Ghost Riders on the Storm
I've mentioned any number of times the work I've done for Toon Tumblers. It really is some of my favorite stuff, and the glasses which I get from Paul and his company have become my "good China" here at Zahlerdu.
I believe, and don't quote me, that the New York show will see the debut of the following glasses: two different Ghost Rider glasses (apparently, the movie helped his Q rating), as well as glassed featuring The Fantastic Four, The Punisher, Luke Cage Power Man, Iron Man, and, of all people, Adam Warlock.
I'll be working behind Paul's booth a good chunk of the time at the show, but I'll also have Love and Capes issues #1-3 there, too. Be sure to come up and say "hi!"
More Behind Me Than Ahead of Me
I finished page fifteen last night. We're moving from the Arachnerd storyline to the Abby-trying-out-for-Twelfth Night storyline. This is the penultimate plot line in #4. This scene is also actually a great example of what Bob Ross called "happy accidents." Because of the ending joke in this sequence, I originally planned on Mark being in full civilian mode, with his hair brushed back and wearing glasses, but when I started drawing it, I forgot I had that in mind and drew him without. Since he'd just flown back from meeting the Arachnerd, I figured that he'd just throw on some clothes but not necessarily do the whole secret identity thing.
But, it worked out to make it even funnier. Of course, I can't reveal why these things play so well without ruining the joke, so you'll have to buy the book to see if it works.
Thom Zahler has nineteen days left to draw nine pages… with our Star Blazers.
Blub blub
I've wound up getting some Flash animation jobs over the last couple of years. Some of the longer ones have reminded me why I didn't go into animation as a primary career. It's certainly fun to dabble in (and if you pay me enough, I can always do it) but I don't have the patience to do anything lengthy.
Having said that, I'm working on a couple of illos for a local commercial, and I had to create an ugly fish. So, I present to you… Mongo, the ugly fish. If you can't see it, click here.
I'll let you know when the spot will air.
Just Sittin' and Veggin'
With page fourteen, the Arachnerd storyline wraps up, although he will be seen again this issue. After that, I decided we really needed to see Abby again, so Mark and she get some time to hang out in one of the more difficult standard set-ups: the couch. Why so difficult? Well, the style I use is kind of cartoony, and Mark is particularly broad and muscular, and Abby's kind of petite and short. So any time where they need to sit together or do something with the same props (like drink out of matching glasses) is always a challenge to make work.
In art school, I was taught that when you draw people sitting, draw the chair (or in this case, the couch) first and then place your characters on it so that they sit on the same plane. It sounds simple, but it's always a challenge and one that can get past you if you're not careful. There are a couple of scenes in Love and Capes #1 where I still cringe. And no, I won't tell you where those are.
I've settled on Abby being about a head shorter than Mark, as any more of a size difference makes sitting them together and look into each other's eyes almost impossible. With all that being said, I think it worked out pretty well.
You'll notice, too, that Mark's wearing a Deco City University t-shirt. I've settled on that as being his college. I was debating where else to send Mark to school. I toyed with Loyola and Wharton, but decided on the fictional DCU because… well, you know, I can't really say why. But it's actually a storyline consistency issue. I wrote a line in #2 that meant he had to go to college in Deco City. I thought about putting the logo for some show or band that I really like, too, but I thought that might be a little glaring in this scene. I'm not above it other places, though. I'm all about the advertising.
Speaking of which, there are ad spaces available in the Free Comic Book Day issue of Love and Capes. You can read details here, but basically, there are open full color pages on the inside that are going for $250. Per Diamond rules, the FCBD edition needs to be 32 pages, although it's okay if those additional pages are advertising or other pieces. So there will also be ads, a soon-to-be-announced contest, and a breakdown of how a page comes together, starting out in soap crayon on my shower wall and ending up on my computer.
The contest? I'm not going to say much about that, but if you must have a hint, dial 4 on your phone.
Thom Zahler has 21 days remaining to draw 10 pages.
I Know, You Know, That I'm Not Telling the Truth
My friend Amy noticed that I throw a lot of Easter Eggs and other hidden things into my comics. She's right as can be. I toss a lot of things just to crack myself up. Sometimes it's the name of a character, sometimes it's something in the background. And it's very rarely blatant. Sometimes I corrupt the name enough, or have a bizarre enough connection that no one except me gets it.
