George O'Connor's Online Sketchbook

John Carter of Mars

2011-11-17T15:28:00.002-05:00

I originally drew this for something else that is no longer occurring so, since it ain't, I figured I'd share it here. John carter getting all jack-rabbity on a Thark.

Signing at McNally Jackson! First Second's 5th anniversary!

2011-11-13T14:57:00.000-05:00

First Second, publisher of Journey into Mohawk Country, Ball-Peen Hammer, The First Second Nursery Rhyme Book, and the Olympians series is turning 5 years old! Join me in raising a glass to the wonderful people who, for some reason, keep seeing fit to publish me this Tuesday, November 15th at McNally Jackson Bookstore in Soho! I'll be joined by other such First Second luminaries as Dave Roman, Mike Cavallaro, MK Reed, Mark Siegel, Molly Crabapple, Danica Novgorodoff, John Leavitt, Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan, Carla Jablonski, Matt Madden, and Joe Infurnari!

The fun begins at 7 Pm, see you there!

Live Comix Reading at Book Court!

2011-11-13T14:34:00.001-05:00

Join me this Wednesday at Book Court in Brooklyn for a live Comics reading from Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory. I'll be joined by Jennifer "Underwire" Hayden and Leslie "Eye of the Majestic Creature" Stein who will also be performing their comics live. Basically, it's going to more live comics reading than you can shake a stick at, yo.

Fun begins at 7! Be there!

Appearance! Tomorrow! Brooklyn Public Library! The big one!

2011-10-19T15:10:00.002-04:00

As part of their "Teen Week" celebration, I'll be appearing tomorrow, Thursday, October 20th at the Brooklyn Central Library located at Grand Army Plaza between Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway. My program will start at 10:00 am in the Dweck Center auditorium, which I honestly don't much about , but I will remark is a cool-sounding name. I'll be giving a slideshow, talking about Olympians, and sharing some sneak peeks of Hades: Lord of the Dead and Poseidon: The Yet to Be Subtitled. Hope to see you there!

New Interview at the Comics Journal!

2011-10-14T09:17:00.000-04:00

Check out this interview with me at The Comics Journal! It's a huge honor for me to be featured in such a prestigious institution, and it's probably the most in-depth interview I've ever given. Please, everyone, give it a read!

Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T12:49:00.001-04:00

I was unexpectedly touched by the passing of Apple guru Steve Jobs, and not just because I'm typing this out on my Macbook Air right now. Like all people, I'm sure Jobs had feet of clay, but he sure managed to live life to the fullest. That's something we can all certainly admire.

In addition to all his work shaping technology as we know it, Jobs founded Pixar, who, for my money, has been the most consistently excellent movie studio since the early days of Disney animation. I always particularly associated Jobs with the masterpiece Wall-E, and its far-off future of highly evolved Apple-derived robots. I drew the titular character himself, whom I have no doubt has, somewhere in his collection of 21st century memorabilia, a black mock turtleneck sweater.

RIP, Steve Jobs.

Lookee! I'ma on the tee-vee!

2011-10-04T09:06:00.000-04:00

While up in Maine over the weekend I was interviewed on the local news magazine show 207 about Olympians. You can watch the clip below, or give a click through here to see the video of my more-or-less coherent interview on their site

Hey Look! I'm in SLJ's Photo of the Week!

2011-09-29T10:13:00.001-04:00

Not to brag or nothing, but I was rockin' the Statue of Liberty crown pretty darn hard at my recent appearance at the NY State booth during the National Book festival in DC. Just sayin'.

Signing at Casablanca Comics!

2011-09-29T10:03:00.000-04:00

The wonderful folks at Casablanca comics in Portland, Maine are hosting a signing with me this Saturday, October 1st. I'll be signing copies of Zeus, Athena and Hera, doing drawings and sharing sneak peeks of upcoming volumes of Olympians. The fun begins at 11:00 AM and goes to 2:00 PM. If you find yourself in the neighborhood you should, like totally, stop by.

Casablanca Comics is at 151 Middle Street, in Portland, ME 04101. Click here for directions, or give them a a call at (207) 780-1676. See you there!

My Interview in the Washington City Paper

2011-09-27T11:10:00.000-04:00

I was on the road when this posted, so I'm only telling you about this now, but you can read this interview with me that appeared in the Washington City Paper heralding my recent appearance at the National Book Festival.

My cat

2011-09-27T09:23:00.000-04:00

Been awhile since I've posted some sketches here! In a blatant and shameless bit of topic baiting, Tim Hamilton sent the word around this morning that today's topic was "Birdie the Cat". Blatant and shameless because Birdie is my cat.

My girlfriend and I adopted "Stray # 3" from the Seventh Ave Cat Clinic about two and a half years ago. We named her Birdie because of the trilling noises she makes, and because we thought it might be funny to name her after something she might like to eat. Like "Carrots" the rabbit, or "Birdseed" the parakeet, or "Steaming Load of its Own Feces" the dog. Birdie the Cat.

She's a funny little tabby, this Birdie, and I captured a few little doodles of her this morning as she stared out the window, wondering after her namesake, no doubt.

I wonder if she'd be flattered by all this attention. As a rule, the Bird doesn't seem to like anyone but my girlfriend and me, but I think she's been nice to Tim Hamilton on occasion when he's looked in on her when we're both out of town. Enough to make an impression, at least.

Signing at Books of Wonder!

2011-09-24T21:41:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the short notice (been on the road with limited internet action) but I have a signing tomorrow at New York City's famous Books of Wonder children's bookstore. I'll be appearing alongside such children's comics luminaries as Carla "Resistance" Jablonski, MK "Americus" Reed, Dave "Astronaut Academy" Roman, Ryan " Zoe and Robot" Sias, Sara "Bake Sale" Varon, and Neil "Joey McFly & the Big Hairy Drama" Numberman. I'll be signing copies of Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory, and anything else you put in front of me.

The festivities begin at 1PM, at 18 West 18th Street in NYC. Hope to see you there!

Big City Dare to Draw!

2011-09-20T09:52:00.000-04:00

The Big City Dare to Draw is a periodic gathering in Manhattan where like-minded artists, from pro to novice and all points in-between, meet to network, draw and have a drink or two. There is a suggested donation that goes to help fund struggling artists, and a couple of pros will hold some short demos where they share some tips or ideas.

The next meetup is on Wednesday, September 21st, from 6-9 PM, at Jack Demsey’s Pub (36 W 33rd St, New York, NY-- right across from the Empire State Building!). The guest pros in question will be myself and my studiomate Reilly Brown-- I hope to see you there!

For your perusal, here are some sketches made by yours truly at a previous Dare to Draw, with some sweet Copic markers I borrowed from Simon Fraser:

New Interview on Diamond Bookshelf

2011-08-30T12:11:00.002-04:00

Head on over to Diamond's website (y'know, the people who supply everything you find in your local neighborhood comic shop) to check out this interview with yours truly, where I discuss the character of Hera, the upcoming Hades: Lord of the Dead, and how I hope my art can be considered "real good".

