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.

COMIC ART _ Some Short Press

(poster by Craig Thompson) 

Small Press Expo 2011 is right around the corner (Sept 10 and 11) and there will be a number of premieres there. Cartoonist bud Mike Dawson will be releasing his Graphic Novel TROOP 142, mentioned in the previous post.

While I was working on FEEDING GROUND I also had the chance to collaborate on a few short stories that are out now or will be out soon.

THE GATHERING #4

 

(cover by Aaron Bir)

The first is called SPARKLER, a two page tale written by my FEEDING GROUND co-hort Swifty Lang that appears in the horror issue of THE GATHERING Anthology by Grayhaven Comics. Not easy to tell a story in two pages but I think Swift found a unique entry through childhood memories and into horror that gets under your skin. And, we came up with an ending that keeps burning.

I had also contributed to the first issue of THE GATHERING and #4 is on sale HERE. 

AMERICANS/UK ROCKTRONIC MIXTAPE #2

 

(cover by Blake Sims) 

I'm really excited to be included in the ROCKTRONIC MIXTAPE #2 anthology also premiering at the Con. The comic is full of shorts illustrating the songs and adventures of the real-life band Americans/UK as told by lead singer, writer, and mastermind Jef UK. I'm in the mix illustrating their song SONS OF BA'AL as a biker battle between the band and the combined forces of God, Death, and The Sea. Some concept art HERE.

The book will also feature a host of some of my favorite cartoonists: Aaron Bir, Blake Sims, Ben Rosen, Zees, and John Mathias. All said, RAWK!

FEEDING GROUND #5 _ Pin-Ups!

Seems that Issue 5 finally hit the stands this week after unexplained delays with the printer and distributor.  Titled FEVER DREAMS it's a particularly trippy issue that splits the Busqueda family, each member confronted with their own personal hell.


We were fortunate to get another batch of FEEDING GROUND-inspired art by cartoonists buds and comic luminaries.  Here's a glimpse at their contributions along with links and brief bios.


MIKE DAWSON
(artist/writer TROOP 142)
http://www.mikedawsoncomics.com/

Mike and I go back to college where we we both did strips for The Cartoonists' Association of Rutgers (which I co-founded) and learned to be lefty brats in lieu of a practical art education.  Mike was the guy who really stuck with it, developed tremendously, and delivered in full with his autobio tome FREDDIE & ME about his life as a fan of the band Queen.  His webcomic TROOP 142 will be collected and printed soonish and he is also the co-host (with Alex Robinson) of THE INK PANTHERS SHOW podcast (ostensibly about comics but actually a painfully funny talk between friends) and host of his own comic creator interview show on THE COMICS JOURNAL.


BENJAMIN MARRA
(artist/writer NIGHT BUSINESS)
http://www.traditionalcomics.com/

Self-published through TRADITIONAL COMICS and as a freelance illustrator for the likes of Playboy, Vice, and Rolling Stone, Ben is the modern master of pulpy drawings that leave you with the need to shower.  I'm friends with Ben and his co-horts at MAMMAL Magazine, one ridiculously talented bunch.  Ben recently got a lot of press for his comic THE INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF MAUREEN DOWD (a work of fiction and satire) and was featured in Marvel's STRANGE TALES vol.2.  His take on FEEDING GROUND is a battle frieze of blood and viscera.


BLAKE SIMS
(artist/writer MELON MAN COMICS)
http://www.blakesimscomics.blogspot.com/

Blake's got one of those cartoon styles, like THE SIMPSONS, that immediately translates any person or idea into his own species.  You can check out Blake's caricatures and toons on his blog.  He's also a regular contributor to the comic anthology THE GATHERING and part of a new art blog LAY OF THE LINE.  He's just getting started.

FRED CHAO

(artist/writer JOHNNY HIRO {half Asian, all hero})
http://www.fredchao.com

Turn around, Fred Chao is behind you. Don't worry, it's a good thing. Brooklyn, NY is a hive of comic talent and I was pleasantly surprised to often run into Fred, particularly at BERGEN STREET COMICS.  JOHNNY loomed large for me alongside more overwrought heroes and, along with his freelance illustration work, Fred conveys a lot of power in a well-drafted line.  His FEEDING GROUND illustration ekes a fount of poetry our of a moment of our tale that I'm particularly proud of.

