SMacK! Blog!

Water God.

2011-12-08T08:58:00.003-06:00

Cutie Pie.

2011-12-08T08:54:00.003-06:00

Ball and Chain.

2011-11-07T10:16:00.001-06:00

Sketchy.

2011-11-01T09:17:00.004-05:00

Playing around, sketching. Hope everybody had a Happy Halloween!

Right In The Gob.

2011-10-31T10:17:00.005-05:00

Another goblin sketch. He was a little too creepy, maybe. Good 'n grumpy, though!

SKETCHBOOK

2011-10-30T14:22:00.003-05:00

Couple pages from the sketchbook. Just a slice of a bunch of sketching, trying to work out how some goblins might look for a project.

DD

2011-10-05T13:29:00.002-05:00

Had an idea for a composition and realized I'd never taken a run at these characters.

THEN & NOW

2011-10-01T18:06:00.002-05:00

Did some work on this picture. Fun stuff!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1006279725/then-and-now

In Stores Now.

2011-08-26T10:10:00.010-05:00

I haven't seen the final physical product, but I see DEATH VALLEY is now available for sale. I was pretty stoked to do this with Keith when we were first going back and forth on it, but by the time we got rolling I had too many scheduling conflicts with the paying gigs and just couldn't finish in any kind of timely fashion.

I penciled and inked the first 33 pages or so (with a great deal of help from my wife, Terri. Thanks, Dear!) a couple covers and a pin-up and such, and then Tom Nguyen took over the art chores. Tom's scheduled clogged up and Mariano came along and did the pinch-hitting! Keith went and got the whole thing colored, which was an unexpected bonus.

Moose Baumann did the darn spiffy colors on the cover above and the logo was courtesy of my buddy, Mick Koller, and my wife (thanks, again, Dear!)!

Dusting Off The Brushes

2011-06-24T10:15:00.002-05:00

Finally got round to inking this one.

Dressing Room

2011-06-08T12:59:00.003-05:00

Another day at the office...

OMTL

2011-05-28T09:20:00.005-05:00

Here's a few pages from a nice little spur-of-the-moment "fill-in" gig on Marvel's ONE MONTH TO LIVE. I got to draw one of my favorite Spidey villains, Hammerhead, and the FF to boot! Couple little bits I'd like to change on how I drew The Thing in this shot, but it was still fun.

Egg Lady

2011-04-28T13:16:00.003-05:00

Creepy lunch lady.

Burgerman

2011-04-19T09:02:00.003-05:00

Morning!

2011-04-11T12:48:00.005-05:00

Swarm

2011-04-05T14:06:00.005-05:00

This one started as a character concept piece and then got away from me. I started playing with backgrounds, foreground, layering, etc... I mostly liked how the face turned out.

More Paint 2

2011-03-25T09:29:00.002-05:00

More Paint

2011-03-22T15:30:00.003-05:00

Here's another color character piece.

Catching Up (continued)

2011-03-22T14:29:00.010-05:00

More of the same.

Oh, one of my favorite bits: Panel above with all the villains and heroes booing in the audience. Professor X looking at Blackbolt.

Catching Up

2011-03-22T13:19:00.007-05:00

Time for some posting!

Here are some random pages from a series of 6-page backups. "What If Venom Possessed Deadpool?" The story was sheer lunacy. Rick Remender's scripts had me grinning and snickering, wondering where he comes up with some of this stuff.

Various anecdotes/observations:
I would've liked to have had a little more time to spend on it, but such was not to be. The whole thing was going to be tight anyhow and I had a death in the family to deal with around the middle of the project. My editors were of course very understanding and while I was prepared to have to give up part of the project, they gave me leeway to do what I had to do. (I actually had two deaths before the project was complete, but I was already too stressed out to even figure out how to tell anybody when the second came along. It was near the end of the gig, so I just grit my teeth.)