Where all the magic happens

2011-08-29T19:13:00.002-04:00

I'm trying something a little new here: specifically, a little video action. We're working on a major renovation of the greater Olympiansrule website, with the video component scheduled to play a big part in the revised site. Consider this little treat, a short virtual tour of my drawing desk, to be a kind of teaser for some video goodness to come. I act a little silly, and show off some artwork for the upcoming Olympians Book 5, Poseidon: The Yet to be Subtitled, amongst other things.

Special thanks to my pal Natalie Kim for putting this together, She's one half of the Supertwins, a new comedic web series premiering this October.

Amazing Hera review at SLJ's Fuse#8 blog

2011-08-19T13:04:00.002-04:00

The amazing uber-Librarian Elizabeth "up in the sky, is it a" Bird posted up a really blush-worthy review of my latest, Hera: the Goddess and Her Glory at the Fuse#8 blog on the School Library Journal website. Please give it a read here. It made my morning!

See you in Baltimore!

2011-08-19T12:28:00.000-04:00

If you find yourself in Maryland this weekend, I'll be at the Baltimore Comic Con signing copies of my books, drawing pretty pictures and just generally having a good time. I'll be at booth # 1707, as a guest of the immensely talented Dean Haspiel. There will be a whole posse of us Brooklynites down there at the same table-- also signing will be Michel Fiffe, Kat Roberts, Natalie Kim, and that Chris Miskiewicz fellow that all the kids are talking about. Also, my studiomate Rip-Roarin' Reilly Brown is going to be around somewhere as well, hopefully at our table. It's basically going to be the best thing since sliced bread-- you can even read a press release about it here.

Hope to see you there!

In Case You Were Wondering...

2011-07-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

The fine folks at Robot 6 recently asked me to participate in their "What Are You Reading" feature. If that's the sort of thing you ask you might be interested in knowing, why not click HERE and see for yourself?

New event at WORD Bookstore! Making Comics with kids!

2011-07-26T10:55:00.001-04:00

For awhile now I've been hearing these wondrous tales about this great new bookstore in Brooklyn called WORD. So when my publisher called, asking if I'd like to do a comics workshop there, I jumped at the chance. This Saturday, July 30th, at 1:30 I will be at WORD presenting a comic making workshop for kids (in case you attended last week's event at Bergen Street Comics, this will be a completely different workshop). All supplies will be provided, click HERE for more info. afterwords, I'll be signing and sketching what ever you stick in front of me.

The party that was at Bergen Street Comics

2011-07-26T10:29:00.000-04:00

So this past Saturday, July 23rd, was the official book release party for Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory at the world's greatest comics store, Bergen Street Comics.

The festivities were divided into two portions. First, at 4pm, was the Make Your Own Olympian workshop. A lot of time has passed since the original Olympians came on the scene, and a lot of new things have popped up in the world since then. After some quick drawing exercises, the kids in attendance hunkered down to create their own new gods/goddesses/heroes/monsters. Some of my faves included a goddess of Nutella Sandwiches, a goddess of birds, and an elephant-like Republican Monster (this from a young boy with a Che Guevara shirt on).

Yes, I am wearing a golden wreath. Everyone got one. Aren't you jealous?

I'm drawin' a picture.


This and the above photographs courtesy the lovely and talented Natalie Kim. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really were glowing like that.

Following the kid's workshop, we took a brief break and reconvened for the adult portion of the evening, or as I preferred to call it, the Bacchanalia. I left my orderly, Apollonian wreath aside for this part, and opted instead for a more appropriate, Dionysian set of goat horns.

This photograph courtesy the lovely and talented Chris Sinderson. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really were glowing like that, too.

Notice I'm not the only set of horns in this picture.

Some of the wonderful folks who turned out for this, braving the 100 degree heat.

The end of the night. If you don't know insanely talented Foiled cartoonist Mike Cavallaro personally, you will never understand how funny this photo is. Oh, This and the above photographs courtesy the lovely and talented Arta. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really stopped glowing like that. I was tired.

Extra-super special thanks to Tom, Amy, Tucker and the whole crew at Bergen Street Comics fro having me, and for making the best darn comics shop in all of creation.
Thanks again to everyone who showed, I was immensely touched at the crowds that came out, ESPECIALLY considering how unbelievably gross it was outside. As I admitted to my GF after the event, I wouldn't have come out for me, if that makes sense.

New interview!

2011-07-19T13:42:00.000-04:00

There's interviews, and then there's interviews. Click here to read a great interview that goes a little bit deeper than my usual fare. Deb Nam-Krane, the woman who runs the Written by Deb blog, asked me some hardcore mythological questions. Please give 'em a read!

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!

2011-07-19T13:07:00.000-04:00

Book 3 of Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is officially released today! Whoo-hoo!

Keep watching this space as I'll be unveiling lots of new cool things regrading Hera, including appearances and such. If you're going to be in Brooklyn Saturday, July 23rd, you ought to come down to the official Hera Release Party!

New interview up at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast

2011-07-15T14:47:00.000-04:00

If you're so inclined, please go check out this interview I gave at the wonderful book blog, 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Hear me ramble on about all kinds of stuff, and also get to see a bunch of artwork, including some sneak peeks of Hera and Hades.

RELEASE PARTY FOR HERA: THE GODDESS AND HER GLORY!!!

2011-07-12T09:07:00.001-04:00

It's almost here!! Join me Saturday, July 23rd at the amazing Bergen Street Comics, in the great borough of Brooklyn, for the official Release Party of the third book in Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory!! Whoo-hoo!

It's going to be an (almost) all-day affair. At 4:00, I will be hosting a comics creating workshop for kids and the young-at-heart, where we will create our own latter-day Olympians, Monsters and Heroes for an art-show that will be hung on the walls of Bergen Street Comics. Then, we'll reconvene at 8 for a Bacchanalia of Epic proportions. All ages are welcome, but Nectar and Ambrosia will only be served to those of age; togas are encouraged but not mandatory. Throughout the day I'll be signing, drawing and talkin' mythological matters with anyone who comes by. Maybe we'll have a visitor or two from Olympus itself?

For more info, click here. Hope to see you all!

An Intro to Greek Mythology in 10 Panels

2011-07-08T17:57:00.002-04:00

I was recently asked to do a short comic for the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog: An Intro to Greek Mythology in 10 Panels. Click here to check it out!

Woofman

2011-06-22T15:44:00.000-04:00

Had so much fun drawing Frankenstein's Monster yesterday that I requested we draw a wolfman (pronounced woofman. Always pronounced woofman) today. It's also fun.

Mini Hera Review in Paste Magazine

2011-06-22T13:26:00.000-04:00

If you've been following my Olympians blog (and if you haven't, why the heck not?) You know I've been counting down to the July 19th release of Book 3 of Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory. Well, we're less than a month away, and the reviews are finally starting to roll in. Head on over to Paste Magazine to read a mini review that calls Hera the strongest Olympians volume so far.

