Crazy Panel

This book is taking so much longer to draw than the last one.




All in all, though, it's been a really productive weekend! And if I can get ten pages a week done between now and September (when school starts back), I should be fine. That's excluding the week I'll be gone for San Diego Comic-Con and, immediately preceding that, my ten-year high school reunion. I was excited about going to my ten-year reunion when I was IN high school (thanks, Grosse Pointe Blank), so I hope it'll live up to the expectations, though likely I won't have the opportunity to beat up Benny "the Jet" Urquidez by my old locker. I doubt I can remember what hallway my old locker was on. It's weird, the more I think about it. Ten years.

Five "Crogan's Vengeance" Original Pages for Sale

I’ve got a few – very few – original comic pages. I like them because they show process in a way that can’t really be seen otherwise. You can see the way the ink has been laid down, tell what tools were used, see how thick the lines were made, where white-out was applied, etc. I especially like pages on which the lettering has been done; it’s one of the many reasons that I hand-letter. Having an original page of comic art in my house growing up was a big part of how I became a cartoonist.

Original page, 11x17"


close-up to see process!

Okay, here’s the thing. I was talking to someone – I can’t remember who, but I think it was Pat Quinn – at HeroesCon about selling pages. My plan has always been to sell some eventually, but to wait until the series was well established so that I could fetch higher prices for them. But then I got to thinking – that’s kind of a jerk way to go about it. There are a number of people who have been really enthusiastic about the book from the get-go, and the only way for the series to GET well established is as a result of these folks’ enthusiasm. To deny the folks who read and liked the first book the chance to buy an original page at a ground floor price is really ungrateful on my end. Who knows? Maybe nobody wants to buy any, but I figured I should put it out there.

Anyway, I’m taking the long way around to say that I’ll be selling five original pages on a first-come/first-serve basis. I want to keep it limited to one page per buyer.

After those pages are gone, it’ll be a while before I sell more. I’m hoping that, come the New Year, I’ll have the store up and going, with original drawings for sale. I’m not sure whether or not I’ll have pages. If I do, they’ll be priced according to how much I like the page.

That’s not the case here. This is a flat-rate “pick whatever page you like” sale. Any page you want for $100. Now I should note that there are some pages that are unavailable for a variety of reasons – there are a dozen or so that I’m hanging on to, I gave some to family, traded some with close cartoonist friends, things like that, but any of the ones not listed at the bottom of this post should be up for grabs.

Whoever sends the first payment gets the first pick, second payment second pick, etc. Put your page request in the comment section, and make sure that your e-mail address is included in your sign-in. Shipping is free to the US, rolled in a hard tube. Other countries may need a bit more, I’ll have to check. Remember, I’m only doing five right now. I’ve have ‘em mailed within a week, or, if you’re going to be at San Diego, there for you to pick up.

Pages NOT available: 3, 19, 23, 33, 35, 53, 60, 62, 64, 65, 77, 92, 107, 109, 111, 113, 119, 123, 126, 127, 131, 141, 143, 149, 162, 167, 168, 171, 172, 173, 177, 182

I should also note that I’m not currently taking commissions. I’m spending the majority of my time on the book, and my extra time is for one commission which I’ve already accepted, a larger one featuring all of the Crogan family members. Once that one’s done, and the book, I’ll likely open up again.

Actual news and new art to be posted next time!

HeroesCon Report

HeroesCon this year was, I think, the best show I've ever been to. It's so much fun, so laid back, and it was the first real show I've done since Crogan's Vengeance came out. It was really nice how many people brought their copies of Vengeance for me to sign. It was also great seeing so many of my cartoonist friends in one place. I sold a lot of books and a lot of Smokers of the Marvel Universe posters (including a few to kids [with parents in tow], which I felt kind of bad about... I had to throw in an impromtu PSA each time), and got to talk extensively with cartoonist heroes of mine, including Jeff Smith, Roger Langridge, and Don Rosa (with whom I have a surpising amount in common, including a Kentucky upbringing, an affinity for the books of George MacDonald Fraser, and a collection of first edition H. Rider Haggard novels, among other things).

