Red Twilight Press

23 OCTOBER 2008

YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME
Verano's departure from the States marks uncertain times for Red Twilight Press

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10 OCTOBER 2008

TANGLED UP IN REVIEWS
Well, just one. But it's positive!

Permanent Damage calls Death of the Sweetheart #3 "clever, ambitious and inventive." Click here for the full review. And be sure to check back for more Red Twilight updates later this month!

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18 AUGUST 2008

WHERE THE PYRAMID MEETS THE EYE
It is the quest for pure sanity that forms the basis of the new order

Eddie Campbell radiates the essence of the quest. Alec: How To Be An Artist shows the results of applying the new reasoning and its ramifications. As part of the quest for the new reasoning, the Red Twilight creators seek to restructure their thinking and change their language so that their thoughts reverberate in the new horizontal order (as did Einstein). Oh, by the way – the store’s now up, and here’s the excerpt from Frank’s Comic-Con presentation:

The scratchy pen and ink artwork is drawn with ferocious spontaneity, as if Campbell must copy the image onto paper exactly as he sees it in his mind at that moment, lest he forget it. To mainstream eyes, Campbell’s sketchy linework may seem incomplete, like the rough middle step of a process yet to yield the finished, polished product. However, the spontaneity, movement and impressionistic qualities of Campbell’s “imperfect” artwork perfectly suit his stream of consciousness storytelling sensibilities. How else is the reader to imagine Penny Moore’s go-go dance other than the Duchamp-like nude (“all aglow with perspiration on top of the chest of drawers with it racking and skreeking like a big engine”), in what must have been a very difficult panel for Campbell to draw (7)? Campbell presents the reader with images in the way in which he remembers them (which is distinctly different from the way in which they occurred). Likewise, “[Night and Fog] deals more with our memory of the camps, our mental images of them, than with the camps as they actually existed” (qtd. in Flitterman-Lewis, 1998:212). Experiences and memories, which are tied to aspects of consciousness, are subjective by their very nature. Sandy Flitterman-Lewis adds: “Finding a way to viscerally and materially evoke – rather than simply describe – the brutal realities of the concentration camps means reinventing the function of the image and the process by which the viewer engages with it” (211).

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7 AUGUST 2008

SUMMER MEANS NEW LOVE (AND NEW COMICS!!)
First DROWSE pages trickle into Red Twilight office, plus Comic-Con recap

Rocking Eastern Standard Time for but a week, indienerd superstars Frank Verano and Nick Klinger, fresh from the bright lights and showerless masses of the San Diego Comic-Con, hosted the first of several social art happenings at the - get this! - home offices of rival comic book creator Robert James Algeo (Skull Pen, Operation: Iraqi Jam). With a little help from Justice, 13th Floor Elevators, David Bowie, LCD Soundsystem, Peter Bjorn and John, and Joy Division (who were represented twice, three times if you count old New Order), those in attendance collaboratively produced over twenty pages of doodles, non sequitur drawings, and psychedelic collages. We're not quite sure how, but Verano and Klinger have a plan to integrate some of this artwork in their upcoming DROWSE series.

As for Comic-Con, for the first time in three years, Verano was able to finish his presentation without being cut off due to time constraints! Despite the Sunday morning time slot, it was generally well-attended, and by people who were ACTUALLY interested in the material, not just waiting for the Yu-Gi-Oh! panel that followed. Check back next week for a brief excerpt from his presentation, "Same Boy You've Always Known: The Construction of Memory in Eddie Campbell's Alec."

Finally, Red Twilight Press would like to acknowledge the folks we had some very cool chats with during the convention: Stephany and Carrie, who were keeping it fresh at the Conjoined Comics booth, and Emmitt Furey from Comic Book Resources.

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20 JULY 2008

RED TWILIGHT PREPARES FOR A NOISY SUMMER
Comic-Con, DROWSE #1, and The Temp #2 highlight the relaunch of Red Twilight Press

As you can see, we're in the process of revamping the site. Be sure to check back for updates, including exclusive interviews with our elusive creators and thrill-a-minute details of spectacular new projects currently in the works.

DROWSE, the new conceptual comic book series from Frank Verano and Nick Klinger, sees our Death of the Sweetheart creators in full experimental mode, exploring the creative possibilities of the non-linear narrative, the relationship between sound and image, and the crappy drawings that result from being hammered. Split into two distinct halves with two distinct vibes, DROWSE #1 is virtuosic experimentation on one side and quieter, impressionistic stories on the other; something Grant Morrison would no doubt describe as "a banana split missle of psychedelic intensity tosssed in a blender of surrealistic arm chairs and compound fractions."

Kev Ketner's The Temp #2 is a sarcastic look at the absurdities of life and fiction blended together with a self-depricating point of view. Is he having a laugh? He might be, but you will too. . .if it's a comedy. Kev's keeping this one under wraps until it's completed, so we know as much as you at this point. Guess that's what you get when you pay an artist in cheap whiskey and even cheaper women!

Lastly, Red Twilight Press will be returning to the San Diego Comic-Con (July 23-July 27)! If you're trying to work off your Saturday night hangover, be sure to sit in on the Comics Arts Conference Session #13: Comics Construction: Literary and Visual Representations panel (Sunday, 10:30-11:30), where our very own Frank Verano will be presenting his essay, "Same Boy You've Always Known: The Construction of Memory in Eddie Campbell's Alec." Verano will compare Eddie Campbell's de/re-construction of the past in his Alec stories to the work of film director Alain Resnais. A book signing will follow shortly after the presentation (location TBD), where Verano will be on hand to sign issues 1-3 of Death of the Sweetheart.