My Regular Con Carry

Following up on our discussion on the last episode of Comics Assembled (Wait, you're not listening to Brian Ward and me talk about the business of comics every week? Shame on you! Check it out here right now.) I thought I would post my regular Con Carry. All of this lives in my Brenthaven shoulder bag so that I don't have to worry about remembering it. It's always stocked with these things, which are duplicates or travel versions of things I have in my studio. Buying two things is sometimes much easier than remembering to bring one.

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A. Pad of lined paper. Great for writing lists, keeping track of commissions and more. I'm partial to college ruled white paper, particularly the Tops Docket Gold pads.

B. Clipboard. Having a solid writing surface makes marking things down easier anywhere. During shows, I clip my tally sheet to it and I can mark everything down while standing.

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C. A folder. This one is a way-cool Rocket Raccoon Guardians of the Galaxy one. But hey, My Little Pony, New Kids on the Block, Transformers, whatever your deal is, it's all good. I keep my frequent convention needs in there: Travel documents, sales permits, letter and postcard stamps, a couple of blank checks (for signing up for next year's show) as well as…

D. French curve. I use this all the time drawing commissions. It's an art supply, but it fits better here. And…

E. Circle template. For the same reason.

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F. Small notebook. Conventions are full of new action items. "Remember to send this editor a pitch." "Remember to mail this out." And I frequently get new ideas, too. This little book is perfect for idea capture at a show.

G. Passport. It's got to live somewhere, and if I'm traveling I have this bag. On top of that, if I lose my regular ID, I've got a spare to make sure that I can still get on a plane.

H. Business cards. I carry a lot of these a lot of places, including Moo Cards on my keychain, but having these here means I never don't have them.

I. Pens. You'd think I wouldn't forget them, but it's really easy for me to accidentally throw my pens into my lunchbox art bin. So I make sure I have a few that stay in here. I'm a big fan of the Sarasa gel pens and Huntington Bank gives out the best ball points.

J. Square Reader. Can't live without this. It lets me take credit card sales at shows. It has revolutionized con sales altogether. I actually keep a couple in my bag, just so I can have a spare in case one breaks, gets lost, or I need to lend one to a friend. If you do shows and you don't have one, get over to Squareup.com right now!

K. USB car charger. I've always got this bag when I'm traveling, so having a charger to plug my iPod into is great to have and not have to remember. You can get these just about anywhere, including Amazon.

L. Mophie. It's a battery case for my iPhone. I usually only need this when I'm on the road, so it lives in my bag. Get the right one for your phone. You won't regret it.

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M. Cocoon Grid-It Organizer. I first heard about this from the estimable Andy Ihnatko. This is a board with stretchy straps on it, allowing you to store all sorts of things. The advantage of this system, rather than a plastic sandwich bag, is that you can see everything you have at a glance. No more bringing two cords because you couldn't tell if it was already in the bag.

N. Apple Charging Plug. This is an Apple product, and I have several from several Apple devices, but you can plug any USB charger into here.

O. iPad Charging Cable. I still have an older model iPad, pre-lightning connector, so I have a cable for that.

P. Micro-USB Charging Cable. I could have a regular charger cable that ends in a USB, but this one has a plug. I don't know where I picked it up, but it's great. It charges my Kindle and my Mophie.

Q. iPhone Charging Cable. Apple switched to the lightning connector, so I got this spare one so my phone always has juice. This is a six foot cable which means it's really easy to make sure it sits on my nightstand in a hotel no matter where the outlet is.

R. Male to male audio cable. Most rental cars have an aux jack, so with this I can easily plug my iPhone in and play music or podcasts.

S. Audio cable extender. Because Apple moved the earphone jack to the bottom of the phone, Mophie had to start including this so that the earphones could still connect through the longer opening.

T. Apple earbuds. I love my Apple earbuds and have a few pairs. It's great to be able to listen to stuff on the walk to the Javitz Center, play podcasts as I do the treadmill, and take calls easily in the airport. lThese have a microphone on the wires as well as a click button that let me use Siri, answer and play messages and more.

