Gosh!

One week from today: me at Gosh! Comics in London!

I am very excited about my upcoming trip. 2014 was the first year in well over a decade that I didn't travel abroad at all. I had only just returned from the Munich- Vienna- Rome- Milan trip when my mom was diagnosed, so I didn't wanted to stay close by my family in 2014.

But this year, I was able to get to France in January-February, then Toronto in May, and in a few days I travel to London- Leeds- Glasgow.

I'll start off meeting up with Xavier and Greg in London for a few days. I was very fortunate to schedule a signing at Gosh! in Soho. My English comics pal Sean pointed me to Gosh! and they have been great.

Next, the 3 of us will then venture to Leeds to meet up with Monica, who is exhibiting at Thought Bubble.I tried to get a table, but I missed the deadline by a few weeks. booooo.  

Finally, the 4 of us will travel on to Glasgow for a writing workshop of our own making. We chose a village on the outskirts of Glasgow, sure to have a pub. Otherwise, I don't think we've settled on any kind of itinerary or agenda for our workshop.

But yes, I need a new headshot if I am going to keep at comics. My last pro one was taken in 2006. Then, the one featured on many posters was taken in 2010. Ugh.

Hello, Ms. Parker

In the vintage '50s hard cover Modern Library edition I have of Dorothy Parker's poetry, someone would underline things or write "yes!" in pencil next to passages. It's almost as amusing as the poems themselves...

Trivia Night

We'll dip back to 2014 unposted sketches for a bit...

My neighbors and I used to frequent trivia night at Tavern at the End of the World Sunday nights.

Our team name was "Home by Ten" because on our first excursion, Heather declared she had to be home by 10:00 to give her cat an insulin shot. We promised, though I don't think we delivered...but maybe 10:15.

One evening, this patron was oblivious to her display. I was the only in our party to be in the direct sight line. Lucky me.

Tavern is a great winter place, very cozy with a fireplace. In summer though, it's dreadful for me... when it's all light and warm out, to cram into a cozy pub...just felt wrong. So we broke the habit in nice weather.

Daily Post Challenge!

Here we go with a daily post challenge for 2015! If all goes well, I'll achieve my historic average of 60 posts per year by December 31. Think of it like how you think of Doctor Who or The Closer or something...you wait all year for an incredible month or two of new episodes, and it's worth it. Convince yourself of this, though the quality of this blog will never meet your expectations.

While I didn't post much in 2014, and I have a backlog of sketches, it will still be a challenge to post daily. Currently, at my day job, I'm not only director of my department, but the acting director of another department as well. So, I am terribly busy. But we'll see how this plays out.

I wasn't really ready to yammer on about it online, but 2014 was a tough year. My mom had been diagnosed with cancer, so I was trying to get up to NH as much as I could, and keep all the plates spinning. I drew 4 issues of Lionforge's Saved by the Bell comic, so that was good! But I didn't get too much sketching in otherwise.Things had been looking quite hopeful for my mom, and she was responding to the first round of treatment. The second round of treatment was going well, too...two steps forward, one step back deal. Then suddenly it was one step forward, two steps back, then she was gone. She died peacefully on Christmas day.

Obviously, 2015 has been a challenge, too. Dealing with grief, the myriad of emotions and memories, and trying to find a new path forward with my family. To keep moving forward, I started out the year strong in drawing. I completed the unfinished Arche-Lady Special from 2013, and drew another for 2015. I wrote and drew a shortie for Vertigo's Strange Sports Stories anthology, and drew the first of 4 issues of Saved by the Bell V2 before the project went back on mini-hiatus.

I spent July in NH with my dad, working remotely for MIT. That was great! And I finally decide to finish the monster of a pre-press job—compiling the original Arche-Lady series in two volumes. Each volume is 556 pages, and was a nightmare. I started scanning the original art back in 2011, slowly plugging away at it the layout and annotation ever since. I soldiered through, completed the books (they look great!) but at a cost.

The occasional wrist-arm-shoulder pain I'd been experiencing sporadically became intense and seemingly permanent. This awesome LMT declared my neck and back "a mess" and told me to (1) keep seeing him, (2) get on OT and PT books, (3) get back to the gym. The LMT, OT, and PT folks were all in agreement: due to years of "drawing posture" certain neck muscles became over-developing, pinching nerves. So, I was in PT for Sept-Oct and back at the gym since August, and doing the PT exercises daily. Yay.

