Done with Twenty-One!

Things get a little more serious as we get to page 21. I think this one's got some drama to it, and I like the way this panel conveys the urgency and power of the scene.

I had a bit of artist's/writer's block on this one. My panel six was kind of weak and I didn't have a great half-page joke to it. I tried all my typical things, finally taking a drive and going to Starbucks to try to dislodge the brain block. It worked, too.

After this page, everything's pretty tightly written and thumbnailed (well, thumbnailed in my head and occasionally on my shower wall in bath crayon) so there shouldn't be any more pauses, at least for creativity's sake. And now, I'm just at the point where I want it done and out of my head. It's great to have that drive to finish, but it can also be a little irritating.

It's Raining Men

Okay, that title only makes sense to me. It'll make sense to all of you in May. Promise.

Page twenty! Things gets a little more interesting. Of course, I can't show you why.

The more I work on this story, the more I realize how atypical it is for Love and Capes. It's the Free Comic Book Day issue, so I figure I'm expected to take a couple more liberties. But this one has more super heroics, and probably more serious beats, than any other issue I've done.

Don't worry, there's still a lot of funny in it, too. Still, it's gonna be a way interesting issue. Can't wait for y'all to read it.

Love and Capes #9 In Stores Today

Just sayin'...

Plop Plop Fizz Fizz

Things are starting to speed up a little bit now. I mean, Abby's got a stomach ache when she shouldn't. (And no, she is not pregnant.) And that's the harbinger for the last act of this issue of Love and Capes.

There's a joke earlier in the book where Abby forgets to put on her mask. Oddly, on this page, I did the same thing. I drew it, the way I usually do, and scanned it into the computer so I could color it. Only then did I realize that I forgot to draw her mask on in the superhero scenes. Fortunately, I've gotten good enough with the Wacom tablet that I could draw the mask in without doing it by hand and rescanning it.

Whew! Dodged a bullet there.

With this, there are only seven pages left to draw, as well as figuring out the cover for issue #11 so I can run an ad for it somewhere in the FCBD issue. It's close enough to being done that I can almost taste it.

The Love and Capes Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Valentine's Day is coming up, and since I write comicdom's most romantic superhero book, I figure I ought to do something to celebrate. So I am. I'm doing a giveaway.

Love and Capes is the perfect Valentine's Day present for the comics fan, or someone you want to introduce to comics. No Valentine? Enter the contest and maybe Love and Capes will help you win over that special someone. Sign up using the form below.

• You and your valentine could win:
• All nine issues of Love and Capes, signed by the author
• Two matching Love and Capes t-shirts
• A set of Love and Capes pins
• A box of Ghirardelli chocolates. (No endorsement implied. They're my chocolate of choice, and I think you'll like them too.)
• Your name in the Free Comic Book Day 2009 issue of Love and Capes.

No purchase necessary. Winner will be chosen by random drawing on February 2nd, 2009. Winner will be notified and prizes will be sent immediately thereafter.

And, if you haven't already picked out a present for your special valentine, may I suggest the new Love and Capes TPB? It's available at better booksellers nationwide or you can pick up a copy here.

And, as an added bonus, download a printable Love and Capes Valentine to give to your sweetie here!

Burning Up the Book

Okay, now, I have eight pages to go. Here we have what is probably the most exciting panel of Love and Capes ever. I've had internal rules about LNC since I started, many of which I violated. I planned to only introduce one new hero per issue, which I smashed in #4, I planned on not doing continued stories, which I did in #8, and I said "no fights", which I broke in #9. Since this issue is Abby with powers, there's the most superhero stuff I've ever put in an issue of Love and Capes.

And, looking at the big breakdown of page Post-It notes sticking on the wall of my kitchen, there's a lot of serious to the end of the book. Maybe it's good that I added pages, so there was more funny before it became, well, less funny. I'm still barrelling forward, because I think the story's good, but I sometimes get a little nervous. Plus it's the Free Comic Book Day issue, which means my biggest audience of the year. Whew! It's a lot to have hanging out in your brainspace.

Enough of that introspection! Enjoy the panel, and being announced shortly (like later today)… the First Annual Love and Capes Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Okay, Back to One Digit Numbers Again

I think issue #10 has more scenes of Abby getting dressed than any other issue of Love and Capes before.

Here's page seventeen, which has Abby going to visit Charlotte in Paris. Charlotte's not in much of this issue, which is a little sad, but there's just not enough space to put too much of her in it. The perils of being a supporting character, I suppose. I also got to design a new part of Charlotte's Parisan apartment, her closet. I know it's a little thing, but I think it's kind of cool.

With this, I'm back down to single digits again. Nine pages left! But I think I need a little bit of a break to figure out page twenty, which will be a little more of a montage, and to work on one something that I'll be bringing out for the New York Comic-Con.

Have I mentioned I'll be there, by the way? I'm in Small Press at booth #2446!

Love and Capes #9 in stores next week!

According to Diamond, Love and Capes #9 will be in stores next week, January the 14th. It's the conclusion of the first (and hopefully only) cliffhanger. I can promise that the FCBD issue is not continued.

In it, we'll see a resolution to the Psi-Clone storyline, the search for Mark's Best Man, and Abby makes a big decision. Most importantly, we'll see two of our characters sitting on a couch watching Battlestar Galactica. How awesome is that?

It's available from better retailers everywhere for just $3.95. And if you didn't ask for it, tell your comic shop to order it. You know you want it.

So Close, So Close and Yet So Far

I'd love to type "Eight more pages! Two-thirds done!" But I don't think I can.

I did my Post-It Note breakdown of the last pages, and while I could end it in 24 pages, I think the story calls for 26. Fortunately, this is the FCBD issue, which has 32 pages in it, as opposed to the 24 that a regular issue has. So I can add the two pages without messing up my printing or pricing.

And the last page will be a full page splash but, still, man, I was down to single-digits for a bit there. Now I have to get cracking on it again to winnow down to those one-digit numbers. Okay, really, I just need to do a page tomorrow and I'm back below ten. But still, it's a little deflating.

But, the story is the story, right? And you tell the story the way it demands.

In Which Thom Goes to New York and Does a Panel

Hey! I'm going to be doing a panel at the New York Comic Con! Douglas Wolk asked me to be on the panel, and I was jumped at the chance. It's great to be on the other side of the panel more and more.

Panel info follows:

Her Face Was an Open Book: The Art of Character

How does character design play into a cartoonist's working process? Does a creator's idea of who a character is ever change after that character appears as an image? How hard is it to draw a character that fits a prose description? We'll discuss these questions and more with Christine Norrie (Breaking Up), Dash Shaw (Bottomless Belly Button), and Thom Zahler (Love & Capes). Moderated by Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics).

Friday 6:00pm Room 1A24

The full schedule is up here.