Sure, Awards Look Nice on a Shelf

Yesterday, I attended the Apex Awards luncheon at Pine Ridge. The Awards are put on by the Lake Communicators, an organization I've been proud to be part of for over five years now. Every year, they recognize the best advertising and communication work in Ohio.

I won two awards yesterday, the Silver and the Gold in the Illustration category. I won the Silver for the CleveLand ilustration I did for Scene Magazine and I won the Gold for the Grand Theft Auto Tremont cover, which I also did for Scene (and I'm told resulted in their best circulation numbers ever). It's always great to do good work, and it's fantastic to be recognized for it.

I also met Brad Colbow, talented designer and illustrator. What was odd about our meeting is that we both follow each other on Twitter, and that's how we knew each other. I know Twitter is part of online social networking, it was just cool to see it transferred to in-person social networking.

In Stores NOW!

The long-awaited (at least by me) Love and Capes: Do You Want To Know a Secret collection is in comic book shops today! You can get it at your local comic shop, or at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Khepri.com. All good places to get what, I hope, is a good book.

I have to say, it looks great. There were a couple of issues of the book that didn't quite match the coolness what I saw on my monitor. With this trade, that's all been fixed. The black lines are crisp, and the colors capture the subtlety that I intended. Really, it's just a joy to see.

On top of that, there's an introduction by Mark Waid, six pages of behind-the-scenes stuff, and a reprint of the "how a page is made" feature. Along with the required biography, all of it adds up to make a pretty great package. Perfect as a present. Now if only there were some big gift-giving holiday coming up next month...

Certified Cool, baby! It's official.

It's Diamond time again, and look what's in it: Love and Capes #9. And guess what, it's "certified cool" by Diamond Comics. Certified. It's official and everything.

Here's the actual cover to issue #9. Since #8 is out, I figure I can show it for realz now. I didn't want to spoil the "My Two Marks" aspect of the ninth issue until people had actually read the eighth issue. Yeah, I made one continued. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

The Certified Cool is always a pleasant surprise. Love and Capes #9 is being mentioned in the same breath with some really fine books, like DC Comics Gen 13 and Haunted Tank, Marvel's Scourge of the Gods, and IDW's Complete Terry and the Pirates. It also gives the book a little extra pop in the Previews section, which is always a good thing, especially given the volume of product in the catalog.

So, it's order code NOV084203. Order big. Free Comic Book Day is next!

You can windsurf into my life

This page took me the longest to finish of any page in issue #9. Not because it was hard, but because I started it before I left for WizardWorld, and didn't finish it until I got back last night. There was a lot of work to it, though, since there's a newspaper in it, and I had to create a fake newspaper with fake headlines, as well as the logo for a restaurant and Quincy's newscast.

Yes, that's right, Quincy. Deco City's third-favorite sportscaster makes a triumphant reappearance in this issue of Love and Capes! Just a little extra bonus to, as they say in Texas, "all y'all".

With the start of the back eight, it's time for an all new lyrics contest, so here we go again!

Wizard World Dallas: Day Three (In the Shadow of Jerryworld)

Day Three at Wizard World, in the Arlington Convention Center, right across from the Rangers Ballpark at Arlington and the under-construction Dallas Cowboys stadium, went pretty well. It started a little slow, but Sunday crowds are always hard to read. Some of them go on the buying frenzy that they’ve been holding back on since Day One, some of them have alread spent their money and are just going around saying “hi”.

Still, I did as well on Sunday as I did on any other day. I did a few commissions, including the Deadpool commission seen here. And I sold moreshirts and complete sets of eight books than the rest of the week. Of course, I bought a couple things too. (Can’t say, they may be Christmas presents.)

There’s always the cloud of a question of WizardWorld Texas. Will there be another? They’ve announced dates for next year, and I hope it comes through. While the show seemed slower this year, my sales were a little better, so it’s hard to get a read. I think it’s a good show and hope it sticks around.

Wizard World Dallas: Day Two (Now with pictures)

Day Two here at Wizard Texas was a little slow. Saleswise, it was a little better than yesterday, but off from last year. That’s okay, though. Things are going well enough, and the day had a lot of highlights.

I wore my Captain Hammer shirt, and I’m always surprised how few Captain Hammer shirts I see at these shows. But, for the people who know the excellence that is Doctor Horrible, it always gets a reaction. I met a guy dressed as the bad Doctor, and I posed for a picture that will inevitably appear above my biography in Love and Capes #9.

I also met a couple dressed as Captain Hammer and Penny. In a bout of coolness, she’d dressed as Dead Penny for Halloween. (Ooops, I hope that I didn’t spoil anything.) They asked me for a Captain Hammer and Penny commission. It was really the only one I did on Saturday, but man alive, did it come out well. And, because I brought my Wacom Tablet, and because Jesse’s nice enough to drive me to a FedEx Kinkos before the show today,they’ll be able to get their color commission today. No shipping for the win!

Plus, I figure any day you sell out of something is a good day. Well, I sold out of Powerful Women #2. If you sell out of anything, it menas people wanted it and you printed a good amount. Don’t worry, I’ll go back to press on it eventually, probably when I get a third version done.

I also did some business stuff on Saturday. Any day you can meet someone at a major publisher who’s been told to come over to see you by a mutual friend and they walk away with some copies of your book, it’s nothing but good.

I also did two different podcast interviews, with a third to come on the phone when I get home. Any PR isgood PR, and the more the better, especially with the trade coming out at the end of the month.

