I think we all see the world though our own reality map. A transparent graph from which we view life in order to navigate through it.
-- Kabuki: Metamorphosis #4
* Dates Subject to Change *
Kabuki - The Alchemy Hardcover & Trade Paperback: ON SALE
Daredevil - Parts of a Hole Premiere HC: ON SALE
Kabuki - Reflections: Volume 1 Hardcover (regular & limited edition): ON SALE
Daredevil - Echo: Vision Quest Premiere Edition Hardcover: ON SALE
Kabuki - Volume 1: Circle of Blood Hardcover (Regular & Limited Editions): ON SALE
Se7en French Edition Blu-ray: ON SALE
Electric Ant Hardcover: ON SALE
Green Arrow #8: ON SALE
Dream Logic #3: ON SALE
Days Missing - Kestus #4: ON SALE
5 Ronin #4: ON SALE
Justice League of America #56: April 20
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Boston Comic Con
April 30 - May 1, 2011
Boston, Massachusetts

Houston Comicpalooza
May 27-29, 2011
Houston, Texas

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Home News March 2007 12th


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Daredevil: End of Days Co-Writing Experience
From David Mack:
    Choi asks: "How does someone like yourself co-write something, ESPECIALLY when the two writers are BOTH also artists and NEITHER is drawing it? Is it easy to take off the artist hat and put on the writer one?
Well, I pretty much always have a writer's hat on anytime I'm doing a book. At the moment, it is a reversable hat that my brother gave me and is keeping my ears warm.

The co-writing thing is a lot more fun than I would have thought it would be if I had thought about it years ago. Then I would have thought that I'd want to meticulously control everything.

But co-writing [Daredevil: End of Days] is a blast. Because we have a conversation about what we want fromt the story. And then the story kind of materializes from that CONVERSATION. The 2 heads coming together to make ideas that you wouldn't think of alone. Way less work than slaving over it on your own for days.

Then I'll write my version of things based on that conversation. For instance, last DD issue, I had an outline of the story jotted down from a phone conversation with Brian. Then I used that as the basis for what I typed up and would have considered a fully detailed script. Something finished enough that I would have been able to turn it in.

And then I sent that to Brian. And then that gave him more ideas and he added to that, etc.

And sometimes we talked about what was going to happen in such detail, that Brian said, "Hey, let's stop talking about this, it is getting too detailed. I just want to write it based on this talk, and I want it loose enough that the characters will just do things and suprise me."

Which was very interesting. I would have thought we'd want those details worked out ahead of time. But Brian made a good point of leaving some margin for magic to happen in the typing process of the page to page writing.

So kind of different each issue so far. But lots of fun and surprising. Which is what you want.


Kabuki: The Alchemy Collection Release Order
When asked if Kabuki: The Alchemy series will be collected and released as a hardcover or a trade paperback, David Mack announced that the series will be released in both formats and the hardcover will debut first.


Kabuki Questions and Answers
Below is a series of questions and answers between Lazy_Metaphors and David Mack about Kabuki:
LM: In Kabuki #5, you spoke through Akemi and talked a great deal about how receiving credit should not be the ends to which your art works. While "Kabuki" and your forthcoming autobiographical work ("Self Portraits," you called it?) are without a doubt very personal stories, and your connection to them is in some ways almost as important as the stories themselves, have you considered doing future stories released under the Creative Commons license? Some known creators, such as science-fiction author Cory Doctorow and musician Jonathan Coulton, have in fact received greater publicity and paying audiences through their online use of the license and their wide-ranging permission to their fans to create their own works based on what they create.

DM: No, but I'm doing quite a lot of work behind the scenes as well. I enjoy being a connector and catalyst as well as making my own work with or without my name on it. Have you read The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell?

LM: When we're first starting out in any creative field, whether in our youth or in a late-found love for a particular medium, it's hard to avoid working in the style of, or even with the ideas of, our favorite creators. As we become more confident, we inevitably find our own voice, and become more comfortable in our own skin and thus with our own ideas and characters. What's your personal view with regards to the singularly massive fan community online, that seems at times to create more (be it of exceedingly variable quality) in a month than the commercial field does in a year, in art, narrative, music, and even things undefinable in new media? How does it feel as well, as a creator of note, to know that some of them are creating fanworks for their own benefit, and on occasion minor popularity within their own fan communities, based on your work?

DM: I'm not really in touch with a massive fan community creating that much work based on others characters.

Although I very much enjoy the KABUKI FAN ART THREAD here.

As far as the first part about being in the shadow of our influences, I've kind of always thought you have to do hundreds of pages and works first just to work those influences through your system until you get to yourself and your way of doing things. So just do hundreds of pages just knowing that you are excercising things and it eventually gets you to yourself and peels away the parts of the external that are not you.

