Halloween 2009

This may be the start of a new tradition at our house:  I dressed up to hand out treats this year.  I was a little worried that some of the youngest kids might be freaked out but they were okay.  We had a lot of fun and a lot of tricker-treaters.  See you all in November!

48 years ago today

Yes, I am the devil.

Happy Halloween!

This was published in the Modern Masters book so some of you may have seen it before, but you probably haven't seen the prelim.  If I remember correctly, Vampi and the zombies were drawn separately and put together in Photoshop. 

Catwoman pin-up

This was for Darwyn Cooke's 2002 Catwoman hardcover, Selina's Big Score.  It's a good example of me getting carried away with my cartoony proportions in an otherwise "realistic" piece.  It's also funny to see the first sketch and remember that I was going to put a bunch of generic mugs in there instead of Batman.  I'm glad I thought twice about that notion.


I'm also showing another version of the piece that I found online.  The unknown artist set out to correct my previously mentioned problem with proportions and teach me a thing or two about the right way to handle a piece like this.

What the internet & cable TV hath wrot

(Spoiler Alert:  If you've never seen the movie Fight Club, don't read any further.  It's ridiculous to say that about a movie that's ten years old, but you know how people are.)


This morning, my son asked me if I'd heard the theory that Ferris Bueller and Cameron are the same person, ala Fight Club.  I hadn't, but he told me more about it and I'll be darned if it didn't make at least a little bit of sense.  A few hours later I stumble across a similar theory about What About Bob? I doubt that either movie was originally written with that in mind, but like the Wizard of OZ/Dark Side of the Moon phenomenon, if you put in a little effort you can make them fit.

Legend of the Green Flame

The Phantom Stranger confronts Superman and Green Lantern. Who in the world could prefer a dopey, dated, turtleneck and gold medallion over a simple black necktie?  In the script, Neil Gaiman specifically asked for the tie, but one of the other artists on this project ignored him and drew the turtleneck.  So... I had to change my art.  Nine years later and I'm still annoyed. Yes, it's true, there are no limits to my pettiness. 

Tomorrow Stories Book One cover sketch

Editor Scott Dünbier suggested putting Splash Brannigan in the back, struggling to be seen – since he was the most recent addition and only had one story in the book.   The diamond motif was Todd Klein's idea.  My colors and seps.

Jack B. Quick: "Smalltown Stardom" pencils and inks, page 4

There were only a few small changes between the pencils and the inks, like the Mayor's hat and the details of the town in the background of the last panel.  The thing I like most about this page is Alan Moore's folksy Rural American dialog.

Dr. Strange sculpture designs

I'm not sure what year these were done.  Marvel asked me to do some sketches for a limited edition sculpture.  I did the turnarounds in pencil, then – at their request – inked the first figure.

Universal Monsters Portfolio: The Mole People

From 1991.  The composition was the important thing on this one.  Most of the work went into the pose and clothing for the "victim".  I knew I wanted a 1950's look but it took several incarnations before I settled on one that worked.

X-Men: Lost Tales #1, 1997

It was nice having a chance to do a generic "poster shot" cover for an X-Men book but this one went south after I handed in the color guide.  The nice, neutral, dark gray background – designed to make the primary colors on the costumes pop – was replaced with a wimpy green monstrosity by someone in the office.  It ruined the whole effect.

Batman & Joker commission

This was done in 2003...

Sketch books

A lot of you can't get to conventions or at least can't get to the same conventions that I attend so I've set up one more eBay listing for the 2009 Sketch Books.  The stock is getting a little low so the price is a bit higher this time but I'll still do the head sketch on the back.  You can click on the link here or the image under "eBay Auctions" to the right.

Grimwood's Daughter: Chapter three, page four

Several sketches for this one.  I think I could have gotten away with the first version, but my final take on the last panel has better expressions, or at least it has expressions that fit the dialog better.

It takes a lot of work to make something look this simple: Dalgoda B&W story page one

I'm only showing a portion of the false starts for this page; mostly involving panel three.  I also had a lot of trouble with the first panel.  I was laboring to set up a sight gag; the ferocious, aggressive Dal we see first is actually a standee.  The real Dal is getting his makeup applied.  I tried every way I could think of to make it clear but I still think I fell short.  Still, I like the page and the rest of the story went much smoother.  Hope those Zip-a-tone screens don't look to strange on your monitors.  This was for A1 #4, in 1989.