Rough Stuff #11

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82658 27766

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All characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

No. 11 WINTER 2009

$6.95 Celebrating the ART of Creating Comics!

Volume 1, Number 11 Winter 2009

Celebrating the ART of Creating Comics!

EDITOR

Bob McLeod PUBLISHER

John Morrow DESIGNER

Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington

FEATURED ARTISTS COVER ARTIST

Greg Horn CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Bob Brodsky, Cookiesoup Productions SPECIAL THANKS Rich Cirillo Mike Finn Shawn Fritschy Brian Galatis Kasra Ghanbari Gene Ha Greg Horn George Khoury Dave Morris Walt Parrish Mike Perkins Doug Resnick Edgar Tadeo Thomas Yeates

ROUGH STUFF™ is published quarterly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Bob McLeod, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: ROUGH STUFF, c/o Bob McLeod, Editor, P.O. Box 63, Emmaus, PA 10849-2203. E-mail: mcleod.bob@gmail.com. Fourissue subscriptions: $30 Standard US, $40 First Class US, $47 Canada, $70 First Class International, $77 Priority International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Greg Horn. X-Men copyright Marvel Comics. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2009 Bob McLeod and TwoMorrows Publishing. ROUGH STUFF is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

ISSN 1931-9231

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Gene Ha

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Greg Horn

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Mike Perkins

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Edgar Tadeo

ROUGH STUFF FEATURE 34

Convention-al Wisdom Rich Cirillo

ROUGH STUFF INTERVIEWS 3 64

Gene Ha Thomas Yeates

ROUGH STUFF DEPARTMENTS 2

Scribblings From The Editor Bob McLeod

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Cover Stories Gene Ha and Greg Horn reveal the process of creating a cover.

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Rough Critique Editor Bob McLeod critiques an aspiring penciler’s sample page.

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Rough Talk Comments and opinions from our readers.

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SCRIBBLINGS FROM THE EDITOR:

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fter what at least I consider ten strong issues of Rough Stuff, you might think we’ve exhausted the list of top talents in comics. Well, far from it! There are some very heavy hitters this issue. First up is the amazing Gene Ha. Bryan Galatis serves up an interesting article on Gene developing a single page of JLA, and I was so impressed I asked

Gene to show us some more of his work. In addition to all of his other skills, I just love an artist who understands linear perspective. That’s much more rare in comics than you would think. Gene also takes us through the process of developing a cover in our “Cover Stories” feature.

Rich Cirillo is a well known art collector, and he’s written a fun article for us about the hobby of collecting sketches and commissions built around a common theme, with images and comments contributed by several of the most visible collectors. I’ve done commissions for most of them myself, and I included a couple here. Then the incredible Mike Perkins shows us his stuff.

Mike does pencils and inks, and works in a very realistic style that’s simply stunning. I met this British artist at a convention, and was later surprised to learn he now lives in Lutz, Florida, very near my hometown, Tampa. I met artist Edgar Tadeo (yet another talented Filipino artist!) at Heroes Con last year, and asked him to send me some scans. His work is very impressive, and he’s sure to win some new fans with his feature.

When Rough Stuff was first getting off the ground a couple of years ago, George Khoury gave me an interview he’d done with Thomas Yeates, and I intended to use it right away, but new material kept pouring in and I’m embarrassed to admit I forgot about it for awhile. Then I had already advertised other interviews and had to wait for the right issue to get it scheduled. It’s here at last, and I updated it with some new questions on his more current, always beautiful work. He’s incredibly prolific and always impressive.

We finish the issue with my “Rough Critique” of the mysteriously single-named Wattana. In a refreshing departure for me, his sample page features a jungle girl’s violent encounter with a hungry lion, rather than the usual ever-present superheroes.

But I think this critique should be helpful to all artists struggling to learn how to draw comics. And lastly, we also have some very interesting letters from our readers this issue.