By the end we were up against Marvel's big move to their new offices, which I think probably necessitated the various inkers on the last parts of the final product. I can't even imagine the logistics of editors trying to pack up and move their offices and still get their books to press. Gh.

There was a scene of Thor in a bathroom stall that got ixnayed and I had to re-draw panels to patch over. I've included one of the old panels here. I thought it was pretty funny and while irreverent, it was rather innocuous. I chuckled as I was presented with the conundrum of "How does a hero deal with his cape in the bathroom?"

All four installments were eventually collected in one book. I saw it in a bookstore recently and glanced through and noticed something about a panel that was odd. After staring for an inordinate amount of time, I realized a severed head had been erased. HA! Not sure why the change. At first I thought maybe the head thing must've been too much, but I just read a little story in the new Heroic Age tpb, where a couple villains are jostling around a severed head for a couple pages, so now I don't know.

Enough of my rambling. For your viewing pleasure, Watchers from an alternate reality, jeri curls and moustaches, and M.O.D.O.K. welded to Galactus' ass. Hoo-ah!

NOTE: Purchase print or digital version from http://marvel.com/

Dipping My Feet

2011-01-19T16:38:00.003-06:00

Trying my hand at going digital with some painting finally.

Blowing Off The Dust

2011-01-18T10:59:00.005-06:00

Doing some housekeeping on my harddrives and found these pages from a "project that almost was". These are the first six pages I drew for the WildStorm "Starcraft" series written by Keith Giffen and inked by Doug Mahnke, before we were all removed from the book, for whatever reason. I don't know why I only have the three scans of the black and white art, so I've included some of color previews that I had. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any record of who did the colors. :(

Dark Knight

2010-05-27T09:20:00.002-05:00

A shot of Bats for funsies.

Fantastic Four

2010-05-01T12:40:00.002-05:00

Playing around and decided to take a stab at the FF. These characters have always been so iconic to me, I'm not sure why this is only the first time I've ever tried drawing them.
In other news, I finally got around to getting on deviantART. I've been throwing some pieces up there. It's mostly stuff that's already been up here, but I may eventually migrate everything over there. Probably where I should've started in the first place, this just seemed easier at the time.

Pull Back The Covers

2010-03-18T11:55:00.002-05:00

Got a copy of an upcoming Starcraft HC collection, the other day, and it reminded me I hadn't posted these yet.

Inky Dinks

2010-01-15T09:07:00.005-06:00

Getting settled into my new digs and realized I haven't posted anything lately. I had to dive into some of the inking on my last couple issues of WildCats. These are a few of those pages.

Battle Scene

2009-09-29T19:15:00.004-05:00

One of those big shots, where you have to get almost everybody in...
Funny bit: It wasn't until after the book was on its way to print, that I happened to be reading something and realized that when the script referred to Slayton's "energy whips" they were actually supposed to be some kind of psychic energy and not actual whips. Nobody said anything different to me, so I had no idea. My previous exposure to the character was in TEAM ZERO. I only knew he was immortal and had a bionic leg!

WildCats #15

2009-09-29T19:07:00.005-05:00

Various pages of pencils from WildCats #15.

Wildcats #14

2009-09-01T11:46:00.002-05:00

Couple shots from Wildcats #14!

Revealing

2009-08-07T12:55:00.002-05:00

Wildcats and Marlowe.

Still Storming

2009-07-31T12:49:00.004-05:00

A few pages of my pencils from WildStorm's WILDCATS #13 on sale now. Favorite bits: the way the bad guy's hands are folded in the panel where he's sitting in the chair, Lynch's profile in the last panel of the last page, and... I got to draw a werewolf!

More Marveling

2009-07-31T12:39:00.003-05:00

I penciled a couple installments of Marvel's Spectacular Swiney-Girl (written by the legendary Tom DeFalco!) that appeared in issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY. Here's a page from the second story.

Quite a departure for me, but fun stuff!

