The Talented
read the comic, talk the talk

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Weekly-wha?!

That's right, fair readers! We are looking for more fun things to throw into the Talented process as the action starts picking up in the story because we want to reward you for your kindness! So!

Monday Meetings- Sabir and Omar will sit down and chat out what's going on with the world of The Talented.

Thursday Theory- Sneak peaks into the behind the story theory and breakdown of The Talented.

Weekly Poll!- No alliterations necessary, this is probably our most exciting new feature! Readers will have a chance to submit their opinions and as the new chapter is put online, the results will be posted and without a doubt commented on.

We are working on so much more but for right now, we hope you enjoy the stream of weekly fun again we thank you for your dedication!

Monday Meeting: March 30th

Welcome to our first weekly Monday Meeting in which the two co-writers of The Talented will talk about The Talented, weekly chapters and for the most part what comes to their minds at the time. Here are some sample blurts:

Sabir: I'll foreshadow it in one word
betrayal

Omar: we've stacked the cards, its time for us to blow them down with a flame thrower

Sabir: not even a cold glass of Veidt soda on a hot day can compare with seeing Adrian (Rivero, not Veidt)'s art

Omar: where the FUCK are our editors?!

Sabir: I think that went pretty well
better than that failed attempt at a podcast, at least.

Without further ado

March 30th, 2009

Omar: hello and welcome to the first official Talented Talk Monday Meeting!
I'm quite proud of the title myself

Sabir: alliteration is always impressive

Omar: haha hence the blog
this Monday Meeting is essentially a replacement for a podcast plan Sabir and myself had
we both are in different regions so recording audio is... it's just easier this way
anyhow, let's get started by quickly introducing ourselves
I'm Omar, co-writer of Talented!

Sabir: wait
why don't we introduce each other

Omar: haha alright

Sabir: no one ever has anything interesting to say when talking about themselves, so if we switch it up, we might have better luck
so this is Omar, co-writer of The Talented

Omar: woah huge difference

Sabir: haha yes

Omar: im glad we switched it up
hahaha that's hilarious, it's exactly the same

Sabir: well, I was going to go a little more in depth
but if that's all the introduction you require...

Omar: yeah... yeah i'd say so
this is Sabir Prizada, co-writer of the Talented
he is also a quarterfinalist in a prestigious screenwriting contest
two if I am not mistaken

Sabir: I'm not sure I'd call them prestigious, but it's something
it's actually kind of funny, because I sent my screenplay to Omar to get his feedback
and he ripped it to shreds
which shattered my confidence for a week
and then I won the quarterfinalist position
which brought me back to square one with my screenplay
which is to say, it needs work, but I don't know which parts
which is probably how every screenwriter feels about their work
so there's writing for you in a nutshell

Omar: haha that sounds just about right
you do that like 57 times and then you start getting paid

Sabir: right. One down, 56 to go...

Omar: just publish a screenplay a week for a year and you'll be that much closer
speaking of publishing, Sabir is published, you can purchase his book online

Sabir: you certainly can here:

Omar: ladiesover80.com

Sabir: more like here:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Cheat-through-High-School/dp/0615149251/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238480617&sr=8-1

Omar: see that's a trick you'd never be able to do via podcast! the wonders of new media, folks!

Sabir: just imagine the horrible antics we would get up to with the podcast...
anyway, I wrote that "book" when I had a month until my job started, so it was really just a fun exercise, nothing worth purchasing

Omar: BUY IT
that was called reading between the lines

Sabir: No, really, don't buy it

Omar: anyone watch that show "Between the Lions" on PBS? now that is a great pun

Sabir: you can read the whole thing for free here:

Omar: ladiesover80.com
i had to, im sorry, i had to

Sabir: haha
http://highschoolcheater.weebly.com/
Anyway, I think I've plugged enough stuff for one day. Let's get to our comic, The Talented

Omar: right

Sabir: (you see how I did that?)

Omar: okay folks, here's how this weekly segment is gonna work
ah yeah, good segway
that is totally mispelled
every Monday, Sabir and myself will sit down and chat-out some Talented related conversations
and as you can probably already tell, we'll be tangent-ing quite a bit
every time we jump back onto topic, one of us will indicate this with CAPITAL LETTERS
is it capital or capitol?
god this is embarassing

Sabir: capital, I believe
but I could be wrong

Omar: wow that was a horrible mistake
yeah it's capital
see readers, we are mere humans

Sabir: and we call ourselves writers...

Omar: with a family strain of dyslexia
haha where the fuck are our editors?!

Sabir: too busy rejecting our submission packages

Omar: anyway! tonight we'll be covering only three subjects, and probably briefly because we have taken up quite a bit of type-time
this is rapidly turning into a FML post haha
our three topics for tonight are: what's going on with The Talented, what to expect for next week in The Talented and a special human interest piece about our favorite parts of the journey
so let's get started
any quick thoughts before we do, sabir?