As always, remember we offer a full-color version of Rough Stuff in a downloadable PDF form at www.twomorrows.com for just $2.95, and be sure to check out the “Rough Stuff” section of my own web site to see art that didn’t fit into the magazine.

And while you’re on the web, visit the sites of our featured artists: Gene Ha: http://www.geneha.com Greg Horn: http://www.greghornjudge.com Mike Perkins: http://www.mikeperkinsart.com Edgar Tadeo: http://www.edgartadeo.com Thomas Yeates: http://www.thomasyeates.com

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Bob McLeod Editor mcleod.bob@gmail.com www.bobmcleod.com PO Box 63 Emmaus, PA 18049

INTERVIEW A

PAG E

I N

TH E

L I F E:

GENE HA

By BRYAN GALATIS

very artist working in comics has their own individual approach to telling a story on the page. Their

E

methods evolve over time and are often adapted to a particular collaborator or project. Gene Ha has been

working in the medium since the early 1990s. Fans admire him both for his draftmanship, for the detail

Justice League of America #11, pg. 4

he brings to his backgrounds and environment, and for the emotional resonance he provides his characters. It is the latter for which writer Brad Meltzer begged to have Gene hired as the artist for Justice League of America #11. “I knew we needed him for issue #11. Emotion — true emotion — is the hardest thing to draw. [The

script page with page layout and panel thumbnails in margins.

story] only works if the emotion is right.” In the story, entitled “Walls,” the characters Red Arrow and Vixen are trapped under the rubble of a building (it is an homage to the classic stories “The Final Chapter” in Amazing Spider-Man #33 and “Situation: Hopeless” in Secret Wars #4). Throughout the issue, the panels decrease in size as the tension increases, and Gene’s focus on character is placed firmly in the spotlight.

This is Gene’s approach to page four of Justice League of America #11.

BRYAN GALATIS: I’ve heard you say that working with

I started reading

great writers is of primary importance for you. Was Brad

Brad’s JLA run after I

Meltzer a writer with whom you’d been interested in

got the assignment. He

working?

was building up his story

GENE HA: Honestly, I haven’t read a lot of novels or

like a novel over several

superhero comics for the last few years. So I knew of

issues. There’s a strong

Brad, but I hadn’t read much of his stuff. I did have Eddie

parallel with the story-

Berganza’s assurance he was brilliant, and Eddie has

telling on my favorite TV

excellent judgment.

show, The Wire. You get WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

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HA: My initial thumbnails are done in the margins of the script. The script sketches are all under 2" tall. I make sketches of individual panels and of the blank panels on the page.

I used to go directly from the script margin thumbnails to the 10"x15" Bristol page. I began to change my process after talking to Barry Kitson about how he works. He made tiny pencil roughs with all the blacks spotted.

His roughs are as tight as most artists’ finished pencils.

I created my current process after I got hold of scanners and color printers that can handle 11"x17" paper. Theoretically, I can make a 2" tall sketch, scan it at 2250 dpi, and then print it out 15" tall at 300 dpi in nonphoto blue.

GALATIS: Your pencils always look kind of rough to me. You seem to save the fine-tuning for your inks. Is this to save time or to keep from locking you in too much for the inks? I have read that some artists feel like tight pencils take the fun and creativity out of inking.

HA: [Top 10 collaborator] Zander Cannon describes my pencils as 3-D computer wireframe models. They’re not supposed to look like the finished artwork. They’re indications of where the planes and edges of objects are.

Like a 3-D rendering program, I figure out the lighting and modeling after that stage.

Red Arrow ©2009 DC Comics

You’re right that I don’t like having too much detail in my pencils. I know I’ll come up with better ideas later so detail is both an annoyance and a waste of time.

GALATIS: Does the amount of detail you put in depend on the project?

HA: If the setting is important to the story (such as in Top 10) I usually throw in more

Justice League of

a huge payoff if you pay attention. Also, he had some fun

America #11, pg. 4

showing the less glamorous side of the job. I wish he had

full-page pencils.

even more room to tell the story.