I cannot underestimate how great a show this is. I give it my strongest possible reccomendation to any cartoonist considering thinking about attending. It's so comics-focused (rather than media-focused), it's incredibly family friendly (kids get in free on Saturday, for example), the panels are great, the organizers treat everyone, from newbie through superstar, with the highest degree of respect and kindness, and the fans/attendees are the nicest and most enthusiastic you'll find anywhere. Plus, for being as busy as it is, it's also the most relaxed, laid-back show around. The evenings are spent with the majority of exhibitors hanging out and shooting the breeze in the hotel lobby bar, the mornings catching a liesurely breakfast... if there's a comic show in heaven, I expect it's modeled after HeroesCon.



I also had about a dozen students go out, far more than have ever come before, and they really did a great job. They had their own tables with the Temple of Cartoon Mojo booth, and really made a great show for themselves. They also owned the room at the afterparties, and I couldn't have been prouder of how well they carried themselves. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were true professionals, including mine.




On Saturday I did two panels. The first (pictured above) was a panel about all-ages comics that featured (from left to right) me, Roger Langridge (of Fred the Clown and the Muppet Show fame), Jeff Smith (of Bone and Rasl), and David Peterson (of Mouse Guard). It was moderated by Andy Mansell, on the far left, who definitely knew his stuff and really asked some great questions.
This panel was especially exciting for me because Jeff was one of the main reasons that I'd gotten into comics in the first place. Bone not only changed the tone of comics to where it'd be more accepting of the subject matter on which I prefer to focus, but also was the vanguard in the fight (and it was a fight) to get graphic novels off the ground and into stores - I had a long conversation with Jeff and Colleen Doran about the down-and-out-warfare of the introduction of regular trades to comic shops, exhibiting at shows, etc, and although I felt professionally indebted to them BEFORE, I had no idea how much.
I also got to have a solo dinner with Roger (though felt guilty about dragging a vegetarian to a Tex/Mex restaurant), as well has share him with a number of buddies to go get smoothies, which was loads of fun. He's one of the nicest folks in comics, in addition to perhaps being our medium's greatest living draftsman, and it's always great to see him (though it' all too rare an occurence, him living in England and all).

I also had a chance to meet Guy Davis, and get an original page (which is, of course, gorgeous). He was as friendly as can be, and was doing free sketches, though I figured that with a page, a sketch would have been greedy. I also got to meet Aqualung's Paul Maybury, whose art I was unfamiliar with but am now completely nuts for. He's going to be doing a project for Oni, which is always exciting to me... it's selfish, I know, but I love it when people I like do work for my publisher because it means we'll get to hang out at the Oni table at the bigger shows.

I also did a Steve Ditko lecture (he's the guy that co-created Spider-Man) with Ben Towle and Craig Fischer, and their presentations (especially Craig's, which was mind-blowing) were easily the academic highlights for me.

I got to see my see-at-every-show friends, which is great (the Athens, Savannah, Nashville, and Carolina crowds), but I also got to meet up with my I like-em-but-only-see-them-occasionally colleagues, like Jim Ottaviani, Alec Longstreth, Mike Maihack, and Greg Means, as well as Indie Spinner Rack's Mr. Phil, with whom it's always great to hang out. Phil gave me my contributor copy of Awesomer, now available online and in comic shops, and so far it's a riveting read! It's got a full Crogan Adventures short story in it, featuring David Crogan, the smuggler. If you're a completist, pick it up! I also got to meet Finder's Carla Speed McNeil, who was not only wearing a great colonial-style pith helmet but turned me on to wear she got it. Now I can finally score a monocle!

I also got a LOT of graphic novels at the five-dollar bin (including a number of books that I'd had at one point but given away), and 19 of the 54-volume Carl Barks Library in Color books. Score!

All in all, a great show. I haven't mentioned half the people who it was great to see here, and that's no reflection on how great it was to see them... I simply don't want to bore blog readers with a litany of names and links. But it was, really, a great show. Anyone who's considering an invitation for next year, take it! It's a heck of a time.

Heroes Con this Weekend!

