The Art Of Joshua Nelson

Lions For "Simba Six Killah"

2011-05-24T00:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome back,
As some of you may know, I have a few friends in the wrestling biz. These 2 Lion drawings are a little something for my buddy who goes by the name of "Simba Six Killah". The triumphant pose is taken from a composite of Kimba & Simba and the runner is from a photo reference...

I'll be back soon with more progress on my yet to be titled "graphic novel" or at least some original art while I continue writing/page breakdowns/penciling.

Hard to believe, slow as this is, that 4 months ago this story had one character, The Apparition, who at this point I've only kept a few core ideas/scenes for, and a pretty thin story except for said core ideas/scenes. Now I've got a whole cast and a breathing story to tighten up...

Introducing Count Goblin...

2011-05-03T01:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back,

Now, what do The X-Men's Charles Xavier, The Doom Patrol's Chief, The New Gods' Metron, and Dick Cheney all have in common??? These guys all use moving apparatuses for exuding a quiet yet stern contemplative strength of will and righteousness... That's what I'm going for with Count Goblin here...

He's the Last Original Supervillain of my story's city and the only recorded foe of the Silver Age Apparition... He's back (along with Bloodshaft!!) to wreak havok* on the city of his most active years... But there's a new Apparition in town...

My characters live in a world that is populated exclusively by a small Silver Age publisher's roster of Superheroes / Supervillains. The idea is that they're pursuing this semi-archaic yet noble profession amid almost no demand, very limited scope, and several equal peers

Apparition is the detective with gear & smarts, Solar Son can fly and has a small optic blast, and Leopard girl is fast and a skilled fighter. It's not like any of them can crater a city block or enter the mind's of others...

The backstory/history and adding the anomalistic Tengu to the cast are making for some really rich stuff. I can't wait to get this story absolutely right and get working on pages. Tonally, I'm pretty torn between something self-aware and modern superhero-ish like say, "X-Statix" or a rhythmic panel ride with very spare dialogue/narration like my favorite comics series ever, "Vagabond"... Hmmmm.....

So now everything is in place. I'm working out drafts, figuring out which ideas go and stay, hoping I have better ideas for everything along the way... Stay Tuned...

*I spell this word the X-Men way because it looks cooler...

Leopard Girl Arrives...

2011-04-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

So, after a lot of overcomplicated false starts I finally decided to return to a pretty basic design for my female lead, Leopard Girl and her costume. She'll be the only character raised in the sprawling urban superhero playground and the only character other than The Tengu who saw this world and its inhabitants in a more active time than its present sleepy condition...

When creating her I knew I wanted super-speed and "cat power" (you'll see...) to be her page action dynamic. I figure I already have flying, fisticuffs, and swords. Like I said in the last post, I want good visuals and feel I'm capable but working these set pieces into a good story is the more difficult task...

As far as her personality, I wanted her to be the girl who holds her own and coordinates well amid an almost exclusively boy's club. Not exactly freezing The Apparition, Solar Son, & The Tengu out, but seeing them as rivals just as much as collaborators when adventure arises (but yeah, she'll have hierarchy/opinion on all the guys).

I wanted her to be an ambitious, resourceful, and practical protector for whom this world actually mattered, getting to the "Jungle Queen" archtypes of pulps past while staying with the quick cat of the outback style.

Here's the profile sketch that ended up being how I modeled her mask...

And here's this very rough sketch of what would become the final costume, at least basic shape-wise...

But before any of that there was this overly-"cutie pie" drawing that got the ball rolling before I even knew I needed a Leopard Girl. I was thinking of making her a magician along the lines of Zatanna, but opted for a more active power...

Well, I am just one more character design, some work with my drafts/arcs/outlines, and some ballpoint page designs away from the magic that is the labor of production (pencilling/inking/scanning/toning/lettering pages). Stay tuned for the progress...

The Tengu Joins The Cast...

2011-03-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

The effort to give my comic book's story the same punch I feel I can provide with my art has been drastically changing my format and adding to my cast of characters... And that's good, I'm glad I'm not 40 pages in and figuring this out. Nonetheless, fitting 5-6 origins/backstories into a "this all happens in about 8-10 hours" narrative tying all of those together and pacing/cutting scenes right is a challenging task, even for a well-read comics chap like myself...

The Apparition will still appear and be an integral part of the story but this isn't all his show anymore. The more I developed an origin for Solar Son the more I wanted him to have a bigger piece of the page. The same is true with Bloodshaft, I can't just have a mindless product of the 90s bashing around for no reason. Sure, it'll be fun for drawing some brawls but I'm gonna need a reason or associate for him. So, be on the lookout for a more traditional "evil genius" or "dimension-hopping mastermind". As well, I'm also working hard to bring the female lead to life. I haven't been too wild about the costumes I've sketched so far, but I'll get there.

Which leads to this here Tengu redesign. As I delved further into getting the Apparition's personality down, I found that he was a better as a comics geek brought into a fantastic world with just a bit of fantastic ability (no more than say, Batman) and forced to use his comics smarts to rise to his superpowered peers' level. All of this, while still brandishing angst and immaturity on a semi-regular basis. The Tengu, on the other hand, needed to be incorruptible, but with a seasoned strength of character and discipline. I want him to be that serious stoic samurai warrior who takes on all worthy opponents and hungers only to be the best, and in this case, because he is a Tengu, a spiritual and physical guardian of the forests that surround my comic book world's vast urban ghost town of forgotten heroes...

I wanted to retain some elements from my initial drawing of the character from 2008, but also desired a sleekness outside of his mask and gloves... I'm regularly being exposed to and trying to overcome my artistic limits in the arena of mental 3D modeling though and that profile view of the mask is the proof...

Here are the original line drawings...

A snappy little ballpoint sketch of The Tengu from this summer...

Here's what I initially put together for a cover corner box. I may use it down the line, but I'm happy with the one I have on the website marquee right now...

Here's a delightful little drawing I did while watching Joaquin Phoenix's hilarious mockumentary "I'm Still Here"...

A standout among so many Batman sketches...

And the Supes from the next page...

And the Bucky Barnes version of Cap...

The Top 20 Comic Book Movies So Far...

2011-02-27T23:24:00.000-08:00

Welcome Back,
I'm taking a break from posting artwork this entry because the summer movie season is shortly upon us, folks. And with the likes of The X-Men, Thor, Captain America, and Green Lantern all on tap to dazzle us as well as next summer's crop of "The Amazing Spider-Man", "The Dark Knight Rises", "The Wolverine", and "The Avengers" I think we can safely say that the comic book (or at least superhero) genre is here to stay.

The genre born with Richard Donner's "Superman" and teased with by Tim Burton's "Batman" took full commercial form after the success of 1997's "Blade" and was permanently cemented by the box office triumphs of the first "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" film installments.

But here we are, about to ride the first major wave of reboots, relaunches, and cinematic universe enrichment. We're being presented "Comic Book Movies 2.0" and thankfully, all the major mistakes have been made at this point. I mean, Fox'll never learn as proven by the now in-production "Ghost Rider 2", but as long as we have A-Listers like Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, and Joss Whedon working on these kind of films the maturation will continue to some degree with some non-superhero indie gems along the way.

So, with all of this content lying in wait I thought now was as good a time as any to apply some study to this genre just out of its infancy and present the very best it has to offer. And although, I tried to find the most unique or my favorite visual representations of these various works I do not claim to own any of this imagery. Enjoy!

1) "Ghost World" By Terry Zwigoff (2001)
Adapted From "Ghost World" By Daniel Clowes

A statement on modern youth, emotional isolation, the search for identity, and friends growing apart, "Ghost World" provides hilariously biting social critique in both its film and comic incarnations. Daniel Clowes (who wrote the screenplay) fully realizes his existing characters of Enid (Thora Birch) & Becky (Scarlett Johansson) and humanizes them with a new character, Steve Buscemi's brilliant Seymour and Brad Renfro's deadpan portrayal of Josh. This is a top class movie that could rival any festival darling or Oscar-bait, but it's still a comic adaptation and with that as criteria I can't deny it the top spot.

2) "Sin City" By Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller (2005)
Adapted From The "Sin City" Comics Of Frank Miller

Visually inventive to the highest degree, wholly devoted to its source material, and perfectly cast, this was a movie that visually changed movies as much as "The Matrix". The world of Sin City is as harsh and unforgiving as it is spare & alluring, just like Frank Miller imagined it. A lot of ground is covered in the 2 hours and change of run-time, but nothing feels bloated. It's a ride that must be taken and there's plenty of beauty amid the carnage of this most faithful of adaptations...

3) "The Dark Knight" By Christopher Nolan (2008)
Adapted From Various Works

Sure, there was plenty of warranted fanfare surrounding Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker but make no mistake, Aaron Eckhart's tragic Two-Face is the heart of this movie. His relationships with everyone from James Gordon to The Batman, from Rachel Dawes to The Joker are what drives the story. Now, I'm pretty sure anyone reading this has seen this movie and at least liked it, so let me just say as the Batfan I am that this is possibly the greatest Batman story ever told outside Frank Miller's comic work on the character.

4) "Crumb" By Terry Zwigoff (1994)
Presented As The Life Of Robert Crumb

A comics pioneer gets a worthy retrospective in this 1994 biopic of Robert Crumb. Hilarious, insightful, and sometimes heartbreaking the film tracks Crumb's artistic development and life circumstances with his signature brand of humor, weirdness, and social commentary.

5) "Kick-Ass" By Matthew Vaughn (2010)
Adapted From "Kick-Ass" By Mark Millar & John Romita Jr

Equal parts wish-fulfillment and cautionary tale, this is a story that revolutionized the idea of the teenage superhero and showed just how great making a movie with no studio involvement can end up. The casting is superb, the tone uncompromised, and every change made between the two medium's respective stories is made in the name of serving its respective audience. This is the superhero movie for any comic geek who's ever dared to dream!

6) "The Fountain" By Darren Aronofsky (2006)
Adapted From "The Fountain" By Darren Aronofsky & Kent Williams

Out of this world visuals, spare thematic scripting, puzzle pieces of histories based on the quest for eternal youth and love. This one sticks with you well after first viewing for its unique directing, emotional focus, challenging format, and sheer spectacle for the eyes.

