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.

Baltimore Than I Could Have Hoped For

Baltimore. It looks much better than it does on The Wire.

I went to the always-excellent Baltimore Comicon, accompanied by comics scribe Paul Storrie. Baltimore is one of my favorite cons. Marc Nathan puts on an amazing show, and one centered on comics. No media or wrestling or any of the that, and no slight at shows that do that. It's just nice to see a pure comic book show do so well, too.

Marc's also a baseball fan, and arranged to have Jim Lee, artist of the G-D Batman, to throw out the first pitch. I'd never been to Camden Yards, and like Marc, I'm a baseball guy, too. I was a little worried to go to the ballpark, though. At this point, I've been to Cleveland, Texas, Oakland, San Francisco, and now Baltimore. At a certain point, you start saying "well, now I have to see all of them". It's like license plate bingo.

Speaking of which, Paul and I did notice a car with Hawaii tags as we drove east. You almost never see that. But I'm getting off-track.

I just missed Jim Lee missing home plate. Too bad. But I did get to sit with Johanna Draper Carlson and talk obscure Eighties Television, as well as my comments on the new Knight Rider and other things. The game was decent, but in the clash of the titans between the Orioles and the Blue Jays, there's not really a huge level of interest. It was cool to see and I had a great time, but when it started to rain more, I left early. Hey, I was at a comic con, and there was networking to do.

So I headed to the Mariott bar.

It'd be easier to list who I didn't see, I think. There's a great guest list at Baltimore, and I got to see and talk to (in no particular order) Sean McKeever, Steve and Brett Conley, Jamar Nicholas, Jamal Igle, John Gallagher, Rich Faber, Mark Bowker and his wife, Ivan Brandon, Andy MacDonald, Mike Norton and more. The show's small enough still where you can run into people and hang out for a bit, as opposed to the "I didn't so much see him as spot him" that goes on in a show like San Diego. That's a fun thing.

The show started on Saturday and it was superKing Kamehameha packed. It was great to see. Baltimore is one of the only shows that I think might be too short. And that feeling is probably why the show is so great. Better to leave them wanting more than to overstay your welcome. I've never seen Baltimore this busy before. Tons of people.

And they were buying.

In terms of sales, it my best show ever, not counting San Diego. SDCC is in a class of it's own, so it's a little unfair to compare anything to it. I did more commissions and sold more Powerful Women sketchbooks than I have anywhere else.

Over the weekend, Catwoman was tremendously popular, especially in the feline fatale's 70's outfit, which I know makes no sense for a cat burglar but, man, it looks cool. I think I drew her three or four times alone. There were also ac ouple of Poison Ivys, a Kim Possible and Shego, a Nightwing that came out gangbusters, a Ms. Marvel, a Darkblade and Charlotte, a Vampirella, a Triplicate Girl, a Commissioner Gordon (okay, that was my choice for a Batman jam piece), an Invisible Woman and a Vampirella.

The guy who asked for Kim Possible and Shego said "I love cheesecake." So I drew them eating cheesecake. Just a warning, be careful what you tell me.

I kept the tracing paper roughs of many of these, and some people are sending me scans, so some of these will be making their way to the blog and the inevitable third Powerful Women collection.

I sold more than a few issues of Love and Capes, some pins and t-shirts, too. Fantastic!

I also got to see Ross Richie, Mark Waid and Carly of Boom Studios. Why was that so important? I can't say… yet. Just like I can't tell you about the encouraging conversation I had with someone from another comic company, too. I've hit that part of my career where things require that veil of secrecy, which I apologize for. But I want you, dear readers, to know that the show went well. You'll find out how well, soon, I hope.

I have to call out some fans, too. I met Grace and Scott a couple years ago, and they've become incredibly huge fans of Love and Capes and friends. They don't just love the book, they evangelize it, even passing out copies to other comics creators to get them to know Mark and Abby. Amazonia's secretary Grace is named after her. It's always great to see them.

And, Jeni is a great lady, too. I did one of the sweetest commissions I ever did for her. And thanks to her, I may be doing some goodwork outside of comics, too.

Fans and friends are the best part of any show, and Batlimore has some of the best.

Saturday was more Mariott time, including a great conversation with Mark Bowker and his wife, both of the awesome Alter Ego Comics. They hosted me for myfirst Free Comic Book Day appearance, and you'll notice that it went so well that I keep scheduling them. That's a testament to how warm their welcome was.

(Incidentally, I have scheduled my FCBD 2009 appearance. Can't announce that yet, but when I can, believe me I'll make a big fuss about it.)

Sunday, I got to meet Danielle Corsetto of Girls With Slingshots fame, too. We follow each other on the Twitter, as the kids say. It's always great to actually meet the people that you meet online.

I also spent some time hanging out with the Kids Love Comics guys. These fine fellows produce books like Buzzboy and Roboy Red and Bloop and books like that. I've ever lent some of my talents to them, too. I color Buzzboy and letter NASCAR Heroes.

I haven't mentioned Toon Tumblers until now, partially because Chief Tumbler Paul was only able to attend Sunday's portion of the show. Paul's a friend and a client, and he's doing some fantastic work. He had a passle of new glasses, and I have to say, they're the best looking ones yet. Debuting at the show were the X-Men wraparound, Thor, Shang-Chi, Captain Marvel, a new Hulk, and Doctor Strange. He also had a limited supply of the new DC line, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Joker, Sgt. Rock and Firestorm, as well as the exclusive Jim Lee Batman glass.

A word about Firestorm. I'm a huge fan of the Nuclear Man, and probably just to shut up my pleading, Paul did a Firestorm glass. I never expected it to be in the first wave. So, I'm particularly proud that the first glass to sell out was said Firestorm. Flame Heads Represent!

