Page Six

It's a little early in the run to be blocking out dialogue, but I'm doing it now. There's a plot twist early in the book, and I want to keep it secret. So, we have faded lettering here.

And, with this page, I am one-quarter of the way done with #11. It's fun to watch that number count down (or up, I suppose) and see completion come so fast. Of course, #12 will be extra sized, so things will go slower the next time.

I like the coloring and staging in this sequence. It's fun doing the night scenes in Chronopolis, and the cathedral may be the most visually interesting set I have there. And I like the body language, Darkblade working his iPhone while holding a cup of coffee. Apparently, a futuristic iPhone that allows you to swipe while wearing gloves. Or maybe Darkblade has special electrostatic gloves. You never know with him.

Nothing to See Here

I'm suffering from some writer's block on the new Love and Capes. I hate when this happens. I know what has to happen, I just need to make it happen, and preferably make it happen funny-style. Especially when this kind of block happens early in the process, I just feel like I'm burning days I'll miss when deadline crunch time happens.

Until then, and so I don't go too long without posting, here's a panel from a comic strip I've done for a client. They're presenting it next week, so I'm not revealing the name or what it's for. But I wanted to share some artwork, just to show I'm still alive and drawing.

And playing World of Goo. I got that with the MacHeist bundle, and man, it's addictive.

Play Ball!

Today's Opening Day of baseball season, so no gloomy face here. Well, maybe just a little. The Cleveland Indians are playing the Texas Rangers in Texas today. As regular blog readers now, I've got a good friend down there, and I've gone down there to do some work for his company and managed to schedule it around Rangers Opening Day. I've actually been to more Rangers Opening Days than Indians. (Well, I haven't been to any Indians ones.) Jesse and I always joked about "what if the Rangers opened against the Indians?" Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, we couldn't make it happen this year.

This year, too, it's supposed to snow here in Cleveland. And, as much fun as Rangers baseball is, it's even more fun to call up my friends in Ohio when I'm sitting in shorts and a t-shirt in the Arlington son and ask "Hey, how's the weather?" It's only going to be 58 degrees in Arlington today, but that's still much warmer than here.

Oh, well, there's always next year. Besides, as an Indians fan, I'm used to having to say that anyway. Now, if we could just get Major League Baseball to re-balance the schedule so that we played Texas and other warm weather teams more…

And hey! I drew page five of Love and Capes #11. The Quest for the Dress continues. I wasn't thrilled with the jokes in this sequence, although I think they work okay. This is one of those plot-heavy pages where the jokes come second. Interestingly, the joke in page four was originally supposed to be delivered by Abby, but I realized it was funnier if Charlotte said it.

I swear, Charlotte's becoming funnier. Paris has been good for her.

CBG Interview Extended

Thnks to Karen O'Brien, the full version of my CBG interview is up on the CBG message boards.

One-Sixth of the Way Home

The wind was understandably knocked out of my sails last night, so I didn't finish working on page four until today. Still, it's good news for my schedule, because it means I only have twenty pages left. That's one every three days, and that's a very manageable speed to maintain. Assuming I don't hit the dreaded writer's block.

In other news, the balance of my Love and Capes #10 order came in. For my next trip, I'm bringing them up to the attic.

And a word about tomorrow, April Fool's Day. I don't do any sort of April Fool's joke, at least not here on the blog, and definitely on Twitter. There will be too much of that tomorrow anyway. No promises, though, if you see me in person.

Andy Hallett

Andy Hallett died today. He and I had lost touch over the years, but I still thought of him as a friend. He was a great, sweet guy and had a voice that you just had to hear.

I met him at a San Diego Comic-Con where I chased after him in a hallway to get him to do Mid-Ohio-Con, which he did. That's where I got to know him. His years at MOC will always be my favorites.

Above is a photo from the last day of the first Mid-Ohio-Con where we met. I can't seem to find the original photo anymore, so I pulled this one from my old Con Reports section, hence the wacky caption. Those were some good times, and I'm going to miss him.

I Love the Smell of Praise in the Morning

I love firing up my Apple Mail program and finding a Google Alert telling me about a nice Love and Capes review. Well, the Google Alert doesn't just search for good reviews, but the precis version in the e-mail usually gives a little hint. This one was titled Love and Capes Rocks the House.

Here's a peek at the review.

This is neither “Chick-Lit” superheroics, or a watered-down superhero comic that is spiced up with romance for the gals. this is an honest-to-goodness adult comic written for adults who have grown past the need for busty babes in spandex and over-testosteroned guys in spandex that solve things by hitting them.

Whoa, heady stuff. You can read the full review here.

Page the Third!

I went ahead and got page three done, which follows The Quest for the Dress a little more. The Dress will be a huge part of issue #11, and it should go in unexpected ways.

I'd like to get page four done by Wednesday, too, so that I'll only have twenty pages to go before my self-imposed end of June deadline. Especially with the traveling I'll be doing for FCBD and a trip or two afterward, it's best to get as much banked as I can.

I'm especially happy with the outfits Abby and Charlotte are wearing. I think they look nice, and are very much in character for both people.

I also like the line about "Presidents' Corner." It's six words, but it serves to create an entire desirable neighborhood for Deco City. Naming it was the hardest thing, since it had to sound like a portion of a city. In Cleveland, we've got Old Brooklyn, but if I'd used anything like that, it would have read as a separate city, not part of Deco itself.

New Review for You, Crew!

Johanna Draper Carlson at Comics Worth Reading gave Love and Capes #9 another great review. Here's a smackerel of her review.

I am running out of ways to say how much I enjoy reading this superhero sitcom.

You can read the full review here.

Free to be Printed!

I got my preview copies of Love and Capes #11, and they look good. They're probably the best FCBD issue I've done yet. Now, I hope the story holds up. I think it's great, but out of all the issues I've done, this is the one I'm a little skittish about.

The books are pictured here with the Winged Wonder, Hawkman, in honor of Kyle Baker's new Wednesday Comics Hawkman strip. The newspaper style Wednesday Comics is a great idea, and it's got stupid good creators on it. Way to think outside the box, DC!