Frankenstein's Monster, or the Modern Prometheus

2011-06-21T19:35:00.002-04:00

Drew this on the train over to the studio today, but didn't have a chance to post it until just now. This was fun-- we need more topics like this.

The Savage Dragon!

2011-06-08T16:03:00.000-04:00

As you all know by now, Savage Dragon #171 came out today, with a big jam story written by Joe Keatinge, illustrated by Erik Larson, Simon Fraser, Mike Cavallaro, Joe Infurnari, Dean Haspiel, Tim Hamilton and myself, and cobbled together by Mr Michel Fiffe. For my portion of the story, I didn't get to draw the familiar version of Mr Dragon doing much but have a conversation with a dead lady (read the story!), but I did get to draw a medieval Savage Dragon in shining armor fighting a fire-breathing Savage Dragon dragon (again, read the story!). To amend that I did a quickie marker drawing of MR SD, with an even quicker coloring job. It was a lot of fun to get to play, albeit briefly, in Mr Larson's sadnbox, and quite a thrill to see him draw some characters designed by myself and Dean Haspiel (read the story already!)

Carousel!

2011-05-20T19:44:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning, from 11 to 12, I'll be performing a slide-show reading of comics from Zeus: King of the Gods, as well as a sneak preview scene from Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory as part of the NYPL's centennial celebration. Not only that, but if you come you'll be able to see and hear other great cartoonists like Nick Bertozzi, Bob Sikoryak, Dave Roman and Susan Kim! Info above, I hope to see my NY peeps there.

PNCA's 5th Annual Graphic Novel Intensive!

2011-05-06T10:24:00.001-04:00

The Pacific Northwest College of Art has, for the last five years, been offering a graphic novel intensive program and this year it's scheduled to be conducted by the lovely and talented Ryan Alexander-Tanner and yours truly. As two comics creators with more than a passing interest in the power of comics in education (Ryan is co-author with William Ayers of the amazing To Teach: The Journey, in Comics ), this year's program will differ from previous years' sessions and focus not only on the making of comics, but on how to incorporate comics into the classroom. If you're a librarian or teacher or anyone with a healthy interest in the educational possibilities of comics, this is the intensive for you.

The program will run from June 20th to the 24th in lovely Portland, Oregon (one of the meccas of comics art in the United States, no lie). Click HERE to find out more, or to sign up. If you have any questions, write me at geooco@gmail.com and I will answer you past haste. Hope to see you in Portland!

Old Bones mega post!

2011-04-21T12:03:00.001-04:00

Yesterday a bunch of my studiomates ( Simon Fraser, Becky Cloonan, Tim Hamilton and Robin Ha) and I made a trek to the Museum of Natural History to check out their new Sauropod exhibit (along with pretty much every family in NYC with a kid under 8 years old-- gotta remember about spring break next time). The Sauropod exhibit was pretty cool, but it can't hold a candle to the permanent fossil collection, and we all made many cool drawings.

Here's some of my faves:

Because it was so crowded, we spent a lot of time in the less crowded mammal rooms, or as I like to call them, "failasauruses". This is the skull of a mammal-like reptile called Moschops, which is, like, the best name ever. Becky and I kept saying "Moschops!" all day after. Go on, give it a try: Moschops!

Another mammal-like reptile, the Dimetrodon. These are the guys with the big fins on their backs.

Another fun one to say: Glyptodont! These were huge armored mammals, like if a beaver and a turtle had a baby. That's armor plating on its skull, not a hair piece.

Becky thought it would be fun if we tried to picture the glyptodont with flesh on it. Mine looks like a lazy sheep. I hope to god she puts up hers because it was disgusting.

A Brontetherium, king of a huge rhino on steroids. I drew this because the skull had compressed strangely during fossilization and it looks like he's going "aduh!". Things that go "aduh!" are awesome.

After seeing the sauropod exhibit I decided to funnel some of new-found appreciation for them into this drawing of the Apatosaurus (the dinosaur formerly known as Brontosaurus). The neck vertebra a re really quite beautiful. I had to finally abandon this drawing because people were walking in front of me and I kept losing count of which vertebra I was on.

Allosaurus may not get the press of T-Rex, but dinosaur connoisseurs know that this is the cooler carnivore. Just look at the cool sweeping lines in its skull. Becky compared it to drawing a sports car, and she was totally right.

My favorite dino, Triceratops. So much so that when everyone else left (or was swept away by a crowd of 6-year old like Tim was) I stayed behind to behind to draw this. If I had a triceratops... you'd all pay.

I also drew this picture of a Styracosaurus, a spikier but smaller cousin of Triceratops.

Finally, because I'm so HARDCORE! I joined Simon at Jack Demseys in Manhattan for the Big City Drink and Draw, where we drank and drew. I borrowed Simon's marker to draw this picture of our extremely muscular model beating the hell out of a bar chair.

All in all, a rich, full day!

Kentler benefit reception tonight! Be there!

2011-04-15T11:23:00.000-04:00

Tonight's the FREE kick-off event for the 9th Annual 100 WORKS ON PAPER BENEFIT at The Kentler International Drawing Space in Red Hook, NYC, featuring cartoonists. I have a piece in this, I'll be there, so if you find yourself all wandering around Red Hook, going like , man, I feel like looking some original comics art, and maybe staring longingly across the room at George "He's over 7 foot tall and also the world's handsomest man" O'Connor, well, then, I'll be frank. You'll have a hard time finding a more appropriate event than this one.

WHEN: Friday, April 15 · 6pm - 8pm

WHERE: Kentler International Drawing Space
353 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY
http://www.kentlergallery.org/

Over 100 Artists have generously donated drawings and works on paper to support the 2011 exhibitions and public programs at Kentler International Drawing Space.

Featuring cartoonists/artists:

Nick Abadzis
Thomas Baehr
Patrick Bucklew
Krista Dragomer
Jen Ferguson
Simon Fraser
Dean Haspiel
Jennifer Hayden
Josh Neufeld
George O'Connor
Rick Parker

BENEFIT EXHIBITION ON VIEW:
April 15 - May 13 / Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 5pm

FaceBook Party event: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=192605574114808

BENEFIT EVENT: Saturday, May 14, 6pm, Honoring: Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel
(Ticket holders only)
Link to purchase tickets on Kentler's website.
www.kentlergallery.org

Warrior, skeletonized

2011-04-14T13:24:00.002-04:00

Got a lot to do today so I drew this on the train over to the studio. I didn't quite finish it, but whatevs, it's free, right?

Walt Simonson's The Mighty Thor...

2011-04-13T16:04:00.000-04:00

was the comic that made me want to draw comics.

I suggested the Mighty Thor as today's warm-up topic, partly because apparently there's a movie coming out (cough), but mainly because the omnibus of Walt Simonson's entire run came out today. I drew my version of Thor above with a nod to Mr Simonson's stellar version.

The First Man in Space

2011-04-12T10:00:00.002-04:00

Today we honor Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.