Hey, everybody! First off, I want to congratulate my good friend Hunter Clark for finishing his first book last week, an Oni project called The Return of King Doug. It's an amazing looking book, with a lot of buzz going for it already (Ben Stiller already optioned it to make it into a movie), and it should be out on shelves fairly soon... it's really gorgeous, and it's been great seeing how incredibly good Hunter has gotten over the course of its execution. He'll be at Heroes this weekend, so if you know him, flag him down and give him a pat on the back, or buy him a congratulatory drink. He's already started on his next project. I was going to post a panel from it (he's been using my scanner lately), but he dragged all the files to the trash, so you'll have to use your imaginination.

Later this morning I'll be heading off with fellow professors Nolan Woodard and Pat Quinn to HeroesCon, one of my hands-down favorite shows. And for those of you who've never been to a show, I want to talk a little directly to you.

Before I started trying to make a career in comics, I did read them. Not a ton of them, but a select few - Bone by Jeff Smith, any number of comic strip collections (especially Foxtrot and Zits), whatever graphic novels might be showcased by NPR or an independent music magazine, a couple of webcomics like PVP - but of these, I was a passionate reader. I enjoyed them a great deal, would have bent over backwards to get to have a conversation with any of the creators...

...and yet I never, nor did I ever have any inclination to, attend a comic convention.

It's not hard to guess why. Films and television have conditioned us to view comic conventions as being full of overpirced toys and people dressed up like Klingons or Spider-Man. And, to be fair, there are a lot of shows where that seems to be the norm, including San Diego Comic Con. But there a few - all of the indie comic shows (SPX, MOCCA, APE, STUMPTOWN, etc) and a few of the bigger, more encompassing shows (Heroes being a good example) where there are few to no costumes, few to no toys, no video game displays, no third-stormtrooper-from-the-left bit actors charging for autographs... just comics and the people that make them. People that are, more often than not, happy to talk with you for a little while, to answer your questions.

Some shows are more akin to literary conferences. There are panels and lectures by many really amazing artists, writers, cartoonists, and critics. Think about it - if, say, Diary of a Wimpy Kid guy was doing a lecture and reading somewhere, and you were a fan, would you be willing to drop 10-15 bucks to go? A comic show offers that sort of thing, PLUS the chance to talk with that cartoonist afterward or before, to get a sketch, to get a book signed, etc. It doesn't have to be a full-blown nerdfest, and often isn't (be careful, though... the majority of local shows ARE, as are any of the WizardWorld shows), so if you're a fan, give it a try!

Speaking of sketches, I thought I'd post my sketch "rules" here, for anyone going this weekend.

• SKETCHES are free. Rough drawings, the sort I do in my own sketchbook. I'll do these in people's sketchbooks, or on paper, or whatever.

• Finished, inked drawings that look ready for publication? Those cost money. Not a lot, but some, usually fifteen bucks, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more, depending on the subject matter. I do these on my own board that I bring 4x6 inches. This may seems small, but it's roughly the size of one of my panels, so I can get a good amount of detail in there. I do them this way for two reasons.
1. People usually have toothy paper in sketchbooks that they bring themselves. This paper is not only incompatible with my style of inking (I need smooth paper because I draw quickly, and have a slick line), it also has a tendency to fray my brushes, making the following five drawings I do look terrible.
2. When a lot of people want drawings, it seems unfair for me to neglect them to spend time on a larger drawing for a single person, even if the money comes out being the same. People made the effort to come out to the show, and I want to be sure that anyone who wants a finished drawing has the chance to get one. If anyone wants a larger, more intricate drawing, then they can contact me via e-mail and we can work out a comission that way.

That said, I'll also have a lot of other 4x6 drawings that I've already done available for sale! What you lose in the magic of seeing it drawn before your eyes, you make up for in an assurance of quality, knowing what you're gonna get.

Here are a few examples... I've got about fifty or so. These are going to be ten bucks each. For those of you unable to go to cons, I will eventually set up a mail-order store on my site, but that won't be until probably December.




A couple of the many portrait-style pics.



Also, I'll have a few bigger pieces which will cost more. Here's one (click on the zoom-in to see the real one, which is 17x5"):



Oh, and panels! I'm doing two panels and attending three more. Here are the ones I'm in, so swing by!