More Coverage

2009-07-19T20:56:00.005-05:00

A few more cover ideas that I threw out there for Death Valley.
DV logo type by Mick Koller.

Down In The Valley

2009-07-18T11:37:00.005-05:00

Here's a cover and the original promo piece I did for DEATH VALLEY, written by Keith Champagne.
More about the series and the colored pieces here at Newsarama.

Wild Ride

2009-06-18T13:47:00.005-05:00

I see WildStorm released some preview pages from upcoming WILDCATS. Gives me an excuse to post something. Here's pencils from a couple of the pages floating around out there. It's been pretty nuts trying to get used to all these characters. Still feel like I'm getting my feet under me, but overall, it's a blast.

Back Up

2009-06-08T15:04:00.006-05:00

Here are a few pages from the Team Seven backup stories for WildStorm written by Christos Gage.

Coverness

2009-06-03T01:04:00.008-05:00

High time for a new post!

Here's one of the variant covers I did for WildStorm's STARCRAFT series.

I wasn't thrilled with how I inked the woman's face in the end, but overall... iconic, moody, gritty... I dug this one.

Edit: Just came across some of my sketches for these covers and added one here.

Edit: I see this cover is being solicited as "by Shawn Moll and Doug Mahnke". FWIW, that's inaccurate. Doug had nothing to do with this one. Here's the cover Doug inked! Hoo-ah!

Storming onto Newsstands

2009-03-17T11:08:00.008-05:00

WILDCATS #10

Written by Christos Gage; Art by Neil Googe and Shawn Moll; Cover by Neil Googe

Majestic's Hawaiian utopia is everything he advertised it to be and more! Yet there's something sinister just beneath the surface that the team can't pin down. Also, a former team member returns...but on whose side?

And in a special backup, Christos Gage and Shawn Moll (She-Hulk) bring back the group everybody's been waiting for – Team Seven!

On Sale April 22, 2009

http://www.dccomics.com/wildstorm/comics/?cm=11525

....and....

THE AUTHORITY #10

Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and Christos Gage; Art by Brandon Badeaux and Shawn Moll; Cover by Simon Coleby

When the world ended, the Authority and the rest of the population were caught unprepared and suffered the consequences. Find out what happened in those crucial moments following the destruction of Earth and how it affected the Authority...as well as Rendlesham!

Also, the conclusion of the Team Seven backup!

On Sale May 6, 2009

http://www.dccomics.com/wildstorm/comics/?cm=11622

Chains and Blades and Greaves....

2009-03-06T09:22:00.002-06:00

Covering

2009-02-20T19:18:00.003-06:00

Just for something different to look at... Some cover sketches from an upcoming project.

13 Faces of Jason

2009-02-01T12:21:00.003-06:00

Got asked to participate in "13 Faces of Jason" over at mania.com where 13 artists provide art and answer 13 questions leading up to the release of the new FRIDAY THE 13th movie.
Check it out!

As Requested...

2009-01-31T12:11:00.008-06:00

As requested in the Comments section, here are a couple more concept sketches I did for a Starcraft comic.

Note, however, when it's related to a project, I will typically only post stuff that has either A) already been published or B) has been outright rejected or C) was just something I was doodling around with when I was coming up with ideas and doesn't give anything away ahead of time.

In this case, this is the original page from my sketchbook of Nuura, that was used in the published preview that is already floating around the internet.

The ship was an earlier version that I was dinking around with. When I was working on it, somebody had asked for "something like Serenity" and this was deemed "too much like Serenity". I think it must've been the rotating thruster things on sides. I think they're pretty cool, in general, but they certainly aren't exclusive to the ship in Firefly, as I think you can see similar design elements in Star Wars, Bladerunner and various other sci-fi. Either way, I guess ya gotta start somewhere.

As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, they opted for another direction with the book and the original creative team is no longer involved, but down the road, when the new book does hit stands, I'll post more of the art that I did when I was on the project. I've seen colored versions of some covers and pinups that I drew that I thought turned out pretty sweet, so I'd think you might be seeing some solicits before too long.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

2009-01-31T02:25:00.005-06:00

Well past time for a new post.

