This one should be titled TELLOS BAD GALS— since today’s sketch is of the sultry and deadly DYN JESSA. JESSA is similar to D’NIKAY in that they are both members of shadowy sects in the lands of TELLOS– but they’re very different in that JESSA and her sisters in the Order of the DYN are experts at both seduction and the deadly use of force. I can imagine that many a King or Queen with dark designs in mind would use members of the DYN to get close to their enemies and then eliminate those threats. The DYN, do, however, have a code of ethics (also like the SHANDOAN sect that D’NIKAY is part of )– as those of you who have read Todd’s stories in the TALES OF TELLOS mini series will know. JESSA confronted SERRA in one of those stories, in an effort to reclaim her Shivring (the traditional weapon of the DYN) and enact revenge on the young pirate — and when she had SERRA beaten and could have delivered the killing blow, she backed off. WHY she did that will perhaps become evident in future TELLOS stories should we be able to produce them. I think I’ve said it before– but I’ll say it again…. fans of TELLOS who haven’t read those TALES stories are missing out on some wonderful shorts that wind into the TELLOS tapestry in wonderful ways. Some of them take place before the 10 issue original series…. and some after. So seek these out if you can and catch up on the wonderful stories Todd did in the wake of the original series.

OK… that does it for the beginning of another week.

This is Entry 407.

Mike

Today’s sketch doesn’t have much to do with anything, really. Every once in a while, I get these little flashes of an idea for something I’d like to draw… a fleeting image that, like a fast flying bird’s shadow, flits across my brain. Some times, I can flesh it out and pull out that brief impression into something coherent. Other times, every attempt ulitmately amounts to nothing. Today’s ‘flit’ was just an impression I got of one of those old arrogant emperor-types who take on the mantle of not only the royal head of their nation… but also it’s military leader as well, whether they’ve actually served any military service or not. I kind of like the way it came out.

So.. this ends another week. Lets hope those folks in San Diego for COMICON INTERNATIONAL are having a fantastic time while those of us who couldn’t make it are here wishing we were there and scouring the comics news sites for anything interesting being announced at the show. For those of you who aren’t there and are reading this… have a great weekend.

This is Entry 406.

Mike

I felt like taking a little break from drawing the bounty hunters from TELLOS for at least a day. My usual fall-back favorite thing to sketch when I want to do something quick is a woman in a space suit on a relatively barren and foreboding alien world. So I figured, why not go with that again for today…? I like women… I like science fiction… and I like space suits. So with all that in mind, I’ll leave you with today’s young lady on a strange world somewhere in space. I’m going to keep it brief and do a fast in-and-out today. I need to get to work, and this sketch took me longer to do than I thought it would. So much for something quick as a fall-back… 😉

Have a great day, all.

This is Entrty 405.

Mike

Today’s sketch is another of the bounty hunters first introduced in TELLOS #3. This time, it’s D’NIKAY– part monk, part mercenary. Of all the ‘hunters sent after JAREK and the gang, D’NIKAY has, I believe, the greatest sense of right-and-wrong. TELLOS is a tough world, and people have to do what they have to do to survive– to make a living. Though D’NIKAY hired himself out for jobs like the one MALUSUR sent him on, though, he still had a feeling that –during his tussle with JAREK in the ‘hunters’ attempt to take the amulet and bring the gang before MALESUR– to actually hurt JAREK would have been wrong. The fact that, by accident, he actually DID hurt JAREK and indeed put the boy’s eye out with his unusual staff alarmed D’NIKAY as much as it did KOJ and the gang. This led to some of the most emotional scenes from that first series. Todd’s wonderful character development and emotional writing made these types of scenes a joy to illustrate. In his afterward in the TELLOS COLOSSAL hardcover hitting stores next month, Todd describes the creation of D’NIKAY (so I’ll leave those of you interested to read it there)– but there’s one thing he left out– or perhaps didn’t know about. The design for this character was actually done by Dave Johnson (you can find his link in the PLACES sidebar to the right). Dave was a member of the studio I was a part of for about a year, and he was very generous with his time, his designs and his art. I was struggling for a design for D’NIKAY…. and Dave simply walked into my office one day and gave me a sketch he’d done as an exercise. I thought it was perfect, and so I used it. That was just one of many different sketches and pieces of art Dave gave me during that year… as I said, he was quite generous.

You might notice, if you refresh the page a few times, that there are several new banners in the rotation at the top. Late last week, I got an email from a fellow named Justin Stewart, a freelance designer/web comic artist. Justin had created 4 new banners for the site on a whim and offered them to me to use if I wished. I thought that the designs he came up with were terrific– both well designed, and very clever. So I told Justin I’d be thrilled to use them. Justin– thanks so much, man. That was a very pleasant surprise… and great work….!

OK.. that’s it for the start of another week.

This is Entry 404.

Mike

Today’s sketch is of HAUSER— the leader of the bounty hunters sent by MALESUR to confront our heroes and wrest from their control the mystical amulet (which was really the centerpiece and focus of the entire first series) in TELLOS issue #3. HAUSER is a pivotal character to the story of TELLOS in many ways. He came very close to killing KOJ in issue 5– which set up what I would call the ‘interlude’ issues of #6 and #7. In those issues, things slowed down as the gang waited to see whether KOJ would indeed live or die from his wounds. We got a lot of insight into the relationships some of the characters like SERRA and HAWKE had that had only been hinted at in earlier issues. It also brought THOM the wizard back into the picture to lay out the path for our heroes that sent them toward their final confrontation with the dark young wizard MALESUR. We also saw MALESUR’S…. reaction… toward HAUSER due to his failure to capture the all-important amulet. Anyone who has read the subsequent prestige format one-shots and the TALES OF TELLOS mini series will know that HAUSER continues to play an important role that will have repercussions well into future stories. (And those of you who might NOT have read these stories… well, what are you waiting for…?)

Speaking of TELLOS…..

LOOK WHAT I’VE GOT….!!!!!!

After Wednesday’s post, several people asked about the status of the TELLOS oversized (COLOSSAL) hardcover collection. Well, yesterday the FedEx guy delivered a copy to my doorstep from the folks at IMAGE. Needless to say, I was thrilled to open the package and see the hardcover in all its glory…! I can tell you this– the book will be in stores next month. Whether that’s the beginning, middle or end of August, I don’t really know… and I have to apologize for the delay. I just hope that everyone who’s been waiting thinks, when they see the final product, that it’s worth the wait. I might be biased (natch)– but I certainly feel like it is….!

And finally…

One of the sweetest surprises that came out of this past HEREOS CON was this portrait of my cat CHARLIE… with a fairy on his head… that my friend Karalyn Johnson gave me as a gift. I had emailed Karalyn a few pictures of Charlie many months back to show her what he looked like, and in one of them– the one she used for this cute painting– Charlie looked quite annoyed. It was as though he’d had just enough of me taking his picture. Karalyn added a fairy lounging on the top of his head… and I just thought it was a wonderful touch. I’ve known Karalyn for something like 13 years… and Karalyn… I just can’t thank you enough for this sweet portrait of my bestest buddy….! You can see more of Karalyn’s work at her web site HERE!

OK… that’s it for another week. Have a great weekend, all.

This is Entry 403.

Mike