Speaking of which, I did get my first advance copies of said IDW trade paperback collection. It looks phenomenal! You all are going to be so happ when you buy your ten copies.

Jesse and I went to the Heroes For Heroes sketch party after the show. There were some phenomenal pieces there, including by Marko Can’t-Spell-His-Last-Name who worked on Daredevil. It’s just amazing to watch him work. He shouldn’t be able to do the things he does with a brush.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. I don’t know why, but I’ve got a feeling Sunday will be even better.

Wizard World Texas: Day One

I’m back in Dallas for WizardWorld Texas. It’s a great show for me, because I get to stay with my good friend Jesse Jackson. The con is a bonus on top of that.

There’s a lot of talk about WizTexas not doing well, and it always seems to be on the bubble of cancellation by Wizard. Last year I thought Wizard had reached that point of maximum compression from which they could build into a bigger show. With Friday in the can, color me ambivalent about that.

Friday’s a slow day in general. It’s hard to get a read on the convention in general based on that. I think any show that takes place outside the summer and has a Friday start is going to have some slowness. And this year’s WizTexas is no exception.

That said, I’ve made my table costs on Day One. Since there were years where I didn’t make that at the end of Day Three, I think I’m certainly in the win column here. I’ve got more stuff, and more popular stuff, than any year before, so I think I skew the results, too. Still, whatever worlks, right?

The only problem I really had was that, stupidly, I left both my drawing paper and my brand new display rack, built by McGyverDad, at Jesse’s place. Jesse takes the role of my Ace Assistant here at these shows, so drove back to his place to cover my stupidity.

I could have lived without the rack, cool though it is and I’ll post a picture soon, but the art stuff was a neccesity. Commissions have become a huge chunk of my business at cons.

I did two commissions: a Princess Leia and an Invisible Woman. Both turned out well. I also sold the Mary Marvel piece that I did for the first Powerful Women book. I sold a bunch of issues of Love and Capes as well, including my seemingly-constant “first issue to a girlfriend who doesn’t read comics”. They’re there for all three days, so I expect that she’ll be back to buy the rest. I’ve seen it happen more than a few times.

I may have lined some work up out of the show, so that’s always good. And I’ve locked in some participation with the excellent Heroes For Heroes group, supplying comics and pop culture stuff to our armed forces abroad. Tonight they’re having a fundraiser which I’ll be going to. Last year was fun, and they promise tonight will be better.

Jesse and I had dinner with Mr. and Mrs. The Defuser, of Who Wants to be a Superhero fame. I ran into The Defuser last at Comic-Con, and we saw each other for a few minutes in a restaurant, but never hooked up again. We got to rectify that by going out to a great dinner at Po Melvins (Food so good it’ll make you want to slap yo mama, that’s their slogan. No, seriously.)

The Defuser told us more about his charity haunted house in Austin. I’m not much of a haunted house guy, but, man, it sounded cool.

So it was a pretty nice first day.

We’re leaving for the second day in a few minutes. I’m expecting to sell decently, and do more than a few commissions. If you’re bored or just have the equivalent of computer-based ADD, you can always check me out on Twitter to see posts live from the show.

Did I Mention?

I'm going to Dallas today (right now, as my plane is about to board) for Wizard World Dallas tomorrow. If you're in the area, come on down and see me… and buy some books.

Middle Eight Lyrics

Here's the lyrics theme for the middle eight. Unfortunately, I was hit with a bout of stupidity, and there were two that don't actually fit the theme. So, all sorts credit to you if you did figure it out.

9. Branch water and tomato wine
"Creosote and turpentine" from Copperline by James Taylor. The lyric here that's important is "Copper coil, cup o' Georgia peach."

10. I go for younger women, lived with several a while
"…and though I ran away, they'll come back one day." It's A Pirate Looks at Forty by Jimmy Buffet. Mentions Miami, but not Florida, like I thought. I know, stupid Art Boy.

11. Then it's me and my machine for the rest of the morning
"…and the rest of the afternoon, solid gone, for the rest of my life." Millworker, by James Taylor.The important lyric here is "Took up with a no good milworking man from Massachusetts"

12. But my city was gone
"…there was no train station, there was no downtown" from Back to Ohio by the Pretenders.

13. Every different nation, Spanish, Hatian, Indian, Jamaican
"…black, white, Cuban and Asian". from Welcome to Miami by Will Smith. You'd think that it would have mentioned Florida, but I was wrong.

14. Big wheels keep on turning
"…carry me home to see my kin". See, you thought it was Proud Mary, but it was Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

15. I've been sent to spread the message
"…God bless Texas", from the song of the same name by Alan Jackson.

16. All the leaves are brown
"…and the sky is gray". California Dreamin' by the Mamas and the Papas.

Obviously, the theme was supposed to be states, asde from my inability to distinguish Miami from Florida. Sorry about that. I'll do better next time.

All the leaves are brown

Page sixteen is done, which brings to a close our second lyrics quiz, too. I'll post those answers tomorrow, but I'll warn you I wasn't as good with it as I should have been.

This page came out much better than I thought it would. It was a little rockier in my head and when I drew it than when I scripted it. There were a couple of jokes that didn't make the cut, like when Mark made a goofy suggestion about the wedding. It would have gone like this:

Abby: Not my wedding.
Mark: I thought it was our wedding.
Abby: Not when you're talking crazy.

It's a cute scene, but it just didn't work for what I needed to accomplish.

With this page, I am officially on the Back Eight. Two-thirds of the way through. Time to get crazy and knock some more pages out.