Winging It

2008-12-17T18:44:00.008-06:00

Got a call to do a couple pages for NIGHTWING #151, scripted by Pete Tomasi. Not a great deal happening on these pages and I jumped on them without any real warm-up, but it would've been fun to do more on this title, before it was cancelled. Pete was spinnin' a good yarn!

Monster a la Mode

2008-12-09T22:27:00.009-06:00

Looking for a gift of apparel for that special creep in your life?
Look no further than Monster a la Mode!
My wife got our clothing line up and running at Etsy.com.
Swing by and take a looksee!

Out With The New

2008-11-30T10:55:00.006-06:00

As is usually the case, I can't really talk about (or post work from) stuff I'm working on until it's announced. As a result, there hasn't been much posting around here.
However, here are a couple sketches from something that had been in the works since around March and was announced, but I've since been informed that the licensor has decided to go a different direction with the art (and writing).
I've got some covers, pin-up stuff, and some interiors that all turned out pretty cool and I'll post, down the road, after they are solicited, etc...
These sketches were my designs, published in a preview comic, awhile back. Actually, I think the ship sketch was just outright rejected, but the dude with the scars was in there.

Out With The Old

2008-11-30T10:47:00.005-06:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, so here's one from the archives that I thought turned out pretty nice. This was from my first issue of OUTSIDERS.
Inks: Kevin Conrad

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!!!

2008-11-01T11:16:00.003-05:00

Finally got with it this year and threw together something to scare the trick 'r treaters, while handing out candy. It had the desired effect.

En Taro Adun, Executor!

2008-10-20T12:57:00.011-05:00

Seeing as how this cover has been kicking around the internet for about a week now, here's a shot of my pencils.

The final piece features inks by superstar Doug Mahnke (above) and colors by Wes Hartman.

BTW, the post linked above is not entirely accurate, as the art wasn't really "leaked", but rather it was featured on the flip-cover of a preview STARCRAFT/WOW comic at Blizzcon '08 and was given away in a "goodie bag".

Edit: Found a scan of Doug's inks and my initial cover concept sketch.

Speaking of Ebay

2008-10-13T14:29:00.003-05:00

Here's one of the sketches I did for the MCBA sketch card collection up for sale on ebay. A dealer purchased it from somebody who got it in the lottery and he brought it to me later to throw some color on it.

It's Out There

2008-10-13T11:35:00.003-05:00

For those of you who've put up with my vague answers when you've asked what I'm working on, here's something that I see hit a few messageboards over the weekend.

From Blizzcon '08.

And another shot of the "goodie bag".

I see a large number of these goodie bags are on ebay already.

MCBA FALL CON FUN!

2008-10-06T15:35:00.011-05:00

Another successful MCBA Fall Con comes and goes. Nick and the gang put on another great show! Spent the weekend sketching, chatting with comic fans and hanging with my boys, Doug, Tom, and Pat, in addition to our friends from out East, Pete Tomasi and Keith Champagne. A great time was had, with a whole lotta laughs. Thanks, guys!

On a related note, the MCBA had an entire set of sketch cards done for the event. MCBA sketch card gallery.

Here are scans of my contributions.

20th ANNUAL MCBA FALLCON!!!

2008-09-13T16:30:00.016-05:00

Hey, Gang! Check this out!

20th ANNIVERSARY MCBA FALLCON COMIC BOOK CELEBRATION

October 4 & 5, 2008 - 10AM to 5PM Both Days!
Minnesota State Fairgrounds - In the Grandstand!
1265 Snelling Avenue - Saint Paul, MN 55108

E-Mail
MySpace
Website

It looks as though this year Fallcon will play host to over 225 creators!

Hoo-ah!

