In Which I Place Products

I've heard Apple doesn't pay for product placements. I can believe it. They're stuff is so cool looking I can see why set decorators use them all over the place. They're fun to draw, too. Plus, I'm an unabashed Apple fan.

I don't have an iPad, though. At least not yet. I'm waiting to see what version two looks like.

With this page, I'm down to single digits for this issue, too. Woo-hoo!

Nebraska-bound! And Many Interviews!

Love and Capes: Ever After #1 comes out next week! And the LNC media blitz is in full force.

I'll be doing a signing at Ground Zero Comics in Omaha, Nebraska. I'll be there on Saturday, February 12 from noon-5:00pm. And I assume I'll get a chance to talk with Warren Buffet while I'm out there, too.

Second, there's an interview with me up at Sketch Maven. There should be at least one more interview on the horizon, too.

And if you just can't wait for Tuesday, Newsarama has a preview of issue #1 up right now.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to work on the next page of issue #4.

In Which My Heroes Like Grilled Cheese

Here's a panel from my latest page of Love and Capes. Once again, Windstar makes an appearance.You can read about Windstar's backstory here, but he's a character I created way before I started LNC.

Windstar's based in Cleveland, and the restaurant he mentions, Melt Bar and Grilled is a real place. It's got crazy good food, specializing exotic and tasty grilled cheeses. If you ever make it to the North Coast, it's worth the trip and the calories.

They also have a promotion where if you get a Melt tattoo, you get a perpetual discount on their food. Awesome as that sounds, I'm not really a tattoo guy, aside from the small snake eating it's own tail on my forearm that changes color. (Bonus points if you get that.) But I'm hoping that maybe I can bring in a copy when it goes to press and get a little off the check.

With this page, I'm halfway through the book and decidely on pace for the rest of the run. I may celebrate my painting my guest room today.

Yeah, I don't relax well, do I?

In Which Abby Wears Sexy Sleepwear

This issue takes place in March/April. What else would she be wearing?

Also, hey, bunnies! Bunnies, it must be bunnies!

The Best Tea-Drinking Comic Out There

Progress continues on the penultimate issue of the new Love and Capes: Ever After miniseries. I'm a third of the way finished with it, and hopefully I'll be hitting a nice little stride soon and going even faster.

As you might be able to tell by the image, Abby and Zoe's relationship has changed a little bit, especially since the first issues. I'm proud of the arc of Amazonia's story, and think it's one of the best, and frequently overlooked, aspects of the book. They're less oil-and-water than they used to be, but they still don't completely get along either. And it's always fun to write.

Where Will I Be This Year (Con Schedule)-Updated

Honestly, the answer is where won't I be this year. Here's my 2011 Convention Schedule (so far)…

Emerald City Comicon • Seattle
March 4-6

C2E2 • Chicago
March 18-20

MegaCon • Orlando
March 25-27

Boston Comic Con • Boston
April 30-May 1

Lake Effect Con • Mentor, Ohio
May 22

Heroes Con • Charlotte
June 3-5

Kids Read Comics • Detroit
June 18-19

Comic-Con International • San Diego
July 20-24

Baltimore Comic-Con • Baltimore
August 20-21

FaxExpo Canada • Toronto
August 26-28

Dragon*Con• Atlanta
September 2-4

Cincinnati Comic Expo• Cincinnati
September17

Detroit Fanfare • Detroit
September 24-25

New York Comic Con • New York City
October 14-16

Wizard World Mid-Ohio • Columbus
October 22-23

Eighteen to Go!

I'm still not over Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Or Profit, for that matter.

Also, I'm now one-quarter of the way through this issue!

Every Time You Call My Name, I Heat Up Like a Burning Flame

I know you haven't even seen the first issue yet, but I'm well into the fourth issue of my five-issue IDW Love and Capes series. I thought I'd share the cover for #4.

The covers are often the hardest part. I treat them like one-panel gags that don't need to have anything to do with the story inside. Sometimes they do, of course, but I don't feel bound by that. They're kind of like Betty and Veronica covers that way.

Complicating things is that IDW and I are doing variant covers for each issue. My friend Chris Bailey, animation director of Hop, Alvin and the Chipmunks and way more than you can imagine is doing the alternate cover for this one. He'd asked for a layout, kind of an idea starter, and we were working on one that was okay, but didn't quite sing.

Then, I had an idea for my cover. As I started to lay it out, I realized that it would be a good Thom Zahler cover, but it'd be an amazing Chris Bailey cover. So I contacted Chris and said "Hey, if you're not too far, would this be a better cover." He said yes, and I have since seen that cover. It's achingly beautiful, and I'll be sharing that soon. But not right now.

Unfortunately, that left me without a cover. One of the ways I figure out the cover image is figure out what I haven't done. That's how Darkblade appeared on the cover of #8. I realized one of my favorite characters, Doctor Karma, hasn't appeared on a cover, so I thought about him.

I had this idea for Karma to be at a talent show, sawing Mark in half with Abby as his assistant. Too complicated, though. It didn't work… and then I thought: What about Abby as the magician?

So, what I wound up creating was this cover where Abby's using Mark's powers to fake a trick. I was a little worried about it, as for the cover to be funny, you have to know that Mark is the Crusader. There's no visual cue. Yeah, this is the 17th issue of Love and Capes, but every issue is someone's first. After showing it around to my Secret Society of Super-Reviewers and on the Love and Capes Facebook page, I was encouraged to go ahead with the secret identity cover.

This is the cover I came up with. I think it's pretty funny, maybe one of the best covers in this run.

Issue five, though, is no problem. I've known that cover since I started this series. It's gonna be a stunner.

Comic Creator Alliance is Live!

Last year I was asked to participate in the Comics Creator Alliance, a project to raise money and awareness for National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. I contributed some artwork and together with 80-plus creators, we raised $10,000. Lora Innes was the brain behind this, and she can speak much better about the cause than I can. So I encourage you to go to her weblog and read more, and find out how to participate and get some cool artwork done by some great artists (and me).

Tied Up In Knots

Yeah, I've been away for a while. Don't worry, it's been mostly good things.

Obviously there was Christmas and New Year's. Mine was pretty great, especially having my family over to my house for Christmas Eve, maybe my favorite day of the year. That kind of stuff will tie you up in the best way.

Also, I've been lettering the new Guardian Project. It's the NHL-themed superhero project that should be debuting later this month. Particularly fun to me is that one of the prime movers in the project is Stan Lee, or as I like to call him, Mr. Stan Lee. In the past couple of weeks, I've lettered 150 pages, designed 30 covers and the tradedress for the entire project.

Love and Capes is always on my mind, too. I just finished the the third issue of the new IDW Love and Capes: Ever After series and have started drawing the fourth. We're getting to the point that all my bases belong to LNC so I can get it done on time.

Still, I think there's some fun and surprising things coming up, including what I think is the funniest panel I've ever drawn in the series. The first issue comes out from IDW in February, and you'll going to meet a new character who's a great addition to the series. By the time my birthday rolls around this year, I'll have finished my eighteenth issue. Way more than I ever could have hoped for when I started this journey.

I should point out that Abby even has her own Twitter feed where she makes daily book recommendations.

I've also had a bunch of client work, time with family and friends, even bought a new car. All things that have kept me away from the blog a little more than I'd like. But, I should be back to regular posts now, at least once a week. And I'm always around on the Twitters myself and the Love and Capes Facebook page.

I'm looking forward to the New Year. Hope it's a great one for all of us.