Mad Cave Studios Goes To Miami Book Fair 2024!
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Maid No More! Tales From Nottingham #3 is Now Available!
The third of 6 unique stories by Mad Cave’s 2021 Talent Search winners, including Eisner and GLAAD-nominated writer Magdalene Visaggio, Tales From Nottingham #3 is now available at your favorite local comic shop! Featuring a brand-new side story by Mad Cave Studios 2021 Talent Search winners Sabs Cooper and Federico Bertoni, discover the origins of Nottingham’s beloved Maid Marian as she learns to fend for herself in Nottinghamshire!
Author: Sabs Cooper – Artist: Federico Bertoni – Colors: Rebecca Nalty – Letters: Chas! Pangburn
Synopsis: In 1191, Maid Marian Fitzwalter must learn to fend for herself in a world that doesn’t recognise her agency as danger, intrigue and betrayal swirl around her in the wake of Prince John’s visit to Nottingham.
Never-before-seen mysteries confront Everard Blackthorne, the Sheriff of Nottingham, culminating in an investigation that will lead directly into the climactic events of Nottingham Vol. 3.
Listen to the Maid No More Playlist!
Sabs Cooper, author of Tales From Nottingham #3 and Mad Cave Studios 2021 Talent Search Winner, has created a special Spotify playlist to accompany Maid No More! You can listen to the full playlist below!
“I always make playlists for what I’m working on, and sometimes even what I’m reading. I love matching songs to moments and characters. It’s a way to keep it bouncing around in my head. Usually it helps me to define the tone I want to capture with the story, other times it might perfectly convey a character’s motivations during a critical scene. And sometimes the lyrics are so delightfully on the nose that I just can’t help myself. They’re not always meant for public consumption, but I’m excited to share this one, as a sort of semi-official soundtrack to Tales of Nottingham #3. It includes songs I listened to while scripting the issue, others that reminded me of the story, and a couple I tossed in just because they fit the mood. I hope it deepens your appreciation for Marian’s journey, and your enjoyment of the Nottingham world as a whole.” -Sabs
MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM!
Meet the creative team behind our all-new anthology project, Tales from Nottingham, featuring five short stories based on our best-selling medieval noir! We had the chance to sit down and chat with each contributor about their contributions to the anthology, their inspirations, and more!
Check out our interview with 2021 Talent Search Winners & creators of Tales From Nottingham #3: Maid No More, Sabs Cooper and Federico Bertoni!
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself!
Sabs: Hey folks! My name is Sabs Cooper, and I’ve been working in comics for about 13 years now. Comics retail, that is. I manage a store called Pegasus Books in Bend, Oregon. My first published work was in the horror anthology Dead Beats. Tales From Nottingham #3 will be my first writing credit for a full issue. If you’d like to find earlier writing by me, you’ll have to dig up my deeply embarrassing fan letters in the backs of books from Image, Marvel, and DC (but I won’t tell you which ones).
Federico: I read comics since I was a kid. In Italy we have Mickey Mouse weekly comics, which have incredible drawings and stories, and as a kid I was really into them! Also, I remember my wonder when I discovered role-playing games manuals illustrations and development artbooks of movies.
I took a three-year course of applied art, with a specific path for comicbook art, after I finished high school. After that I lost my goal for a while but now, little by little, I’m trying to put myself back on track!
In my spare free time I help running a little HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) Club where we train people on how to use swords and other fancy ancient weapons for historical fencing!
You can find me @federico_fehu_bertoni on Instagram.
Q: What is your contribution to Tales of Nottingham?
Sabs: I got to write the third issue, “Maid No More,” which looks into Marian Fitzwalter’s past leading up to the first arc of Nottingham. It was an interesting challenge, to flesh out a foundation for her motivations in the series, develop her relationship with her father, and to sell her strategic intelligence. I hope I was able to accomplish at least a couple of those things in a way that will satisfy Nottingham’s fans.
Federico: I worked on the black and white artworks for the “Maid no More” chapter.
Q: Which Nottingham character would you say you resonate with the most?
Sabs: I would say Marian. Our circumstances are different, but I can sympathise with that feeling of being in a situation beyond your control. Her fate is dictated by schemers and egotists, and she is forced, as we all are at times, to really consider what her advantages and disadvantages are, and how to weigh them against one another. She’s a survivor, and I admire that.
Federico: I would say Maid Marian, but I think it’s because Sabs really managed to make you empathize with her. Then with the two “sword and buckler” soldiers which end up dead!
Q: What does your creative process look like, and where do you draw inspiration from?
Sabs: I always draw everything out on paper before I start writing. I’m not much of an artist, that doesn’t matter, this step is just for me. It helps me to visualize the page, the panels, to get a sense of how much space I have, how the the action needs to flow, how much dialogue will fit. There isn’t anything that doesn’t make me want to write. I know that sounds pretentious, but it’s true. It’s how I work through my own thoughts, how I puzzle things out. If it makes me feel, it makes me want to write.
Federico: I usually start thumbnailing the script in stamp-sized rough drawings, arranging the panels and blocking the characters. I then try to gather as much references as possible, both for the characters and the settings. Books, movies, pictures: anything can be useful at this stage to build a visual library.
Sometimes I use or make 3d models, if I need a recurring set or a well-established one, sometimes I just use references for specific elements or for style purposes.
I then start the proper sketch process. Once these are approved, I ink the backgrounds, which are usually easier to start with, then I’ll pass to the characters, which usually need huge adjustments in pencils before the inking process.
I have quite a traditional process, even if I work digitally!
Q: As a winner of Mad Cave Studios’ annual Talent Search, do you have any advice for aspiring creatives?
Sabs: Just do the work and be nice. There is no path in any creative field that gets you out of doing the hard part. But if you make comics because you love them, and treat your peers with respect, you’ll make art, and you’ll make friends, and you’ll make art with your friends. But if you see everyone as an opportunity or a connection, if you waste your time tearing down the efforts of others instead of making your own, I can promise you you’ll get absolutely nothing out of this.
Federico: Well, the first should be: find good teachers, even if you are a “natural born talent”!
Then, since I wasted a lot of time in my youth, both while I was trying to improve my drawing skills and after I finished my courses: stay focused on your goal and when you’ll start working, give the right value to your work (or find someone who can do it for you).
One extra advice, which I constantly repeat to myself and made me apply to Mad Cave Studios’ Annual Talent Search: keep challenging yourself and keep trying!
Q: Any projects or events on the horizon that we should be looking out for?
Sabs: Alas, the nature of comics is that projects are often in production long before they are announced. I’m afraid that for now, I can only offer you that most dreaded of phrases, “nothing I can talk about at this time.” But I love writing comics, and I’m never gonna stop, and I hope I can share some more with you soon. As I say at the shop, thanks for reading!
Federico: I’m currently involved in a couple of exciting new projects, to grow further and improve my skills! Be on the lookout for news soon!
SNEAK PEEK!
Tales From Nottingham explores untold stories from the twisted universe of Nottingham, including the secret origins of Robin Hood and the Merry Men, Marian’s violent past, Aya of the Hashashin’s first kill, and an ordeal that will shake Friar Tuck to his core. Never-before-seen mysteries confront Everard Blackthorne, the Sheriff of Nottingham, culminating in an investigation that will lead directly into the climactic events of Nottingham Vol. 3. Click through for a sneak peek of what’s to come!
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Tales From Nottingham #3 is now available at your favorite local comic shop, digital comic reader, and on the Mad Cave Studios website!
Mad Cave Studios is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded by Mark London in 2014 driven by madness and committed to quality. For additional information, visit madcavestudios.com.
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