After seeing Tim's post, I was surprised to learn that Gagarin died in 1968. Some reading revealed that he was killed in a jet crash, caused by negligence of the ground crew. He was only 34 years old.

I wish the Soviet Union had treated its space heroes better. Hopefully, he and Laika are off frolicking somewhere, wherever it is cosmonauts go when they die.

Willie Nelson

2011-04-11T19:08:00.000-04:00

Today's topic was "Willie Nelson".

When I was a wee one, my father (formerly a listener-to of hippie music) discovered Willie Nelson, and much of my earliest musical memories are of the illustrious Mr Nelson here. My default mental image of him is as a younger man, which I tried to capture above (with mixed results) and passed up the opportunity to draw him as the living embodiment of cragginess.

Muppet Angel vs The Count-- to the Death!

2011-04-06T12:47:00.000-04:00

I'm not much of an Angel fan, but I am aware that at some point he was transformed into a Muppet. Well, the world ain't big enough for two Muppet vampires, so I decided to draw Muppet Angel locked in immortal combat with Sesame Street's the Count. In the background, Janice the Vampire Slayer is torn in her duty.

Pretty lady eating a mango

2011-04-05T13:08:00.000-04:00

Today's topic was "mango".I don't have all that much to say on the topic of mangoes, other than that they're a delicious fruit, if a little messy, so I decided to just draw a quickie subway sketch of a pretty lady enjoying a messy mango. Sorry for the lightness, but if I darkened it too much you could see the totally boss drawing of Poseidon I drew on the other side.

The 38th anniversary of the first cell-phone call!

2011-04-04T09:11:00.001-04:00

So, it turns out that the first ever cellphone call was made 38 years ago today. Who knew the cellphone was so old? It's older than me!

I think the first time, in my own limited worldview, that I really became aware of the soon-to-be-ubiquitous cell phone was about 1995, give or take a year. So, as I am often prone to do, I tried to imagine what 1995 George, if while on one of his patented Angry Walks® through 1995 NYC, would think if he accidentally walked through a space-time wormhole to the NYC of 2011 and saw all the peoples on their bluetooth headsets.

Used to be, you could spot the crazies in NYC a mile off, as they'd be the ones merrily yammering to themselves. Now, we all are. Yay cell phones!

Crying Purple Gorilla Comics.

2011-03-31T14:49:00.001-04:00

Today's topic, by Nathan Schreiber, is "monkey reading comics".

Back in the day at DC Comics, someone in editorial (I'm not sure who, but I think it was Julius Schwartz) noticed that comics with covers featuring either (a) a gorilla (b) the color purple or (c) someone crying experienced an otherwise inexplicable boost in sales. Supposedly, these attributes were each allowed to appear on only one cover a month so as not to generate internal competition amongst the company's titles. That restraint is to be commended, but imagine the sales on an issue of Crying Purple Gorilla Comics. I mean, I'd buy it.

BTW, Alan Moore did this joke in the background of Top 10. I'm totally ripping him off.

Firefly day: Captain Mal Reynolds

2011-03-30T17:13:00.000-04:00

It's "Firefly" day here on Drawbridge, not "Inara" day, just sayin'. Someone had to draw the Captain, and that someone was me.

So here's how Firefly day came about: we all love Firefly here at the Drawbridge studios. LOVE IT. But especially me.

A while back, the old fogies with whom I share this blog wanted to do a "Space 1999" day, which was some old sci-fi show from before my time. It meant nothing to me, so I asked, "Couldn't we do a 'futures of the past' day instead? You could draw Space 1999, and I could do, like, I don't know, 1984 or 2001: A Space Odyssey or something?"

"NO", said they, "It's Space 1999 day. Suck it!"

"Suck you!" said I, and drew this Firefly piece instead, because, as mentioned, I LOVE Firefly. And lo and behold, my Firefly piece got a whole lot of hits, way more that their Space 1999 pieces did, because people love Firefly. So then, as we all love Firefly, we figured, let's make a whole day of it.

And there was much rejoicing, hallelujah!

iPad vs Kindle-- the battle continues...

2011-03-29T10:45:00.002-04:00

See? All they needed was a common enemy.

Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl

2011-03-28T16:11:00.000-04:00

Today's topic was "your favorite song". This isn't necessarily my end-all, be-all favorite song, but certainly it's one of my favorites.

"Favorite song" was my idea-- I really enjoyed making a comic strip of another of my favorites when we did "Radiohead" as a topic a few weeks back, and I wanted to try it again. I might make this a series, who knows?

Liz Taylor's Eyes...

2011-03-24T14:31:00.002-04:00

...were violet.

I know, scientifically speaking, this was because she had blue eyes and a surplus of vascular tissue running through them, making them violet, but still-- Violet eyes. Pretty cool.

I was sorry to hear of her passing, even though, given my age bracket, I first knew her as that older lady who got married a lot that Michael Jackson would hang around with. As I grew out of my callow youth, I learned the true depths of her star power. Rest in peace, Ms Taylor.

The original Karate Kid

2011-03-22T11:09:00.001-04:00

No, I'm not talking about Ralph Macchio here (although he is todays' warm-up topic).

I'll swoop your leg, sucka!

Created in 1966 by a then-13-year-old Jim Shooter for the Legion of Superheroes, Val Armorr of Earth is a master of every form of martial art that will be invented by the 31st century. In his initial appearance, he convinces the Legion of Superheroes to allow him onto their team when he uses his "super-karate" to beat up on Superboy. Despite that impressive feat, he's pretty far from my favorite member of the Legion, and I think he unofficially holds the record of having been killed off the most times. Some writers (Keith Giffen) just hate this guy.

Although the movie character has almost nothing to do with Val here, if you watch there is a prominent credit thanking DC comics for the use of their character's name. So now you know.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T14:25:00.002-04:00

Decided to draw a whole comic explaining the story of St Patrick's day.

Check out here for another in my extremely occasional true history comics, this one about Benjamin Franklin.

Whedon Wednesday- Buffy

2011-03-16T15:08:00.001-04:00

It's Joss Whedon Wednesday on the 'Bridge, and and the topic is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Someone had to draw the slayer, and that someone was me. Penciled this on the train ride over, and inked it in the studio. Not the best likeness of Ms. Summers ever committed to paper, but you all get the point.

G.I.Joe: Cobra the enemy.

2011-03-15T11:32:00.001-04:00

Today's topic is "G.I.Joe"

What a difference a few years makes.

We're not all that dissimilar in age here in the studios, just a handful of years separate us all, really, but the 12 inch G.I.Joe of Simon and Tim's was like an urban legend for me growing up. We knew it had existed-- grownups were always telling us G.I.Joe was this big when they were growing up, yet none of us had ever gotten a good look at one. There was a pit in the local woods where I grew up that contained the melted and mutilated remains, impaled on a tree stump, of a 12 inch Joe that we would go view on occasion. But for me and my friends, G.I.Joe was a little 3 and 3/4 inch team of guys with cool nicknames and specialties. Even better, they had a team of enemies, Cobra, who were all much cooler than the Joes. I definitely sided with the bad guys.