Ab-Originals

2008-07-28T09:52:00.006-05:00

Finally got back some SHE-HULK originals from Marvel. Sent a bunch of scans from issue #24 to my rep and they will be available for sale as he updates the gallery with them. Booyah!
Inks: Olazaba

Amazing Aunt May

2008-07-16T09:46:00.004-05:00

Marvel Solicits for August:

Your Spidey-Senses are about to tingle a bit more with the debut of Amazing Spider-Man Family #1! Exploring the lives of Spider-Man and the rest of his Brand New Day cast, this brand new series kicks off with 104 pages of friendly neighborhood action! What happened the day after Uncle Ben died? J.M De Matteis & Alex Cal have the answers! And what was life like for Mr. and Mrs. Parker before May “Mayday” Parker was born? You’ll get he answer, courtesy of Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz! Take a look back at the origin of Venom and a special Aunt May Story by Keith Champagne & Shawn Moll! Plus, your first look inside the Marvel Apes universe, as Karel Kesel & Ramon Bachs, the creators behind September’s simian sensation, reveal the secret origin of Spider-Monkey!

Wrapped up in a jaw dropping cover by Adi Granov, Spidey fans can’t miss the all new Amazing Spider-Man Family!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #1 (JUN082310)
Written by J.M DEMATTEIS, TOM DEFALCO, KEITH CHAMPAGNE & KARL KESEL
Penciled by ALEX CAL, RON FRENZ, SHAWN MOLL & RAMON BACHS
Cover by ADI GRANOV
RATED A…$4.99
FOC—7/17/08, On-Sale—8/6/08

Art Available

2008-07-13T14:51:00.003-05:00

For those of you interested, I finally have an agent dealing with original art sales. (Thanks, Jon!)
You can see what is currently available here.
More pieces will go up as we get them scanned/inventoried.
To answer one of the more common questions asked in regards to original art... I don't have any original pages back from SHE-HULK yet. I've contacted Marvel and I'm waiting to hear back on the "when".

Rampaging Rough

2008-06-13T14:53:00.008-05:00

Long time, no post. To all two of you that check this blog, I apologize. :)

Got out and caught THE INCREDIBLE HULK today and dug it, so I thought it a good enough excuse to sit down and post this rough. One of my favorite bits in the movie: The Rickson Gracie cameo.

A buddy of mine has been waiting for a Hulk drawing, since somewhere right after high school, I think. I've had 3-4 false starts on the piece over the years. I'll start one and just realize I'm not digging it and it goes into the "unfinished" pile. A couple years later, I'll start another. Rinse and repeat. I did this one not long ago and may stick with it. We'll see after I finish inking it.

Merry Mahnke Inks!

2008-05-09T01:17:00.007-05:00

My man Doug slathered his juicy inks all over this piece. How cool is that?!? I love the way this turned out. Original post with my pencils here.

Grit-O-Rama

2008-04-26T11:50:00.005-05:00

Here's a little experiment where I wanted to play around with ink, texture and grit, and going right from a very loose rough right to ink. I was fairly happy with the results.

Yet Again...

2008-04-25T09:45:00.006-05:00

Another Jason Voorhees sketch from the archives. I did a bunch of these so New Line could see how I would approach the character for the Wildstorm comics. The funny thing is, the "iconic" version of Jason isn't even in the issues that I drew! HA!

MONSTER DUMP!

2008-03-24T15:55:00.004-05:00

Some more random play from my sketchbooks. Monsters!

Some may question my sanity or maybe figure I had a bad childhood, since my doodlings quite often drift toward the grotesque or disturbing. When I finally gave it some thought, I think I know where most of it comes from.