U. Audio splitter. This little dongle allows me to plug in a second headphone into my headphone jack. So when I'm traveling with a companion, I can split the audio so they can listen to whatever burned video I'm watching.

V. Lanyard. Cons don't always provide lanyards, or sometimes they're uncomfortable. So I make sure to have a backup one in my gear.

Love and Capes Boston Print Process

If you've been following me on Twitter or Facebook (and if you're not, you should be) you know that I've been trying to do three extra con prints for cities that I'm not really doing shows in to pad out my forthcoming con print postcard set that will debut at Emerald City Comic Con. I got the third done today, so now I have prints for Boston, Las Vegas and Cleveland should I ever do shows there and an even twenty postcards in each package to boot. So this is my Boston print. People have asked me to share more process stuff, so here's how these happen. Click on any thumbnail to see a bigger version.

First, I ask around to see what local landmark I should do. I stay away from things with logos or copyrighted images trying to keep with things that are in the public domain. Asking locals and travelers gives me a good idea for what they would like to see featured. So, I was worried about doing the Space Needle for the first Seattle print because everyone does the Space Needle. But, that's what they recommended. My very first one, Charlotte, was inspired by a friend telling me about the Queen Charlotte statue at the airport. And I wouldn't have known to do the Saturn V rocket (or that it was no longer exposed to the elements) without asking for local Houston advice.

Here, Lora Innes, historian and the talent behind The Dreamer , said "Do the Paul Revere Statue in front of the Old North Church." It seemed a better fit than the Zakim bridge or anything else. So I started Google searching for photos until I found enough reference to start.

Once I find one, I start doing the rough. I often do the tracing paper and pencil thing, but I want to learn how to use my Cintiq better, so I roughed it out on there. I wanted to ink it on the Cintiq too, but I wasn't happy with the results. So I kept with the pencils. I made them into a non-repoducing blue color, so that I could print them out on good board and ink them.

I took those bluelines and placed them in the Adobe Illustrator document that has the frame of the print. Then I inked the technical stuff in Illustrator. One of the conceits of the style of Love and Capes is that most things are inked with a French curve instead of a ruler, giving things an off-kilter cartoony look. Doing this part in Illustrator allows me to make exactly the large curves that would take a couple passes and some effort with the curve.

Super techie stuff now: I expand all the lines to become editable shapes, and I tweak the shapes with the direct selection tool. This lets me get a little more character into the mechanical ink lines and emulate a hand drawn look where I could change pressure on my pen and get some "pop" to it. This is also where I do a lot of lettering.

On this, I inked the statue base, but not the church itself. The church's lines were small enough that it would be easier to do those with the French curve.

I print this hybrid out onto a piece of Canson Smooth Bristol using my Brother 11x17 Multi Function Printer/Scanner . The statue base and the frame print in black. Everything else is in non-repro blue.

I ink most of the piece with a Raphael #2 brush . For this one in particular, I called up a lot of Bill Waterston's Calvin and Hobbes art to see the brilliant way he handled foresty background. I used him as a guide for inking the trees and leaves.

The church was inked with the aforementioned curve and a variety of Microns . I really like these pens. They have a hard felt tip, and I can vary my pressure and get an interesting line. They're also cheaper and travel much better than the rapidiographs that they replaced in my artbin. (Or, in my case, Superman lunch box.)

With everything now black and white, I scan it back into the computer. The non-repro blue lines don't scan, and I adjust the grays and blacks until I get a clean black and white image.

I don't use a flatter or do the traditional system of coloring the background first. A lot of Love and Capes is from a preexisting pallett of colors. The red and gold in Mark's uniform is always the same color, same for Abby's hair and skin and so on. I use an insane number of layers until I get the piece mostly where I want it. I'll adjust hue and saturation to test some colors, like with the sky or Abby's outfit, until I find what makes the image pop.

From there, I create a shadow layer set to multiply and use a transparent deep brown to create the darker tones. And then I create what I call a "patch" layer on top of all the colors (but below the inks) and I zoom into to "actual pixels" and then I sample the colors and patch any places where I've gone too far outside the lines.