12.30 pm MAKING COMICS FOR ALL AGES | Room 217A
Join moderator Andy Mansell as he sits down with Jeff Smith (Bone, Rasl), Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show Comic, Fred the Clown), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Chris Schweizer (Crogan's Vengeance) and more as they discuss making comics that kids and adults alike can enjoy! Sure to be a can't-miss conversation.

3.00 PM A IS A+: A STEVE DITKO CELEBRATION! | Room 213BCD
Midnight Sun cartoonist Ben Towle and Thought Balloonist blogger Craig Fischer host an extensive tribute to one of the most creative and enigmatic figures in comics: Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko! The first hour will be a screening of Jonathan Ross’s provocative BBC documentary In Search of Steve Ditko (2007), featuring interviews with John Romita, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and other high-profile Ditko fans. Following the documentary, two comics legends who worked extensively with Ditko--writer/editor Roy Thomas and artist/editor Dick Giordano--will share their memories of the man and his art. The tribute ends with Ben, Craig, and cartoonist/educator Chris Schweizer (Crogan's Vengeance) analyzing their favorite Ditko pages and dissecting Ditko’s contributions to comics history.

Also, a good number of my students will be there shelling their wares and meeting people, at the Temple of Cartoon Mojo booth. There's some great works from them, and I think three or four guys from Savannah, so it should be quite the table to check out!

That's it! I'll have pictures this time around (I always forget to take any). Have a great weekend!

SCAD Tragedy

As the folks who read this blog may or may not know, I’m a professor of sequential art (comics) at SCAD-Atlanta, the metro branch of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Though I’ve never attended or taught in Savannah, I do try to visit often when events are held or when my wife (who also works at SCAD, in admissions) has business there.

This week, the Savannah campus had a tragedy with the death of Jeremy Mullins, a professor there specializing in web comics and alternative comics. He died while hiking, falling from the Kaaterskill Falls in New York.

With an enthusiasm all-too-rarely found in academia, Jeremy put in tons of out-of-class time with his students, taking them on trips to indie comic shows, spearheading publication opportunities, founding the excellent comics podcast SEQALAB (one show away from its hundredth episode), and giving loads of support, guidance, criticism, and help to lots of future comic creators.

MacArthur, in a letter to the Comics Reporter, wrote this:

“…his career in teaching had even only begun, but I'm writing through tears to tell you that his presence has impacted a chunk of this generations' young cartoonists.”

That’s no exaggeration. The majority of the indie kids coming out of Savannah’s comics program (there are about ten right now who will be really making a splash within the next year or two, I guarantee) were really cultivated and helped by Jeremy, and his passing will be a huge blow to the department.

It's summertime - convention season for artists, make-money-time for students - and so I ask that, if you've got a little bit of extra dough with which you can part, you make a donation to the Jeremy Mullins Sequential Art Scholarship.  His life was dedicated to helping mold aspiring cartoonists into professional cartoonists, and such a scholarship is, I think, a fitting memorial. 

Here's the info:
Jeremy Mullins Sequential Art Scholarship, Savannah College of Art and Design, P.O. Box 3146, Savannah, GA 31402-3146. For more information, call the institutional advancement department at 912.525.5868.

Promotional Banner for San Diego

My editor, James, called me Friday to ask if I could put together an image for a banner for San Diego Comic Con, something to promote the entire Crogan Adventures series. So I've been working on it or the last couple of days - something that showcases the variety of periods, the adventure, the exotic locales, etc. Hopefully, this does the job. Here's the big image:



And, because the blog only allows for smaller images, here are some close-ups of the details:



Junichi and Calloway



The tramp steamer (whose name I haven't completely settled on yet, so it's absent from the hull) amidst some junks and sampans in China



Catfoot



a Tuareg raider attacking Peter



Daniel, upside-down.

Whenever I've got spare time I've been working on a larger commission work - all of the Crogan characters together - and I thought that maybe I'd be able to use it for the banner, but the dimensions were wrong, and as it's meant to be really big and viewed from a distance James thought it better to have a montage-type thing.

I'll be at HeroesCon this upcoming weekend - I won't have anything new to sell, save for original art (a post about that, and my Heroes "rules", in a day or so).

