Greatest Covers - Weeks 17 & 18

Sorry about missing last week. I was busy creating life.

First up is Detective Comics #165 by Win Mortimer. It's the story behind "The Strange Costumes of Batman!" My favorite one is the camoflauge costume used for the all-too-common "North Pole crimes". Also, the luminous uniform casts a shadow. Of course it does. I totally get why Grant Morrison is enamored with the comic history of Batman.

Next up is Dracula: The Company of Monsters #7 by Ron Salas. This is by far my favorite cover of the eight that I've seen.

Welcome, Violet

In non-comic related news, I became a daddy times two last week. Violet Godlewski was born 1/18 in most dramatic fashion. Mommy and baby are swell and chillin' at home.

As my buddy, Stephen Downer, pointed out, this is the best work I'll ever do. Indeed.

Treehouse of Horror

Pages 12, 13 and 14-15 from Dracula #5.

Greatest Covers - Week 16

Detective Comics #275 by Sheldon Moldoff. "The Zebra Batman"! Robin's right. Zebras are a menace. Just ask grass. I'm dying to know how Zebra Batman bends lightpoles and lifts cars. Awesomeness.

Update: A "plot" synopsis - Batman and Robin encounter a magnetically-powered villain, the Zebra-Man. But a charge from the machine which gave Zebra-Man his powers turns Batman into a “Zebra-Batman” who repels all solid matter, and cannot regulate his powers.

Amazing Arizona Con Recap

Congrats to Jimmy Jay for putting on the new Arizona show, successfully filling the void left by Phoenix Comicon when they moved their show to May. Seemed like a decent crowd, if only for the Kirkman and Loeb crews. Artist alley crowds were patchy and unmotivated. Or maybe that was me. I've come to the realization that I'm not really a con artist (unless you count my gig with BOOM! where they pay me for being a no-talent hack. Get it?) I'm too busy/lazy to put in any con prep time and produce prints and material that are in line with specific con themes (eg. zombies at AACC). I am not a salesman or self-promoter. Only sold one sketch and spent most of the two days either working on Dracula pages or bullshitting with Ryan Cody, who made a very excellent booth-mate. The best part of any con is getting to chat with friends and peers. Caught up with Shannon Denton a bit. Only got to see Eric Esquivel for a second, though it was a mighty entertaining second. Met the really cool Andy Kuhn. Talking with Tony Parker always makes my day. Ben Glendenning made sufficient fun of my hair. Thanks, jerk. Here are some sketches (only the Captain America one was by request).

Greatest Covers - Week 15

Codebreakers #4. Sure, it's a bit biased, but that doesn't make this cover not great. Everything about this Julian Tedesco cover is awesome, especially the math being blown out of the back of Foster's head. And I like that Stan looks exactly like I drew him inside.

Amazing Arizona Comic Con

I'll be out at the Amazing Arizona Comic Con at the Mesa Convention Center this weekend, Jan 8-9. It's got a pretty impressive comics guest list (Kirkman, Ottley, Walker, Layman, et al). I'll be sharing an artist alley table with the very handsome Ryan Cody and will have a ton of original art (Codebreakers and Dracula, among others). I'll also be doing sketches and taking full commissions. Bring a copy of any Codebreakers or Dracula issue and get a free sketch.

A Good Start to the New Year

The very fine folks over at Awesomed by Comics nominated BOOM! Studios' Codebreakers as Best New Series and Story of the Year. And then it WON Best New Series! Big congrats to Ross Richie, Carey Malloy, Stephen Downer and Dafna Pleban.

That's not all. Pop Culture Network gave Dracula: The Company of Monsters #5 5 stars. Maybe #6 will get 6 stars.

Sean Murphy on AMERICAN VAMPIRE

Holy effin' crap! Sean Murphy + vampires + World War II = badassery. So, yes, I will be buying this.