Review of Countdown To Wednesday

Introduction

Comic books are big business as hundreds of titles are published each year. Hollywood has kept an eye on this market too with various interpretations of these books over the years. Within the last few years, as CGI technology gets more advanced, more and more film adaptations are hitting the big screen. The nearest I really came to serious comic reading myself was Battle in 1976 and then early Starlord and 2000AD. Hail the mighty Tharg and Judge Dredd! I may have picked up the odd Marvel or DC comic, but they were never really my thing. Of course I read Viz on an occasional basis through the 90`s but that wasn`t quite the same…

Wednesday is apparently the day that new comics hit the shops and is therefore presumably quite an event for some people. This documentary is not really about that. Focussing mainly on Top Cow Productions, a US comic book producer, and their staff, this documentary also ropes in Stan Lee to help spill the beans on the various roles that are needed to put together a comic book.

Top Cow produce such titles as Cyberforce, Tomb Raider, Witchblade, Battle Of The Planets (licensed), The Magdelena and The Darkness amongst others. Some the comic book artists and writers interviewed include Paul Dini, Mark Waid, Jim McLauchlin, and Matt Hawkins.

The various sections covered within this documentary are: writing, art (broken into sections on pencilling, inking and colouring), self-publishing and an overall look at the comic business.

Video

Clearly filmed and aimed at an American audience, therefore presumably filmed in NTSC. Seems to have a soft focus to the overall picture and blacks are faded and grainy.

Audio

This release is very much dialogue-driven and all dialogue is clear with subtitles in English.

Features

Still Gallery with commentary - a look at some of the artwork from a new title called Magdelena with commentary from Brian Holguin (writer) and Eric Basaldua (Penciller). The latter is also featured in the intern featurette, having just finished his internship and working freelance for Top Cow.

Top Cow production meeting - very short meeting, all of about 4.5 minutes, discussing upcoming issues and associated problems. Wish my meetings were as short as this.

Being an Intern - one of the options discussed in the main documentary is pursuing a place as an intern where you work for the company for free but pick up the skills you need in order to progress. It`s a long and hard process, sometimes 2-3 years, and this short featurette introduces three current (at time of filming) interns at Top Cow who give useful tips and their hopes for the future over 3 minutes.

Outtakes - answers to such earth-shattering questions as "rip or tear" and "Cops or Pop Idol". Reminds me of a segment in a kids Saturday morning show.

Stan Lee PSA - a public service announcement by Stan Lee on behalf of the Actor Comic Fund. This is a charity fund that helps old comic creators that have fallen on hard times.

Conclusion

I have to admit that I still get a little kick from reading the odd comic when one of my kids leaves one around (especially if they are one of those tiny Commando books), although they are clearly not in the same league as these boys. I had an inkling of some of the work that was involved but this documentary opened my eyes as to how complex the whole thing was. There is clearly money to be made as well as enjoyment otherwise grown men like Alan Moore and old masters like Stan Lee would not be involved in this industry.

This documentary is almost a bible for anyone looking to break into this industry. Not only does it describe in detail the roles in any comic book, it also explains how the aspiring artist or writer can break in and hopefully get a job, if not a career within comics. There is a wealth of inside knowledge shared here by the people who hold these positions, from the CEO of Top Cow, Marc Silvestri through the editors, writers, pencillers, inkers, etc. Every position is just about covered. This is no sugarcoated pill either. It pulls no punches about how hard it is to break through and get the attention of an editor, but it gives practical advice on where to put in the work to achieve the goal.

Whilst this is obviously aimed at the US market, I can see that the advice and knowledge passed on here should be just as applicable to the UK comic scene. I presume the scene is a lot smaller, although I have no real knowledge of that. This DVD is a must for anyone who has any aspirations to be involved creatively in comics for a living.