The webcomics blog about webcomics

Words Of Wisdom

So, do you read Mark Evanier‘s stuff? He’s been in various parts of the comics/animation/TV/you name it industries for longer than a lot of you have been alive. He’s a consummate storyteller, and very, very funny. He’s also scary-smart, in that way you only become after having seen a lot of mistakes (some of them yours) played out in front of you. I’ve been reading his stuff for a long-damn-time.

But Krishna Sadasivam linked to a piece of Evanier’s that I hadn’t read in way too long, and it’s too good not to share. In fact, if the only thing Evanier had ever written was The Speech, he’d still be one of the smartest observers of the entertainment biz that’s ever lived. If you’re creative, dream of being creative, or really do anything of any sort whatsoever, and want to break into your Dream Job, you need to read it. Don’t worry that it’s nearly ten years old on the web (and far older if you know Evanier in person) — it’s timeless.


MoCCA Panels and Lectures Program
Saturday, June 6
11 am – 11:50 am
Charles Hatfield and Isaac Cates on Jack Kirby

Noon – 12:50 pm Comics Bakery Roundtable
With John Green, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Marion Vitus

1:00 pm – 1:45 pm Klein Award Ceremony
2009 Recipient: Jerry Robinson, presented by Danny Fingeroth, with a survey of Robinson’s career.

2:00 pm – 2:50 pm Making Good Comics in a New Era
With Alvin Buenaventura, Mats Jonsson, Tom Neely, Brett Warnock, Julia Wertz, Dylan Williams; chaired by Heidi MacDonald

3:00 pm – 3:50 pm AH, HUMBUG! Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee in conversation with Gary Groth

4:00 pm – 4:50 pm Scandinavian Comics 101
Chaired by Steffen P. Maarup, with cartoonists from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Paul Karasik on the Twisted Genius of Fletcher Hanks

Sunday, June 7
11 am – 11:50 am
Kent Worcester and Tom Kaczynski in conversation

Noon – 1:00 pm The Astonishing SVA Roundtable
With Nick Breutzman, Jessica Fink, Eric Feurstein, Tom Hart, Dash Shaw, Jennifer Tong

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm Comics Come in All Shapes and Sizes
With Jason Little, Fay Ryu, Jim Salicrup, Ken Wong

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Adrian Tomine and Seth in conversation

3:45 pm – 4:45 pm Gary Panter and Frank Santoro in conversation

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Animation from Hell
With Peter Ahern, Danny Antonucci, Hisko Hulsing, Scott Kravitz, Arthur Metcalf, Nirvan Mullick, Bill Plympton, Pat Smith, J.J. Villard

I’ll be there too.

First time I’ve heard of The Speech.

Seems like he’s saying that success if more than just skill. Pure dumb luck and factors out of your control also account for a great part of success.

Perhaps it’s because I’m coming from a non-creative field here (finance) but that just seems to be common sense. Do people actually believe that great artistic skill is all that is needed to be successful?

I’m serious in asking this question. I don’t typically hang around creative types, so all this is new to me.

That’s a good speech.

I, too, will be there.

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