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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.

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Another quick sketch today inbetween work e-mails and other things. I’ve never drawn Harley before.

I’m trying to start looser and then really attack the sketch with gusto. I’m not actively watching the clock but I am noting my start time and then trying not to waste time over thinking stuff either. Digital layers gives me extra confidence that seems to be transferring over to my traditional drawing as well.

The Cintiq sketches seem to lean pretty heavily to the right as I work, even moreso than my traditional sketches do. A quick Edit> Transform> Distort in Photoshop makes it all better though. 🙂

Hey Everyone,

If you’re following me online it’s about to get really Skullkickers-heavy as we make the last push towards the Final Order Cut-Off deadline for retailers to determine the number of copies they bring in for issue #1. I’ve got to beat the drum as hard as I can to help get readers interested, so expect a lot of Skullkickers-related link-age. Needless to say, your help and support is great appreciated!

Okay, here’s we go:
• Industry megasite Comic Book Resources has posted up an extensive interview with me all about the series. It covers the overview but has a few new tidbits in there as well. Check it out and comment if you can.

CBR: Skullkickers Bashes Your Face In

• Horror-based news site Comic Monsters talks to me all about the monster horror-aspects of the series, especially with the Army of Darkness comparisons and creatures galore in the book.

Comic Monsters SK Interview

• The first two advance reviews for the first issue have come out and they’re very positive. Comics Bulletin calls it “action-packed, mysterious, hilarious, and downright fun!” while Out of the Tomb Magazine announces that “This is one fun filled ride of the ass kicking machine!”.

More to come, hopefully soon. Tell a friend that the SKULLKICKERS are coming!

Just what it says –

Taking a break between project stuff last night and I wanted to sketch something, anything, for fun. Opened up a blank canvas in Photoshop on the Cintiq and doodled until this came out of it.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out as a little exercise. I should do more of these for warm-up.

Hey everyone,

Last week I was interviewed by the gents at Image Addiction all about Skullkickers. It’s an in-depth chat about the first issue, working with the art team and future plans for the series. Give it a listen!

Click here for the podcast

Direct file MP3 link here

The interview starts at 5:25 and goes through to 56:45. Yeah, it’s a 50 minute interview, but please don’t let that scare you away. It’s good stuff.

Thanks to the Image Addiction crew for their enthusiasm and support of the book.

Scott Pilgrim Versus the World opens nationwide in theatres today. It’s not like I have to tell you that. The advertising campaign since San Diego Comicon has been intense. It’s an indy comic darling, an online phenomenon and a major motion picture.

If you haven’t already, I hope you read the books and watch the movie this weekend. The onslaught of media attention its receiving right now may be overwhelming but, believe me, it is worthy.

When I read the first couple books in the series as they were released I was thoroughly amused at the snappy premise, character antics and witty banter. Mal (Bryan Lee O’Malley) knows how to write dialogue that pops. Volume 1 and 2 read like the comic book equivalent of a fantastic fizzy root beer float.

The only aspect of those early Pilgrim books to disappoint me was that there was barely any of the emotional depth I’d previously seen in Mal’s first book, Lost At Sea. Lost At Sea was an emotionally resonant and introspective story that really worked for me. I was worried that the depth Mal showed there was going to be washed away by the video game rock hoopla of Pilgrim.

Thankfully, I was wrong. With each book released in the series Mal peeled away layer upon layer and showed that he was very aware of that emotional content. Everyone in the Pilgrim cast starts off as immature, selfish, wishy-washy and messed up in the best tradition of romantic-comedies and manga that influenced him so much. Mal showed them becoming aware and growing up bit by bit without taking away the vitality that made the books so fun in the first place.

However, the real masterstroke of it comes in volume 6. The entire concept of evil exes and the battle for Ramona’s heart is pop culture kooky but it’s also a symbol of something everyone can relate to.

Past relationships cling.

They infest our minds and hearts, keeping us tied to the past and hurting our self confidence. They’re a wall separating us from new love and friendship. Evil exes and Nega-Scott are a brilliantly simple way of symbolizing our own inadequacies and fears.

Ramona isn’t a prize to be won or a damsel in distress. She hasn’t put up barriers on purpose and she doesn’t enjoy watching Scott endure these trials. Seven evil exes are the physical representation of relationships she can’t forget, mistakes she’s made and personality flaws that keep her from growing up and being something more. They’re the reason why she runs away from problems and they’re entrenched in who she is until Scott helps her break beneath the surface. In the twisted cartoon logic of Scott Pilgrim, she’s quite literally “the girl of his dreams” and he’s literally helping her “break-up” with her ex-boyfriends (er, exes).

That’s the Mal who I felt hit a home run with Lost At Sea and that’s what makes Scott Pilgrim a great story.

If you’re a young teenager you can read Scott Pilgrim and completely enjoy it on a surface level of video game romance, music battles and action jack-assery. If you’re a bit older you may relate differently to feelings of young lust and the fear/discovery that goes along with new relationships. Older still and you might see a whole spectrum of immaturity and emotional baggage defining these characters’ lives until they figure themselves out and grow up. Every level of it works and entertains. No one feels excluded.

The surface aesthetic is planted in the here and now but it has a message that echoes deeper and ultimately rings true.

Marrying that emotional core concept with video games, music and frenetic witty banter is the way Scott Pilgrim deftly dances between genres. It’s the reason why it will last long after the movie fervour dies down.

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