Pinups

This week was lots of fun - Mike and Matt Chapman, who do Homestar Runner, came by to talk with one of my animation classes (and the numerous folks that took the opportunity to sit in). Also, I've been invited to do a few events coming up - a Writer's Workshop, two panels at the Decatur Book Festival, and as a panelist (or maybe lecturer?) at the International Reading Association conference in Chicago. I know that I need to start updating the site more regularly with dates and appearances and whatnot... I'll get to it soon, I hope.

Heroes Con is coming up in a couple of weeks, and they always have a great program full of pinups done by guest artists. I figured I'd try a couple, but they've got some of the best folk in the industry contributing, so it's unlikely they'll make it in. That being a strong possibility, I figured I'd put 'em up here, so that they aren't in a vacuum.

The first one I did was a response to Shawn's insistence that I should do one of my own things. I felt that to be a little egocentric for a con program, but since Jeff Smith is a featured artist this time around, I thought that maybe I could throw one of mine in with one of his.


And here's the safety - a superhero. Again, Marvel has laid down another decree to their artists that bugs the heck out of me, this one being that Wolverine should be tall and well-proportioned/attractive. Boo, hiss! Wolverine is fun because of his tiny ferocity. His name isn't "bear," or "jaguar," it's "Wolverine"! Wolverines! Tiny ferocious creatures famous for taking on opponents much larger than themselves! Sigh.



Though I sent the original as a black and white, I figured I'd throw a color since this one's going online.

One week of school left, and then I'm hitting the drawing board full time over the summer. I've got less than 2 months to do about a hundred and forty pages, so wish me luck! Seeing as I'll be waking up, drawing until I can't stay awake, and then sleeping and starting the process over, it seems somehow possible, though quite daunting. I may not be able to do it, but I'm sure gonna try.

Back from Massachusetts

Well, I recently returned from Springfield, Massachusetts were I was lucky enough to be a guest at the Library Conference there, a joint venture between the public and school librarians. I got into Boston late, rented a car, and drove the nearly two hours to Springfield, where Stan Sakai and I had great dinner and recorded our interview. The Comics Journal, for their 300th issue (coming in September), wanted to do a pairing between a dew-eyed upstart (me) and a legitimate, highly-respected visionary (Stan), where we talked about differences in starting out, process, changes that have been made in the industry over the last thirty years, etc. The interview went well, and it was great fun getting to hang out with Stan until the wee hours of the morning. Keep your eyes peeled for that Journal!

The next day I had breakfast with old friends Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier, along with Callista from First Second Books and Alli from Del Ray Manga. At the conference, Stan and I did our presentations (read about 'em here), and then joined the other creators for a larger Q&A proctored by noted comics library guru (and the author of Understanding Manga and Anime) Robin Brenner. It went really well, and I had a great time all around. I also got to meet Peter Gutierrez, who shares many of my views on using comics for education but articulates them far better than I, and John Shableski of Diamond, who is a walking marketing computer in addition to being a heckuva fun guy.

I'm up late tonight in order to finish and turn in my submission to the new Star Wars mini that's a sequel to last year's Harvest is When I Need You The Most, if you saw that one. This one's either called Only What You Take With You or Don't Forget the Droids, I think - there are two books, and I'm not sure which mine is in, but it'll be available at MOCCA. My story is called "Mos Eisley" and it's basically a trailer for Casablana but in the cantina. C'mon, you know in your heart that the cantina scene is basically just the opening to Casablanca. Admit it.

A couple of panels:

A plea to Graphic Novel Readers, and a Sequential Tart Interview

A panel (possibly in need of editing) from Crogan's March

Hey, guys! I had a fun time at Free Comic Book Day - the guys at Heroes always put on a big show - but given as many artists as they had this year, there was some down time in terms of signing, etc, and I started thinking that maybe next year I'll do something closer to home. I'll keep you abreast of such developments!

I have two things, the first being a plea.

I'm giving a presentation to the Massachusetts public and school library associations on Friday, and will be making up a list of titles appropriate for specific age groups and of high quality. I already have quite a few - my top ten for each category, roughly - but I'm sure to leave stuff out, and I don't want any kids or library patrons to suffer for my lack of memory or having not read something great. So if there are any books that you think specifically appropriate for elementary, middle, or high school, can you let me know as a comment? I'm going to be printing these up on Thursday morning, probably, so anytime between now and Wednesday night I welcome your suggestions.
Thanks!

