once again.

Hello,

I’ve been neglecting posting here as of late but with good reason, I’ve been focusing my attention on a new podcast –-A HUNDRED YEARS, that I’ve been doing every week with my pal Farel Dalrymple of Popgun war, Proxima Centarti and Prophet fame.  It’s up on Itunes and hereeeee

Aside from that I’ve also just started a Patreon, which is a more sketcbook focused and much more updated version of what I would do on here. I avoided monetising this sort of thing for years but I think the reality is that it’s the best way to ensure that I have time to do the stuff.  (it’s up here) 

Also there’s an dirty drawing sex-tion on there.

I was trying to figure out how to go about this in a reasonable way, my main work is still making comics through Image comics– so I didn’t want to ask anyone to pay for anything twice– I’ve been thinking of the Patreon as showing the roots of something, the process stuff –layouts, videos of me drawing and talking about the stuff that’s influencing my work– and then saving the whole finished thing for print.  I hope people feel good about that.

My main thing right now is RAIN LIKE HAMMERS, that I’m 80 something pages into– It’ll get an official release date when I’ve got 120 pages done.

Here’s the (not quite finished) opening spread to issue 3

I’ve also been working a lot with Woodrocket this past year (check out John Wank if you haven’t seen it)  and we’ve been talking about re-printing some of my old work in color. Here’s how the pages are looking so far:

In the past I’d always been adamant about leaving my own work where it was– so Pillow fight in color is an experiment– I’ve been trying to leave the drawings alone and just focus on color, I fixed some minor stuff where the anatomy was too rough to ignore. I think I’ll be adding a new new short to the final thing when it’s all colored.

I’m still figuring out what gets posted on here and my instagram (I still sometimes use Tumbr — but it’s mostly a graveyard)

Anyway thanks for reading– here’s a link to one of my favourite Heinlien books I’m listening to again for a podcast episode 

and a Zoid– LOOK AT THAT SWEET ZOID!

Looking up at down.

I’m on farmer hours again, waking up too early.

I’m just finishing up the 1st issue of my next series (Rain like Hammers) I should have a release date by the next time I type on here & hopefully a cover!

Here’s a title page from it.

I often fudge the perspective in my drawings– but this being such an obvious 3 point perspective– it looked really off in my initial pencils.

I scanned it and added red lines in photoshop to figure out the right way to draw the thing.

and then  drew a grid based off of that

then light tabled and inked the final thing over that.

A couple of months back me and my pal Farel and my GF Alejandra came up with a list of daily drawings to do in October. (because a lot of artists were doing the Inktober– ink drawings everyday)

Here’s each of our versions of Spider-man in a fur coat (number 11)

Alejandra’s (from her instagram here) 

Farel’s (from here) 

and mine (this is my instagram) 

I really enjoyed drawing Barbarella

It felt really nice to have a set thing to do everyday, and it helped me out a ton that I was able to sell the drawings. I’ve been trying to keep some of that same motivation in my comics work, but without the easy dopamine hit of social media likes. The internet is a powerful drug mannnnnn.

Here’s a couple of recent covers I did. One for Rumble, I did in trade for a box of Toth comics– (like I need more comics)

and the pencils for that–

and some sketches I did looking through Rumble issues trying to think of what to draw.

I also did a cover this week for Osiris Path. — a series Behemoth Comics is putting out about finding weird shit on the moon. the yellow reflection was last minute choice, but maybe what I’m most happy with.

and the sketch for that.

and here’s some recent sketchbook drawings.  I drew Alejandra a few nights ago. ( I always leave out her nose ring- not because I don’t like it but because it’s small)

and this thing where I was trying out some new style.

This one’s from 1960’s The apartment.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s about a guy whose apartment is being used by the higher ups in his office as a spot to go for their illicit affairs. It a fun movie but also has some dark moments. Like when the main lady tries to kill herself and our hero who owns the apartment can relate too much because of his own past. –

I was thinking the idea of working in a giant company and letting your fellow employees use your place to off themselves sounds like a manga plot– the copy of the key that’s passed around could have a skull on it.

——————————–

I wanted to talk about my pal Veronica Casson’s work. Her and her family have been some of my favorite people I’ve met since moving to Portland.

She’s been working on an autobiographical comic, GRIND LIKE A GIRL, about her experiences being trans and growing up in NJ. Via her Instragram (here) and her Patreon (here) 

Here’s some pages:

That last rearview mirror panel is sooo cool.

As much as trans rights and identity have been a big topic of conversation in recent years, I’m surprised that I can’t think of any autobio breakout work in comics talked about–on a Stuck rubber baby or Blankets, level– but some of that might just be my own blindspots?  but I’m excited to see what Veronica does with this book.

——————————————————–

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A couple months back I was playing a game with Alejandra where I wrote what I think the 2002 Britney Spears film CROSSROADS was about– without ever seeing it

It turned into a werewolf thing. It’s up on the soon to be porn free wasteland that is tumblr (here)

Alex Smith drew a whole comic page about it: (Alex’s tumblr)

DO DO DOOOO!!!

