What is the main emphasis of Action to action?

The main purpose of Action to Action is to promote and advance the medium of Sequential Art. Our organization is based on studying, discussing, and applying academic aspects relating to Sequential Art. Our primary activity is the publication of an annual anthology composed of the artwork of our members, all students of the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Is there any way of viewing any notes/minutes from the various talks attended?

Not really, we don’t keep very good notes, it’s not that intense. We try to operate an organization that involves a lot less work and a lot more fun.

What, in your opinion is the future of comics, as an industry and as an artform?

Before I answer this question I need to make a clarification. I am by no means a “professional” Sequential Artist, I’m still a student of Sequential Art and Art in general, so I am a long way off from being an authority on the subject. However, I do think about this stuff a lot.

Now, that having been said, here is my amateur opinion. We’re always going to have comics that suck, that’s just a fact of life. Too many people look at the purpose of comic books as purely a form of entertainment — which is a valid opinion – but it’s a little shallow. When you have creators that think that the only purpose of their work is to entertain, that shallowness is going to come through in their work. We see this all the time, and it’s one of the primary causes of the huge bulk of mediocre comics that are out there.

One of the plus sides of this comic “recession” that we’ve been seeing the last few years is that a lot of the poorest work has been cancelled, and it’s no longer around. However, there’s still a lot of stuff that, entertaining as it may be, is still just shallow. My opinion is that if this industry is going to thrive again, we need to start thinking of ourselves as artists and writers in every sense of the words. We’re not here to entertain; we’re here to tell stories. That sounds like it’s exactly the same thing, but I can assure you that there is a huge difference between the two. There are plenty of entertaining romance novels on the book racks in gas stations. There are also things like Dickens’ Great Expectations. In the first example all you get is some cheap, contrived story that was thought up to make a dollar. With Dickens you’ve got a story, probably contrived, but sure as hell inspired. The purpose of this work isn’t about making money as much as it is about introducing characters, carrying the reader through an interesting plot, and using literary devices like symbols, foreshadowing, all of that academic stuff, to make a statement about the human condition. That seems to be what writing boils down to, expressing one’s thoughts on humanity. In most cases (though not all) Art has the same goal.

In Sequential Art writing and artwork have a very unique relationship in that they both have to work together to tell the story. The point of this whole thing is this, people like Charles Dickens didn’t look at writing as their job; it was their life. What they created came from the soul, not from a need to pay an electric bill. If more Sequential Artists and writers would think a little deeper than the electric bill, and start considering themselves craftspeople as opposed to professionals, we could start having more comics along the lines of Great Expectations. And I’m not talking about Classics’ Illustrated.

How long has this society been around?

Action to Action has been in existence for about 6 years, under various names. We’re in the middle of going through another change as we speak. (The new organization will be a lot cooler, and more beneficial to the students of the Savannah College of Art and Design)

Where can people buy your comics?

If someone is interested in purchasing any of the work Action to Action has published, please visit the web-site at http://action2action.tripod.com and e-mail me.

Has anyone in the organization had any other work printed?

Robyn Chapman recently released her first piece of self-published work called Theater of the Meek. Robyn actually earned a grant from the Xeric Foundation in order to finance this book, which was a huge honor and a testament to the quality of her work. Robyn has also been published in Confessions of a Cereal Eater.

Other former Action to Actioners that have been published include Les McClain, who was recently published by Slave Labor Graphics (Highway 13 is the title that Les is working on).

Ryan Hill is a former Action to Action member who has done work on the Digimon Comic, and now works with Cartoon Network in Atlanta, Georgia. There are probably others, I just can’t think of any more. But look out for us in the future. The club is fairly new, and as we each progress as artists, more of our work will be seen. Keep an eye out.

What advice would you give to new creators starting out?

I’m not qualified to answer that question, because I’m not a professional yet. All I can say is what we’re being taught, and that is to learn to draw EVERYTHING, and how to visually tell a story, and practice, practice, practice. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.

Where do the main influences of the group lie?

It’s amazing how diverse our group has become over the years. Some people are very much influenced by mainstream superhero comic books, others are very interested in self publishing and alternative comics, and others are interested primarily in storytelling outside of comics, such as storyboards and animation. I personally grew up reading superhero comics, but now that I’m older I get most of my inspiration from two sources, studying art history, or reading great literature.