Author - Artist - Voice Over Actor

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Tales of Yesteryear Told in Future Tense

The year 2020 hasn’t turned out the way any of us had planned it. But looking now my 2020 Vision from the beginning of the year and isn’t all that cloudy.
Along with being an artist and writer, I had begun training to become a voice actor for animation.
Things may have slowed down some, but they haven’t stopped. I’m still writing, and am regularly doing artwork for books by Airship 27 Productions.
I continue taking more classes towards my acting career.
At my wife encouragement I have joined a local chapter of Toastmasters – Toastmasters 4 Writers. What could be more perfect.
At a meeting nearly a year ago, before I officially joined I did an Impromptu ‘Table Topics’ speech which I won, and it set off my Determination to become a Voice Actor.
This past Saturday (August 8th, 2020) I gave my first speech. An ‘Icebreaker’ speech they call it, introducing myself to the group.
As I wrote my speech I began to realize the moment in my life that set me off on the road to being an artist, writer, and now actor. It all began with ‘Old Time Radio.’

What follows is my Toastmasters Icebreaker speech, entitled:
“Tales of Yesteryear Told in Future Tense”.
(Points to those who know what two radio programs that is a reference to.)

Tales of Yesteryear Told in Future Tense

New Cover Art for my first novel CLOCKWORK GENIE

I have done some reworking on the novel, and on the cover as well.
I digitally painted it in Painter and Photoshop.

Additionally I tweeked the subtitle:  A Paranormal Romance Mystery

You can buy a copy of the novel at any ebook distributor.

Amazon Kindle

Smashwords

Barnes and Nobel Nook

Meet the Artist

Meet the Artist by KevinPSB4

I found out about this a little late, but thought I’d do my own drawing and throw it in the mix. That’s me, or a bad clone.

Celebrating 15 Years of a Webcomic

Celebrating 15 Years of a Webcomic by KevinPSB4

Though only a few months have passed for Debra and her friends, the webcomic FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY have been around for 15 years.

FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY (www.flying-glory.com) is the story of ambitious Debra Clay who’s grandmother was the wartime super heroine FLYING GLORY. Now the teenager always looking for ways to promote her rock bang, The Hounds of Glory, is thrilled to discover that she has inherited her Grandma Elsie’s super powers. Once she’s convinced her friends to put on costumes as part of their performance, a new team of super heroes is formed even if they didn’t want to be. Because they are soon fighting super villains between, and sometimes during, their rock concerts.

Be sure to pick up FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK a special 15th Anniversary edition that my co-writer Shannon Muir put to get. It includes all the song lyrics she wrote for the series as well as character bios. (amzn.to/293eI1L)  Only 99cents.

Photos of LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION

Look what arrived just before the New Year – LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION. A massive anthology of the greatest authors and artists in New Pulp. Pick up a copy at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Legends-New-Pulp-Fiction-Fortier/dp/0692601139/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451628201&sr=1-1&keywords=legends+of+new+pulp+fiction

“That’s not my Superman” – Did I say that?

“That’s not my Superman”

I’ve heard variations of that mentioned many times before, especially a lot recently. Whether it is his New52 interpretation (and the Earth2 version) or how he appears in the movies. Was about to say it myself today, but caught myself.

What held me back was a memory from many years ago.

I wasn’t a regular Superman reader back then, but I would pick up an issue of Action Comics or his own book from time to time.

One of the books I did read every month was THE NEW TEEN TITIANS. As I was reading their most recent adventure, and all hope looked lost, I turned to the last page and there stood Superman.

(This story by Marv Wolfman stands out as it would lead in to the books first Annual.)

But wait, that didn’t look like Superman to me, but he was of course. The problem being I was use to seeing the Man of Steel being drawn by the legendary Curt Swan. Though I had seen him drawn by other artists, Mr. Swan was the Superman artist to me at the time.

So here was the Man From Krypton drawn by another artist…

None other than the great George Perez.

This is a postcard image by George Perez from 1984, around the time I’m writing about.(Image borrowed from www.VaultCollectables.com)

Here was an artist my young mind thought was fantastic. He certainly drew all of The New Teen Titians in a way that I wished I could draw (and still wish I could), and then when he began CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTH, you couldn’t pull me away from his pages.