I also just watched 2001 and read the Kirby comic adaption.

seeing both versions of it made me think about two distinct ways to approach sci fi– (1) the Kubrik/Clarke way of looking at real science and trying to make something that feels like where we might go– or (2) The Kirby,  throwing together cool and weird ideas with more emphasis on fun– but he did sometimes hit things like the Motherbox/cell phones.

I guess Kirby was Kirby but I find it funny that both 2001 and The Prisoner were things he did as comics. both projects thrive on leaving things unexplained and up to the viewer.

It’s interesting to see what changed Kirby did in the 2001 comic. I feel like the text in it over explains everything. Me and Farel were talking recently about how much of that is trying to make universally clear work , maybe it was that it was made for a younger audience, or maybe even just a good tool to slow the reader down and take in each panel with more time.

Another interesting thing is how sometimes the Kirby version often feels more low rent than the movie. Here’s the space Hilton in the movie:

and Kirby’s version, where he draws the room as much more cramped – maybe that’s just the speed that he had to produce pages at.

He’ll also sometimes just use photos for panels, I like that trick.

---

I love when he does his Kirby 2 page spreads — but still with the ever present text

I also found this photo from the 60’s that I assume Manara used for reference on a Butterscotch panel.

I like that she’s even on her toes in the 2nd panel to match the high heels of the reference.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to and looking at.

Above water

Hello, Hello,

My ROYALBOILER art book is sent off to the nice folks at Image comics, with just the spine to finish up tonight.

Here’s the Outro-comic I made for the end of the book:

Also I made a couple diary comics. The first one’s an older one from when I was last in Vegas.

I drew that last one in a hotel room in Vancouver — that me and Alejandra went up to for a small convention. my old Homies and former YOSH roomates Marley Zarcone and the elusive recluse James Stokoe were the main guests– sooo good to see those guys again (and the rest of the Vancouver crew) and see the new stuff they’re working on in meatspace.

I bullied poor James into drawing something in my sketchbook:

and speaking of my sketchbook here’s some pages from it–

That last page I drew today –taking notes on panel ideas and characters from 1982’s BLUE FIGHTER by  Jiro Taniguchi, on Art—-whose Walking man manga I talked about in the last post,and Marley Caribu, who wrote the Oldboy manga on Story.

The cover drawing looks like a young Willem Dafoe

The book has a manga-americana feeling to the whole thing. I feel like it would be fun to make a book for a foreign market and try to make the MOST american feeling thing.  but maybe it’s better from outsiders. Like when Muñoz and Sampayo did their Alack Sinner book set in NYC before they’d ever visited the states.

Anyway Blue fighter has some great scenes that just feel like they’re there to set mood. Also I know it was done years before Walking man, but I didn’t even recognise the art until I looked it up.

The main character is a boxer named Reggae

later in the final fight of the book, Reggae is knocked down- and we get this Jazz and Reggae and Tibetan(?) and camels (???) montage

Something I really liked in the book was this way to show time passing in the boxing matches with the rounds over the drawings.

I hit up a couple comic stores yesterday with my pal Joe and found this old Paul Pope interview.

I like reading Pope’s 1995 plans for his career. I’m always trying to remind myself how many options I have to take my work in any direction I want. Early in his career Pope would often talk about how he was learning by researching different types of art and comics and what work of his he regarded as failures (but still published) it gave a nice feeling of seeing an artist at work.

And in the interview some early THB drawings I hadn’t seen before, here’s the table of contents page.

and a couple others.

Aside from that I picked up some other books this week:

Ex-Mutants and Stark Future are books I’m always looking through dollar bins for. I haven’t read the issues I got yet, I’m sure they will be excellent!

I haven’t read the new issue of Farel’s Proxima book yet either– this issue has a nice Simon Roy pin up on the back. coooool.

I did read the title story in the DHP ROMA issue (also found in a dollar bin)

ROMA was done by John Workman, who mostly just does lettering these days– he lettered Pope’s Heavy Liquid and Keatinge and Del Duca’s Shutter.

This story is drawn landscape (sideways) and might be the best use of that format that I’ve ever seen.

Such pretty pages!

The Workman stuff reminds me of another comic I read this week– Mr Inkstuds was also selling books at the con I was at and gave me a couple bound Heavy metal books. With stories by Italian comic artist Bruno Brindisi. (who according to Wikipedia has drawn 39 Dylan Dog stories)

Here’s his name on this helpful Dylan Dog chart

His Heavy Metal Stories, Bit Degeneration are like early 90’s casual cyberpunk, that follow a Heavymetalish lady named Axel.- she has spray on clothes and pasties that wink at people.

I like the look of her apartment.

Here’s a page where a robot stripper removes her body parts after she takes off her clothes.

I remember this stuff being especially exciting to me when it came out, because one of the scenes is based off of a bus tunnel in my hometown of Seattle.(panel 6 below)

Aside from an issue of Pete Bagge’s HATE, where he put Fallout records and comics in it, this was one of the 1st times I’d seen a place I’d been to in a comic. and in the all exciting Heavy metal no less.

also in the line of his reference a robot Sigmund Freud shows up in the comic.

— In other newds I just discovered that there is a Brigitte Bardot statue in Saint-Tropez based off of a Milo Manara painting.

and Manara’s painting.

