I’m going to have to make this a quick on this morning…. deadlines are beginning to feel like a vise around my neck. I thought it would be interesting to draw a character that I’ve only drawn, I think, one time before. That was for the cover of a trade paperback collecting stories from several Marvel characters. I don’t remember the name of the trade… but I remember that THE PUNISHER was one of the characters I had to draw. Since then, though, I don’t think I’ve ever had the occasion to draw him for Marvel again. So for today’s sketch, I decided I’d draw Frank Castle… especially since he’s one of those dark, gritty street level characters I’m certainly not known for drawing. It’s also a BIT topical in that Thomas Jane has pulled out of reprising his roll as PUNISHER in the coming sequel. Since the first one didn’t do all that well, I don’t really see what the big deal is…. but I’m grasping at straws for a connection.

OK… back to the salt mines….

This is 379.

Mike

I’ve got a ‘CREATURE FEATURE’ two-fer for you today to close out the week. I very rarely give preview looks at anything I’m working on before the specific book ships. I don’t know why– lots of comic book artists with blogs will often show sneak peeks of the projects their working on as they’re laboring… but I’ve not done that much if at all. I thought perhaps I’d break that ‘radio silence’ for today— mainly just because I just designed these creatures and they’re fresh on my mind…. and if I don’t post them now, they’re likely to get lost in the reams and reams of sketches, layouts and thumbnails I’ve got stacked around here. If I don’t share ’em now, the could be buried for months before I come across them again.

I won’t give you any specifics on what these creatures are and when they appear… I’ll let you find out on your own. Or… maybe you’ll figure it out. That’s the fun of it.

OK… have a great weekend.

This is Entry 378.

Mike

Today’s sketch is a bit rough, because it’s a sketch for a potential alternative to the HEROES CON program book possibilty I posted earlier this week. Monday I posted a SPIDER-MAN BLACK sketch that might end up being the final piece…. but I also like this SILVER SURFER sketch. I drew it almost immediately after finishing the SPIDER-MAN sketch because I was feeling loose and warmed up and thought I’d try my had at GALACTUS’s former Herald. I liked it a lot before actually studying it — but now it looks as though the SURFER’S left leg is kind of mirroring the shape of his board. That could be a bit distracting… and I don’t know whether to change it or not. How about you folks…? Does it look odd to you?

OK.. sorry to have to jump out so quickly, but work beckons…!

This is Entry 377.

Mike

I’ve got two items to share with you today. The above sketch is something I’m thinking about working up for this year’s HEROES CON program book. Every year, Shelton Drum (HEROES founder — both the show, and the store HEROES AREN’T HARD TO FIND) has a theme for his shows and his program book. This year the themes are SPIDER-MAN in his black costume to tie-in with the SPIDER-MAN 3 film and SILVER SURFER in celebration of the FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER movie debuting this summer. It’s also HEROES CON’s Silver Anniversary. 25 years of the most fun, fan-friendly comic book show in the country. That’s one heck of an accomplishment. This will by MY 22nd time at HEROES. I went to my first HC back in 1985 with my buddy Paul Rogers– who now owns his own comic book store back in my old stomping grounds of Lynchburg, Virginia. We were both enthusiastic fans back then… and now we’re both grizzled old veterans of the comic book industry. There wasn’t a show in ’86 (never knew why…) but I’ve been there for every show since its resurrection in 1987. That’s a lot of HEROES CONS.

I got a wild hair this past weekend and decided to try coloring the FLYBOY sketch I posted here last year (March 9, 2006 to be exact). I always liked the way that sketch came out and I’ve always had the thought deep in the back of my mind to color it. I’m so far behind in my deadlines on SPIDER-MAN/FF that I’m going to be working on the damned thing all the way up to the show this year… and I don’t see myself having the time to put together a sketchbook this year or work up any pre-show illustrations to sell. Things are just too tight at this point. So I’d like to have a large variety of prints to offer in case folks might be interested in that kind of thing. I thought that FLYBOY would work well for that.

My brother Matt– aka MAFUS– has started his own blog. I’m glad to see him do this… because blogs can be not only a fun thing to do– but can be at times cathartic. I know it’s been that for me on many occasions. Matt’s a great writer, and I’ve encouraged him to pursue that from time to time. I’d love to one day see him write his ‘great American novel’… or write comics. He’s full of terrific ideas and he has a great ear for dialogue. So go check out his blog… he’s just getting started… and I can’t wait to see where he goes.

OK… I need to get back to the grind.

This is Entry 376.

Mike

The weather this Spring has been, to say the least, wild. Especially for those poor folks in the mid-West. Perhaps I don’t pay attention to weather history– but it certainly seems as though this year’s season of renewal has been an especially violent roller coaster ride for the poor folks out in the middle of the nation. I really feel for those people. Around here, the weather hasn’t come CLOSE to the kinds of tumult they’ve experienced, but even here, the temperature swings and powerful thunderstorms we’ve experienced have been disconcerting. Warm Spring temperatures hit here before Winter was even finished, and everything came into bloom early. Then we were hit with cold temperatures and a hard frost that killed many of the early crops like Strawberries that farmers grow in this area. I have two young trees in the front yard (I wish I knew what kind they are…. I’m woefully ignorant of the flora around here) whose tender new leaves were killed by the frost, and they just look brown and ugly now.

It seems like we’ve finally moved into a steady temperature period now… very, very warm and frustratingly humid. North Carolina at its ‘best’. It’s all relative, though… again, I can’t imagine having to deal with the volatility of the weather of the middle of the country. I’m sure the people of Greensburg, Kansas would think I’m a spoiled punk for complaining about anything having to do with the weather here.

OK.. I gotta get to work. Have a great weekend, all.

This is Entry 375.

Mike