Also, I've got an interview up with SEQUENTIAL TART, a great comic web-journal, as part of their May issue. Check it out!

Pages 1-19 are finished, with pages 20-22 lettered and tightly penciled, and ready to ink. My goal is to have the end of scene 3 (page 35ish?) done by the end of May, and be ready to crank down hard over the summer. My only distraction, as far as I know, will be Heroes Con.

Free Comic Book Day This Weekend!

If anybody lives in the Carolinas (or, ostensibly, Eastern Georgia), you should make a trip out to one of the World's best comic shops, HEROES AREN'T HARD TO FIND, in Charlotte on Saturday for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. I'll be there, doing signings and free sketches, and so will 13 other really great artists:

MARK BROOKS (Spider-Man)
CHRIS BRUNNER (Gotham Central)
IAN FLYNN (Sonic)
SANFORD GREENE (Method Man GN)
CULLY HAMNER (The Question)
ADAM HUGHES (Wonder Woman)
JASON LATOUR (Loose Ends)
PAT QUINN (Pretty much any title ever published, including a lot of recent work on The Phantom)
BUDD ROOT (Cavewoman)
ANDY SMITH (Dean Koontz' Frankenstein)
ALLISON SOHN (Star Wars trading cards)
BRIAN STELFREEZE (The Ride)
KARL STORY (Tom Strong)

They'll have copies of Crogan's Vengeance for sale, which I'll be happy to sketch in, and if you've got kids in the area, please, bring 'em out!

Here's a page from the new book. Sorry it's so small.

Eisner Nomination, Massachusetts Library Conference

Sorry for the infrequency of posts as of late. I've been dividing my time up between teaching (unlike last quarter, this time around I'm teaching four days a week and coming in for the Sequential Art open studio sessions all day Fridays, the Temple of Cartoon Mojo) and working on the new Crogan Adventures book, Crogan's March. It was slow starting out, but it's starting to pick up speed, which seems to always be the case with these things. Here are a few panels, not to scale with each other, and in no logical sequence:











As you may or may not be able to tell, my lettering has changed considerably. I had a lot of friends whose opinions I respect tell me that the lettering in Vengeance was competing with the art for attention, and I personally found it hard to put the amount of dialogue I wanted into each panel. It's still done by hand, but hopefully this new approach will help rectify these hindrances. I know that there will probably be some people who hate to see it change, and I sympathize;any time a musician I like "grows artistically" I always want to shake him or her until their sense comes back, but what can you do?

The plan is to have the book finished by the time I leave for San Diego, which is definitely going to be a tight deadline (i.e. no time for hobbies), but I think it will be doable. I don't teach classes over the summer, so once June rolls around I'll be able to devote my full days to it.

In other notes, I have two bits of news:

1. I'll be a guest at the Massachusetts Library Association and Massachusetts School Library Association's joint annual conference on May 8th this year, in Springfield, MA. It's part of the conference's Graphic Novel focus which will also be featuring the inimitable Stan Sakai, my friends Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier, and DC writer Gail Simone (who I've not yet had a chance to meet).

I think it's wonderful that these libraries have embraced what we we do with such enthusiasm, and I'm so excited to be a part of this. There will be a creator panel, time for book signings and sketches, and another panel... here's the description from the program:

Get with the program! Teaching, programs, and hands on demonstrations
Join creators Stan Sakai and Chris Schweizer to get a hands on lessons on how comics inspire students, encourage literacy, and engage readers. Mr. Schweizer, on faculty at the Savannah College of Art and Design, will share his experiences teaching with comics including how comics boosts reading comprehension and vocabulary for all texts, not just graphic novels, and the importance of the visual mnemonics comics exemplify. Mr. Sakai will in turn show how he presents his series, Usagi Yojimbo, to students and libraries, and showcases the making of a graphic novel. Each creator will share tips and advice on hosting programs.
Come prepared to brainstorm your own programs and walk away with fantastic event ideas and lesson plans for your institution.
Speakers: Stan Sakai, creator of Usagi Yojimbo; Chris Schweizer, Professor of Sequential Art, Savannah College of Art and Design and creator of Crogan’s Vengeance

If you're in the Boston or Springfield area, I highly recommend making a trip out. It should be a great event... my only regret is that Robin Brenner's panel on Demistifying Japanese Manga is the same time as my panel, so I won't be able to sit in.