And Manara playing “got your nose” with it. Boop.

Some more Manara /Bardot

This sent me down a statues of comic artists drawings rabbithole.

There’s a bunch of Leiji Matsumoto statues.

Herge hanging out with a Tintin statue

And Rumiko Takahashi with Lum

I wonder if anyone’s made a list…

Anyway, here is an Asterix truck that I found a photo of on the internet.–thanks for reading.

stone soup

(from Mazzucchelli’s Rubber blankets #3)

Hello,

I’ve been working with a therapist which has been difficult and great and long overdue. Being a human for 41 years will mess you up dawg. Here’s part of a comic I did that maybe got too personal to post in it’s entirety–

Even that page feels like maybe too much to share– The internet is not the place to have some conversations. And as much as I’ve prided myself as being open in the past I’ve been reassessing how to approach any kind of public life.

I found an old sketchbook of mine from 1997, (I was 21) There’s a page in there I wrote after going to a comic convention. In it I was really grossed out by it. 21-year-old-snob-me wrote-  how important it was to separate my work from the larger comic scene– I didn’t want to be part of it.

Maybe a better way to think of it now is not wanting to be closed off by it.  I’ve devoted my working life to telling stories in comics and there’s nothing I enjoy more– but sometimes I imagine being a new reader and walking into a comic shop to look for something new or even worse looking at the online comics scene–

That aside–

I finished a long overdue Inkstuds tour book from when me and Robin and Simon Roy and Shannon Lentz, travelled the globe interviewing cartoonists for the Inkstuds podcast. The book has sketches by me, Simon, Jesse Moynihan,  Bryan Lee O’Malley, Jamie Hernadez, Rebecca Sugar, Lamar Abrams, Steve Wolfhard, Katie Skelly, Gary Panter, JH Williams III, Ron Rege Jr, Jordan Crane, John Pham, Sean Christensen, — and drawing I did of most of those people and more. I hope people who ordered it one hundred years ago are happy with it. —

Here’s how the front and back cover look. (there’s only 200 numbered copies)

And along the same lines I’ve been finishing up my art/sketchbook Royalboiler.

Here’s a drawing of my apartment I’m inking tonight for it. The placement of where you put sunglasses on a pear really says a lot about what kind of cool pear it is.

I’ve also been working on my next comic, a 1920’s style flapper science fiction called Rain like hammers.

It isn’t on a release schedule yet, I’m just drawing issues until I have enough done for it to go to print without a worry of missed deadlines.

Also I did a bio picture for my GF Alejandra’s new book ROMPE CORAZON

Here’s the cover Alejandra did for herrrr book:

She’s selling it (with her limited to 50 copies run) at the Boise comics art festival, that my pal Simon did the poster for. ( I will be at home drawing more pages)

Here’s a recent sketchbook page I did inbetween pages

the lady on the lower right was a redraw from a girl’s manga ad.

and here’s some other uncolored sketchbook pages

The above drawing from a Jean Paul Gaultier fall 2001 oootfit

I finished the Nabokov book I was reading and started a PG Wodehouse

I liked Sebastian Knight, it’s a slow introspective thing about the half brother of a dead author looking to understand the years of his brother’s life. In it another writer has written a not so great and fairly false biography of the dead author– so it gives you the false rumours and then the real version he discovers through more research.  It’s funny how much the text on the back of the book oversells it as “His search proves to be as intriguing as any of his subject’s own novels” — I enjoyed how real and unspectacular it all was.

One of the best parts of the book is when Nabokov describes the fictional books the dead author has written. In one of them all of the characters are narrative devices and in another one an entire book’s tone is set along the slow death of a bedridden man- as his organs shut down. — The kind of stuff that feels easier and maybe more exciting to read about and harder or maybe less fun to actually read or make.

I also read the recently passed Jiro Taniguchi’s The walking man.

Some of the chapters are him carying home a shade on a hot day, or him getting caught in a heavy rain and then going home to take a bath. It seems strange how rare it seems in comics stories that reflect what real life is like are– without any fantastical element.

In this one he’s swimming naked in an outdoor pool and then walks home carying his shoes.

I often think about how showing someone in a story eating or going to the bathroom grounds the work, it shows the reader the fictional characters they’re being asked to relate to doing normal things that everyone does.

I feel like most stories could use a little Walking man– like it’s a pure comic element of normal city life.

I also read Frederik Peeters and Loo Hui Phang’s Smell of Starving boys.

Peeters is by far one of my favorite European cartoonists working today. His Aama and Pachyderme are both amazing. and when he’s not writing his own work he seems to pick his collaborators well– I liked Sandcastle — that he did with writer, Pierre Oscar Lévy.

I love the colors in this book– and the western mystery with a main being gay or bisexual or whatnot isn’t something I haven’t seen a lot of in a magical realism old westery comic book.

I also read this article about Seizō Watase’s Heart Cocktail (here) 

The animated shorts based off the manga were sponsored by Japan Tobacco and meant to each run the length it takes to smoke a cigarette

This one has the Moebius art book Starwatcher show up in it:

and the Moebius drawing it was based off of

Here’s one where a rabbit butler leads him through an upside down hotel.

