More Spookytown Freebies

I got the rest of my free stuff in the mail from Vista Print, they came out really great. And Lan, there are no watermarks on these. The only thing I can think of is that maybe if you use one of their business card templates, they might have them on there. I got a second set of the shot of them in the Gum Shoe Investigation office, but added a design to the back. I also got the red graveyard scene on a postcard, also with a back design. And lastly, I made little business card size ones of the swamp scene.Now I have a whole shelf of goodies to use to promote the book once it comes out. I'll mail them out to comic book stores, drop them on freebie tables on cons, and hand them out at my own table.

Belated Spookytown Page Count

I can't believe I forgot to post this. I took this shot a few weeks ago. 37 pages in the can.

New Spookytown Promo Postcards

Every so often, I get these promotions from Overnight Prints and / or Vista Prints for 50 or 100 free postcards. So I try to whip up a new Spookytown and take advantage of the deals. Here is the latest one I created. I should have some more stuff to show in a few weeks. I am still hard at work on the book. I'm doing something each day on it. Lately that hasn't been much, but it's been something, which is better than nothing.

Spookytown Comic Book Update

So far, I've knocked out 22 pages. It's been a lot of fun drawing all these scenes that I came up with years ago and seeing the characters come to life and interact with each other.

More Spookytown Pages

Well, so far I’ve been able to keep my New Year’s resolution to work on Spookytown everyday. I have to draw something on the page, no matter how small, every single day. Some days I get a panel done, some days a page and a half done. It just depends. The hard part is just finding the time to do it. I even take my supplies up to work a couple of days a week and sit in the cafeteria and draw.

So far my efforts have gotten me to page 13. Not too bad considering that before I started this resolution I only had 3 pages done. So basically I knocked out 10 pages in 5 weeks. The book is 70 pages long, so I’ve got a ways to go. But I’m getting there.

In other Spookytown news, I got a coupon for free postcards from OvernightPrints, so I made up some nifty promo cards for the book. No dates on it, no “Coming Soon” or “Available Now” type copy. Just a generic promotion. I think they came out pretty nice.

Spookytown Progress

So, how's my progress going on Spookytown? Let's say... slow. Only because I just don't have a lot of free time. Full time job, part time freelance, wife, new baby, etc. But I have made some progress and attached is the proof. I have the first 5 pages done. Pages 4 and 5 took a while because they're a big double page spread. So, I have been working on it. Also, one of my New Year's resolutions is to work on it everyday, not matter how little I do. I just have to get something down on paper. So far it's working for me. But it's only been 12 days, so we'll see how it goes.

Also, if you're interested, I have still have some sketchbooks for sale. It’s a 20-page mini-comic type book containing over 70 sketches, drawings and doodles that I did while preparing to start the graphic novel. I printed up a limited edition of 100 books. Each is hand numbered and signed, I usually do a sketch on the back too. Just drop me a line if you'd like to buy one, they're just 5 bucks.

Spookytown.net and a Few Sketches

I finally did something with Spookytown.net, it's not much right now. It's just sort of a quick information page with sketches and and stuff. Speaking of sketches, here are some I did recently.

Spookytown Ad and More

I took a Spopkytown pin-up and created a print ad for the book. It's supposed to appear in Samax's upcoming ghettoManga Quarterly. Samax, when's that coming out? Have I missed it already?A while back, I made the original mini comic available in a pdf format, for those who never read it and might be interested in it. Just click on the icon on the left to download it.

If you're interested, I have still have some sketchbooks for sale. It’s a 20-page mini-comic type book containing over 70 sketches, drawings and doodles that I’ve done will preparing to start the graphic novel. I printed up a limited edition of 100 books. Each is hand numbered and signed, I usually do a sketch on the back too. Just drop me a line if you'd like to buy one, they're just 5 bucks.

Back on the road to Spookytown

Here is a new Spookytown promo image I recently did. Once again the book (a graphic novel I'm working on) has been sitting on the back burner due to many other things taking priority. 1. Baby coming. This means cleaning out the spare room, painting it, installing crown moulding and a chair rail, putting up shelving in the closet, etc. 2. Freelance work. Paying work comes before non-paying work, especially with the previously mentioned baby on the way. 3. Other comic projects. Right now I'm working on the last story I'm doing before Spookytown.

I keep getting lucky enough to receive offers to do stories in other books, and it's really hard to turn them down. I probably should've turned down this current but it was too cool. Recently, I've had to turn down a couple of nice ones. One from my man Samax at GhettoManga and one from Kevin at Ape Entertainment. I really, really, really wanted to do them both, but I just can't. Not if I want to have any chance to get Spookytown done. Comics are soooo time consuming.

I've been doing a lot of sketches in the past couple of weeks, just to get me back into the groove of drawing the characters. It helps me get pumped up for the story again drawing these guys. So hopefully I can get back on track with it.

