Youthful Indiscretions

Way back in my youth, I wrote comic book letter columns, and the one I frequented most was Nuclear Reactions, the lettercol for The Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Man. Writing letters to editors was a great thing back, and sadly, something that's faded because of space issues and the interweb. Back then, it was the only way to interact with the editor. It also was a way to find other like fans, as they'd print your address. I met a number of cool people that way.

Anyway, back in the eighties, Firestorm moved to Pittsburgh and the book changed. Different artists, the stories weren't as sharp… I just didn't like the book as much. But Firestorm was still my favorite character, so I kept reading and writing. My comments had both positive and negatives, and one of my frequent negatives was about the coloring.

At the time, a lady named Nansi Hoolihan was coloring FOF. She had a tendency to color the Pittsburgh skies red, even after the Crisis on Infinite Earths and its red skies of death. I remember taking her to task a few times for it, and I swear that there was an entire issue of Firestorm that featured blue skies because of my constant whining.

So, flash forward to now and Love and Capes. And here I am coloring the skies red. Over the last couple of years, I've been schooled in color theory pretty intensely. I'm not saying that I understand it completely, but better than I did back at the Kubert School, and definitely better than when I was in high school. I don't know if I just wasn't getting it, or if it was that I was used to the brightly colored Firestorm stories and the color pallette shifted intentionally when he moved to Steelers City, but I think I was unfair with her. So, if you happen upon this blog, Nansi, please forgive the ramblings of a sixteen year old Firestorm fan.

Now to the page itself: Page three is a Crusader/Darkblade scene. Love and Capes was designed as a sitcom, and the superhero chat scenes are designed to take place on a rooftop in Chronopolis. But, since I'm doing a comic book, two characters talking on a rooftop can be less interesting than two actors moving and talking. So I've tried to find "business" for Mark and Paul to be doing as spout reams of my dialogue.

This one is one I've had in mind for a while. They're leaping rooftops. It probably wouldn't work in live action, but in a comic I think it turned out pretty well. So well that I'm posting two panels, so you can see how they move. And make up for reading three paragraphs about my letter writing days.

I Could Tell You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

I still can't tell you what this Raider "wallpaper" is for, but I can still share it with you. The client wanted to have that old school newspaper feel to the comic, so I used a Photoshop effect to get the color separation dot pattern. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

As usual, click and see the entire wallpaper in its bigitude.

Wow, secret meetings, secret projects... I'm turning into an international man of mystery. But, I promise, as soon as I can say something, I will.

The Swing of Things

Yup, we're getting back to regular Love and Capes posts. Here's a panel from page two, where Abby and Charlotte are discussing Amazonia's book.

This page was kind of rough to write, as I had to toss in a bunch of exposition about Abby and Zoe's relationship, the book signing, and other things, but still cloak it as natural dialogue. I've promised myself I'll never write "as you know" and I'm proud that I managed to avoid it again.

Hey, only 22 pages left to go.

R.I.P. Mike Wieringo

I don't usually do the death notice thing, but for Ringo, I'll make an exception.

Mike Wieringo passed away yesterday from a heart attack. He was 44. For those of you who don't know, he was the talented artist on such books as Flash, Fantastic Four and Tellos. And he wasn't just a great artist, he was a great guy.

I knew him through a professional group I'm a part of, and I'm glad I got the chance to get friendly with him. When I first started working on Love and Capes, he took the time to comment on nearly every page. That's a great thing to do for anyone, made doubly because I was (and will always be) a fan of his work.

Newsarama has better and more full coverage up at their site. I just wanted to post my own remeberance, offer my condolences to his family, and add my voice to the chorus of people saying that he will be missed.

Once Again on the Merry-go-round

I'm back on the horse, metaphorically speaking.

I started Love and Capes #6 last night, and finished the first page early this afternoon. It's a splash page of Abby holding Amazonia's new book. Since I generally don't publish complete pages, I won't show you the whole image, but I can show the cover for Zoe's book. I had to design it as a separate image since it'll be appearing constantly throughout the issue.

In the Love and Capes world, Amazonia is kind of like Oprah if she looked like Heidi Klum and fought crime. She's not just a superhero, but a cultural icon and author. The main thrust of issue six will be Amazonia's book signing tour coming through Abby's store. It'll also be the impetus for some flashbacks to the Crusader and Amazonia''s past relationship. I think it's going to be the toughest issue to write so far, but I think it's going to have the best payoff, too.

Do You Promise Not To Tell?

The House of Zahler is turning into the House of Secrets.

I just got confirmation that I'll have to head back to LA in a couple weeks. Why? Can't tell you, sorry. But it's a good thing, and potentially a fantastic thing. But I promise, I'll let you know something as soon as I know something.