7) "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" By Richard Donner (1980)
Adapted From Richard Donner's Imagination

DO NOT watch any other version than the one below. Truly, the Richard Lester one is that different and pardon me, stupid and disrespectful. For every Superman fan who just wants to see him beat things up, this is your movie. But it's so much more than that! Terence Stamp's General Zod provides a chilling nemesis on the intellectual level with Lex. And with Superman de-powered and Lois in the know of Clark's double-life all the wheels are turning. This one's classic, actually the only classic...

8) "Scott Pilgrim Vs The World" By Edgar Wright (2010)
Adapted From The "Scott Pilgrim" Comics Of Bryan Lee O'Malley

I'll never forget when a friend said to me that this movie reminded her that special effect can actually look cool. And that's exactly right, this movie takes what's possible with today's effects technology and produces visuals reminiscent of the original O'Malley comics and the 8-bit era of video games. Along the way, it's a indie rock romance with well-placed fisticuffs, a conflicted hero, plenty of funny & pretty girls, and a whole lot of sound (mostly from Beck). This is about as close to a date movie as one of these is going to get...

9) "The Incredible Hulk" By Louis Leterrier (2008)
Adapted From Various Works

Not perfect, but HULK finally "SMASH!" just like we always wanted him to. Ed Norton plays a flawless Banner and Liv Tyler surprisingly outshines her predecessor, Jennifer Connelly in the role of Betty Ross. The energy between the two is just perfect and with General Ross and Emil Blonsky (later Abomination) as baddies it gets right to the roots of the Jekyll & Hyde balance and military critique of the character. Plus, that showdown on campus with the wind machines was as Kirby-esque as anything I've seen out of a Marvel adaptation...

10) "American Splendor" By Shari Springer Bergman & Robert Pulcini (2003)
Adapted From The "American Splendor" Comics Of Harvey Pekar

This one occupies a strange and inventive space. It's a biopic of Harvey Pekar as much as it is an adaption of his comics, but it's also a film continuation of the comics that preceded it. Paul Giamatti does his best Harvey Pekar and you even get confirmation of such when the real Harvey Pekar (RIP) shows up now and then. This is the story of trying to making a small life into something substantial and all of the "life" along the way...

11) "Watchmen" By Zack Snyder (2009)
Adapted From "Watchmen" By Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

Everything important from the comic makes its way into this one and that is no small feet when you're adapting Alan Moore and getting it more or less right. Snyder had the story that changed superheroes forever, transformed the comics medium, had almost a quarter-century of false film starts, and had a rabid fan community ready to pounce when he took this project on and for the most part I think he silenced his dissenters. I'm not trying to say it's anything it's not, but I think this movie changed what superhero movies can be as much as "The Dark Knight" or "Kick-Ass" and he did it with a team book to boot. Also, the opening credits must be counted among the greatest of all-time for film in general...

12) "Batman Begins" By Christopher Nolan (2005)
Adapted From Various Works

Moving on though, I don't think we'd have even seen a "Watchmen" movie without Christopher Nolan's first foray into superhero movies. "Batman Begins" was released in 2005, when the massacre of Marvel properties, mostly by Fox, was in full swing with "Fantastic 4". This film along with "Sin City" politely told the genre to "Grow up and understand your source!" and brought The Batman back to onscreen glory after the disastrous and insulting "Batman & Robin" (1997). And Nolan did this all while exposing the characters of Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul to a greater audience than they'd ever known..

13) "Iron Man 2" By Jon Favreau (2010)
Adapted From Various Works

Robert Downey Jr is once again the perfect Tony Stark, but things get even better when Sam Rockwell shows up as rival arms manufacturer Justin Hammer. Every ante is upped along the way. The movie never loses focus on itself even while it sets pieces in place for the Marvel movie universe like Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury and introduces Mickey Rourke's Whiplash as well as 2 new armors. For me, it could have only been better if they introduced the Extremis armor...

14) "Road To Perdition" By Sam Mendes (2002)
Adapted From "Road To Perdition" By Max Alan Collins & Richard Piers Rayner

"Road To Perdition" is a story of father & son, a gangster epic, a gorgeous period piece, and a road movie all in one. Sam Mendes outdoes himself as director in his follow-up to "American Beauty", Tom Hanks gives his last truly great performance, and Paul Newman provides his last performance altogether. This one is right up there with "Ghost World" as far as prestige and place within the history of film in general.

15) "Spider-Man 2" By Sam Raimi (2004)
Adapted From Various Works

I don't want to say that Raimi's first effort was generic, but this Spider-Man movie comes off less as studio product and more of a contemporary vision of a classic superhero/supervillain origin with plenty of comics iconography worked in. The fight scene special effects are still among the best I've seen. This is the only "Spider-Man" movie with true ups, downs, and reasons for its hero and villain and everything is in its right place mythologically speaking...

16) "X-Men 2" By Bryan Singer (2003)
Adapted From Various Works

Yes, another early Marvel sequel... By 2003 there still hadn't been many of these movies and the X-men were now wearing black leather in the comics. I think that helped in not polluting the vision Singer had in mind for his second installment of the X-Men series. It's probably the best weaving of classic storylines with its own twist that I've seen. With the astonishing backdrop of "Weapon X" and the themes of "God Loves, Man Kills", Singer neatly wraps up his story for the most part before the heinous debacle that was Bret Ratner's "X-Men: The Last Stand"...

17) "Art School Confidential" By Terry Zwigoff (2006)
Adapted From "Art School Confidential" By Daniel Clowes

Zwigoff & Clowes ("Ghost World") reunite for their second effort in film and bring the horrible, hilarious truth about Art School. Complete with a college slasher subplot, depictions of every stereotype these institutions have to offer, and an ensemble boasting John Malkovich, Anjelica Huston, and Adam Scott* this one hits with the reality check every art student needs to either quit or keep pursuing the dream (if only for their own pleasure)...

*This is my favorite actor to play me if anyone ever makes "Gone To Earth : The Ballad Of J-Nel"...

18) "Superman Returns" By Bryan Singer (2006)
Presented As A Continuation Of Richard Donner's "Superman" Films

That line above is really what needed to be said from the outset with this movie, although I'm not sure even that could've saved it at the box office. I loved it for its portrayal of Clark/Superman as a man unsure of his place in the world and how he reacts to losing his strongest connection to the human world in Lois. Metropolis looks majestic, the Superman costume was the best live action interpretation to date, Kevin Spacey shines as a truly convincing Lex Luthor, and Clark/Superman is noble in a world that has cast him by the wayside. This movie and most moviegoers' reaction to it are an interesting inverted metaphor for the character's diminished position in modern popular culture, but check it out again after watching "Superman" & "Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut" and I believe you'll believe a man can fly!

19) "TMNT" By Kevin Munroe (2007)
Presented As A Loose Continuation Of The 1990s Film Series With An Emphasis On
The "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Comics Of Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird

Years have passed since the fall of The Shredder. Leo lives in South America and operates as a rural vigilante legend, Don has a day job in telephone tech support, Mike operates as children's party entertainer "Cowabunga! Carl", and Raph, unbeknownst to his brothers patrols the night as armored warrior "The Nightwatcher". As much as I was disappointed that there was no Shredder, this was the first Turtles movie to ever get the Turtles' personalities in line with their comic book counterparts. And as throwaway as the whole "capture the stone warriors" subplot was, The Foot Clan was still around with Karai in charge and the real conflict was between Raph & Leo and the Turtles' greater struggle to rebuild their family. Plus, Imagi Animation Studios showed that Pixar wasn't the only game in town for high-end 3D-modeled animation...

20) "The Spirit" By Frank Miller
Adapted From "The Spirit" Comics Of Will Eisner

I've only met one other person in my life who liked this, but like me he was familiar with the work of Frank Miller and Will Eisner. And I think that's the key to enjoyment with this movie. I would just imagine that if Frank Miller were going to write and draw a Spirit comic book that it'd look and sound like this. I mean, "Sin City" has kinda been his default mode for awhile now... Yes, an animated or colorful affair along the lines of the original Eisner strips or Darwyn Cooke's stellar 2007 DC Comics revamp may have been a better way to present this character to a wider audience but this movie, although thin on story and heavy on visuals, is as full of Miller's signature tone and artistic flair as any comic book by him from the 00s on...

*Honorable Mention For Films With No Theatrical Release*

"Turtles Forever" By Roy Burdine & Lloyd Goldfine
Based Upon Both "TMNT" Animated Series (1987-1996 & 2003-2009)
& The "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Comics Of Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird

The Animated Turtles of today meet their goofy dimension-hopping 1980s counterparts as well as their black & white comic book predecessors. It's the best Turtles movie so far, hands down...

"Justice League : The New Frontier" By Dave Bullock
Adapted From "DC : The New Frontier" By Darwyn Cooke

Cooke's unforgettable bridge from DC Comics' Golden Age to Silver Age permeates the hope and spirit of late 1950s America and the DC heroes who graced its comic pages. Also, I'll just say this now because I'm 99% sure about that Ryan Reynolds trainwreck, this is the greatest Green Lantern movie anyone will ever see!

Bloodshaft!! (1990s Supervillain Extraordinaire)

2011-02-18T18:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome Back!

Prepare to meet the baddest supervillain from the age of perma-grimace, overhatching, & holo-foil covers. He's the worst, a relic from a future of dudes in costumes fighting dudes in costumes with no substance or reason past the cover and splash page sent to a world of Silver Age throwbacks (Good & Bad) to assassinate the character and career of our anomolous hero, The Apparition!

Y'know, they say superheroes are costumes & concepts and although that sounds a bit reductive I tend to agree. I guess that's what made this guy so easy to think up... I think I got every piece of stupidity I could out of my study of characters like Cable, Bane, Carnage, Doomsday, and whatever other awfulness boom & bust "Image", Marvel, & DC pumped out.

