It’s 24 Hour Comic Day, and I’m gonna give it a shot. I’m already about an hour behind schedule, but I had to run out to the art store before they closed, and there was a car blocking me in, plus I know I’m gonna need more caffeine.
Anyway, nothing other than this comic is gonna get drawn all day, so I’m making it my blog post. Page 1 is done, Page 2 has been sketched out. I started at 10am, it’s now 12:30pm.
Gotta get a move on.
Part 4 of my contribution to the Christopher’s Restaurant art gallery that is on display from September 20th through October 31st. Jason Young and Jeff Potter, my fellow Ok, PANIC! artists, have each done five portraits of various superheroes, and they are all available for sale. If you live in the Dayton, Ohio area, go eat some delicious food and enjoy some great comic-related artwork.
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More comic reviews:
Birds of Prey: I honestly just remembered that I even read this, but I couldn’t tell you what happened in the book, what it was about or if I had any thoughts on it. Which should probably tell you all you need to know.
Nightwing: Eh. I love Nightwing, and I want to support the character, but after two fantastic years of him in the role of Batman, working out perfectly by some fantastic creators, this seems like a step back. The art’s fine, and there’s a mystery element, but this is also like the 17th time I’ve read a story about Nightwing setting up a new chapter of his life right when some old part of his life comes out of nowhere to fuck things up, and oh, hey, the old circus is in town, he should go visit old friends. It’s not bad, but not a standout.
DC Presents – Deadman: I can’t remember much about this book other than I recall being bored while reading it. Then Deadman jumps into someone’s body and threatens to make it commit suicide. Spoiler.
Wonder Woman: I love Brian Azzarello’s decision to give Wonder Woman a seemingly entirely new status quo and not explain a single part of it. It’s something that seems like it’d be a bad way to go about it, but he pulls of brilliantly by not making you care, and this story is about moving the plot along. It’s essentially a story about the Greek Gods fucking with humans and ruining their lives for shits and giggles, just like the old times, and Wonder Woman is there to stop the bullshit. I liked this book quite a bit, and the art by Cliff Chiang is great.
Batman: Not only is this a dark and gritty Batman, but it also manages to have a sense of humor and fun just underneath the surface. Scott Snyder is taking Grant Morrison’s idea of a well-adjusted Bruce Wayne and working the hell out of it. In fact, by simply existing, Snyder’s Batman makes Tony Daniel’s Detective Comics look like a retarded brain damaged coma victim wrote that book (it was a mentally challenged person who got into a horrific head-injury accident, and then slipped into a coma which further expounded the brain damage). Here’s something else Batman does better than Detective: art. I pretty much think of Tony Daniel and Greg Capullo as contemporaries, both coming up together at around the same time, both having a deep-rooted Todd McFarlane influence, even working for the man at various times. I’ve never been a fan of either one of them, but holy crap, Greg Capullo is perfect for a Batman comic. It might be that he has a different inker who is able to pull forward all of his strengths, but I’ve never seen Capullo draw this well. This was an absolute revelation.
Art by Skye Ogden.
A few months back, after the devastating earthquakes in Japan, my friend Jason Young forwarded me an email from a man named Adam Paison, a cartoonist living in Japan. Adam had decided to put together a charity book of comics from artists around the world, recounting their personal experiences with Japan or Japanese culture. At first I wasn’t going to contribute, as I have found that I don’t enjoy drawing comics, and had no real experience with Japan other than reading very little Manga, watching some Anime and eating at a Japanese restaurant once. Jason reminded me that I actually did have a slightly more personal story, one that I thought might be kind of funny, and it would be nice to help out a good cause.
The book itself is nearing the final phases. It’s ready for printing and distribution, but needs a little help first. Over at this Kickstarter page, you can donate to get the book published. All proceeds from the sale of the book goes to help the ongoing disaster relief and rebuilding in Japan, and to help the citizens hurt most by the destruction. My friend Jason has a great story in it, I have a story that makes me look like a selfish jerk, and something like 30 other artists from around the world have contributed stories, like Jeffrey Brown, Noah Van Sciver and Carrie McNinch.
Check it out, spread the word, donate, whatever you like. In addition to the Kickstarter page, you can also go to the Aftershock blog page and check out preview pages and art from the book.
Next Saturday, May 7th, is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, which if you’re reading this blog, you know the deal. You can go to any local comic book store and get a selection of comics for absolutely no money down. Usually these are one-shots or samplers for an ongoing series or mini-series.
But once you’re done at the shops, you can go online and download the official MY NAME IS JONAH comic book, which features a three page story written and drawn by yours truly, in addition to 27 other pages of original story and art by other fine and talented folks. The cover I’ve linked here is drawn by Daniel Th1rt3en, colored by Jake Bills, with the layout by JB Sapienza.
MY NAME IS JONAH is the forthcoming documentary about the real life Warrior, Jonah Washnis. You can download the comic at the MY NAME IS JONAH Official Movie Site on Saturday May 7th, 2011. Until then, you can look through all the great fan art and watch the trailer for the film.
So, over the summer I got super busy and had a nervous breakdown. I promised that I’d start updating the blog with new art in 2011 on a more regular basis. I’m announcing for everyone now that I have ensured my next nervous breakdown:
I will be posting a new sketch/drawing every day of this year.
Starting on February 1st, 2011, I will post a sketch or drawing for (what I intend) the next 365 days.
I have a list of requests I still need to get through, plus all the stuff I’ve been working on in secret for the past six months or so, and I’m also still taking new requests to cut down on the thought I need to put into this project.
I have set up some ground rules for myself:
1) I will spend a minimum of 10 minutes on any sketch or drawing posted.
2) There will at least one color piece a week
3) Do it!
So, if you have any requests, or need to remind me of unfulfilled requests, please post ‘em here!
