FEEDING GROUND _ For Your Consideration...

Comic Book award season is upon us, particularly the nominations for the 2012 Harvey Awards which are due by April 16th. The Harveys are exclusively selected by other comic creators and you can learn more and fill out the ballot HERE.

Below is a list of categories that our book FEEDING GROUND, published by Archaia Entertainment, is eligible for. Links to reviews for FEEDING GROUND are available HERE.

I personally find it difficult to put FEEDING GROUND up on a pedestal, or even to see it on the rack, next to other work I admire. But, I recognize it as a solid first comic for us as a group and I'm proud of the dense and complex story we crafted. Of my own contributions, I think I was at least able to bring something to the table in terms of my approach to color art and cover design.

Thanks for reading and please let us, and the Harveys, know what you think.

BEST LETTERER
Christopher Mangun, “FEEDING GROUND”, Archaia
BEST COLORIST
Micahel Lapinski, “FEEDING GROUND”, Archaia
BEST INKER
Michael Lapinski, “FEEDING GROUND”, Archaia
BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED MATERIAL
“FEEDING GROUND”, Swifty Lang, Michael Lapinski, Chris Mangun, Archaia
BEST COVER ARTIST
Michael Lapinski
BEST WRITER
Swifty Lang, “FEEDING GROUND”, Archaia
BEST NEW TALENT
Michael Lapinski, “FEEDING GROUND”, Archaia
BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES
“FEEDING GROUND”, Archaia

ANIMATION _ Character Design

Here are a few character designs I did for an animated series pitch. Not much I can say about it since the pitch pilot is still making the rounds at different studios and networks but the creators gave the OK to share the designs here.

Each character is derived from a different genre of "bad" Americana folk art. An intentional combination of high detail and relatively stiff puppeted After Effects animation added a layer of awkward charm to the proceedings.

COMICS _ The Gathering #8

(COVER ART by John M. Coker)

GrayHaven Comics (visit their recently revamped website) is a comic company specializing in up and coming creators looking to get published. THE GATHERING is GHC’s ongoing self-published anthology with each issue organized around a specific theme or genre. I met this crew as a member of the JINXWORLD message boards and I'm continually impressed with their diligence and talent and simply for just doing it.


I contribute when I can (Issues 1 & 4) and it was very cool to return with the Sci-Fi issue in a collaboration with writers TM Haley and renowned STAR WARS author John Jackson Miller. In John's words, our short "Immune" is "a silent-movie style story of a world not quite right."

Without dialogue, I needed to be especially clear in my "acting" and panel-to-panel storytelling. I also used the opportunity to experiment with an open line style complimented with halftones to help recall 50s sci-fi. The cover by John M. Coker does a great job of evoking the mod cool side of sci-fi, looking back to look forward.


You can pick up the issue HERE


And here's a "Not Quite 20 Questions" interview I did with GrayHaven back in Nov 2011.

LOGO DESIGN _ Mind the Gap

I recently had the opportunity to design the logo for the upcoming Image Comics series MIND THE GAP (USA Today preview HERE), developed by Jim McCann. Had the pleasure to meet Jim at my first convention when I was pitching FEEDING GROUND. Jim has written for Marvel (the characters of Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Dazzler shined under his pen) and we eventually wound up at the same publisher, Archaia. where he created the extraordinary Eisner-winning THE RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN with artist, and fellow Nashvillian, Janet Lee. As Jim was creating this new series with artist Rodin Esquejo and colorist Sonia Oback he found my post on FEEDING GROUND logo designs and added me to the team. I'm proud to have done my part in working with them and think we've concocted something unique in the logo/cover design.

I'll post more thoughts and a process piece closer to the May 2nd release date. For now, you can see the covers and solicitation below. You can read the full press release HERE. Be sure to support creator-owned comics and reserve your copy with your local comic retailer! 


MIND THE GAP #1

story JIM McCANN
art / cover RODIN ESQUEJO & SONIA OBACK
variant cover RODIN ESQUEJO & SONIA OBACK
MAY 2
48 PAGES / FC / T+ 
$2.99
After Elle Peterssen is mysteriously attacked on a Manhattan subway platform, she is left in a coma, the only clues to her attacker trapped inside her mind. No one knows the identity of the person behind this brutal beating or where they will strike next. In this ALL-NEW ONGOING series, everyone is suspect, and no one is innocent. USAToday calls it an “anxiously anticipated modern thriller…Whodunit? McCann's done it again.”
Eisner-winning writer JIM McCANN joins RODIN ESQUEJO (MORNING GLORIES) and SONIA OBACK (S.H.I.E.L.D., The Defenders) unite for a psychological thriller that will leave you guessing at every turn!

Diamond order numbers: (cover A: MAR120401, cover B: MAR120402)