A Sign of the Apocalypse?

If you've ever clicked on the link on the right hand side of this page that reads "Dog Food Productions", then you might know that a group of friends and I often make these little stupid films in our spare time. And I stress "stupid" and "spare". Well, from time to time we also compete in the Video Association of Dallas' annual 24 Hour Video Race. If you're unfamiliar with the reace, teams meet at midnight on Friday, they give you a line of dialogue, a location, a prop and a theme. Then you have 24 hours to make a 5 minute film that incorporates those elements and get it to the finish line by midnight Saturday.

In 2003, we did "The Solicitor". We finished the film in time, had it edited and completed, but were unable to get it on the mini DV tape they need it on due to technical issues. So that sucked. In 2004, we did "Change" and got it in on time and had it screened at the Angelika Theater for the Semi-Finals. And we didn't advance. Oh well, it was still fun to do and great to see our lame movie on the big screen. In 2005, we didn't compete.

This year, we were back. We finished in time. Had our screening. And lo and behold, we advanced to the finals. So on Tuesday, May 23 at the Angelika in Dallas, we compete in our team category. I'm pretty sure we won't win, but it's still cool.

This year's required elements were:
Line of Dialogue: "That's what I'm talking about."
Prop: A measuring device
Location: A statue or other public art
Theme: Cover story

Finally A New Piece - Stewardess

Man, it's been over a month since I've posted a new image. It's because I've been working on a ton of illustrations that I can't post yet. Strictly hush, hush, you know? Anyway, here's a new one. Take a look at this stewardess image I did over 3 years ago. It was one of the first pieces I did using Illustrator. I think this new one is leaps and bounds better than that older one. This one is a variation of a commission piece I recently did.

PVP Guest Strip

A couple of weeks ago, I did this guest strip for buddy's online comic PVP. If you don't read PVP, here's what you need to know...

Jade is the first girl talking.
Brent is Jade's boyfriend.
Miranda is Jade's sister.
The blue guy is Skull, he's a troll.
Francis is another guy who works there.

Anyway, here it is. Is low-brow and aimed at the fanboy in all of us....

Quick Interview

Fletch Adams over at Broken Frontier posted interviews with a handful of comic creators (including me) in honor of Free Comic Book Day. So head over there check it out.

Here's my portion...

1) What got you interested in comics?
I've been into comics since I can remember. The never was a B.C. for me... "Before Comics". They have always been a part of my life probably because I had an older brother. He was into comics and the Batman TV series from the 60s. So I was too. He eventually veered off from them but I stuck with them all through my life. The first comics I really got sucked into were Batman titles, especially Brave and the Bold . Each month Bats teams up with another super hero? C'mon, what's not to love? The older I got as a kid, the more I could recognize particular artists. Adams, Grell, Aparo, Dillon were my firsts, then I learned about Kirby, Romita, Buscema, and then Byrne and Miller came along. I'd follow artists from book to book. Still do. The art is what has kept me into comics all this time. I can't read a comic with art I don't find at least minimally appealing. Bad art can kill good writing for me.

2) What is exciting you most about the comic book industry today?
The amazing volume of different types of stories that are available to readers. The advent of print-on-demand for self-publishers is great, being able to produce a book quickly and more affordably will open up a lot of doors for undiscovered talent. But I've never been too thrilled with digital comics though. Reading a 20 page comic in a PDF (or on a web site) will never replace holding that same story in your hand. I love the internet, but print rules.

3) What comics would you recommend to new (or returning) readers?
The Goon by Eric Powell is probably my favorite. And you can't go wrong with Hellboy even with its non-regular releases. Mignola rules. Anything Darwyn Cooke does. Go pick up New Frontier. They all are amazing, they sicken me. In a good way though.

CAPE Thanks!

Thanks to Richard and the crew from Zeus Comics for putting on such a great event. I know they all wroked extremely hard and think the whole day (rain and all) was just amazing. Congrats on a successful show!

Thanks for everyone who stopped by my table at CAPE on Saturday. You really kept me busy. About a half an hour into the show I got my first commission and I didn't stop until I left a little after 5:00. That's almost seven hours of drawing. I called it "chain drawing". I stopped for about ten minutes to wolf down some pasta.

I did a total of 19 drawings and a bunch of sketches. And the majority of the drawings were color, so they took even longer. I drew all sorts of stuff, like Buffy, a pin-up girl, two versions of Aquaman, an Anime character, that girl from Black Harvest, Batman, Deadpool, Black Canary, Nick Fury, Kim Possible and even some guy's dog!

I did about a third more work in the one day of CAPE than I did at both days of the Dallas Comicon the weekend before. My hand was sore the rest of the night, I was dead tired but it was a lot of fun. BTW, being dead tired was the reason I skipped the Live Art Show that night if anyone noticed (mainly Scott and David).

Again, I really appreciate the fact that so many people stopped and visited with me. I don't take that stuff for granted and I'll see there next year.

This Christmas I'm asking for a robot hand.

Come out to CAPE! - A Free Comics Show!

I'll be appearing at the second annual CAPE! The Comics and Pop Culture Expo. It's Son of CAPE! Saturday May 6th, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, at Zeus Comics in Dallas. This is a totally free, outdoor event, so come on out. Last year was a blast and this year looks to be even bigger. Besides the ultra-exclusive, super-rare chance to meet me (if you don't count last weekend), you can meet Gail Simone, Bryan Hitch, Scott Kurtz, James Kochalka, Josh Howard, James O'Barr, David Hopkins, and many more great comic creators. Oh and I hear rumors of Roller Derby girls skating around as well. Something for everyone!

Click here for details

Oh, and not to mention... but it's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!! Comic shops all over the country, including Zeus of course, will be giving out free comics while supplies last. I'm gonna donate some of my extra Shades issues to Zeus so they can give those out. So come out, bring the kids, get some free comic swag!

Dallas Comic Con - Wrap-up

Thanks to everyone I met out at the Plano Centre for the Dallas Comic Con this past weekend. It was a lot of fun as always. Met a lot of nice people and did a ton of drawings as always. Got to see a scruffy Thomas Jane and white haired Michael Gross. And I got to sit next to local comic book writer David Hopkins and for a good reason. We (officially I guess) announced our upcoming collaboration on a new comic book series..."The Last Babysitter".

Here is the synopsis...
It's the not-too-distant future. Moms and dads use androids to take care of their kids. In true post-apocalyptic fashion, the robotic nannies short circuit and turn against the owners. One girl raids her dad's gun stash to save the kiddos.

We're both excited about the project. For me it's a welcomed return to comic books. It's been a while since I've been able to do another book and I'm really anxious to put out something good. This will be a mini-series, which is another plus, because it means I won't have to meet deadlines over a long period of time. Just four issues! It'll be an all ages book like Shades of Blue was. We'll be shopping it around to some publishers, we already have one in mind to start with, we'll see if they bite.