Crisis and... Well... More Crisis, Maybe a Little Oppurtunity

I need blinders. I need to keep moving forward.

-Jon

The Old Man and the Girl

Hey everyone. This is something I drew awhile back.

I've been majorly busy. Finished my second (and still untitled) screenplay. The good news is that it's on it's forth draft, and on Nov. 2nd I'll be having a meeting about getting an agent. Also I have a huge project brewing. It's in it's infant stages but I will be giving updates on it. More comics will be coming soon and more often.

-Jon

New site up!

Finally got around to making a new site. It's still my old demo reel, and it's missing some of my best stuff. I'll have a new reel up soon. But on the other hand I finally have my graphic design up somewhere besides here, Facebook and MySpace, so go check it out. Get my site some hits.

-Jon

Alabama Was Not Made For Me

Driving south has left me highly stressed and still exhausted. We drove for 26 out of 48 hours. I have never been more sure that I'm meant for the north. I've never felt so confused about a state as Tennessee. It seems like every exit has an Adult Megastore, next to a Fireworks Store, Next to a Giant Cross overlooking several large churches. So when you're done with that new blow up goat you just bought you can walk half a block to repent. Tennessee has the landscape of Virginia, and is truly stunning to see. Too bad Dollywood and Massive Religious symbols have to sully it.

In Georgia, we drove down a street that had 13 Baptist churches in less than 5 miles.

Southern hospitality is a fallacy. They're just slow and nosey. I'm in love with a south that doesn't exist. The south of Cormac McCarthy and Mark Twain, and of Faulkner. Maybe it does exist, but is tucked away, not to be ruined by outsiders like me.

Actually seeing my Dad was not as I expected. Which I should have expected. He walked past and my mom motioned that it was him. He seemed frail, beat, a failure that has given up on any notion of recovery. His right eye milky and glazed over. He looked to me like a strange southern version of Ian McKellen. Like a down home villain in a bond movie. All my emotion rose to my throat but subsided suddenly.

There is never a good reason to make reference to Star Wars. But here we go. It felt like when Darth Vader slides his mask off and we see that he's a frail old man. The the idea of him was much more threatening than he ever could be.

We didn't speak. As far as I know he didn't even look at me. It's probably better that way.

Above is the only drawing I will ever do of him.

Sadly and even Shamefully the real standout moment of the trip wasn't seeing my dad for the first time, but a book. On the way back home I devoured a good chunk of Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree. It's been a long time since I've felt such a connection to an author and his outlook. Nick Hornby along with Nicolas Sparks is one of those authors I didn't want to read because I didn't want to believe that they're as good as people say they are. Nick Hornby is as good as people say he is, and at the very least a down to earth, likable guy with good taste.


I had the best waiter of my life in northern Kentucky. His name was Herb.

-Jon

Fathers

As it just so happens about a week ago I started outlining a screenplay about a young man who decides to go on a road trip to meet his estranged father. In preparation for it I began reading Oedipus Rex and Brothers Karamazov. Now, in life's strange way, I have to drive to Alabama, to meet my dad for the first time. In a courtroom... I'm trying to get $10,000 in back child support. I leave tomorrow morning at 6am. Hopefully I won't explode and maybe, just maybe, I can channel it into something impacting.

P.S.:
In a less melodramatic vein: This is the worst cover art ever.

News Report

Time to spread some news. Here are two new fliers I just finished and got approved. I wholeheartedly encourage you to check both of them out. Maybe stop by and leave a comment on their pages.

Second: Anyone interested in graphic design work just drop me a message at my myspace, e-mail, w/e.

Third: I will probably have some work(comics) available at a new gallery/record store opening in Tremont named Loop. I'll post the link at the end of the post with the rest. Barring no complications it's grand opening should be in July at some point.

Fourth and Finally: I just completed my first screenplay. I'm going into the third draft. It clocks in at 90 pages. I'm also outlining two others right now. Once I feel totally confident with it I'll post it to my Massify account for all to read. Now then, Who wants to shell out about $10,000 so I can film the thing? Any takers?

-Jon Nix

• www.mypace.com/jnixcomix
• www.myspace.com/nightowlresistance
• www.GreenlightZine.org
• www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Cleveland-OH/LOOP-in-Tremont-Ohio/151337760450?ref=ts
• www.massify.com/profiles/jonnix

Paul Dano

Probably the best actor under 30 (not counting Emile Hirsch).

-Jon