He’s got an amazing storytelling mind. He thinks visually. He writes like somebody who’s been drawing his own stories for years, like Dave Sim or Darwyn Cooke. I can’t think of another non-drawing writer who can think like that.

detail in the background. I didn’t throw much detail into The Authority because the settings weren’t as important and because my editor Scott Dunbier really wanted to meet the print deadlines. Sorry, Scott!

The rough pencils are done with two 6.8" tall pages on a single 8.5"x11" sheet. I scan these at 882 dpi and print these as 600 dpi 10" tall bluelines for tight pencils. I scan the tight pencils at 680 dpi and print that as 400 dpi 17"

GALATIS: Do you start off with thumbnails or rough sketches? What size are these usually?

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

tall finished inks and markers.

Justice League of America #11, pg. 4, full inked page.

GALATIS: In Brad [Meltzer’s] notes for page four, he asked for “lots of smoke and darkness.” In a guest spot on Brad’s blog (bradmeltzer.com, 18 July ’07), you said that you “mostly used Copic paper on this issue for grainy, dusty effect.”

Have you used the combination of that type of paper with “graphite pencil, gray Copic markers, white charcoal pencil and white paint” on previous projects?

HA: It’s the only time I’ve used the Copic brand marker paper. I am using Copic markers, pencil, Pitt brush pens and white media for my new Top 10 project.

When I initially started using the Copic paper I was disappointed by how the marker ink pooled on the surface after it dried. If you placed another stroke on top it smeared the previous ink. It was oversaturated with ink, like rain drops on a windshield. Generally I wouldn’t want that effect, but it happened to match the setting (trapped in a dusty collapsed building).

For scenes outside the building I worked on plain old inkjet paper. It absorbs the marker without bleeding. It‘s a trick I learned in my art school days.

Marker paper is fine, but I noticed that when I worked on photocopies that the colors were more vivid.

GALATIS: Does subject matter often dictate you choice of materials and/or style (such as your use of ink wash on The Forty-Niners)?

HA: Various elements of the comic affect my choice of technique. For The Authority I wanted it to look slick and I needed to work fast. I went with standard Bristol Red Arrow ©2009 DC Comics

paper and India ink. The Forty-Niners was a period story so I used a muted palette, hinting at Saving Private Ryan and also b&w movies.

In modern or futuristic stories I like a smoother and more colorful look.

GALATIS: I recently read an interview WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

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used photo reference in this way?

HA: I do try to use the same model or photo reference for the same character. The big fear isn’t that I’ll make the character change, but that I’ll make all the characters look the same. I hate it when all the characters have the same nose.

GALATIS: Do you prefer different models for different characters?

HA: For the broad anatomical and lighting issues I can use almost anyone for reference.

It doesn’t need to be a close match. In this case my Red Arrow model was pretty close to what I wanted Speedy to look like. I didn’t send you pics, but my Vixen model was actually Asian! I vaguely based the head on Halle Berry, but that was just from memory.

GALATIS: Were you happy with the way “Walls” turned out? How did your fans respond?

Red Arrow ©2009 DC Comics

HA: I was very happy. I did worry about how fans [would] react. In online reviews reaction was very divided, but generally positive.

In person, fans all seemed to like it. That’s not a representative sample. People generally don’t bother coming up to complain. It’s not worth the effort. At cons you pretty [much] only hear from the happy readers.

Justice League of

with Jerry Ordway where he talked about using the same

I suppose that gives creators a rose-tinted

America #11, pg. 4,

photo reference (from a book) for the Golden Age Flash

view, even if they start putting out crap. That makes it very

progression from

for over 25 years. He said it had helped him keep the

important to get feedback from other creators, especially

thumbnail to pencil.

character’s look consistent both within the book (drawing

the brutally honest ones.

the character at different ages) and over time. Have you

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

D U R E F E A T

I S T A R T

GENE HA

mic n-American co ea or K a is a Gene H r TOP 10 best known fo artist perhaps N. His work FORTUNATE SO : N A in 2007.

