Friday, September 9, 2016

A NOTE FROM TONY ISABELLA

This is not the bloggy thing you were looking for. This is not the bloggy thing I wanted to write for today. But I and my family are living in most interesting times.

I won’t be going into the non-comics challenges currently facing my wife, my kids and myself. I may write about them at a future date, but, for now, they are off the bloggy thing table. I will tell you that our family unit is as strong as it has ever been. We will face and overcome these challenges together.

Professionally, my life has been a whirlwind of almost exclusively wonderful events. I can’t speak about some of them at this time and I truly appreciate your patience. There will be announcements made in the hopefully near future.

Some cool and also not-so-cool stuff happened yesterday (Thursday) and I will tell you as much about it as I can.

Yesterday, I finished my first comic-book script in over a decade that was written for a major publisher. It’s the first issue of a six-issue series I think you’ll love. It was a struggle for me to get back on that horse. Several years of only writing comic strips left me rusty when it came to writing comic books. But I flexed my old comic-book writing muscles and, after a period of mental aches and pains, they are working as good or better than they ever did.

Yesterday was also when news of Fox committing to a Black Lightning pilot by Greg Berlanti and Mara and Salim Akil. I already knew this was coming. Now the rest of the world knows. I received an amazing avalanche of congratulations from my comics friends, fans and pros alike.

I also received several requests for interviews. My response to all those requests has been to tell the interested parties to contact DC’s publicity department. In many different senses of the word, I am part of the Black Lightning team now. I believe it’s prudent for me to let DC arrange such things. Comics in all their myriad glory are an art form and a business. I have always honored the first and I am determined to honor the latter as well. I have always given of myself to my readers. That won’t change in concept, but it will be changing in form.

When the Black Lightning/Fox announcement hit the media, I thought I was prepared for the interest it would generate. I didn’t expect that a comics professional would go online with absolutely untrue claims about the creation of Black Lightning. Claims he had never made before this news hit. Feel free to speculate re: his motives. I am saddened and upset by these absurd claims from a man who I’d considered a friend, though I also recalled this was not the first time (with another character) that he had told a blatant lie about me. I will have more to say on this once I’m through exploring the various options available to me.

At a recent comics convention, I was harassed by an individual who was trying to force me to contribute to a repulsive project of his. I’m taking steps to prevent that from happening again.

Because of my family and work responsibilities and a couple other factors I’ll not go into at this time, I’ve cancelled my scheduled guest appearance at the Cleveland Comic Con being held on October 1 and 2. Though I informed the promoters of this over a week ago, they have not announced this cancellation or removed me from their website. That’s just wrong.

It didn’t take long for the wonderfulness to return to my day and, yes, most of the above stuff happened yesterday. When I was feeling a bit low, I received an amazing invitation to attend a very special event from yet another major comics publisher. I have to work out some details before I can tell you about it, if, indeed, I will be allowed to tell you about it, but I’m accepting the invitation. It will be an unforgettable evening.

My life is more wonderful than stressful, but I can’t deny there is considerable stress swirling around me at present. To give myself the energy and space to deal with it, I’m taking a couple days off from blogging and other online activities. I’ll be using the time to write the dozens of e-mails and letters I have not been able to get to...and to handle the dozen or so little errands and household tasks I haven’t been able to get to. For one thing, I need to get a passport. Tease, tease, tease.

Tonight, if all goes as planned, Barb and I will be having dinner with old friends of mine passing through Medina on a vacation trip.  I’m excited about Barb meeting them and vice versa...and, because blogging is forever, I’ll write about it in greater detail sometime in the near future.

I can never thank you - my friends and readers - enough for all the love and support you have shown me over the four decades plus of my comics career. Much of my present success is due to that love and support. My pledge to you is that I will continue to do what I have tried to do all my career:

I write with clean hands and heart. I conduct myself in an honest and honorable manner. I never forget those they came before me or those who keep me going today. This is who I think I am and who I want to be. Because doing the right thing matters.

I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the recent announcement from Fox. And I sure hope that 6-issue mini-series is related to Black Lightning.I just read the recent trade paperback collection of the original series and loved it; I think it was some of your best work. (And finally: Don't let the a**holes get you down. Some people aren't happy unless they're tearing down others.)

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  2. A FOLLOW-UP: I just read the "discussion" you reference regarding the creation of Black Lightning. I hope it's amicably resolved between you. Memories are tricky things - especially after four decades have passed.

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  3. My memories of these events are very clear. I have been consistent in writing about them for decades. It's Gerry, talking about them for the first time ever on the event of the news about Black Lightning getting a pilot deal at Fox, who has a tricky memory. He should do something about that.

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  4. I remember buying the first Black Lightning series as a kid and rushing from variety store to variety store to find each new issue. I truly admired Jefferson and his quest to improve his neighbourhood and help give the kids he taught a chance to grow without all the crime that plagued their lives. The costume and super power elements were exciting to me but the real hook was a man desperate to make his world a better place. I also remember thinking, "How could Superman's Metropolis still have all this crime?" Black Lightning made me realize that even Superman couldn't protect everyone and sometimes it is up to us to do what we can. Powerful stuff.

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  5. Glad to see Gerry retracting his assertions. http://gerryconway.tumblr.com/post/150174149053/open-mouth-insert-foot-part-infinity

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  6. It's prudent to refer people with questions about the proposed pilot/series to DC's publicity crew, but if anyone wants to know about the comics or about yourself you might consider referring them to the TwoMorrows website. You must have given them a substantial interview or two in the past, no?

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