Come With Me If You Want to Live

What? You wanted funny, character driven panels? Nope. You get this establishing shot. I don't do many of them, and this one came out well. Nowadays, when I design these, they're set so that I can change the weather and time of day. That way, I can reuse them when the situation arises.

This panel also touches on something that I've never said or dealt with: Abby's parents have a fair amount of money, compared to Mark's. Abby's parents aren't crazy rich or anything, but definitely live in a much nicer area.

With this page, we shift from Christmas with the Spencers to Christmas with the Tennysons. That's when the story really gets going.

See Ya, Oh-Seven!

I am back from my Vegas New Year's Vacation. It was a fine time, although the blackjack tables hated me with a vengance. It was the first time it wasn't fun. I can usually put down some money and play for a couple hours and not be completely out, and often be up a bit. Here, it was like putting money in a paper shredder.

I'm not saying I won't go back. Heck, when I got home, there was an offer from the Harrah's casino properties offering me some free nights, which was pretty cool. But, I've got other fish to fry first, including Love and Capes #7.

Since it's the New Year, it's time for resolutions. Yes, I make them, and I probably run about 50/50 in keeping them. Some are the annual food related ones, but I'm going to wait until Monday to start those. Nothing about Vegas is conducive to healthy eating. I keep my resolutions fairly small and to myself, but if you're a fellow resolution-maker, I say soldier on, my brother (or sister).

As far as a year in review, I had some big goodness happen. In no particular order, I became Council President here in the Village of Timberlake. I saw my first published short story, in Bob Ingersoll and my Will Riker story in Star Trek TNG: The Sky's the Limit. I published four issues of Love and Capes to great critical fanfare, including the Free Comic Book Day issue which was so much fun that I'm doing #7 as another FCBD book. Love and Capes also generated excitement, causing me to have my first (and second, and third...) Hollywood meetings. The Writers Strike has paused a lot of that progress, but I can't complain too much as now I'm in the game. And there's one Big Announcement that will be coming later this summer, but I can't say anything about that yet.

I got some Love and Capes glasses and t-shirts done, which was way cool. And I started doing convention sketches, which has opened up a whole new world of possibilities. So, it's been a great career year, and hopefully that upward slope will increase.

Speaking of those commissions, I got a scan of a Supergirl piece I did at Mid-Ohio-Con from its owner, and I've now been able to color it and I can post it here. She's wearing her current outfit, which I refer to as Strippergirl. Yeah, it's sexy, but a little too so for the Maid of Might. At least for my tastes. The client dug it, and the drawing turned out great, so I can't complain too much.

All right, I just wanted to clear my head here. Sorry it's so disjointed, and I'm sure my next post will be more cogent. Hope your Old Year was good, and that your New Year only gets better.

A Driver Don't Pick the Car

I managed to crank one last page out before the New Year, and my New Year's trip to Las Vegas. Yay, me.

This should be the last page of the Christmas Eve party at Mark's parents. The next page will be the transition, and then on to Abby's where Mark plans to ask Abby to marry him. Note that I said "plans."

Here, Mark has to try to open a "Trampz" doll for his neice.

Christmas isn't complete without kids, so I've made sure that there are kids at the party. He's got no actual nieces or nephews, since he's an only child, but he does have cousins who have kids. The same is true for Abby, who does have a brother and a sister, but none of them have kids. Yet in issue #4, we saw plenty of kids at the family picnic. It's been a tradition in my family that the younger generation refers to most of the older generation as "uncle" or "aunt" and I've carried that over here.

This is all by way of explaining how Mark can be "Uncle Mark" when he's got no siblings. But having the kids refer to Mark as "Cousin Mark Once Removed" or something like that is just too clunky. Shorthand is often important in these things.

Nice Suit...John Phillips, London... I Hear Arafat Gets His There

This page went a lot easier than the ones before. Maybe that whole rushing the cover thing helped get me running. Or maybe it's that both jokes were pretty easy to write. Here, Mark tells his Dad that he's going to ask Abby to marry him.

