jtwaldman.com » Blog http://jtwaldman.com Live Lively Thu, 10 May 2012 15:38:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 So What Ever Happened with the Tagged Tanakh? http://jtwaldman.com/so-what-ever-happened-with-the-tagged-tanakh/ http://jtwaldman.com/so-what-ever-happened-with-the-tagged-tanakh/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 00:46:43 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/?p=535 From 2007-2010 I worked at JPS; first as a contractor, then as an employee. Publisher of the Hebrew to English translation of the Jewish Bible, JPS has a 124-year archive of intellectual property built around an ancient text.

The former CEO of JPS,Ellen Frankel, a biblical scholar and librettist took a chance on me. First, in 2005 when she published my graphic novel Megillat Esther. Then, in 2007 she asked me to develop a long-term content strategy plan and new revenue stream for an ailing publisher. The result of my collaboration with Ellen, in addition to a distinguished cohort of scholars, technologists, designers, educators and assorted volunteers is the Tagged Tanakh.

The Tagged Tanakh was my solution to a technological, business and design dilemma. Would people or organizations subscribe to an online service that facilitated Bible study or was the venture more viable as a software product enabling semantic structuring of multilingual and complex relational datasets? From an unstructured xml version of the Bible to a comic book rendering of an imagined user experience, I was involved in every facet of the project from scope requirements to load testing.

The Tagged Tanakh (TT) is now in a cocoon state. With the JPS union with the University of Nebraska, the Tagged Tanakh’s future is unknown. A web application that enables users to remark upon, moderate and relate content to a complex and shared dataset might be useful to some one else someday. The site is still online and receives a trickle of new comments and activity even with no one tending the garden.

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/so-what-ever-happened-with-the-tagged-tanakh/feed/ 0 I am a Horror Vacui-ist! http://jtwaldman.com/i-am-a-horror-vacui-ist/ http://jtwaldman.com/i-am-a-horror-vacui-ist/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:59:15 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/?p=340 It was recently pointed out to me by a new friend that I am an artist in the school of Horror Vacui.

Ever since grade school, I have been obsessed with doodling and filling in the margins of my notebooks with drawings. In fifth grade I got hooked on graph paper. Then Todd McFarlane blew up at Marvel (Grand-Puba of the Horror Vacui Comix church?!). Then I was introduced to Moebius in high school. With college, new worlds opened up and Aubrey Beardsley images and Peter Greenway films further indoctrinated me in the way of horror vacui.

Now I understand why the work of Mati Klarwein and Geof Darrow appeals to me. Now I have a name for the type of art I make that connects my work to R. Crumb and Twin Seven Seven.

I feel like a whole new facet of myself and why I make art has been unearthed. Stay tuned for more discoveries as I explore my life as a Horror Vacui-ist.

Image by artist Twin Seven Seven-RIP.

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/i-am-a-horror-vacui-ist/feed/ 0 Out with the Old and In with the New http://jtwaldman.com/out-with-old-and-in-with-the-new/ http://jtwaldman.com/out-with-old-and-in-with-the-new/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:03:02 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=168 It’s 2012, the year of the dragon, and I have nearly completed my second graphic novel. It’s been quite a roller coaster ride and this site has been sorely neglected. But, all that’s about to change.

Stay tuned for a new look and new content!

Live Lively-

JTW

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/out-with-old-and-in-with-the-new/feed/ 0 The Best Comix of 2011 http://jtwaldman.com/the-best-comix-of-2011/ http://jtwaldman.com/the-best-comix-of-2011/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:50:51 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=160 I’m a pretty selective comix reader. I have been for (yikes) 30 years. Some books I read in trade paperback, others as ongoing monthlies, while some I even special-order online. Here’s my list of top picks for 2011. The biggest surprise is the dominance of Image comics, which has been putting out some really wild stuff. They are pushing the boundaries in comix these days and their books are testimony. This year I discovered artists like Fiona Staples and Francis Manapul. While Nick Spencer came out of nowhere and has totally replaced my BKV ( sorry dude, you’ve been otta the game) fix. Okay, so without further ado, The Best Comix of 2011:

10. Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker (Image) – For those of us that live balls in the wind.
9. Xombi (DC)- If you like puns, Korean-Americans, and transpersonal psychology, then this is for you!
8. Our Love is Real (Self-published and now Image) Rick Santorum’s nightmare sci-fi.
7. Batwoman (DC)- With art like this and solid character development you’d be crazy not to love it.
6. Unwritten (Vertigo) – Collective fictional subconsciousness, wrap your head around that one!
5. Irredeemable (Boom)- Shrinks are using it to reform wayward youth, and the story is twisted fun.
4. Halcyon (Image)- The best philosophical comic dressed as a super-hero.
3. Infinite Vacation (Image) – Brilliant concept, gorgeous art, artistic self-mutilation at its best.
2. Uncanny X-Force (Marvel) – RICK REMENDER I LOVE YOU~
1. Morning Glories (Image) – Hands down the most addictive read of the year. Imagine a school for kids like Walt from Lost (season 1) yeah- it’s awesome~

The header is from Xombi #1- Damn that was a fun comic

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/the-best-comix-of-2011/feed/ 0 My Favorite DCNU Comix http://jtwaldman.com/my-favorite-new-dc-comix/ http://jtwaldman.com/my-favorite-new-dc-comix/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:39:04 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=155 I’ve been slow to comment on the new DC comix. In some cases I’ve had to reread issues to get the full scope and in other cases I feel like I actually would like a refund but I’m too lazy to bother. Far and way my favorite book is Batwoman, but it doesn’t really count, so I take that out of my top 10 listing. So here we go:

