Sunday, April 26, 2009

FCLo3W's #4 comes out this week-


FCLo3W's #4 comes out this week!
Long Live the Legion.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Eight Immortals all together now-

Loading up 24 pages of stuff into one post seems like it might not work, so here are links, in order, for the presentation of the Legends of the Eight Immortal's comic I posted here over the last month. I'm working on a better presentation, but until then, you can find everything here in order.



Page 1
Pages 2 and 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18, 19, 20 and 21 -you'll see when you get there.
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Taco Bell!


Run to the border, everyone, 'cuz if you buy a kids meal at Taco Bell, you can get the Captain America comic that I drew! And some food, of course. Printed with special food-safe ink!

I loved drawing that one, Captain America is one of my all-time absolute favorites, and a character that is near and dear to my heart - here, I'll post 2 nice pages from it-





Enjoy your fajitas!

Just as an aside, the Granddaddy-o Dan DiDio has indicated that FC:Legion of Three Worlds #4 will be coming out on April 29th, or thereabouts! So, about 13 days or so-

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

More Legion of Three worlds stuff!

Geoff's site has more stuff from Legion of Three Worlds #4- I love seeing things before they get printed on the page. Not sure when issue 4 gets put on the stands, but it should be soon-

Monday, April 13, 2009

Spidey!


Marvel Adventures Spider-Man!

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Whew-

Well, uploading the Eight Immortal story felt like quite a bit to get done on top of all the other stuff I've been up to, so I'm glad it's over. It reminded me of what I liked about the project to begin with, and it was for the most part a positive experience for me. If I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have gotten the Weapon, which I really enjoyed, and if I hadn't done the Weapon, I wouldn't have gotten to do the Marvel Adventures stuff I've gotten to do over the last year, which I also really enjoy, so I think I can chalk it up in the win column.

I'd really like to get back to the Immortals someday, but at this point I have no less than 5 projects that have never gotten the love, attention and time I need to devote to them, and I've got no money to feed the time it would take to tackle any of them.

I've got too many ideas, and most days it's almost a torture to think of all of them. The Might, The Enabler, SK8, Eight Immortals, the Stranger and The Black Corsair are all sitting in a pile next to my desk, silently weeping. I'm surprised the Weapon got completed, frankly, since I was inking two books a month while I was pencilling and inking it at the same time. I just wish I had 24 more hours in every day.

At this point I've got my hands full - I spent 3 hours in Beverly Hills today doing layouts while Katie got her monthly torture session from the dentist, with a promised root canal next week that will equal our mortgage payment for the month. It will take me two weeks to earn enough to pay off what the dentist will earn in less than 2 hours. It's a frustrating experience listening to the "debate" on health care. Let me tell you, most people don't realize what getting sick in American Society will do to you financially, and nearly everyone thinks that if you get sick, you somehow deserved it. Katie's been going through absolute torture for over 20 years, and she's been though some truly horrific dental procedures. I can't believe she can still walk into a dentists' office without collapsing on the floor a sobbing mess.

Anyway, I took a break from the layouts to meander around Beverly Hills. I like the town enough, there's a nice coffee shop I've found where I can sit and wrestle with a script, but I don't really understand the appeal. The houses on Rodeo are maybe four times the size of my house on a little less than twice the land I've got, but they haven't got any real yards or anything. The walls are certainly higher, and the trees are certainly bigger, maybe that's part of it. I'm probably missing something, but I'm content with never knowing.

I got to see the color proofs for Wolverine: First Class #15 and the colors looks great! Very pleased with how it's turning out.

Google Analytics has been very revealing for me; it seems updating the blog with new content does nothing for the traffic. Mostly just a small group of old friends visit here, always less than 10 per day which is fine with me. Consider yourself one of the chosen few.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

The Eight Immortals! Page Twenty-Four!



Click on the above image for a larger view.

Aaand we end on a cliff-hanger. That's the way of the Eight Immortals, always leave you hanging. I hope you enjoyed this presentation of the Legends of the Eight Immortals.

I have a script for the next story, one starring Hirohito, the Hermit and his apprentice. Maybe I'll pace that one out and draw it during the summer. After Legion of Three Worlds is completed George is taking a break from the continuity grind for a month and drawing all sorts of commissions, so maybe I'll be able to squeeze a few pages in while I'm doing whatever is next at Marvel. Who knows? It feels like I could draw these guys for an eternity, perhaps I will be granted the chance by eating the Peach of Immortality and dipping my ink into the Well of Forever.

Matt has the last word on these guys-
"Writing is a drug. Anyone who says different is a bad writer. The world disappears and the hours slip away as fantasy becomes reality. Immortals was a neuron bender of Woodstock proportions. I remember loving every minute of it, but sobriety gives the happy memory a bittersweet sting. Is it really better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? I used to think so, but these days I’m not so sure. . ."

Let's talk about Isabella Rossellini!