When I was a tiny kid, my uncle and I used to stay up late and watch horror movies on a show with Dr. Sanguinary. The stuff would scare me absolutely silly, and I would lay in bed at night with the sweats, holding my breath. The ghouls were just outside the window, peeking in, or under the bed, or there, in the closet. Monstrous noses, bulbous eyes, and cadaverous hands boiled from the thick, black dark, until I'd finally pass out, either from exhaustion or just lack of air. However, I just couldn't get enough. So many sweet childhood memories of my uncle in the chair, eating popcorn, laughing at me, while I huddled behind the footstool, stealing glimpses of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, jr. or The Blob. So, thanks Unc!! HA!

Some of these sketches were for projects that didn't go anywhere (particularly the nazis) others were just for fun.

Dream gig = Generating this shit for Hollywood money!

Enjoy!

Angels Ink

2008-03-18T14:06:00.004-05:00

Tattoo design for a friend. Archangel St. Michael, patron saint of paramedics.
Favorite bit: The way the caduceus worked into the sword and armor.

Killer Clown

2008-03-12T11:07:00.004-05:00

Here's a piece from a few years back. This was just me playing around with how to approach a story that a friend and I have been messing with since the mid-90s. I suppose we'd better "pull the trigger" one of these days...

Mimetic Poly-alloy

2008-03-03T22:49:00.006-06:00

Here's a little "behind-the-scenes" for ya. The first image is the final pencil version of a page from #26. The second image is what I had drawn originally. In the script, Peter had written "flat like a spear" to describe her hand. Since Jaz is a shape-shifter, I mistakenly thought he was making a reference to TERMINATOR 2, so that's how I drew it. He was actually asking for a good, old-fashioned "spear hand" or "kwan soo" from martial arts, to illustrate how badass our girl Jaz was.

Also notice that I'd screwed up and drawn pants on She-Hulk in the last panel, originally... Thankfully, he caught that, too.

I was moving pretty fast when I did this page, but ultimately, it had some stuff I really dug. Favorite parts of this page include the cold look on Jazinda's face when she impales him and then panel 3 when she walks past the soaking wet, stunned Jen and tells her "I'll be in the car." Oh, and Jaz's hand on his shoulder in panel 1.

Bearly Legal

2008-03-01T10:04:00.006-06:00

Some pencils from issue #26. That bear was fun to draw. The page description was something about a big "grizzly", but in the dialogue, Jen was talking about "black bears". So, I just went somewhere in between with a generic comic book bear. I particularly liked his big, flabbery lower lip. It didn't come through in the scans, really, but I had a bunch of drool whipping off that lip, too.

Just Law

2008-02-19T16:49:00.002-06:00

Here's another sketch from back when I was playing around trying to decide how I would approach Shulkie.

More process

2008-02-08T11:32:00.000-06:00

I thought this was kinda cool. Here's another example of some behind-the-scenes of how I work, sometimes. The script called for Jaz to be scanning some FBI files or something with this holographic/projection of a sort of 3D computer screen, so I blocked in floating screens in the pencils and then mocked up a separate version of the page with how I thought it might look cool. All kinds of layering of "greeked" text, images, symbols, etc... floating in front of her, glowing and translucent. I haven't seen the printed version, so I don't know what coloring came up with, but I thought this was a cool opportunity to get some funky design in there.

Pencilage

2008-02-03T22:44:00.001-06:00

Haven't posted for awhile, so here're some pencils from SHE-HULK #25.

High Gear

2007-12-31T10:46:00.000-06:00

A Fistful Of Pages

2007-11-21T15:12:00.001-06:00

Now that it's on newsstands, here are a few pages from SHE-HULK #23.

Those Pesky Ninja

2007-11-20T11:50:00.000-06:00

Another She-Hulk piece from the archives.

Go With The Flow

2007-11-02T10:59:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts of drawing comics is having the opportunity to really get nuts and explore composition, experimenting with how to move the viewer's eye through a page, while still telling the story. In the case of these pages, She-Hulk doing what she does best -- Kicking ass.

