I’ve had this simple red plastic cup as long as I can remember. Growing up, it was always mine. When I moved out on my own I took it with me and have brought it every place I’ve lived since then.

I have no idea why, but a glass of milk tastes better when it’s in this cup.

Do you have any oddly sentimental stuff like this?

Here’s Edwin (artist on Skullkickers) showing off the grand prize in our Image/Skullkickers Twitter contest:

Who wouldn’t want to win that original page art from issue #1?

PRESS RELEASE – WIN ORIGINAL ARTWORK FROM SKULLKICKERS #1

Follow Image Comics on Twitter for a chance to win an original page from SKULLKICKERS #1

Image Comics’ new series SKULLKICKERS, written by Jim Zubkavich and illustrated by profoundly talented newcomer Edwin Huang, will hit stands in September. Now, you have the chance to own original artwork from Image Comics next hit series!

To enter, follow @imagecomics on Twitter and retweet the following:

Win original Skullkickers artwork! RT and follow @imagecomics. Follow @zubkavich for a bonus prize! http://tiny.cc/3a2co

The winner will receive a page of original artwork from the first issue of SKULLKICKERS. The contest starts Tuesday, August 24 at 12:00 p.m. PST and ends on Friday, August 27 at 12:00 p.m. PST. Winner will be announced the evening of August 27. Entrants who also follow @zubkavich are also eligible for a special bonus prize!

SKULLKICKERS is fantasy action-comedy. Two mercenaries are entangled in a high-class assassination plot and nothing — not werewolves, skeletons or black magic — will stop them from getting paid. If you love movies like ARMY OF DARKNESS, SKULLKICKERS is the book for you!

SKULLKICKERS #1, a 32-page full color comic book for $2.99, will be in stores September 22, 2010. Readers can get a taste of Skullkickers in POPGUN, VOL. 2 (MAY082176) and POPGUN, VOL. 3 (JAN092368). Follow the Skullkickers blog at www.skullkickers.com.

Don’t miss your chance to own art from the upcoming hit Image Comics series, SKULLKICKERS! Visit www.imagecomics.com for a full description of contest rules and regulations.

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A quicker sketch for today’s post.

I don’t think I’ve drawn Batman since the summer that Tim Burton’s original Batman movie came out and everyone was obsessed with the Caped Crusader. Even though I loved the Batman Animated Series and was thrilled that comics had become more mainstream, I didn’t draw good ol’ Bats.

Anyways, this quickie falls somewhere between animated-looking and Frank Miller-ish in terms of proportions, especially with the blocky forearm tips and squared off bat symbol. I always liked the look of the black bat straight on the chest rather than in a yellow oval.

The Batarang looks a bit silly when he’s holding it like this, like he’s gonna shiv someone.

And here’s the rough sketch I use underneath:

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I think my digital inks on the final version are a bit too smooth and rounded. The rough sketch has an angular/jagged quality that seems more in character for Batman. Oh well. I’ll keep practising.

3 blog posts in one day, yeesh. Things are pretty nuts right now.

Anyways, Image Comics just sent out this Skullkickers teaser and I really wanted to make sure I posted it here ASAP. I’m really proud of the feedback we’ve been getting from advance reviews of the first issue. Check this baby out:

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Launching a new book like this is an uphill battle and having a quality product is the best way for us to break through the static. Once the first issue comes out on September 22nd and people see that it’s a great looking fun book we’ll be really rolling.

Have you pre-ordered your copy of #1 yet? 🙂

A brand new interview just went up on the Guerrilla Geek website discussing the many influences that go in to Skullkickers as well as video games, RPGs and superhero comics.

Go check it out!

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My good friend Ray Fawkes’ graphic novel series Possessions, published by Oni Press, is great stuff and the character designs are bizarre and wonderful so I thought I’d try my hand at sketching up a digital ink piece of them.

Originally I was just going to draw Gurgazon (the creepy little girl) but it kept expanding until I had all 5 of the supernaturals in there:

Gurgazon – the possessed little girl
The Pale Lady – the floating headless woman
The Duke – the inhabited juke box
Ice Field Lights – the swirl of ghostly energy
Poly – the poltergeist splatter that writes on walls

Although it’s rated 7+, Possessions is entertaining for any age group and older readers will catch extra subtleties and in-jokes Ray has sprinkled in there.

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If you’ve never had the chance to read an issue of Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener’s Atomic Robo series, you should really go and do that. It’s a perfect blend of action and fun snappy dialogue.

Robo’s design is difficultly simple in nature. There’s not much to it but it’s quite specific so you have to get the proportions just right (especially in the face) otherwise it’ll look like an Atomic Robo stunt-double.

I wanted to draw a full figure instead of a head sketch and decided a bit of forced perspective and a staircase would be fun too. Combine that with the difficulty of doing robotic parts in perspective and the whole thing took just over an hour of noodling away to do, stopping only for e-mail answers and a snack.

Er, maybe not…

This was a fun digital sketch to pull together. I wanted to do up a little piece with some character interaction rather than just straight posed stuff. When I looked over at my comics shelf the Thor trade paperback caught my eye.

This one took about an hour of noodling away at it on the Cintiq, on and off.

I hope you like it!

A quick Cintiq sketch of Aaron Stack (Machine Man) from NextWave. It took about 20 minutes to put together.

Machine Man’s an old Kirby creation but this dour-hearted look with hair and a trench coat is the NextWave version.

If you’ve never read Marvel’s short-lived-but-amazing comic series NextWave then I highly recommend that you do so. Warren Ellis’ relentless assault on the weirdest corners of Marvel Comics lore brought to life by Stuart Immonen’s unbelievably expressive artwork is pure comics joy.

Anyways, I wanted to emulate the look of a quick marker rendering and I think it turned out relatively spiffy.