I select the black lines and make them a rich black, and with those selected I start coloring some of those black lines for added depth. So, Mark and Abby and the statue are the rich black, the trees and backgrounds are a deep brown, and the church is purple to really throw it back.

The last thing is, before I go to print, I'll add a copyright notice with my website. I save a flat version so it's smaller and easier to send. And done!

Simple, right?

Triple Shots Still Available

Four Triple Shots are now available! Get them while they're hot!

Character

BRAND-NEW Love and Capes for FREE! (Because I love you all.)

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and there should be something I could do with Love and Capes. Maybe I could give it away? Nah, that would be stupid. I couldn't… could I?

HECK, YES I CAN!

For three days only (February 13-15), the great people at The Mary Sue are hosting an all-new, original Love and Capes digital comic! This six-page story is not a preview, not a part of the new IDW series coming later this year, but a brand-new story. It's an unlocked, shareable PDF file suitable for downloading and sharing. So, you know, download and share. And enjoy.

In fact, the only thing I ask is that you do share it. Share it on Facebook, on Twitter, on Google+. Tell your friends. Give it to your siginifcant other. But share, share, share!

And it's only available until Wednesday night!

(Also, for those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook, this is the Project: Super Secret Ghost Protocol that I mentioned.)

And thank you again to The Mary Sue for hosting the story.

Memories of the Future

Wil Wheaton and I have a hate/hate relationship.

He and I have a lot in common. We’re about the same age. We both have brown hair and brown eyes. We’re both ruggedly handsome. And, in 1987, while Wil was the youngest member of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was the youngest member of the Starship New Promise, a Star Trek fan club.

Oh, and we both seemed to wear a lot of sweaters.

So it’s no surprise that my friends in the Trek group teased me by calling me “Wesley” and I grew to really hate that character.

There’s a thing that happens with actors and their parts. You know the actor is only playing a character, but since that character is all you have to go on, you do blur the two of them. So, my disdain for Wesley was transferred to Wil.

Wil and I grew up. Wesley got a real promotion and eventually left the show. But I always associated some of that Wesley Ick with Wil.

Then, a few years back, I found Wil’s blog. It’s why I tell you about how I felt towards Wesley and the actor who played him. I had a fair amount of irrational predisposition to dislike the blog.

What I found there was an surprisingly honest accounting of being a creative person. He wrote about the difficulties of writing, what he had to do to bring a character to life. I’m stupid for behinds the scenes stuff, and he was delivering it gangbusters. It wasn’t long before, solely through the strength of his writing, that he won me over completely.

So now he’s written a book. Another book, as he’s written a few. This one is called Memories of the Future, and it’s his recapping of the first half of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Hmmm, more behind the scenes stuff. Wonder if Im going to like it.

He’s described his book as “looking through a yearbook and saying ‘Oh my God, can you believe we thought that was cool?’” That’s a pretty accurate description of the book’s vibe. It’s irreverent fun.

I’m a big Star Trek fan. There are parts of that show that have actually defined my life. I once turned down a big job by quoting Kirk in Generations when he told Picard to not do anything that got him out of That Chair. As such, I’m sensitive about people hacking on the franchise too much. (Except for Voyager and the first three seasons of Enterprise, but that’s another story.)

It’s very much “nobody picks on my brother but me.” Wil’s part of Trek, so he can deconstruct some of the early season missteps and do it without malice. The books a lot of fun, and I’m not sure anyone else could have written it.

Wil’s writing style is breezy in the best possible way. Each chapter is candy coated with humor over a solid center of content, and you wind up wolfing it down. Yeah, it’s literary Twix. And eI recommend it.

Here’s the thing that really impressed me, and why I’ve decided to devote a chunk of blog real estate to the former Sweatered One and his book. Wesley was pretty reviled, and Wil could have taken the tack of I read the lame lines I was given as best as I could, dudes, so deal, and he’d be more than justified in doing it. But he takes it a step further and shows, from a writerly point of view, why the character was so unsuccessful.

That shows a pretty impressive intellectual honesty.

The first volume takes covers Encounter at Farpoint to Datalore. He breaks down each episode with a funny recap, some insider’s memories, and a criticism of the episode itself. If you like Star Trek: The Next Generation or behind-the-scenes process stuff, I recommend it completely.

