Marvel Reunion Part 2

I showed up at the reunion early because I had a doorman shift at 7:15. It seemed like most people arrived early! So many cool people who I've missed! I tried to speak to everyone, but I did a lot of bouncing around. If you are my Facebook Friend, then you've already seen a lot of photos. Now it's my turn to post some snap shots!

My walking tour of Times Square

I did a lot of walking in NYC last weekend! This what happened in Times Square!

Marvel Reunion Part 1

I flew to New York City this past weekend! The occasion was a reunion of about 150 people who worked for Marvel Comics in the late 80s to early 90s. To me, that was a special time and a lot of people agreed! I flew in on Friday and met my friend Dawn at a pub near Thompson street. I crashed on the couch and my spare set of keys gave me a lot of freedom to walk around the city.

That's exactly what I did on Saturday! I never walk in LA, so I visited most of my old hangouts in Manhattan. Astor Place then 14th street. Going uptown to Park Avenue south and 33rd st. I lost track of the time and scrambled for a train to 77th st. for a brunch date with friends. I made a mistake and had to walk across Central Park to the brunch.

The brunch was a lot of fun! The photo shows myself, Eliot Brown, Sara, Marie and Steve. Eliot is holding up a banner that Marvel must have used for a sporting event or something.

Everyone split up to take care of their own errands, and I went back to walking. Brunch was over at 12:00 and I had only 7 hours before the reunion that night and karaoke. Oh yes, I said karaoke!

More art!

Jersey Boys in LA

I met with Michael and Jason in Beverly Hills yesterday! I worked with both of them on Jersey Boys and Michael was in town for a few days. He is flying to Melbourne in work on a Jersey Boys show there. We took a look at all the art I did and it all intact and still in use. My GF wondered if we should see the show in Australia! Sounds good!

More Western Art

More art from my western book.

Wolf in the Hall!

This is a drawing I did a while ago, but this the first time I have posted the color art for it. I wanted it to be the cover of a Horror book I had in mind. I may still use it! What do you think?

Jersey Boys Icons

Two Jersey Boys drawings. I don't know if they are still in the show, but I like them.

My Empty Lot in Life

The building next door to my apartment was torn down two years ago. I was very upset at the barren landscape outside my window. Today, it seems like nature has reclaimed the lot. I like it! It seems like a nature reserve right next door! Take a look at the original post right HERE!

My Cat Book!

The third Warriors book will hit the stands next month! I can hardly wait!

Old Photo!

My involvement with Facebook has inspired me to dig out many old photos and share them with people I have not seen in years and years. This picture is me back in June 1984. A comic convention in Manhattan. I am posting a bunch of photos from my High School days on Facebook.

Comics Code

There used to be rules about what a Major publisher like Marvel or DC could print in a comic book. No red blood, no sex acts and stuff like that. If you wanted to do a book with freaky things in it, you would draw an underground book. There was no Comics Code for underground books and just about anything was printed. The comics code was forgotten years ago and this book proves it.

The first issue of 'Oracle' from DC comics shows an exploding head and a bloody stump on the last page. On the third page, the hero who is in a wheelchair, undresses to shower. I kinda thought the scene was sexier than it really needed to be, so I sketched a different angle.

The New Star Trek movie!

I will not spoil the movie that I saw last night. I will only point out that Kirk got beaten up a lot! Also, I liked the movie very much!

More Ad art

This is more Advertising Art!

Layouts

These are some recent layouts! I like to do them in ink because they look better on a monitor. Also, it prints better than a pencil sketch.

Let's network!

Steve and I went to a DigitalLA networking event in West Hollywood last night! It's important to have strong business contacts, but the event was crowded and kinda loud. I hope I made a good impression.

Back to the Western!

No sleep for me!

RenFair Anyone?

I could not make the Renaissance Fair, but if you click this link, you can see some snapshots!

Have you ever been a character in a comic book?