Kind of reminiscent of this Nemo stuff:

I like the clear line style of  Watase’s work

Anyway, I hope to type on these more regularly as I work my life into something with less time spent on social media and more drawing and petting cats.

I’ll leave you with some pages from Macross fan comics (from here)

Dogs meow

Hello,

 

Social media has me feeling like Joe Budden on some “you bought the music not the dude that made it”

The last few(?) weeks away from twitter have left me feeling like I have more time for my thoughts– and ideas like -baby rapper “50 placenta” die on the vine. I’m thinking a lot about how I interact with the comics community– If I don’t post about it on here, I’ll dig a hole and scream it into it. Don’t forget to like and subscribe that hole.

Tonight I finished putting together the extra stuff for my 2nd (and last maybe) Multiple Warheads collection–that comes out in June from Image comics. Here’s a new opening spread.

and the cover

Aside from that I’ve been putting together an artbook and a new series.

I haven’t got a name for my next series yet but I’ve got a chunk of the 1st issue done in a story called Elephant about a man who lives in a giant walking city.

I’ve been messing with piecing together reference in photoshop. For the interior of the city I put together a Frankenstein-image made from several different mall photos- to look at while drawing it.

and an apartment building with some elephant legs for the exterior

I’m still months and months away from this stuff hitting shelves. I made a sketchbook diary page about how the process feels.

Aside from comics I’ve been doing a lot of work with the porn parody company Woodrocket.

It started as a series of posters for movies they did and older movies they hold the licensees to

Here’s the roughs for the Debbie poster–

After doing those and getting along famously with the Woodrocket crew and their Voltron-head,  Lee Roy Myers –he invited me to co write some stuff with him. So in an afternoon we wrote a porn parody of John Wick, JOHN WANK!

I went down to the set for the filming and painted a background for one scene.

(me painting it)

and it in the movie with Codey Steele acting up in front of it.

I also did some drawings for the title — One of Codey

and April O’Neil who played the villain

 I took a lot of notes and drawings on the set that I might turn into a comic eventually.

You can watch John Wank in it’s entirety for free here. 

After that, I worked on DragonBoobZ written by Vuko and directed by her and April O’Neil .That’s Casey Kisses, Daisy Ducati (as Prick-alo) , Brenna Sparks (as Go-cooze) Missy Martinez (as Vagin-Buu) and AJ as Vag-eata –I might’ve added some puns to the script, WHO CAN SAY.

Woodrocket hired my pal Casey Kisses (on the left) to play Ball-MA –Which was especially cool, both to have a friend on set and because she’s the first trans woman that Woodrocket has put in one of their parodies.  So cool and cool.

I did some on set art– like glueing penis logos that I drew over things.

me and Lee Roy had a great hushed debate in a craft store isle full of moms about why I though Vag-eata’s shirt needed to say VAGMAN

and I did some drawings that were added to the video later.

My girlfriend, and Latin ICON Alejandra Gutiérrez came down there with me and did a week long diary comic for The comics journal about our week in Vegas. *you can read the whole thing here)

And here’s some sketches I did on set.

The DBZ movie is up here 

Next we’re working on a (non-porn) science fiction show called, Emperor of the known universe. Starring April O’Neil and Tommy Pistol. (here’s an early sketch)

When I get asked to work on screenplays it never seems as fun as making comics, but with Woodrocket — we can just make the thing ourselves and shop around a finished show rather than just a pitch. We’re aiming for a looooow budget 70’s UK tv feel. Plus I like the idea of making something like this with a porn crew and actors who do sex work. There’s been way too much shitting on people on that industry lately

Here’s some sketches I made to show the guys making the stuff.

The set is just being built now, and looks like this– so far. We’re gonna film it next month.

So that’s where I’m at. Next time I’ll get into some of the stuff I’ve been reading.

(I’ve been reading this)

–Brandon

More humanoïdes associés

Hello,

So many moons ago I did a couple drawings based on Moebius drawings & asked everyone to jump in and do their versions. (here’s the old Starwatcher one me & Moritat did here) 

I did this drawing last night of Rumiko Takahashi’s electric alien lady Lum.

I drew that after I saw this Manara GQ cover based on the 1st Moebius, Metal hurlant cover

Here’s the Moebius cover:

In one of his art books Moebius talked about basing this drawing off of a Maxfield Parrish painting

This one:

Soo yeah, It would be fun to see other artists do their own versions.

 

 

Deepest darkest

 

Hello,

I wanted to write my own version of notes on the Wicked + Divine issue #17 that I did with Kieron (& Jamie) Kieron’s notes are here. 

I sent in these rough covers ideas first. — Kieron mentioned doing a version of the top right one but with cats in place of the humans.

(I also found this 1st failed cover pencils)  “why the long arms Sakhmet?”

In the final cover I just drew her in the same outfit Jamie had on his cover.

The writing on her hand is Elvish from the game Dragon age– Ar lasa mala revas: “You are free.” Marian was deep in this game when I was drawing this cover.

Also there’s a yugioh pyramid thing on the chains on the left.

