Below is a scan of the actual notebook drawing, (it’s a little sharper than my iPhone photo above):

These drawings are for an upcoming solo show at iam8bit in Los Angeles!!! The opening is Friday, May 25th. I could not be more excited! You can RSVP here and there is more information here. I’ll be posting lots more about this over the next month!

UPDATE!

A comment in reddit led me to the following stop motion video by Hemi Ormsby and Ben Stoner. I figure if you liked my drawing, you may also enjoy this:

ARTIST TALK
I’ll be giving an artist talk at the Brew House, Space 101 gallery, on Tuesday, May 1st between 6 – 8 p.m. This is part of the Distillery 6 exhibit, The End, that is currently on display at the Brew House. More details about the show and talk are here. Well, you missed the talk, but you can hear a recording by Comic Book Pitt here.

ED PISKOR SPEAKS…
…at Carnegie Mellon University, Friday, April 27th, 4:30 – 5:30 pm at Baker Hall, Adamson Wing, 136A. Ed Piskor is the cartoonist behind the upcoming Wizzywig and the weekly Boing Boing web comic, Brain Rot. This talk should be enlightening.

TOONSEUM ART SHOW UPDATES
My art show, This #*?! Isn’t Very Funny, at the Toonseum will be open as part of the Gallery Crawl on April 27th (along with the Grand Opening of the Sprout Fund Comics Courtyard) and there will be a closing reception on Saturday, May 5th, after Free Comic Book Day at 8 pm. I hope to see you all there.

TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW
Jasen Lex and I have a new talk show. We have posted episodes with Farel Dalrymple and Tom Scioli. It is a work-in-progress, so listen below or download on iTunes and let us know what we can do to make it better! Thanks.

Tweet
Share

Pinburgh 2012 – Unsportsmanlike Conduct
30 x 20.5 inches
ink on paper

I drew a fill-in issue for DC Comics/Vertigo – iZOMBIE #24:

Kennedy, leader of the Dead Presidents, is in the spotlight as we travel back to the 1970s, when she was new to life as an undead secret agent. Investigating some weird business surrounding a rock band takes an unexpected turn – revealing secrets that will have serious repercussions in the present day for our zombie heroine, Gwen.

Kennedy sports a mighty fine afro in the 70s flashback – and made me think, gee-whiz, visually Kennedy is like a female version of Afrodisiac:

This sort of male/female version of a character is nothing new to the world of superhero comics – a genre that relies heavily on gender identity/fantasy (both good and bad). When I started working on this issue, I remembered a couple of comics from the 90s that flipped the lead characters from male to female.

In 1993, Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy #39 featured a Wolverine descendant named Rancor who battled a futuristic Dr. Doom that looked like a cross between a series 800 Terminator robot and Wolverine’s skeleton. The best part of this epic battle was the foil-embossed cover that really captured the metallic surface of Doom. Rancor apparently proved so successful that 11 years later, Marvel introduced another female Wolverine – X-23 in NYX #3 (X-23 only has 2 claws, like Tim Vigil’s Faust).

In 1995, Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Studio corner of Image Comics published a short crossover called Babewatch. In Babewatch, all of the Extreme male heroes wake up to discover they are now women. This is due to Glory’s enemy, Diabolique, turning all of the men that Glory has had contact with into women?! It takes an average of 3 panels for the newly transformed women to accept this unusual development before heading out for a typical day of asskicking. Even by the standards of the time, this is a poorly executed storyline.

In 1999, Alan Moore wrote a Deathblow mini-series called By Blows. It follows the adventures of a female clone of Deathblow.

While looking for a jpg of Team Youngblood #4, I came across this post on Comics Alliance about Gender Swapping in superhero comics.

The moral of this column – buy a copy of iZOMBIE #24. When I was a kid and decided I wanted to draw comics this is what I had in mind. Thanks to Shelly, Greg, Chris, Mike, and Laura for making this issue so much fun for me! I hope readers get some of that same energy and excitement. Thanks.

TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW: TOM SCIOLI

Jasen Lex and I have started working on a podcast called Tell Me Something I Don’t Know. It’s a work-in-progress but we wanted to release this episode because we talked to Tom ‘American Barbarian’ Scioli whose new Adhouse Books graphic novel, American Barbarian hits stores this week. While you’re picking up a copy of iZOMBIE #24, you should consider a copy of American Barbarian. It’s really, really good.

THIS #*?! ISN’T VERY FUNNY

My art show, This #*?! Isn’t Very Funny opened at the Toonseum this past Thursday. Thank you to everyone who made it to the opening and to those who helped spread the word. The show is up until May 6th.

THE END

April 13th I will be part of a group exhibit at the Brew House. It’s the final show of the Distillery 6 residency program and features 6 other artists. You are invited!

I thought I’d share some of the process here.