I think she's one of the most fascinating directors of our time, and I've thought so now for a few years - her "My Father is 100 Years Old" was absolutely great, and her little "Green Porno" series is craaazy. Her work now is funny, bizarre, informative and surprisingly touching. I watch so many children's programs now, and her work sort of intersects with what I've been immersed in. I have no idea what prompted her awakening, but I really like the cut of her jib.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Legion of Three Worlds-


Geoff threw this image out, so I'll drop it here too- I'm very excited about the last two issues of FC:Lo3W, the fourth issue should come out soon! Honest!

The Eight Immortals! Page Twenty-Three!


Page 23. Click on the above image to obtain a larger view.

The secret origin of the terracotta warriors stands revealed to you now.
The 4 attending Immortals raise the attention of the Big Villain, with the Holy Fool drawing ire first.

I've gotten Google Analytics all set up, so a hearty hello to Mary Ann in Texas and Shawn in Mass. Good to have you guys on board with Isaac, et al.

I am designing aliens and villains and heroes and doing layouts today, but I'm feeling a little bit burned out from last week's work madness. After chugging along at top speed again for a few months, I think I need a break for at least the night or something. If you work in comics you spend all your waking hours wrestling with the medium, and I've worked the past 100 days straight since having a day off around the new year.

I'll be back up on the horse again tomorrow, and I'll be riding so effortlessly.

For those of you interested in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4, it shouldn't be too long now to wait.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

The Eight Immortals! Page Twenty-Two!



Page 22! Click on the above image in order to get a better view-

The main Villain confronts Emperor Chin. When I used reference for Emperor Chin, I kind of steered away from thinner representations of him, just as the previous engravings of Lincoln were a little uglier than the current 5 dollar version. The current $5 makes him look like a super-hero, plays down his moles/growths, his uneven features, his lazy eye and his general disheveled appearance, and it made me a little angry, so I was careful to use a little less flattering version of Chin.

If I remember right, matt had it that Chin had made a deal with this Villian/demon to unite China under one rule and the guy comes to extract payment.
Chin responds with a command to his army,
Villian/demon laughs, confronts and then dispatches Chin's army - Old School.

Matt's Comments-
"Here’s the dialogue for this page: 'I’m Mister Heat Miser! I’m Mister Hundred and One!'”

Hey, just 'cause his head's on fire doesn't mean he's Heat Miser. The ref I took was thousands of years old, well established, and created well before Rankin and Bass hit the world up with their greatness.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

The Eight Immortals! Pages Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty and TwentyOne!!

Ok, this one was a little difficult. I couldn't find the originals or the original layouts for pages 18, 19 and 20, I don't have the time right now to draw out the missing 3 pages, so this will have to do for right now- I did a set of new layouts. Here is the layout for pages 18 and 19-



Above- pages 18 and 19, it is a double page spread of the celebration of the unification of China under Emperor Chin, 4 of our Immortals are present (so far)- Horse, The Holy Fool, Peach and Yin'Yang. Horse is cajoling Yin Yang into the party, Yin Yang is reluctant, he is balancing his urges as a teetotaler and a party animal. Peach is awestruck, a small girl in a huge crowd, the Holy Fool is into the spectacle of it all, as he is the patron saint of performers. Onto page 20-



Above-page 20
Emperor Chin orders the fireworks to begin!
The fireworks light off!
They explode!
Peach sees something in the sky, amidst the fireworks
She points!
We see what she sees! Silhouetted figures amidst bursting fireworks!

And we can get back to the art here- this is page 21- Evildoers! Matt has the original names of all these guys and gals, I've completely forgotten their names.



Page 21 above, you can click on the image to get a bigger view!
The main villain is based on a Chinese sculpture from thousands of years ago, I leave it to you to decide how silly he looks. Personally, I liked the way he turned out, he's definitely not like very many other villains out there...

No comments from Matt today, except to say that I don't think he'd ever seen page 21.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

The Eight Immortals! Page Seventeen!



Page 17!
If you click on the above image you will be able to see a larger view.

ah, Kila - children in peril, the oldest trick in the book. It's almost like you're an elected representative.

Just before we leave the General, the image on his chest is of a Chimera, which I always used to pronounce Chi-mera, like Chi latte, not Ki-mera. I believe now that it has a hard K- sound.

Matt sez-
"Here, yentl reader, is the actual text that was to have run on this page-
Panel One
CAPTION: . . .attack.

Panel Two
CAPTION: 8) Casualties are inevitable. Sentiment is futile. Cast a cold eye to the deaths of the elderly, women, and …

Panel Three
CAPTION: …children.

KILA KHAN: ENOUGH!

KILA KHAN: Well done! Truly your reputation is well deserved! In a fair fight, I admit, you win, but here Kila Khan makes the rules! My rule is—you move and they die! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!What will you do, oh great and wise general—WHAT WILL YOU DO?!"