Getting ready for SDCC

 

A couple of watercolors that I'll be bringing to SDCC to sell.  You'll be able to find me signing at the Oni booth most of the weekend.

Stop by and say hey!

Heroes Con 2012

I'll be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, from June 22-24!  Come out and have a good time and say hi to me and let's enjoy some comics fellowship and high fives!

Table AA-429 in Indie Island! 

Free Comic Book Day 2012

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY IS TOMORROW, MAY 5TH!!!

If you’re in the Charlotte area, you should swing by Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find!!  They’re an awesome comic shop, and they’ll have a lot of amazing artists there doing free sketches!  I’ll be there, sketching away and talking comics.  Play Ball will be on the shelves, and I’ll be signing those, too.

Even if you’re not in Charlotte, FCBD is a nationwide event.  Look up your local comic shop and see what they have going on!  It’s an all-day comics party!!

Beasts & Babes

Erin and Cara and I got a sweet little write up about our sketchbook that debuted at Fluke last weekend!  Go to Comics Alliance to check out the article by Chris Sims!

To buy your own copy, go here!

Play Ball is Out This Wednesday!

Play Ball comes out on Wednesday!  You can preorder it now on Amazon for only $13.59!!  It’s hardcover with spot gloss, 144 pages, and written by the amazingly awesome Christina Weir and Nunzio Defilippis!!

Upcoming Stuff!

Check it out! I'll be doing free sketches (most likely fully inked 4x6" drawings, really) in Charlotte on May 5th! Play Ball will have just come out, so I'm sure Heroes will have copies in the store. Come on by and party with us!!

Other cons where I'll be appearing:

• Fluke in Athens (April 21)
• Heroes Con in Charlotte (June 22-24)
• Hopefully SDCC (July 12-15)
• Dragon Con (August 31-September 3); I won't have a table or anything, but I'll be around all weekend and dressing up and partying. Hard.
  
• Maybe NYCC (October 11-14)

HI GUYS HI

ECCC just wrapped up. It's been awesome, and I'll make a longer post on Tuesday (tonight is for relaxing/drinking and tomorrow is for traveling ALL DAY) with pictures and cute stories and comics and everything. I met a ton of amazing people, and I got some great comics/art. This has quickly become one of my favorite cons, and I plan on coming back next year (hopefully with a table).

IT'S

BEEN

RAD

Heading to Seattle in about 6 hours!!

...but waking up in about 4 hours.

SO! I'll be at Emerald City Comic Con the whole weekend, so keep a look out for me, and please don't hesitate to run up and say hi!!

My preview copy of Play Ball showed up today!!!

I'm so excited for the release in April!

Mermaids!

I've been drawing a LOT of stuff lately. I've filled several sketchbooks since November, and I realized that I really haven't been posting any of it here. SO! I'm going to try to update once a day with sketches or whatnot.

Have some mermaids:

Interview up at PKD Media Black Box Podcast!!

Shawn Pryor with PKD Media Black Box interviewed me a couple of weeks ago, and the interview is now up on his website! Go listen to us talk about Play Ball, cartoons, and maybe some DnD!

Top Three GN's

I’m usually not really willing to list a “top list” of anything, because there’s so much really amazing work out there, and more coming out every day. I also like different books or movies for different reasons, so there’s no consistent way to rank some of my favorite books. Some I love for the art, and some just grab my heart and won’t let go. For what it’s worth, here are some of my favorite books, as of right now:

1. Bone by Jeff Smith

That being said, this book will always be at the top of any list for me. Jeff Smith’s inking, pacing, characters, storytelling, acting…it’s all just so beautiful and cohesive and full-bodied. I believe everything he delivers in Bone. This book is both heart-warming and heart-breaking, and I readily admit that I cried very, very hard during at the end. It’s a wonderful blend of humor, fantasy, and drama, and you’ll fall in love with every character (especially Bartleby) .

It’s lovely, and I will endorse the hell out of it any chance I get.

2. Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales (writer) and Juanjo Guarnido (artist)

Blacksad is a French book by a Spanish creative team. Let me tell you, the Europeans do it right. Fully watercolored pages, character designs to die for, and such beautiful acting and anatomy that it will melt your face. The characters are all anthropomorphised animals, which lends itself really well to characterization and storytelling. The English release by Dark Horse collects the first three episodes, which you should definitely pick up. There is a fourth story out there, but it hasn’t been translated into English yet, and I’m chomping at the bit for it to come out.

3. Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa

Few books can be as relentlessly heartbreaking as Three Shadows is without making me want to throw the book against a wall and bawl into my pillow. It’s about a father trying to protect his son from his fate. The story itself kind of derails about 2/3 of the way through, but fascinatingly so. Like, I don’t mind that all of a sudden we’re following a minor character because the art is so enchanting, and the tone of the book just sucks you in. This is another book that made me cry.

Also, Pedrosa’s character designs, his lines, the character acting, are all so well done, they’ll leave you weeping.

Interview up on CBR!!

This one's an interview with me, Christina, and Nunzio! Thanks, Shaun!
Go read it!

Play Ball article on CBR!!

This winter break has been pretty exciting. I finished Play Ball (I can finally talk about it!!), it goes to the printers this month, and it'll be released April 25th! I'm really looking forward to this con season. I'm looking forward to going to cities I've never been to before, meeting new artists and writers, and chatting with con attendees.

Seriously, cons are the best. It's like a private party with all your best friends and you're all connected by your love of whatever fandoms or creators inspire you.

So, to the point! I'm really excited about Play Ball coming out. Christina Weir and Nunzio Defilippis were an awesome writing team to work with. Jill Beaton, my editor, worked so hard on this project, and I appreciate her so much for that. Oni Press is a great company, with excellent folks.

To see the Play Ball page on the Oni Press website, click here.

Also, I was pleasantly surprised by a sweet little write up about Play Ball on CBR yesterday. It's a nice overview of the story, and Nunzio, Jill, and Christina give their perspective on the story, characters, and genre. Honestly, it's really thrilling to see my name on CBR, and to have the gorgeous cover (designed and colored by Keith Wood) up on onipress.com.

My experience with this book was so good, and I'm really looking forward to delving into a new project soon!