TM A B d an Eisner Award an r fo ed at as nomin e’s got on JLA #11 w ’s business. H y od ob n ke li ks & colors one.

He pencils, in ople, much less pe o tw r fo t n tale way too much

joker ©2009 DC Comics

GENE HA Showcase ’95 #11, “Escape” Let’s skip ahead a few years, past my clumsy first steps in comics. In the spring of 1995, DC Editor Archie Goodwin called me up and asked what writer I’d like to do a short story with.

Alan Moore wasn’t an option at DC, so my second choice was Archie himself. He thought this was crazy, but he humored me and wrote me a short story. Archie was always too modest. He’s one of comics’ great writers. In the Silver Age, he wrote with a surprising sophistication that seems completely modern. His later work still had the Silver Age vitality and fast pacing that seems lost now.

Working on “Escape” was one of the great learning experiences of my career. My first composition had way too much information, showing the prisoner being led down the hallway. Archie taught me to restrain myself to create little mysteries for the reader to discover later.

This was my mature crosshatch style. It’s mostly drawn with my trusty W&N series 7, and a little tech pen. To control the hatching even more closely I used white paint “reverse hatching” to fade out the ends of the line strokes. This style was heavily influenced by the etching on old US currency. I used to take money and blow it up on the best photocopier at Kinkos, just to study the details.

It definitely helped having my Geoff model. He looks creepily like the Joker. Geoff’s a bigger comic geek than I am so he brought a lot of characterization to the photshoot.

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GENE HA

STARMAN ©2009 DC Comics

Starman #46 I was proud of my crosshatch technique, but I realized that I’d go blind and insane if I kept it up. My eyes were getting worse, my hands cramped painfully, and I didn’t have time to hang out with my friends. I went through a series of different techniques, trying to get the images in my head onto the printed page less laboriously.

This issue was drawn in normal inks, but then I did the color guides myself. I didn’t have time to do a full color guide, and I’ve always found the palette selection in any marker set too limiting. So I chose a limited palette and tried to use it well. The markers are done on a photocopy of the inks, using Prismacolor Cool Gray, Warm Gray, and a few accent colors.

After I’d drawn the rough I realized that I wanted to show the height of the city in the first panel, not just a skyline. I changed it to a vertical panel. I think it works much better.

Art Lyon, my most frequent colorist, is my Starman.

He was my go-to model when we lived in the same town: Bloomington, IN. Hanging out once, I realized he looked like how I drew Nightman. Also, he has an expressive face and a good understanding of storytelling.

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

GENE HA

BLACK WIDOW TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Marvel Shadows & Light #1 (Black Widow) This short story was fully ink washed, and would have been near impossible without good models. I think I’m good enough to make it up now, but part of the way I got those skills was learning from photo reference. Living in a small college town was really good for finding models. Back then, C. was just a college student who helped out because I asked nicely, but her natural sense of cool really fit Natasha and helped fine tune the story. She also really looked like the Black Widow. I used old friends for the rest of the characters in the story.

I decided the original building in the sketch was both too boring and too busy, so I changed it into a church. The onion domes helped set the story in Russia.

I really wish I’d had all the tools back then that I depend on now. The sky would’ve been smoother if I’d airbrushed or threw it in using Photoshop. Also, I had no control over photo contrast after I mailed the original art to Marvel. The image scan here is much nicer than the original print image.

I enjoyed this technique, but it was both too slow and too understated for action/adventure comics.

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GENE HA The Forty-Niners Here’s the next iteration of my search for an ideal technique. It was still pretty slow, but adding line work to the ink washes added drama and made it quicker. I didn’t live near Art Lyon anymore, but I now depended on him and his wife Ellen to color my dream project.