Mother Of All Evil

2007-11-02T10:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my favorite pages from FRIDAY THE 13th: PAMELA'S TALE for WildStorm.
In these pages, Pamela Voorhees, the mother-to-be of Jason, exacts her revenge on her abusive shitheel of a husband.
I worked from a plot-only style script on these books, which gave me a great deal of freedom with the pacing and storytelling of the pages. I was still subject to a few changes from New Line Cinema, but overall, it was a pretty darn good time.
Edited by Ben Abernathy, Written by Marc Andreyko, Penciled and Inked by Yours Truly.

More Fun With A Pencil

2007-10-31T11:32:00.002-05:00

I see they've got these pages from #23 posted over at http://www.comicscontinuum.com/

Skizzle

2007-10-29T13:26:00.002-05:00

Couple more doodles from my sketchbook.

Pencil Pushing

2007-10-25T19:03:00.001-05:00

Now that issue #22 is out, I'll post some pages. I got a kick out of some of the faces on these.

Pressing Matters

2007-10-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

Another She-Hulk sketch from when I was gearing up for the series.

Dr. Clown

2007-10-19T10:28:00.000-05:00

Sketch for a neurosurgeon.

Plugging

2007-10-09T17:46:00.000-05:00

Be sure to check out my buddy Tom Nguyen's new book, INCREDIBLE COMICS WITH TOM NGUYEN!
Tom worked like a bastard on this thing. It's finally out and it looks great. Available at fine booksellers everywhere!

And She Was

2007-10-09T16:24:00.000-05:00

Some sketches from when I was playing around with how I wanted to approach She-Hulk visually.

Process

2007-10-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

Here's how I'd originally drawn page 15. Something more was wanted, so here also are some of the sketches I did. They went with #4.

In The Green

2007-10-01T11:12:00.000-05:00

Since they've released these pages to the web, I figured I'd finally throw some of the pencils up here. From Marvel's SHE-HULK #22, written by Peter David.

The Boys

2007-09-15T19:10:00.000-05:00

Here's one from some time ago, just for fun. The perspective fell apart a bit in the lower left, but it was still a fun piece to pencil and ink. I love the idea of Midnighter and Apollo. The contrasting characters -- the shining paragon to the twisted, almost psychotic maniac.

Sketchbook Madness

2007-07-29T20:19:00.001-05:00

Some play from my sketchbook.

It's Always The Quiet Ones...

2007-07-21T09:49:00.000-05:00

My first crack at Jason Voorhees, while I was getting warmed up for a Friday the 13th book at WildStorm.

I went "comicbooky" and buff for this one. He's obviously "compensating" for something...

Ideation 5 - Trajectory

2007-07-13T11:17:00.002-05:00

I liked this chick. In the script, one of the women was called "Lumina", so initially, I envisioned her as this beautiful, multi-racial, light, flowery, tree-hugging, earth mother with a "celt" hairstyle and henna or woad on her face/body and some kind of light-based powers. Some where in the process, "Lumina" became Natasha and this woman became "Trajectory", an Asian-American speedster with this sort of tracer-effect streaming off the beads in her hair. Also included here, one of my scribbles for a possible color scheme of the costumes, once I was told they were to be Luthor's colors -- purple and green. I originally had them in different colors. Sticking with the purple and green thing, I pictured them maybe in deep, purple and green leather or something.

Ideation 4 - Herakles and Omnivore

2007-07-13T11:11:00.001-05:00

More sketches of Luthor's team.

Ideation 3 - Reaver

2007-07-13T11:07:00.000-05:00

More from the sketchbook. This guy was supposed to be sort of a Batman/Wolverine-type.

Ideation 2 - Ultimate Man

2007-07-13T11:01:00.000-05:00

More sketches. This was the Superman-type guy.