Pain is subsiding. I've also not had a headache since June, either. Due to the back/neck issues, all my stress had been shooting up into my head apparently, with the tension of these neck muscles squeezing the nerves. Severe, weekly headaches since, what, 2009? I've posted a lot about them. Amazing progress. 

But, all this to say, my sketchbook for 2015 is also pretty thin. This daily post challenge might also be thin, but a nice challenge at the end of a few challenging years.
  

2015 Goals

Hello 2015!

2014 was challenging (but aren't they all?—or so it seems moreso in my Autumn years) and I'm looking forward to an easier 2015. To that end, I will keep my 2015 goals simple:

Strange Sports Stories
I was tapped for Vertigo's anthology, inspired by DC's same-named comics from the 50s and 60s. Just a shortie, and due early Feb, so I'd best get cracking. 

Saved by the Bell
The plan, last I heard it, was for work to resume for volume 2 in February. So, these shorties will consume Feb, April, June, August. More or less.

Arche-Lady
Ok, enough's enough. I am determined to finally complete my long-standing goals for compiling this material. While I made significant headway on volume 1, it turns out I set some files up incorrectly, so I will need to backtrack. Not such a big deal until you realize volume 1 is 550 pages. This set back has made me rethink production...and I will definitely print V1 before I begin work on V2, just to make sure I am getting it right. In the meantime, yes, I pulled together a mini for convention sales, and I might add to it if the mood hits me. Here you see the cover for the convention collection.

Conventions
I will be at Angouleme Festival in a few weeks. Seems like such a hurdle to travel abroad these days, in no small part due to my lovable, sweet, but rambunctious, big, and strong dog, Mr. Darby. Only a few have the stamina to dog-sit for me, so travel is nowhere as easy as it was with Aggie. I've also been accepted to exhibit at the  Toronto Comic Art Festival (TCAF), so come find me in Toronto! I am waiting to hear if I was accepted to MoCCA Festival, and I will again apply for New York Comic Con.

Signings
I need to be in Houston for my day job the first week of March, and NYC for my day job the third week of March. I've researched a little places to approach for a signing in Houston, and have chatted with Abby Denson about a signing in NYC. We'll see if either works out...I basically need to lock them in over the next week or so...

These comics goals, of course, must balance with the rest of my life. As an goals-oriented results-driven person, I tend to set resolutions in terms of goals and results, and I have a few for the other aspects of my life, too. Maybe I will share those with you later.  

2014 in Review

As I mentioned mid-year, I was definitely way too ambitious with my 2014 comics goals. But, I made some good headway, and balanced out comics with some other crafty-creative work.

Let's see how my goals stated a year back played out:

Secret Shorties

Revealed as Saved By The Bell for Lionforge Comics, I pencilled and inked the even-numbered issues of volume one, with Chynna Clugston on the odd-numbered issues. We each completed 4 issues and the volume drew to a close. GOAL COMPLETE

Baby OGN

I actually questioned whether or not it should be a goal. But Greg re-read the first six chapters and thought it still cute and relevant, and that I should finish it. But, no progress. GOAL INCOMPLETE

Arche-Lady compilation

I put some time in on this mammoth project in January and October. PROGRESS

Cavalcade mini

I edited the 7 scripted pages and drew them in November. Colored the cover and did the page layout in December. This is my first complete project using KaBlam (which I am doing so to take advantage of the low print runs). I ran a test copy and it turned out just fine, so I ordered a batch for Angouleme. GOAL COMPLETE

New York Comic Con

I applied and was rejected. But, the side goals (new cards and a new booth banner) were useful for Boston Comic Con. GOAL COMPLETE

Angouleme Festival

I signed up, have my airfare, train tickets, and accommodations. I leave in 20 days. Yay! I missed the last few years, so I am excited to return to the show and see some euro-friends. Let's see...I missed 2012 because Aggie wasn't so well, 2013 due to my day job, and 2014 because my mom had just been diagnosed with Lymphoma and we didn't know where that was headed. Anyway, GOAL COMPLETE

You've read my entries detailing January through May. Let me skim over the rest of the year a bit:

It seems like I did something in June, but for the life of me, I can't remember. It was probably furniture related.

In July, I drew Saved By The Bell #8. I'll post an annotation soon.

In August, I was really stressed out at my day job, but managed to refinish a McCobb Planner Group end table. 

I don't recall much of September, except I was really busy with my day job and trips to NH. I also made time to relax a little.