Like I said, I have a hate/hate relationship with Wil Wheaton. When I was younger, I hated the character he played and the teasing I got from it. Now, he’s been on Big Bang Theory, hangs with Felicia Day, and has a family that liberally quotes Monty Python.

So now I just hate him because I’m jealous.

Freebies For iPhones!

I haven't gotten the new iPhone yet (and will probably wait until next year to upgrade) but my Mom got hers, and she wanted some Love and Capes wallpaper for it. She's so nice. And it was a good idea, so you can now download iPhone ready wallpapers below or at the Love and Capes Download Page.

Love and Capes Loves Ladies!

I've been reading the silly "guys only" contest stuff at San Diego, and the Jake Gyllenhaal abs comments and all, and I've had enough. So, first 75 ladies who come up to my table at Heroes Con this weekend get a free randomly selected copy of Love and Capes. One per customer per weekend is all I ask. I'll be at booth SP-638 in small press.

Hmmm, I'm usually not that pithy. Still, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. I've got a box with issues 1-9 of Love and Capes. Come up, be a woman, get a book.

Someone Likes Melvin

I've mentioned that Bill Williams and I are competing in this month's Zudacomics competition. I'm probably going to mention that a lot more over the next month, so apologies in advance.

Lefty Films have already reviewed this month's competitors. Who got the highest grade? Well, modesty prevents me from saying, but not reprinting the review.

The Urban Adventures of Melvin Blank by Bill Williams and Thom Zahler
Unique. Intriguing. Fascinating. The cliche of a man in a boys body and mind is nothing new, but the concept is executed brilliantly here. You don't SEE Melvin until the comic is almost done, and when you do - you fully understand in one panel who he is. Before his reveal, he is shrouded in shadow and there seems to be nothing special about his language or manners. But then everything changes in one frightening heartbeat. It feels like the teaser for an X-Files episode. This thing could go anywhere. The cartoony artwork only helps with the set-up, and the unsettling afterglow. The creators honestly know their sh*t.

GRADE: A+

Be sure to check out the whole review here!

First Mention of Love and Capes #10 in the Wild

JK Parkin over at Robot 6 gave some online love to the Free Comic Book Day issue of Love and Capes.

Thom Zahler sent me an advanced copy of Love and Capes #10…Page eight is hilarious, and pages 22 and 23 kind of choked me up. You’ll be able to get this for free on May 2, so definitely check it out.

Read the full article here. Heck, if you haven't bookmarked Robot 6 in your RSS-o-tron, you're missing out on comics reviewing the way Shakespeare intended it.

Also in the same article was this from Tim O'Shea:

I am jealous that you got a sneak peak of Love and Capes #10. Zahler deserves all the praise he gets for his work and much more.

I'm sorry, Tim! I thought you were on my mailing list.

While that mistake is being in the process of being rectified, if there's anyone else out there in the comics reviewing world, be sure to send me your information and I'll make sure to add you to my reviewers list. Just e-mail tz (swirly at sign) thomz.com.

Drobo Domo

I'm a huge fan of MacBreakWeekly. (Hey, there's a new episode recording tomorrow. Yay!) It's not just a good show for those of us Of The Mac, but it's also a good show because it's a good show with great commentators.

I've done little things before about them, too. Mark wears a TWiT sweatshirt in Love and Capes #2, and Charlotte drinks out of a MacBreakWeekly coffee mug in issue #4. I've even included Andy Ihnatko as a background character in the just-posted page one of the new issue. But I think I've hit a new level here.

Scott Bourne, photography and backup guy, has been raving about the Drobo. I think he's right to. As a backup nut myself, since my Big Crash of 2006, I really need to get one sometime this year since they make backing up so easy. Because of that, my brain just clicked a certain way and I started imagining a comic strip with Scott and his Drobo. I went ahead and did a couple of strips to get them out of my head and sent them to Scott, who liked them muchly. He's even called me out on Twitter for it, which I appreciate.

So, especially if you're a MBW fan, here's a sample strip, with links to the other two I did.

Strip 1
Strip 2
Strip 3