COMING SOON: MISS MASQUE STRIKES BACK #1

Here is the solicitation for AC Comics Miss Masque Strikes Back. This issue contains the story Funny Face Of Death, written by David Watkins, penciled by me, and inked by Jeff Austin. The issue will be shipped to Diamond on July 20th and will be available sometime after that. To see my creative process while working on this story, go HERE

Miss Masque Strikes Back #1
Writers include David Watkins, Mark G. Heike, Rock Baker, Chris Irving and Richard Hughes.
Artists include Rock Baker, Scott Larson, Chris Allen, Mark Heike, Larry Guidry, Bob Oksner and Lin Streeter.
Synopsis: Celebrating the popular and iconic costumed heroine from her beginnings at Standard/Nedor in the 1940′s through her contemporary adventures at AC! THREE all-new, never before seen feature-length MM adventures including “The Head Of Hitler” and “Funny Face Of Death”, plus rare Golden Age reprints and more! 96 pages!!
Special Notes: Best-remembered by collectors for her cheesecake cover appearances rendered by the great Alex Schomburg, MISS MASQUE seems to have captured the imagination of contemporary pop culture fans to a much greater degree in her current revival, as envinced by the upcoming collector’s statue from Reel Art Images and interest in the character in other media. This special album showcases the sexy society superheroine (and long time favorite supporting character in FEMFORCE) in all of her comic book incarnations, with a special emphasis on all-new material. Two of these never-before-seen stories are scripted by television screenwriter David Watkins, while the third is written and illustrated by the multi-talented Rock Baker. Glamorous crimefighting with snappy dialogue and a classy film noir twist is what MISS MASQUE is all about- and there’ll be nearly 100 pages of it here!!
UPC Code: 649241921486
Format: Standard comic-book size; saddle-stitched, 96 page collector’s edition format.
Retail Price: $19.95

MILOS PART ONE- PENCILS

Back in 2006, Len Strazewski contacted myself, Andrew Pepoy, Scott Beaderstadt, and others to draw stories for an anthology of stories that he wrote. I ended up drawing 2 stories, which have become 3 with at least one more on it's way.

The second story I drew was called Milos and told the tale of a middle-aged gypsy warlock who is fighting evil magical forces while trying to watch over his elderly, Alzheimer's affected uncle. Milos is Len's ongoing epic. 

The following are the pencils I did for this project:

INflUENCES PART 15

Andrew Pepoy has worked for DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, Archie, and just about every other comic book company out there. He is one of the best inkers in the industry. The first time I met him, wasn't as a comic book professional, but as a student at Loyola University Chicago. We had 2 very short encounters that I remember but he doesn't from back then. His name kept coming up with several of my teachers once they found out out was interested in creating comics. Andrew had actually started working in the industry while still a student.

When I met him again, it was several years later and he had moved back to Chicago after living in North Carolina and was looking for an assistant. I was recommended to him by a couple of teachers at Loyola as well as Len Strazewski. He sent me a very complex test page which he had inked and needed the large black areas added. This is called spotting.

The first thing I had spotted for him was 2 pages from Marvel Comics Mutant X #3.

Over the next few years I spotted many different pages for him, my favorites being from the 100th issue of Robin, who was a character I loved when I was little.

These are 2 of the pages I spotted in that issue

Andrew also helped me get my first published job in comics, Capstone Press's Marie Curie And Radioactivity and had been instrumental in my continued work at AC Comics. 

Andrew has not been confined to to just inking. Not only has he been writing and drawing Archie Comics' Katy Keene feature, he also redesigned Little Orphan Annie a few years back, and has had Simone and Ajax, a concept he created while still at Loyola, published.

As impressive as those accomplishments are, he has done more.  In 2007, he co-created a tap dance stage show. The Hourglass : The Poisoned Pen played in both New York and Chicago.

You can read an interview with Andrew HERE  and find him on his website HERE

LEARNING HOW TO PAINT WITH MARKER COMPS

One of the things that has surfaced within the past fifteen years is painted stories and covers for comic books. Alex Ross is probably the most well known comic book illustrator who does this type of artwork. I admired it early on but didn't have the knowledge of how to do it. Although I was able to by the time I left American Academy Of Art, I didn't really learn painting there. I learned how to paint by doing marker drawings and by assisting the illustrators at Steven Edsey & Sons. I learned that there were 2 ways to color storyboard frames - either by printing out line work and coloring it, or by placing a piece of marker paper onto a pencil drawing and building the artwork with the colors and shadows. This method is called tone-on-tone and takes a lot longer to do than just coloring in pictures. Although it is laborious, it is fun to see the finished product. Here are some tone-on-tone pieces I did several years ago:

When it comes to advertising, this type of process is practically extinct, due to advances in computer digital art ( although it can be mimicked digitally). I still use this method before working on a painting. You can see an example of that HERE.

TRUE COLORS PART FOUR- COLORS

Back in 2006, Len Strazewski contacted myself, Andrew Pepoy, Scott Beaderstadt, and others to draw stories for an anthology of stories that he wrote. I ended up drawing 2 stories, which have become 3 with at least one more on it's way.

