Worse Than Ants

And here's the second and last part of what I've been calling "The Picnic Imperative." Of course, it's nowhere near as important as that, although a lot of stuff does seem to be happening around noon.

Keeping my "one panel, no joke" posting rule, I can't show you the first four panels, which I think have some pretty good comic timing in them. Trust me, though, they're comedy gold.

I also managed to finish this page long before 2:00am, and I always consider that a win.

Snow Day

Remember when Marvel did their Casket of Ancient Blizzards storyline? Oh, that was when people knew how to make crossovers. Someone in Thor, I think, opened up this magical casket and for the next month it snowed in the Marvel Universe. No massive crossovers, no special issues, just some snow in everyone's comics. These days, thanks to marketing and deconstructed storytelling, that story would be a four-month event. Yeah, things were better in my day, young fella, now get off my lawn.

Sorry, I'm a little punchy after staying up until 2:00am to finish page ten. Fortunately, I had NBC.com and the last four episodes of The Black Donnellys to keep me company as I worked.

Anyway, in this page Mark and Abby go on a picnic. Or try to.

And Now, Something For the Ladies

I just finished page eight, which means I'm one-third through the fifth issue. Yay, me!

Here we get to see Mark get up in the morning.

Obviously much of this is based on me, from the physique to the layout of the bathroom. The major difference is that my pajama bottoms of choice feature The Nightmare Before Christmas.

And don't worry, the scene gets much more interesting than just seeing Mark brush his teeth, as much as I might think that would be riveting drama.

This page came out pretty well, and I'm especially happy since I pencilled and inked it after a full day of outlet shopping in Pennsylvania. (Hey, I needed new Nikes and replacement for my old coffee maker.) A lot of times, that much driving and walking will make me want to collapse on the couch and watch 24 rather than block out and draw a page.

Special Appearance By...

Love and Capes is coming together, albeit slowly. Here's a panel from page seven, and I've got page eight already planned out. The book's starting to come together.

Sometimes I get bored and throw friends or actors into the strip. Gus and Shawn from Psych made it in last issue, and my friend Mike found someone with his name in the book, although he looked and dressed more like Johnny Smith from The Dead Zone. This page features my mailman, fellow Councilman, and friend Robin playing the part of, well, the mailman. To paraphrase Troy McClure, "It's the part he was born to play, baby!"

Map of the World… or at least Florida

It's been a while since I posted any actual artwork eye candy for y'all in a while. I've been busy with a lot of things, including Free Comic Book Day and, of course, my birthday, which I believe should be a national holiday. Hey, I just want you to get an extra day off. And if I get some cool stuff out of it (including a new George Foreman Grill, a spinning Spider-Man 3 webshooter, the complete run of the Battle Royale manga, a book on Viktor Schrekengost, and a lot of other neat things) so much the better.

But, one of my longer term projects has been a caricature map for some fine people in Florida. These are as much craft as art, as it's not just simple cartooning, but also getting the layout and scale and map elements right. There are legends and insets that my client will be providing, but my part should be finished, and I think it looks pretty good.

The Big Shirt Announcement!

You've been waiting for the announcement, I know. So click here and find out how to buy your cool Love and Capes t-shirt. (The image of the lovely ladies is a digital composite... I'm working on getting real samples on models soon!) I'm taking pre-orders now, and the shirts will be availablein sizes from Small to XXX-Large, and in time for San Diego.

The Sweet Elixir of Life that Men Call "Joe"

While you're waiting for the big t-shirt announcement, I thought you might like to see a panel from the new page of Love and Capes #5. It's a bit of a benchmark, as page six means that I'm 25% done with the book. (I think it's a statement of my general attitude, too. The optimist says "25% done" and the pessimist says "75% yet to go".) Even with the Secret Society of Super Reviewers looking over pages as they get done, there's still that three month period where I'm laboring in seclusion and that can be difficult. I'm looking forward to everyone seeing this issue when it's done.

Ironically, though, I broke the carafe on my coffee maker as I was working on this page. Not because I was working on the page, just during as I was trying to make some fine Lofsberg Lila coffee to take me through the night and I broke it. And worse yet, After-Prom season is upon me, and I'm definitely going to need some.

Ah, the trials of being a cartoonist.

Just a reminder, too, that the Saturn Awards are tonight, where they'll be giving out copies of Love and Capes. I've asked my contact there to see if he can get me a picture of the gift bags, preferably with Tricia Helfer in the shot, so if I get some photos, I'll post them here.

Oh My Goodness, It's Post #200!

The pages are coming faster now, which is good, as the deadline is coming faster, too. The book officially ships in early August, but I want to have them done for Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Today's page is another scene set in the Riki Tiki Tavern after the first night of Abby's play. Mark and Abby are discussing how they haven't seen each other in a week.

I've got page six planned out now, and it's always nice to finish a page and know exactly what you're doing next. Plus, I've finally figured out how to structure the ending of the book (I always know how a story is going to end, but I have worked out how it's going to play) so that's two more pages plotted. That means I have sixteen pages left to write.

It's like being 1/3 done!

Back on the Horse Again

After my brief sojourn to the city of Lost Wages, I came back and had to battle with the Dreaded Vacation Malaise. I just didn't want to do anything, probably exacerbated by the sinus infection that I'm fighting. Thanks to my steely determination, and the medicinal magic of my doctor, I think I'm through the worst of it, and I am back working at my normal clip.

So, here's your token panel from Love and Capes #5. The malaise was pretty bad… this page has been on my drawing table for almost a week. I couldn't figure out what I wanted Charlotte to wear for the longest time, or how to stage the scene or the jokes. The real breakthrough came Sunday, where I finally found my vibe and finished the page at 1:00am. Hmmmm, I also had my first cup of homemade (non-Starbucks) coffee since Lenth last night, too. Coincidence? I think not.

To further tweak your interest, today I have a Secret Meeting about a new promotion for Love and Capes. Hopefully, it'll go well and I can tell you about it soon. In the meantime, feel free to pray to whatever God, or Gods if you're a member of the Battlestar Galactica, that the meeting goes well.

Does Whatever a Sales-Man Can

It's been a while since I posted any actual artwork, so here's a heaping helping. I do covers for a company called HGR, which specializes in industrial surplus. I'm not exactly sure what that is, but if it means something to you, I'd certainly advocate you check them out.

Anyway, they do two covers a month or so, for a "buy" and "sell" catalog. Using head shots of their salespeople, and the fine cartooning skills of yours truly, we put together covers based on a theme they supply. We've done Las Vegas and Deal or No Deal and all sorts of other stuff. This month they said "Can you do a Spider-Man cover?"

Can I do a Spider-Man cover?

So, the cover features one of the salepeople as Spider-Man, and the others as villains from his rogues gallery. (Sandman, Green Goblin, Mysterio, Venom, Shocker, Scorpion, Doctor Octopus and Electro respectively.) For trying to work with nine different characters in such a small space, I think it came out pretty well.