Not so much about sketches today as about finished pieces. The first piece is again courtesy of Doug Resnick. After he saw my post about the A.C.T.O.R. sketch I did for him here on my blog, he kindly emailed me two MORE SPIDER-MAN related pieces he had acquired from me. I’m presenting one here today– it’s a straight up commission he had me pencil at a show not TOO long ago (I think it was HEROES CON), and he later had my old studio chum Richard Case ink up for him.

This second piece is artwork for an aborted lithograph. Back several years ago, when Todd Dezago and I were just getting TELLOS started, the THEN marketing guru at IMAGE COMICS (his name escapes me right now) had set up a couple of deals for us at ANOTHERUNIVERSE.COM. They were at the time doing exclusive merchandise for their company with select comic book properties– things like limited edition comics and lithos/prints. We did a TELLOS PROLOGUE with them (which turned out really nicely) and we were SET to do a limited lithograph as well. They first asked for a solo piece with the SERRA character because they felt that concentrating on the female cast member would give us the best sales for the print– so I immediately went to work and produce this (with wonderful inks by my buddy Howard Shum) piece. Just as I was finishing it, though, they came BACK to me to insist that I change it to a piece with the entire cast. Since it was just a lithograph and not an actual comic– and since (frankly) I didn’t really enjoy having ANYONE tell me what to draw for my OWN property…. I kind of let the project die. So I’m presenting the piece here– and if I may engage in a tad of hucksterism– you can find it in my section of the MOTHCOMIX.COM website for sale. There, with that out of the way….

Finally today– I wanted to highlight something that has really made my month… MAYBE my year. I recently made a comic book trade with an internet friend who lives in Austria. I’ve been obsessed with the artist DENIS BODART lately. I’ve been seeing some of his stuff at various message boards on the web, and I immediately fell in love with his work. It’s amazingly alive– Bodart’s art is bouncy and cartoony, but it fits in any genre and subject matter. The features of the characters his more serious work border on caricature– but that just brings his work even more to life in my eyes. I’ve only had jpegs to look at– so when my friend told me he was going to France and Belgium on vacation and offered to pick up some of his albums for me in exchange for some Jack Kirby comics, I LEAPED at the offer. I recently recieved two albums in the mail from my friend entitled THE GREEN MANOR. It’s, I believe, the story of a gentlemen’s club where murders are discussed and solved. Bodart’s presentation of the settings, costuming and characters from Victorian era England are amazing. The jpeg I’m presenting here just does NOT do it justice. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a wealth of material on Bodart on the web– but you can see a tiny example of some of his work by clicking on the link above. I’d buy everything this man has ever drawn if I could get my hands on it.

OK– see you back here tomorrow.

Mike

It’s funny how genre comics tend to come in waves. It seems as though everyone who wants to work in the fantasy, science fiction or western genre seem to get the idea at roughly the same time and this creates a wave of those kinds of comics hitting the stands all at once. Recently, it looks as though it’s the WESTERN genre’s turn (although in all fairness, Jeff Mariotte was doing DESPERADOES when it wasn’t fashionable a few years ago. It’s how a certain guy called John Cassaday got his start– maybe you’ve heard of him…?). And it’s funny to ME because I’ve been wanting to do a western for some time now– but I’ve never had the time, always having to do the work-for-hire dance. So, here’s a sketch of the main character from a western story that I still hope to one day tell.

The second piece I want to present today is a copy of the color cover for the TALES OF TELLOS comic that was just solicited in this newest issue of DIAMOND PREVIEWS. The printing was so dark that it looked like mud, really. So just for my OWN edification, because I really like the colors that Val Staples of MV CREATIONS and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE fame— one hell of a colorist– did, so I wanted to present them in a less muddy fashion.

And for those of us who haven’t been able to make it to COMICON INTERNATIONAL this weekend– the guys over at FANBOY RADIO will be broadcasting live from the show later today. I don’t know exactly how they’re going to pull it off, but hopefully it’ll work out. It would be fun to hear some of the goings on at the show on its last day. The show will be broadcasted at 4PM PST– 7PM EST. There’s a link at the top of the page that will allow you to listen to streaming audio over the web (it’s how I listen to the show every Wednesday and Sunday). You’ll need the REALPLAYER software to allow you to listen.

I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

Mike

For quite a while, Marvel has had sort of a “generic iconic shot” approach to their cover images– but thankfully that seems to be loosening up a bit. The last few covers I’ve had to do for FANTASTIC FOUR have actually had something to do with what is going on in the interior of the book. (Imagine that…..). But when “ICONIC” was the rule of the day, it was very, very difficult to come up with something for each successive cover that would be distinct from the one before. Even with a team book like FF it was a hard thing to do. Just take a look at any ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN cover if you want the… well, ultimate– proof of that. I can’t tell one from the other. ANYHOO– I went through many variations of sketches for each cover when the old policy was in force. Here are a few rejected sketches that were all done for the same cover (although the issue number escapes me now).

