Introducing Tom Cox: Senior VP and Chief Brand Officer

I guess the first thing I need to do is introduce myself. My name is Tom Cox, and I am the Senior VP and Chief Brand Officer here at 3twins. I started as a voice actor and consultant to 3twins many a moon ago. Over the course of the last several years, I have taken on more responsibility; however, my latest set of responsibilities has proven to be the most daunting. Daunting, not because I can’t do what is asked or that I lack any of the skills necessary to do so, but daunting because of the shoes I have to fill.

Many of you know by now that one of our founders, Andy Kuder, passed away recently in a tragic accident. Andy was a force here at 3twins—constant, level-headed, and the chief go-to for Jason concerning everything administrative, story-related, or having to do with characterization. He also wore many other hats. There is simply no way that one person could ever take over all of the roles that Andy played. That was uniquely Andy.
Following Andy's passing, we all knew that he would want this business to continue, but the question was how in the world could we possibly make up for all that Andy had contributed to the group?

The only solution was to divide up his responsibilities among several of us, and even then, we knew it would be a challenge. Andy was a great man. Great father, great husband, great brother, great leader…I could go on, but I think you get the picture. And that leads us to where we are now. It has fallen upon me to take on the administrative duties that Andy had. Impossible? No. Challenging? Definitely! I am ready for the challenge, though, and I just hope to make Andy and the rest of the company proud with what I achieve. So here is to new challenges and, most of all, to you, Andy. Cheers!

Author: Tom Cox

Graphic novels vs. comics

I came late to the comic book world.  Oh sure, I read comics when I was a kid, but they were usually in the Sunday paper.  One strip at a time.  Peanuts, Marmaduke, Wizard of Id, that kind of thing.  I think the first real comic book I read was Teen Titans or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, back in 1986, when my roommate gave me one to read.  Being an independent kind of guy I gravitated towards the obscure and picked up Xenozoic Tales-Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.  I never really wanted to get into the mainstream world of DC or Marvel.  Now that all these superhero movies are coming out, I am really enjoying some of the classics.  Spider-man, Avengers, Green Lantern, etc.  Now I keep hearing about Graphic Novels, WHAT?  The first time I had heard of these it was simply a comic book with no words.  Just pictures and you used your own imagination to fill in the story behind all of the pictures.  Has something changed in this genre?  Did they start adding words or was my first experience with Graphic Novels a fluke.  What exactly is he difference between and Graphic Novel and a traditional comic book?  What do you prefer and why?  

-sincerely, 

Confused in Comic Land