Art, in fact

It is the time of new cover gigs and here's another one: cover art to Artifacts #3 from Top Cow.

I got to choose the subject of my cover, since this series involves pretty much everyone they got. Surprised I picked Nottingham? I think he's a badass, and he gets no love, because everyone's always distracted by the boobage.

Not on this cover, baby, no boobage to distract you here...

Countdown to Zero

Check it out, I have a new regular cover gig on BOOM!'s Soldier Zero. Based on a concept by Stan Lee (Yes, that Stan Lee) and designed by Dave Johnson, I think this one's gonna be cool. You can find out more about it here.

Hawk Brains

I humbly offer up the next two R.E.B.E.L.S. covers for your perusal and (one hopes) enjoyment. These would be for #17 and #18, respectively, one featuring hawks and one featuring brain(iac)s.

I guess the argument could be made that every issue of R.E.B.E.L.S. features Brainiacs, but this one features 3 (count 'em 3!) generations of 'em.

More Warring Stars

I contributed some illustrations to the Star Wars RPG game book Unkown Regions. Now that the book is out, I can show you.

If you're a Star Wars fan, you can use this promotional coupon for Gamestop for some gear and save.

I don't say this nearly enough, but thank you for visiting my blog. Yes, I mean you, you are awesome.

Drink'n Draw

Went to my first Toronto drink'n draw at the Black Bull last Wednesday. These are held more or less weekly and are put together by the conjoined efforts of Marcio Takara and Marcus To, and are open to all.

A good time was had, and I met some cool folk. I set myself the challenge of trying to draw the cast of a certain soon-to-be-completed TV series from memory. I offer you here, the most successful of the lot.

It occurs to me now, that he was actually talking to Ben when he said this, but that's what you get when you doff the reference.

Oh Hot Moo Too!

Second of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update series. If I could do this one over I think I would tilt the fan in Lady Bullseye's left hand a bit, but what's done is done.

This series is on a somewhat irregular schedule, but I've been told it'll be 5 issues in all. Currently working on the cover to #3, which features the likes of Yondu, Orb and The Girl Without a World.

Secret: I've always really liked Yondu.

Calgary Expo

Back from the west. What an awesome show. Thanks to everyone involved with the Calgary Expo (especially Paul, for the 1 am liquor store run) and thanks too, to everyone who came by the table whether you bought commissions, prints, or original art, or just stopped by to chat or get something signed, it was great to meet you!

The piece above was done for the show's annual art book, a handsome hardbound volume featuring an illustration by each of the show's guests. For the first time this year, the theme deviated from the usual Cowboys & Indians, to Sci-Fi Adventures.

Needless to say, mine was not the only Spacegirl.

The Thing about the Cover to R.E.B.E.L.S. 16 is...

...it's actually 3 covers.

Stay with me. It started off like this (this is what you saw if you checked out the appropriate issue of PREVIEWS):

Also, unbeknownst to you, before I started as the regular cover artist on R.E.B.E.L.S. I was commissioned to create this inventory cover:
It was kind of a test, but it never got used. (Personally, I thought it would have made a handsome cover for the first trade collection, but no one asked me because I'm not running the company yet.)

What on Maltus does this have to do with the cover to 16, you ask?
Well, at the 11th hour, approval came down from on high to put the two newest members of the R.E.B.E.L.S., who join in #16, on the cover. What's the big deal about these two?



They're Green Lanterns. And these days, the Green in Green Lanterns stands for greenbacks, or cash money, as the kids say. Also, notice the poster they're bursting through? My clever editor came up with a great way to make use of that inventory cover (the team line-up has changed enough that it's not really usable as-is) and save me a few grey hairs on the tight turnaround in the process.

Bedazzled

Well, the proverbial cat's out of the bag.

It's been banging around on twitter for about a week now, and I have to say, I'm a bit taken aback. So far the buzz and interest about this one adds up to roughly double everything else I've worked on put together (which may not be saying much, but I'm impressed.)

My new Marvel project is... *drum roll* Dazzler!

Not just any Dazzler, Disco Dazzler.

Which is, for some people, the only Dazzler.

The story, entitled "In the Blood", is written by #1 Dazzler superfan and Marvel Marketting majordomo Jim McCann, and will be out in May. The solicitation'll run in the next Previews. Be sure to bug your local comic establishment to order high. Why? 'Cause! It's Dazzler, man. Back in the silver jumpsuit.

Actually, allow me to speak to that for a moment. No, it's not a flashback or Year One story. And yes, there is a very good, story-dictated reason why she is back in them disco duds. You'll just have to read it to find out what that is...

Jim talks at length about the project here.

Also, follow me on twitter if you haven't already. I'm tweeting my Dazzler playlist, track by track.

Almost Forgot One

This, my friends, the cover art to R.E.B.E.L.S. #14 marks the last comic image of mine with starfish anywhere in it. Yes 14. Which comes before 15. I know, I know... see the title.

Those of you playing the Kalman-Starfish drinking game over these last few months have been getting pretty pickled, I know, especially since we counted stars of any kind for at least one month during my Captain America story.

Speaking of which, I never did post any pages from that Cap story, did I?

See how I did that? I am ninja, hear me roar. The story was called In Memoriam and ran as a back-up in Captain America #600.
In other Mighty Marvel News, I finally have script in-hand for my Mystery One-shot. The cover is done and approved, huzzah! and should be appearing in the next Previews, at which time I can finally fling back the curtain, and reveal who the star is.
Wait, star...?

Guess who's a R.E.B.E.L. now?

Above is the cover art to R.E.B.E.L.S. #15. It's notable for a couple of reasons. First off I tried a new (to me anyway) technique here. After drawing Starfire the usual way, in blue pencil and pen on bristol, and scanning the line art, which looked like this:

I printed it out again, smaller, on some nice paper and laid down the skin tones using a brush and inkwash, which looked like this:

Yeah, I flipped it at this point, thinking it worked better, but was asked to flip it back for final. Which is what you see up top, digital colors and hand painted tones married together, huzzah.

Secondly, this cover features *wait for it* the return of a signature! Or, if you're a purist about such things, the return of a name. Aren't you glad you read all the way to the bottom for that tid-bit...?

The SIEGE That Almost Was

Today sees the release of the first part in Marvel's new geekstravaganza, Siege. Now I say that with love, I ran to the store today to get my copy, just like I do on any Wednesday where there is new Olivier Coipel art out.

In honor of this happy day, I'm gonna share with you the ghosts of a Siege promotion that never quite came together...

The concept was to have 3 full page illustrations, I guess to run in Marvel titles a month or two before the event as teasers, showing Thor's hammer, Cap's shield and Tony's armor, ravaged, burned and/or blood soaked.

It only got as far as these roughs, however. Shortly after the first sketch got approved, Marvel marketing decided to go in another direction for the promotion. These things happen, and I was paid for my time, but now I have this little piece of Siege apocrypha on my hard drive...

Aaaaand Action!

Picked up a bonus cover gig this month, Action Comics #887, just to add a little extra sparkle to the holiday season. The bonus to the bonus? Getting re-teamed with my Checkmate compadres Rucka & Trautmann.

I'm kind of embarassed to admit this, but drawing (and coloring) the Kryptonian crystals, at all kinds of sharp contrasting angles, like how they were in the movie (the good one), gave me nerd chills.