I mean, Image is fine now and those founding years were extremely important for independent publishers, but trust me, most of that stuff is pretty bad. It could have gone differently too, but at the time of the Image exodus Marvel failed to see (or ignored the fact) that their creators were what was selling the books, not the characters and DC unfortunately cashed in with stuff like "Death Of Superman", reinforcing this notion and inflating the speculator bubble to its thinnest skin. Then "Pop!" But at least DC was also growing Vertigo to justify its existence the whole time...

So yeah, here's a character steeped in the non-substance of the 1990s... It's all there, a name with "Blood" in it, hands that morph into weapons, a stupid asymmetrical eye thing, lots of pouches, and don't forget the shoulder pads. If there's one thing I learned from Liefeld, it's that shoulder pads are not optional...

Solar Son

2011-02-07T03:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome Back!
The Solar Son from the upcoming "Tales To Become Invisible"...

Even The Bit Parts Deserve Cool Costumes...

2011-01-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,

Here are some model drawings of characters appearing in the upcoming "Tales To Become Invisible"...

- Your average quarter bin reject of my story's superhero/supervillain purgatory

- Silver Age Apparition from "Apparition Comics Annual #1" (comic book within my comic story)

- Young Apparition (Kid from 1960s who later becomes our hero)

- One-Sheet Drawing of these two and one modern Apparition model...

Coming Soon...

2010-10-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

This is just a test cover, but rest assured that the journey toward bringing you a comics spectacular is well underway!

"The J-Nel Apparition Montage" & "Sketchbook Summer 2010"...

2010-07-19T02:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome back,

This latest piece is far larger in reality, but I did what I could for online presentation. There was a decent amount of planning involved in this one and I had a grand scale in mind the entire way. I wanted to take that rare step outside 11X17 (or 11X14), but was fixated on doing that with zero doubt that it was the best effort and product possible within my current ability.

The actual content of the piece spins out the character I designed for my last post, "The Apparition". I thought I was pretty clever with that name. I desired to make this character embody a bit of the pulp spirit, incorporate some western, detective, & ghostly elements, and it seemed to have a nice ring to it. It turns out there's some obscure DC Comics character called simply "Apparition". I could just roll with it and always precede the name with "The", but upon further thought it's actually pretty clunky and I'm sure there's a better name I've yet to come up with...

But anyhow, here's "The J-Nel Apparition Montage" in its most compact form as well the raw scans, a photo of the inks, and the very early pencils (at least half of those worked out)...

I call this one "In Her Dreams" and I actually finished it way back in March, but hadn't shrunk it down to scan until just recently. It's okay, not my best work, but I always need the practice drawing girls...

Here's a scan of the inks & tones...

And a quick color version...

Now, this one succeeds where that last one fails. I was trying to put a bit of cuteness out there, but it didn't have nearly the life of this one here. And this one's just a headshot...

Here's a scan of the inks & tones...

And a pretty good color job by myself...

The rest of this entry is just decent sketchbook pieces, odds & ends... Enjoy!

"Batman -vs- Scarecrow"

"Iron Man 2 Was Good"

"Sonic Surfer"

"Thor"

"Patchwork"

"Demon Boy (og)"

"Demon Boy (c)"

"Loki Queen"

"Quickness"

"TMNT (Alternative Costumes)"

"Captain America (Bucky Barnes)"

"Evil Owl"

"Grid AbFace"

I'm Watchin' Out for Y'All...

2010-05-16T04:34:00.000-07:00

Peep the non-descript superhero character who isn't afraid to bust a cap!

Here's a scan of the final inks & tones along with the original inks and process pencils...

This below is pure fandom after seeing "Kick-Ass" for the 3rd time in the theatre. It's my little Tengu guy in a Kick-Ass outfit. Really, I would have loved this movie if only because it seemed like a purer Millar adaptation than "Wanted" (didn't even see it), but it totally blew my socks off. I loved the comic but, the movie brought its comic world to life in a way I hadn't seen since "The Dark Knight" and every change they made in the movie was made in the name of its respective medium and in my humble opinion made things a little easier to feel optimistic about (C'mon, Dave's gotta get the girl after everything he endures).

And now that director Matthew Vaughn's been announced (along with "X-Men" 1 & 2 director Bryan Singer as producer) to helm "X-Men: 1st Class" (an X-Men prequel/reboot with Angel, Beast, Jean, & Scott) and has the okay on everything from yellow & blue costumes to the final story I think I can breath a sigh of relief for at least one superhero movie franchise...

Still...
Chris Evans as Captain America... WTF!?!?!?

Peace, I'm out of here!

Heavenly Dog (Variations On A Tengu)...

2010-04-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm finally back. Here's a quick rundown of notable works from late in 2009 to early 2010... Enjoy!

This here (below) is actually the benefactor of 3 line drawings that failed to flesh out on their own and even failed to really achieve what I aimed for when combined. But with a little help from some manga explosion zip and some careful ink & blade work I intended to cut back the chaos of the Original Zip-A-Tone Artwork but still keep all of the core subject matter as well as the main icon present.

Original Line Art

Original Zip-A-Tone Art

Line Art Process

I drew this in the airplane terminal before I was off to Minneapolis for Christmas, Tough Old Samurai... And if you look closely, you'll see him in the "Heavenly Dog" art...

Mist Demon...

Some kinda Mecha-girl...

A REALLY old Spidey drawing (maybe '03') I finally got around to matting...

And I couldn't resist throwing my Skrulls on this "Secret Invasion" #1 (Convention Sketch Variant) I found in the Half-Price Books quarter bin. They really bust out the good stock for the covers on these!

No High-Fructose Corn Syrup Necessary...

2009-11-25T23:01:00.000-08:00

You'll Get The Sweetness From The Art Alone (& a certain part of me wants to croon the Jim Adkins "Wo-o-o-o-o-ooo..." after that)...

But seriously, I do want to give the good folks at Franz Breads their due for saying "No" to the over-subsidized, ethically insolvent, obesity-proliferating corn industry...

I've been against the overgrowth for awhile, but "King Corn" crystallized my opinion. The documentary isn't "on message" most of the time and is more of a buddy movie about 2 midwestern guys trying to accomplish the modest goal of raising an acre of corn that results in an entertaining and informative critique on the American corn industry...
kingcorn.net

Here I am waiting for my ride to the Halloween Party.

And at the party...

Moving on, I've been pretty wrapped up in Naoki Urasawa's modern reinterpretation of the classic Astro Boy storyline "The Greatest Robot On Earth" titled "Pluto" as well Urasawa's other series currently being translated in the states, "20th Century Boys". I got the first four volumes of each from the library ("Pluto" goes 8 volumes and "20CB" goes 22) and although I'm not always hot on his art (he goes a little too standard big-eyed in the 1960s scenes, but it's only to emphasize that the cast is kids), his plotting, pacing, and overall storytelling ability is masterful.

So, this Urasawa overload combined with my already enormous respect and admiration for Manga God and Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka and a fleeting interest in the since failed Astro Boy movie (the animation was fine, but the script and voice acting was unbearable) led to my desire to recreate this classic match-up of robot heavyweights. Here's a black & white scan, a solo shot of Atom pulled from the piece, & a color infused scan for your enjoyment as well as a comparison between Tezuka and Urasawa's incarnations of the cast of "The Greatest Robot On Earth".

This next one is just me trying to boil down Daredevil to a simple iconic form in preparation for a more highly-cultivated background. Here's the line art, a filter test, and the materials it took to get to the icon.

I was trying to channel a bit of Mazzucchelli's classic "Born Again" cover in this one above...

I actually prefer Denny O'Neil and Mazzucchelli's run on the title to the Frank Miller run it followed. The art was wildy experimental while still fitting into Marvel's "House Style" of the mid-80s and O'Neil, who went on to write the seminal Question series for DC in the late 80s provides a subtle yet groundbreakingly streetwise take on the urban superhero.

Getting the logo to look right was by far the hardest part...

This next one is inspired by the legendary "Sword-Saint" of the Edo period, Miyamoto Musashi. Now, I've known about Musashi for a long time because of Stan Sakai's anthropomorphic biography "Usagi Yojimbo", but I had never touched Takehiko Inoue's 30 volume manga biography "Vagabond". I think I can safely say that outside Tezuka's 8 volume "Buddha" biography Inoue is a true visionary of the art form operating at the height of his skill and the work stands without a modern peer as the finest piece of historical fiction in the medium with an artistry yet to be matched by any cartoonist in his generation. So, I've been pretty immersed in that as well as Musashi's strategic philosophy tome, The Book Of 5 Rings...

Above is a B&W photoscan and below is a marker comp...

As well as the sketchbook piece that got the ball rolling (displayed at Seattle's own Bleu Bistro)...

This one below is a sumi ink painting of The Maxx I did at the 2004 Chicago Comic Convention with a diffused glow coloring from Photoshop...

This one's just me splashing around with Sumi ink and markers, resulting in a familiar face...

These 2 below are pretty recent, both done just before sundown at Golden Gardens this past summer. On the left is obviously Wolverine and on the right is classic Thor foe, Loki.

This one's from a long time ago, maybe even 2003. I was drawing this tagger guy for a stretch in the early 00s...

These below are pretty recent, all from the past month on small legal pad...

This one is most definitely me trying to get a sloppy Frank Miller "DK2" style Flash...

And I did a pretty decent job on a character who without a doubt has to be the worst creation of the pre-Image boom in the early 90s, Cable (even though the 2001-2002 David Tischman revamp was an exemplar of post "X-Files" sci-fi mystery)...

These here below are the last finished drawings I did of the "Nocturno" characters I prepared as the front and back covers and inlay material for the delusional days when I thought the series could score a publishing agreement in trade paperback format. Geez, I wasn't afraid to lay down too much ink in those days...

As an added bonus, here is a front cover gallery of all the comics I toured for from 2001 til 2004. The top three are the 32 page "Nocturno" singles, the bottom left is a silent comic entitled "The Day" that is way too misguided aesthetically to carry any narrative (look, I just sucked for awhile...) and the 30 illustration endevour to imply motion with multiple triangles, "@" (1st & 2nd printings)...

Before I wrap this one up, I have to spout off about 2 formative milestones taking place almost in unison and exuding cool of which I never thought was possible.

