In and amongst a bunch of work getting done, I sat down and tried re-watching some old anime I remembered thoroughly enjoying back in high school. I was appalled at how low quality it was – way worse than I remembered.

Agonizingly slow pacing, terrible animation, cliche and hackneyed storytelling… how did I recall this stuff being so good? Stacy watched some with me and didn’t even have nostalgia keeping her remotely attached to it. It was quite painful.

After cycling through a few different shows and finding them all lacking, we zipped over to something more contemporary. Samurai Champloo still holds up, thankfully. Great character design, fantastic direction and snappy action scenes.

I don’t know if I should dig further into my anime-loving past. It may just be an exercise in pain and disappointment.

I haven’t done a Skullkickers review round-up in quite some time. We’re still pushing hard to get coverage in as many corners of the comic press as possible. Here are some newer ones:

• It’s Bloggerin’ Time has a full run through of the Skullkickers experience.
“Big laughs. Like, uproarious, knee-slapping stuff.”

• Comic Book Critic gives issue #9 a 9/10.
“After 8 issues, Skullkickers is getting better and better.”

• Weekly Comic Book Review loves Volume 1.
“The script is lively and absolutely hilarious.”

• The Buy Pile on CBR put us in their top picks of the week for issue #8.
“A wonderful adventure romp full of great dialogue and action.”

• The Daily Blam gave issue #8 4/5.
“People accidentally shooting themselves has never been so fun!”

• Comics Nexus falls in love with SKullkickers #8.
“I’ve become very enamored of this title.”

• Geeks of Doom is fully on board the Skullkickers adventure.
“Skullkickers blends the world of fantasy and humour in a perfect way.”

• Nerd Girl Pin-Ups catches up with volume 1 and the latest issues.
“Skullkickers manages to keep the laughs coming while crafting rich characters, and a kick-ass setting to put them in.”

• A Pocketful of Geek discovers the series for the first time.
“I heartily recommend this as a brilliantly fun read that will have you smiling from start to finish.”

• iFanboy reviews issue #9 and likes where we’re headed.
“Are you reading Skullkickers? If the answer to that question is ‘no,’ then you need to slap yourself and go buy this book.”

Back in 2008 I posted up two issues of the comics I wrote/drew when I was 11 years old.

For those of you who may have missed them. Here they are:
Liberty League #1
Liberty League #2
Marvel Universe Pin-Up
Spider-Man Pin-Up

My mother found more of my old comic artwork from when I was 13, so I thought I’d scan it in.

Kurt Busiek ripped me off with his series ‘Untold Tales of Spider-Man’. I had the exact same comic title 6 years earlier, thank you very much!

Check that dynamic posing and McFarlane-era webbing!

My brother was the inker and letterer.

The goblin chews up the scenery here with his evil. Oh man, I cannot wait to see what happens next…

Oh wait, that’s it. I only ever drew 2 pages before we gave up on it. I guess we’ll never know how it ends. Noooooooooooooooooo!

Corey Mintz from the Toronto Star has just posted up his report and photos from the Kit Kat tasting party we had at his place last month. The whole thing was organized by Chris Butcher as part of launch content for his new Japanese snack food blog called Oyatsu Break.

Check out the photos.

Check out the article.

Check out Oyatsu Break!

San Diego Comicon 2011 whipped by and I’m still trying to recover. It was a fun show, but the whole thing came and went in a flash.

Thanks to everyone in the UDON crew and the gang at Image for helping to make it a special week. I wasn’t as social as usual this year with the crush of things that had to get done keeping me running almost the entire time, but that’s all part of the Comicon experience. When I had a bit of time to take it all in, it amazed me how much of it I take for granted. It’s an amazing place and the people I’ve met thanks to the show each year are some of my nearest and dearest friends.

Thanks also to friends, pros, reviewers, retailers and fans who came by to tell me how much they’ve been enjoying Skullkickers. It means the world to me to hear that it’s keeping you entertained.