I was never a big fan of the cartoon which existed to sell us the little plastic men, but I was a huge fan of the comic, which was written by Larry Hama and had art by such talents as Michael Golden, Herb Trimpe, Russ Heath and others.

Bizarro Superman!

2011-03-11T14:35:00.000-05:00

I LOVE Bizarro. One day I'll draw a comic with him.

Check out my earlier warm-up I posted of Bizarro, too.

Darna and he arch-nemesis, Valentina

2011-03-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

Today's warm-up topic was "Darna", the so-called Filipino Wonder Woman.

I really didn't know much about Darna, so I had to google her. In an awful lot of the pictures that came she was standing next to an evil-looking Medusa lady. Further googling revealed the Medusa lady to be her arch-nemesis, Valentina, so I drew the two of them in mortal combat. Just can't resist drawing a snake-haired lady.

Firefly: So what does that make us?

2011-03-09T07:56:00.001-05:00

Big damn heroes, sir!

Ain't we just.

The topic today was actually Space: 1999, a show I've never seen, had barely heard of, and care nothing for. I tried to convince the fogeys I share a studio with to maybe, oh, I don't know, choose a topic that actually occurred in my lifetime or something, to no avail. So rather than draw their old timey space show I drew Firefly, which is set in 2517, and therefore that much better.

Happy Birthday, Will Eisner!

2011-03-07T15:36:00.000-05:00

Nobody, and I mean nobody, could draw a donnybrook like Will Eisner. I would wish that more people could draw like him, but then I would be depressed. Hell, I didn't even look at reference for fear of being disheartened, so apologies if the Spirit is off-model.

Salsa: Now in three different varieties

2011-03-04T08:50:00.002-05:00

Today's topic is "salsa".

Hope everyone brought some corn chips.

Chimera

2011-03-03T18:50:00.001-05:00

Today's topic was "Chimera"

Well, I am kind of the mythology guy round hereabouts, so why not draw the original Chimera, the one from Greek myth? Well, Tim did a version of it that I can't touch, which hearkens back very closely to the (kinda sorta goofy) ancient depictions. But as luck would have it, I designed my own take on the Chimera as part of a pitch for a spin-off series from Olympians that is currently languishing in non-development. I was fiercely proud of this somewhat more realistic take (if something like the Chimera could ever be considered realistic) and was kind of saddened that there's a good chance it will never see the light of day otherwise, so why not share it here? So, as I was on the move all day, here's my crappy little subway doodle of the Chimera:

and as an added bonus, here's a sliver of art from that ill-fated Olympians spin-off pitch I mentioned, showing my Chimera and the Greek hero Bellerophon.

Hellboy go Boom!

2011-03-02T14:36:00.001-05:00

Today's topic was Hellboy.

Mike Mignola is one of my favorite artists, the influence his work had had on mine is both significant and apparent. I love his character Hellboy, a character who was just created to be drawn in sharpies and papermates (as I've done here). I also love the way the character is written, especially his tendency to yell "boom" as he smacks things with his big right hand of doom. Fun stuff.

Got home, took one look at this, and realized that I absolutely must rotate the image like so:

warm-up: Ms. Jane Russell

2011-03-01T10:04:00.000-05:00

I really didn't know much about today's topic, Jane Russell, who just passed away recently; this is no reflection on her status as an icon, but rather more a reflection on my status as a philistine.

According to the info page on her that Tim Hamilton sent around with the topic email this morning, Ms. Russell had been discovered working as a receptionist by that craziest of rich guys Howard Hughes, who was conducting a nationwide search for a sexy lady to star in a western he was directing called The Outlaw. What's more, to quote the site :

"Hughes had his engineers design a seamless underwire brassiere, a breakthrough in bra science to lift Russell's 38-D breasts, leaving no visible support lines to interrupt the under-blouse contour of her bosom. It was the first practical "lift and separate" push-up bra, but Russell later said she did not wear the uncomfortable contraption during filming. Instead she wore her own bras, adding a layer of tissue paper over the cups to eliminate unsightly support lines. Hughes, despite directing the picture himself, never knew the difference.'

Fascinating stuff, to be sure. Here's a drawing I did of Ms. Russell as she appeared in The Outlaw. I'll leave it to you to determine what sort of support she's using.

Black Canary, Fishnets and a Bionic Sasquatch

2011-02-28T10:29:00.000-05:00

There was some confusion this morning over whether today's topic was "fishnets" or "Bionic Sasquatch". I decided to combine the two themes into a drawing that, like any compromise, leaves neither side happy or satisfied. I give you, fishnet-clad superheroine Black Canary vs. the Bionic Sasquatch:

Did you know that Andre the Giant played the bionic Bigfoot on 6 Million Dollar Man? I did not.

Remembering Dwayne McDuffie: Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers

2011-02-24T18:11:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week, the comics world lost one of its own. Dwayne McDuffie spent much of his career in comics working to bring some greater diversity to the world of comics and superheroes. In addition to spearheading the multicultural imprint Milestone at DC, and creating the long-running cartoon series Static Shock, he wrote one of my personal favorite series at Marvel, Damage Control.

While working at Marvel comics, Mr. McDuffie pitched a series that has become the stuff of legend in the comics biz. Here's the memo as it circulated thru Marvel:

To honor Mr.McDuffie, I decided to bring his vision to life. Here's what I drew:

Upon researching the characters, I learned, sadly, that apparently the character "Dark Wheelie" mentioned in his pitch was not real-- in addition to team leader "mysterious black guy on skateboard", that was two characters I had to make up for my drawing, so I lazed out and drew one, and it's up to you, the gentle viewer to decide who it is. I do hereby vow that I will one day bring "Dark Wheelie" to proper life, in some way.

Rest in Peace, Mr. McDuffie, you will be missed.

This is what you get when you mess with us...

2011-02-23T11:38:00.000-05:00

Todays' warm-up topic is Radiohead, in observance of their new album.

Zardoz and Vartox

2011-02-22T11:39:00.003-05:00

I should admit this up front -- it was my desire to draw semi-obscure Superman supporting character Vartox the Hyper Man that lead to "Zardoz" being the topic for today.

I have a great love for the silliness that is silver and bronze age Superman. I first encountered Vartox when I was a pretty young kid-- and despite being somewhat unsettled by his body hair, disco boots and speedo, I took an immediate liking to this character who was a rival for Superman-- heck, he was referred to multiple times in the story as being more powerful than the Man of Steel himself, hence, I suppose, his designation as a Hyper-Man instead of a Super-man. Hyper trumps super, I guess.

Vartox (real name: Vernon O'Valeron, hailing from the Sombrero Hat Galaxy, and no, I'm not making any of this up) hung around for awhile in the Superman comics, even cameoing in possibly the greatest Superman story of all time, Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" (that's him cradling the dead Lana Lang), before being swept away with all the corny (ie coolest) elements of Superman's story, like Krypto, the Legion of Superheroes and Supergirl, in the relaunched Man of Steel continuity in the mid 80's.

