Commishalicious

I did a boatload of commissions at Mid-Ohio-Con this weekend. According to my list, I did a couple of Power Girls, a couple of Supergirls, an Alfred E. Neuman, a Wesley/Fred/Ilyria, an Abby from Love and Capes, an Elektra, an Amazonia, a Devil Girl, and a caricature/wedding sign. Whew! That was a lot, and that doesn't include any quick head sketches or the inevitable things I forgot, too.

I took some photos of a couple on my wicked cool iPhone, and some are being sent to me so that I can color them and finish them up. I'll post them over the next couple weeks and show them off. Some of them came out particularly well, and they were all fun. In particular, I really liked this Devil Girl I did. It was fun having a generic theme, rather than a specific character, and playing in that world.

The other commission here is Power Girl, and she's always fun.

Ca-ching!

Some of you may remember the tragic lunchbox story from last year. I made some money at the show, and proceeded to lose it in one of the non-fun, non-gambling ways. I left it somewhere and I don't know where.

Well, I can say now that my earnings from the weekend made it back, and are now safely stored at my bank.

Although, these days, that may not be all that safe.

More Than One Way to Skin a Catwoman

One of my Baltimore commissions got posted yesterday. It's the first of many Catwoman pieces that I did over the weekend.

You can view it, and a bunch of other excellent drawings at the statueforum.com board.

Life's more painless, for the brainless

The hard part in starting Love and Capes is always the first few pages. Getting back on that horse is always rocky and hitting my stride is rough. Hence why when my non-LNC workload spiked over the last couple of weeks, it was a little too easy to put it off.

But, I'm back plugging away and I think I'm good for the next few issues. Right before I went to bed, I had an epiphany about page four which I jotted down on my shower wall with my bathtub crayons. I didn't want to forget the note. I have to say, though, that it is kind of horror-movie-esque to wake up in the morning and see DOES HE NORMALLY KEEP SECRETS? scrawled in green crayon when you stagger to the bathroom.

And yes, here's Mark drinking, beer even. There's been a lot of hubbub and hulabaloo about the recent Action Comics that was pulped because it showed Superman drinking a beer with his Dad. Now, I'm convinced it said ROOT BEER, not BEER on the artwork, and Clark is 29 and can have a beer with his father if he wants. But my friend Paul Storrie (click here to read his blog, and maybe then he'll post more) and I discussed it in the course of one of our regular phone calls, and he won me over to the "Superman shouldn't be drinking beer on the cover of a comic" side of things. He's right, it's just the smart move. And a good lettering job would have prevented all of this.

Speaking of which, I'm more offended by seeing the bad Photoshop job that DC did to fix it. It offends my artistic sensibilites. And, Kansas is Midwest America, and I'll bet they call it "pop" and not "soda pop". Heck, it should have been Soder Cola.

Now, I'm an Ohio Boy, but I admit I do call it "soda". Three years of internment in New Jersey beat the "pop" out of me.

Anyway, here's the panel from page three. And there are two reasons which you'll see when you read the comic why it works.

Reason #1 to Buy the LNC Trade from IDW

First, let's recap the previous answers:

10. If you don’t buy it, Memphisto may erase Mark and Abby’s relationship from existence. Don’t let him win!
9. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have identical positions on Love and Capes.(Neither have read it.)
8. It’s on page 293 of Previews, and you know they only put the best stuff there.
7. Gail Simone says, "A book full of rare delights–bright, lively art, a fun and clever story told with perfect pacing…Thom’s doing great work on an irreplaceable book."
6. Every time you buy a copy, a Victoria’s Secret Angel gets her wings.
5. Kurt Busiek’s one thing, but how many people get the coveted ANN Busiek recommendation?
4. Remember how you said you’d wait for the trade? Wait’s over, champ.
3. No crossovers. No angst. No pointless deaths. No kidding.
2. It’s easily 100 times funnier than that Seinfeld/Gates commercial.

and finally, the number one reason to by the Love and Capes trade.

1. It's a good book and you'll like it. What? Is there a better reason to buy a book than that?

Diamond Previews order code SEP084142E.

The devil will drag you under by the sharp lapels of your checkered coat

Here's a panel from page two of Love and Capes #9. It's blissfully opaque, so what's going on won't be clear or spoil anything. It does reveal one of my favorite super villain names ever, "Isle Robot." I've read that Isaac Asimov was a fan of puns. I'd like to think somewhere he's laughing, at least a little bit.

I think the colors and the drawing seems to be working pretty well. There's always a fear that I will have a couple pages of getting up to speed, and I think I jumped in from my month-long break pretty well.

Sketchtacular

I was asked by the Midwest Comic Book Association to do some sketch cards for their upcoming comic con and charity auction. The show is the same weekend as Mid-Ohio-Con, and obviously my heart belongs to the big MOC, I don't mind doing some art for a good cause. (I also don't mind saying "no", just to make sure that I don't get innundated with requests for free stuff.)

So, I did five, two of Amazonia, one of Crusader, one of Abby and Mark, and one of Darkblade. I've cleverly posted the artword here. Click and embiggen for your viewing pleasure.

If you're in Minnesota, as some of my friends will be, check out Fallcon. Of course, if you're in Columbus, come by and see me at Mid-Ohio-Con, too.

Reason #5 to buy the LNC Trade from IDW

5. Kurt Busiek's one thing, but how many people get the coveted ANN Busiek recommendation?

Diamond Previews order code SEP084142E.

"Love and Capes is warm, witty, clever andlighthearted without being empty-- there's real, satisfying emotion underlying the comedy. It's one of a very few comics my wife tries to steal from me so she can read it first."
Kurt Busiek
Astro City, Superman, Trinity

"Damn straight it is. And what do you mean, 'tries to'?"

Ann Busiek

They say it’s better the second time/They say you get to do the weird stuff

Yeah, I'm starting Love and Capes #9. When these things first start, it's like pushing a boulder the size of Jupiter up a hill. When it finishes, I can't think about anything else. But for now, I'm in the hard pushing phase of things.

This image from page one, and one of the few you'll be able to click and embiggen, is not going to make any sense. Amazonia kissing Mark? IS it a flashback, a hoax, a dream? Well, you'll have to read the issue to find out.

As I did last time with these page-by-page postings, I'll be headlining these with some song lyrics. Every eight will have some sort of theme to them. In case you were wondering why I have such an odd header up top.

All right... to the drawing table! Let's knock another one of these out.

Reason #6 to buy the LNC Trade from IDW

Every time you buy a copy, a Victoria's Secret Angel gets her wings.

Diamond Previews order code SEP084142E.