First of all, Grant Morrison's "Batman & Robin" is shaping up to be the heir apparent to Chris Nolan's "The Dark Knight" as the greatest Batman story ever told. The premise has Bruce Wayne missing, original Robin Dick Grayson under the cowl, Bruce's son Damian as the new Robin, an array of new villains laying claim to Gotham's underworld, but most importantly, a rival crimefighting duo branding themselves as the "Smarter, Faster, Stronger" war on crime in former Robin Jason Todd as the new Red Hood and his mysterious sidekick, Scarlet...

This is the culmination of over 2 decades of Batman continuity (starting with Todd's death in 1988's "A Death In The Family" ) coming to a head and expanding and enriching the bat-mythos in the most honorable way possible and with only the most capable talent at the helm. It's the first "in continuity" Batman book I've ever read that doesn't seem to be going through the motions. There are risks, there are losses, there are doubts, and there is exemplary art carrying the story the whole time. This is the lean and efficient iconic storytelling rhythm that decompression in superhero comics has been working toward since the late 80s...

Frank Quitely began the art chores of the series and his synergy with Morrison's loose scripting is more cinematic and restrained than the sprawling inventive splashs of him and Morrison's "All-Star Superman". Yet surprising, the series actually gets richer and more meta as the art chores shift to Philip Tan with issue 4.

Now, Quitely is not an act anyone WANTS to follow and Tan is bringing the best work of his career as well as keeping the established cinematic tone in check. It should be interesting as this series goes on to see what A list talent follows Quitely and Tan. Cameron Stewart (Brubaker's Catwoman) is scheduled for issues 7-9 and before Quitely returns Frazier Irving (Iron Man : The Inevitable) is supposed to have an arc....

Below : Frank Quietly (Left) Philip Tan (Right)

I'll leave you with this...

Anyone who's gotten to know me even a little bit knows I'm a TMNT purist. That said, the 1987 cartoon, although great financially for Eastman & Laird still marks an enormously embarrassing period for the green guys in my honest opinion (rivaled only by the 1960s Batman TV series).

That's why I was thrilled to see that as The CW was going to send the boys out in style with a feature length TV movie where the the 1987 cartoon TMNT meet the cartoon turtles of today (launched in 2003). Eventually the film gives me and the rest of us Mirage era comics fans our first and only look at an animated 1984 black & white comic TMNT.

The film's pretty funny and entertaining for any fan. Nothing is spared from ridicule, from the Turtle Blimp, to how incompetent the 1987 Shredder is, to the "Cowabunga!" & "Turtle Power", to the initials on the belts. It was interesting and reassuring to watch how different from the 1987 TMNT and similar to their comic counterparts the 2K3 guys are.

All in all, it's the best of any of the Turtles films, even though I loved Imagi's TMNT. This one is really made with the fans in mind.

"Turtles Forever" Streaming

The final shot is even of the guys (The "Mirage" turtles) in their iconic 1st issue pose...

Until next time, have a great holidays!

"Cinema Tengu" & "A Miracle For Creator Rights"

2009-08-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

From time to time I'm asked whether I use a computer to create my images. To this question I always answer with a firm "No, unless a Xerox machine counts..." and explain that I DO use a computer to scan and conduct digital clean-up for online presentation, but at the end of the day I'm an ink-stud, not a mouse technician. Personally, I'd be overjoyed if my responsibility with a piece ended once the ink is dry and the last shard of zip-a-tone is cut, but the fact that I don't do this professionally nor do I have art curators or comics publishers beating down my door leaves me with no other option than to make this "art" accessible and enjoyable for the online community.

I pretty much draw for myself out of the love of solving spatial problems, trying to maintain complexity while staying as iconic as possible within a singular image, and illustrating subjects I find compelling or engrossing based on my influence from the world at large (okay, mostly comics...) but I put it up here for all of you readers 1) because you might get a kick out of it and 2) well, I think it's the only thing that separates me from every other working stiff who's gonna work til they're 65 and die someday.

So anyway, without any further self-centered lamentation on my part I present my latest piece, "Cinema Tengu" (which is a bit of a callback to a piece I drew last summer - Tengu).

So, here's the final grayscale and primary color infused scans of this 3-piece composition, lightly cleaned in Photoshop. This however, is the end digital product of my efforts and I'll be showing you through the originals as well...

Here are the matted originals of the final zip-a-tone treatment...

And here is the matted originals of the initial concept line art and the 1st generation zip-a-tone of the original drawing...

For the second part of this post you'll need to go back to that glorious moment on July 24th when Marvel Editor-In-Chief and continually dynamic artist Joe Quesada revealed that Marvel had secured the rights to the most disputed superhero of all time, Miracleman. Now, needless to say I was extremely jazzed by this news both because (most likely) we'll finally see Alan Moore's run on the title collected and because Joe Q made it very clear that Mick Anglo (original creator of "Marvelman" in the UK) signed off on this deal, which however roundabout, is a creator rights victory...

So, presented here is the tribute piece I wrote in the heat of the moment and the ensuing tribute drawing to mark the occasion. Both are followed by the Quesada color-study of the character directly below...

"A Miracle For Creator Rights" By Joshua Nelson

If someone would have asked me yesterday which was more likely to happen before I died, the Miracleman legal battle ending or the Crazy Horse Memorial being finished I would have gone with Crazy Horse, hands down. The character and reprint rights for "Miracleman/Marvelman" have been mired in a legal swamp since the mid-90s and I was shocked to see that Marvel had acquired both of these today...

This is an astounding development and an unexpectedly ironic victory for creator rights. First, Todd McFarlane, creator of "Spawn" who in the 80s and early 90s was one of mainstream comics' more staunch creator rights advocates lost his long & overtly hypocritical battle to remain a contending "owner" of this character's rights, and in effect freed the character from publishing limbo. Secondly, thanks to Neil Gaiman's legal organization "Marvels & Miracles", the reprint rights (at least for the material released by Eclipse Comics) to the character have been sold to Marvel.

It's a complete inversion of last year's Superman case, in which Jerry Siegel's Estate was actually able to retain the copyright for him and Joe Shuster's original "Action Comics" Superman run and sold the rights to indie comics house Oni Press 2 days after the ruling... Even taking into account how hilariously Sara Palin-ish Mcfarlane and his legal team have been in past court legal matters ((wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_twist#Lawsuit_against_Todd_McFarlane) <- In another ironic yet inconsequential twist, McFarlane was once a part owner of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers), it's still embarrassing that he couldn't even preserve the status quo of limbo... And who would have thought that in the end, the character's rights would end up at America's premiere mainsteam comics publisher (via "Marvel & Miracles") rather than being sold as what would probably have easily been the most successful independent comic since the black & white explosion of the early 80s??? I have a feeling Alan Moore ("Watchmen", "V For Vendetta") and his future "Swamp Thing" collaborator John Totleben's run is probably the gold everyone was after, but it's a pretty impressive roster of creators who worked on this character and I'm sure Neil Gaiman ("Sandman" "Coraline") & Mark Buckingham's run has its own merits. Anyway, I can't wait until this stuff is out there and us fans can finally see what all the fuss was about.

I guess, at the very least, now we can say that the "Comic" aspect of "Comic Con International" hasn't completely been eroded by Hollywood and the video game industry...

Major props to Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, The Marvel Legal Team, Neil Gaiman, and Mick Anglo on getting this done. Lastly, there's still an act left in this play and I wonder what Alan Moore thinks of these developments, given his tenuous history with Marvel over Captain Britain and the obvious supposition that they're going to make his name HUGE on the cover of this to cash in on the bookstore market...

And hey, if you read this far, thanks for the ego-stroke... I know this is confusing and inconsequential to normal folk, but I've been watching this play out for a long time and had to submit my humble opinion to the public...

Peace!

The Final Word On "Motion Comics"

2009-08-24T18:50:00.001-07:00

Welcome,
I bet all of you who actually check the site didn't expect me to return after almost 4 months with an informal essay, but it's my website and I'm way behind on scanning artwork. Rest assured, there is new artistic content en route. But for now, enjoy my final word on "Motion Comics"...

To begin, last year Warner Brothers (owner of DC Comics) started their "motion comics" initiative. The content of these products is essentially "animated" comic panels via zooms, pans, and narration/sound effects. The most well-known of these is the 12 episode presentation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbon's "Watchmen" which was released in Itunes and DVD format to coincide to with the release of the recent film. Warner/DC has led the charge thus far, with "Watchmen", various Batman and Superman shorts, and an upcoming batch "Peanuts" shorts, but now Marvel has put their offering on the table with last week's release of the first episode "Spider-Woman" on Itunes and an announcement that Joss Whedon & John Cassaday's "Astonishing X-Men" run will get the "motion comics" treatment.

So now that the big 2 have flexed their game and entered the arena, I'm compelled to take a definitive stand on this new advent of the industry. Before I begin, it's at least worth noting that these methods for animation were routinely utilized, albeit in analog form, to create many of the Marvel cartoons of the 60s and 70s and the genesis of what we're seeing in today's "motion comics" is right there in the MTV animated adaptation of Sam Kieth's "The Maxx" only 15 years ago. However, "Maxx" did cross the line by having genuinely animated scenes, and by this I mean "real movement" of characters, objects, interspersed with what we're seeing in "motion comics" today.

My opinion is that to their credit, these "motion comics" are basically a clever way for comics publishers to sell their printed content to people who are one of 2 ways...

A) People who are too passive or unimaginative to read the stories as they're meant to be read. The atrocious voice acting for "Spider-Woman" make it all too apparent how much Bendis (series writer) has lost a step in the dialogue department and should just be an editor. But there ARE instances where this does work, at least when infused with familiarity, like with Kevin Conroy (voice of Bats from the 90s "Batman:The Animated Series") voicing some of the Batman B&W shorts. Some people just plain hate to read, some people view the comics page as some kind of puzzle, and others just like to sit and watch with no cognitive dissonance crowding up their head...

