The Sounds of Silence
In some of the things I've read about Hollywood (at least Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The reason I bring this up, and created that horrible run on sentence, is because Love and Capes #12 is wrapping up. And I don't have any official word on if I'll be part of the 2010 Free Comic Book Day from Diamond, though I am very hopeful. Those two things combined, I'm not sure when I'll start the third "season" of Love and Capes. So each character's exit will be the last time I write and draw them for a while.
I've drawn the final scenes of all the characters except Mark and Abby at this point. I actually busted out two pages today, which is insane in a way I can't accurately convey. Especially when you consider that I mowed the 
leaves and caught The Men Who Stare at Goats today. That's an amazing burst of productivity.
I fully expect to have the last two pages done tomorrow, too. I'm aided by a big ol' splash that will take up a chunk of the last page.
Oh, now I've gone and spoiled it.
Here, I'm posting two pages. The Darkblade/Paul panel is actually silent in the issue. The Mark and Abby panel does have dialogue, but I've been creative enough for one day, and I can't come up with any fake dialogue for it. So deal with the sounds of silence.
Fighting for Screen Time
With four pages left, Jason makes his second appearance and his first speaking one.
I kind of feel bad for him. I had plans when I introduced him. He'd be filling the Charlotte role for Abby, but not know Mark's double identity and, as such, hilarity would ensue. He's had his moments, but other plots have taken on a life of their own, so he's had a lot less screen time. Still, I know his appearance here in #12 will make a bit of an impression.
Bonus points to anyone who can figure out what movie they're talking about. There is one.
Turning Left and Swimming With the Fish
Earlier this summer I illsutrated a couple of children's books for Roarke Publishing. They're for a series of books about "Jobs That Rock." The two I pulled were NASCAR Crew Chief and Animal Trainer. Honestly, cars and animals aren't my favorite thing to draw, but I think I did all right with them. And, now I can add "children's book illustrator" to my list of accomplishments, and that's pretty cool, too.
The covers are by ace comic book artist Ken Hooper, as best as I can tell. The interior illustrations, though, are all me.
I bring this up because I just noticed that they've gone to press and are available at Amazon.com! The books are part of a series, so maybe there will be one for some child you know.
Middle-Aged
I crowdsourced part of this page when I put out a call for cheesy pickup lines on Twitter, and Mike Hawthorne, way talented artist guy and person I'm friendly with, gave me a great one that worked just fine. And so, I present Charlotte and Blurstreak meeting at Abby and Mark's wedding.
This is page forty, 
and now I've only got five pages to go. I can't tell you how thrilled I am by this. I'm going to keep plugging away, and I'm hoping that I'll have it done early next week. When I was walking to vote yesterday, I plotted out the rest of the jokes/beats for the remaining pages.
Now, all I have to do is draw them. And ink them. And color them. And letter them. Easy, right?
Browns Town
I can't tell you what this panel is, but I can tell you what it's not. It has nothing to do with the Mighty Mighty Cleveland Browns.
Who are neither mighty, nor mighty. Heck, they're barely a professional team these days.
With this, I'm in the forties in the book. Just six left!
Dancing with the Super-Stars
As I've mentioned before, you need to follow me on Twitter.
I started drawing this scene from Mark and Abby's wedding, and I needed the name of a DJ. There's a group of brothers out here in Northeast Ohio that DJ events and do a pretty good job, so I got the idea to call it "________" Brothers. (Hey, it's like the Match Game!) I was going through a list of joke names and friends' names I could put in, and then I said "Heck with that!" And I twittered First person to Twitter me their name gets it placed somewhere on page 38.
Then Jason Wright tweeted back, and bam! We have the Wright Brothers Music and Entertainment. Their name will be on the sign. I don't know if it'll get a text mention at all, but I do now that the DJ will be in a scene or two that's coming up. Heck, with the way I'm busting out pages, maybe they'll show up today.
This Hawk's Now a Dove
Page thirty-seven is now done. While I was listening to the 15 Minutes with Mark Waidpodcast, which I recommend y'all listen to, too, I was reminded of another movie that I dig. So much so that I almost watched it last night, but I decided to watch the World Series. Sadly, I made the wrong choice.
So, that said, anyone know what song Quincy is slightly misquoting in this panel?
Page 36
I actually finished page 36 a couple of days ago. I've just been too busy, or maybe lazy, to post a panel from it. As usual, I had to erase the real dialogue and put something else in.
So Abby's speaking the lyrics to All You Need is Love by the Beatles. It's been on my mind because of the recent Blackberry commercial. I'm a die-hard iPhone guy, but these commercials really get me. I always thought of All You Need is Love as a romantic song, but here it's an inspirational one. The commercial has a bunch of people finding what they love and then mastering it. Yeah, it's a soft spot for a guy who loved comics and learned how to write and draw. So, if you haven't seen it, here's the commercial:
All You Need is Love, of course, also had a brilliant appearance in Love Actually. I can't link to one without linking to the other. It was also pretty awesome in the Cirque de Soliei show Love in Las Vegas. I recommend that, too.
The Big Mile Marker
I finished pages 34 and 35, and, while I'd love to show them to you, I just can't. You'll have to buy the book to find out. But, I've been posting an image for each page. Since I can't do it for this one, enjoy this one of Kayla Perkins modeling the new Love and Capes ringer shirt. (Which, of course, you can order here.)
Page 33
I throw a bunch of little things in Love and Capes to keep myself interested. Things like throwing Richard Castle references into the bookstore. One of the other things I do is draw people into the background every now and then. Here, I drew someone into the foreground. I went to Immaculate Conception church in Willoughby, and when I was in grade school, one of our priests was Father Jerry. I was lucky that Immaculate had a pretty good assortment of priests, and Fr. Jerry was one of my favorites. In thinking about it, his use of humor in homilies probably influenced a lot of my own public speaking style.
So, Mark and Abby are getting married, and I needed a priest, so guess who I put into the book?