I also put the yugioh thing in my Pillow fight book –a porn comic I did in 2005. (it’s a magic box that gives a lady a boner) I dunno what it does in yugioh. I’m gonna say it has the same power.

SOoooooo the guts of the issue: I wanted to show Kieron how everything would look so we could work out the storytelling stuff before I went to paper. I did the same kind of drawn in photoshop layouts I do for Prophet issues.

Along with the script and lots of reference links Kieron also supplied some photos he took for the opening scene. I worked a few into the layouts and drew them pretty closely in the finals. I think It killed any guilt about this since Kieron took them just for this issue.

And here’s some early sketches of characters that show up in the issue.

I was kind of wary of how different teenager Ruth looks from the Sakhmet god she becomes. Hopefully it works in the story ok.

The 2 major scenes I wanted to put some detail into in the issue are the post orgy scene and the concert scene. Here’s a jpg of some of the orgy reference I was looking at for the orgy. (thanks internet)

There’s a Divine picture in there, of John waters Drag queen fame. I like Divine a lot and thought it would be fun to sneak a lot of her into this issue. (her birth name Milstead shows up as the brand name of the jerky Sakhmet is eating on page 6)

In Catface Mewoser’s Stargate room there’s a Cigar’s of the Pharaoh symbol, Corto Maltese, Divine, Major Grubert’s Helmet and Tintin. Maybe the panda stuff is a nod to Genma in Ranma 1/2 since Sakhmet’s shirt on page 7 says Ranma in Japanese on it.

The concert! Kieron set this in the Brixton academy which made it easy to find reference for. Also cool to be able to use maps on the internet to look at the neighbourhood around it for the outside scenes.

There’s another Drag superstar Divine appearance  in the crowd. and wayyy up near the green balcony cat there’s a Star wars Ewok, Wicket so I could amuse myself with “The Wicket + The Divine” –also a guy in the foreground has a Lucifer tattoo. ( maybee my favourite WIK+DIV character)

I remember reading a Moebius quote where he talked about there being two ways to impress a reader. Either with simple beautiful images or to hit them with so much detail that they couldn’t deny it. The later is easier in some ways and I think looks louder. I wanted these pages to at least give the impression that  what this god did was a big deal.

 

For the sound effects of the music I was thinking of an old 2003 zine my pal Corey Lewis did called Apollpnia NO! where to show how loud a concert was he tripled up the lines to make them look like the whole place was shaking.

I feel like showing music in comics is one of the hardest things to do. Especially if what you’re trying to show is that sound sounds cool and loud. Cool is not universal and lines are not sound. My personal favourite rock and roll in comics is the  Atsushi Kamijo manga To-y (トーイ)  Often in the manga  Kamijo will show To-y doing an impressive physical stunt before he plays (he backflips to catch a mic and kicks off a shoe)  so that the cool of the music isn’t just based on the reader assuming that a guy with an open mouth in front of a microphone sounds cool.

This scene I think is more subtle and sooo well done.

The white screentone over the last page there just makes it look like white noise to me.

Anyway, Wik +Div– the post concert scene.I really enjoyed Kieron’s descriptions in the script he sent– “a mixture of annoyance and boredom. Is she was a cat, her tail would be twitching.” I kept drawing a lock of her hair like it was an annoyed cat ear.

This page has a nod to Flux Pavilion, a UK musician who I’m friendly with (and whose music I like) I based the interviewer off of my pal Chris Eng, who is a fantastic writer and did some magazine work in his past. also I put a Ziggy poster in the hallway because I love Ziggy.

A couple other things not pictured– I put a Star Blazers/Yamato on page 13. Page 16 is solid black because I changed up the page turn on page 18 by making the concert a 2 page spread. I love how something like that changes the storytelling and is something that I would never think to do in my own work.

page 18:

in the script and roughs Sakhmet has stripped off her clothes. Marian talked me out of drawing the page like that and me and Kieron both agreed that it works better this way. She still managed to lose some jewellery and her shoes.

The final scene in the issue was fun, just drawing a room that Leila DelDuca had drawn in the issue before this was a blast.

And past what I drew Jamie, Matthew and Clayton  took over  on the last last page. I roughed it out but handed it off to them in the end because of deadlines.

Anyway, working in Jamie and Kieron’s world was a blast for me. It felt like getting paid to draw fan art. Thanks dooodes!

—

As far as my own stuff, I’ve been slowly plodding away at Multiple Warheads. Here’s a page from the 3rd part that’ll run in ISLAND (mosscows)

Prophet Earth War #1 comes out January 27 (a week from now)

also out on January 27, is ISLAND #6

Here’s the contents page for that issue:

Also here’s a blank cover I drew for someone this week.

———-

Aside from comics I’ve been playing a lot of DOOOOOOM this month.

I like the mix of space and hell. It’s like the movie Event Horizon (but I like Doom more)

It’s nicely bleak and interesting. the thing that I find the most scary in the early Dooms is the power up item :Soul Sphere. ” The Doom Biblenotes that “the soul sphere contains the life energy of a human soul“” So you’re eating a soul for life energy. Jeeze doom dude!

It reminds me of the Berzerk Manga Behelit– that rubix cube face of terror that brings forth hell! AHHHH!!

