Let's Try This Again

Tomorrow, in the 11:00 hour, I'll be a panelist on "Stump the Panel" on WTAM-1100 here in Cleveland. Assuming there's no breaking news this time, of course.You can listen live online or download a podcast after the face.

Dream a Little Dream

When I was in Texas for WizardWorld Dallas, someone came up to me to have me do a Dream Girl sketch for them. She's got a fairly boring costume, but I had a silver marker in my bag, and I realy had fun playing with the reflectivity of her uniform. That's what I tried to focus on in this piece. There's very little linework on her skin, but a lot of linework on the silver suit. I think the contrast works well.

Plus, I realized I hadn't done any reclining poses, always a subject of consternation in my life drawing days. And if there's one character who fits a reclining pose, it's the Legionaire whose power is falling asleep and having dreams of the future.

How Did I Miss This?

I don't know how I missed that this posted, but there's an interview with me on the ComicMix podcast. I did this interview back at Mid-Ohio-Con (I think) last year, but I didn't know that it got posted. I don't sound like a complete buffoon, and my voice even sounds okay. Check out the podcast here.

A Candidate We Can All Agree On

I know I've mentioned that I'm going to MegaCon next weekend, but what I haven't mentioned is that I designed a new Toon Tumbler for the event. In these trying electoral times, it helps to have a candidate we can all believe in, so I present the Captain America for President glass. The image is from the cover of Captain America #250, so it's Cap before the whole Civil War sillyness. He's honest, forthright, honorable, and he fought Nazis!

So, if you're going to MegaCon, be sure to pick up one of these glasses...for America!

(Florida residents please take note: No complicated chads will be required for purchase.)

Power Company

There was a Justice League cover a while back where my latest subject, Power Girl, was the subject of much discussion. She was a little too endowed, and her expression was kind of beaten down. I think one of the sources of Power Girl's appeal is her defiant, bring-it-on attitude. She can take on anything, bullets, lasers, the mosty screwed-up continuity this side of Hawkman, whatever. I tried some new things in coloring, and I gave her a more muscular form that I usually do on women, and think I walked that line between strong and feminine okay.

I've been a fan of Power Girl since I bought that first 1970's issue of All-Star Comics on a family vacation. Actually, I dig the old Earth-2 stuff in general. I think this one turned out pretty well.

Spread the Love

Johanna over at Comics Worth Reading has dropped some digital love on Love and Capes:

I’ve been remiss in not talking about Love and Capes more often, since it’s my favorite superhero book. Although it’s not really a superhero book, not in traditional style — instead, it’s a romantic comedy that happens to feature a superhero, and its pacing shows a strong comic strip influence, with frequent punchlines. It’s cute and funny and touching and well worth reading.

She links to all sorts of LNC related coolness, and I want to return the favor. Click here to be spirited away to her site.

Bad Girl

X-Men week continues with this illustration of everyone's favorite crazy redhead. No, not Lucy Ricardo, Jean Grey as Dark Phoenix.

Dark Phoenix was such a strong character that I was a fan of hers despite her not appearing in X-Men during most of the run that I was reading. This was in the days before instant trades, and getting older comics meant saving up for expensive back issues. Eventually, Marvel did release a trade, which I got for my birthday one year.

This image is actually scanned from the pencils, rather than being inked, and colored in Corel Painter where I could mess around with some chalky textures. I thought it gave a drawing a kind of raw energy which fit the character.

Cool Customer

I can't say I know if she's a good guy or bad guy anymore, but Emma Frost is still pretty cool. Cold, even. Her costume is pretty impractical, but when I was reading X-Men, she wasn't much of a combatant, either. Artwise, I tried a lot of different coloring techniques and textures by coloring it in Corel Painter. It's a little more painterly than some of the other pieces I've done, but I think it suits her.

I have to say, I also really dig the expression and her right hand, both of which took a lot of redrawing to get just right.

Both Work for a Magazine

Kids today don't understand things. They complain that Juggernaut was wasted in the "X-Men" movie and that Constantine wasn't British (which bothered me too, I admit, but I actually liked the movie overall). They don't know rough. When I was a kid, the only superhero stuff we had was Superfriends, the Adam West Batman, the George Reeves Superman, and stuff like Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. And we liked it, by gum.

Yeah, in retrospect, with retrospect being when I turned eleven and saw them rerun in syndication, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl doesn't hold up. I don't think I ever thought it was "good", but just that I didn't know better. Still, it's a part of my childhood that's made me the relatively well-adjusted guy that I am, so I have a soft spot in my heart for this silly Diedre Hall/Judy Strangis show.

So, since I'm doing these illustrations, I decided to turn my focus on them. The Kitty Pryde illustration had no line weights in it to speak of. So, on this one, I decided to really crank up the line weights and see what happened. I have to say, I kinda like it. Heck, I'd love to do a whole book like this. Maybe even about them.

Just a Phase

When Jesse asked me to do Duo Damsel, the other suggestion he had was Kitty Pryde from the X-Men. Kitty was my favorite character back when I started reading the book in the Claremont/Paul Smith days. So I decided to try my hand at everyone's favorite intangible mutant.

I did this one a little differently, inspired by Carlos Megalia who worked on Superman: Infinite City (the book is okay, but the art is phenomenal... thanks for turning me on to it Sean). I also blurred the drawing a little bit, just to get that phasing effect.

This one shows part of why I keep doing these: to try something new and get a new tool in my bag of tricks. You have to keep challenging yourself.

If you like it, it's available for purchase.