Next Up: C2E2 in Chicago!
Another weekend, another convention. This weekend I'll be at C2E2 in Chicago. Wait! A new show? A new town? Does that mean a new convention print? Why, yes it does!
You may remember this art from last year when I did it for a charity event. I drew it with having it for C2E2 in mind. So now will be your chance to get it.
I'll be set up in Artist Alley, table B-20 with Paul Storrie. I'll be the taller one. I'll have copies of the second Love and Capes trade and the individual issues, too. If you want any t-shirts or pins, be sure to order them on the Love and Capes store so I bring them.
See you there!
I'm Going to Marcon!
I'm going to be at Marcon in Columbus… Holy Shnikeys, I'll be there tomorrow! I'll also be there Saturday as well, so here's my schedule:
Friday • 4:00 p.m.
Autograph Session
Regency Ballroom Foyer
Friday • 8:30 p.m.
Inspiring Artists
Delaware D
Saturday • 1:00 p.m.
Love and Capes spotlight
Franklin A-D
Saturday • 5:30 p.m.
How to Sell Yourself as an Artist
Madison
I'll have copies of Love and Capes: Going to the Chapel, the Columbus print that I did, and the Star Trek: Sky's the Limit book that I worked on with Bob Ingersoll from a couple years back at my autograph session.
Triple Shots: Wonder Woman and Harry, Hermione & Ron
My travel schedule hasn't let me finish these Triple Shots until now. I drew Wonder Woman and a set of the three main Harry Potter characters, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Since those were for the same person, I tried to give them a common feel. Click any to embiggenate!
Huh. It feels like it's been a while since I did these? Maybe it's about time to do it again?
I'm Coming to Seattle for Emerald City Comicon
I'll be in Seattle this weekend for the awesome Emerald City Comicon. I'll be at booth B-04 in Artist Alley, set up with my friend Ben Thompson of Badass of the Week fame. He and I will also be hosting a panel, So Much Cooler Online, Sunday at 11:00am, dealing with maintaining a digital profile, promoting yourself online, and not tweeting stupid tweets. More panelists to be announced. And, as I've been doing for a while now, a new con means a new con print. Here's my Seattle image, available at the show and through pre-order.
Kickstarter Bonus: Up and Muppets Pitches
I promised that if I made $5200, I'd post my pitch documents for Up and Muppets. I cleared that by $6.29, and I'm a man of my word. There are two Up pitches here, Up: Down Under and a second one, getting into the source of the talking dog collars. Up: Down Under was the clear winner, but Disney had some changes. I made those changes and it became Up: Special Delivery. Honestly, I think it's better than the original pitch (as much as I love the heck out of the original title).
There are also three Muppets pitches. Boom was doing the Muppet Show, as well as the Muppet adaptation series. These were for the first. I did pitch the latter, including an awesome (and rejected) pitch of The Muppets: Hamlet where Miss Piggy plays Ophelia and, upon finding out she dies in Act IV, goes about rewriting the play Duck Amuck style so that she becomes the hero. Yeah, I found a way to give Hamlet a happy ending.
The three Show pitches were to have them become the House act at a Donald Trump-esque casino, to have them become a reality show where someone got voted off every issue, and one where a big star (a la Tom Cruise circa the couch jumping era) becomes their guest host.
If the stars ever align, I'd love to do any or all of these. But for now, you can enjoy them in this PDF.
Kickstarter Bonus: The Time I Almost Did "Up"
One more time, today is the last day of my Kickstarter project. It's completely funded, but I'd like to overfund and add some other benefits. As bonuses, I'm offering some art that's never been seen and won't be in the final art book.
I completely fell in love with Up when I saw it. It was a heartbreaking, nearly perfect film. Boom had the Pixar license, and they were talking to me about Muppets, and it took all of seven hours for me to write them an e-mail begging to do an Up comic.
At the end of the movie, Carl is clearly living in the zeppelin, and hanging out with Russell and Dug. It was just begging for a sequel. You know why? Because with that setup it's Uncle Scrooge! Old guy, boy scout tagalong, going off having adventures.
The idea was almost instant, too. Living aboard the zeppelin, Carl finds a never mailed letter from Muntz. And while Muntz was crazy, he was still young Carl's idol. so he decides to deliver the letter himself. The letter takes him to Australia and gives the book the awesomely awesome title Up: Down Under.
I'm still proud of that, title, pitch, concept and everything.
Here's the thing: it got approved. The pitch went to Disney where we were told that they didn't really see Carl traveling much or very far after his adventure in the movie. But they thought the idea had merit.
So, here's what I did: I realized the end scene of Up takes place 
at a famous ice cream place near Pixar. That meant the movie took place in Northern California. That meant I could use Southern California. So the trip to Australia following in Multz's footsteps instead became a trip to glamorous 1930's Hollywood. My Outback Flying Doctor was replaced by an actress who, Doris Day-style, started an animal shelter/farm.
And you know what? It was better. The dog shelter made Dug even more important, and Hollywood was a better backdrop. I liked it more, even if I had to lose the title.
In my dream world, one day I'll pitch it to Pixar and we'll make the thing. It sure would be swell. And it could happen someday. After all, adventure is out there.
Kickstarter Bonus: My Incredibles Sample Pages
Today is the last day of my Kickstarter project. It's completely funded, but I'd like to overfund and add some other benefits. As bonuses, I'm offering some art that's never been seen and won't be in the final art book.
So, I, like everyone, wanted to do The Incredibles. I think my Love and Capes artwork style was absolutely perfect for it. So I put together this two page sample page showing how I'd handle the characters.
Compared to the previous Muppets piece, I tried something more standard for the lettering, a more traditional comic style for a comic book family.
This was also a soft pitch for a plot, too. I don't remember all the details, but basically I wanted to focus on Frozone (because he's literally and figuratively cool) and give him an ex-girlfriend super villian as a bad girl to mess around with him. It'd also show some 
great contrast with Mr. Incredible and Elasti-Girl's marriage, and even Frozone's own marriage,
Alas, not to be. Maybe someday.
As I type this, you're $55 from seeing the Up pages. Have at it!
Kickstarter Bonus: The Muppets
Today is the last day of my Kickstarter project. It's completely funded, but I'd like to overfund and add some other benefits. As bonuses, I'm offering some art that's never been seen and won't be in the final art book.
In 2008, I was pitching Boom Studios on working on the Muppets. Plots were submitted, some even approved, but for a bunch of reasons, nothing ever went forward. That's the nature of the game, especially when working on a licensed property, so there are no hard feelings.
But, I still like to share them as I think they came out pretty well and show a different style and capability. And, since we've hit our 101st backer, this is the first reward.
(Depending on amount hit, I'll be showing off sample pages for The Incredibles, Up, and maybe even some stories.)
These pages weren't from an actual story, but a quick sample script I wrote to show how I could handle characters, environments and more. Click on any thumbnail to embiggenate!
In Which I Reveals the WonderCon Exclusive Print
WonderCon means another one of my local Con Prints. This one was a little tough, since Anaheim is mostly known for Disneyland and that puts me in the same bind as my Orlando print. Plus, WonderCon is traditionally a San Francisco show. So, in this case, I figured it would be okay to go ahead and do the original location rather than the new one. Plus, I was just in San Francisco a month or so ago and I really wanted to draw it. Click for a bigger version.