Warning Label Wrap-Up.

Today is the first Thursday I haven’t woken up to a bunch of comments on Warning Label. Straight up, I miss my readers most of all. 

Warning Label kind of came out of nowhere for me. When I had the opportunity to pitch Webtoons, I pitched what I thought were three solid concepts. And I had this fourth, back-pocket idea that wasn’t fully fleshed out about a girl cursed by her ex-boyfriend. But they’d never pick that one, right?

You know how that went.

Warning Label became one of my favorite stories ever. It might be the best thing I’ve written so far. (So far being hugely important.) It was real, it was raw, and it was emotional. I didn’t expect it to resonate with me or the audience the way it did. But it did, and I am so grateful for that.

I really want to thank Webtoons for picking it and for giving me the space to tell the story. Originally, it was supposed to be 26 chapters. Obviously, it went 39, and those expansions were organic to the story. I can’t imagine them without it.

I’ll admit, the first one came about because I was coming back from San Diego and Comic-Con and I didn’t want to draw the big party scene in what became Chapter Eleven. Danielle’s first encounter with Rachel broke into two. There was more, but having the freedom to expand the original outline made things flow so much better.

When the time came to end it, I realized that I would end the week before Valentine’s Day. And I realized ending on Valentine’s Day was too good not to do, so I added another chapter, 35. That gave me room to show that Jeff and Danielle still had feelings without saying it out loud. I love that chapter.

Warning Label challenged me to become a better storyteller and a better artist. Look at some of the expressions in Chapter 35. The artist who started drawing this wasn’t capable of those when he started. My character designs and cartooning got better as I went.

And the pace. I was drawing five complete pages a week. All tallied up, this is a 208 page graphic novel. It’s the longest single piece I’ve done, and at a speed I’ve never worked before. And I think it made me better. Those things often do.

It was hard ending the story, even though it was planned all along. Danielle was always going to clear her list and become the person capable of having the relationship she wanted. It was the true thing to do. Any more would have been indulgent. But let’s answer a couple of questions.

I ended it without seeing the wedding or the proposal intentionally. As far as the wedding, honestly, whatever you the reader come up with is going to be better and ring truer than whatever I would have drawn. It’s collaborative storytelling.

As far as the proposal, how it happens is not as important as that it will happen. And besides, this is very much Danielle’s story. It needed to end with Danielle having a moment only she could have. And her taking everything that had happened to her and turning it into a game is her resolving moment. That’s the button to the story. And it’s uniquely her. To end with the proposal would have diluted that. It would have been their moment, and it had to end with Danielle alone.

Best of all through this whole experience has been the fans. I’d never had that immediate, instant connection with my readers. Part of that is the Webtoons format, part of that is the connection the strip created. I would stay up until midnight every posting night to see the comments come in. When I didn’t feel like doing the strip, those comments kept me going. When I was drawing something hard that I did’t want to, those comments kept me going. And when I didn’t think I could hit the raw emotion or honestly I needed to, those comments kept me going.

I’m glad you found Warning Label, and I’m so glad I found you. I could type “thank you” for paragraphs and paragraphs and not be able to express how much I appreciate all of you, your interest and your support.

I’m working on new stuff. Can’t say what yet, but it’s more than one thing and will show up in more than one place. When I can tell you, I’ll tell you here and on Twitter and Instagram. I’m not done making things, and hopefully you’re not done reading them. Until then, too, I’m at a bunch of conventions, too. Drop by and see me.

And maybe Warning Label isn’t completely gone, either. I’d love to see a trade paperback sometime. And who knows, maybe even a movie. You’d go see it, right? And I could cameo as Ben the bartender.

One last time, thank you so much for reading the story and being part of mine. You’ll never know what it means to me. And I’ll see you soon!

Valentine's Day: Tarzan and Jane

I really like Disney's Tarzan. It's not pure Tarzan, but I think it's a really good Disney version. The music is really good, and the drum-heavy Phil Collins music fits the subject really well. I like that they were brave enough to not go to London. And, I think this movie benefits from the flawed Hunchback of Notre Dame, which showed them how dark they could go. 