LM: The "Kabuki" story is already into its seventh volume and features hundreds of pages, and it's been many years since you've begun. There is, however, clearly a lot further that you want to take us within it - if nothing else, the promise of volumes based on each of the remaining Agents of the Noh implies years more worth of stories to come. Comics have had long epics before, but many of the stories either wind up being tales of combustion, or in one of the rare Western successes - Sim and Gerhard's "Cerebus" - the story was so different at the end from what it began as that much of their audience was no longer present. You're a pretty young guy to be as accomplished (to say nothing of talented!) as you are, but is this something that ever concerns you? Do you ever fear not getting a chance to finish Ukiko's saga - or fear perhaps even finding your interest wane? And do you see yourself, with regards to this one series, on a relatively set course, or do you think its evolution over time is uncontrollable?

DM: I don't worry about any of that. I enjoy making things. I always naturally intended for there to be evolution in the Kabuki story. For each volume to be about something different. And a different era in the characters life. And to tell it in a different way and invent different storytelling styles for each one. That was one of the main points of interest for me in doing it. A book ABOUT that natural evolution of character.

LM: Given your love of Eastern art and culture, and Manga's predominance in the comics industry in the last few years with no sign of abatement, and with a growing economical argument against the "issue" format, have you ever considered doing work not necessarily in the style of Manga or Manwha, but in that format? "Kabuki" might not be anything like any other Western comic on shelves today, but in format it's still a very Western product, with 20+ page single issues collected into large trade paperbacks later on. While printing concerns might negate the possibility of, say, releasing your painted work on smaller pages, I'm sure that a book you created to be released in that format - or even a release of a book that features more "traditional" art like "Agents: Scarab" - would do well amongst an audience that might not currently know about the title. A similar question could be asked about the webcomic format, as its audience grows and its content matures even as it becomes more financially feasible to work in that way (James Kochalka has said that one of his most successful works is the subscriber-only online release of his "American Elf" journal comic).

DM: I'm open to trying all different kinds of formats. Looking forward to more and more of that. The right format for a story project.

LM: You have an incredibly loyal fanbase - and justifiably so, as your work deserves that and more. However, as the comics industry becomes increasingly more fractured, in-roads like mainstream press coverage of the medium (which tends to cover an insular group of creators who focus on an atmosphere of desperation and ennui) and other, newer markets (who prefer to stick to their Manga / webcomics / Goth-themed books / old-school superheroics sans metafiction or deconstruction / et al), it does seem at times like the book isn't reaching everyone who'd enjoy it or appreciate it. While your fans certainly do everything they can to spread the word, why do you think a book as well-done and as all-encompassing as this isn't much bigger than it is?

DM: I do think there are a lot more people out there that would enjoy Kabuki than know about it. One of the main things I hear from Kabuki readers, is that they don't read comics, and Kabuki is a comic that brought them into comics or is the only one they read.

So apparently the bulk of my would be readers, are not comic readers already. Weird to do a comic book when my demographic is not comic book readers. So that has been a unique challenge from the beginning. So far, readers have been able to find the book. And the book finds readers. But I agree that it is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the potential audience that would have an interest in the subject matter. Perhaps having it in bookstores will help. And people reading The Shy Creatures in bookstores and then finding Kabuki after that could help too. As would having a good Kabuki film that would bring readers to the book. I think there are many other avenues to bring readers to the book and I am open to any of your suggestions. Again, The Tipping Point book has some insight on this.


A Dream with an Iggy Pop Soundtrack
From David Mack:
We were just discussing trade and hardcover plans of various kinds etc.

But that is funny that you said it like that. I recently had a dream with Iggy Pop in it. And we were singing his song from the Great Expectations soundtrack: "Here Comes Success". It was such a funny dream [because] he was in the dream and [because] I was singing that song. And I kept waking up laughing.


Comic Buyers Guide Mentions David Mack DVD
The Alchemy of Art: David Mack DVD was mentioned in Comic Buyer's Guide's review of the 2007 New York Comic Con.


Introduce Yourself to David Mack
To help him learn more about his fans, David Mack has started a thread on his message board that asks: "What do you do? Why are you here? What do you want to do? Why do you read Kabuki? More?"


Release Date Anniversaries
The Total Sell Out trade paperback debuted four years ago.


Auction Spotlight
The Siamese artist proof masks (SRP: $69.00) are available on eBay (SRP: $9.99).


Webmaster's Note
Due to contractors working on various remodeling projects, the news updates at DavidMackGuide.com may be delayed during the rest of the week.



Order Kabuki: Reflections -
Volume 1 Hardcover Today!

April 11: Webmaster's note


April 7: David Mack attending New York's MoCCA this weekend, MoCCA pre-party, thoughts on two films & more


April 6: Photo of upcoming Dream Logic shirt, David Mack and Tony Solomun art jam zine, David Mack plugged in Qatar newspaper & more
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Designed and maintained by David Thornton, DavidMackGuide.com is an unofficial website dedicated to the artwork and stories of David Mack, who created and owns the copyrights to Kabuki and all related characters. All other characters and images are copyrighted by their respective owners and are used by DavidMackGuide.com only for the purpose of review.