This will be my last post of this week. I’m picking up my good buddy and TELLOS-partner-in-crime, Todd Dezago, from the airport tomorrow around noon… and we’ll be heading down to Charlotte for HEROES CON in the evening. I’m really looking forward to the show this year. I’ll make an admission about HEROES: there have been times in past years that I’ve given serious consideration to not attending. NOT because of anything negative about the show itself or anyone associated with it– not at all. I think the main reason I considered not going those times was simply to shake things up. I’ve felt like the many regular fans who attend the show every year had gotten so used to seeing me there that it had become somewhat ‘old hat’ and rote after so long. Perhaps it was my imagination– but I could have sworn I could see a boredom in the eyes of fans who had gotten used to seeing me there. After 22 years in a row…. as both fan and pro… who could blame them? The past couple of years, though… I’ve been seeing many new faces and lots of enthusiasm. Not for me — but for comics in general. Maybe that’s an indication of a bit of a resurgence of the industry– I can only hope. That has made me feel energized about comics and the show as well. This year feels different as well because I’ve been an almost virtual prisoner in my home for MONTHS working on this SPIDER-MAN/FF mini series. It’s got to be the most labor intensive thing I’ve ever had to draw… and it’s been brutal. So I’m really looking forward to seeing many friends in the comics biz face-to-face– talking and relaxing with these folks. This feels like a much-needed vacation, even if it’s a work related getaway.

I won’t be getting home until Monday… so my next post will probably be Wednesday of next week. I MIGHT do a Tuesday and Thursday post next week… we’ll see. So– some of you folks I’ll see down in Charlotte… the rest of you I’ll see here next week.

This is Entry 389.

Mike

HEROES CON 2007 is happening this weekend… and so I’m juggling work and getting things ready for the drive down to Charlotte on Thursday. This is the 25th (Silver) anniversary of the show… and it’s my 22nd year in a row attending the convention. HEROES CON was actually my very first ‘big show’ experience. I had been to many one-day shows at small hotels over the years… but the show in 1985 was the first time I had driven any kind of distance to a larger weekend show in (what seemed like) a distant city. My old buddy Paul Rogers and I made the trek down from Virginia and were both blown away by the experience. We’ve both been back every year of the show since that time. I’m now a comic book artist– and Paul is a comic book retailer in our home town area. Comics have had quite an impact on our lives– and HEROES CON has been one of the biggest components of why we love them so much. It’s a show with a wonderful family atmosphere– and it’s comics-centric. Shelton Drum (HEROES founder) has had some media folks as guests in the past– like Lou Ferrigno who played THE HULK on TV– but these folks have always had a comic book tie-in. Even Rosario Dawson, who’s returning to the show for her second year in a row– and is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood these days– has her own comic book out now and is attending the show to help promote it. HEROES CON is a really terrific show– so if you’ve got the time, head out to attend… you’ll enjoy yourself for sure.

This year I’m not even going to try to take commissions for sketches at the show. Over the years, I’ve had more and more difficulty getting any larger sketches done as I’ve had more comics published– and had more folks bringing those comics to me to get signed at cons. It really hit home last year when I took on a list of about a dozen folks who wanted sketches done– and I only got 2 done the entire weekend. There are also a lot of folks who try to get free head sketches at shows. I stopped doing those for a few years as well– but last year, I offered a sketchbook for sale, and I told everyone who wanted a head sketch that I’d do one for them if they bought the sketchbook. It worked out well for everyone– and so I’m doing that again this year. This year’s sketchbook– entitled ODDS ‘N’ ENDS– is a more elaborate product. It’s 48 black and white interior pages with a full color cover– and perfect bound. Rico Renzi and the great folks at INDIGO INK DIGITAL PRINTING did an amazing job… the book looks amazing. I’ll be selling it for $20… and like last year, everyone who buys one will get a head sketch with it. I’ll also have some prints and a little bit of original art for sale… but not much.

OK… I’ll have another post on Wednesday– and then that’ll be it for about a week while I’m at the show.

This is Entry 388.

Mike

In a recent CBR blog ‘editorial’, Jerry Ordway writes about his feelings about the ‘darkening’ of MARY MARVEL. I have to say that I agree with everything Jerry says in his writings. It truly astounds me that it seems as though there are no characters to be spared a transformation to a dark, grim and ‘extreme’ version of their former selves. Don’t get me wrong– I enjoy comic book heroes being put through their paces and facing dark and foreboding threats. I can even appreciate the death of a character or the experiences of a character making them cynical, jaded and … yeah, dark. However, when the entirety of a comic book company’s line of books becomes some shadowed mirror of their former incarnations…I just get tired and lose interest in everything that company might have to offer. That’s what’s happened for me with DC’s books. When I see the image of MARY MARVEL being struck by lightning and transforming into some dark kind-of-slutty teenager in a black cheerleader’s outfit… it makes me wonder why.

I would think that with DC’s new MINX line of comics aimed at girls, MARY MARVEL would have been a perfect candidate for introducing young ladies to a more superhero-themed character. It really doesn’t do DC any good, in my opinion, to guarantee that women of any age will be repelled by their attempts to cater to the ever dwindling male fan base who like their female characters scantily clad…. and dark.