B) I understand Group B a little better as a guy who's into comics, knows a bit about their history in America, and tries to almost no avail to make sure folks know that not everything in this medium is Archie and Superheroes. Group B is comprised of mostly people who are afraid of the stigma that STILL exists with respect to printed comics and their acquisition. How many "casual readers" do you really think frequent a direct market comic shop? Uh, not many... Publishers might bag a few of these folks a week at Barnes & Noble, but it's the exception to the bookstore demographic (at least until those "Twilight" comics hit) and a lucky break for the comics industry.

Let's just be no-nonsense about this, most lowest common denominators and even a significant chunk of more culturally-enlightened Americans 25 years and older would think comics were a completely valid form of entertainment in the same league as books, film, television if the print medium of comics, its entire history, and most importantly its association with their childhood were somehow erased and these "motion comics" OR their printed source were to appear out of the ether as some bold new storytelling medium. Of course, we all know this is impossible but think about it the next time you see someone checking out content on their Kindle or Iphone that isn't completely text based.

To conclude, my problem with "motion comics" lies more with terminology and the erosion of its source art form's perception than it does with with the sanctity of the printed work . Heck, I think it's great that publishers are taking this low-cost chance to rake in new fans. I only hope that they have the same mindset that I do in that I believe purity of expression will prevail when these folks, should they have the opportunity, compare the analog oasis to its digital mirage.

These products are not comics, they are animation made on-the-cheap specifically for view on mobile devices. Comics, on the other hand, is a unique and complex storytelling language that demands equal participation on the creator's part in producing the work and the reader's part in being fully engaged in what is a highly stimulating and interactive reading experience should they desire one.

In essence, unless we plan on calling all regular comics "still films" or something equally absurd and disrespectful to its source medium this conversation (at least for awhile) is over.

Martian Highway Self-Discovery Song...

2009-05-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well, as much as it pains me to see you suffering on the other end of that computer, waiting for a fresh post, I regret to inform you that I've continued to slack on the scanning and digital cleanup of my artwork. But this post's pretty big, and I can say with at least some certainty that below is one of my personal best finished drawings.

It's nothing too special to look at if you've seen my other work, but for me it marks a moment in my development where I've officially joined the dying breed of cartoonists who are well-versed and at least slightly skilled with zip-a-tone shading film. I'm not saying this is some startling achievement, nor am I making some kind of statement against technology. But original artwork does mean a lot to me. I cringe at these folks who scratch down some rough pencils (if that, they usually work on a Wacom tablet), bump up the contrast or do whatever filter "trick of the day" they happen to be into, paint bucket whatever needs it, and call it good. I guess it really comes down to pride. I just look and that process and think unless you're being paid to draw that way, why would you? Where's the magic in that? Where's the chance for a mistake that could push everything forward? At what point does one become a technician when this is their process? I know it takes a lot of extra time to ink and tone and I've lost plenty of hours doing this to plenty of undeserving pieces, but I know that had I been born in a different time I'd have plenty to talk about with Osamu Tezuka, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood, and countless other visionaries (that is, if I ever had the honor of meeting them)... I admire those old masters as well as contemporaries like Paul Pope & Dan Clowes and have learned so much from them. I owe it to them not to shirk these cartooning secrets I've been given through their work. In the end, I guess it just feels good to keep a tradition alive...

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And remember that "mistake that could push everything forward"? Taking in the chin on the left's face was just that.

(1) Partial Pencils & Inks
I drew this and realized I didn't need another romance drawing and that this guy I had drawn had no neck. Chaos ensued from there...

(2)Full Inks / No Tone
And this is what you get after a couple hours of reworking and spacial problem solving...

(3)Full Inks / Full Tones
The midtones didn't scan very well and were whited-out for the final scanning (above), but I hope the far right gives at least a slight inkling at what the fully toned piece looks like...

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Not much to this one, other than me having some coffee in my Spidey tights looking out on the beautiful city of Seattle. And as simple as it is, this window layout is based on my patio view of my first apartment in Seattle. Skyline and The Needle with a backdrop of the Olympics... Man, I miss that place! Below is a black and white (much-preferred) and a color version of this illustration...

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This is one of the few times color has really come through for me. I originally did the drawing for a buddy who is huge fan of the "Doctor Who" mythos, but felt oddly compelled to do something more because of my uncanny resemblance to the last person to play The Doctor, David Tennant (so I'm told)... I don't know, see if you agree...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0855039/

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These new generation Daleks where used as a reference for this piece...

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Well, you've probably seen this one before, but I felt the need to post it in hi-res because 1) It's one of my best quick drawings and 2) It gives me a chance to wax about how great this title was with Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction writing and David Aja (along with a host of brilliant smaller contributors) on the art chores. I've never seen a story span so many genres with so little clunkiness. This run of the adventures of Danny Rand fuses elements of international espionage, crime, kung-fu, family drama, and even western into a cohesive brew of comics fun of which the likes you'll never forget. My only beef or negative with this book is that I read it in single issues, sold those, got the 2 paperback volumes, and had to see this on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Fraction-Brubaker-David-Omnibus/dp/0785138196/ref=pd_bbs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239002608&sr=8-6

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Back With A Lot Of Art...

2009-03-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! I know I say this every time I post, but all apologies for the delay... This time it wasn't all my fault either. A late night milk/cereal/keyboard fiasco and subsequent laziness left me without a spacebar for about a month. In that time and really as always, I was super-productive with the enjoyable part of my work (ink & tone to the paper) and lagging on the more mundane tasks (scanning & digital cleanup)... So here's all that's accumulated in that time with a massive post of unscanned material waiting in the wings...

I guess you could call this one me at my most comfortable and escapist. If you didn't know, this is how I've drawn myself for about 7 years. Sure, the clothes and hair change as the years go by and my skills have definitely become a bit more refined, but at the matter's heart it all comes down to me wishing I lived in a world that needed a hero and me being able to fill that role handily. Now honestly, I'm a Spidey guy and if his costume were easily alterable without shirking its essence and not such a royal pain to draw in general you'd see me in webbed tights here. But as it stands, I already did a drawing of myself as Bats (http://www.joshualincolnnelson.com/2008/06/in-anticipation-of-dark-knight.html) and thought I'd explore that again when I was hopped up on coffee and indecisive on subject matter...

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This one stresses me out every time I see it. Now, I've done an 100 page graphic novel and a couple 30 page one-shots so I'm really no stranger to longer term projects, but this children's book I'm collaborating with my Dad on is driving me mad with false starts. After 3 months of doodling concepts, I finally got this and feel pretty satisfied with moving forward. Now it's just a matter of drawing about 24 more of these in different poses. Maybe I'll finish it before my Dad hits retirement...

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Not much to say about this one. I started drawing myself, didn't pencil anything around me, and freestyled the background with ink and tone...

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This is a throwback to a drawing I did of Steve Ditko's "The Question" (http://www.joshualincolnnelson.com/2008/08/green-lantern-question-cole-cash.html). Now after further research, I learned that Rorschach from "Watchmen" actually owes more to Ditko's later creation "Mister A" than "The Question". This was in the late 60s, when he really got submerged into Objectivism, Ayn Rand, and solidified himself as the JD Salinger of comics. Getting to the point, the "Watchmen" film was really about as good as it could get, given the limitations of film, the conflicting interests involved in its production, and Zach Snyder's semi-immaturity and fixation on blood splattering all over the place no matter what the violent act is... So anyway, I thought this movie was fine. I'd never recommend it to someone who hasn't read the book and I think its underlying themes get a little lost amid its action, but it looks great and DOES display an adequate understanding and adoration of its source material... Here's Rorschach in "Watchmen" yellow...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_(comics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_(comics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._A
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)

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And lastly, here's easily my greatest quick sketch ever. The color's pretty shabby as I did it with marker, but I think it stands as a good example of what I can throw together in an hour and half at a coffee shop...

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Mr. Sensitive, Judge Dredd, & A Belated Holiday Piece...

2009-01-07T00:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,
Sorry it's been so long since I posted but I got a promotion at my day job and have been more concerned with drawing than scanning, digital cleanup, and posting... I've really let things pile up, but I'll probably have another 3 piece post up within the week...

So, first we have a piece that I believe may be my best work with no image reference. I've been consciously trying to draw with no image reference the last couple months. Not on long-term larger drawings, but the amount of size and detail that I can mash out in a few hours of drawing and toning... I just think it's time to start forcing myself to imagine interesting poses and framing rather than relying on the distortion of existing imagery in any media. It's a necessity if that great idea for an original graphic novel or one-shot ever hits me again...

The character is Guy Smith aka Mr. Sensitive aka The Orphan, The Leader of X-Statix. I have altered his hair color, but as many people have told me, all of my characters (except my more recent girls) end up looking like me anyway... If you want to read a hilarious pop culture and celebrity commentary book, X-Force (and eventually X-Statix) is an astounding run that spans 7 Volumes with an ever-so-slight hint that we may see some of these characters again. The writing (Peter Milligan) and art (Mostly Michael Allred, but guests include Paul Pope & Darwyn Cooke) were daring and subversive for their time and look even more so such when compared with the present state of Marvel Central ("The Jemas-Quesada days at Marvel were so grand and transformative..." should be my mantra). Here is the color image, the black & white, and a page from Milligan & Allred's modern classic...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Sensitive

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And next we have 2000 AD's own Judge Dredd... Although, wildly popular in the UK (I'd say on the level of Bats here in the states) most people tend to think of the awful 1995 Stallone movie. I was one of these people, but upon my re-submergence into comics back in 1999 I developed an understanding of the entire picture. See, I know the pain those Dredd fans felt and still feel. I saw "Daredevil" (pretty much my favorite superhero) and have to guess that's pretty close on the pain-scale. Recently, I've been reading the reprints of the late 70s run of the character and thought I'd give drawing him a try. Below my image is a shot of Jock ("The Losers" & "Green Arrow : Year One") drawing Dredd...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Dredd

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There isn't too much to this one. I actually gave it to a friend of mine for Christmas. Think of your favorite memory this past Christmas when you see it at full size, it makes it waaay better...

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Coop of "Twin Peaks" & Supes (and Comic Fans) Deserves Better...