I even got to sneak into the VIP lounge a couple of times. Baltimore is the friendliest show I know in terms of making sure that the guests have water and snacks. This year (for the first time that I noticed at least) there was a massuse, too. I just want to state for the record that this should be required at all shows. After two days of standing on concrete, hunching over a table to draw, it's just a thing of beauty.

The show ended and our goodbyes said, Paul and I got back into the Supercar-D and made the trek back to Ohio. Baltimore's a great show, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm already making plans to return. Maybe even before the next Baltimore show.

But that's another one of those secret things for now.

Man, I love conventions. If only I could do another one this weekend. Hey, wait, I can!

And now we can go straight into the middle eight

You want to know what my day was like yesterday? I got up around 6:30, did some lettering and production work, hopped in my car and produced a radio commercial, came back home, did a cover for HGR, worked on Mid-Ohio-Con stuff, and did a page of Love and Capes. One of the things I love about my world is the diversity in it: radio, website, graphics, cartooning. Keeps me from being bored. Or sleeping too much.

And here's a panel from page four, which was one of the things I did yesterday. Here's the second appearance of Jason, Abby's new hire at Abby's Books and Coffee. It's fun having a new character and a new relationship to write.

I'm a little behind where I'd like to be on LNC right now. I try to do eight pages a month, not that I've ever made that quota in the first month of a book before. If things shake out the way I expect, I'll be at six, and that's not too bad.

Okay, it's time to see what today has in store for me.

Brave Brave Sir... er, Madam Robyn

A while back, Paul originated a sequel to the Robin Hood myth, Robyn of Sherwood, with Robin's daughter catching up with the gang fifteen years after the end of the original. I'm not doing it justice, but it was a great series. It's going to be coming back, remastered with all sorts of newness.

I inked the second issue of the original series back in the day. And I'm still connected with it, as I've created the new Robyn of Sherwood logo. Paul was pretty easy to work with, which is always nice when you're navigating that minefield of working with friends.The logo came out pretty well, too. Click on the logo to see it bigger, or click here to read more about Robyn of Sherwood.

The Shirt Off My Back

I've been doing design work for the new Mid-Ohio-Con this year. So I designed postcards and the program book and so on. I've also been able to design the Mid-Ohio-Con Con Crew shirts for this year, too. They're the shirts I teased a week or so ago.

The shirts will be proudly worn by the crack commando unit of Mid-Ohio-Con volunteers, and versions of the shirt, without the con crew back design, will be available through me. I think they look cool, and this shirt is something I wouldn't have been able to do without the auspices of MOC.

Just Pimpin' the Book

Just a reminder that you still have a few days to order the Love and Capes collection from IDW from Previews. It's order code SEP084142E.

My Dulcet Tones, part 27 (or something like that).

I mentioned before that I recorded a podcast interview a couple of weeks ago. It was for the Comic Book Page, and the interview's posted. I'm up there with Rick Remender and Stephanie O'Donnell. If you're of a mind to do so, go ahead and check it out.

EDIT: I just listened to the podcast. I didn't hate the sound of my own voice, but I wouldn't think that my frothy Love and Capes would elicit an interview that used the words avuncular, paradigm, narrowcast, and archetype.

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.

College Ain't Cheap, Fella!

So, my pals at Mental Floss are having a contest to give away five $10,000 college scholarships, as well as some free dinners, to clever and deserving college students.

Am I mentioning this because they promised to link to all of us who mention the contest and get the word out? Yes. Hey, I ain't gonna lie to you. But college tuition is a pet cause of mine. I had a lot of issues paying for my sojourn at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. My family did a lot of things to make that happen, my Grandma Maerkle (for whom my Maerkle Press imprint is named) among them. But because of that experience, I try to help put things that help tuition out, like Cleveland Scholarship Foundations and the Jimmy and April Malone Golf Tournament.

Fastest growing cost in America? It's not health care, it's college tuition. And I'm going to cut this short before I go into a screed about lowering tuition costs, rather than just increasing programs to pay for it.

It's a great program and a good cause. And Mental Floss is one of my favorite magazines that doesn't hire me to do artwork for them, and it's hard to get into that echelon, let me tell you. So go check it out.

Six Years of Boo at the Zoo

Since 2002, I've been the caricaturist for the Cleveland Metroparks Boo at the Zoo. It's a Halloween event for kids that the Zoo holds the two weekends before Halloween. It's been a blast. It originally was a two day event, and over the years has become a four-day extravaganza over two weeks. And, while drawing 100 kids a night for four days straight, sometimes in the rain, wind and cold, isn't the easiest way to spend an evening, it was always one of the most fun. The attendees were great, and it was always the most humbling event as more than a few people would tell me that they ran to my station to make sure they got in line for the free drawing that had become a family tradition. There are people who have six years of Thom Zahler caricatures on their wall, and that's just great.

Sadly, I won't be back this year. The Zoo has contracted with a new gift shop vendor this year, and their contract gives them the license to sell caricatures at the event. I'm disappointed I can't be there this year, and I'll miss the kids and the great people at the Zoo. But, I understand the business end of things, too, and know that these things happen. No hard feelings there, and hopefully we'll be able to find other things in the future. And, if things ever change, I'll be back Booing and Zooing in a heartbeat.

I figured I'd mention it here because there are those loyal throngs of people who show up, some of whom read this site, and want them to know that I'd still be there if I could. My lines were frequently over an hour and a half long, so maybe this will give those kids a chance to see some parts of the Zoo that they'd skipped because they were in my line.

It's been a great six years! Thanks for everyone who came by and made it one of my favorite events to do. Hopefully I'll see you somewhere soon.