#196: BOOMERANGING

So I didn’t make it Zagreb, unfortunately. There was a snafu with the flights so I never left the country. Disappointing, obviously but at least it gave me a chance to catch up on work.

Feels like I didn’t get as much done in the last couple of weeks but probably because I’m actually getting more writing done. I still have that problem …it’s ALL work but writing feels less tangible whereas drawing results in a physical stack of pages. It’s all in my head I know but I can’t shake it. My next week will be mainly moving out of my current place, more writing and finally getting things together to work on PROJECT LAZARUS.

It’s gonna be hard to say bye to this place, I made a hell of a lot of comics here, mainly my entire TERMINATOR and THUNDERCATS runs.

Anyway, my latest Worklog:

• Coloured DC Comics cover

• Wrote MUMM-RA #3 script

• Lettering notes, THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS #3

• Wrote THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS #4

• Coloured indie cover

• Pencilled/inked PROJECT SILENCE #1 cover

• Lettering notes, MUMM-RA #2

-I am a little bit distracted at the moment as the not-at-all handsome-and-talented Paul Azaceta is visiting [not by choice, the poor guy]. It’s nice to have a visitor [even if they are desperate for a place to crash] especially one as inspiring as Paul. An impromptu guest when the weather is so noce has been a great excuse to take a neeses break for a couple of days. I won’t say this to his face [until I inevitably get drunk later] but Paul always been a huge inspiration to me and I am in awe of his talent. He did some work in the studio with me yesterday, we bounced ideas back and forth and I had to pretend I wasn’t freaking out the whole time. As this post goes out, I’m taking him on the obligatory visitor tour of West Clare.

-News broke just after the last Declarations was posted that some staff at Marvel were let go as part of larger Disney layoffs. I was really sorry to see two of them are editors I’ve worked with closely, Devin Lewis and Darren Shan.

I met Devin when he was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed assistant editor when I was working on VENOM. He moved up the ranks and would eventually hire me to write short stories for books like ELEKTRA, CRYPT OF OF EVIL and PHASES OF THE MOON KNIGHT [where I got to create a new Moon Knight!]. We didn’t work together a lot, just the odd thing here and there but I always appreciated short writing gigs like that, to stretch my range a bit [and get a little taste at DAREDEVIL]. Devin’s enthusiasm for the work and the characters was always infectious and I can’t think of an editor at the company who was more open to try out new talent.

Darren was my editor on MYSTIQUE and we worked really closely together on it. He really helped me on that story, pushing back on story stuff to make it better, we even met up in New York for lunch once to go over the script and he did a lot of work to help make the process easier for me. I was first contacted by Darren when he worked at DC where he offered me my first opportunity to draw Batman for a 2-page short, and I’ll always appreciate that. We didn’t work together a lot at Marvel over his 10 or so years there, but as I was saying above, worked quite closely on MYSTIQUE and I got to learn what a great editor he was.

Both editors are great guys and I’m sure someone smart will try snap them up soon.

-Heads up that my cover for A QUIET PLACE: STORM WARNING #2 is out tomorrow!

-If you’ve seen the latest trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day you may have spotted this shot…

…which is rightly being recognised as a homage to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 345‬. Boomerang was created by artist Bill Everett and writer Stan Lee back in 1966. What you may not know though is that the Boomerang costume in the movie is based on the re-design I did of the character for my run with Jeff Parker on THUNDERBOLTS. It looks like they added shoulder-straps to the movie design but the colour scheme, chest ‘V’ and visor are all there from my costume. Here’s the design sheet I made …gulp 15 years ago[!]

Below is an earlier version of the costume. It’s 90% what the final would become, but I hadn’t nailed the mask yet. If memory serves, Jeff suggested we see some of his face, which made me think of making the ‘V’ visor over his eyes. Looking at it now, I think the mask looks way too ‘Citizen V’, so we made the right call.

And soon the costume will be in the movies, which is insane to me. Also …now he’s a Lego! Between this and the Mr Knight Lego, I’m slowly building my own Lego empire.

Much like with Moon Knight, it’s very cool and crazy to see something I drew for Marvel reach the wider pop culture.

-I have a designer on board for PROJECT ARCA which nearly completes the team! Have made a budget for it too …that’s the scariest bit! I’m going to spend the next week banging a better outline together as well as the pitch doc itself so I can pitch it in June, hopefully.

-PROJECT SILENCE is up and running, the artist has started the first issue and has already handed in fantastic layouts. Feeling great about this one. Been working on the Issue 2 script, it’s due in next week.

-Ignition Press released my cover for TYLER RAKE: AN EXTRACTION STORY #3. This was fun.

-I have another creator owned series concept in the works, codename incoming. I really need to hammer that into shape as soon as possible, which should be doable as the last crossover scripts are done and before I dive properly into PROJECT LAZARUS.

I’m taking 4 pre-commissions for MCM London next month [May 22nd-24th]! Recent examples below…

Details:

A4 Paper Size (Approximately 9x12)

Full Figure with limited/stylized background €600 [approx £500]

You will be prompted to input your character description when adding to cart.

Commissions for pickup at MCM London ONLY

As always, you Decolytes have an early shot… giving ye 2 days to nab them, I’ll be offering whatever’s left publicly on Thursday.

London MCM commissions

PS, I’m mixing up my process with Art Deco so if there’s any issues, bear with me and I’ll work them out in a day or so.

I have a new inking video up on Youtube, this time of Mr. Knight …you know who Mr. Knight is, right…? Should be more to follow if people do get some commissions for London.