And the scene of Tarzan getting vine-burns on his hand saving Jane gets me every time.

So, I drew these two, and it's the first time I think I've ever taken a run at them. The final piece is 9x12 on bristol and done in inks and Copics.

Aquaman and Mera Valentine's Day

As much as I like the Batman: Brave and the Bold Aquaman for all sorts of reasons, but for this piece I wanted to do classic Jim Aparo Aquaman and something close to the Nick Cardy Mera. Aparo gave Aquaman the coolest hair, and Cardy's alien princess was just adorable.

The piece is on 9x12 bristol, drawn and colored in ink and Copics.

Valentine's Day: Oswald and Ortensia

I'm not sure why, but I really like Oswald and Ortensia. There's something about their graphic design that speaks to me. And I love the whole story about how Disney got the rights back because of Sunday Night Football. And the story about how Walt had to leave Oswald behind to start Walt Disney Studios.

So, getting away from more realistic characters, here are Oswald and Ortensia on 9x12 bristol, drawn and colored in ink and Copics.

Valentine's Day: Han Solo and Princess Leia

Let me tell you a secret. There's part of me that doesn't love COLORING Star Wars characters. Think about it. Most of the characters wear black, white, or shades of brown. (It's another reason why Boba Fett is awesome.) I knew I wanted to draw a Han and Leia, and once I remembered the Endor outfits, I thought, "Hey, I should draw THAT."

So, pictured here are Han and Leia, being awesome together the way I'd like to think they were before she sent Han to his death on a suicide mission to confront Kylo Ren.

The piece is done in ink and Copic markers and measures 9x12. 

Valentine's Day: Captain America and Peggy Carter

I love Captain America: The First Avenger. It's so Joe Johnston a movie, and you see how much he could have done in The Rocketeer if technology had been what it is now. And Chris Evans and Haley Atwell are just electric together. Plus, who doesn't love Star Spangled Man with a Plan?

The finished piece is 9x12 on bristol, in pen and ink and Copics. The price is for domestic shipping. If you're international, go ahead and buy it and I'll bill you separately for the shipping difference.

Valentine's Day: Supergirl and Brainiac 5

So, back in the 70's version of the Legion, Supergirl and Brainiac 5 were an item. Kinda. Sorta. There was time travel. But, since both are on Supergirl (though, in fairness, I barely recognize the weird Doc Brown character that seems to be Brainy) it got me thinking and I decided to do them to start.

The finished piece is 9x12 on bristol, in pen and ink and Copics. The price is for domestic shipping. If you're international, go ahead and buy it and I'll bill you separately for the shipping difference.

Valentine's Day Commissions Redux!

Last year, I did a Valentine's Day event where so I drew a different cartoon or super-couple every day and then made the pieces available at special price. That worked so well, I'm going to do it again, from now until Valentine's Day proper. 

So, like last year, t'll be first come, first served for these 9x12, full-color originals. They'll be $80 (all prices include domestic shipping) on the day they go live. $100 afterwards. And then, on the 20th, I'll yank them all back and then you can buy them at shows for $120.

I'll post process stuff to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and then, at some random time, I'll make it available to purchase.

Also, if you want to pre-buy them, contact me and we'll set that up for the "day after" price of $100. I'll still post the work, but it'll be marked as pre-sold.

The Supergirl/Brainiac 5 piece will be available later today.

Justice like Lightning…

This past weekend I was lucky enough (largely thanks to Emily) to get to attend the DC in DC event. The day and a half event featured a number of panels, a pop-up shop, and the premieres of Gotham by Gaslight and Black Lightning. 

So, years and years ago, I was a young high school student and I went to my first big convention. There I saw Tony Isabella, whom I'd seen on some local news segment, and current DC writer. I loved his Shadow War of the Hawkman and boldly asked if he needed an apprentice. He said he might need a research assistant. That eventually became me working for him at the Superman Expo and, better yet, a long friendship.

