Ghost Riders on the Storm

I've mentioned any number of times the work I've done for Toon Tumblers. It really is some of my favorite stuff, and the glasses which I get from Paul and his company have become my "good China" here at Zahlerdu.

I believe, and don't quote me, that the New York show will see the debut of the following glasses: two different Ghost Rider glasses (apparently, the movie helped his Q rating), as well as glassed featuring The Fantastic Four, The Punisher, Luke Cage Power Man, Iron Man, and, of all people, Adam Warlock.

I'll be working behind Paul's booth a good chunk of the time at the show, but I'll also have Love and Capes issues #1-3 there, too. Be sure to come up and say "hi!"

More Behind Me Than Ahead of Me

I finished page fifteen last night. We're moving from the Arachnerd storyline to the Abby-trying-out-for-Twelfth Night storyline. This is the penultimate plot line in #4. This scene is also actually a great example of what Bob Ross called "happy accidents." Because of the ending joke in this sequence, I originally planned on Mark being in full civilian mode, with his hair brushed back and wearing glasses, but when I started drawing it, I forgot I had that in mind and drew him without. Since he'd just flown back from meeting the Arachnerd, I figured that he'd just throw on some clothes but not necessarily do the whole secret identity thing.

But, it worked out to make it even funnier. Of course, I can't reveal why these things play so well without ruining the joke, so you'll have to buy the book to see if it works.

Thom Zahler has nineteen days left to draw nine pages… with our Star Blazers.

Blub blub

I've wound up getting some Flash animation jobs over the last couple of years. Some of the longer ones have reminded me why I didn't go into animation as a primary career. It's certainly fun to dabble in (and if you pay me enough, I can always do it) but I don't have the patience to do anything lengthy.

Having said that, I'm working on a couple of illos for a local commercial, and I had to create an ugly fish. So, I present to you… Mongo, the ugly fish. If you can't see it, click here.

I'll let you know when the spot will air.

Just Sittin' and Veggin'

With page fourteen, the Arachnerd storyline wraps up, although he will be seen again this issue. After that, I decided we really needed to see Abby again, so Mark and she get some time to hang out in one of the more difficult standard set-ups: the couch. Why so difficult? Well, the style I use is kind of cartoony, and Mark is particularly broad and muscular, and Abby's kind of petite and short. So any time where they need to sit together or do something with the same props (like drink out of matching glasses) is always a challenge to make work.

In art school, I was taught that when you draw people sitting, draw the chair (or in this case, the couch) first and then place your characters on it so that they sit on the same plane. It sounds simple, but it's always a challenge and one that can get past you if you're not careful. There are a couple of scenes in Love and Capes #1 where I still cringe. And no, I won't tell you where those are.

I've settled on Abby being about a head shorter than Mark, as any more of a size difference makes sitting them together and look into each other's eyes almost impossible. With all that being said, I think it worked out pretty well.

You'll notice, too, that Mark's wearing a Deco City University t-shirt. I've settled on that as being his college. I was debating where else to send Mark to school. I toyed with Loyola and Wharton, but decided on the fictional DCU because… well, you know, I can't really say why. But it's actually a storyline consistency issue. I wrote a line in #2 that meant he had to go to college in Deco City. I thought about putting the logo for some show or band that I really like, too, but I thought that might be a little glaring in this scene. I'm not above it other places, though. I'm all about the advertising.

Speaking of which, there are ad spaces available in the Free Comic Book Day issue of Love and Capes. You can read details here, but basically, there are open full color pages on the inside that are going for $250. Per Diamond rules, the FCBD edition needs to be 32 pages, although it's okay if those additional pages are advertising or other pieces. So there will also be ads, a soon-to-be-announced contest, and a breakdown of how a page comes together, starting out in soap crayon on my shower wall and ending up on my computer.

The contest? I'm not going to say much about that, but if you must have a hint, dial 4 on your phone.

Thom Zahler has 21 days remaining to draw 10 pages.

I Know, You Know, That I'm Not Telling the Truth

My friend Amy noticed that I throw a lot of Easter Eggs and other hidden things into my comics. She's right as can be. I toss a lot of things just to crack myself up. Sometimes it's the name of a character, sometimes it's something in the background. And it's very rarely blatant. Sometimes I corrupt the name enough, or have a bizarre enough connection that no one except me gets it.

Here may or may not be such a case. I wanted some people walking by in this panel. I was thinking of drawing a couple, initially, but recently one of my favorite shows, Psych, came back on the air. It's not a show for the ages, but it's as fun as can be, and has a catchy theme song that you can download here.