It's nice to write the heartwarming scenes. And the humor is probably easier because of my family (and my) habit of never leaving the tender moment alone, as Billy Joel might say. We just can't be serious for that long. Probably too many eighties sitcoms.

Speaking of families and such things, Christmas went well, with no less than five families/friends/houses visited on the day itself. That's fine with me, it's part of the holiday. And I received a lot of great presents, and only one that I needed to return. (Nope, won't tell you what. It wasn't the giver's fault and it was easy enough to exchange, so I'll leave it vague like that.) In other years, because my reading tastes are so well known, I've had quite a few books to return. This year was pretty easy as far as that goes.

Hope your Christmas was just as special!

Of Course You Did, You Saucy Minx You

I know what you're thinking: He worked on Christmas?

Hells, no. I actually did this the Sunday before, but then there was the whole late cover thing and that took precedence over everything else, so I posted it first. This is page six, which I'm very happy but took almost as much effort as page five. More so, I think. I just had some sort of writer-artist block that wouldn't let me get past it.

And I don't know that I know the cure for such blocks, but I know what at least starts to help: inspiring writing and stories. So I saw Charlie Wilson's War, which I liked on its own merits but I have to acknowledge that I am just stupid for the writing and dialogue of Aaron Sorkin. I watched Notting Hill, which I'd actually never seen before, and was worried about. Not worried about liking, but even without seeing it, I knew that "just a girl standing in front of a boy..." line and was afraid that it might be a little too much like the ending I have planned for Love and Capes #7. (Fortunately, it wasn't.) The movie was pretty good, too, but I've noticed that I'm becoming stupid for Richard Curtis scripts, too. And, I watched one of my favorite Christmas movies, which is your hint for today's headline/movie quote.

Anyway, today's page was another plot-page, where I knew what had to happen, just not why it was funny. Here's a little Christmas glimpse into My Process. As you can see here, the joke was always about Mark not telling his relatives (aside from Mom and Dad) that he was a superhero. I realized that the extent of the secret was good to pass on to the readers, as it would set up other jokes.

Originally, the joke was supposed to end with something like Abby saying, "So you spend Christmas Eve lying to your relatives?" Mark responded,, "It's a Christmas tradition. I hear a lot of people do it."

In a rare bit of point-to-point clarity, the line was inspired by the bit from Charlie Wilson's War where, when asked why does Congress prattle on and do nothing, Tom Hanks responds, "Tradition mostly." The word tradition stuck, and inspired the joke thinkin' process.

The problem is, the lying line was too dark for the book, and for Mark. Being a superhero is a burden, but Mark never treats it as such. And to end with a bit about Christmas being a season of lies just didn't sit right. I had to hammer it a little more, but I did come up with the joke that I did use.

Of course, you'll have to get the book (it'll be free on Free Comic Book Day, so you don't have to buy it) to find out what I did do.

We'll Skip Lunch

Nothing like a little pressure.

My buddy Mike Manley posted his fantastic cover for a TwoMorrows Free Comic Book Day issue. I thought it was cool, but asked "Why did you have to get it done so early?" Turns out, it was due on Thursday. I'm pretty sure that, especially with the holiday, getting it to them on Wednesday morning will be okay. But it still wasn't the plans I'd had for my Christmas Eve morning.

The joke actually came first, and then I realized that it took place in the sky and therefore had a nice, simple background. I took a page from last year's cover and threw on the character from the movie that's tied into this year's FCBD (this year it's the awesome looking Iron Man movie starring Robert Downey, Jr.). The joke was inspired by that Iron Man flying scene where he dusts the fighter jets.

I tried to come up with a name for the Iron Man pastiche, but I didn't have a good one and fortunately didn't need it. He probably won't appear in the book, and the retail cover will be completely different this year, as opposed to the "secret identity version" that I did last year. Man, at least that was faster. But, I wanted to do an actual proposal scene on the cover for the retail edition. I could have done that for the FCBD version, but I wanted something a little less plot heavy, and like I said tied into the Marvel movie, for that cover.

All right, I'm off to begin Christmas Eveing. So, have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now.

