Writing and Commissions...

I started writing a monthly book for DC last week. I've written shorter pieces for Marvel and DC in the past but this is kind of monumental (to me anyway) because it's the first monthly book that I've been able to write. Writing for an artist is really an interesting process. Kind of liberating in a way and it has a fire-works kind of feel to it, in that the script I write is like lighting a fuse and then you get to sit back and enjoy the show that the artist puts on. Kind of a unique feeling. Horrible if it goes wrong - but amazing when the artist surpasses your imagination and the script. Anyway, having a blast this month - can't wait for DC to announce it so I can talk more freely about it. In the meantime, here's a commission I did over the holidays...

Cover Process

Peter Bagge, Gilbert Hernandez, and myself are doing a "cover-swap" on our new Dark Horse series coming out in the Spring - so there will be a "variant" cover for each series. Gilbert did my cover and I got to do Peter's.

I usually end up throwing away most of the process stuff and keeping the final product only but got too busy to clean my desktop so actually saved all of the steps accidentally!

Here's the process -- 1. Thumbnails: I gave Peter 3 to choose from - the last one being a sort of Conan-esque cover which is the one he liked best.

2. Pencils: I scan this in so I can see how the logo/type will look over the top of it and for editorial approval.

3. Ink/color: This is the raw image - the original art. I try to do as much at this stage as I can so I don't have to spend a lot of time on the computer.

4. Photoshop/design/logo: I stick the logo on and adjust the color, etc. depending on what the piece is and how it looks with the logo colors. In this case, the background was way too light so I darkened that up and also had to fix the skin of the girl kneeling down (she's not white).

New Giant Man Stories!

In April, Dark Horse is publishing a 24-page collection of 3 Giant Man short stories I did for their Dark Horse Presents Anthology. These are short stories that take place during the same time period as Part 2 and 3 of my book 3 Story. Here's the cover! Also -- this comic is going to have a sneak preview of my new on-going series MIND MGMT that starts in May. More on that soon!

Top 10 Movies of 2011

It's been a while but I'm going to try to update my blog again on a weekly basis! Lots of new stuff going on this year. To kick it off...here's a list of my favorite movies of 2011. It was a pretty good year for movies.

TOP 10

1. The Artist

2. Tree of Life

3. Tintin

4. Hanna

5. Planet of the Apes

6. Moneyball

7. Drive

8. Captain America

9. Thor

10. X-Men First Class

ALMOST TOP 10

Sherlock Holmes

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Mission Impossible

10 HOURS I'LL NEVER GET BACK

Pirates of the Caribbean

Sucker Punch

Green Hornet

Super

Gainsbourg

EVERYTHING ELSE I SAW

Transformers

Super 8

Green Lantern

Conan

Rango

Rio

Battle LA

Kung Fu Panda 2

Bridesmaids

Adjustment Bureau

Source Code

Gnomeo and Juliet

Your Highness

Puss in Boots

Muppets

Midnight in Paris

30 Minutes or Less

Super

I Saw the Devil

Dolphin Tale

Attack the Block

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

The Descendants

Young Adult

You Are Wild Dog!

Finished up the last of my commissions for a while -- until I finish penciling Strange Crimes. I'm 120 pages into Strange Crimes with about 80 pages to go. About half-way through the pencils though, I came up with an idea to an extra chapter I want to do -- which is probably another 10-12 pages so it may end up a little longer. That's the part of the comic writing process I love -- the fluid nature of it -- the ability to come up with ideas along the way and just fold them into the finished product.

Got a great Wild Dog commission -- a character I liked back when I was younger -- and sort of strikes me as the pre-Punisher. Also did a pin-up for a good friend of mine Chris Schweizer who does a series of books "Crogan's Adventures." Highly recommended -- he'd told me the idea for his series years ago in San Diego when I first met him and I knew that if he had the guts to back up his words -- he'd be doing an incredible series of books -- and he is.

Criterion Collection!

Had a fun project this week - an illustration for a poster to promote a new film festival that Criterion (the best DVD publisher/designer out there) is promoting next month. I had a tough choice - choosing between Repulsion and The Night of the Hunter. I ended up doing the Robert Mitchum movie only because I immediately thought of an image to draw even though I think I like Repulsion as a movie a little more. After I was done I really regretted not coming up with an image where I could have drawn Robert Mitchum's face. Next time.

Also - over the summer I've written more pages of comics in a shorter amount of time then I ever have before. Since the spring I've written and thumbnailed 1200 pages worth of comics and written full-lenth pitches for two on-going series ideas. Waiting to hear on the on-going series stuff but the other 1200 pages will be turned into graphic novels over the course of this fall, winter and spring for 2011. It's nice to be in a place where I know what books I'm doing next but I also have the plots and layouts completely nailed down as well. The hard work is over - time to just plug away on drawing until it's all done. See you in the spring!

Mad Man.

I finished an 8-page Madman story for Mike Allred a few weeks ago -- for a to-be-published collection of Madman stories by various creators. I'll update more when I know the details of the when and where. Needless to say, one of the high-points of my career in comics. Back in 1991 I'd just graduated from high school and had this Madman black and white poster hanging on my wall -- a long vertical poster with the flip-book corners from the books -- of Madman dancing. I met Mike in 1991 at a local comic show and bought the first limited series from him. Nicest guy. So, years later -- this year, at a party in Portland that Top Shelf had put together to celebrate me and Jeff Lemire being in town, Mike shows up. First time I'd seen him since 1991. I said "I was a huge fan of yours." And his reply: "'Was?'"

Needless to say, I still am. Got the offer to do anything with any of the characters in Snap City and couldn't resist the beatniks. Here's a teaser panel from the story...