Variants on a Theme
Check out some of the awesome variant covers available for the forthcoming IDW run of Love and Capes!
The first DW-published issue of Love and Capes is in the Previews catalog now. Have I mentioned that yet? And that it's order code DEC10 0406? Hmm, I should make a note of that.
Editor Chris Ryall suggested that we do some variant covers for the issues. The first issue, coming out in time for Valentine's Day, has a retro Valentine cover that I designed. Chris and I were so in sync on this one that we independently suggested doing a Valentine cover as well as both referencing the I Choo-Choo-Choose You card from The Simpsons.
Mira:
Issue two will sport an awesome cover from Tom Beland, the guy who does the romantic comic that I aspire to. Of course, his is autobiographical, so maybe I can give myself a pass having not met his lovely wife. His cover is based on something that happens in the issue, so you'll have to check it out.
Pencils and inks by Mr. Beland, and colors by me!
And, as Chris posted on his blog and later picked up by Robot6, I was lucky enough to get Darwyn Cooke to do a cover for issue #3. Darwyn's New Frontierwas a huge influence on me and Love and Capes. I kept the absolute edition next to my drawing table as I worked, so this is a huge treat.
There will be another variant for issue #4, drawn by my friend and phenomenal talent Chris Bailey. Chris was nominated for an Oscar for his Mickey Mouse cartoon Runaway Brain. He's worked on Disney films, and did the animation direction for the Garfield films, the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and the forthcoming Hop. He also mixes a mean mai-tai.
We're still working on that one, so I can't show it yet.
Issue #5 will have a variant by me again. Yeah, less impressive, I know, but this is going to be one of those "special" issues and I didn't want to hand that one off to anyone else. Wouldn't have been fair.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I actually draw some pages of the next issue. Yikes, that's coming up fast!
They Keep Pulling Me Back In
I did an interview with the lovely and talented Tim O'Shea over at Robot 6 about Love and Capes where I got to drop the news: Love and Capes is moving to IDW.
The new series, Love and Capes: Ever After, is a five-issue mini. The plan is to take a break after that last issue, because I've been going gangbusters on LNC for the last two years, almost non-stop. And before I sound like one of those whiny cartoonists who feel that publishing a book every three months is really hard, I'm doing it while working for a ton of other clients. If I could work on just Love and Capes, I could knock those issues out a lot easier.
In fact, that's one of the changes at IDW. The book is going to be monthly. Which is why the first issue doesn't come out until the end of the year. I need to get some runway behind me.
This is also the Love and Capes project that I've been alluding to but not talking about. In my head, it's kind of issue fourteen, and it's still how I'm numbering things in my internal files. But it's pretty cool to have a number one again.
I'm thrilled that IDW is partnering with me on this. And it's great to be able to keep going with the series. Now, you guys just need to keep reading.
Get To Know Me, Good Things Happen
So my friends at IDW are now a Diamond Premier publisher. Among other things, it means they're now in the front of the book, starting with the new catalog of Stuff Shipping in June, which comes out this week, I think.
In a completely unrelated story, among those first premier publishing solicitations is the second Love and Capes collection, Love and Capes: Going to the Chapel. Now, I'm not saying there's a connection, but those two events seem oddly connected, don't they? I mean, come on!
When you get your Previews catalog, be sure to order item APR10 0387, the snazzy new LNC trade. It's also available for pre-order on Amazon and you never know when they're going to have some crazy glitch sale, do you?
Wayback Wednesday: Bloom County
Here's another Joe Kubert class project. Here, we had to ape the style of a comic strip. I've mentioned before how huge a Bloom County fan I am, so it's no surprise I did Berke Brethed's strip. At the time, Clarence Thomas was being grilled by the Senate at his confirmation hearings on the way to becoming a Supreme Court judge. I thought this was a perfect 
topic for my strip.
I tried to do things like Brethed did. I inked with pen instead of brush. I used the photocopy/photo thing on Ed McMahon's picture. I even signed my name backwards the way he did.