During his period in limbo, I first came across John Boorman's supremely odd sci-fi epic Zardoz and realized, hey, Sean Connery's disturbing outfit reminds me of another disturbing outfit I could recall from my childhood. Of course, in an epic instance of "huh buh whu?" the creators of Vartox, Cary Bates and Curt Swan, must have gone to the movies, saw that little slice of crazy that is "Zardoz" and decided, let's make a character based on Sean Connery's lack of pants in this film.

Recently Vartox made his long overdue return to comics in the series Powergirl, about Superman's kinda-sorta cousin. His cheesy side was fully embraced,a s he was cast as an interstellar lothario searching for a worthy mate, and had settled on the Kryptonian Power Girl. In a new twist to the character, he now flies around in a spaceship that looks like his own head, mustache and all, ala Zardoz, and it was easily one of the best comics ever. It was this incarnation of the Hyper Man I chose to draw. Long live Vartox!

Batman's Rogues Gallery

2011-02-21T17:26:00.002-05:00

Today's topic was "Batman", the most emo of all superheroes. I wasn't sure which of his numerous villains I would like to draw, and ultimately I decided to draw all of them. I figure on his days (nights) off, Bruce Wayne has a nice glass of cognac, and reminisces on adventures past in his own private gallery of rogues.

Intestines

2011-02-18T09:17:00.002-05:00

Today's warm-up was "Intestines"

In every zombie movie ever made, there's always that one poor bastard who goes down in the middle of a swarm of the evil dead. All those zombies just hunkering down and chowing on him (or her) like there's no tomorrow... Well, also in every zombie film ever made, just one bite from the undead is enough to turn you into a zombie, so what happens to those unfortunate souls who spent some time as the main course of a pack of ghouls before reanimating? Well they come back, I guess, but looking substantially worse for the wear than the typical Hollywood zombie. When the Imminent Zombie Apocalypse finally hits, I predict that there will be a lot of sad cases like our friend here shambling around.

Cereal Adventures

2011-02-17T11:16:00.000-05:00

Today's topic was "Movie serials", and I went for the obvious pun.

Few people realize that beloved children's cereal shill Cap'n Crunch made his first appearance in the short-lived serial "Captain Crunch and the Secret of the Crunchberries". Each episode featured the Captain and his sidekick, a manic depressive cuckoo bird named Sonny, getting blowned up real good, only to be revealed in the next episode that they had somehow miraculously escaped. It was canceled in 1941, due to outrage over pro-Germany statements made by Hans Von Schadenfreude, the actor who portrayed the Captain, and the sudden realization that serials were mad stupid, yo.

Chocolate Aphrodite

2011-02-16T17:03:00.004-05:00

I don't remember what twisted strain of conversation lead to "chocolate Aphrodite" being today's Drawbridge topic, but I do know that the best way to a goddess's heart is to give her a milk-chocolate replica of herself. Better than flowers anyday.

I might color this whole thing when I get home. Then again, I might not.

Just realized that there's a great joke in here somewhere with a Mars bar, but this is an all-ages blog.

Whaddaya know? I did decide to color it when I got home.

Dr. Strange!

2011-02-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

Today's Drawbridge topic was Marvel's master of the mystic arts, Dr Strange.

Pretty sure I've never drawn Dr Strange before. He's pretty fun, what with all those squiggles and whatnot.I decided to go all 60's on him, and was sure to Ditko up his hands for good measure.

Happy Lupercalia everybody!

2011-02-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

Todays; Drawbridge topic was flowers. I used that as a departure point to explore the roots of St Valentine's Day.

So how did a Roman Catholic Saint, of all people, come to be associated with the holiday intended for the expression of intense physical love? Good question.

Like many modern holidays (I'm looking at you, Xmas), what we celebrate today is just a patch early christians threw on over pre-existing pagan rituals (Saturnalia, anyone?). That explains why, say, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with eggs and bunnies-- the christian element was overlaid on a pre-existing springtime fertility ritual.

St. Valentine's day is a similar case. Nobody is sure which St Valentine we're celebrating exactly (there were at least three) but his day is an overlay of the ancient Greco-Roman festival of Lupercalia, in which was celebrated both the holy marriage of Zeus (Jove) and Hera (Juno), as well as in Rome the founding of their city (Romulus, Remus, wolves, "Lupe"-- it's all connected). There was all sorts of courting between young folks of both sexes, and it was generally very frolicky. Lupercalia was a very, very ancient festival, and it had replaced (more absorbed, really) an even more ancient one, Februa, which, you may guess, is where we get the name for the month of February. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

My drawing is the sacred couple themselves, Zeus and Hera, in embrace, and just to keep this thing nominally on topic, there is also a water lilly, one of Hera's sacred flowers.

Happy Valenstein's Monster Day!

2011-02-14T13:44:00.001-05:00

This isn't my official warm-up for the day, but a bonus. My pal Jenn called with a request, the daughter of a friend of hers woke up this morning and wished her mom "Happy Valenstein's Day", and so could I create some sort of unholy Cupid/ Frankenstein's Monster hybrid to celebrate this newly coined holiday. This is what I came up with:

Persephone pin-up, final colors:

2011-02-14T11:49:00.000-05:00

This is the final of three distinct looks that Persephone goes through in Olympians Book 4, Hades: Lord of the Dead, and the way she'll appear both in her bio in the back of the book and the online Olympians family tree. How do you like it?

Yet another finished color page from Hades

2011-02-11T10:46:00.000-05:00

It's been a whirlwind of posted finished colored pages 'round here lately! Here's one from the book's central action scene, where the Lord of the Dead himself carries off young Kore to the Underworld. This page is part of the same sequence that these two almost finished pages I posted awhile ago belong to, and I also had previously posted the black and white artwork for it as well. And now it's done!

Another finished colored page from Hades

2011-02-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

Olympians Book 4, Hades: The Lord of the Dead is all but in the can as I type this (just going over the last few pages making color tune-ups, and adding lightning. Boy, there's a lot of lightning in this book). I thought I would share another finished color page with all of you, so you can see what's coming up.

This particular page has proven to be a favorite of mine-- there's something about the way Demeter looks in these panels that I really dig. In fact, I've shared this particular page with readers of my Olympians blog before at the finished black and white stage and the concept sketch stage-- I should really go and add the rough pencils in one of these days.

So what do you think?

Not gonna get that mask on over all that hair...

2011-02-08T22:24:00.000-05:00

So today's warm-up topic was the amazing Spider-Man.

I received an e-mail from Tim Hamilton, who, in a blatant attempt at pandering to me, suggested that I could get away with drawing one of my favorite characters, the spectacular Spider-Woman, this despite the fact we had a day dedicated to drawing her, like, two weeks ago.

Well, as it turns out, I respond to pandering.

Here's my drawing of Jessica Drew, the Spider-Woman, trying on the costume of her much more famous male counterpart.

Romero Zombies!

2011-02-07T22:09:00.001-05:00

Today's Drawbridge topic was "George Romero", as it was his birthay recently.