Sabir: I just want to say thank you to everyone who's reading along with us
I know how hard it is to give a chance to something new
but we promise it will be worth your while

Omar: and for those that really want something new:
ladiesover80.com
haha im sorry, i didnt mean to take away from the really serious sentiment
honestly, if you are reading this, thank you

Sabir: hahaha
let's get to it then, shall we?

Omar: WHATS GOING ON WITH THE TALENTED

sabir would you care to go first about what's going right now with the Talented?

Sabir: Sure
So far, we've released 4 chapters to the story
in which we've been introduced to many characters
the story is narrated by our protagonist, Patrick
A professor with a wild theory about a concept that he calls "Talent"
he and his colleague, Brian, find a man in an insane asylum mysteriously known as Sage

Omar: Sabir if I could just stop you there

Sabir: sure

Omar: *tangent warning*
haha how great would it be to have a video series called "Theories Gone Wild"
eh now that I typed it, it's not that funny

Sabir: hahaha

Omar: *tangent over*

Sabir: Sage claims to know a great deal about Patrick and Brian
as he has a Talent for knowledge
Talents appear to be, as far as Patrick knows, special abilities that people have that drive their purpose in life
would you say that's a fair definition, Omar?

Omar: I would say that's fair
I mean within the comic there is discussion on Talents
it's a hot...topic...

Sabir: right
so the three of them recruit several others with Talents to join their mysterious cause
among them, there is Jack, a heartbroken mess and former student of Patrick's
Rusty, a chronic gambler with a Talent for luck
Reynolds, a murderer with a guilty conscience
Kerri, a self-proclaimed witch
Izanagi, a man with a keen instinct that drives him to believe his family is in danger

Omar: i'd like to see Tim Kring rip any of our characters for Heroes

Sabir: Eric, a suicidal man who cannot seem to die

Omar: that'd be a great writer's meeting to sit in on
and Ethan
let's not forget about fair Ethan

Sabir: yes, a man who keeps a woman tied up in his shower

Omar: just so you readers know
we know Ethan is bat-shit crazy
it's not a "wow this guy is pretty intense"
we are scared of him

Sabir: yeah
and that will become more clear as the comic continues
so all these people are gathered together, but for every person they recruit, Sage ends up killing another person for turning him down
Jack loses trust in Sage and leaves
Brian, on the other hand, trusts Sage with everything and disappears for a while under Sage's instructions, unknown to Patrick, who is left in the dark as to where Brian went
and I think that's where we are now
have I left anything out?

Omar: I believe that's just about it

Sabir: Wow, looking back on that...
it's pretty dense

Omar: a lot is going on, folks!
quite a bit
ill quickly say something and then we'll move on to our next section
that will be written in capital letters
i got it right this time!!

Sabir: good job

Omar: one little secret I wanted to throw out there is that if you... well it's a bit hard online but in the printed version of The Talented, issue 1, we hid a few sneaky clues about our characters
I'm sure we've forgotten most of them
but one that I am quite proud of is check out who appears on page 13
also, we're modeling Patrick's theory around the actual introduction of social and cultural theories
the nods to Michel (Foucault) and the such are the basis for the concept of Talents
so if you want to catch up on what we mean when we say "Talents determine what you do in life", check out two things:
-(post) structuralism
-Jung's archetypes
oh those Young archetypes

Sabir: you probably won't find the answer directly there, but you'll get a good sense as to where we're going

Omar: haha cause its...pronounced...

Sabir: yes, I think we get it

Omar: IN THE FUTURE

what are our future plans for Talented
one line foreshadow for next chapter, sabir?

Sabir: I'll foreshadow it in one word
betrayal

Omar: ill raise you two more words
shit.
goes.
down.
probably our most exciting chapter yet
oh wait, for sure our most exciting chapter yet

Sabir: our first chapter with action, as well

Omar: we've stacked the cards, its time for us to blow them down with a flame thrower
in terms of the overall future for the Talented, as much as we'd love to put all of our story online for you to read
we can't afford that, man
the first issue will be for sale very soon
so instead of loading it on your laptop, you can flip through it yourself
feel it in your hand
experience that fresh print smell

Sabir: the way it was meant to be experienced

Omar: scan it and make bittorrents
we know what you pirates do
you wouldn't steal a car...
haha

Sabir: haha

Omar: oh those commercials

Sabir: I hate those ads

Omar: you wouldn't steal a car, and transform it into 1's and 0's, and send those 1's and 0's to your friends
no, I wouldn't, that's an impossible comparison

Sabir: haha

Omar: "you wouldn't steal a baby and clone it and give it to all of your friends"
that's a closer comparison and that's ridiculous
anyhow, one last comment about the future of the Talented
well two
one, we're trying to get published through a... not us comic production company
as much as I love CC Comics!
and I love CC Comics!
I have everything CC has ever published
and second thing:
we are going to start our tabling circuit which means in the somewhat-near future, we will be at your comic book conventions!

Sabir: that's right!

Omar: unless you're in Glasglow
cause... that's...come to us

Sabir: look for us, hopefully, at APE Con, coming up later this year!

Omar: and Comic Con!
we wont have a table
but we'll have a lot of free posters
not...for The Talented...
...for...ourselves
anyway!

