Reviews News

Blake Petit at Comixtreme put up a nice review of Love and Capes #9. Here's just a part of it:

This issue was just a bit of a departure -- Zahler usually leaves the actual action part of superheroing off-camera, showing us a more ground-level view of the superhero life. We actually see most of the fight between Mark and Psi-Clone this issue, though. It works -- I don't think the story would have been as satisfying if we didn't get to see it

Go read it and his other reviews of comics this week.

Cover Round-Up

Now it can be told, the cover I did was for the Ft. Worth Weekly. It's one of those indy alt-papers that I've done so much work for over the years. Here's the cover, complete with text and headlines and masthead and all of that stuff.

For those of you techies in the audience, drawn by hand, inked by hand, colored and composited in Photoshop. I handled most of the illustration elements separately, which allowed me to get in some nice detail in the Cowboy. The story is about how the big Stock Show (which is a Rodeo, for those of us in the North) that brings in tons of revenue to the city, but the city only gets a tiny fraction. So they wanted a cowboy roping a pile of money.

I changed it a little bit, making the money more of a sandworm (Dune, anyone?) so that there was a little more motion and resistance to the money. I think it worked pretty well.

All Access

The fine people over at the Comics Podcast Network have put up their Weekly Comics Spotlight #75. In it, they cover Love and Capes #9, and have some far-too-kind things to say about it. They particularly call out how accessible the book is to new readers. That's something I work very hard at and it's nice to see it appreciated.

Check out the podcast here.

Weekend Warrior

A few years back, shortly after going full freelance, I decided I shouldn't have to work weekends anymore. It was one thing when I was working for The Man, and nights and weekends were the only time I had to myself. I don't mind doing my own stuff on my own time, like Love and Capes, but I didn't want to have to work on weekends anymore.

It's a great theory, and it works more than it doesn't. This weekend was one of those "doesn't" times. That's okay, since both projects were for people I like who don't ask for too much. I'm willing to make a diving catch in the end zone a couple of times, but if it happens every time, then that's just poor planning.

So, I finished up that coloring project and moved over to this cover illustration. I still can't show the whole thing, but will be able to soon since it runs this week.

I had a really good Sunday. I went over to my Grandma's for "dinner" (well, it's lunch, but it looks like dinner) and hung out with the family, and visited with a couple of friends later in the afternoon, and even watched The Simpsons with my parents and brother. All great things. But, for some reason, I was beat when I finally got to the drawing board to ink and color this cover.

There have been plenty of times that I've been up until 1:30 in the morning working on Love and Capes and it's an effort to make myself go to bed. Maybe it's the last two months of that and LNC taking its toll, but I just had no power. I could hear my couch calling to me: "Look, Bourne Identity is on. And you've got lots of Supernatural on DVD yet." I'm not really a lay-on-the-couch guy, more of a do-something-while-the-TV's-on guy, but man, yesterday I really wanted to just veg out.

I managed to ink the drawing and lay it out in Photoshop so that I could wake up (shudder) early to finish it this morning. I did manage to get up a quarter after six to start coloring.

Have I mentioned the glories of coffee, by the way?

I got it done, and I think it looks really good. It's one of the rare jobs that actually turned out a little better than I envisioned in my head. So I guess it was worth it.

Slappin' Some Color Down

I've got a coloring project running right now, too. It's kind of amazing, to me, that I get coloring work. When I was in art school, color was my big weakness. Of course, sitting next to the absurdly talented Sean Tiffany didn't help. The guy's got crazy color sense.

But, a bunch of artists I know online took me to the woodshed to teach me how to color. I was battered and bloody for a few months, but now I'm far more confident in my coloring skills right now. And, apparently I'm okay at it too, since I'm landing work as a colorist here and there.

Here's a little glimmer of the page I just finished. I won't post a larger link yet until I get an okay from the client. But this slice should be okay to share.

A Cloud of Dust

From out of relative nowhere came a job to draw a cover for a client down South. Since I'm showing part of the drawing before it prints, I'm not going to mention the name, not yet at least.

The important thing here is that, man, I hate drawing horses. I haven't figured out the anatomy. And, they're so graceful that any blip on a line looks completely wrong. So, in this cover where I have to draw a cowboy on a horse, I have to say I'm pretty proud of how this one came out. The art and style actually look a little better than I had in my head, so I'm happy with it so far.

It's on proof to La Clienta, so once she signs off on it, I'll finish it up and then link to it when the cover goes live.

Dogs and Cats Sleeping Together

I've got a little bit of time before I need to start this, but I did have to do the cover for the "coming attractions" at the end of Love and Capes #10. So enjoy your first look at the new issue.

The Fruits of Success!

Oh, yeah. It's time for the Mocha of Victory.

But, thanks to a moment of confusion and the exemplary customer service of the Starbucks Baristas, I got both the venti mocha that I ordered, and the grande mocha that they thought I'd ordered. Bonus coffee, or more accurately, bonus Mocha of Victory.

Heck, I deserve it. I brought the book in a week early on my internal deadline. Take that, Mr. Everybody Else's Blown Deadlines!

Guess what's finished?

Done, done, DONE!

I love doing Love and Capes. But I think love the feeling of being done even more. Technically, of course, I'm not done. I have to do the cover for issue #11, and all the ads and trade dress for the book. That shouldn't be terribly hard, and I've got time before that part has to be done anyway. For now, having the story part done and out of my head is a wonderful thing.

The story's 26 pages, as I've said lots of times before. I can only show you one panel from those last two pages, and I had to take away the dialogue in it. But, trust me, there are two whole pages in a done state right now.

The eleventh issue should be interesting, too. It'll certainly be lighter and less superhero-y than this issue.

Speaking of #11, some of you may have read how Diamond has decided to raise their minimum orders which is causing problems for smaller publishers. And yes, I'm a smaller publisher and, yes, it could cause problems for me. But I'm working on some things to make sure it's not a problem. I have top men on it. "Who?" you ask. Top men.

Mark Waid Has a Blog!

Mark Waid, who was nice enough to write the intro for Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? now has a blog off of the Boom Studios site. Mark's a great guy, and Boom's doing some great stuff, so I recommend it. Heck, I've added it to my newsreader already. Go on over and welcome him to the internets.