2009-01-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's been far too long since I've posted, but at least in this entry I'm going to give you a little "behind the scenes" feature and a piece on cultural study (okay, I'm grasping by calling it that, but it's my blog...). Right around this past Halloween I was lost in Twin Peaks. I hadn't ordered my Netflix Q in a while and the first disc showed up much to my surprise. The pilot was enough for me to finish the first disc within the evening and order all ensuing discs as well as the prequel movie "Fire Walk With Me" and other Lynch works "Blue Velvet" and "Lost Highway" in succession. This spell of "Peaksmania" ran til a bit after election day. "Twin Peaks" had to be the most inventive and complex mystery program in pre-"Sopranos" television history. It had so many layers. It weaved crime, comedy, romance, and even horror into a tapestry of modern mystery that the world hadn't seen tinges of since "The Twilight Zone". It does become a bit inconsistent as the series makes its transition from the Laura Palmer arc to the one involving Windom Earle and Cooper's Past, but for the most part, especially up until after Laura Palmer's killer is revealed it is an almost flawless work.

Special Agent Dale Cooper FBI is the series' driving force and a truly golden role model for all American males. I decided to draw him just before he takes that first sip of coffee at the Double R Diner and here he is. Directly below is the photo reference and my rough pencils. Below that is the finished product inked and toned...

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To close this one out I'm going to have to let off a little steam... Humor me and read on if you will... So, before Straczyski & Frank's "Supreme Power" and Seagle & Kristiansen's "It's A Bird..." I really saw no intrigue in the character of Superman. Sure, he was a good citizen with a penchant for doing good with his seemingly limitless power, but his appeal seemed almost exclusively limited to depression-era comic historians and total simpletons whose only real opinions of the character was shaped by some vague mish-mash of media interpretation or their own stupidity. The two works above didn't exactly change this outlook for me, but they did show me that there were interesting possibilities for the base story of the last of a dying race falling to earth and being raised as one of its own (the Superman analog "Hyperion" in "Supreme Power") and of someone with the same ambivalence to the character I had being forced to write that character's adventures for a couple years (Writer Steven T. Seagle in "It's A Bird")...

Now, let's flash forward to 2005 and the debut issue Morisson and Quitely's modern superhero masterpiece "All-Star Superman". This was the first time I had actually read the character and felt the kind of synergy between creator and icon superhero I did when I read Miller's Batman, Bendis' Daredevil, Ennis' Punisher, or any of Millar's Ultimates cast... "All-Star Superman" just concluded this past summer, but a funny thing happened along the way. Somewhere in the fog of DC's 2007 editorial redirection and subsequent resurgence the longest running title in monthly comics, Action Comics (The Flagship Superman Book) began one of its best long-term creator runs with the help of Writer Geoff Johns and his co-plotter (and former mentor) Richard Donner (Superman I & II) as well as two exceptional artists in Eric Powell ("The Goon"), and Gary Frank ("Supreme Power"). It was during this run of golden superhero fiction where I finally granted Supes a higher level of respect than being a post-apocalyptic punching bag for Miller's Batman in "The Dark Knight Returns". This was a character who in the right hands was legendary and so much more than a corporate trademark, tattoo fodder for meatheads, and fake quirkiness for faking intellectuals... It's for the above stated reasons that I'm saying that Supes (and Comic Fans) deserves better!

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Now I know what you're going to say... That sounds so elite and frivolous, but let me put it to you this way. I'm from Minnesota and growing up I loved Twins Baseball, but I don't keep up with them at all now and would never call myself a fan. Sure, I feel a little excitement and nostalgia when I think back on the Puckett and Hrbek games at the Dome, but given my post-1992 and current disinterest in the sport and franchise I'd feel like a total fraud and enemy of the Twins if I wore their apparel despite the fact that I'd probably look completely natural wearing a navy blue Twins cap.

That's why it burns me up inside when I see either one of the extremes below or anything that falls into their continuum. And by continuum I mean any person who ignorantly wears comic apparel (not just Supes apparel). Superman affords me the perfect example for this criteria being fair as I really don't know that much about Superman, but I know enough to consider myself a true fan.

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So who gets to wear comic apparel then? I'll get to that but first here's who doesn't. Those people whose opinions on the character they're sporting are not tied to a specific work in any media or a specific creator of the character's adventures. These people don't get to wear comics apparel, plain and simple. Trust me, having to give up this much ground in my moral constitution is difficult considering the fact that I just gave a ton of fake Spider-Fans and Bat-Fans immunity via recent movies (And I don't feel too guilty about that considering how good Raimi's Spider-Man & Nolan's Batman films have been thus far)...

So finally, who does get to wear comic apparel? Well, if you've read up to this point and have understood even 55% of what I've written let's just say you passed the test... Until next time, Peace!

Now Playing : Genius Playlist based on Nas's "Memory Lane"

"President Elect" Barack Obama & More...

2008-11-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

Let me begin this entry by saying how proud and excited I am to have Barack Obama elected as the 44th president of the United States of America! Big Ups to Barack, Michelle, Sasha, Malia, David Axelrod, David Plouffe, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, the staffers, the volunteers, and the voters. Together, we put hope above fear and refused to engage in the low-road game our opposition was set on playing. Congratulations to Barack and to America! Here's a hilarious comparison of presidential fist-bumps and my election night drawing of the President Elect...

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This zip never looks right no matter how hi-res I set the scanner, but here's an Iron Man I drew over the summer...

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And I guess you could say I savored 2 very fulfilling endings this week with Bush on his way out and the final volume of "Y : The Last Man" finding its way into my hands. Talk about covering every base and still leaving some pleasant ambiguity... I followed Yorick (along with 355, Dr. Mann, and others) for 5 years and would have found the source of the "Male Plague" to be satisfying enough, but Vaughan really went for broke on every arc's end. This book had something for everyone and it kept giving until the very end. A simple science fiction premise took readers through a "road movie" of a comic that blended espionage, gender studies, romance, comedy, and the surreal into a riveting epic of global consequence. As far as long-running (6 Volumes or more) Vertigo titles, this finale just beats out Gaiman's "Sandman" but falls well short of Alan Moore's "Swamp Thing". But c'mon, comics like this wouldn't even exist if it weren't for Moore so I think that's a rather nice compliment...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_the_last_man

Happy Halloween From Jack Knight!

2008-11-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, Everyone!
I faced quite the dilemma when my bat-armor rental went down the tubes and the only Punisher shirts at Hot Topic were S and XXL. I was set on being a superhero, If you're me nothing else is even an option. So I got to thinking, "What superhero has the most "non-costume" costume???" I was in trouble, I could think of no one or at least anyone that didn't have some crazy prop or makeup job. Finally, while trolling around the Army surplus store I saw goggles and it all clicked---Jack Knight (Modern Age Starman)! Not only do I think this series is one of the finest pure superhero books of all time, but I think it's an important work with respect to Generation X and the early 90s. Jack was a twenty something guy whose dad (Ted Knight) was the original Starman and whose brother David had taken up that mantle. Jack had no ambition to be a superhero or to really do anything post-college and felt a little bit like the black sheep of his family because of it. But when David was killed and Opal City needed a guardian Jack rose to the occasion and was forced into the family business that just happened to be the superhero business... The rest is history. As far as the 90s go, the only creation that even comes close to him is Hellboy and I'm glad to see Robinson and Harris' run finally being collected in hardcover. They deserve this for the merit of their work and for creating a character that bailed me out of Halloween. Peace!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Knight

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Spider-Woman Redesign...

2008-10-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

With Jessica Drew being exposed as Queen Veranke of the Skrull empire in "Secret Invasion", and Bendis saying a Spider-Woman solo series by him and Alex Maleev is still in the works I thought new threads for my favorite female of the Marvel Universe were in order. I tried to keep it pretty close to her timeless red & gold and never even considered getting rid of her underarm webbing (that's the best part!), but I had to do something about that lack of a spider on her chest. In the end, I think it looks pretty good and can only hope Alex Maleev sticks with the original or one-ups me when the time comes...

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And speaking of good timing, Paul Pope's long-awaited clothing line from DKNY was released a couple weeks back and I couldn't help myself... Isn't that the coolest hoodie you've ever seen in your life (comics fan or not)??? I even got some bus props for it, comic bus props dripping with disbelief and awe! So, I was riding the 49 back from Capitol Hill last Friday night and as I made my way to the front to grab my bike this guy looked up and said, "I-I-Is that Paul Pope? Where'd you get that?" I told him to type 2089, DKNY, and Pope into a search engine and he'd find it...

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Now, this guy and his girlfriend must have known their stuff or must have considerably good taste because 5 minutes earlier I was reading the 2nd volume of Warren Ellis ("Transmetropolitan" & "Iron Man : Extremis") & Stuart Immonen's ("Ultimate Spider-Man") "Nextwave" and they commented, "That book is soooo good". That is a gross understatement. I loved the initial 6 issues when I read them in singles a couple years back (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=659384&blogID=110799604), but I held off and waited to find the 2nd volume used. And boy, did I get spoiled! Initially, I thought these Marvel Premier Edition Hardcovers were a really bad idea. I mean, Marvel is still working their way out of bankruptcy and their bookstore unit sales have been growing steadily, but releasing everything as a hardcover upon completion of serialization then releasing the paperback 2 months later...are these guys crazy??? This is comics, not "real books", there's no place for publishing logic in this arena! But apparently there is and I was wrong. I have to be onto something though, considering the fact that they bypassed the hardcover format for "Civil War" and plan to do the same with "Secret Invasion" (albeit, with deluxe hardcovers on the way later). Getting back to "Nextwave" though, the semi-political humor that made the first volume a riot is gone. But have no fear, the laughs have merely migrated to a different avenue, namely the mining of the Marvel Universe for the absurd. Ellis said during the initial run that "Nextwave" was "a distillation of the team superhero comic" and this is true, but it almost sells the book short as it veers off into pretty experimental territory that I'd ruin if I told you about. Immonen's work has never looked better and that is not only due to his sleek character designs and power-packed breakdowns. Maximum credit is due to Wade Von Grawbadger ("Starman") for his superbly slick inks and Dave McCaig who proves he is among the elite of comics colorists...

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Sneaker Memory!