Tony taught me a lot about a lot of things. He's always one of the first to review my work. There are lots of reasons I'm in comics and how I learned to stories. Tony is no small part of that. And it was so special to get to be there on Tony's big night. 

Black Lightning is a great show, by the way. I've seen the premiere. You should, too.

Also, I got the chance to talk to a lot of creators and actors of my favorite comics and shows, and reconnect with some friends I haven't seen in a while (I'm looking at you, Yuri!) and meet some new ones. I got to speak with David Harewood (Supergirl's Martian Manhunter), Orlando Jones (American Gods, Mad TV), Bruce Greenwood (Chris Pike in the new Star Trek and voice of Batman in a bunch of animated movies, including Gotham by Gaslamp), Brandon Routh (Legends of Tomorrow's Atom and Superman in Superman Returns), Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls, Gotham by Gaslamp) and Cress Williams (Black Lightning, and also from one of my favorite shows, SportsNight). I talked with Julie and Shawna Benson, Agnes Garbowska, Shea Fontana, and Tom King. And so many more, too. I'm sure I'm missing more than a few. 

Behind the Scenes of Warning Label, Chapter Eight

Sometimes, I really search for things to share in this weekly feature. Is that worth sharing? Do I want to reveal that? This week, I do not have to do that at all. Because Gymkata. So, a couple years ago I did a signing at Christy Blanch’s excellent Aw Yeah Comics shop. And one of her friends/co-workers, Kyle, asked if I’d seen Gymkata. “Gymkata?” I foolishly said. “What’s that?”

Kyle is a Gymkata evangelist. He would go door-to-door if he could. Scratch that. He may have already done that until a restraining order stopped him and I just don’t know. I think he’d have a bandolier of Gymkata discs if he could. So, when I told him that I hadn’t seen it, he fixed that. The Amazon shipment may have beat me home that weekend.

So, armed with a bottle of wine (or, as I called it, Gymkata Juice), I live-tweeted the experience of watching Gymkata. It is very much an Eighties film, combining the grace of gymnastics with the deadliness of karate. It is ridiculous and crazy and cheesy and it is a ton of fun.

Whip ahead to a couple months ago when I was writing the chapter breakdowns for Warning Label and I came up with the Mystery Science Theatre style night at Jeff’s movie theatre. My scripting uses brackets when I need to use a pastiche version of something. So, not Disney World but [Disney World] letting me know to come up with something close enough to the real thing so people get what it is, and not enough to get sued. In my script for this chapter, I of course wrote…

[Sleepwalkers].

Sleepwalkers is a terrible, terrible film that came out during my tenure at the Kubert School. Some friends and I watched it and did I mention it was terrible? It shows Indiana with mountains. Neuman from Seinfeld gets killed with a charcoal pencil that travels so fast that it continues to pass through his head and come out the other side. And I hated that movie, which was Stephen King’s first original screenplay, up until the second reel. At that point, I realized he was trying to write a USA Up All Night movie. At least I hope so. But once I let go, it was a gloriously ridiculous experience.

So, the movie Jeff and the gang was going to watch was Sleepwalkers. But this was also the hardest thing I’ve written in this story so far.

Why? Okay, you write a fake movie which is earnest and yet amusingly horrible, do it in eight panels, and then write jokes about your own jokey movie. This is not easy. And I was trying to think how to make it work. And I kept hitting a wall. Until Gymkata saved me.

Combining disco and an action movie (which I’m pretty sure was done in a TV pilot called Young Guy Christian but I can’t find any tracks to that show on the internet aside from it’s IMDB entry, but I know I saw it) was funny in and of itself. Action tropes are pretty universal. And, as opposed to creating absurd situations, I could write a standard action film and then make the execution absurd. I wrote a quick little movie, and then the gang’s jokes just came.

There are cut scenes, of course. The focus of the story is Danielle and her bonding or not with Jeff’s friends, not Discottack! So I had to clip the scene of him teaching the local kid how to disco dance, or using his Discottack to stop a mugger in the first scene. But I think the world will continue to rotate anyway.