George Romero, in Night of the Living Dead, created a new entry to our lexicon of classic monsters, joining such luminaries as Bram "Dracula" Stoker, Mary "Frankenstein" Shelley and, uh, Wolfman Jack. To celebrate their creator's birthday I drew some anonymous zombies.

Happy Birthday Kat Roberts!

2011-01-28T15:01:00.000-05:00

Yeah, you read that right, double post!

Today is the birthday of my fellow Hypothetical Islander, Kathleen Roberts. My last birthday, Kat drew me a beautiful piece that will serve one day as the cover to a novel I've yet to write. I wanted to make sure I played proper respect to Kat's bday so I first drew this piece, an homage to her favorite film, Purple Rain, which she has inflicted upon us on the Island on several occasions.

I wasn't wild about the finished result-- it somehow didn't catch that je nais se Kattish feeling I was looking for. I took a break to take some garbage out and this idea jumped to my head.

Kat's not a superhero, and she's never raked me with her nails, but somehow I thought this was much more her. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Kat!

warm up- The Apple of Discord

2011-01-27T16:38:00.000-05:00

My first thought upon learning today's topic was "The Big Apple". My second thought was "Naw, I ain't gonna draw that". So here's my third thought, the Golden Apple of Eris.

As you all of course know, Eris was the goddess of Discord, who, miffed at not being invited to a wedding, showed up anyway and threw her golden apple to the ground, shouting " To the fairest". Now this was a pretty fancy wedding, so many of the Olympians were present. I chose to depict the exact awkward moment when Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, each believing themselves to be the fairest of them all, all simultaneously reached for the Golden Apple of Discord. One thing leads to another, and this little incident eventually lead to the Trojan War and the more-or-less complete destruction of the race of Heroes.

Dr. Who- Peter Cushing

2011-01-26T13:44:00.000-05:00

Todays' Drawbridge topic was Dr. Who.

Dr. Who fills one of my geek blind-spots-- kind of like Star Trek or Dungeons & Dragons, I somehow never got into this thing that most people who are like me (geeky cartoonists) have as an integral part of their geek loves.

I do know enough about Doctor Who to know that there were a couple of movies based on the series, but, continuity-wise, they are very different. Peter Cushing, he of Hammer Horror film, Sherlock Holmes and Grand Moff Tarkin fame, played the good Doctor, but he's not counted as one of the canonical Doctors-- of which there's been , like, fifty. Here's my take on Cushing's Dr. Who:

I know this version of the Doctor is probably the ugly red-headed stepchild of Dr. Who fanfare, which is partially why I drew it. Also, I wanted to draw Peter Cushing, who, as it turns out, is a lot harder to capture the likeness of than you'd think. All cheekbones, no lips.

The Penguin

2011-01-25T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today's Drawbridge topic was "Penguins". Being a terrible nerdlinger, I opted to draw Batman's nemesis, the Penguin.

Finished colored page from Hades:

2011-01-24T21:17:00.000-05:00

Just to prove it's not just all doodles around here, here's a finished color page from Olympians Book 4: Hades.

Wonder Twins vs the Divine Twins

2011-01-24T12:32:00.001-05:00

I was just going to straight up draw Apollo and Artemis, the twin Olympians, for today's Drawbridge challenge of "twins", but then Tim opined in the comment section of his post that I would be drawing the Wonder Twins of Superfriends fame.

Now understand this: I hate the Wonder Twins. I know that they were designed by the great Alex Toth and all, but come on, they super-suck. The girl's power was okay-- she could become any animal she wanted. The boy's though? He could become water? Every time it was "form of a bucket of ice water". That's not a power, it's a handicap. And don't get me started on their stupid monkey. Gleek, feh!

Anyway, if there are any gods that you don't want to mess with, Apollo and Artemis top that list. They'll kill you dead just for looking at them sideways, and won't think a thing of it. They're HARDCORE. I bet they did this to the Wonder Twins just because their monkey is so freakin' dumb.

The Original Space Sasquatch

2011-01-23T10:14:00.001-05:00

Tim snuck in the sneaky weekend Drawbridge topic of "space sasquatch" this weekend, when he thought nobody was watching his sneaky ways. Not so fast, Mr. Sneaks!

He also lamented that "space sasquatch" was the cartoon he always wanted, but never got, as a kid. Well he may not have had a cartoon, but he did have mother-flippin' Chewbacca in the movies! Here's my very quick doodle of the original space sasquatch and his pet sidekick, Indiana Jones.

sexy Devil ladies are always, always fun to draw.

2011-01-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

Today the topic for Drawbridge was "Diabla" which was chosen because "Diabla" was allegedly trending on Twitter, to which I wonder, why? I must have missed something big and diabolical in the world last night.

I drew my Diabla on a crowded subway into Manhattan. I'm sure I was viewed with pity/scorn/amusement by all who saw me. Kind of an embarrassing thing to be drawing in public, this, but not as bad as my toilet monster.

Got home and colored it as luridly as possible, like something you'd see on the side of a van or on the most dangerous ride at the mobile carnival.

So that's how he does it....

2011-01-20T19:40:00.000-05:00

Another Tim Hamilton oddity today, with the topic of "Surrealist mathematical formula Skirball". Two stones with one bird today, as I never drew a picture for yesterday's Drawbridge topic "the Path", despite being the one who suggested it (well, my girlfriend did, but it's all the same...). There is no higher sin on Drawbridge than suggesting a topic and then not contributing a drawing-- thems folks are lower than a horse thief in those parts.

The Swedish Chef's a fan...

2011-01-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

Today's Drawbridge topic was "Bjork".

This was honestly the first thing I came up with.

Mr. Peabody and Tim

2011-01-12T12:45:00.001-05:00

The topic on Drawbridge today, as chosen by Tim Hamilton, was "Mr. Peabody"

Mr. Peabody was a bit before my time. My familiarity with the character extends to a bizarre one-line cameo ("Quiet you!") in an old Treehouse of Terror episode of the Simpsons, and not much further.

Spider-Woman-- To Know Her is to Fear Her

2011-01-12T12:39:00.000-05:00

Tuesday's Drawbridge topic was "Spider-Woman". Owing to a truly manic Tuesday, I'm a day late in getting up this drawing of one of my all-time favorite characters, Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman.

I know that she's been restored to her former prominence in Marvel Comics through the work of Brian Michael Bendis, but, man, I was digging on her way back before it was all cool to do so, as evidenced by these circa 1995 Spider-Woman samples I did. What was I thinking drawing Spider-Woman in 1995? I should have been drawing Youngblood or Bloodspot or Bloodblood or some sort of crap.

Anyway, here's to Spider-Woman, an odd duck of a character with an amazing design, whose odd duck of a series has many, many cool and weird happenings in it, as well as some great artwork by Carmine Infantino and Steve Leialoha, among others. Check it out!

You win some, you lose some...