The Sunday strip was out of continuity, as many Sundays were. The reference to Kent State's nursing school was a call out to a high school friend who was attending that program (and later graduated and became a nurse).
Of course, if you want to see Bloom County done right, be sure to check out IDW's beautiful Bloom County collections. The first one is out now, and the second one is soon to follow.
If you want to see it done by me, click and embiggen!
The Dark Bite Returns!
Solicited in the Previews catalog this very month is Weekly World News #2,published by IDW. (Hey, don't they publish some critically acclaimed superhero romantic comedy, too?) When I was in San Diego, I met Chris and professed my love for The Weekly World News and Bat Boy.
Pause. True story: One of the best Christmas presents I ever gave was getting my brother a subscription to said Weekly World News. It became the gift that kept on giving, as Mike would bring it over to my grandparents' house and it would make the rounds from Grandpa to Uncle Jim to Dad and so on. I think it became more popular than the Sunday Comics. And resume.
Chris was kind enough to let me do one of the alternate covers for WWN. We batted (hah!) some suggestions back and forth, and then I suggested this parody cover of The Dark Knight Returns. I think it turned out spectacularly and look forward to seeing it when it comes out in a couple of months.
Your Mileage May Variant
This was revealed by Chris Ryall of IDW over at CBR today:
There will be variant covers by guys like Joe Corroney (paying tribute to Alex Ross, who said he was amused and not offended by the cover, which shows what a good sport he is), Thom Zahler, and a couple other folk I’m working on. And we’re going to offer the first issue as a variant black and white issue printed on newsprint-type paper, to really use the “Weekly World News”-influenced cover to its fullest. And maybe even rope in fans of the paper who confuse the comic for a new print edition of the paper…
Is Love and Capes the Official Comic of Valentine's Day?
It's Valentine's Day, and I know what you want: More interviews with me. You can't get enough, can you, because I am apparently all over the place right now.
Over at Robot 6, which is an awesome site of awesomeness and you secretly hate yourself if you don't visit regularly, I'm interviewed by JK Parkin about Love and Capes. We cover things like the new Diamond minimums, Mark and Abby giving dating advice, my "process", such as it is, and more. Check it out here.
It's not a full interview or anything, but I am mentioned over at Whitney Matheson's online blog over at USA Today. Yes, that USA Today.
I'm also interviewed in something called "print" over at Comics Buyer's Guide. I did the interview a few weeks ago, so I honestly don't remember much of what I said. The CBG site is here, and the book is available at newsstands and such. Apparently the words "and the trade is published by the fine folks at IDW" didn't make the interview. So just print that sentence out, cut it out, and paste it in.
I was on the Dork Forest podcast, briefly. Hosted by Jackie Kashian, comedian (or is it comedienne, since I know it's not actress anymore... anyway, she's a funny person) has a podcast devoted to geekishness and such. Unfortunately, a technical glitch booted me from the call and we couldn't get back together. So, it's about ten minutes that ends as abruptly as No Country For Old Men.
John Siuntres, Chicago talk show host, interviewed me on the floor of the New York Comic-Con. John's always great to talk to, giving me the time of day long before I started Love and Capes. (I think it was 2:15pm, actually.) So, you can hear me babble about LNC here.
I've also mentioned the Raging Bullets podcast, I think, but let's mention it again given that this is a bag of listings. Sean's a great guy, and obviously a DC fan. It's great to chat with him.
Post #700, The One Where I'm Boring
Yup, it was another day of watching a little gray bar fill up on my Mac. This says 44 minutes left, but when it started it said ten hours. I'm transferring the final print files, with revisions, over to IDW. Turns out there were a couple of spelling errors in the book. Who knew?
Actually, I fixed the ones I knew about for the trade. The ace proofreaders at IDW found a couple more though. Turns out I can't remember how to spell the word villain. Who knew?
A little more
Still not saying what the mystery cover is, but here's a little more of the image, and now in color!
Cover Story
So I'm doing a cover for someone. 
I will tell you that it's for IDW, and it's a licensed property. And I'm just so jazzed I get to do it.
If this one gets approved, I may be doing many more, too.