The answer is YES! Jim Shooter had his great idea for 'The New Universe', A new comic book line separate from Marvel. When Shooter was fired, the line went in a different direction. Shooter made a few enemies. A book or two was cancelled, Pittsburgh was destroyed, a war started and all kinds of stuff. The New Universe was on the way out, but there were some opportunities for new talent...before time ran out.
Back in 1988, I was a Romita Raider(working on staff in art correction), and I shared a space in the Bullpen with Rod Ramos and Chris Ivy. When the New Universe book 'The Star Brand' added a six page back up story with issue fifteen, The writer wrote all three of us into his story!
We three were Army border patrol officers and I was Lieutenant Hudson! The likeness is kinda OK. Rodney drew the story and I did the inking. When I see the story now I wince at my bad inking. I really want to redo it. But like I said, it was a chance for new talent to get some work, so thanks New Universe! I am a character in a comic book!

My Phantom Story. On Sale Now!

This is the cover to the Phantom book I did with Tom DeFalco! A new maxi series of one-shot comic novellas, with each issue (by a different creative team) telling a tale of one of the 21 Phantoms.

Bond Covers

Bonhams Auction house had an exhibit of paperback covers last year! I finally got a hold of the book, 'Ian Fleming and the art of cover design'. The books have been reissued many times in dozens of countries and some of the cover art is striking!

My Next Generation Story

If you are looking for my Star Trek: The Next Generation Manga, This is what the cover looks like! Also, check out the pencils and Inks.

I am at The Grove!

It was a great signing at The Grove last night! Tokyopop has published a Battlestar Galactica Manga and a Star Trek Manga, on sale now! To promote the books, they invited the creators to a panel. I was an artist on one of the Star Trek stories and i sat next to Richard Hatch. I said hello and he seems like a nice enough fellow. I did not ask him about Lorne Greene or anything.
I also have a story in the new 'Star Trek:Next Generation' manga that's out now as well. It was great to draw all the characters like Capitan Picard, Deanna Troi and Data. There was one character I could NOT draw. I talked about it in this Video.

Sketch of To-Day!

I did a few marker sketches for a student film!

Facebook Question

I recently surrendered to Facebook.
What do I do if I try to befriend someone, and that person denies my offer? Do I ignore that person in real life? If I see the person on the street, do I chastise him or her? I am kind of offended by my Facebook rebuke!

My New Business Card!

Now it can be unveiled! My attention grabbing business tool! I hope to get it in time for the many networking events I hope to attend. If you ask, I may even send you one!

My Sign!

I found this sign on top of a pile of trash outside a movie theatre in NYC. 'Oxford Blues', a movie starring Rob Lowe. It was very late on a Thursday night in 1984 and I carried it on the subway home. I think it was the summer and I had finished high school. I thought it was so cool to have a real movie sign even if did not see the film.

I figured the movie must have been a dog if the theatre would toss out the sign. I found out that 'Oxford Blues' is coming out on DVD after over 20 years! Maybe I'll see it after all this time. I don't know, I might lose respect for the sign.

More Color

This is the color version of the B+W sketch I posted this week.

Meet me at The Grove!

Yours truly will be at a Star Trek/ Battlestar Manga Event at The Barnes & Noble at the Grove on Friday, April 17th. Not only am I scheduled to appear, you may see Mike Wellman, Richard Hatch and David Gerrold there as well! It's so much fun at these events, you don't want to miss it!

Sketch of To-Day

I did this sketch this morning. Did I get the likeness down?

Fun with Facebook!

I managed to find the "Friends of old Marvel" discussions on Facebook early this morning. I really enjoyed the topics and it's good to find out about about some old friends(Hi Heide!). I have my own fair share of photos and Steve has been telling me about it. I can't drink the Facebook Kool-Aid...I just can't!