The first story I drew was called True Colors and told the tale of a modern day psychic and business man who had stopped world domination when they were children. They come together again because the threat they thought they had stopped as kids has resurfaced.

After getting the letters back, I started the final step in the process- the colors:

For the dream/flashback sequence I chose to use simpler colors on the figures, not only because of the nature of the scene but also because the characters were children and comics for kids usually have more flat colors than sculpted/ modeled colors. This helps convey the innocence of the characters while the more detailed background colors convey the danger and the adult nature of their predicament. 

This is the final blog entry for True Colors, but there are more stories from this particular project coming soon.

THE SAINT

Over the course of the past six weeks I've been pretty busy. I was fortunate enough to draw a wonderful Miss Masque story for AC Comics, written by David Watkins. In addition to that, I've been working on a project for Moonstine Books. Moonstone publishes great titles like Buckaroo Banzai, Captain Action, The Phantom,  Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and Honey West. They specialize in mysteries, thrillers and pulp heroes. The story I got to work on for them was Simon Templar, The Saint.

The Saint started as a book series in 1928, created by Leslie Charteris. 

The character had his own radio show- the longest incarnation starred Vincent Price, 

movie serials, 

television show- starring Roger Moore, 

and a big budget movie starring Val Kilmer.

The version that we are doing is the original - 1930's London. But who is The Saint? Here's how Moonstone describes the character:

The Saint is an adventurer, but a gentleman above all else. He reads the paper, eager to find a cause exciting to involve himself in. His moral code is strong, and is motives are also good: he would never hurt, steal from, or kill anyone who doesn't completely deserve it. The Saint is the Robin Hood of modern crime: he robs from the evil and heartless rich, and gives to the wronged and deserving poor--in the process, keeping a percentage for his own expenses. He doesn't work for the law, the government, or anyone else. He is a lone wolf, but he doesn't hesitate to team up or collaborate with anyone, including official agencies, when the need arises. He is also a romantic who believes in the excitement of living. Very little is known about Simon Templar's background, or how he became the Saint. If his origin and circumstances of his youth seem to be shrouded in mystery, it is because he chooses not to reveal it. He has a great sense of humor as well as a great zest for life. He is well-to-do, well dressed, drives fast cars, goes to the best places with the most attractive girls, all without any visible means of support. The police, particularly Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal, have their own ideas about the sources of his apparent wealth and for years have been unsuccessfully trying to prove it. But behind the Saint's sophisticated facade there is a very different man. Had he lived in the Middle Ages you would see him as a knight in shining amour--a Sir Lancelot, a Robin Hood, a Don Juan, or in the great western tradition, a one man vigilante. His enemy is not so much crime, but injustice. His impetus, the plight of the innocent soul in need of a patron Saint. In achieving his objectives he can be cold, hard and always independent. Behind the casual banter there is always the aura of a coiled spring. Hating violence, he will not only turn the other cheek he will turn it so fast that all you are going to hit is the wall you thought he was up against. Simon Templar faces doom with a cavalier disdain. Yet this is not to say he isn't in constant jeopardy. For if he moves in dangerous places and is himself, the most dangerous of men, he is nonetheless only a man. Mortal. The Saint comic is written by Mel Odom and will be published by Moonstone Books. More information on the character's history can be found HERE, and the comic HERE.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS PART 13- STORYTELLING

One of the hardest things to accomplish on a static page is telling a story with a series of pictures. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially when dealing with a set number of panels and things happening within the panel. There are other mediums in which stories are told in as pictorial manner, like children's storybooks. When I was first learning, I didn't look at anything illustrated, rather I looked at movies and TV shows.

Comic books and movies/ television shows have a lot in common. They both use pictures to tell stories. My first attempt to learn storytelling from movies was to sit down with a movie and a pad of paper. I would then pause the movie at each new camera angle and do a quick sketch.

These little storyboards are from the beginning of the 1987 film The Untouchables

Although doing something like this is a good way to learn how to compose a scene, it is important to remember that movies and comics, while close ( my film teacher at Loyola called them "cousins") are NOT the same. In films, the movement happens within the screen while in comics the artist has to create the movement. This happens not only by what happens in a panel, but also by the way the panels are placed on a page.

This is a page from the second Stormy Tempest story appearing in Femforce #154 by AC Comics. As you can see, there's a lot of movement taking place, even though it's a flat piece with no physical movement.

There are many things that can be learned from watching movies. For example, if you take a look at this scene from the 1946 film It's A Wonderful Life, you'll see that  the camera is positioned so that it shoots through the pharmacy shelves, creating depth within the environment:

When a director does something like this, he/she makes what could be a boring scene visually more exciting. 

This is a panel from a project that I am working on. As you can see I have tried to emulate the camera angle shooting through an environment.

Comic book artists are basically movie directors. We just don't have the benefit of sound, music and movement. Our job is to create those aspects successfully in whatever way we can and be able to tell a story at the same time.