Hard at work

I've been asked here and there what's up next for me in comics. The short answer—I don't know! Just working on a few shorties here and there.

The long answer for those who want it—after I completed TRUST/TRUTH late last summer, I immediately fell in some work with Marvel. Fell into is a little exaggeration...I had pitched an adaptation of WUTHERING HEIGHTS for their possibly-defuncting 'Classics' line. The answer was no, but along came an offer to write an Iron Man story and write and draw a Northstar story.

After I completed work on both, the holidays rolled through which of course keeps one busy with day job holiday parties, family obligations, jaunts to NYC and the like. In January I started thinking about what to do next, and then off to Angouleme Festival, and tourism in France & Portugal, and some rollercoaster emotional times.

By this point, I had set a closing date for my loft purchase. I also was feverishly distracting myself with plotting and planning the second half of my long-awaited OGN BABY MAKES THREE. It just wasn't coming together, so I decided to abandon it. Brainstorming ideas was more and more challenging as my grandmother's health worsened and the house purchase loomed large.

The purchase, renovation (it was not move-in ready), and move was a very trying and stressful time, and on its heels, my grandmother passed away. Mid-May to mid-June is very much a haze. But I did my best to pull myself up by the bootstraps and completed a shortie for the indie anthology INBOUND #5 (on sale soon I think).

More renovations, Comic Con, and more renovations and here we go with a guest-run on Monica Gallagher's Web comic BONNIE N. COLLIDE. And in Oct, you'll see the story I did with Jen Van Meter in 2006 reprinted in Oni Press' HOPELESS SAVAGES GREATEST HITS.

So 2010 brings two Marvel credits, an Oni credit, and 2 indie credits, as well as a limited reprint of CAVALCADE V1 with some exclusive material. Not bad for almost no work.

But, that means you won't see much on the shelves from me in 2011. With no approved pitches, and the self-publishing scene tanking, I won't be embarking on a significant project soon. I'll keep you posted with news about my mini comics and whatever else comes along.

In the meantime, I'm purging a bit of deadstock which is taking up too much space in my loft and my mind. Oh, and here's a picture of my drafting table—recently bought and the first I've ever owned—with my BONNIE strips in progress. Pic didn't turn out, but I have a swell view out those windows. A sheer joy to work there.

Jam!

Action! Romance!

Pretty girls! Cute guys!

This loop around the rink will have it all! It will leave you begging for more! Ok, ok, I'm just trying to psyche myself up to get working on it. It'll be alright.

Right now, I am wrapping up work on a CAVALCADE SAMPLER, which will include the entire V1, excerpts from V2, V3, and Love is the Reason. It will be a limited run book, perfect for shops who still have V2 and V3 in stock. Otherwise, I will package it with my remaining V2 and V3s as a set, since the jumbo book is about 5 copies away from being out of print.

I hope to finish work on the SAMPLER this weekend. Show the cover layout and the wrap-around to my designer-friend Katha on Monday, make final tweaks, and start FTPing files on Wednesday!

925

Monica's comic about Bonnie is fully titled Bonnie N. Collide Nine to Five and is largely centered around Bonnie's life in a cube farm. She rollerskates around, causing havoc, hullaballoos, mishaps, fandangos, a kerfuffle or two, and some hubbub. She has a crush on the cute guy on floor 3 and has a werewolf as a co-worker.

My story line is a little bit of a side-step, what with an ex in town. However, there must be sexual tension developing as a result of the love triangle—which will take place in the office. I'm trying to stay generally conscious of the office as a venue even though the story arc won't be about office life per se.

Bonnie N. Collide

I ran a few ideas past Monica, and she chose one in particular involving an ex boyfriend who's back in town after a stint with the Marines. That's all I'll say about the story.

But here's one of my brainstorming sketch pages. I need to review some of the finer points of Bonnie and derby. What position does she skate? What is her actual skate #?

I am having fun drawing a true leading lady, which I haven't really done since I was drawing Midge in my never-finished OGN Baby Makes Three.

In related news, I ordered the wrong color of blue woodless pencil. They aren't expensive, but shipping sure is...bummer.

Guesting

Monica Gallagher, my inspiration to use blue pencil, has her thumbs in too many pies lately:

• Gods & Undergrads webcomic
• Bonnie N. Collide webcomic
• Oni's JAM! derby girl book
• Another Oni project well underway

All that and she's a derby girl herself, rolling as Whipstick for the Charm City derby in Baltimore!

She finally admitted she needs to pare back a bit, but was nervous to abandon all her pet projects completely. So what's a girl to do?

Enter me, with my offer to guest on Bonnie N. Collide for a spell. I started sketching Bonnie to gear up...

In the meantime, check out Monica's comics at www.eatyourlipstick.com