Monsters vs Aliens

I caught the Monsters vs Aliens in 3D last night! My GF and I took in the 7:10 showing. I did not feel good about the 3D aspect at the beginning. I remember the gimmicky red and blue glasses in 3D comicbooks that would give you headaches. This new 3D rocks! Hands would reach out towards you, debris would fly in your direction! The trailers were also in 3D and I got all excited to see them as well. More 3D!

Craigslist is a lot of Fun!

It seems like there are all kinds of people who put ads on craigslist, but the don't want to pay the artist. Then there is the artist that calls you out on your BS. These types of responses are quickly removed, but they are entertaining!

Quick Layouts

I did these layouts awhile ago. The idea was for the Aerosmith Guitar Hero game. An Aerosmith spotlight would flash across the sky and the entire city would mobilize, grabbing their PSP consoles and meeting at some empty space. Kinda like a rave party but with Guitar Hero. I did it quick with pen and ink. It looks better on computer and the the contrast looks great on the page.

Internship

Whenever I can't sleep, (like now) I visit Craigslist. It's good to know what's out there. There are plenty of low paying gigs but a fair number of scams. I caught this ad there. Apparently, there are people looking for help with running errands, answering phones and doing various grunt work and calling them 'Interns.'I am familiar with the concept. I was an intern at Marvel Comics in the 80's and grunt work was the job. But at least I got to rub shoulders with some very talented artists and editors. Nowadays, It seems that you can put an ad up and hope to find some student to pick up your laundry for free. I hope people are not buying into that.

Are you kidding?

I read this article on the New York Times website and I could not believe it. What kind of kook would have Captain Kirk's chair in the living room? I have had a chance to sit in Picard's chair,but if I stuck it in front of the TV set, I would be nuts!

The Dawn

This is my watercolor drawing on a japanese dawn. It was the last frame of a story I did for the comiculture website years ago.

Movie Shoot

I spent most of the weekend working on my GFs short film! This is as close as I have ever been to a movie set and it was a lot of fun. I can't tell you about the story, I will leave that up to her to talk about at her own website. The address soon to come.

A Fun Time!

Who says that drinking can't be fun?

More Before, then After!

I am always surprised at how much art is lost in the final product. I try to create room for the captions and word balloons, but the placement is never up to me. I also assume that the colorist knows how to make the art pop!

I drew the establishing shot of a quaint seaside town. The colorist decided to make the buildings a kind of purple/grey and the same value of the foreground. the letterer had to cover the seagulls I drew above the water. Oh well.

Watchmen Fallout

You already know how I feel about the big movie that opened this weekend. Now read another opinion. Click Here!

Watchmen Weekend!

My friend Steve had a great idea. Let's catch the Watchmen Movie in Imax! So he bought the tickets a month ago, and we met at Universal City. We had a great spot on line and all seven of us had a good view of the flick. Did I like it? I don't think I did. A second viewing is needed.

My opinion of the film did not stop me from celebrating it's release! There was a Watchmen based gallery opening the next night at Meltdown Comics! My GF and I took in the scene and I met some old friends there. James, Joann and Aman posed for a snapshot.

Would I recommend the film? Nope. Did you like it?

Drew Poster

I bought this poster maybe 8 years ago at a convention. It's a Drew Struzan print of a comic book character. My friend Steve asked me to draw a cover for his DVD 'The Freelancer'. I am sure that he will tell you more about it on his own blog, but he wants in the style of Drew! That will be a challenge for me! i look forward to trying and I will show you the results.

Kolchak meets Barnabas!

It's been a long time, but the Kolchak story I worked on has come out. It's the first story, and I am liking it so far! It was a little hard to find. I found this copy at Meltdown comics. I hope that everyone looks for it and you can see the cover at the Moonstone site!

Full Moon Station

The second issue of Comiculture Magazine featured 2 stories written and drawn by me. The first was a little 8 page story about a Werewolf in a hostage situation. I thought it was a neat premise when I wrote it, but It needed a rewrite and some editing. As for the artwork, my pencils were inked by Klaus Janson! Great stuff!
This is my sketch and pencils for the last page, then the inks.