Spookytown Update

In 2008, I plan to get back on track with the Spookytown graphic novel. I've been so busy with other projects that it got sit aside. I still need to tweak a couple of parts of the script, but other than that it's ready to be drawn.

If you're interested, I have still have some sketchbooks for sale. It’s a 20-page mini-comic type book containing over 70 sketches, drawings and doodles that I’ve done will preparing to start the graphic novel. I printed up a limited edition of 100 books. Each is hand numbered and signed, I usually do a sketch on the back too. Just drop me a line if you'd like to buy one.

Dallas Comic Con and Spookytown Sketchbooks

Come out to the Richardson Convention this Saturday and Sunday, June 30 and July 1 for the Dallas Comic Con. I will be there as one of the guest comic book artists. Not only will I being do drawings, selling comics and original art, but also at this show I will be debuting my new Spookytown Sketchbook.

It’s a 20-page mini-comic type book containing over 70 sketches, drawings and doodles that I’ve done will preparing to start the graphic novel. I printed up a limited edition of 100 books, so I can have plenty to last me over the next year of conventions because I figure it’s gonna take me a while to finish the graphic novel. Each is hand numbered and signed.

If you like horror comics, film noir, hard-boiled detectives, zombies, styles from the 40s/50s or dames that can handle themselves, this is the sketchbook for you.

Spookytown Doppelgangers

I saw this and it gave me a laugh, probably won’t give you one though. If you’re a Graphic Designer like me, you’ve probably read HOW Magazine. If so, you’ve most likely seen these little “trading cards” that the French Paper Company puts in each issue. There pretty cool, some are actually funny.

In the most recent issue, they had the two cards above. I thought it was cool that the two that they matched up resembled Jack and Emma from Spookytown. Truth is that I paid them millions of dollars to do a subliminal campaign of advanced promotion for the graphic novel.

More Spookytown

I’ve been doing a lot of sketching for the Spookytown graphic novel lately. I'm really getting pumped about working on the book. I still have some tweaks to make to the script though. I want to get it right before I start teh drawing process. Here is a new promo image and some sketches I did recently…

Spookytown Production Update

Man, I'm going blog crazy today. Look at all these posts, I don't know how I do it. Maybe because I'm too lazy or too busy to do this on some sort of regular schedule, then I dump a half a dozen on here in one day.

Anyway, just a quick update on how the production of my Spookytown graphic novel is going. It's going good. There. No seriously, I just finished the second draft, as seen here. The story has expanded from 60 pages to 66 pages since the first draft. A couple of scenes seemd rush before, so I fleshed them out. And I added one more scene to explain some things. My lovely wife and I are gonna give it another read through and then I may pass it on to a few friends to read, I'm no sure yet. But I think it's in pretty good shape. It's obvioulsy not gonna be the best comic book anyone's ever read because (and I'll repeat this to my grave) I am not a writer, I think it'll be a fun read.

Also, I've been doing a lot of sketching in preparation for drawing the darn thing. I've been trying to nail down all the characters before I start in order to keep them consistent throughout the book. I thought I'm share some here. Below are a bunch of ones I recently did. You can see the main characters Jack and Emma, also Jack's dad, his buddy Ben and couple of other folks too. Hope you dig 'em.

Welcome (Back) to Spookytown

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I'm itching to get back into doing some comic book work. Well, in 2002, I created a comic called "Spookytown" and published a short mini comic as an introduction to the concept. The concept being...

In Spookytown, you’d swear every day was Halloween. It’s always a little dark and ominous and you never know what’s lurking in the shadows. Almost every place is haunted, the moon is always full, every cat is black, there are graveyards around every corner and it's filled with odd and mysterious citizens.

Jack Brannon and his plucky assistant Emma, run Gum Shoe Investigation, specializing in supernatural cases, which seem to be the only type in Spookytown. Business is good for two reasons...he’s the only private eye in town and there is no shortage of dark and dangerous cases in a place like this. It’s Phillip Marlowe meets Buffy and the X-Files, mixed with a bit of Scooby Doo and Kolchack the Night Stalker.

So, after five years, I've dusted off the sketch book and revisited some of the characters and ideas I created back then and I'm happy to announce that over four day stretch, I've got the first draft of a 60-page graphic novel on my desk. Granted, I also have a red ink pen and a lot of notes scribbled in too. I was planning to have my lovely wife read it, proofread it and give me some feedback on it, but I'm thinking I might do another draft first. I'm not sure yet. There are still some kinks that I'm not completely happy with, so I need to works those out.

I've made the original mini comic available in a pdf format, if you've never read it and are interestd in it. But beware, as I say in the back of it... I am not a writer. So, try not to judge it too hard. If you want to check it out, just click on the icon on the left to download it. Anyway, with any luck, I'll finish the script, draw the book and get it published. Should be that simple, huh? Ha ha. And if no one wants to pick it up, I may just publish it myself. Who knows what the future holds for Spookytown?