It all also reminds me of the excellent Wayne Douglas Barlowe’s version of hell

More of his hell stuff here.

Anyway, I just played through DOOM 3, from 2004- making it the newest game grampa Brandon has beaten in his life. Sooo cool to see updates on the old Doom monsters

I think there’s like a post game -game that I need to play next. hmmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

Artwork from hard work.

Helloooo,

I was planning on being on a plane tonight. on my way to the UK land of tardises (tardi?) Wizard schools and and lion gods– and the Thought bubble convention.

I’m stuck in Canada because of a resident card that I needed to have renewed to travel taking a lot longer to return than I’d thought it would. Sooo sorry about that. My pal Robin is still going and I’ve asked him to return with comics for me & I’m still doing a couple UK interviews over the phone. If anything I’ll use the time to catch up on deadlines and draw some kickstarter things.

Here’s a comic I did about my morning.

The irony that I drew this after typing on twitter all about how played out corporate comics are. Anyway batcaves, what are you gonna do…

So yeah, Warheads putters on.

Prophet putters along. Here’s the new Earth War cover by Ron Ackins and colors by Paul Davey. (this is EW #5)

Prophet has fallen behind it’s deadlines but I think it’ll be worth it for the end run of the series. I think I’ve stopped thinking of it as issues and more as the final trades. hmmmm

8house Arclight is going along too. Here’s one of (my significant otter) Marian’s pages for it. (she’s working on the cover to #1 tonight & I’m working on the final text)

Also, also Marian made these knives!!

& she made booklets for each one telling their back stories & the serious dudes that weilded them.

She’s selling them on her site store hereeee

A sketchbook thing. I drew the guy and the air and Marian drew that fine portrait of me on my high horse (seems like a cool dude)

Here’s some books I’ve been looking at—-

I got this Animage with a NYC Patlabor cover when I was in NYC. –It seemed fitting.

I like their little fist punch logos. CLAT! ( Crime Labor Attack Team)

This issue has a spread on that shame of shames Robocop steaming #2. I like the cell style ro-butt on it though.

and these designs

that CLAT lady looks like a member of the 70’s UK show UFO’s SHADO, the Supreme Headquarters, Alien Defence Organisation

I dunno what the connection is, I never watched much Patlabor or UFO. All I could find was this Japanese UFO coloring book. 

Also in that Animage, a 2 page Nadia Starwars thing:

And this tea guy. I like this guy

My pal Robin gave me some Don Simpson Megaton man issues with the sci fi –Border worlds as the back ups in them.

I like the look of the Dune Stillsuit outfits they wear in it. It feels like 70’s sepia rock in roll space.

I was reading this Amazing heroes interview with Simpson about the series:

In the interview he talks about taking influence from slick magazines
“The interesting thing about magazines is they spend millions of dollars on art direction and they are working with words and pictures, to create an effect” “They’re dealing with conveying a language”

I always like the idea of working in comics being able to take from everything words and pictures around you.  I have a real fondness for the design of late 90’s magazines, I feel like they’re belived that the future was just around the corner.

I like the late 90’s work of Graham Rounthwaite–who did this series of Levis ads. That at the time they came out seemed like the coolest thing in the world to me.

Rounthwaite also did a lot of magazine design. There’s a thing on his studio here. 

This is from some other mag layout that I think would look nice cannibalized into comics.

but back to Don Simpson. It feels reading these that he was almost using a rock promo steeze worked into his comics design. like long hair and sepia jackets beyond the stars.

The book has a great feel to it. with big clunky technology and panels that feel like letterbox.

Knowing Simpson from his cartoony Megaton man

There’s something so cool about seeing him draw grizzles old guys with that same weight to them,

another 80’s sci fi thang I found at Lucky’s comics up here in Vancoover was this comic adaption of a movie I’ve never seen. Starring Star Trek’s Walter Koenig. Chekov without his accent. The trailer looks pretty fun. 

Here’s the highlight of the comic: and this guy is an astronaut.

When I was in Spain, my 8house bruther Xurxo got me to pick up some Arno comics. A French artist who died at only 35 (in 96).

Kids has such a deceptive cover.

The inside of the book is all shorts about life during war. Such clean and pretty stuff huh.

Arno also worked with Jodorowsky, on the series ‘Alef-Thau’. About a guy who is born with no arms and legs –slowly gaining limbs, and losing an eye over the course of the story.

Here’s a page where he astral projects some arms and legs onto himself.

& another page from the book. I like the design on the guy on the top right. and that house.

The guy reminds me of a human Marsupilami

Also I’ve been looking at this a lot (1984) FM by Ruben Pellejero drawing (who is doing the new Corto Maltese comics)  and Jorge Zentner writing

I always like rounded edged panels and the way Pellejero shows light and space in this stuff kills me.

I like how he uses light on this page to show that it is night time in a city. It looks loud and late to me.

and then late in the book how well he shows a bright morning with heavy shadows.

and the black of this warehouse just making it look more like a bright day.

Another thing I like in the book is how he shows weather. This scene with a beach getting rained on is great.