It is important to me that the promotional materials accurately communicate the work in the show. Because I often judge a movie or book based on expectations, I want to be honest with my audience (unless misleading marketing will enhance or is part of the intended experience).

The work in this show is comprised of individual pages that do not form a single narrative and range quite a bit in terms of content. But I think there’s a consistent tone throughout a lot of my work – a combination of a traditional, mainstream comic book style and irreverent humor and the aesthetic is an obvious element I can use.

My goal for the promotional art is to attract the attention of someone who might find my comics art interesting. I assume my 25 fans will hear about the show (an assumption I am confident making since I’ve told everyone I know about it at least 25 times), but that’s not enough to make this show a successful experience. Part of my interest in showing work outside of the direct market is that I think comics have a wide appeal. I believe this based on their influence and presence in movies, advertising, music, video games, department stores, tv, fashion, news, etc. I want to share the comics and work I value with others. Showing work outside the direct market is an opportunity to do this.

I needed to communicate what my work is through an image and I wanted that image to be iconic, slightly tongue-in-cheek, and absolutely indicative of what one can expect to encounter at my show. Eventually I decided to illustrate the iconic expression about superheroes wearing their underwear on the outside of their costumes. Obviously the concept isn’t new, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it’s not an iconic part of the comics lexicon (at least not one I can think of, maybe an old Wally Wood Mad treatment?).

Eventually, the winning composition emerged. I decided to emphasize the original art look of the majority of the work in the show – black and white, some corrections, some smudges. The posters are printed on 13 x 19 for the bleed and then I hand cut each one to resemble an actual piece of original comic art.

If you’d like one for your dojo, they are available for purchase here.

For the postcard, I wanted to use color. It’s small, and color is a major component of comics in my mind. I used the traditional DC palette from the mid-70s and created CMYK channels in Photoshop. Then I half-toned the colors that weren’t 100% solid and I separated the channels into individual files. I reduced the level of ink-coverage and printed each color onto a piece of newsprint (fed through the printer 4 times, which created a natural off-registration effect). Then I scanned the finished print and viola:

P.S. My show coincides with an exhibit of Will Eisner art so that’s pretty good company and I’m sure worth an evening of your time.

Share
Tweet

Wizard magazine started publishing around the time that I decided I wanted to be a comic book artist. Since it featured interviews with cartoonists and a glimpse at how the sausage was made (so to speak), I read it for a couple of years in the early to mid 90s before moving on to the Comics Journal.

The magazine capitalized on comics’ speculator market that developed in the wake of the collapse of the trading card/sports card market. Within a few years, the comic book industry repeated the cycle, and when things went sour, a lot of fingers pointed in Wizard’s direction (Frank Miller tore a copy of the magazine in half at the Harvey Awards in Pittsburgh during his keynote speech).

But the magazine wasn’t pure evil. It introduced me to alternative comics in a monthly column written by Tom Palmer’s (my favorite Neal Adams’ inker) son, Tom Palmer, Jr. The column was titled Palmer’s Picks.

One of my favorite Palmer’s Picks anecdotes involves Paul Pope and Chester Brown. Palmer profiled Pope’s work in issue #40.

I went to the Mid-Ohio con that year with the intention of meeting Paul Pope, who was based in Columbus at the time and was listed as a guest. Sadly, he never showed up. I think he may have left for NYC around that time, although that might be completely false. Heck, he may have just been away from his table for a bathroom visit, my memory isn’t what it used to be. I know I was disappointed that I didn’t get my first taste of THB at that show. But I did snag a copy of Chester Brown’s I Never Liked You. I’m pretty sure the only reason I knew Brown’s name was through a previous Palmer’s Picks. I Never Liked You changed comics for me. And without this column, I can’t say when I would have found Brown’s work.

Another early favorite of mine was Ted McKeever. I blindly ordered Graffiti Design’s Metropol collection based on this column (and growing boredom with Image, Marvel, and DC at the time). The Graffiti Design edition of Metropol was a black and white hardcover drenched in dread and anxiety set in a dystopian urban landscape that made Watchmen look like Disneyland.

Palmer’s Picks introduced me to a lot of cartoonists that influenced my work and ideas about making comics like Dan Clowes, Charles Burns, and Chris Ware.

He covered Scud by Rob Schrab who went on to create Heatvision and Jack (one of my favorite things ever) with writing partner Dan Harmon who went on to create Community (a show I greatly enjoy).

Pittsburgh’s own, Dandy Don Simpson!

Madman Allred! Nearly 20 years later he co-created a Vertigo comic called iZOMBIE, an issue of which yours truly illustrated (#24, out April 4th, go reserve a copy from your local comic book shop before it’s too late!). Notice the Recommended Reading list on this one, Xenozoic made me love black and white comics, the Jam costume reminds me of the costume in Super, and Usagi…that’s a decent list for someone who read Brigade #1 multiple times.