I made progress on the endless Arche-Lady project in October. 

In November, I drew and put together Quickies, a new 8 page Cavalcade mini, which I'll sell at cons on 2015. It recounts a half dozen relationships, and the characters' reaction to their termination: ambivalence, regret, joy, sorrow, anger, confusion. You see the cover to the mini here in this post.

In December decided to pull together a few bits of Arche-Lady stuff for a convention mini. I made a cover, and sent that off to KaBlam. I also drew a new 3 page Bonnie N. Collide story, which, paired with the 3 stories I wrote and drew in 2010, make a nice 16 page mini comic. I loved revisiting Monica Gallagher's characters. I'd always thought I'd write and draw at least 2 more stories in 2011, but other stuff kept getting in the way. This short story was a nice way to say hello and good-bye to Bonnie. Monica might use the pages as another guest run on her web comic, but otherwise, you can buy my Bonnie mini at a convention in 2015.

Farewell, 2014. I'll post my 2015 goals in a shortly.

Saved by the Bell #6 ANNOTATED

In May or so, I worked on SAVED BY THE BELL #6. I enjoyed drawing this story, and I hit my stride with some of the panel layouts. Of course, enjoy the cover by Chynna Clugston here, and buy the e-edition on Amazon!

The e-format drives the page layout, so while it's written as a 12 page story, it's really 12 2-half pages or 24 half pages. It can be a challenge maneuvering the script into the half page format (would be a no brainer for me if the 12 page script allowed freedom to be drawn as a whole page) I'm probably not describing this well. Too little or too much coffee maybe.

PAGE 1 

Sorely lacking for my enjoyment are splash pages or half-splashes. So for this story, I significantly altered the script affording me the space for a half-splash. I love panel 1! The girl with the blue hair is wearing the "Hippie Daisy" T-shirt I designed while hanging a poster reading "art by Tim Fish." Zack is wearing the "Johnny's Magnet" T-shirt I designed. Jeffrey, the scruffy indie boy I worked into the backgrounds of issues 2 and 4 appears embracing his BF or maybe just a hookup. Tough to say. Panel 4 was really fun to draw.

PAGE 2

The script places Kelly in audition lines for the "Pop Diva" TV show, so lots of familiar faces worked into the crowds throughout the story. 

Panel 1:

• Archie, Betty, Veronica (obscured by the letterer's placement of text)
• Jughead

Panel 2:

• Andrea Thomas/Isis
• Kathy a.k.a. Pumpkin Head, a.k.a. PH (woman I work with)
• Indie Uncle Sam
• Human Bomb
• Phantom Lady

Panel 5:

• Lilandra

In panel 4, we meet two producers—the villains of the story. The primary villain I drew after my most recent ex. The secondary villain, I drew after his then BF. After I drew this, but before it was published, they broke up.

PAGE 5 Panel 1 we see recurring background character, a rather large gal, drawn after a colleague of mine. We also see a poster for a pub I frequent, Tavern at the End of the World. Panel 2 is Jeffrey again, and panel 5 we see Leslie from issue #4.

PAGE 6 Screech wears a robot T I designed for my office's student employees (my day job is at MIT). In panel 5 we see the iconic single pedestal Planner Group desk designed by Paul McCobb.

PAGE 7 Zack's polos drawn by me are usually labelled with the mark you see here...kinda looks like a whale. Or a sperm. Not sure. We also get to see the foil label in the desk drawer in panel 2; panel 6 I re-use my explosion effect I've blogged about before.

PAGE 8 turned out alright, except Kelly's head in panel 4 bothers me...should be a little over to the right. Looks like she broke her neck. Oops.

PAGE 9 catches a glimpse of Jeffrey eating some fries.

PAGE 11 went through significant edits in the pencilling and layout phase. Given the half-page publishing format it could have benefited from being busted out over 2 pages. But sometimes there are easy pages to draw and sometimes tough ones! Since my editor generally gives awesome quality and helpful feedback, I think the page turned out well.

Panel 1:

• Fred from SCOOBY-DOO
•  The Wizard from my Arche-Lady series
• Black Canary

Panel 2:

• Arche-Lady and Doctor Glax
• Lyle Norg/Invisible Kid

Panel 3:

• Johnny Magnet from my Arche-Lady series

Panel 4:

• Black Canary again

Panel 5:

• woman dressed as Tigra

Ok, that's all for May! What will June bring?—time will tell!