Howard Wong

This week was pretty much what I excepted it to be. Following up with the work that I mentioned I missed last week, but with the added delay with my laptop taking a little longer to get back to running properly. Not much to talk about for progress this week, but have some fun announcements coming up later this month that I will be sharing that is related to this.

Had a few phone calls and implemented the tweaks I mentioned last week. Things are coming together. I did take a much needed break this week to focus on a comic book miniseries I've been working on. Got all the lettered pages in and awaiting for editors to do their thing. We also went over cover ideas and sketches the artist provided that were all outstanding. This made it hard to pick the ones that will ultimately become the covers for this five-issue miniseries. The publisher is happy with what we have done so far, which is always a good thing to hear.  Not a long post this week, as I can't share many details of the miniseries, but I did post another teaser image on my social media accounts (image above), and another one just for you folks here (image on the left). As for next week, I will be continuing what I planned for this week and fix a few things with my laptop. Stay safe and positive out there!

I was going over what I have done so far for a progress meeting I had with the York Region Arts Council this week. The meeting was "virtually" great. I had questions that were not just answered, but led to insightful suggestions and comments. I will be applying them to what I've been doing thus far with the workshops I've been working on. One of the parts I'm still in the progress of doing is finding artists, colourist and inkers to be a part of this. So if you are one, message me to start the conversation about the short and long-term plans for Unlocking the Secret of Creating Comic Books will be heading. I will also be preparing to contact local businesses and organizations to see what kind of partnerships can be developed with the intention of helping their businesses out. To be Frank, it has been and continues to be a challenge for everyone, myself included. Helping each other out is one of the best ways for everyone to get through this pandemic. I'...

Reaching out to people and seeing how they can be a part of this endeavour seems to be the theme of this week, though I planned to do more than just that. I ended up spending time prepping for my first virtual beginner level comic book writer's workshop that is happening in August. Going over what I usually do live and seeing what will work and not on a virtual platform is fascinating. My flow allows for questions and comments to be threaded throughout my workshops and talks, which I think with the virtual setting allows me to not just answer them, but also to pull up visuals on the spot that will enhance the experience. That's something I don't get to do normally since I don't sit in front of a laptop when I do these things. I like to move about when I do talks and workshops. The experience of my August virtual workshop will give me some insight on what I need to discuss with the York Region Arts Council about--virtual workshops. This was not part of the origina...

Week 8 is a bust, unfortunately. Had some unexpected things come up that ate up the week. Though, in the middle of it all, I did find some materials I thought I had lost. I will look at incorporating them into what has been built up. Hope you are all doing well and staying positive!

School's out for summer! Congratulations to all the students out there for all their hard work in these challenging times! Time to relax and maybe read some comics! This week was about looking for materials for the various workshops that could be shared digitally, as well as figuring out what tools could be incorporated that people would have at home, or can easily have access to. This may end up with me creating them with friends. I started to work on some of the visuals for the presentations that will be used in some of the workshops. Some are from past workshops and talks I've done where I needed to update certain things. I got some new ideas from doing this, which I will see about adding to the workshop content later. I've connected to a few local businesses and are in talks about how they can help. No doubt, this will be an ongoing task as I connect with more and more local businesses. With that said, I'm still reaching out to comic book creators and comic...

First Happy Father's Day to all the fellow dads and those who have taken on this incredible role in someone's life! Sorry about the late update. Friday is usually when I post my updates for Unlocking the Secretes of Creating Comic Books, but there were things that needed my attention and the day ran away from me. This past week was for the most part, unproductive with furthering the workshops. However, it reconnected me with many comic book creators out there that I haven't seen for quite a while and with the comic book convention season cancelled we ended up catching up and geeking out over things that we normally would in person. It's an odd time for all of us and sometimes it's difficult to press on and continue to be creative. That was the most common topic we all talked about and in a way, became a much needed supportive encouragement for many to keep doing that they do. The bulk of the week went there with the rest going to finalizing my judging of...

As some of you know, I've started to reach out to York Region based comic book creators. I'm looking at having local comic book creators being involved with Unlocking the Secrets of Creating Comic Book's series of workshops. This will be an ongoing task for me, as one of my goals is to show the diversity found in the comic book industry to the young aspiring creators. Not to mention the inspiration with stories they will come up with by becoming aware of the possibilities with comic books. Not much else was done this week as I'm in the middle of judging the Canadian Consulate General of Hong Kong and Macao's Create a Canadian Superhero Contest. There are so many creative, fun and amazing entries! Next week I will start to discuss with the first group of comic book creators to see what and how they can contribute to workshop series, and go over the syllabus I've drafted up.

I started to put together what will become the syllabus that breaks down what each workshop will contain, which is making the organizing much easier. Many of the fundamentals in our craft come naturally at this point, as it does for artists, colourists, inkers and letterers I've spoken to. This resulted in making more notes in regard to elaborating various parts of the process in creating a comic book. The intention is to make it more clear so that new aspiring comic book creators can pick up the necessary skills easier. Next week will be a busy one, with the judging for the Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao's Canada Day's Canadian Superhero contest (details here ), as I continue to work on the workshops. I plan to compile additional books, comics and graphic novels I would like to use, which knowing me, will result in some breaks reading many of my favourites. I will also start to contact comic book creators residing in York Region to get input a...

I continued working on building up the content for each workshop looking back at my experiences working in mobile games, toys and an animation studio. There are so many shared elements between all of that, which is fascinating when you pause and look at them as a whole. World building, character and story development to plot development and more use the same foundation to create a story. Albeit with slight differences due to the medium the story is being told with. Digging through materials from past projects and figuring out which parts would work for the workshops was a fun walk down memory lane. I ended up reconnecting with past colleagues and reminiscing about the "fun" times we spent working long hours on projects to the joy when we got it done.  I will be continuing to work on the topics and refining them next week for the most part. I want to make sure I get the essentials locked in, but also throw in things that really helped me ...

In celebration of Canada Day 2020, the Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao is calling on all Hong Kong and Macao primary and secondary students to design an original superhero that represents “YOUR CANADA”!  I am honoured to be one of the judges along with graphic novelist Renee Nault.  I can't wait to see what your creative superpowers come up with for a new Canadian superhero ! Winning designs will be used as the covers for their official Canada Day 2020 greeting cards! There are also great prizes to be won! Submission Deadline: June 9, 2020 @ 17:30 (HKT)! Click the link for more details!