I feel like one of the main goals or at least one of my main goals with art is conveying how something felt to you– even if it’s through space wars or talking rats — and seeing light and shadow used the way he does makes it feel like something I know. Impressive comics mann.

I wanted to type on here about recent stuff I’ve been up to just to get it all in one place.

First first first. me and my pal Robin are in the final days of our Kickstarter to tour around interviewing cartoonists.

As I’m typing this there’s like 50 hours to go and if we hit $15,000 Canadian dollars we’re gonna be able to get to the UK. Right now we’re going to LA and NYC.

Here’s the poster for a talk we’re doing in LA. With an exciting group of dudes.

And more on the Kickstarter here.

Aside from that I’m gonna go to the Emerald city con in Seattle sooon. I think that;’s my favorite convention. Maybe because I grew up in Seattle and never thought of it as a comic friendly town back then. I like the show, I like that the movie tv whatever is far away from the comics and I like Jim D who runs it. It should be fun.

This year is kind of  nuts like planters. I’m really excited to see Adam Warren again and I wanna get some old Elfquest signed by the Pinis and I wanna meet EK Weaver who does one of my favorite comics, TJ and Amal and fucking Kenichi Sonada of Bublegum Crisis, Gall force and Gun smith cats fame will be there.

I did a drawing for the con that’ll be on the program book:

The idea was to draw creator owned characters from creators who are gonna be at the show. I get a kick out of excluding the corporate owned ishery.

and the guide to it

1. scott snyder’s Severed

2.Farel Dalrymple’s Pop gun War

3. ECCC Heroes designed by Michael Avon Oeming

4. Mike Norton’s Battlepug

5. Wendy and Richard Pini’s Elfquest (petalwing on top of the Invincible dude’s head)

6.Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s sex criminals

7. Joe Ketinge and Leila Del Duca’s Shutter

8. Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker’s Invincible

9. Egypt Urnash’s Decrypting Rita

10. Rob Liefeld’s PROPHET (that me and Simon Roy and Giannis Milonogiannis and Farel Dalrymple and Joseph Bergin III work on)

11.Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid.

12.Aaron Diaz’s Dresden Codak

13. Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor’s & voiced by Cecil Baldwin Welcome to Night Vale

14.Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover’s Bandette

15.Ron Randall’s Trekker

16. Damon Gentry and Aaron Conley’s Sabertooth Swordsman

17.  Rick Spears and Chuck BB’s Black metal.

18 Stan Sakai ’s Usagi Yōjinbō 兎用心棒

19. Jeff Smith’s Bone

20. Mike Allred’s Madman

21, My (Brandon Graham, me me me ) King city.

22.Adam Warren’s Empowered. (that I just drew a one shot issue of)

23.Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Ríos’s Pretty deadly.

24. Erik Larsen’s savage dragon (Malcolm dragon)

25. E.K. Weaver’s T.J. and Amal (my favorite ongoing web comic—sooo good)

26.Corey Lewis’s Sharknife. (YOSHHHHH!!)

27. Kenichi Sonoda Gunsmith cats. (I’m sooo hyped that Sonada is gonna be at the con this year)

28.  Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s The Sixth gun.

29. Kenichi Sonoda’s Bubble gum crisis. (this is basically an anime con from 1994 now)

30.Greg Rucka  and Michael Lark’s Lazarus

31. David Petersen’s Mouse guard.

32. John Graham and Victor Steinbrueck’s The space needle

33. Ryan North’s Dinosaur comics

34.Richard Starkings Elephantmen.

35.  H. G. Wells invisible man

36. Shannon Wheeler’s Too much coffee man.

37. Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s Happy!

38.Rob Guillory and John Layman’s Chew, CHOG

39.Chris Sims, Chad Bowers, and Scott Kowalchuk’s Down Set Fight

40. Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch’s Rat Queens.

41. Eric Stephenson and Nate Bellegarde’s Nowhere men

42. Kevin Church & Grace Allison’s Wander

43. Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen’s Lumberjanes

44. Cat Farris’s flaccid badger

and the rough I’d done to show the ECCC guys:

and here’s the panels I’ll be doing at the show:

Image Comics Presents Comedy in Comics
Room: TCC 301
FRIDAY: 3:00PM – 3:50PM

Sometimes the best comics are the funny ones, but getting jokes across in print while simultaneously telling an engaging story can be tough. Luckily, we have Rob Guillory, Roc Upchurch, Chip Zdarsky, Jim Zub, Kurtis Wiebe, Brandon Graham, Matt Fraction who can tell you their secrets, tips, and a few really good jokes.

Harsh Realm: Adam Warren and Brandon Graham
Room: HALL D (602-603)
Sunday 1:40PM – 2:30PM

Adam Warren (Empowered) and Brandon Graham (Prophet) are two creators at the top of their game. The two gather to discuss how they incorporate their influences in their work, creating comics that don’t look like any other comics on the racks, & more!

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Right after drawing that thing I did a cover for Joe Keatinge and Leila del Duca’s Shutter:

Emma Rios. homie who draws pretty deadly also did a cover

 

annnnd Dustin Weaver did this niceee one

 

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This week Prophet #43 came out and we’re about to send #44 off. (leading up to #45 dun dun dun!)