HUAMAN INTEREST

haha oh dear, huaman?
we've outed ourselves as the alien race of "Huamans"

Sabir: haha

Omar: now you know
sabir, what has been the most enjoyable part of this process for you?

Sabir: I have two

Omar: no no no no
only 1

Sabir: okay fine

Omar: haha im kidding
you can have two

Sabir: aww, thanks!
the first is seeing the pages come in from Adrian Rivero
seeing his artwork bring the story to life
there's just nothing as satisfying as that

Omar: what about a cold glass of Veidt soda on a hot day?

Sabir: and the second is seeing the responses we've been getting and interacting with readers. It's been a long road just being writers in production and now it's nice to show it to everyone
not even a cold glass of Veidt soda on a hot day can compare with seeing Adrian (Rivero, not Veidt)'s art

Omar: yeah fuck Adrian Veidt
Ozymandiu-asshole

Sabir: who does he think he is, anyway? the smartest man in the world?
certainly not this world!

Omar: his fucking password was a book on his desk!
sorry Alan Moore! I'm sorry!
I know that wasn't you!
those are some great answers, Sabir

Sabir: I think that went pretty well
better than that failed attempt at a podcast, at least

Omar: the podcasts were cool until they got deleted!

Sabir: yeah
what about you? what was your favorite part of the process?

Omar: haha im not gonna lie
not being super in debt is awesome
it was probably when we printed the Talented right after WonderCon and I showed my folks
the website has been a blast designing and learning Dreamweaver
but it was just... comics can never really go digital

Sabir: oh yeah, it's clear that you're having fun with the website

Omar: to have something that you've poured your soul into in your hands
with that brilliant cover!
it makes all the re-writes and late nights and shattered egos worth it
it really does

Sabir: absolutely
okay, well, this has been a blast, but unfortunately I have to go

Omar: yes yes, I am afraid this narcissistic newsfeed is coming to a close
thank you to all that have read this far!
and in next week's post
just to see if you are reading
we'll tell you where our secret link is in the website to special features that ONLY YOU will know about
because you read
anyway sabir thank you for staying up during your testing week

Sabir: no problem, the test was negative

Omar: oh good
im too young to be a father
goodnight everyone!



Thank you to everyone who read the first weekly Monday Meeting post, see you all next week when we discuss next week's chapter, the hardest part of putting together this comic and what our favorite comic at the moment is. You wont want to miss it because it will undoubtedly be shorter than this one! Have a great week!

Monday, March 23, 2009

New Website Up!

Hey fair readers, the new website is finally up! But the excitement doesn't end there, soon we will have interactive features for readers to leave feedback, ask questions, and many more great features.

This week's new chapter will be uploaded on Friday as we are returning to our normal schedule. Keep up and send your theories, explanations, and head scratches to talentedcomic@gmail.com!

Have a great week everyone!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

To Pass the Time By...

Hey Everyone,

We'll be back with new pages of The Talented very soon (see the post below), but for now, I thought I'd direct you to some other cool webcomics around.

Dash Shaw has some cool stuff going. He really knows how a webcomic works.

I also stumbled upon this recently. Seems cool.

If that isn't enough, this should give you more than enough to chew on until we're back.

And we will be back. Very, very soon.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Spoilers, Sites and Chapter 3, oh my!

Hello fair reader!

Just want everyone to know that this week's chapter will be pushed back by a few days due to a renovation of the site. We are currently making our navigation more accessible and speeding up the read through process. And we're also hoping to add a few fancy gadgets as well as putting up some exciting new features! Fanciness and excitement!

In terms of spoilers: we are currently arranging a post schedule so it's not just me informally addressing you, the fair reader, on behalf of the entire Talented team. So stay tuned for that! I don't want to give away too much but there might possible be *spoiler alert* a weekly breakdown of story elements and movie reviews. How does Tuesday sound?

I hope everyone's weekend is going well despite our third chapter and be back here this upcoming Friday for the exciting third chapter of Talented!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Chapter two and so much more...

Hello fair reader,

Thank you so much for your support towards The Talented. Chapter two is up on the website and we have been getting great response in terms of the first chapter. So as you are reading the continuing adventures of Patrick O'Conner and his ragtag team of Talents, you may be wondering what else is going on in the Talented world.

Well, let me tell you:

- First of all, congrats to Sabir who is a quarter-finalist in the American Screenwriter Association's 12 Annual Screenplay Competition! You can find his name among the other quarter-finalists in all their prestige on this page.

- Talented in your hand? What?! That's right, CC Comics is moving towards printing a full length book of the first issue (about 44 pages) for you to purchase. And if you would like a few blown up panels of your favorite Talented, we are also looking into those.

- What's your Talent? Find out soon when the Talented survey is put together. Results will be posted on the website as well as you finding out the core reason you exist in our current society. Not only is it deep but a great alternative to Facebook!

And that just rounds us out for today, I will be posting a blog about Wonder Con very soon so if you were able to make your way to that, keep an open eye out!