Can't say what this is for, but it's definitely for something.
Thirteen Down, Five to Go!
Love and Capes #13 is done! And that means it's time for…
…the Mocha of Victory!
The Mocha of Victory is a grand tradition dating back, oh some two or three years. It's a celebratory Starbucks drink when I accomplish something big with Love and Capes. Usually there's one when the story and art are finished, and one when the book prints. What differenitates a normal venti mocha skim no-whip from a Mocha of Victory? It just tastes sweeter.
Issue #13 came together much faster than I would have thought, and much better, too. Honestly, I wasn't quite ready to start this issue as soon as I did, but I pushed through and everything tied together nicely. You'll see the results May 1st on Free Comic Book Day (and then available through the website and Haven Distributors shortly thereafter).
I always try to do a little better with every issue. You've got to keep pushing to get better. In this issue, the story went places I hadn't expected. In fact, if you'd asked me last year if I would have done the plot I have, I would have said "No way!" 
The characters really took the reins from me. And, as always, I tried to make the art better. Here's a panel that shows what I mean. Mark's pose as he's reacting to his ring is a lot more animated and fluid than anything I would have done a year ago.
I read the Walt Stanchfield Drawn to Life books, and those have just been my taskmasters trying to make my drawings come even more alive. I'm not "there" yet, and for that matter, I don't think you ever actually reach an end point in your artistic journey. You should keep striving for more and better.And big thanks to my friend Chris Bailey, animation director on the animated Alvin and the Chipmunks features, for recommending those books. They've been invaluable.
Today, I'll be doing the things I ignored most of yesterday to draw the final two pages. Then, eventually, I'll do production work and get the book to the printer. And don't forget, there are still advertising spaces left!
My Cup Overlows With Awesomeness
Guess who's got two thumbs and is the Invincible Super-Blog's Pick of the week?
Half credit if you said "Bob Kelso".
Twitter Contest Recap
Just to recap, I ran a Twitter contest for the last couple of days. In Love and Capes #12, there's a scene where Abby kisses Mark. When I wrote it, I could hear the soundtrack in my head So I asked people to guess which song that was. That's wildly random, so I gave out a hint a day.
I only got two hints in. The first was that it was a song from 2007. The second was that I referenced another song by this band in my other romantic comedy. That was Long Distance, which referenced Hanging by a Momentby Lifehouse.
I figured that second hint would only work for people who had read that unproduced sitcom script, and I figured there couldn't be that many. Only people who'd followed a bunch of my work would even have a clue that I'd done that project, yet it was all Mizelle needed to figure out that the song was First Time, also by Lifehouse.
I'll use music, frequently, to try to get the right mood for a piece. Here, though, everything just came together.
In #12 (and spoiler warning if you haven't read further) Abby thinks Mark is going to go away forever, and runs up to him in a dramatic moment and delivers, as Some Kind of Wonderfulonce put it, "the kiss that kills." It was a huge moment in the story, and I really needed to nail it. I was worried from all sorts of angles. Drawing two people kissing is always rough, because of how the faces interlock, and trying to make sure both faces can be seen well enough. Plus, it was a big moment and needed to have that feel.
I drew it and thought I did okay. When I colored it and dropped in the background, though, that's when it happened. I could hear First Time and could almost imagine one of those spinning shots as the camera circled around the two lovers. And the lyrics of the song could easily be applied to Abby, with her being scared for Mark and it's definitely a first kiss that isn't a first kiss.
Read the book, you'll get it.
All that was missing was the rain. That probably woud have been too much. Plus it's a hassle to draw.
The contest was fun, though. I'm going to have to do more of them. So keep following me on Twitter for more.
Flying Robots and Flying Cars
Happy New Year, everyone!
To celebrate, I'm showing off this panel of page 14 of Love and Capes. That means that I have ony ten more pages to do to finish the FCBD issue. And I betcha I can get them done this month. After that, I'll only have 120 to go.
Wait. What? I probably shouldn't have typed that.
Hopefully, I'll get the initiative to do a real New Year's post, full of recaps and brave statements about blowing the doors off this New Year. I know that calendars are just arbitrary numbers created by man, and today's really no different than yesterday. But still, the number thing gives you something to hang intentions on, and whatever construct helps, right? Of course, I'm not going to start any resolutions until tomorrow. New Year's Day is too much a holiday.
Okay, enough rambling. Let me leave you with this: There's a hashtag meme going around Twitter about "Where were you ten years ago?" Me, I was doing a caricature gig at a New Year's Party for pretty nice bank and then getting ready to go back to work at the ad agency. It'd be a little less than two years before I quit working for The Man and went off on my own, starting Raider. And after that, everything hit high warp and I haven't looked back.
Also, ten years ago there was this commercial, that I think is just as relevant today as then. Minus the silly stuff about Microsoft, of course.
Where ARE my flying cars?
Crusader and Iron Man?
