Fabio Chiesa
gennaio 2, 2004
Dear Dave,
I never thanked you but now it’s time to do it.
I will separate this letter in two parts: the first being the thanks, the second being the request for some information to buy Cerebus’ issues and paperbacks.
Part 1: Thanks and praise
Some time ago, a lifetime I can say, I wrote you to have a clue in self publishing and asked you about your Guide to Self Publishing. Included in the envelope there was a promo poster for my upcoming character, Darian.
By sending me your Guide completely free of charge and signed you’ve been really kind and you made me one of the best gift I could ever desire: a lot of precious advices.
Needless to say, as you can see there is not a Darian comic book yet, nor will exist one. In the next few years, at least. I recognised my mistakes and it took a couple of years to do it but I’ve come to a lot of good conclusions. I still keep my day job, I still draw some page here and there but I don’t delude myself with the belief that I’m becoming great, rich and famous with comic book writing/drawing (not in this lifetime, sadly, but who knows…).
Darian is still a lot a fun to do, here is something I show to you:
Ill. 1: some random pages from Darian #1
Darian is still a lot a fun to do, here is something I show to you:
Ill. 2: an inked promo picture
Ill.3: some inked pages
Obviously not everything in the guide was helpful, as you can imagine here in Italy there’s nothing like the USA direct market, the sales are for the 85% dominated by the newsstands that sell everything from newspapers to Cds to DVDs to a lot of useless things and in wich the comic books have limited space all devoted to the usual suspects, the colossus (Disney Italy, Marvel Italia, Sergio Bonelli Editore…) and to print even 200 copies of an unknown and maybe ‘unmarketable’ character is too much, not in terms of the price (I think I can afford it) but there’s no such company as Diamond here, I can’t maintain internet services and distribution by myself (time is not enough, still have my job, the profitable one) and the distribution in comic book stores themselves isn’t so big (but I never tried to use it, maybe I’m wrong and the things changed lately).
The main reason, however, it’s that I’m a ‘people person’ more that I ever imagined. Long periods of time alone on the desk drawing leave me with the sensation that something is missing. The more I lose ‘social training’ the more I find it difficult to start again seeing people and be in company of people. I’m not married but I think that being with a wife and/or family could possibly affect my comic book activity for the worse.
What else to say? Until the time that I’ll be proud to show even a little miniseries of three/four issues, printed distributed and sold out I will go on little by little with my tiny passion for sequential art. Thanks, Dave. Really.
Part 2: buying Cerebus’ back issues (and finally filling the holes in narration in some storylines)
By the time you will receive this letter Cerebus will be finished, as I write here in Milan I just bought the issue #297.
The only store in Milan that distribute Cerebus (two copies each issue only, if I’m not fast enough sometimes i miss some number) don’t manage the orders of back issues, nor Diamond through Previews do it.
I’m still missing some issue here and there from the ‘Guys’ storyline to the ‘Latter Days’ storyline:
Guys:
n° 201; 202; 203; 204; 210; 214.
Going Home:
n° 240; 241; 261; 264.
Latter Days:
n° 267; 272; 274; 283.
Even the ‘Phone books’ have become impossible to find here. Long gone are the golden years of the ‘original american comic books’ wich took place in the first half of the nineties, nowadays in comic book stores and conventions it’s all about Manga and their army of kids dressed like idiots going to the Carnevale di Venezia (Venice Carnival). Some retailer doesn’t even know what Cerebus is, can you believe it?
I would like to buy even:
Guys paperback
Going Home vol. 1&2 paperbacks
Latter Days paperbacks
Do you sell all this directly from Aardvark-Vanaheim? If so, what is the price for the issues and paperbacks listed above? How can I pay you to receive them?
And this is it.
I thank you again for the attention, hope to hear from you soon.
Sorry for my not so good english. I’m italian, y’know…
Bye!
Fabio Chiesa