2011-01-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

Well, the preliminary list is up, and it looks like Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess didn't make the ALA's Notable Children's Book List for 2011. A disappointment to be sure, but one slightly mitigated by Zeus: King of the Gods making Yalsa's Great Graphic Novels for Teens list this morning.

Congrats to my pals!

2011-01-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

A big fat freaking CONGRATULATIONS to my good friends Erin and Phil Stead, whose book A Sick Day For Amos McGee just won the FREAKING CALDECOTT AWARD this morning! I knew them back when!

And also big congrats to former studiomate Leland Purvis, who's graphic novel Resistance won a Sydney Taylor Honor Award! You're all champeens!

warm up: Bowie's BDay

2011-01-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

David Bowie's birthday was apparently this weekend, so today's Drawbridge topic was the Thin White Duke himself. Man, this dude is hard to draw.

Seems odd that someone like Bowie should even have a birthday. Seems more like he'd have a hatch day...

picking, choosing...

2011-01-06T14:45:00.000-05:00

Because I'm childish and immature, when I heard today's Drawbridge topic of "pick and choose", this is the image that came to mind. I suppose the "choose" part comes in what he does next...

My own personal debt to Calvin and Hobbes

2011-01-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

The warm-up topic today on Drawbridge was "Calvin and Hobbes"

Back before I broke into the biz, even more than I wanted to draw picture books or graphic novels, I had wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist. I was cured of that ambition when all of my favorite newspaper cartoonists quit at about the same time-- in a way a lucky break for me, I suppose, considering the state of the funny pages today (assuming I had made it, of course).

Far and away my biggest influence was Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, to my mind, the most perfect example of a comic strip ever created. Years after his retirement, when I published my first picture book, Kapow! I remember being concerned that my book would be perceived as too derivative of Wattersons' work. To the best of my knowledge, at least, nobody has felt that way but myself, though many have noted the debt my work owed to Watterson. Here is my character American Eagle (cannibalized from my own attempt at a syndicated Daily strip) surveying his spiritual forefather, Calvin as Spaceman Spiff.

Athena has been nominated for the 2011 ALA Notable Book List!

2011-01-05T12:50:00.001-05:00

The last such of these posts I'll put up today, I promise, but this is some very exciting news for me! The American Library Association, the oldest and largest library association in the world, puts out a yearly list of Notable Books and Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess is in the running! That's some exciting, exciting news for yours truly. Check out the full list here; Athena is nominated in the non-fiction Folklore category.

The ALA is holding their Midwinter Meeting in sunny San Diego this weekend, and everybody who's everybody in kids books will be there (well, except me, I'll be in frigid NYC). All of the shortlisted books will be read and evaluated by the committee members, and the final list will be released on Monday, January 10th. I hope Athena makes it on!

Athena is a Cybil award finalist!

2011-01-05T11:44:00.000-05:00

The Cybils (The Childrens' and Young Adult Blogger Literary Awards) recently announced the finalists for their 2010 awards and Athena: Grey Eyed Goddess is on the middle-grade graphic novels list! This is an amazing honor, made more so by the fact that I'm in some pretty serious competition with a host of my favorite graphic novelists, like Raina Telgemeier, Aaron Renier, and Colleen AF Venable ( In her other life as First Second's Book Designer par excellence, Colleen also designed Athena! Small world!).

As the above are also some of my favorite people, I consider it to be an honor just to nominated amongst such terrific company, and will be happy no matter who wins, BUT... I will say this. The actual winner of the Cybils gets an amazing engraved pen, and, man, I would LOOOVE that pen :).

If I am lucky enough to win the Cybil, man, I do hereby vow to draw some pretty pictures with that pen.

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books awards a blue medal to Zeus!

2011-01-05T09:55:00.002-05:00

A lot of cool news piled up while I was recovering recently, and this was amongst the coolest.

The venerable Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (or BCCB for short) recently released their list of 2010 "Blue Ribbon" books and Zeus: King of the Gods was on it! This is a great honor, and I'm pleased as heck to be on the list with so many great and talented authors. Give a click over and see what else got a blue ribbon.

The tortoise and the rug

2011-01-04T10:56:00.000-05:00

Today's perhaps-over-specific warm-up topic was "the turtle and the (fake) hair". I drew the only thing I could, given the topic.

Man, someone tell that Tortoise that his piece just isn't passing, man...

The Sailor Twain/ Journey into Mohawk Country Connection, Part deux; kinda like the Rainbow Connection, but with less singing frogs

2011-01-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

Devotees of this blog will recall a post I made about a month ago detailing an unexpected and hitherto unrevealed link between First Second Editorial Grand Poobah Mark Siegel's awesome ongoing webcomic Sailor Twain and my own historical graphic novel Journey into Mohawk Country (follow the link if you missed it).

Well, I'm a little late in reporting this (mainly due to the mother of all flu bugs laying me out cold since late last year) but in the December, 27th installment of Sailor Twain some very familiar faces made an appearance.

That's Harmen van den Bogaert, the author of Journey into Mohawk Country, flanked by his companions Jeronimus de la Croix and Willem Thomassen, as based on the below drawing by yours truly. Now we know what happened to our Dutch heroes after Journey concluded. Who knew Mermaids played a part?

Pretty cool stuff, if I may say so myself. It's really great that Mark has woven these two tales together like this, and I'll bet Harmen van den Bogaert is pretty high atop the list of characters least likely to be featured in two separate graphic novels. If you're not already reading Sailor Twain, I hope this convinces you to start.

warm-up: Red and Black

2011-01-03T11:08:00.000-05:00

The first thing I thought of when I heard today's Drawbridge topic of "Red and Black" was checkers; the second thing I thought of was ancient Greek vase painting. Put the two together and...

Happy New Year! Where the hell have I been?

2011-01-03T10:04:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everybody!

I've been sick. Starting to feel better now (FINALLY) and will once again be updating this blog on an almost-sorta-kinda-daily basis. Thanks for your patience.

G!

A Christmas Carol warm up: Marley's Ghost

2010-12-20T11:36:00.000-05:00

"Tiny Tim" Hamilton chose today's warm-up topic as "A Christmas Carol". Here's my entry:

Speaking of Tim, it initially surprised me that, given his artistic proclivities, he did not choose to draw ol' Jacob Marley here himself. Seemed right up Tim's alley, subject-wise. About 30 seconds into drawing all those chains I realized why Hambone passed.

So Tim Hamilton thinks he's going to get me to draw the "Incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band", huh?

2010-12-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

Tim "I'm messed up on Ook sauce 24/7" Hamilton chose today's warm up topic, and if he thinks I'm going to draw a freaking marching band as a warm up, that gent is sorely, sorely mistaken.

I say thee nay, Hamilton!

warm up-- Happy Birthday, Joe!

2010-12-16T12:39:00.000-05:00

Today is the birthday of Hypothetical Islander and former contributor to Drawbridge, Joe "The Towering" Infurnari, so to celebrate I drew this picture of him with one of the characters from his upcoming First Second Graphic Novel, Mush! Sled Dogs with Issues, which will be in stores this time next year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!