The double-page spread echoed both the image and the story in the first issue of Top 10, so I used the same composition.

This meant taking some of the sci-fi buildings from that scene and drawing them under construction. There are no ink washes on this page as I wanted Art to throw in lots of aerial perspective (i.e. haze making distant images fade out) over the line work. To make the linear perspective convincing I used a four-foot long “yardstick” to figure out the vanishing points.

Even so, I think I needed to tape another yardstick onto the first.

Nowadays, I draw such scenes as a small perspective grid, and then print them in blue line large to fill in details.

For the other page I focused on using ink wash on figures and cars and left the backgrounds to Art and Ellen again. I used my Top 10 co-worker Zander Cannon for young Jetlad and several other characters, and my friend Anna Petosky for the German character Skywitch. When my dad saw the original pages he was disappointed that Skywitch didn’t look more German. I worried about this, but later a German reader wrote about how authentically German she looked.

BOB McLEOD This is one of the most remarkable panels I've seen in an American comic, where deadlines usually don't allow for this kind of effort. See these pages in color in the PDF version of Rough Stuff at www.twomorrows.com.

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BOB McLEOD Students, next time you're wondering if you've put enough work into your backgrounds, just pull out this page and compare them...

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GENE HA Blöödhag “Hellbent for Letters” Blöödhag is a band led by my hometown pal Jake Stratton. We’ve both left South Bend, but we’ve kept in touch. I didn’t get much money for it, but it was well worth it for Jake, for fun, and because it was a piece I’m especially proud of.

Even with a good 12"x17" scanner, a square composition limited the original art size to 12"x12". To get around this, I drew the final line art in layers, then pasted them all together in Photoshop.

The pencils for this piece were done very small (if you look carefully, you can see that I reused a piece of paper with type on the other side). I then printed out several blue lines on Bristol to ink.

The Photoshop coloring was meant to suggest the translucent oil paint technique used by Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo.

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GENE HA ABC: A2Z, “Top 10: Badge of Honor” This was the longest I’ve ever worked on a page or two. It took three weeks to finish this spread. I knew it was going to be a slog as soon as I read the script. It asked for a picture of all of Neopolis as a diagram, with several major buildings scattered across the city clearly visible. Neopolis is as large as all five boroughs of NYC. Even working small, I still needed to break out the four-foot yardstick with another ruler taped to the end.

The writer (not Alan Moore) had no idea how much emotional and financial suffering he was asking of me. I’ll never work with him again. Writers, don’t do this to your artists!

BOB McLEOD I take it back; this is the most remarkable page I've seen in an American comic! Three weeks on one scene?! Entire comics have been drawn in much

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

TOP TEN ©2009 DC Comics

GENE HA

less time!

GENE HA

all characters ©2009 DC Comics

Dreamwar #5 cover This is my first pencils for someone else to ink in 10 years. Because it was inked by Andrew Pepoy from a blue line, I didn’t have to restrict myself to erasable media like pencils. I used pencils, markers, Pitt brush pens, and even white chalk and paint on these “pencils.”

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed these pieces and gotten some insights into how I work. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve I’ll be using in the next few years that you won’t see here. If I can finally get proficient with some more software like Painter and Illustrator I’ll get better tools to use, and that just might make me a better artist.

Someday, with luck, I’ll have unearned all those checks on that Marvel rejection letter!

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COVER STORIES

W

hat goes into the creation of a great cover? Some artists just do a rough sketch or two, then go right to the finish. Gene Ha did a sketch, then worked out the anatomy and perspective, inked it, explored the values in a marker rough, and only then digitally painted it, using muted complimentary colors.

GENE HA Captain America #19 cover This cover was made after I moved to Chicagoland. It seems that the bigger the city I live in, the harder it is to find models. My friends in the Chicago area are mostly a 45-minute drive away, and it’s weirder going up to complete strangers in a big city than a small town. So my wife Lisa and I modeled for all the characters.