1. Flash (Thinking faster than moving and AMAZING ART!)

2. Animal Man (Creepy and fun and all that a comic book should be!)

3. Wonder Woman (Amazing Art and the story is ok so far)

4. Action Comic (took 3 times to read this one to actually like it)

5. Red Hood and The Outlaws (for the shear offensiveness of it)

6. Batgirl ( just curious to see where this goes, solid art)

7. Green Lantern Corps (pretty art, less annoying than Hal Jordan these days)

8. Stormwatch (like watching a horrible movie adaptation of your favorite book get ruined but you can’t help but love it)

9. Shade ( not sure if this can count since it’s not ongoing)

10. Justice League (because it feels like adolescent pornostalia)

This is only after 2 months of reading, so stay tuned to see if there were any revisions.

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/my-favorite-new-dc-comix/feed/ 0 Holy Shiznut!? I’m digging Image comics again!? http://jtwaldman.com/holy-shiznut-im-digging-image-comics-again/ http://jtwaldman.com/holy-shiznut-im-digging-image-comics-again/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:47:07 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=152 Back in the early 90s when I was in high school, Image comics was launched and I was inspired. Artists controlling their own creations and making a living off it!? Who would have thunk it?! I gobbled up all that Valentino, Larsen, Lee, and McFarlane churned out. And within 2 years I was over it…

Vertigo, Darkhorse and Oni became the cooler cats on the block and I saw Image as the place with pretty pictures and boring stories. Image books had little philosophy, irony, or any real sense of narrative structure to light my fire; back then, they were all just concept books. Flash forward 20 years and Image is now churning out some really cool stuff in terms of stories…and the art is getting edgier and less commercially driven. Infinite Vacation, Halcyon, ButcherBaker the Righteous Maker, and MorningGlories have got me excited about comix again! And with BKV and Fiona Staple’s Saga coming out next year I predict big things for Image!

 

Art is from Infinite Vacation

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/holy-shiznut-im-digging-image-comics-again/feed/ 0 Reboots, Ultimates, and Debt Ceilings http://jtwaldman.com/reboots-ultimates-and-debt-ceilings/ http://jtwaldman.com/reboots-ultimates-and-debt-ceilings/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:48:00 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=149 Marvel revamped their roster over 10 years ago with the Ultimates line. Now DC has pressed the reset button on their universe and I can’t help but wonder if our reality is next? Isn’t all this hoopla about tax reform about simplifying the code and making it more accessible? And what about the debt our nation has accrued? What if that could be brought back to #1? I suppose the same kind of cataclysmic events that normally occur in comics would befall our world. Or maybe, nothing would happen and we’d get the chance to revamp ourselves just like Superman and Aquaman. I guess that will be forthcoming in The Economist’s fall What If? special issue.

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/reboots-ultimates-and-debt-ceilings/feed/ 0 The Queering of the X-Men http://jtwaldman.com/the-queering-of-the-x-men/ http://jtwaldman.com/the-queering-of-the-x-men/#comments Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:20:28 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=146 Growing up as a reader of the X-men in the 1980s I easily recognized them as the outsiders of the Marvel universe. There was a counter-culture vibe to them because their members (at the time) sported mohawks, funny accents, and they tended to drink more booze than the Avengers or family friendly Fantastic Four. Then along came The Queer Eye of Bryan Singer and the freaks and muties became blatant card carrying members of HRC. From the clips I’ve seen of the new X-Men flick, this theme is in full bloom again. The few out and proud X-Men who are in fact homos (NorthStar, Karma, and one of the new muties I forget the name of) are at best D-list members of the team. When are we gonna see a Neil Patrick Harris caliber X-Man? When will these uncanny men and women stop dancing around the issue?  Where once, mutants represented the minority cultures of the Marvel universe (black, latino, Asian, Jewish, disabled, immigrant, etc.), today in 2011 it’s pretty clear that the X-Men are gay. I mean, come on- Wolverine did Broadway?!

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/the-queering-of-the-x-men/feed/ 0 Check out Morning Glories http://jtwaldman.com/check-out-morning-glories/ http://jtwaldman.com/check-out-morning-glories/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 14:23:30 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=144 One of the sleeper hits in comicdom of the last year was Image’s, Morning Glories.The mysterious tale of a boarding school for special teens does a great job of revitalizing the cliched plot scenario we’ve all seen before. But something about the dialogue and the art works. I couldn’t put the first tradepaper back down and am totally hooked after just 6 issues. If you like character driven action comics with plenty of geek midrash…then this comic is for you.

]]> http://jtwaldman.com/check-out-morning-glories/feed/ 0 My Harvey Year- Part IV http://jtwaldman.com/my-harvey-year-part-iv/ http://jtwaldman.com/my-harvey-year-part-iv/#comments Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:44:54 +0000 JTW http://jtwaldman.com/blog/?p=142 As you may know, I am currently working on one of the last books by Harvey Pekar. People often ask me, “How do you work with someone if they’re…well dead?” The answer is obviously complicated and wrapped up in some emotions. Harvey and I started this project in 2007, we went through two different scripts before we created a third one together. When Harvey passed away last summer we were 2/3s of the way towards a completed script. I spent the remainder of last year fleshing out what we had started together. Yesterday, I completed the layouts for the entire book. My Harvey Year is now well beyond just one year so I think the next post in this series will be called, My Harvey YEARS. And so it goes…

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