(By the way, the quote contest is still in effect with this one, but we've moved to movies now.)

Let it Snow

Yeah, yeah. I know I haven't posted anything in a couple of days. Hey, it's Christmastime, which cuts into everything. It was kind of a mixed bag of stuff this weekend, complete with snow, which I was glad to see. I like the change of seasons and I like the cold. Besides, to say it again, it's Christmastime.

And since it is that Most Wonderful Time of the Year, I've been designing Christmas Cards. Mine went out a couple of days ago, so if you're on my mailing list, you should be receiving them soon. I also designed a card for Catapult Online, which I think I do every year now. They're changing their name to Educate Online, and the card had to mention that. The card is always a bit of a challenge, as the company needs to reflect diversity, which de facto means drawing lots of characters in a fairly small area. There's a lot going on in this one card, but I think everything works pretty well.

I've got one more Christmas present to buy, and some considerable wrapping to do. And then there's the big Christmas Eve at my house, complete with Santa. As my friend Mike told my Goddaughter, "Uncle Thom knows a lot of people."

Crystal Duck!

When I send these out to The Secret Society of Super Reviewers, I've been making the e-mail subject lines TV and movie quotes. I've gotten bored trying to figure out clever puns involving the page number. Or burned out. After six books, it's kind of tiring. If you guys want to play, post your guesses in the comments and I'll post the answer after a couple days if no one guesses it.

Page four is the first appearance of Abby and Charlotte. It's odd, but doing a 24-page story, I get very conscious about when characters appear. The book is one-sixth over and only now does the other star of the book appear? I know it works okay and all, but still there's a weird vibe. At least in my head.

I've also redesigned the exterior of the bookstore. I guess having a sitcom template allows me to do TV series tricks and tweak things after they appear. It's a little more interesting to look at now, and from a production point of view, I can now change the weather outside. You can see snow and Christmas lights in this scene, and the next time I reuse it, I can make it spring or summer. If I need to, I'll design or redesign a couple of the bookstore interiors this issue, too. There are a couple new bookstore angles I'd like to try.

Wow, four pages done already. If I get my Christmas shopping finished this weekend, maybe I can get another page done, too.

In other Love and Capes news, there are some stars that are starting to align on something I've been trying to make happen for a while. I can't talk about it, as with so many of these things, but just wanted to let you know that good things are happening.

Twelve and a Half Percent Doesn't Mean a Lot

I'm already on page three, which means I'm 1/8th of the way through the book! That's 12 1/2%.

Although the fourth panel always has the beat, usually a funny one, I like when I can pop a joke in the middle of a scene, too. This one is particularly good because Darkblade makes the joke, and he's not often the funny one. He's got a gruff exterior when he's not talking to the Crusader, so it's nice to crack that every once in a while.

It's also interesting how the scenes break. I always had Darkblade and Blurstreak having a kind of adversarial relationship, which fit the general Batman vibe. But then I hit on something in the panel that directly follows that which deepens that reasoning. It was something that was always there, and made a lot of sense, but it wasn't obvious to me.

Want to find out what it was? Well, you'll have to grab the book on Free Comic Book Day.

Two for Two

Here's a panel from page two. While I think this scene is funny, I have to say it was a royal pain to draw. Four characters in multiple panels is a bit of a grind, worsened by Blurstreak's superspeed leaving a bunch of ghost images behind.

The guys at Comic Pants did a really interesting podcast on diversity in comics. I've tried to keep my cast in Love and Capes and Raider as diverse as I can without making it forced. I'd already planned on introducing Microdot in this sequence, and always intended for her to be a female, since I figure her secret identity's first name is Dorothy. Hence the dot. But, upon listening to the podcast, I realized that I hadn't had any Asian characters appear in the book. There was no reason for Microdot not to be Asian, so I went ahead and did that.

I don't know if anyone will notice. Actually, I hope no one will, since I'm not trying to make an overt statement. Aside from here, I suppose. But I thought I'd share with you, so you've got a glimpse into why I make some of the decisions that I do.