This is my Photoshop “painted” style. The technique is strongly influenced by the oil painting technique I picked up in art school.

Back then, I had a fantasy of daubing my brush in the light and spreading it on my canvas. Now I really can do that. To get the colors, I took digital photographs of all the colors I needed under consistent lighting, then used the Eyedropper tool in Photoshop to snatch the color. I drew the shield in Photoshop because I wanted it

Captain America TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

to be perfectly smooth.

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BOB McLEOD Gene has basically figured everything out in the gray-tone rough, but notice the few changes he did Captain America TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

make, such as the dark shadow behind Cap's face, and the shading on Cap's chest star.

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GREG HORN Emma Frost #5 original art Oh man, I love this one. This cover was one of those rare occasions where all the artistic difficulties were conquered and everything came together in a great way! Here we have Emma standing on the balcony of her father’s mansion, with a sprawling background going far off into the distance. The first tough part was the forced perspective on Emma’s body. Every artist knows how tough these are to do, and many a drawing has been ripped up, crumpled and thrown in the trash can due to the infamous word: Foreshortening! The complications in foreshortening the human form usually start as you get to the waist— that’s always the make or break spot for me. The next tough part was designing the figure to “stand” on that balcony, and make both elements look like they exist in the same dimension. Finally, the mid-ground and background were drawn in with the limo and the fence fading off into the sunrise.

Since this is technically a fisheye perspective, I could not rely on vanishing points and a trusty horizon line. The perspective was done completely by eye and reckoning. I doubt any of the lines in this scene line up on a consistent plane. But it doesn’t matter if it is right as long as it looks right!

BOB McLEOD You have to see this in color to really appreciate Greg’s work. Her hair is amazing. Download the

emma Frost TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

full-color PDF version at www.twomorrows.com.

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D U R E F E A T

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his work st known for be is n or H g Gre gitally, . He paints di st ti ar r ve co as a eroes. sexy female h in s es. ze li ia ec for video gam and sp t ar e n do so Marvel, he’s al slouch with In addition to g, but he’s no n li zz da is e u techniq Greg's digital ! a pencil, either

GREG HORN She-Hulk and Black Cat Wizard V.I.P. Sketches These are drawings I did for Wizard’s Texas show back in 2006.

It was part of a five-piece set planned as a giveaway to Wizard’s VIP guests. I didn’t sign it because I wanted to meet the winners in person for the signing (being that they were choosing my sketches over all the other stuff they had there. Anyway, one dude had purchased two VIP passes and was able to snag both of these drawings. With both designs I was trying to infuse some personality and humor into the characters because this is a lot more enjoyable than a chick just standing there saying “look at me—I’m doing a sexy pose.” Of course, the task of adding these elements into the design makes the art work about ten times harder to do! I think this is why I love Adam Hughes so much.

He has an incredible, innate sense for the whimsical and humorous—Adam is one of the artists that made me look at art from a totally different angle. None of his drawings are typical…. He’s like a genius or something.

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

She-Hulk and Black Cat TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

GREG HORN

GREG HORN For the cover of Ms. Marvel #16, editor Bill Rosemann was looking to introduce the freakish M.O.D.O.K. into the storyline. This disgusting lump of flesh and hair has a head the size of a garbage truck (’cause he’s so smart, you see) and a really bad dental plan. He is a vision of horror and we wanted to make sure that vision came across on the cover art. In my first round of sketches I tried to show Carol in the foreground as if she had not yet noticed M.O.D.O.K. behind her. The intention was to get her in a high position on the cover because Magazine Design 101 says you should always have the main character’s face high on the page. But none of the sketches really popped out at us and Bill’s precious M.O.D.O.K. was getting obscured! So, I came up with a solution to have Ms. Marvel battling M.O.D.O.K. mentally. She’d be lower on the page, but still very prominent in the foreground. The next concern was that Ms. Marvel might look too passive… or even submissive laying on the ground, and as we all know Ms. Marvel submits to no man… except for Wonder Man… and that guy from Avengers #200… and a few other guys, but that’s beside the point. Bill and I wanted to make sure that Ms. Marvel still retained her powerful qualities while fighting this mind war.