But the problem was, his Superman didn’t look anything like the Superman in my head. He didn’t look like Curt Swan’s Superman.

Any you know what, that’s okay. I understood that back then, I really did. I would later come to love not only Perez’s Superman, but also the Man of Steel drawn by John Byrne, Jerry Ordway, and many others. Each had their own Superman, but did they match the Man of Steel in my mind. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But that’s okay.

It goes for Batman as well. There are many great artists who have drawn the Dark Knight; but in my mind there is only one Bat artist and that’s Jim Aparo.

Go find his work if you’ve never seen it. (Check out his Phantom Strange and Specter as well.)

As to interpretations of Superman in other media, I have to be honest; Superman just doesn’t work for me on the big screen. Christopher Reeve’s Superman came out when I was a kid, and as fun a story as it was; the character didn’t do it for me. Reeve’s Clark Kent really didn’t do it for me. (No one can explain to me why he allowed himself to be struck by the taxi when he first got to Metropolis. It is so annoying to me that it takes me out of the movie.)

That all said, my point is; find the Superman you like and continue to enjoy him. You’ve still got his comics in your collection, or can find reprints. But go and search out other versions of the character as well, and you will be surprised by how many of them you like as well. No one said you had to like them all.

San Diego Comic Con 2013 and #Mission818

As I write this thousands of people are arriving into San Diego for Comic Con International and many are attending “Preview Night”. I’ve never been there on Wednesday nights. It originally was a special “Preview” for professionals and retailers, but now it has grown to be nearly as busy as every other day at Con.

Shannon Muir and I will attend the convention Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We are riding Amtrak trains to and from San Diego each day, but it is much more inexpensive and relaxing than trying for a hotel room.

We attend Con to meet up with many of our professional friends and network with many of the companies in attendance.

This year I am bringing #MISSION818 with me.

If you’ve been around my blog long enough, or a regular visitor and follower of my facebook or twitter feed you’ll know what #MISSION818 is. For those that don’t here is a brief description.

Shannon and I are engaged to be married, and I plan to move to be with her in the Glendale/Burbank area, and so my Mission is find employment in or around the 818 area code before our wedding.

I would prefer to find employment with an animation production company or comic book publisher, but am open to other positions and companies in that region.

I am a scriptwriter, having written professional in television animation, and been hired to develop series for independent producers. I am also a comic book illustrator, novelist, and book cover artist.

If I could have the exact job I’m after it would Senior Vice President of TV Animation Series Development, but that’s not going to happen right away. In the mean time I’ll be quite happy to assist the guy in the position now. I’ll even bring my own broom.

For my professional friends on facebook and twitter, you know that as I further my career I tag them with #MISSION818. So, this year I will be wearing a #MISSION818 T-Shirt and you all can find me in the Comic Con crowd. See the photo to know what you’re looking for:

Feel free to stop me and say hi, and like my facebook post. More importantly, lets talk about what I can do for you.

Hope to write a Post-Con Blog next week, or maybe some on spot posts to my facebook page while I’m there and let you all know how #MISSION818 worked out.

Thank you all for the support.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity

Influences to Glory – Writers and Artists

Earlier today I was in the midst of a Twitter conversation that brought up our earliest comic book influences.

Every artist, and writer, has their influences. Not all of us will agree as to who the greatest or the worst, the most dynamic, narrative, or the worst is. But we all know who influences us.

For me, it goes nearly to the very beginning of reading comics. I had already read through a digest reprint of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #100 (written by Len Wein, another important influence to me), which introduced me to the world of the DC Universe that wasn’t the SUPER FRIENDS of Saturday Morning Cartoons.

Here was not only the Justice League of America, but also another team that called themselves the Justice Society of America. As a little kid, all I knew was that these were alternate takes on what I thought were well-established characters.

Over the next few months I would beginning to pick up other comic books. One comic was THE NEW TEEN TITANS by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. The second was an issue of ALL STAR SQUADRON written by Roy Thomas and among many artists was Jerry Ordway.