Am I an old fuddy-duddy for feeling this way? I don’t think so. I feel like I’m someone who likes to see some balance in comics that will help them grow… not keep on the path of becoming a prurient niche market.

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

This is Entry 387.

Mike

Long before the Brad Meltzer mini series that set the tone for supervillain anal-rape and murder at DC, there was another event entitled IDENTITY CRISIS. Back when I was drawing SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN in the mid-to-late 90’s, crossovers and SPIDER-MAN line-wide events were the norm… and they still are, so I suppose that for the major flagship characters at the Big Two things never really change. Events and crossovers sell, no matter how much uproar that might be heard from a vocal minority. I was a bit frustrated at that time with all the events being foisted on us that kept us from getting any personal creative momentum on SENSATIONAL…. but there was one thing– or PERSON, I should say– that made it tolerable and even fun: Todd Dezago. Todd and I had become fast friends working on the book together… and we had gotten to the point where we were talking on the phone just about every day about SENSATIONAL and comics in general. Todd was very generous with allowing me to have as much input as I wanted on the book… and so even though the event stuff was a bit of a pain, we always talked it out and found a way to make it fun for ourselves. That’s a situation that I’ve rarely– if ever– found myself in on any of the other major icon crossover events I’ve been involved in…. and that’s the biggest roadblock to having any enjoyment for me with those events. Having a rapport with the writer and being able to have a modicum of input makes all the difference.

I don’t recall all the specific details as to why– but SPIDER-MAN had to dump his red-and-blues for a new super-identity.. and he chose to take on four different guises (one for each monthly being published at the time…. natch). Todd and I got THE HORNET. That was it… no other specific parameters, just the name. So we started working out the details of the character and his costume. I had always been a big fan of YELLOWJACKET…. so I used that as a springboard/inspiration for the HORNET design. Since SPIDER-MAN can’t fly, we had to come up with a winged jet pack for him, some stinger gauntlets for a weapons system and a helmet that would allow for concealing his identity but allow for maximum visibility in all directions since he would be flying around at high speeds. In the end, I was kind of happy with the design I came up with. He ended up being half spandex, half mech. I don’t know what color scheme I had in mind for him at the time (if I even thought about it), but when I saw the purple-ish hue they gave him… at first I hated it. It grew on me quickly, though. In the end, the story was a fun one, and there were so many great scenes that Todd came up with for THE HORNET (as well as the wonderful characters stuff and sub plots we had going at the time) that I ended up enjoying the event quite a bit. Still– I was happy when Peter dropped the HORNET persona and went back to wearing his SPIDER-MAN costume.

It never gets any better than that classic red and blue outfit.

This is Entry 386.

Mike

I’ve been wanting to get my web site redesigned for a while now. After somewhere around 4 years of the original design, I had been thinking it was time for a change. That opportunity came a few months back when my buddy (and SPIDER-MAN/FANTASTIC FOUR writer) Jeff Parker forwarded me an email from Steven Gettis, who was interested in buying three HARRY POTTER sketches and a DON QUIXOTE sketch I’d done. Steven collects sketches of literary figures– writers and their creations… and he’s got a wonderful online gallery of these pieces you can find here. I knew that Steven had redesigned Parker’s site and did a really terrific job, and so I asked him if he’d be willing to do the same for me in exchange for those sketches.

Fortunately for me, he went for it.

I absolutely LOVE what Steven has done with this site. We decided on a ‘blog as main page’ format since that’s what most folks frequent the site for. For the sketches in each post, you can click on the image and it will open to a larger version of the sketch. If you’ll look around a bit, you’ll see that there’s now an archives section of all the posts I’ve made from the beginning of my blogging. I’ve had people asking me about that for a long time now… and it’s great to have that feature finally. I’ve gone through my files and uploaded the sketches from the past couple of years. Some of the older stuff I’m going to have to find and rescan as I can’t find them on my hard drive… but I’ll get it done relatively soon. Another function people have been asking for is a ‘trackback’ feature and/or an RSS feed for the blog… and now both are available. There’s also a search function that will allow you to search for posts/sketches by subject matter (SPIDER-MAN, for an example). I’ve got an extensive list of links to sites I frequent and artists whose work I love. In addition, there’re links to my DeviantArt gallery, which has more than 160 pieces up for you to see any time you’re so inclined, as well as my MYSPACE page and the folks at MOTHCOMIX.COM who sell some of my art. You’ll also notice if you refresh the page a few times that the site banner changes randomly. There are three versions now… and I may add or subtract from the group from time to time. The vertical row of image tiles in the middle randomly load as well to add to the fun. That’s the thing I love so much about this new design– it’s colorful, fun and much more functional and interactive. So Steven– thank you so much for this wonderful design… it far surpasses anything I imagined. You’re my hero, buddy….! This really feels like home, and I hope you’ll all feel the same way as well.

So take some time, look around… and I’ll see you here again on Wednesday.

This is Entry 385.

Mike