Here may or may not be such a case. I wanted some people walking by in this panel. I was thinking of drawing a couple, initially, but recently one of my favorite shows, Psych, came back on the air. It's not a show for the ages, but it's as fun as can be, and has a catchy theme song that you can download here.
It may be hard to tell, as this was the first time I really attempted to do a caricature of people in my Love and Capes style, but you should be able to look and tell that the people here are pretty obviously inspired by Shawn and Gus from everyone's "fake psychic/real detective" TV show.
And, for those of you keeping track: Thom Zahler has 23 days remaining to draw the last 11 pages.
Does Whatever a Spider Can
Page twelve is the first actual appearance of the Arachnerd, although he does appear on a billboard and is mentioned in the third issue. (Wow, foreshadowing.) In fact, he's sticking to that very billboard for the Arachnerd movie seen in the earlier issue. You know why? Less to draw.
I'm also trying to texturize every different city. It's difficult, as I have about twelve pre-existing b
I'm also including a close up of panel one. Here we see exactly how cool the Crusader is. Look closely. He's got an iPhone.
The Final Frontier
Pocket Books has announced it, so I guess it's okay for me to drop the news myself. Bob Ingersoll and I will be co-authoring a short story in the Star Trek: The Next Generation short story collection. I can't describe how jazzed I am about it…
Crap! If I can't describe it, maybe I shouldn't be trying to write professionally. Oh, well, ever forward.
I've tried to get published by them once before, entering their Strange New Worlds contest. My story for that, The Lady in Red, a Star Trek: Voyager story, got rejected, but if you're interested in it, I've got a PDF of it up here. So now Bob and I are collaborating on 'Til Death, a Next Generation story featuring Commander Riker. I don't want to reveal too much, but I will tell you that we put Number One through the ringer.
I've been published before, but this is my first published prose story, and it's a big thrill.
It's also great to work with Bob again. Our first collaboration was me lettering some of his Innovation stories. I've been his technical and science advisor on a few other things. Here we'll meld into one superbeing name Thob. Okay, maybe not.
As far as my craft goes, I write at Starbucks. For some reason, I can't write prose or long chunks of dialogue at home. But I go up there, have a venti mocha (skim, no whip) and write like the wind. I think it goes back to something one of my old teachers, Bart Sears, told us at Kubert. He said "When you're at your drawing table, just draw. Don't read. Don't eat. Don't talk on the phone. Just draw." The idea is to get your brain to associate that space with the work, so when you sit down, you click over to Work Mode. So, for better or worse, Starbucks clicks my writing brain into Work Mode.
The Star Trek TNG collection drops in October of this year. Start lining up now.
On the Floor!
I received word from Rod at Comic-Con International yesterday that I do have a space at the 2007 show! It's good to get that out of the way. No booth number as of yet, but I'll be in the comics section. Make sure to come on by and see me! By that time, I'll have five, count 'em five issues of Love and Capes, as well as the first three Raider graphic novels and Long Distance. I'm working on other things to make this my best show yet, so keep checking back and see what I come up with.
Page-a-Day
I don't usually post the fourth panel of a sequence, as it usually is the punchline for the gag, but I'm making an exception here. Why? Because the punchline makes absolutely no sense without the panels before.
It's also a silent panel, which I try to do every now and again, too. They're keep variety in the texture of the story, which helps keep things interesting. I worry that some of my panels get a little copy-heavy, so it's nice to know that I can pull these off from time to time.
With this, I'm done with the family picnic sequence of issue four.
Also nice is that it puts me two pages off my schedule, which is twelve pages a month. That's sometimes a feat with all my other projects, but I've still got three days in the month to do two pages remaining. I'd like to be further ahead, but keeping the pace keeps me from freaking out about my deadline.
"No!" Or, as the Germans say, "Nine!"
I also do stuff to crack myself up. I put books I like or books by my friends (usually the same thing) as featured books in Abby's bookstore. Most of these get obscured by dialog
My library of backgrounds in the book continues to increase, too. I did a decent sized forest/park background, and you might notice that it appears in both these panels, although flipped and color shifted and so on so it's not horribly noticable.
Hopefully I'll be able to get page ten done later today, too, which should be the end of the family picnic jokes. And only fourteen left after that!