Here’s the last illustration that I did before heading to HEROES CON. This time it’s of FLASH from DC. As most folks who are familiar with my work know, THE FLASH was my first regular assignment in the ‘Bigs’ starting back in 1993 (or was it the latter part of ’92….? My memory’s kind of fuzzy on the details). It was fun to do this piece…. and I often fantasize about reuniting with Mark Waid on either a short run (6 issues or so, maybe) or a one-shot on this first major character I worked on regularly for DC. The editors on that book– Brian Augustyn and Ruben Diaz– were wonderful fellas, and were very patient with me and allowed me to, in effect, learn on the job as I started on the first few of my 12 issues of work on FLASH. It would be interesting to go back now, with 13 or so years of experience under my belt, to take another crack at the Scarlet Speedster.

Or not.

This is Entry 253.

Mike

Here’s another piece that I did before heading to HEROS CON a couple of weeks back. It’s of the MAN OF STEEL out on a mission with his best friend KRYPTO. In all, I got seven pieces finished for the show…. and I think this is the sixth I’ve shared so far. Incidentally, this piece is also up on eBay right now. The picture of the piece, however, is not a scan, but a shot of it at an angle on a table… so here’s a better look at it.

I thought I’d share another piece with you today as well– a bonus bit, if you will. Recently, the talented and lovely Howard Shum sent me a scan of inks he had done over a sketch of SPIDERBOY I posted here not too long ago. Not only was I thrilled and honored that Howard would take time out of his busy schedule of writing, inking and producing comics and short films to do this, I really liked the results. So I thought I’d share it here with you. If you haven’t read Howard’s GUN FU comic that features a hip-hop speaking Asian secret agent in the employ of the British Queen during WW II, you should really seek it out. It’s funny and very well done.

That’s all for another week. I hope you all have a great weekend.

This is Entry 252.

Mike

I’d like to thank my brother Matt (aka ‘Mafus’) for stepping in on Monday and letting everyone know about my stupid ‘lawn mower blade-meets-cable line’ incident that deprived me of internet access for the past few days.

It was an interesting experience going without cable, internet and phone service (well, I still had my cell phone…) for almost 3 days. I certainly gave me the chance to catch up on a lot of movies that I’d been buying on DVD recently and not watching. So I watched SERENITY, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, UNDERWORLD: UNLEASHED and HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE. I also watched the DVD collection of a cancelled show called WONDERFALLS that my buddy Todd Dezago gave me for Christmas last year. I’d never even heard of the series (it was cancelled after only airing 3 episodes)…. and it’s a really terrific show. WONDERFALLS is fun and quirky — about a young woman, with a wealthy and loving (if somewhat weird) family, who works at a Niagara Falls souvenir shop and lives in a trailer park all in an attempt to avoid actually beginning her life and interacting with people in a meaningful way. However, when the wax, stuffed and cartoon animals that are part of the stock at the shop where she works start talking to her and exhorting her to do good deeds, her life changes drastically. There are 13 episodes on the DVD collection… and after watching them all, I’m a bit frustrated. The problem with getting emotionally invested in a well done yet cancelled series like this one is that once hooked and having watched all there is to see from this unfinished program– and becoming hooked on the characters and situations of the series– the lack of closure with the early demise of this little gem is a bit maddening.

Today’s sketch is one that I did a HEROES CON a couple of weeks ago. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to do completed sketches at shows these days. After about 13 years of almost constant work, there’s a lot of comics for me to sign at cons…. and that makes it almost impossible to get any commissions done during the show hours. I took almost 20 names on my sketch list this past HEROES, and I only got 5 done the entire 3 days of the con. This LARA CROFT drawing is one of those few that I managed to get finished. They guy who bought it was kind enough to send me a scan… and so here it is.

That’s it for today.

This is Entry 251 (not counting my brother’s picking up the slack for me Monday).

Mike

Hey, folks. This is Mafus. Mike asked me to let y’all know that he won’t be able to post for a few days. He had a terrible accident with his lawnmower while cutting the grass. That’s right. He cut the cable line going into the house. Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!!! Silly boy. He has no internet access, no cable TV and no home phone.

So, have patience. He should be back up and running by Tuesday evening or Wednesday.

You may now commence ta laffin’.

My buddy Jamar Nicholas has been creating a web comic called DETECTIVE BOOGALOO for several years. For most of that time, it was hosted on Kevin Smith’s MOVIEPOOPSHOOT site. Recently, Jamar decided to take control of his own destiny and launch the strip over on its own site that you can find HERE. BOOGALOO is a hip-hop styled strip about two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the law. James Lee Boogaloo wakes from an 11-year coma to find he has the powers of elasticity he received from a piece of radioactive cardboard while breakdancing. His brother, who goes by the name ICE TRE, finds his own piece of that magical cardboard after witnessing what happens to James Lee, and ends up with the powers to manipulate cold. TRE decides to use his powers for personal gain and ill-intent– while BOOGALOO makes it his mission to stop his little brother and becomes a police detective in their home of BLING CITY.

Jamar is one of the funniest, smartest and nicest people I have the great pleasure of knowing. We spend long sessions on the phone laughing and joking about anything and everything…. and I love every minute of it. DETECTIVE BOOGALOO is infused with Jamar’s humor and wit… and it’s a fascinating strip. His artwork reflects those same sensibilities. It’s wonderfully expressive, personal and yet highly accessible. His art is entirely charming but also has an edge that fits perfectly for the strip. DETECTIVE BOOGALOO is hip-hop mixed with super powers and police drama infused with lots of humor– and it’s not like anything else out there in the ‘web strip nation’. It deserves your support.

SO GO GET TO READING ALREADY….!

Have a great weekend.

This is Entry 250 (ANOTHER MILESTONE!!! Confetti and noisemaker time….!)

Mike