And he wrote the first description I read of how to make mini-comics.

Below is a partial checklist of the column, please feel free to fill-in the missing issues in the comments.

12. EC Comics
14. Alan Moore
15. Eddie Campbell, Deadface
16. Martin Wagner, Hepcats
18. Ted McKeever, Metropol
19. Rick Veitch, Bratpack and Maximortal
20. Scott McCloud, Zot
21. Mike Allred, Madman
22. Larry Marder, Beanworld
23. Paul Chadwick, Concrete
24. Love and Rockets
29. Daniel Clowes, Eightball
31. Chester Brown, Yummy Fur
32. Minicomics, Maxireads: Part 1
33. Minicomics, Maxireads: Part 2
34. Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill, Marshal Law
35. Teri S. Wood, Wandering Star
36. Jim Woodring
37. Jay Stephens
39. Terry Moore, Strangers in Paradise
44. Rob Schrab, Scud
45. Don Simpson, Bizarre Heroes
46. Adrian Tomine, Optic Nerve
47. Eddie Campbell, Bacchus
48. Charles Burns, Black Hole #1
49. Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library
53. 1996 Preview
65. 1996 Recap

This #*?! Isn’t Very Funny

My first solo art show opens March 26 at Pittsburgh’s Toonseum. It will feature new and recent drawings, comics, and prints. You are invited, please bring a friend and tell everyone you know about it. Thanks.

UPDATE!!! Some fun comments have popped up. First up, and most importantly, Tom Palmer, Jr posted. Really cool. Thank you, Tom, for writing these columns.

Second – Kiel Phegley made me think about the indie columns that followed Palmer’s Picks. In June 2005, the indie/alt comics column was called Secret Stash, written by Sean T. Collins, and a certain red-haired orphan showed up (the best part is that it shares a page with La Mano’s John Porcellino book, Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man)…

“Imagine if the Punisher were a 14-year-old skater girl.”
-Sean T. Collins

Share
Tweet

New Mutants #5 (Zachary Baldus)
November 2009

This week, we look at a pair of fill-in issues featuring young, mutant, super-powered cartoonists drawing young, mutant, super-powered teams.

Gen-13 begins with a military unit killing a team of super-powered teenagers. The last teen dies, then wakes up with her teammates in government custody. They are Gen-14! Turns out there’s been some sort of national (global?) disaster and somehow this military unit uses Gen-14ers as training practice. It may sound stupid, but we’re not here for the words, people. We’re here for Dan Hipp! I first encountered his work on Amazing Joy Buzzards (an Image series about a action-adventure rock n’ roll band, think Monkees meet Hellboy with a dash of Gorillaz) and then on his graphic novel series, Gyakushu (Tokyopop).

Here’s a pinup I drew for Amazing Joy Buzzards back in the day:

His drawing style is hard to describe – it’s cartoony, stylized, fun, and dynamic. I’d say there’s a little Mike Mignola influence as well as some other ingredients that I can’t identify but perhaps come from manga or Jamie Hewlett. I find it very easy on the eyes. He posts a ton of drawings on his blog, so you can get a pretty good feel for his work there. This is a comic from his site that references G.I.Joe #21, a comic I wrote about in a previous Fill-In Issue column:

Gen-14 features a guy who grows to massive size.

There’s a girl on the team who runs fast (something Hipp illustrates in a very fun manner).

The military leader could pass for Cable…

…or my late grandfather.

I wish Dan Hipp drew more comics.

Finish this analogy, Gen 13 is to Gen 14 what X-men is to _____. (see end of post for answer)*

Zachary Baldus, a.k.a. Zachary Flagg, fills-in this time around. I came into contact with Baldus’ work through the comix/art collective Meathaus some years ago at an early SPX (2000?). He was refining a style that combined digital coloring with graphite tone drawings. Refine is probably an inaccurate description of his work back then, since it already looked great. But since then, it’s gotten even better, so we’ll say he was refining it back then, maybe he was perfecting it. Like Hipp, Baldus’s work shows a cartoon influence, adding a lot of life to his beautifully rendered characters.

In terms of story, this issue reminds me of the later issues of Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-men. It seems like a number of plot lines are advanced a few pages like a soap opera. But once again, we’re here for Baldus, and he does not disappoint.

There’s a big shot of Warlock.

One memorable two-page spread shows a team of scientists extracting beings that occupy Legion’s mind.

Another scene features an old-fashioned fist fight between Cannonball and Dani Moonstar.

Besides drawing the best-looking batch of New Mutants since Bill Sienkiewicz, Baldus also draws sound effects and I LOVE good hand-drawn lettering.

I wish Zachary Baldus drew more comics.

