A Banner Day!
I'm alw ays trying to think down the road. Next comic, next convention and so on. I wanted to update my Love and Capes banner stand which is now three years old. I had to wait to see if I could put "Harvey Nominee" or "Harvey Winner" on it. Now that that's done, I'm ready to go forward with a new look for the booth.
My idea is to do a diptych. There will be two stands that will work together or separately, depending on what kind of booth space I have. The left image, with Mark and Abby will be the main banner used at artist alley tables, etc. When I have a booth, like at Mid-Ohio-Con, I can use the other one and get almost seven feet of coverage.
The art should be a little cleaner, and definitely a little more representative of my current level of art monkeying. What say you all?
Maybe I Need a Crown… or a Chainsaw
Yeah, I Google myself, and Love and Capes. So I found this from Ultron7 on the DC Comics Bulletin Boards where posters were writing hiakus:
"Love and Capes" is great!
The funniest comic out!
Thom Zahler is king!
Hail to the king, baby!
Advance Reviews
For the first time, I sent out preview PDFs to some comics reviewers. Which means the first review of Love and Capes #12 is up, by Avril Brown from Comics Waiting Room:
An enjoyable balance between the pure heart of a children’s book and the intelligence of an adult story, LOVE AND CAPES is a pleasurable read for all ages…The aesthetically awesome artwork is a unique blend of ’50s comfort and security and modern-day sexiness and sharp lines. LOVE AND CAPES provides a nice change of pace from death and destruction, offering instead a smile-inducing story filled with laughter and love.
Now They Can Make Margaritas
For my next trick, a commission for a couple of fans of mine. Their initial idea was to have themselves drawn 
in the Mark and Abby's receiving line. I did something along those lines, with Mark and Abby, post-wedding, opening up a present from them. You'll have to click and embiggen to see what they got.
You can see these two at the wedding on the cover, too.
You Can Do Magik
With Major Combat Operations complete on Love and Capes #12, I've been able to catch up on some commissions. Here's one I did of Magik, Illyana Rasputin from the mid-Eighties run of X-Men and New Mutants. I always liked her. Next to Kitty Pryde, she might have been my favorite mutant.
I read her Wikipedia entry to see what happened to her after I stopped reading. My brain twisted inside itself and then exploded. Oh, Illyana, what did they do to you?
Killing Time
I'm at the Apple Store right now. No, really right now. I'm working with one of the Geniuses to try to get my Finder up and running.
If you don't know what a Finder is on a Mac, well, I won't bore you with it here. It's just really important. Fortunately, with Love and Capes #12 pretty well done except for the screaming and the printing, I've had time to kill the day up here watching little shiny blue bars fill up on the Mac. It's not ideal, but it's manageable.
I've spent some of the time on one of their Macs, surfing the web and all, and I found this. It's a new review of the Love and Capes: Do You Want To Know a Secret collection on Amazon. And it's glowing. So I thought I'd share it.
After all, I appear to still have 16 minutes to kill and counting.
Super Powered Coffee Goodness
No more art for you. Just a photo… of the Mocha of Victory! Yes, that's right, Love and Capes #12 is done, baby, done. I blasted out the last two pages today, which wasn't as hard as it seems. There's a big splash of Abby and Mark getting their divorce… oh, wait, I've said too much.
Along with the Mocha is my Infinite Crisis Superman figure. He's almost my favorite Superman figure. I like the darker colors and the flying stand. If he didn't have that super-ticked-off expression, he'd be perfect. But, I used this figure as a model for one of the scenes at the end. (And that's why my toys are deductable!)
There's still a little more to do on the book. Corrections and revisions from the Secret Society of Super Reviewers, and compositing the final files. But major combat operations are done, so to speak. It's time to kick back and take a break for the most part.
The Sounds of Silence
In some of the things I've read about Hollywood (at least Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The reason I bring this up, and created that horrible run on sentence, is because Love and Capes #12 is wrapping up. And I don't have any official word on if I'll be part of the 2010 Free Comic Book Day from Diamond, though I am very hopeful. Those two things combined, I'm not sure when I'll start the third "season" of Love and Capes. So each character's exit will be the last time I write and draw them for a while.
I've drawn the final scenes of all the characters except Mark and Abby at this point. I actually busted out two pages today, which is insane in a way I can't accurately convey. Especially when you consider that I mowed the 
leaves and caught The Men Who Stare at Goats today. That's an amazing burst of productivity.
I fully expect to have the last two pages done tomorrow, too. I'm aided by a big ol' splash that will take up a chunk of the last page.
Oh, now I've gone and spoiled it.
Here, I'm posting two pages. The Darkblade/Paul panel is actually silent in the issue. The Mark and Abby panel does have dialogue, but I've been creative enough for one day, and I can't come up with any fake dialogue for it. So deal with the sounds of silence.
Fighting for Screen Time
With four pages left, Jason makes his second appearance and his first speaking one.
I kind of feel bad for him. I had plans when I introduced him. He'd be filling the Charlotte role for Abby, but not know Mark's double identity and, as such, hilarity would ensue. He's had his moments, but other plots have taken on a life of their own, so he's had a lot less screen time. Still, I know his appearance here in #12 will make a bit of an impression.
Bonus points to anyone who can figure out what movie they're talking about. There is one.
Turning Left and Swimming With the Fish
Earlier this summer I illsutrated a couple of children's books for Roarke Publishing. They're for a series of books about "Jobs That Rock." The two I pulled were NASCAR Crew Chief and Animal Trainer. Honestly, cars and animals aren't my favorite thing to draw, but I think I did all right with them. And, now I can add "children's book illustrator" to my list of accomplishments, and that's pretty cool, too.
The covers are by ace comic book artist Ken Hooper, as best as I can tell. The interior illustrations, though, are all me.
I bring this up because I just noticed that they've gone to press and are available at Amazon.com! The books are part of a series, so maybe there will be one for some child you know.