With MUMM-RA: THE EVER-LIVING #1 now out, I wanted to talk to Brazilian artist Rapha Lobosco who joins me on this book after a hot streak of the THUNDERCATS: APEX one shot and THUNDERCATS LOST series. I’ve known Rapha many years, with him starting out in the Irish indie scene as I was making a name for myself at Marvel. That we’re now working together professionally on a project like this is such great hapinstance. Beow is a short interview with Rapha, along with some peeks from MUMM-RA #2.

DEC: After a great run in THUNDERCATS LOST with Ed Brisson, what appealed to working on a new book in the Thunderverse?

RAPHA: First of all, Mumm-Ra is one of my favourite characters. I was always more inclined to draw villains and anti-heroes, as I think they need to have a stronger personality and more motive to do what they do. Also, the opportunity to work on a more intimate book, exploring the rise of one of the greatest villains of my generation, seemed too good to let pass.

DEC: This story is very different to the main book I was writing, as well as your previous Thunder-series. Has MUMM-RA opened up any new challenges for you as an artist?

RAPHA: I suppose, being a book about the beginning of a creature that has so much inside, so much conflict, has made me try to draw better expressions—ones that can show a friendly face, but as soon as you look into their eyes, you can tell the character is plotting, being deceitful, or even hiding fear or anger.

DEC: I believe this is the first time you’re worked with a writer who is also an artist… I was wondering, for you does that come across in the scripts at all?

RAPHA: Ah sure! I can definitely see times where you imagine the scene while writing it :D

DEC: If it does, how so?

RAPHA: One of the funniest things about that is me trying to figure out how you would draw those panels, hahaha. Knowing your work, I can see times where you leave room for me to work on the panel, or where you are directing the scenes because you have them clear in your head. And it’s great for me, as I can make my layouts knowing exactly where to go simpler or add more details.

DEC: Has there been fun/interesting aspects to work with in this book that you weren’t expecting?

RAPHA: I think the idea of going into the mind of Mumm-Ra is one of the most interesting aspects of this series. It’s not just about a monster who’s evil and crazy—we are inside his mind, looking at everything that happened before and why, which is something that really caught me as an interesting series to work on.

DEC: Drawing a solo book is a LOT easier than a team book, isn’t it…?

RAPHA: Ah yeah! I loved working on THUNDERCATS LOST —it was something new to me as my first team series. It had its unique challenges, and I think I came out a better artist for sure. Now, working on a solo character, you have room to explore more of the character’s motives and personality—it feels more intimate for sure.

DEC: Do you think you’ve learned anything about your own work from this series in particular?

RAPHA: What I’m learning is to have more fun with monsters and creatures. With my style, sometimes I can be a bit stiff with my designs, and with each issue I try to push more in drawings that have strong, exaggerated expressions and anatomy. And I’m loving it!

Here’s a look at my cover for THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS #4, I really liked working on this one.

The second issue of our main event series is out May 13th with THUNDERCATS artist Drew Moss now on board to draw the rest of the series. Here’s a peek at the page I showed you in Declarations #195, now with colours by Igor Monti.

The lettering draft is done so this issue is in the can, Drew currently drawing Issue 3 as I’m writing Issue 4. Sharing here my cover for THUNDERHAWKS #4

The third arc of our THUNDERCATS run will finally be out soon. This one was had a crazy delay so I’m very happy to see it finally come out. THUNDERCATS VOL 03: APEX is out May 13th [same day as THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS #2]. We have so much THUNDERCATS work done, I’m happy to see the trades start to catch up. This volume sprts a cover y myself, I believe the hardcover edition is by Lucio Parillo.

Also I believe the THUNDERCATS CLASSIC YEARS COLLECTION OMNIBUS Hardcover will be out on May 20th, with a cover by myself that homages the first cover to the original THUNDERCATS comic book series. It looks like Dynamite put a lot of work into this, so any THUNDERCATS completists should be adding this to their collection.

Series artist Rapha Lobosco is all wrapped on Issue 2 and has started on Issue 3. I’m really enjoying working with Rapha and the results have been fantastic. He even made the time to answer my questions above, bless him.

Colours by Roshan Kurichiyanil are in too and he really is making this book look so rich and textural. I just handed in my notes for letterer Jeff Eckleberry who did an extra great job with a specific lettering request I asked of him for this issue.

Here’s an advance look at John Amor’s final cover for Issue 5. Genius stuff.

And my cover for the issue…

I’ll be starting the script for Issue 4 soon, which means I’m nearing the end! I’m going to miss this book when it’s gone, I’m so glad we got to step into the darker corner of the Thunderverse.

April 29th

A QUIET PLACE: STORM WARNING #2

May 06th

CYCLOPS #4 [VC]

ORDAINED #1 [VC]

May 13th

THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS #2 [W/C]

THUNDERCATS HC VOL 03 APEX [W/C]

May 20th

MUMM-RA: THE EVER-LIVING #2 [W/VC]

INGLORIOUS X-FORCE [VC]

THUNDERCATS CLASSIC YEARS COLLECTION OMNIBUS HC [C]

PREDATOR: BLOODSHED #4 [VC]

May 27th

THUNDERHAWKS #2 [VC]

June 6th

THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS #3 [W/C]

June 17th

MUMM-RA: THE EVER-LIVING #3 [W/VC]

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY #2 [VC]

June 24th

THUNDERHAWKS #3 [VC]

TYLER RAKE: AN EXTRACTION STORY #3[C]

July 8th

THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS #4 [W/VC]

July 15th

MUMM-RA: THE EVER LIVING #4 [W/VC]

22nd July

THUNDERHAWKS #4 [VC]

MCM London, May 22nd-24th