In other news, the official announcement about Free Comic Book Day 2010 has been made. Love and Capes #13, of course, is on it. But when I went to the website the day of the announcement, I saw this:
According to the site, the thirteenth issue of Love and Capes will feature Iron Man and Nova fighting the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes.
I, of course, was surprised. Fortunately, it was just a mistake which Diamond quickly corrected, and I didn't have to rip up the twelve pages I'd finished to make it in line with the FCBD announcement. Plus, I'm sure Marvel is just as happy to keep my grubby mitts off their characters.
The error has been corrected, but I still think it's kinda funny.
Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth
I hope you all had a good Christmas. Mine was pretty great.
I constantly mention the Christmas Eve event at my house which is, by far, my favorite part of the season. 
It's the one time of the year that Zahlerdu is full of people and kids and food and Santa (who does stop by because Uncle Thom is all kinds of connected).I know my neices and nephews*love coming here, seeing and playing with all the toys and learning to color on my computer.
Well, that last one is just enlightened self-interest. I need some workers to help me speed up my Love and Capes process.
And yes, giving is much better than getting. It's great to find the right present, something special or unexpected to give to someone equally as special.
But the getting can be pretty awesome, too.
Over the years I've received the amazing gifts, from custom action figure "dollhouses" from my aunts, to a DVD of my television appearances on local news and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, to a Star Trek voice activated-light switch. And, of course, the Mighty Men and Monster Maker Kit, which may be the most awesome toy ever and featured art by Dave Stevens.
This year, I recieved a copy of Love and Capes.
I was understandably surprised when I saw it. I mean, I have dozens of copies here in the house, plus I created the darn thing. But my cousin Jamie, the gift-giver in question, saw my John Crichton-esque confused expression and said "It'll make sense when you open it."
Yes, Jamie had gotten Chris Sims of The Invincible Super Blog to annotate the collection the way that he does with so many other things, including Anita Blake. Except, that LnC is much better because, you know, stuff happens.
Chris marked the book up with such witty bon mots as writing "Who Watches the Watchmen" on brick walls in the background, demanding both more Fearleader appearances and an Elvis Bear spin-off, and predicting that Mark will sell his marriage in a bargain with Mephisto in #25.
Like with most humor, the retelling loses something. It's great! I can say two things with absolute certainty: Chris Sims is a very funny man and he has the handwriting of a serial killer.
I don't know how much Jamie paid for this service, but I can only guess it's in the low four-figures. It's certainly worth it, though. So, if you're the significant other or good friend of some comic creator, I can't recommend it highly enough.
And I'll take my ten percent commission, then, Chris.
Thank you so much, Jamie. This was great!
So, I hope you and yours had a great Christmas, and here's hoping your New Year is everything you want it to be.
* Okay, in this case it's second cousins and Goddaughter and her brother, but nieces and nephews is just easier to type.
"War of the Supermen"? What About "LOVE of the Supermen-types?"
All right, if DC can let their cat out of the bag, I figure it's okay to announce my cat, too. Love and Capes #13. Free Comic Book Day. Be there.
Oh, you want more? Well, it's no secret that Mark and Abby get married in issue twelve (or do they…?) and issue thirteen picks up where that one leaves off. I'm eight pages into working on the book so far, and I have to say, it includes one of the funniest pages I've ever done.
After that, we have much to discuss. Diamond minimums and new plans and things like that. But, let's just say that while issue thirteen isn't continued, it coulda been if that's the way we'd wanted it.
And, just to cap it off, here's a scene that may or may not appear in the new issue.
The Dark Bite Returns!
Solicited in the Previews catalog this very month is Weekly World News #2,published by IDW. (Hey, don't they publish some critically acclaimed superhero romantic comedy, too?) When I was in San Diego, I met Chris and professed my love for The Weekly World News and Bat Boy.
Pause. True story: One of the best Christmas presents I ever gave was getting my brother a subscription to said Weekly World News. It became the gift that kept on giving, as Mike would bring it over to my grandparents' house and it would make the rounds from Grandpa to Uncle Jim to Dad and so on. I think it became more popular than the Sunday Comics. And resume.
Chris was kind enough to let me do one of the alternate covers for WWN. We batted (hah!) some suggestions back and forth, and then I suggested this parody cover of The Dark Knight Returns. I think it turned out spectacularly and look forward to seeing it when it comes out in a couple of months.
They're Coming Around the Mountain
I picked up my inital copies of Love and Capes #12 today. More boxes will come later, and the books will ship out to Diamond later this week. I'm not sure when they'll arrive in stores because of that Diamond skip week and all. Hopefully, they'll be there by the end of the year.
I'm taking my copies to Alter Ego in Lima, Ohio this weekend where I'll be doing a special advance signing.
And, if you're one of the guests on the cover, your copies will be going out tomorrow along with information about getting extra copies if you need them.
A Mocha of Victory may be in order.