This week is all about following up on the momentum built at the show interspersed with tiny daydreams about what may yet be for next year.

This sketch image was done with Alias Sketchbook Pro as part of Viz’s ‘Art For Hope’ Japan Charity fund-raising event.

Details here:
http://www.viz.com/content/viz-media-teams-autodesk-art-hope-benefit-japan-disaster-relief

Since I wasn’t as familiar with Sketchbook as I am with Photoshop, I went for a simple composition and flat colours. It was a neat program to play with though and I’m looking forward to trying it more in the future.

Click for larger version

Here we go! Preparations are underway for the biggest comic/game/movie/pop culture convention of the summer – Comic Con International, the wild and woolly San Diego Comicon!

Team Skullkickers will be stationed at Booth #2729, the Image Comics booth, mashing monsters and signing books… and not just any books, mind you…

The limited edition hard cover Skullkickers Vol. 1’s we printed up for Emerald City Comicon vanished faster than expected, but since we were headed back to press on the regular edition anyways, we printed up a brand new convention-exclusive hard cover edition for SDCC with a spiffy new cover! Check it out:

Convention-only hardcover special edition for $25!

We’ll also be bringing two exclusive convention art prints to the show, both taken from rare variant covers you may not have gotten your hands on. These illos won’t be in our trade paperback and have never been reproduced without our skull trade dress before, so you’ll want to snag these 11″ x 17″ beauties.

Convention-only art prints – two for $25!

We received our advanced copies of Skullkickers #9 in the mail over the weekend so I’m bringing some copies to the show for eager readers who want to get the first crack at reading part 3 of ‘Five Funerals and Bucket of Blood’.

Advanced copies of Skullkickers #9!

In addition, I’ll be balancing time and doing a few signings at Booth #5037, the UDON Entertainment booth, as part of the studio’s Mega Man Tribute art book release.

Convention-only hardcover Mega Man Tribute

Click on the zoomed in map below for a larger version of the whole crazy exhibit floor.

If you’re attending San Diego Comicon this year, I want to see you there! Come by and say ‘Hi’!

It’s nerd prom and everybody’s getting ready to dance! 🙂

The fine folks at deviantART, who are sponsoring this year’s SDCC Artist’s Alley section, invited me to be a part of a special panel they’re holding on Saturday as part of the big show next weekend. Here’s the info:

12:00-1:00 Comic-Con How-To: Angelo Sotira, CEO of deviantART— Know the platform, deliver the goods, and be awesome!

Find out how to build a one million+ following on the web. Angelo Sotira, CEO of deviantArt, will moderate a panel of experts, including Stanley “Artgerm” Lau (co-founder and creative director, Imaginary Friends Studios), Jim “Zubby” Zubkavich (Project Manager, UDON Entertainment), and Dave “deevelliott” Elliott (comic book illustrator, editor, publisher), who will discuss how to use tools to create a following on the Internet. Room 28DE

I figured since I’m now writing my own stuff and juggling so many different things I should probably get some personal business cards done up in time for SDCC. My UDON business cards are great, but they’re not appropriate for every social situation.

Here’s the design I put together, front & back, incorporating a bit of art but something simple that won’t over complicate such a small space. The final printed version includes my cel number too, but that’s not for public consumption.

Everyone calls me ‘Zub’ anyways so I’m embracing that for my professional writing/art stuff from here on out.

click for larger version

While everyone at UDON gears up for this year’s San Diego Comicon, we’re extra pumped to be launching our Mega Man Tribute art book at the show.

Here’s my pin-up, focused on my favourite game in the series, Mega Man 2!

The character and level design in MM2 hits just the right note for me, with challenging stages and bosses delicately balanced so it never becomes a slog to play through.

I hope you all enjoy my piece. It’s an absolute honour to be a part of another great official Tribute project. I can’t wait until fans get their hands on the book (soft cover in stores or our limited convention hard cover edition).