It makes me feel better about once again skipping WizardChicago, though. If I'd had three week-or-more travel events in one month, it would have been almost unmanageable.

I'd love to show you some artwork, and hopefully tomorrow I can show you something finished... like the first new page of Love and Capes #6. I did just do a huge piece of artwork for a frequent client, but I can't spoil anything for them by posting the finish.

Lest I leave you with nothing, though, I am posting part of the pencils of that piece. Where it appears and why, well, that's another secret.

Dead Trees Society

While I was in San Diego, I got a call from my art director at the Fort Worth Weekly needing a cover designed. When he found out I was on the Left Coast, he offered to find another artist, but I said that I could do it. Hey, work’s work, and besides, generating revenue while I was out there made me feel better about buying a Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver and my impending annual trip to Amoeba Records.

So, here’s the artwork for the cover I designed. It’s mostly done in Illustrator, with some Photoshop effects. I think it came out pretty well, exceptionally for one done on the road.

Look What Came Off the Truck

I'm back from California, and while I had a phenomenal time out there (and no, I still can't say why) it's good to be home.

Love and Capes continues to do well. At the convention, there were a flattering number of people who came by and said "I got issue #1, now I need the rest." LNC is getting underneath people's skins, and that's a good thing.

Also coming back with me were a few items for the Love and Capes store. It's been updated to include the latest issue of Love and Capes, the big number five. There's also a new five-pack deal in the store, the black t-shirts in all sizes, a limited number of red convention t-shirts in X-Large, and an extremely limited number of the Love and Capes Toon Tumblers. So, if you missed San Diego, you'll be able to get some of the coolness that you missed.

And soon, issue #6 will be out. Which means I better get cracking on it.

La La La

I know I haven't updated in a couple days, so I thought I'd just tell you I may be having the best post-Comic-Con LA trip ever. Wish I could talk about it.

Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart? I Do!

Whoa, did you read some of the stuff I read? Man, did I sound depressed.

Comic-Con does beat you up, that much is sure. But it’s still a pretty good show and a pretty good place to be. And, stuff that I may have wrote that sounded dark sounded better if you heard me say it. Then again, if you heard me say it, you were at Comic-Con and probably didn’t need to read a blog about it.

In that way, Comic-Con has changed for me. I used to go to a show full of hope and optimism, and then leave wishing I’d become a plumber. Now, the opposite is true: it starts out rough and by the end of it, there are a lot of possibilities.

What possibilities? Well, possibilities. More than that, I cannot say. Just keep your fingers crossed and pray to whatever God your worship for some things to break my way.

After the show, Charlotte Fullerton, Dwayne McDuffie, Matt Wayne, his wife, and I drove back to LA, but not before stopping at the annual halfway point, the animation writers’ party. It’s pretty informal, and a lot of fun. What’s weird for me these days is ‘m starting to know everyone. I used to go to these parties and meet new and exciting people, and people whose work I loved from afar. Now, I go up to these same people and they know who I am. Or at the very least, could pick me out of a lineup, which is why I didn’t steal that Justice League Unlimited script I saw lying around.

Now, as I write this, I’m in front of the pool at our hotel, on a clear, cool LA night, writing my blog. It’s become kind of a tradition to write these blogs poolside. It’s nice to wind down at night and put your thoughts into words.

My first day in LA was an easy one. Bob and Roger and I grabbed breakfast, and then I retired to the room to do a cover for the Ft. Worth Weekly. We had some drinks, grabbed dinner, and then…

…oh, yeah, my timing power.

It’s become a running joke that I have a “timing power.” The ability to be in the right place at the right time to skip a line or see something I wouldn’t otherwise see. It’s how one of my first New York trips involved more stuff than one person should be able to do in one day. But, with the power, I never saw a line, except as I was leaving the building. It’s how I lucked into seeing Harry Potter stuff that just happened to be on display at the Warner Brothers studio.

Today, Bob, Rog and I found ourselves looking for something to do, and I said “Let’s go to the Kwik-E-Mart!” Seven-Eleven has been running a promotion where select stores have become the fictional inconvenience store from The Simpsons. There’s one in LA, so we went there.

They were out of pink frosted doughnuts, and had no more Radioactive Man comics. So why was it good timing? Because as we left, squishees in hand, the security guard working the line (and yes there was a line at the Seven-Eleven, but it was a short one) said “This is the last day. In five hours, they all turn back into Seven-Elevens.

We’ve got four more days left in LA. But we managed to go on the one day, the only day we had, although we didn’t know it, to see the Kwik-E-Mart.

It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if we hadn’t made it, but I gotta say, I would have been a little disappointed if we hadn’t.

Okay, that’s it for now. Hopefully I’ll have some more stories to share before this trip ends.