Jeff Parker over at MYSTIFYING ORACLE has posted a couple more audio blog entries for us all to listen to. On these, Parker does what I was HOPING he would do, and he interviews (as best he can with new technology and lots of crowd noise) various comics luminaries. It’s funny to listen to as you can imagine trying to do the same thing under those conditions. Unfortunately, Parker didn’t win the EISNER for BEST NEW TALENT (I voted for ya, buddy…!)– but if Jeff couldn’t be the one to win it, I certainly can’t complain about Derek Kirk Kim being the recipient. His book SAME DIFFERENCE and OTHER STORIES is an amazing achievement of art and writing. Besides being a phenomenal illustrator, his writing has that sort of insight into the human condition that I wish -I- could have and do my own sort of comics in that mode. Amazing stuff.

You can get a full rundown of all the EISNER AWARD winners over at THE PULSE. I don’t think they have permalinks– but right now, the EISNER WINNERS item is at the top of the main page.

It’s Saturday, the biggest day of the show at COMICON INTERNATIONAL, so if there are going to be any huge announcements that will shake the comics world, today’s the day they’ll come out. So far, it’s been pretty quiet news wise. I’ve been scouring the comics news sites for any great tidbits, but the biggest story so far has been the sheer size that the show has become–and how much less of a comics show it has morphed into. Fortunately, I think that even though comics creators, publishers and retailers are getting squeezed to the edges, there are just so many fans attending that sales seem to still be quite prodigious from the accounts I’ve been reading. That makes me happy.

I just noticed recently that I’ve made it to the BLOGROLL at Kevin Melrose’s THOUGHT BALLOONS blog…! Thanks so much for adding me to the list, Kevin. I really feel like I’m becoming a part of the comics “blogverse” (if that’s the right term).

OK– that’s it for now.

Mike

I’ve got a couple of pieces for you today. The first one is yet another BLACK CAT sketch. It’s something I started to perhaps sell on eBay, but lost interest in finishing the background (I THINK that’s why I never finished it…) and put it aside. I have always liked the BLACK CAT character for some reason. She’s incredibly visually striking with her cool, sleek black costume and her flowing white hair. And it’s a ton of fun to draw beautiful women. I’d love to work on a BLACK CAT series for Marvel, and even spoke to my editor about the possibility, but I couldn’t think of a driving overall theme to make the series go. She’s a great supporting character, but as a lead in her own series…? I’m sure someone could make it work. Anyway, here’s the piece….

The second sketch is of the two main characters from a wonderful comic called DAVID AND GOLIATH by Jay Ju (writer) and Leonel Castellini (artist). Leonel’s art is absolutely beautiful– it’s reminiscent of a Disney movie in its style, and the story is wonderfully done… set during the lead up to WW II (so it’s got some dastardly Nazi villains). You can see a preview of the great first issue over at the IMAGE COMICS site, even though there’s already been three issues published. See for yourself how beautiful it is.

As promised, Jeff Parker over at MYSTIFYING ORACLE has begun audio blogging from COMICON INTERNATIONAL in San Diego. I like the one from the restaurant after the show one night– you can actually hear someone in the background asking “Are you AUDIO BLOGGING….??!??”. I really DO love modern technology…!

See you tomorrow, folks.

Mike

Now that the COMICON INTERNATIONAL in San Diego is in full swing, I thought it would be alright to post today’s sketch without stepping on the toes of the character’s owner. This is GRETA, an evil female Nazi antagonist from Bill Presing’s wonderful comic book REX STEELE: NAZI SMASHER.

I first saw REX STEELE and cast in a wonderful digest sized anthology called MONKEYSUIT. It immediately captured my imagination and blew me away with Bill’s fantastic style of drawing. He’s got a really unique way of drawing that sort of blends hints of manga with 1950’s inspired illustration. Heck, I’m not doing it justice in the description, but when you see some of his work, you’ll know what I’m attempting to get at. On the MONKEYSUIT.COM site, you’ll also be able to order a copy of a DVD of the brand-spanking new REX STEELE: NAZI SMASHER animated movie! By clicking on THIS link, you can get a glimpse at the trailer, some stills and ordering information as well. It’s absolutely amazing how well they managed to capture Bill’s style.

You can also go here to see some examples of Bill’s drawings. There’s not a lot– but the ones that are there are mighty sweet…!

Bill’s put together a collection of all the REX STEELE short stories that originally appeared in the first three MONKEYSUIT anthologies as well as some new material — and a bunch of pinups and sketches by some of his artist buddies that he’s selling at the COMICON INTERNATIONAL. The sketch I’m posting today is included in the collection. I’m thrilled to be even a teeny part of Bill’s wonderful book– and I can’t wait to get my hands on it and that DVD!!!

OK– that’s it for now.

Mike