2008-10-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

These are all drawn from memory in my pocket sketchbook on the bus back in July... The Air Jordan XIII is the most impressive, but it's arguably the most iconic of the 2nd Title Run models...

Air Jordan XIII

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Air Max Uptempo 1995

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Air Jumpman Pro

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In Memory Of Heath Ledger (As The Joker)...

2008-10-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I was feeling inspired after my 3rd and final theatrical viewing of "The Dark Knight" at the Pacific Science Center IMAX which I must mention is quite the letdown compared to the IMAX at The Minnesota Zoo with a concave screen and steep seating. Anyway, I'm of the opinion that Aaron Eckhart was just as good if not better than Ledger in his supporting nod as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, but I must concede that Chris Nolan & Heath Ledger's vision of The Joker is the finest interpretation of the character in any media. The only incarnation that even comes close is Bruce Timm & Mark Hammill (Luke Skywalker from "Star Wars")'s Joker from the 90s animated series. I went into this movie expecting something along the lines of either Moore & Bolland's "The Killing Joke" or Morrison & McKean's "Arkham Asylum" as these were really the only works that I thought could be brought into the hyper-realistic Nolan cannon of the Bat Universe. I was enthralled not only by The Joker's mysterious absolute status and basic role as a domestic terrorist, but the way he explained and articulated his motives without seeming like the typical "I'm going to talk a bunch while you figure out how to beat me" evil genius. To conclude, let me say that "The Dark Knight" is truly in a league by itself and short of a good "Daredevil" reboot (hey, it's been long enough and a fanboy can dream...) I see nothing approaching its level of excellence although I'm sure "Watchmen" will be at least okay... See it if you haven't already and enjoy my vision of Heath Ledger as The Joker...

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And only since we're on the subject of Batman related art, here is a quick scan of my Carrie Kelly Robin (From "The Dark Knight Returns")

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My Best Nick Fury Impression & More

2008-09-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

Well, that was a heck of a way to end my 28th year on the planet. I got a tree branch in the eye while riding my bike earlier this week and suffered a severe corneal abrasion. But have no fear, my vision has returned and I am vigorously removing any possibility of infection. So yeah, I had to wear an eye-patch when I was out in public most of the week as to avoid any sun damage or dust contamination and I really grew into it once I thought of Nick Fury (Mostly the regular 616 incarnation of the character, but to a degree the Samuel L. Jackson likeness Ultimate version). At first all I could think of was pirates and that really bothered me. I haven't watched those movies. I don't think the jokes are funny. I think the only thing I approve of that has pirate involvement is the "SpongeBob Squarepants" theme song... So the thought of Fury helped me sport this accessory with confidence and frankly, I DO see the resemblance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Fury

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This a Tengu Warrior Priest I designed in the last couple weeks. I was thinking of possibly using this for a 4-8 page story and that remains a distinct possibility...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengu

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And this one turned out alright. The reference was an Adam Hughes Supergirl. Draw the cape as a scarf and give her a trendy bag... Boom! Fashion Illustration...

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"Green Lantern" "The Question" & "Cole Cash"

2008-08-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

"In the brightest day, in the blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight! Let those who worship evil's might beware my power---Green Lantern's Light!!!"

That above is a true piece of the Green Lantern lore... I heard it before somewhere a long time ago, but it's recited again in a great little story from the first "Bizarro Comics Anthology". I personally feel the second volume is superior, but the first has its moments including a fantastic Alan Scott (Golden Age Green Lantern) story by Craig Thompson. Below is a newly zipped Hal Jordan Green Lantern, its previous color version, and the framed original (as well as Matt Groening's brilliant cover for "Bizarro Comics")...

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Now here is a character I really wanted to do justice. The Question, who Steve Ditko created after leaving Marvel for Charlton isn't is well known as Spidey, but I think he is equally as important to superhero comics history (and the basis for Rorschach, who everyone will know once March next year rolls around and "Watchmen" hits the cinema). Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_(comics) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_(comics) for more info... I was extremely disappointed with how the original of this turned out, but was able to save it with zip. Below is the zipped original and grayscale version of the un-zipped original.

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I didn't feel this kind of pressure with Cole Cash (Wildcats' Grifter). That bandana was to be his mask but I thought the eye-holes alone left too much negative space. Here is the zipped original, grayscale version, and color version of this almost anti-hero...

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"Gorillaz As Heroes" "Iron Man" & So Much More!

2008-08-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

Below is the original drawing of "Gorillaz As Heroes", the zipped proof, and a Photoshop color version of that. For those keeping track or confused Noodle is dressed as Spider-Woman, 2D is Daredevil, Murdock is Shade : The Changing Man, and Russel is The Maxx...

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This here's another Blue Scribble that turned out alright. But for the record, Cap, at least the Steve Rogers version has not returned to the Marvel Universe yet. The possibility is there though, judging by that last panel of "Secret Invasion" #4.

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Not too much to the image below. I just took a mediocre Myspace picture of myself from a couple summers ago and did a number on it in Photoshop. I call it "Knight Vision" as I original thought to put a Nolan era bat emblem in the lower left hand corner but thought that'd be too much...

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And switching gears from one millionaire superhero to another, here is a color and zipped-out version of Tony Stark in an amalgam armor combining the best of the pointy-headed sleek armor, the classic 80s flex armor, and the extremis suit he currently wears in regular Marvel continuity...

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How It Is For Awhile...

2008-07-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Whew! Sorry It's been awhile since I last checked, but it's been a pivotal month in my life. I moved and have been without the internet. As a result I've had to save things up in preparation for a mega-post of the likes you'll see below. I'm try not going to get too behind the scenes with these as I did draw them some time ago but I make no promises, enjoy...

To begin, here's my impression of that famous cover of "Amazing Fantasy" #15 that brought us the American icon known as Spider-Man. Here's a bit of trivia regarding that cover. Although the interior artwork of "AF15"and all cover and interior artwork for "Amazing Spider-Man" up until #39 was drawn by Steve Ditko the cover for "AF15" was actually drawn by fellow Marvel luminary Jack "King" Kirby. Kirby was originally the artist assigned to creating Spider-Man by Marvel Editor and Chief (the only capacity I'll actually give him credit for) Stan Lee, but apparently had created him to be "too heroic" in Lee's eyes (Apparently, there was no Peter Parker secret ID, a web gun instead of web-shooters, and a solid grey costume). Eventually, Ditko was assigned to the project, came up with a hero who was first and foremost a human being, and the rest is history. Here's my humble homage to this historic image...

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Kirby's Original

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Speaking of classic characters, here's a scan of the original shading of Cap contained in my "WWII Heroes (Cap & HB)" drawing . And since we're on the subject, let me mention that I just recently caught up with Brubaker's run on Cap and it's a real jewel that continues to impress 3 years in. This may be the best long term run in mainstream comics since Bendis & Maleev left "Daredevil" and a must read for anyone who enjoys riveting international espionage with incredible artwork and a dedication to an important character being portrayed in a mature and intelligent manner.

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And here's the shaded Hellboy from the drawing I was referring to above. Speaking of HB though, I saw the sequel and although it did outshine it's predecessor it also took with it all of the problems the original had. Okay, there's really only one big problem. It bothered me that they made Abe Sapien psychic, but I can get over that. The whole Liz Sherman/HB love story should have been left behind though. It's not in the comics AT ALL and surely has no place in the films as far as I'm concerned. Seriously, what does Del Toro think moviegoers are getting out of that and why didn't Mignola step up with a little descent? Oh well, it's still a superhero movie worth seeing after "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man"...

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And lastly, here's the color version of the drawing featuring both heroes...

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"Kabuki"

2008-06-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I suppose I could've hunted down the singles of David Mack's latest "Kabuki" arc, but this creation is truly something that can't slum it up in bags, boards, and long boxes. "Kabuki" is almost a new medium of storytelling within the framework of comics. Each page is a true masterwork and can stand on its own if need be. The writing is complex and layered, the art is incredible and moving, and their marriage is truly something to behold for both comics fans and anyone who thinks they know the limits of this medium. That's why I was so happy that Marvel/Icon is giving the newest volume of this work hardcover treatment. Too bad we have to wait another couple months for this to drop (September 10th).

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And here are a few different versions of my rendition of "Kabuki" with an obvious Bruce Timm influence...

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Blockbuster Events & (An Idea Of) How To Save DC Comics...

2008-06-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know this is the second post today, but I've been chained to the desk doing page layouts and checking CBR (comicbookresources.com) for any new developments in what is looking like a pivotal week at the offices of DC Comics.

With DC mainstay Chuck Dixon being fired as well as John Nee stepping down as Senior Vice President of Business Development could a major shakeup in editorial and management be far off? I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think these events and all of the rumors that have stemmed from them have very little to do with Marvel Studios' recent successes at the box office. With "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" packing the multiplexes and seamlessly setting up a greater franchise of films, some people seem to think that DC's problems have to do more with their inability to make movies with their more identifiable icons. Yes, it is woefully embarrassing that they can't seem to get The Flash, Green Lantern, or Wonder Woman even into the approved script stage of film making despite being owned by multinational corporate conglomerate AOL / Time Warner, but I don't think that has anything to do with their failures on the publishing front.

And for absolute clarity, when I speak about DC after this sentence let me iterate that I am speaking strictly about DC Central, the other big superhero house of the US. I'm not talking about Vertigo, which I regard as one of the finest publishers in all of American and International comics. Also I'm not referring to Wildstorm, who I do have a few problems with but still regard as the only Image founder studio that has became a quality publisher.