It may be hard to tell, as this was the first time I really attempted to do a caricature of people in my Love and Capes style, but you should be able to look and tell that the people here are pretty obviously inspired by Shawn and Gus from everyone's "fake psychic/real detective" TV show.

And, for those of you keeping track: Thom Zahler has 23 days remaining to draw the last 11 pages.

Does Whatever a Spider Can

I slowed down a little bit, but now I'm back churning out the Love and Capes. Page twelve, for those of you math scholars out there, marks the halfway point in the fourth book. So, say it with me, preferably in that voice from the end of Star Blazers, "Thom Zahler has 25 days left to draw 12 pages."

Page twelve is the first actual appearance of the Arachnerd, although he does appear on a billboard and is mentioned in the third issue. (Wow, foreshadowing.) In fact, he's sticking to that very billboard for the Arachnerd movie seen in the earlier issue. You know why? Less to draw.

I'm also trying to texturize every different city. It's difficult, as I have about twelve pre-existing buildings that I use to make each city. Chronopolis has a lot of clock towers, hence the name, to differentiate it. Here, in the Arachnerd's home city, I'm trying to color everything in earth tones, including the sky, to get something different than that bright interesting Deco City feel.

I'm also including a close up of panel one. Here we see exactly how cool the Crusader is. Look closely. He's got an iPhone.

Page-a-Day

I don't usually post the fourth panel of a sequence, as it usually is the punchline for the gag, but I'm making an exception here. Why? Because the punchline makes absolutely no sense without the panels before.

It's also a silent panel, which I try to do every now and again, too. They're keep variety in the texture of the story, which helps keep things interesting. I worry that some of my panels get a little copy-heavy, so it's nice to know that I can pull these off from time to time.

With this, I'm done with the family picnic sequence of issue four.

Also nice is that it puts me two pages off my schedule, which is twelve pages a month. That's sometimes a feat with all my other projects, but I've still got three days in the month to do two pages remaining. I'd like to be further ahead, but keeping the pace keeps me from freaking out about my deadline.

"No!" Or, as the Germans say, "Nine!"

I'm posting two panels today. One is the representative panel from the just-finished page nine. Mark's mocking expression, by the way, is hands-down the hardest expression I've had to capture in a comic. And, it reinforces why I don't let people watch me draw. Staring into the mirror above my drafting table, making that look, trying to hold it and then trying to draw it… well, no one needs to see that.

I also do stuff to crack myself up. I put books I like or books by my friends (usually the same thing) as featured books in Abby's bookstore. Most of these get obscured by dialogue or are just too small to see. Doesn't matter, I still like to do it, and I like knowing they're there. Mark watches "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Stuff like that. In that vein, the second panel features my cousin's son Carter, who if we could tap the energy within him, Timberlake wouldn't need First Energy to provide power to the village. His brother, Aidan, makes an uncredited cameo in another panel, too.

My library of backgrounds in the book continues to increase, too. I did a decent sized forest/park background, and you might notice that it appears in both these panels, although flipped and color shifted and so on so it's not horribly noticable.

Hopefully I'll be able to get page ten done later today, too, which should be the end of the family picnic jokes. And only fourteen left after that!

Traffic and Other Steve Winwood Bands

I try to stay away from doing too many super-stunts in Love and Capes. My mental rule is "what could a sitcom's budget handle?" This one is as close as I'm going to get to doing superhero stuff in the book, I think.

Then again I could change my mind and do an entire issue that's one continuous fight scene. I'm flaky that way. (Just kidding. Heavy on the love, light on the capes.)

With this page I am officially one-third of the way through the book, too! Yay, me!

And, don't forget, Love and Capes #3 is available at your local comic book shop today! Not only is it all kinds of good fun, but it's got the funniest biography copy yet.

Kidifcation

I just designed a logo for Catapult Online for their Catapult Kids brand. I'd already designed the kids for their Holiday Card and mousepad jobs, and now they wanted them to become part of a new logo. The logo has more variants than a 90s Marvel comic. There are full color (pictures), limited color, two color, gray, and black and white versions, along with versions that include the kids and versions without.

My theory, being a former newspaper guy, is that no matter how cool your logo, eventually it's going to run an inch high in black and white on newsprint. So I always design with that in mind. Clicking on the large logo to the left will bring up the color versions, clicking here will bring up the black and white variants.