Ideation - Natasha

2007-07-13T10:35:00.001-05:00

Digging around and found some stuff from my sketchbook where I was working up some ideas for Luthor's team, appearing in DC Comics' "52" #9. All of this stuff pretty much went out the window, in the end, as wires were crossed and we didn't realize Keith had a fairly specific design in mind for their costumes, which is reflected in the later sketches with the "L" motif and pretty much what was seen finally in the actual book. Here are some of my sketches for Natasha. As mentioned in an earlier post, I was operating under the mistaken assumption that Natasha had aged since I'd last seen her in print. Also, since she was now to be powered-up by some nefarious Luthor experiment, I went with the idea that she was going to be a buff, She-Hulk/Wonder Woman-type. I also wanted to reflect that she was sort of "power mad" with this newfound strength and was feeling rebellious.
As always, click for larger view, if you so wish.

Marvel Team-Up

2007-07-11T08:58:00.000-05:00

Cap and Spidey for my pal Hauser over at The Total Recall. 'Nuff said!

Muscle Shark

2007-07-03T11:18:00.001-05:00

Shirt artwork for UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk.
These were originally supposed to be two different versions of his "mascot" but Sean couldn't decide, so he used them both.
Inks over my pencils on the first shark courtesy of Doug Mahnke.
Typography courtesy of my lovely wife.

Face The Face

2007-07-02T19:54:00.001-05:00

Another sketch of Leatherface for WildStorm to show New Line Cinema. New Line didn't seem real hip to my Leatherface, but they did like my Jason Voorhees, so I got to do a couple issues of FRIDAY the 13th.
Good, old-fashioned 80's horror!

A Little Before-And-After

2007-07-02T16:08:00.001-05:00

Kinda fun DPS from DC Comics' 52 #9.

The biggest challenge for me with 52 was having to work within somebody else's layouts. Still, it was pretty darn cool to get to work on a book like this.

This page reminds me... It had been years since I'd read about Natasha (somewhere back in some MAN OF STEEL books, I guess), so I kept thinking she had aged. At some point, after I finished drawing the book, I saw her somewhere else and I realized I'd drawn her looking too old. Whoops!

Breakdowns by the Main Man, Keith Giffen. Juicy inks by my homeboy, Tom Nguyen.

Over The Rainbow

2007-06-29T09:44:00.000-05:00

The Amazing One

2007-06-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

Playing around with how I might tackle Spidey. I believe this was the first time I'd ever attempted drawing Old Webhead. Even in childhood, I don't think I ever did more than a tiny doodle of Spider-Man. Costume was rough at first, but as I progressed, I noticed a shift in the way my brain dealt with it. The next drawing was easier. The one after that, moreso.

Merry Marvel Peeps

2007-06-27T11:21:00.001-05:00

Just some Marvel characters. My good buddy, Doug Mahnke, saw it lying here one day and says he wants to ink it for fun. The result should be killer. I'll be sure to post the final if we ever get that to go down.

Edit: Finished piece, featuring Doug's inks here!

Kickin' It In A Brazilian FedEx Facility.

2007-06-27T10:30:00.000-05:00

Digging around and found some of these scans from DC Comics' 52 issue #27. Bizarre tale with this issue... Half an issue of my pencils went missing in Brazil for 3 weeks. When all involved finally realized they were missing, it was too late (the issue had to get to the printer), and late on a Friday, DC had to hand-deliver crappy photocopies of my pencils to inkers around N.Y. to be finished over the weekend, lightboxed on tracing Vellum. I was amazed by the inks on a couple of those pages in the final product, considering the conditions under which they were produced. The original pencils were later discovered in a FedEx facility, somewhere in Brazil.

Another trivia note: In the script, when Ralph forced her into human form from Eclipso-form, Sue was nude. It was later decided to have an inker add a track suit. I think that honor went to Rodney Ramos and I thought he did a nice job.

Get Your Ass To Mars!

2007-06-26T23:28:00.001-05:00

Some friends of mine have a most excellent blog over at The Total Recall.

Outsiders Again

2007-06-26T23:06:00.000-05:00

Another page from my first issue of DC Comics' OUTSIDERS that I just really dug.
More outstanding inks by Kevin Conrad.

That should be enough posting to get started.