over me with cleats for three paragraphs and I’d have two mashed thumbs shoved in the air as he walked away (Not that he did that. Like I said before, his critiques were spot on). Plus, I think if we (those seeking advice) get too sensitive it will chase off the artists we like from ever doing critiques. There are other ways to look at it that I understand and agree with, but as far as I’m concerned the previous sentence is MY primary concern.

5. Did the Legion assignment prepare you for another increase in pages, or as it still a shock to go to 5 pages in one week?

It was still a shock to go to 5 pages in round 5. I only had 3.5 days to do them. Leading up to the deadline I had been drawing for 27 hours straight. No real breaks to speak of and no sleep. I talked to Charles over e-mail that morning. I think he said he had been drawing for 30 hours straight. I’d never done this before. It wasn’t as bad as you’d think though. My back hurt more than my hand or head.

6. Which style of script do you prefer working with - detailed or loose?

A: I don’t know really. I guess my “dream” assignment at this stage would be to have a fairly detailed script, but then have the ability to convince the other guys involved that I could do a much better job if we could change just a few panels if I was REALLY seeing something.

7. What compelled you to apply to Comic Book Idol?

I was drawing a story with Dawud Turner and Jay Vargas for a start up company called Ny-Lon Comics. They convinced me to apply and I will always be grateful to them for doing so.

8. Who’s the first person you called after winning the contest?

My wife. She was happy.

9. Finally, take this space to promote the heck out of whatever you would like to promote!

Mr Editor:

Please Hire me! I am hungry as hell and eager to please. I will draw until the sun rises every day for you and revise whatever you want revised. I have all the tools necessary. I will make the pencils come out perfect and prove to you based on the merit of my work that I am deserving of future assignments. You won’t regret it.

www.jonreedcomicart.com (the portfolio that got me in CBI 3)
http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee96/jonreed79/ (The pages from all 5 rounds-stiff deadlines)
jonreed79@hotmail.com
jonreed79@gmail.com

Thanks to everybody for putting this on and thanks to everybody who voted for me.

Thanks a lot, Jon!