Bowling Ball and Pinhead

Blog Post No. 470

Most of the artists I know don’t have a ton of extra scratch to pay for things. Sometimes when you’re making, say, a book, you need things like good looking covers. How does an artist pay for a good looking cover when they don’t have enough money to get a kindergartner to finger paint for them? That’s right, they trade for it. I was lucky enough to find someone to trade with in Glen Hawkes. He did the covers for Broadcast Wasteland, Break/Interrupt, and is working on the cover for the upcoming Snow From a Distant Sky. He’s not only a talented painter, he’s a skilled graphic designer, so he knows how to make a cover.

What did he get out of the bargain? Not much. He asked if I would be willing to do some writing for him on his amazing Misadventures of Bowling Ball comic book series. So, not only do I get great covers, I get to write for a great comic. I know. I think I got the better end of that deal too. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about writing comics.

What I did was write enough material for two issues (or maybe one-and-a-half) and set up scenes that were too complicated and not visually appealing. Almost as if writing a book and a comic are very different things. Thankfully, Glen was able to take what I did, change most of it, and turn it into a fun read. He was the one with the idea for the story in the first place, so it made sense. The world and the characters are his creation.

In the end, he was nice enough to give me a credit on the comic. I told him I was alright if he didn’t but he must have felt that I contributed something (or he felt sorry for me). He’s still doing the new cover for me and we are going to get together to work on the next issue of Bowling Ball when I feel more comfortable being out in public. I hope I learned enough this time to be more help.

There is a chance that the two of us will go to some events and conventions together. Again, that’s not happening until I’m more comfortable with being out in public and interacting with so many people. That doesn’t mean that he won’t do some shows without me. I suggest keeping an eye open for when you can see him in person and pick up some of those comics.

Volume 2, Issue 5 of The Misadventures of Bowling Ball and Pinhead is available now. Why not get them all? While you’re on Glen’s page, take a look at some of his paintings and kids books too. I think you’ll dig’em.