Now, before you read any further, you may want to read the this link to actually understand what I'm talking about... http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=12233

Here's the problem with DC. Their universe has become increasingly impenetrable to even those comic readers with a somewhat above average knowledge base of DC lore (like me). Let me explain, Marvel is very good with their monthly serialization program and trade paperback program at guiding and distinguishing which books are essential, which books are enriching, and which books are seminal (And even within this category, they are very clear about which books take place in the same Earth 616 we all know and which ones are completely separate and are only important to themselves like anything from MAX, Marvel Knights, or Icon). So anyway, Marvel is very organized and has their head in the long haul bookstore game more than the monthly direct market (although, they play that game extremely well too). DC, on the other hand has no regard for anyone who doesn't already know what's going on in the world their heroes inhabit. They come at their readers with a real "let's see if you can keep up..." attitude. They do a weekly comic ("52", "Countdown", and now "Trinity") that always has a ton of specials and one-shots attached to it, most of their core books are interdependent in some way (except for the Superman & Batman books for the most part), and all of their "Crisis" event books (I think they're on their 3rd and supposedly final one) ship late. Because of this lag and interdependence, their readers have no breathing room to see how these apparently huge stories even change their characters before it's time for the next ride. Oh, and don't get me started on their trade program or how they apply this exact same publishing model at an even more micro-managerial level with the Superman and Batman family of books. Yes, you heard me right. They do this same exact thing (although they spare you the weekly comic, sorta) with all of the Superman and Batman books...

And to be fair about lateness, Marvel has had this problem, although "Secret Invasion" will probably be the first event book by either publisher to ever ship every issue on time. Thank you, Leinel Yu! The difference with lateness is that at Marvel, when the big ship stalls all of the little ones stall too. Yes, this probably isn't the best business strategy but I know for a fact that fans appreciate this and at least get to enjoy their "Initiative" down time because of it...

Okay, since I've probably lost anyone who doesn't have a freakish finger on the pulse of the industry at this point let me get to my solution. They're a mess, they need help, but I don't think it's anything a new editor in chief can't fix. My oversimplified solution is bringing Axel Alonso on board as editor and chief and simply letting him sign anyone who isn't a Marvel exclusive writer to DC. He left DC (Vertigo) for Marvel in the early 00s and I'm sure he'd relish the chance to save an entire comic book universe after being locked in the X-Men dungeon since Dan Buckley took over as Marvel's President and axed anything indie-fied that was getting pushed through Marvel Central under Bill Jemas. After that, get a meeting together with all of the major DC architects. No one is getting fired, but Judd Winick should be no publisher's 3rd option. If you ask me, only Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns need be present, but I've always thought Peter Milligan deserved a higher profile and I'm sure he'd be afforded this under Axel. So anyway, get all of them together with anyone they manage to poach out of Marvel and decide which books are going to be in their own little corner of the DCU and which are going to instrumental in taking DC back to a more reader-friendly but intriguing future. From there, editorial starts calling artists who aren't exclusive to Marvel (and indy artists who have proven their chops in the monthly comics game) and putting together creative teams. All of this, and don't do any "events" for at least a couple years. That's my oversimplified solution to DC's current troubles.

In Anticipation Of "The Dark Knight"...

2008-06-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

There's still almost a month of waiting, but most sophisticated bat-fans are chomping at the bit for Chris Nolan's much hyped sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins" and I am no exception. To celebrate this waiting game I've decided to display all of my bat-related images, bad and good...

Back when I was drawing myself like so, here's me as Batman...

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The Dark Knight (although not as grizzled as his Frank Miller incarnation) with my favorite Robin, Carrie Kelly...

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And the Black & White version...

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An Abstraction of the bat clearly borrowing a bit from Dustin Nguyen...

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And redesign of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl outfit (based in part on Michael Allred's Catwoman redesign)...

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I'm A Finisher!

2008-06-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

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Yeah, sometimes I'll start a drawing and get stuck. This inevitably leads to me finding said drawing months later in the heat of wanting to justify my existence. this usually ends with some abstract gusto like you see above...

Vegas Bar Drawings!

2008-06-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

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I went to a bachelor party in Vegas a few weeks back and let me tell you that place is Sleazeville USA. Not a recommended fun spot by the J-nel Travel Guide. I had fun hanging with my old Minneapolis crew, but doing this in Minneapolis would have increased the fun-factor significantly. Call me nostalgic... Well anyway, I got into town way earlier than my midwestern buddies and had some time to sketch a few things.

Jessica Drew & The AJ Classic 87s

2008-06-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

So, now that third installment of "Secret Invasion" has hit the shops should I feel weird about being so proud of this drawing? I'm not sure, but I'm definitely relieved that there was an actual reason behind Bendis & Maleev denying us the "Spider-Woman" book we all were craving after their "Daredevil" run concluded...

Computer Coloring

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The Framed Original

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And The Finest Footwear Known To Man...

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Shade : The Changing Man

2008-06-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago I came to the realization that DC was never going to collect Peter Milligan's run on "Shade : The Changing Man". This prompted me to search out each and every single issue of the aforementioned title via quarter bins, used book stores, and ebay. This book is really a forgotten treasure and the best of the founding Vertigo books in my opinion. Seriously, if “Shade” were as readily available in trade format for as long as “Sandman” has been we WOULD be seeing it get the "Absolute" treatment it so rightly deserves. As far as the title losing steam after Kathy’s death and Chris leaving (to create "Generation X" at Marvel), I don’t agree with most fans. Milligan just wanted to “change” Shade yet again, but lost his way a bit. He got it back together and really finished in style. Richard Case, Sean Phillips, and Mark Buckingham (whose work honestly looks pretty close to Bachalo when it’s inked by Mark Pennington) were fantastic in picking up the art chores and along with a refocused Milligan they delivered one of the most satisfying endings of any long term run I’ve ever read. This one's a gem and beloved by those who have read it.

Here's the work that followed my reading of this jewel in color true to the early 90s, sepia-tone, and all zipped out (the matted original awaiting a frame)...

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Obama Triumphant!

2008-06-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

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With Hillary Clinton suspending her campaign today, Barack Obama has now become the Democratic Party's Official Presidential Candidate! See if your views match up with Barack's vision for America at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_barack_obama and to be fair, check out the distinguished competition and his postions at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_john_mccain. So yeah, let's forget all of the hurt feelings, bring this party together, and get this country back on the right track before it's too late!

No Zip For Jack...

2008-06-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

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A few years back I was absolutely captivated by Joe Casey & Dustin Nguyen's run on "Wildcats 3.0". And even after retroactively reading Casey's earlier run with Sean Phillips (Volume 2 once Lobdell left) I still must say that "3.0" stands as the crown jewel of the Wildstorm library (well, unless "The Maxx" counts, and I say it doesn't). So here's a cleaned up Jack Marlowe with unfortunately no zip-a-tone and a sample of what I was doing about 3-4 years back...

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Dreambird

2008-05-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

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I woke up on a Saturday morning a few months back and with a sleep-wrapped head still somehow had the presence of mind to take a free idea when the universe threw it my way. Lumbering to my desk with no coffee I was able to sketch out the creature you see before you. I remember being in the woods, the ground looking moist yet dusted with a small amount of snow, and looking down to my left side. There it was. Then I awoke...

A Punishing Drawing (By Travis Charest)

2008-05-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

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Here's my drawing of Frank Castle circa Summer 2007 and my first foray into Garth Ennis's "Punisher MAX" run. I'd recommend the premier volume and any of the arcs illustrated by Leandro Fernandez who has really come into his own since "Queen & Country" (his inks have especially excelled).

Anyway, I used a Travis Charest drawing of Grifter (Cole Cash) from "Wildcats : Volume 2" as a reference for The Punisher. I just wanted the basic body layout. I thought I'd beef up the character, lengthen the hair, and exaggerate the size of the guns. This would easily make the composition my own. And I think I did succeed in that...

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But imagine how surprised I was when I saw this commission by Travis Charest. I guess we both have the same idea of how this character should look...

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Skrulls!!!

2008-05-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

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With "Secret Invasion" burning up the monthly sales charts I think it's fair to say those shape-shifting troublemakers The Skrulls have now graduated to the supervillain A list, at least in the Marvel U. Now I didn't see this coming in the slightest up until "New Avengers" #31 put it in everyone's faces. See, Bendis has this tendency to ground his superhero stories in reality and not get too cosmic. That's why I'm surprised he's handled the first 2 issues so gracefully. Gone is all of the cheap death and overly explanatory dialog of "House of M" (which was his and Marvel's first attempt at a huge summer blockbuster in comics form with no pressure to sell anything but the singles and the trades as opposed to backing a toyline). "Secret Invasion" has plenty of threads as did "M", but there are no lulls this time around. Nothing is disjointed and you're foaming at the mouth for those globe-spanning (okay, universe-spanning) scene transitions to see what else there is to know. Bendis has taken everything there was to learn from the pitfalls and successes of "M" and "Civil War" and has created a story that so far looks like it could truly change the entire landscape of the Marvel U that us 21st century readers have come to know. All this could be true, but there's also part of me that thinks maybe I'm nothing more than a victim of this direct market "go-for-broke-with-the-fans-we have" mentality that's been ruling the big 2's superhero houses a for the last few years... Well, I guess it's better than foil covers no matter what the truth is... Anyway, here's a Black & White and Color version of a Skull explosion and the bar coaster sketch that inspired it...

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Oh, and here's series artist Leinil Yu one-upping me without even knowing it on the final page of issue #2!

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My First Post (Archery Superheroes)

2008-05-18T01:20:00.000-07:00

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Who is the supreme archery superhero???
There are a lot of variables to weigh when one thinks this over... Green Arrow has longevity and prominence in the DC universe, 3-5 notable runs (Denny O'Neil & Neal Adams, Mike Grell, Kevin Smith, Brad Metzler, and Judd Winick), and a slick modern origin tale by Diggle and Jock. But then there's Hawkeye, with resilience, albeit after a cheap Bendis death in "House Of M" and a heap of current intrigue ("Secret Invasion" is worth its $3.99 cover price) As well as those assets he was also basically Cap's sidekick until Bucky was finally resurrected in a tasteful manner... Hmmmm... Who knows which archer reigns supreme, especially when Hawkeye is hampered by factors like Ultimate Hawkeye (only the Millar & Hitch incarnation) being his superior in every way and Allan Heinberg insisting on subjecting comic fans to his "Young Avengers" (Yeah, I don't read it either, but it 's not going away)... So anyway, I drew this with some superhero archers in mind. Oh, "American Water" by The Silver Jews is easily the best full album I've heard since Les Savy Fav's "Let's Stay Friends". Stephen Malkmus is on it if that makes a difference...