2. The other big news is that Crogan's Vengeance got an Eisner Award nomination for the category of "Best Publication for Teens/Tweens," along with Coraline, Skim, Rapunzel's Revenge, and the Good Neighbors. This is a big deal in the comics world, so I was really shocked when I found out, and am really excited. Liz and I are both going to San Diego this year, so it'll be fun being at the award cermony, and hopefully it'll get more people interested in taking a look at the book.

That's it for now! Thanks for the patience, and I'll try to update more regularly. Now that I'm scanning pages, I'll have things to post.

My friend's new project is out

Hey, everybody. I'm currently hammering away on Crogan's March, trying to get this scene finished by the upcoming weekend so as to have it to show folks at Fluke, and in the meantime I wanted to steer you toward a title you might want to pick up.

Shawn Crystal, a good friend with whom I share an office at SCAD-Atlanta, has started a run on the Marvel series Deadpool, beginning with a pretty sizeable stand-alone story called Deadpool: Games of Death. For those unfamiliar with the character (like I was), Deadpool is a sort of rogueish, smart-alecky assassin, and the stories tend to be action/comedy. This paticular story plays very heavily off of old martial movies movies, with Deadpool infiltrating a last-man-standing reality show/death match. It was great fun watching him work on this project, and I'm excited now that it's out. The colors are great, and play to Shawn's aesthetic, which is this nice mix of cartooning and traditional super-hero style comic art with meticullous inkwork.


(some images from the comic)

Shawn's an incredible professor and a great comic artist, so if you're curious as to what some of the other faculty at Scad-Atlanta are up do, this is a chance to check it out.

I'll have more updates soon, I promise!

First Page; Signing in Decatur/Atlanta

Woo! I'm FINALLY working on pages. The first scene ended up being a little bit longer than I expected (16 pages), and the first three pages or so I had to get used to not being able to "fake" a composition by throwing rigging into the empty spots. Composing shots this time around without clouds, ropes, masts etc is a real pain, but it'll hopefully make me better at what I do.

I'm spending a lot more time on the inks.

Here's the first page - click it to be able to actually see it. The modern dad just told his kids that "it all started with a sandstorm..."



On another note to anyone in the Atlanta area, I'll be doing a signing at my favorite kid's bookstore in the world, Little Shop of Stories, which happens to be just down the street from my house. If you've had a hard time getting a hold of the book (I know that a few places in town have run out occasionally) then this would be an ideal time to pick it up. I'll be doing sketches, too. Friday, March 20, 3:30-4:30.

Interviews and Sketches

Hey, everybody!  It's been an extremely busy couple of weeks.  We at SCAD-Atlanta just had our annual Comics Art Forum, which this year featured Matt Kindt, Stewart Immonen, and Cameron Stewart.  All three guys were incredibly gracious and lots of fun; I sat in on two workshops, Matt's and Cameron's, both of which were just great.  We had heavy snow this weekend (in Atlanta!) and Cameron was stuck on a plane for hours, and Matt had to stay an extra day and a half, so the ending wasn't ideal, but we had lots of good food and drinks and the whole thing was great for the students.

In personal news, a couple of interviews I've done have gone up, so if you want to check them out, feel free! 

Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources

Indie Pulp: Sketchbook Spotlight (outlines my process and tools), among other things

WKMS (NPR) Audio Interview

I'm nearly through with my thumbnails for the first scene (12-15 pages) of Crogan's March, and I plan to go to pencils today.  My goal is to have it inked by the end of the weekend!  Liz is going out of town, so I'll be able to keep crazy cartoonist hours and, with luck, crank 'em out.

In the meantime, I've been doing lots of prep sketches for the as-of-yet-unnamed fourth book, which I've decided will feature Daniel Crogan, the Lion Tamer/Escape Artist.  Here are a few - enjoy!