#44 is done by Dave Taylor, whose work I first saw on 1999’s Tongue lash. It’s been amazing working with him. I think this might be our Moebius tribute issue.

Here’s a couple pages:

 

 

I think we’re gonna try to do more work together again soon.

Also in a weeek the Empowered issue that Warren wrote and I drew comes out:

 

Going through my sketchbook I found this early cover idea:

 

I was really into doing a cut away like a Yamaguchi Akira thang:

 

and here’s some more sketchbook stuff I scanned this morning:

(some AT with Marian drawing SF2 drawings)

 

Deunan and tintin

 

anddd

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one was fun with me and Marian drawing “no” and “yes” all over a page I was drawing. desecrating my endless bum drawings.

 

 

 

hmm  I’ve been on a wanting to draw more than there are hours in the day kick. I wanna draw more comics mann. I took yesterday to ignore pressing deadlines and just draw some Warheads.

This week I’m working on an episode of Adventure time with Jesse Moynihan. It’s been really fun so far but daunting because the bar is set so high on that show and I am out of my comic book element.

I’ve got this feeling recently like I need to be doing a lot better or pushing things in my work more. it’s an ego killing humbling feeling that I need like food and water. I like it and hopefully It’ll push me.

I used to always fear getting eaten by the comic industry so that I wasn’t making personal work anymore. It’s fucking hard because there’s been so many amazing projects being thrown at me. I’m gonna try to make sure that both get done though. I used to always say “the more I draw the more I draw” and if anything I have been feeling like I’m running on a different fuel than I was in the past.

In previous years I always felt like I needed to be gathering stories to tell, new jokes and puns –jumping out of windows life experiences. But these days that stuff is less my goal. I feel more like trying to get the in between moments of my life on paper.  Eating and sleeping and  just what it’s like just being a human onto paper. But I’m so trained by years and years of sci fi sometimes my default is just –ok “during the robot wars…”

Plus I’ve been feeling like the work I do fits into 2 different camps-1. Fan fiction and 2 art therapy.

There’s some crossover but 1 is like Empowered drawing or Prophet –where I’m playing off of the stuff I loved growing up.

and 2 is more like what I’ve been trying to put into the new Warheads. Thinking about my real real life and all that jazz.

ok. Thanks for reading. I’m gonna watch some AT episodes and try to do the do.

Violence!

Hello hello,

My pal Farel is visiting me and having a book party tomorrow at Lucky’s (here in Vancougar. rarrrr ) It should be fun.

Here’s the cover of his new book:

It’s a nice fat hardcover thing full of his short comics and drawings. it’s Impressive stuff.:

a PDF preview of the book here

And here’s a recent Farel page I liked for a story that’ll run in DHP

He draws nice huh.

——————————

me and Farel and Simon are gonna work out the layouts for the final Prophet issue of the main series while he’s here.

Mostly we’ve been drawing and watching MST3K episodes. My Empowered and Multiple Warheads pages are slowly puttering along.put put put I am a drawing and or napping machine.

Last week I got to do a Pin up for Emma Rios and Kelly Sue Deconnick’s impressive book, Pretty deadly. It’s the only monthly thing I pick up on the day it’s out.  I feel like I was channeling some of Marian’s lines on those feathers.

This will run in the back of #4. I’ve been thinking about how the density and complexity of each issue really ads to my enjoyment of reading it. It means I see new things rereading an issue. & Emma is some kind of manga panel scientist.

oh also, I wanted to show off this–awhile back I got a copy of Paul Pope’s Battling boy.

While he was working on it Pope had written to tell me that he put a nod to King city into the background of his Arcopolis.

Here’s a page from King city:

and the same back ground outside of BB’s apartment

I’ve been a fan of Pope’s work for a long time so it was a kick to see.and normally I drastically prefer his stuff in black and white but I thought Hilary Sycamore did a decent job on this stuff. With Pope’s books I always want it printed HUGE. I am spoiled off his old Buzz buzz book. but whatever fun book.

Also awhile back I got this awesome pin up from Shari Chankhamma, (who also colors Xmas and Brisson’s Sheltered)

My scan didn’t quite do it justice but yeah, it’s a drawing of Earthling and this Walrus loving lady who showed up on one page of Warheads.

and another drawing of Shari’s I like–this speaks to my pillow fort lifestyle.

More on here site here.

——————–

Also also me and Farel watched Riki Oh: The Story of Ricky.

It’s odd that final scene in the movie is the box cover–but the movie is so crazy that it doesn’t really matter.

You can watch the whole thing here: 

based on the 87 to 1990 Masahiko Takajo and Saruwatari Tetsuya manga.

I like that the comic, called Violence hero Riki-Oh lists it’s chapters as Violences. I would like it if more books did that. You’d hear in school rooms “now if you would all open your books to Violence 12..”

:for the most part the movie seems like a really close adaption of the start of the comic, although the crazy violence seems even more crazy and violent in the live action. There is some stuff I saw skimming the comic that is weirder than the movie though. Like this guy’s crow entrance. Murdeeeeer!

The whole comic is up here.

—————-

and and here is a cool looking book Farel brought to my pad.

now more coffee and drawing stuff.