*New Mutants

The reason I am writing about fill-in issues is because I am drawing iZOMBIE #24 for DC/Vertigo. Here is a sample page:

When I got the job, I began thinking about my favorite fill-in issues and decided to write about some of them. Go tell your local comics shop owner you want a copy iZOMBIE #24. While you’re waiting for it, here are links to other fill-in issues I’ve written about:

G.I. Joe #21
Tales to Astonish #82
Incredible Hulk #368

Share
Tweet

The “dirtiest comic in the underground” is back! The latest installments of Roubin Bougie’s sex comic anthology, Sleazy Slice, and exploitation movie zine, Cinema Sewer, are now available! I love Cinema Sewer – Bougie’s enthusiasm and knowledge of film’s sordid history is unmatched.

I created the cover for Sleazy Slice #5 and thought I’d show a little process since I like seeing the way other people work. When Robin contacted me about doing the cover, I was already familiar with this series. I had provided artwork for a previous issue’s cover a few years ago:

So I tried to think of something “sleazy” that would lend itself to an interesting composition. I’m not sure how I settled on a public restroom, but it fit the sleazy requirement and the wall of the stall reminded me of the way adult magazines were often packaged with something obscuring the cover to avoid potential trouble on newsstands or with the postal service. So I did some sketches:

Robin and I agreed the middle sketch worked the best. Next step was to make a drawing:

At this point, I liked the drawing but was having doubts about the giant square of the stall wall. I’ve been making drawings with different levels of detail that are designed to hang on a wall. The idea is that the image reads clearly from a distance, but finer details need to be viewed up close so it creates some interaction with the viewer. An example of this is the centerfold from Pood #4:

After looking at the Sleazy Slice drawing, I decided to cover the stall wall in graffiti – this meant photographing every public restroom I could over the course of a weekend and looking at some unpleasant images online in order to come up with graffiti that wasn’t obviously created by one person.

Then I added some color, texture, and title lettering and viola – Sleazy Slice #5 cover!

I wonder if Doc Martens would like to use this as a print ad?

This drawing was made with Sable hair brushes (I like Raphael 8404′s but may have used some cheaper brush I had lying around, for some reason I’ve been using a 15 year old brush lately), a few pen nibs like the famous Hunt 102, 108, and a manga nib called a Zebra G-model, and some rapidographs. It was drawn on Strathmore bristol smooth 300 series paper. The original is 19″ x 24″. I used Dr. Ph. Martin’s TECH Drawing Ink, Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph ink, and really old Higgins Engrossing ink.

We didn’t have a lot of time to turn this around. So I would do a few roughs, then send them to iam8bit for feedback.

When I sent the image on the right, I was wrapping things up for the day. I had another idea that I thought would be the one, but before I could get it together, they jumped on this one.

I’m happy they did. Once I started working out the details, it made perfect sense to me. I really wanted to suggest manga and Hong Kong action comics (Jademan), and decided the best way to do that was with the color. It surprised me a little when everyone approved the pink paper with purple ink look. Here’s the finished piece:

If you like this sort of look back into the early 90s comics market, be sure to check Jasen Lex’s Time Capsules.

I picked up David Jablow’s Do It Yourself Doodler at MIX a couple weeks ago from Adhouse Books. The concept of Do It Yourself Doodler is that Jablow found an old activity book page featuring a partially drawn figure and proceeded to create a series of drawings based on this activity page. The author explains it below:

Here is the blank activity page:

As you can see, the figure is horizontally oriented. Jablow does a fantastic job creating 39 funny and very creative drawings starting from this template. Most of the drawings maintain the horizontal orientation of the pre-printed figure:

However, a couple drawings deviate from it, including re-orienting the figure into a vertical position:

When I saw this, I was instantly reminded me of my favorite issue of Bloodstrike – volume 1, number 25. There’s a panel of Bloodstrike: Assassin in the familiar, horizontal Doodler pose (drawn by Rob Liefeld and Dan Fraga):

But if you crop out part of the panel, he appears to change into a vertical pose:

What’s the point of this post? Good question. I guess look for Bloodstrike 25 in your local comic shop’s discount bin and check out David Jablow’s Do It Yourself Doodler, here’s a 15 page preview.

And closing stuff, if you haven’t seen Sunni Brown’s TED Talk about the value of doodling, your flimsy excuses have run out. Here it is:

If you enjoy the recent Image Comics references in my posts, I encourage, nay, I demand…scratch that, I just encourage you to check out Jasen Lex’s ongoing series of Time-Capsules – where he scours the history of early Image Comics, mostly via Wizard magazine’s endless news blurbs, interviews, previews, ads, etc. to bring you the most entertaining look at the early 90s comics phenomenon of the speculator market and Image madness.

Finally, I can’t end this post without complimenting Mr. Jablow on his rendition of reflective glasses. Well done, sir!