These two books would truly build my view of the DC Universe. The Teen Titans very ‘science fiction’ based modern stories with highly detailed artwork, while All Star Squadron showed heroes in the midst of World War II and had heroes with magic based powers.

For a while I believe that Earth 1 took place in the modern day, and Earth 2 in the 1940s, so that even when they did a cross over story they were coming from two different points in time.  I soon learned that wasn’t true.

Anyway, back to my influences.

For writing, I couldn’t have picked any better writers to follow than Marv Wolfman and Roy Thomas. Yes, I’ll hear people mention who they believe are better with more complexity to their writing, but for me these two men were the foundational influence to me that everything grew from.

Where Wolfman knew who to emotionally grab me in one story and then tell great actions sequences in the next, Thomas knew how to handle dozens of characters sometimes at once.  Thomas also knows everything about what I was learning to call the ‘Golden Age’ of comics, and spent time in every issue telling something about it all.

Because of Roy Thomas and the All-Star Squadron, I quickly became infatuated by Golden Age, and I saw out reprint books of the original stories (there was no way I could afford the originals, but I found the stories I wanted).

As with most young comic readers I soon began to create my own characters. But I didn’t want to create them in my modern world. I didn’t fit in a New York that I saw through George Perez’s detailed art. I created my characters influenced by Jerry Ordway that I felt had a more ‘realistic’ style. His faces were and are great.

(Imagine my thrill later when Ordway was hired to ink Perez’s work on CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTH. The two were so perfect together.)

(SIDE NOTE: I would also discover in the back issue bings the John Byrne issues of FANTASIC FOUR, and I bought as many as I could afford over several years of collecting. The greats of these were those where Byrne’s art was inked over by Jerry Ordway.)

So I’m creating my own characters, refining them, turning them into something more than just sketches on a page. I gave them names, and origins, not just the basic how they got power origins, but why and who the characters are with out powers.)

I was looking towards Roy Thomas and his interpretation of the Golden Age, that I began to emulate.

Three characters that I developed the furthest were The Torchlight, Speedstar, and a heroine I called FLYING GLORY.

I have written stories about all these characters, and as you all know, I took FLYING GLORY the furthest.

I’ve told the story already as how publishers were interested in a FLYING GLORY comic, one really liked the story that I told, but eventually it became clear that I couldn’t sells a Golden Age story when I was pitching it.

So with the help of Shannon Muir I updated the Flying Glory character, made her the granddaughter of the original and gave her a group of friends that supported her. THE HOUNDS OF GLORY.

Our webcomic FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, currently celebrating its 10th Anniversary of being online. Everything that I put into a script I owe to Marv Wolfman and Roy Thomas, and each panel of my art is so greatly influenced by Jerry Orway and George Perez (though I’ll never be able to draw hi details and crowd scenes).

Thank you Mr. Ordway, Mr. Perez, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Wolfman for you have made me the comic book professional that I am today.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Comic Strip for Writers Strike

As a member of the Animation Writers Caucus, I am considered an associate member of the Writers Guild of America.
This allows me to watch this strike from slightly to outside the battle arena. As a non-voting member of the Guild, I have no influence on the outcome of this strike.  But the outcome of this strike will have an influence on my future and my standing as a member.
Yes, I’ve been on the picket lines, which has been fun and encouraging, as nearly everyone who drove past honked their horns with positive, supportive, enthusiasm.  (I say nearly everyone because I did see a few faces and downward pointed thumbs from people who are clearly not happy with what we are doing.  And I respect that.)
But I do feel guilty for not being there more frequently along side my fellow writers, so I try to contribute where possible.
The Guild is providing a news letter for the picketers called Writers: On the Line, and I am drawing comic strips to be included in it.
That was for Issue #3, I plan to do more.  Though truthfully we would all like to think that there wouldn’t be a need for too many more of these newsletters.
As I said, I can’t always be involved, but along with the comic strip, maybe there is something I can write here in support of my friends. These will be my own opinions on such matters, and I will try not to rehash what far better bloggers have already said.
Best,
Kevin

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