The Black Panther

My friend Charlie Harris, the owner of Charlie's Comics in Tucson, Arizona, is holding a fundraising event on November 9, 2013 from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. to benefit the Primavera Foundation, which provides pathways out of poverty through safe, affordable housing, workforce development and neighborhood revitalization. He asked some local Tucson* artists to contribute a drawing of our favorite member of Marvel Comics’ superhero team The Avengers for the silent auction that will be held at the end of the event.

 I’ll let you guess who I chose.

 I won’t be able to attend the event this time around, but the drawing is already on its way across the Atlantic. The original art is about 8 x 10, drawn & inked on bristol board, (see above) and if the person who goes home with it sends me an e-mail, I’ll be happy to send him or her a high-resolution digital copy of the drawing in full color (see below). So if you’re interested in supporting a worthy cause, reading comics and hanging out with some good people, (and if you live in or near Tucson, Arizona) don’t forget to stop by Charlie’s Comics on November 9th !

*for the record, even though I live in France,  I still consider myself a local Tucson artist :)

Riposte: Back to Black

Riposte, the fencing book I've been working on for the past few years, went through some changes last week. I was finishing up colors on the first chapter when I realized that I had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Riposte is a crime story, inspired by some of my favorite noir films from the 30's and 40's: Out of the Past, Gilda, The Phantom Lady, The Killers, and Double Indemnity. It's about revenge, betrayal, and murder... so why did I want it to be in color?

I decided to start over. I replaced the blue with gray tones on the first four pages, and showed them to Soline Scutella, my editor/publisher. We came to the conclusion that the gray tones did indeed fit the story better, giving it a sharper edge that was closer to the original mood I'd intended to convey when I wrote the story.

So... long story short: Riposte will now be in black & white (with gray tones)!

Here is one of the "color vs. black & white" pages I sent to my editor, so you can see the difference between the two versions: