Batman

Colored version is here.

Pencils Vs. Inks: Round One

Here's a little preview of a penciled/inked panel I just finished for the book Jamie S. Rich and I are working on for Oni Press. I'll let you decide which version you like better...

Teaser Alert: Scutella Editions

A few drawings and sketches from the graphic novel project I'm working on for French publisher Scutella éditions:


As with my project for Oni Press, I'm about a third of the way done with this book. I'm trying to finish as quickly as possible, but working on two projects at the same time isn't as easy as I thought it would be. The book is scheduled for a late 2012 release, so I seriously need to figure out a way to make better use of my time (like giving up sleep or something) if I want to meet my deadline.

Teaser Alert: Oni Press

Here are a few teaser panels and sketches from the graphic novel project I’m currently working on with Jamie S. Rich for Oni Press.



As of this writing, I’m over a third of the way done, and things are coming along pretty well. The story is amazing, and a real pleasure to draw. I just wish I was faster so you could see it sooner...

Check out Jamie’s blog right here for more info on the project (and to see some more drawings, too)!

Marvel Universe Too- What If?

As any of the artists who participated in DC Fifty-Too! (see previous post) can probably tell you, the project was so much fun that we couldn’t just stop after the first cover. Jon Morris invited us all to create another one—this time, of a Marvel comic book—that we would like to draw, if Marvel ever gave us the chance.

Iron Fist has been one of my favorite characters since I was a little kid, so he was my first pick when Jon told me about Marvel Universe Too - What If?



I started off by drawing several pages of thumbnail sketches, and it quickly became clear to me that I was shooting for an old-fashioned, 70’s-style, action-packed cover. Once I figured that out, I started thinking about which villains I wanted Iron Fist to fight. Each one had to be tough enough to give him a run for his money in a one-on-one confrontation, and I wanted there to be a whole bunch of them on the cover--at least four. I finally settled on Mr. Hyde, The Cobra, Sabretooth and the Constrictor.

At first, I was going to have Iron Fist use some kind of obscure Shaolin Kung Fu technique against the bad guys, but in remembrance of those long-gone days when I actually had time to play video games, I decided to have Iron Fist use one of those Sagat-style “uppercut + jumping knee to the face” combos I’d try to master in Street Fighter II until my thumbs hurt.



For some reason, though, I had a really hard time with the colors of this piece; I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. After several failed attempts at trying to use warmer, brighter 70’s-style colors, I finally went back to a more muted palette, which is what I’m more comfortable with.



Also, in honor of the Cornered blog, I threw in an Iron Fist corner just for fun. I was planning on using the original Iron Fist drawing I had done a few years ago for my Superhero Alphabet, but when I looked at the drawing again, I saw there were a couple of things that really bugged me. So I fixed them and gave Iron Fist some bandaged hands (like Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker and David Aja did in the excellent Immortal Iron Fist reboot back in 2009) and some baggy kung fu pants.



Like DC Fifty-Too!, this was a great project to work on. Thanks to Jon for inviting me to participate.

I gotta get back to work, but I’ll post some updates and teaser panels from my graphic novel projects for Oni Press and Scutella Editions in a couple of days.

DC Fifty-Too!

In early June, my friend Jon Morris asked a whole bunch of cartoonists, doodlers and comic book artists to participate in a cool comic book cover project he was putting together, in response to DC Comics' massive relaunch of their entire comic book line (scheduled for September 2011).

We were all asked to create a cover of a comic book we would have liked to see, and I immediately called dibs on Detective Comics, featuring one of my favorite DC Comics characters ever, The Crimson Avenger.

Well, the DC Fifty-Too! website went live just a couple of days ago and some seriously amazing covers have already hit the web. If you like comic books, DC Comics characters, or even good drawings, do your eyeballs a favor and go check it out.

Here's mine:



I drew my cover a few weeks ago while visiting family in Arizona, and used my dad's computer and extra-fancy version of Photoshop to color it. Now that I'm back home, though, the colors look a lot darker than what I'm usually comfortable with. I dunno, maybe it's my monitor, but I'm thinking I should have put the Photoshop palette file I usually work with on my pen drive before hopping on that plane to Arizona.

Anyway, just for fun, here are a couple of drafts of the cover that didn't make the final cut, as well as some older Crimson Avenger sketches I posted on my old blog a few years ago. I'll let you choose the ones you like best.







Now seriously, get out of here and go check out DC Fifty-Too!

Good News (2)

As anyone who knew me as a kid can tell you, I was never very good at sports. Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Volleyball… I tried them all, and failed pretty miserably every time. I was kind of like the twelve-year-old equivalent of this guy:


So, not counting those few months when I took a Tae Kwon Do class ( which was tragically cut short when my teacher skipped town to go make it big in Hollywood; he later went on to portray such memorable characters as “Angry Biker #2” in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger), I spent my childhood hating sports. Until I discovered fencing.

When I was sixteen, my Dad took the family for a hike in Sabino Canyon, and on our way back, we stopped at this small frozen yogurt shop. While we were there, I came across an article in a newspaper about a fencing club that had just opened up in Tucson, and managed to convince my parents to let me give fencing a try. From the first time I picked up a foil and put on a mask, I was hooked. I’ve been fencing ever since. Now I’m not saying I’m an expert fencer or anything, I’ve never won an international tournament (or even a local one) but I’m a hell of a lot better at fencing than I am at baseball, and I’m pretty sure I could beat any of the actors who played Jedi knights or Sith lords in any of the Star Wars movies (except for Ray Park/Darth Maul, because that guy really does know how to fight), so there ya go.



So, yeah, I love fencing, and for the past few years, I’ve been writing and drawing a film noir-inspired fencing story. In late 2009, I finally felt the story was ready to see print, and pitched it to several French publishers. After spending most of 2010 alphabetizing all of my numerous rejection letters, I finally knocked on the right door last December. I was fortunate enough to meet publisher Soline Scutella, who was interested in the story I had to tell, and who wanted to publish it.



I’m very pleased to announce I will be writing, drawing, lettering and coloring a 140-page graphic novel for French publisher Scutella Editions. So now I’m working on two graphic novels simultaneously, which to be honest is kind of stressful, but I’d rather have too much to do than not enough. More news to follow!