FEEDING GROUND _ MoCCA 2011 Wrap-up

Swifty, Chris, and I had ourselves a table at our first Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in NYC this past weekend.  It was a spacious and good-spirited event but I didn't have much of a chance to walk around to see what other creators were bringing to the table.  Really cool though to introduce new readers to FEEDING GROUND and to hear back from fans who have been reading along.  Below are a few other personal highlights from the weekend:


THE GATHERING

I had contributed art for a 2-page story in the premiere issue of this GrayHaven Comics anthology and Swifty and I are going to have another one in their upcoming Issue #4.  So, it was a sweet surprise to have been situated as neighbors right next to their table.  Led by Andrew Goletz, the anthology started as a forum for pairing first-time artists and writers from the Jinxworld message boards.  Wrapped with covers and art direction by the talented Aaron Bir, the collection is a fresh voice of dedication and enthusiasm. Writer Doug Hahner was also on hand. He wrote one of my favorite stories in Issue 1 and a nicer guy you never did meet.


THE INK PANTHERS SHOW

I devour podcasts as I work and this is the only one that disrupts my inking with laughter.  Ostensibly a comic podcast, the real attraction for me is the banter between friends Mike Dawson and Alex Robinson.  I was a cartoonist in college along with Mike and his professional work is one of the factors that encouraged me to get back into comics.  They've had me on the show in the past and this weekend I got to sub in for a stricken panelist at a live recording of the show at MoCCA, sharing convention stories with cartoonists Daniel Spottswood and John Kerschbaum and regaling the audience with my tale of destroying Capt. Lou Albano's car.  Also check out Mike's Pro T.I.P.S for more in-depth discussions with creators about the work and glamour of being a cartoonist.


MORE MoCCA BITS


-  I didn't get to see much, but the book LIAR'S KISS by Top Shelf was one attractive number that I planned on picking up.  Others agreed and it was sold out before I could grab it.

- I did get to buy GB Tran's VIETNAMERICA an incredible tome of personal journalism executed in a visual language that feels like memory to me.  Bonus - it came with the special convention cover that is a folded copy of a poster design for the book.

- I met one of my comic icons, Bill Sienkiewicz, and didn't embarrass myself all that much. I first discovered his work as a child with the “Badlands” issue of the "Demon Bear" run of THE NEW MUTANTS sandwiched between two other books in a supermarket 3-pack. It was a disturbing, challenging, find that not only opened my eyes to comics as art but the power of art in general. It continues to affect me and my work to this day. Check out this article on CBR to see images of the run and give yourself an idea on what sort of influence he had on the industry at a particular point in time.

- Swifty and I had dinner with our Editor-in-Chief at Archaia, Stephen Christy.  I am proud to be a part of a company that publishes important, attractive, work that is evolving our concept of what a comic book and comic book company can be in 2011.  Their recent Wonder Con announcements have me stoked as a comic fan, none more so than the care and vision that Stephen is putting into the graphic novel adaptation of Jim Henson's unpublished screenplay A TALE OF SAND.  Stephen is a guy who gets it, delivering quality packaging and promotion always in service of Story.

THE GATHERING _ Comic Anthology

A few months ago, I participated in illustrating a story for an anthology called The Gathering: The Thing with Feathers that will be released next month.


Edited and published by Andrew Goletz, the book is a collection of two-page shorts, tied arounf the theme of "hope," for which Andrew paired aspiring writers and artists on the Jinxworld message board. In my case, I was worked with Andrew's two sons, Ethan and Liam, who both wrote separate pages that we then joined to create a single story called "Better Days." The boys are internet celebrities in their own right for their online comic reviews here: http://kidscomicbooks.blogspot.com/.

It was a fun project bringing their words to life and a chance to try out new cartooning techniques. It's a very talented group involved with the book and I'm looking forward to checking out the other stories.

You can order and read more about the project here and help Andrew out with his Kickstarter Campaign to fund more volumes in the future.

Cover below by mucho skilled cartoonist Aaron Bir.