Joker & Lex

This came out yesterday so I can finally post the black and white art for this incredibly fun little short Azzarello and I did. Wish I could take credit for the idea, but that's all Brian. Who can say no when someone calls you up and asks you do do Joker and Lex Luthor in the style of Calvin and Hobbes?!? Gotta say, kudos to the folks at DC for letting us do this and do it right. It's not something people expect from Brian and I, and you have to give credit to the editors who looked at these pages when they came in and didn't immediately think something was rotten in Denmark. So here's a special thank you to Eddie Berganza, Rex Ogle, and Jim Lee for getting our backs with this.

The best thing about doing something like this is the opportunity to pull out the brush and just let it talk for you. No need to clutter things up with rendering or ink wash. Trish Mulvihill did a fantastic job of keeping this simple in color as well. I think the thing this strip does best is showcase Brian's sense of humor and ability to say a lot with very little. Thought about posting the lettered version here, but then my evil, capitalistic instincts kicked in and I realized people should go out and buy the damn thing to get the full effect ,)

Mother, Country, and Apple Pie

Finally something new I can post. Mr. Alex Segura over at the DCU blog posted this yesterday along with some other new covers. Tried something new in my process for this piece. Really trying to introduce some softness into my work. Looking back on some older pieces, the harshness and angularity is a bit overwhelming. Although I'm wary of pushing too far in the other direction, I'd like to find a happy medium. Hards and softs that work together in unity without losing a sense of style.

In other news, got something fun to show everyone as soon as Superan/Batman #75 ships.

SDCC: The Name of the BEAST

These suckers are all convention commissions from years past done on the spot during the San Diego convention. My attitude towards commissions has always been that I want to give people the best drawing possible given the limited time frame. This means that they take a while to complete, therefore I usually take no more than five or six a show. Since I've almost always taken the list on Preview night, those unfortunate souls who get to the show on Thursday or Friday find the list full before they even step foot inside the convention hall.

This year I'm taking a different approach to my San Diego Convention commissions. To try and squeeze a few more drawings in than usual, my art dealer extraordinaire Mark Hay over at Spashpageart.com is taking a list before the show for first time via his website. If you're attending the marvelous monster that is SDCC and want a drawing, click on the link below to splash page art and check out the rules of the game.

splashpageart.com

While you're there, take the time to thumb through the AMAZING art he has for sale. He reps some of the best guys in the business, and you can find some fantastic originals by the likes of Tim Bradstreet, Edvin Biukovic, Cliff Chiang, and many more. That's right, I said Edvin Biukovic......

After Liberatore...

Love me....

The Devil

Finally found these pages while in a folder of old random work. Thought I had lost them. It had been a while since I'd seen these in black and white. I absolutely LOVE drawing Daredevil and can say with certainty I'm no where near done with this character. Would love to do some more DD interior work, since these three pages only scratched the surface of my interest. In fact, I'd LOVE to take Daredevil back to more of the feeling it had in it's first 20 issues or so. As much as everybody enjoys brooding, dark Matt Murdock, I'd like to take a left turn and take the character back to his more adventurous and cavalier roots. Matt Hollingsworth did a stellar job with these pages in color. I was thrilled to be working with the guy that colored Grendel: Devils and Deaths, probably one of my top three favorite books of all time. Anyone who hasn't read it should find it immediately.

Legion

The assignment was to do a cover based directly on this Keith Giffen Legion image from the 1980's. Perks: No layouts required, the basic color scheme is already worked out, and the final goal is much clearer than it usually is. The thing I enjoy about doing homages to other pieces is the fact that, even with all this homework done beforehand, the final piece still requires you to find some solutions to make the image work for you. My ultimate goal became giving my cover a psychadelic feel, something that felt more in tune with what the Legion seemed like to me at that time. Put that tablet on your tongue and to relax....

I can't discuss this cover without talking about Jack Kirby. The Darkseid character is an amazing design and I LOVED the big orange sun in the background and all the Kirby-crackle. I did a number of passes on this in the drawing phase just to get Darkseid's face close to looking like Jack's stuff.... or at least as close as my capabilities would allow. In the end, hopefully my version is still recognizable as a homage to the Giffen cover, but different enough to be somewhat fresh.

Off topic: R.I.P. Frank Frazetta. King of Kings.