Variants on a Theme

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!

If Love Were a Red Dress

I love tackling other characters, but it's always a treat when someone actually wants one of mine. Here, the requester wanted Abby, specifically in the red dress she wore in issue #2. This was a lot of fun to do.

Building My Own Mousetrap

I do a lot of conventions to promote Love and Capes. I love doing the shows, but hauling my gear to shows is always an effort. For shows I can drive to, everything fits (albeit snugly) in my convertible. The worst for transport is, of course, Comic-Con in San Diego, where I have to ship things across the country. The biggest hassle, to my mind, is shipping my wire display rack. It's too large to fit into a suitcase so I have to ship it in a big box. The box isn't so much heavy as it is unweildly, but just its size makes it expensive to ship. I've been trying to find a better mousetrap, as it were. I haven't been able to find one, so I decided to make one. Here's what I wanted my design to do:

1. Fit into a suitcase, flat.
2. Be light.
3. Display a decent number of books.
4. Be sturdy.
5. Be disposable, so I can leave it behind if I want to.

Here's what I came up with. I'll need two of them to display the Love and Capes ouevre, but that's fine. It folds down to about 17" x 27", which does fit in my suitcase. And it's even got an area for signage at the top, where I'll put a price list. I think it came out really well, and I'm a little proud of myself. My Dad is awesome at building things, and it's nice to know that I've got a little bit of that in me when I need it. I'm also going to share it, under the Creative Commons act. I've had people say that I could sell these, but honestly, I'd rather make comics than stands. Besides, not everything's got to be about profit, sometimes you should just release some good into the universe, you know? If this design helps someone else, I'm happy to help. Here's a link to a PDF of my blueprints. I figure each one takes about $10-15 in supplies. You need a 40" x 60" piece of foam core board, an X-acto knife, a long ruler, and a piece of tape or Velcro. It probably takes 30-60 minutes to build. I laid out and marked up the foam core. Here's what the flat piece looks like. (Click any picture to see it larger.) Then I scored it so that the front panel becomes like a set of stairs. I scored the side panels so that it will fold up flat. You have to be careful while making your scores, though. The design has a lot of weak points while you're trying to fold it, although once it's complete it's pretty solid. I stress tested it for a day and there were no problems. It also has a slight lean to it, by design. This puts the shelves at an angle so that gravity can help keep the books in place. The stair shelf doesn't hold itself down at first. You need the books to force it into place, but after a couple of hours, it starts to hold its shape. And I put some Velcro on the back panel to make the final connection. You could use tape, too. You just need to have a knife to cut it when you're done if you want to reuse it. Here it is folded flat. And here it is with books on it. Pretty cool, eh? Oh, what the heck, how about a little shilling? Hey! Love and Capes: Going to the Chapel, the second Love and Capes collection is available in comic stores this Wednesday! Foam Core Display Stand by Thomas Zahler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.thomz.com.

It's Mocha Time!

Whew! What a week. And there's still a weekend left!

I did HeroesCon in Charlotte last week. Stories will follow, seriously, but I also needed to finish up the first issue of Love and Capes: Ever After. Yeah, it's not due out for a while, but it'll come out monthly, so I need to get way ahead.

So, today I finished the first issue. It was an odd process this time, as I took some tracing paper and the grid sheet… the same one I've used since issue #1… down to Charlotte so I could pencil pages at my table. Over the three day show, I did the three pages, so that I could bring them back and ink them on Tuesday, and start coloring thereafter. And now it's done. Yay!

I'll be starting on the next issue next week. After I appear at the Kids Read Comics event in Dearborn, Michigan this weekend. If you're around, come on by. It's my first year, but Top Men who have been at the event have raved about it. I'm looking forward to it.

Summertime, Summertime

Summer. Lost and 24 are over for good. Most of my other shows are on summer hiatus.

But, on the upside, maximum convertible days, so I've got that going for me.

Another FCBD Review

Tony Isabella, comics pundit and my friend, is reviewing all of this year's Free Comic Book Day books in a five part series. He's gotten to my Love and Capes #13 and has some nice things to say. Yeah, he's a friend of mine, but as I've said before, my friends usually have no problem letting me know when I drop out of line. Among other things he wrote about it:

Anyone who wouldn't want to buy this comic book after reading this free issue is to be pitied and maybe feared.

Read the full review here.

Gibbs-smacked!

Here, on page nineteen of the first IDW issue of Love and Capes, we get to see an old lady Gibbs-smack Paul LaCroix (Darkblade.). Yep, octegenearians beating up superheroes. Comedy gold!

Gibbs-smack, for those of you not in the know, refers to Mark Harmon's trademark whack-to-the-back-of-the-head move from NCIS. Usually Michael Weatherly's character gets the brunt of them. It's one of the endearing little touches to NCIS.

At since I've brought it up, I find NCIS and Donald Bellasario shows pretty interesting. He's worked on some popular ones Quantum Leap, Magnum PI, JAG, and even on the one-season wonder Tales of the Gold Monkey. I'm pretty sure he worked with Stephen J. Cannell, who's another favorite of mine, and it's interesting how he writes television shows. Most of them start off kind of rocky in the first season. I certainly didn't care for the first season of NCIS, I just watched because Mark Harmon is so likeable and because a friend of mine was watching it, too, but in the second season, things really pulled together. I think he figures out how to write for the actors he's hired after that first season.

He also seems to lose a character in the first season (Kate from NCIS, Harm's first partner on JAG, Dom from NCIS: Los Angeles) as well as introduce a minor character who goes to regular status after the first year (Tim on NCIS, Bud on JAG). And it can't be underestimated how he finds some really good actors to carry a show. Mark Harmon's my favorite, and if I ever grow up and can't be William Shatner, Mark Harmon's a good second. He's good in almost everything. I dug Reasonable Doubts, which I'm pretty sure I was one of the ten people who watched it, and his turn on West Wing as Agent Donovan was just brilliant. His target shooting scene still sticks in my head as both engaging acting and sparkling Aaron Sorkin dialogue. "I can fire a gun without falling down, if that's what you mean." I'd cast him as Jesse Colt in Raider, if that ever became a movie.

But David James Elliot really carried JAG, and I think Chris O'Donnell's built for TV. He's one of that class of actors that I just like everytime he's on screen.

NCIS certainly isn't the greatest show ever, and NCIS: Los Angeles is still in its growing pains season. But they're consistently good and there's a lot to be said about solid bat in your lineup.

Bringing Down the Thunder

Oh, snap. No you didn't!

In other news, page eighteen is done.

Fighting for Screen Time

I haven't been posting a lot of Love and Capes art here lately. Part of it is that I was crazy busy with getting the Captains comic done, and then all the traveling that followed. Also, I knew that I was going to be able to say, at long last, that the mysterious pages I was working on were from Love and Capes: Ever After #1, the first IDW-published issue of my superhero romantic comedy series. It was hard not saying anything about that.

So, I'll be more regular about it, I promise. Here's a panel from the new issue.

I wish I could tell you that the joke was completely made up. Sadly, I can't. Charlotte really does only appear in one panel in this issue. It pains me as much as it does you. In a lot of ways, Charlotte's my favorite character. But she didn't fit into the story, and there was a lot of story to tell. Don't worry, I'm not in any way writing her out. In fact, her arc will take her in a really surprising direction. Don't worry, though, you'll like it.

And don't worry, it does not, in any way involve a refrigerator. That kind of stuff doesn't happen in my books.

Caught on Tape: FCBD 2010