When you have a face this big on the cover, its going to need some texture to look right—such as pores and little skin imperfections, etc. Otherwise the skin will look unnaturally plastic or rubbery. Adding a kazillion little pores is a time intensive step and I had already decided this was something I did not want to do in pencil. Especially considering I had just created a digital “pore brush” in Photoshop months earlier to do the She-Hulk #19 cover. That was another big head cover… it had the Leader on it. Get it?… bighead cover. Anyway, on the M.O.D.O.K. sketch you can see where I put about seven little pores under

Ms. Marvel, Modok TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

his nostril as a reminder to add them in later.

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GREG HORN Wolverine I drew this sketch of Wolverine specifically for my 2002 convention sketch book. I was feelin’ kinda artsy-fartsy that day and wanted to try something using negative space.

Eventually, this drawing found its way into Wizard’s “Basic Training” that I did concerning negative space, of all things.

The look I was going for required that there be no line work to define Wolvie’s outline. It all worked except that one little Wolverine TM & ©2000 Marvel Characters, Inc.

line that makes the top of his head.

GREG HORN Women of Marvel Knights This was a basic sketch of a litho I had intended to do about five years ago. The characters are all Marvel Knights characters such as Black Widow,

girl Elektra! The interesting thing about this drawing is that it was penciled entirely on computer—nary a paper nor a pencil to be seen. This was not easy— back in 2001, I was working on a computer from 1998, and it was a really slow machine! This made a terrible environment for sketching and you will notice there is none of the typical feathering or fine repetitive line work that would happen in a normal paper drawing. These days the technology is much better and I find myself doing a lot of line work on the finished painting, but I still prefer to do my “rough stuff” on paper.

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All characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Black Widow (the other one), Echo, Dagger, and my

GREG HORN Madame Mirage #1 original art This was a painting I did for Top Cow. It had two tough effects that needed special attention.

One was the reflection in the mirror that needed to show Madame Mirage prominently and clearly. This was the first issue after all and we had to make sure readers got a good view of this new heroine.

Note how the little sculpture on the mirror is reflected too—I love that touch! The second

Madame Mirage TM & ©2009 Paul Dini and Top Cow Productions, inc.

was the smoke coming off the gun.

The main complication is that the gun hand is in the extreme foreground and so there is not a lot of room to show the smoke effect. I hope that logo was small!

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

23

GREG HORN She-Hulk #7 original art Probably my favorite She-Hulk cover.

In this scene She-Hulk is sitting on a bench waiting for the bus. She is sitting on her own cornball ad!! So, the idea was to give her an expression that provoked a question… Maybe she knows she’s on her own ad and this is a look of “You wanna make something of it?” Or perhaps she is just bored waiting for the bus and

BOB MCLEOD My favorite part of this is, um, well my second favorite part is actually that wood fence! I like the Norman Rockwell-like subtlety of the colors and technique and texture.

24

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

She-Hulk TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

has not realized the goofy ad.

GREG HORN She-Hulk #16 original art A few months before I started this design, I had decided to make a big change in my art. I try to do this every two years to keep things fresh. Art is ever-changing and the best way to

She-Hulk and Wolverine TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

stay relevant is to change things up and try some new experiments once in a while! Anyway, I wanted my covers to have more action, and to be much looser on the actual rendering with more brush strokes and less technical airbrush work. I also tried pulling back more and showing more of the environment to make the scene look more grandiose. You can see all this stuff in action on She-Hulk #14-18, but I think this cover is a great example of what I was trying to accomplish. The new outlook seems to make the characters more gritty… not only in their look, but also in their overall personality.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

25

GREG HORN She-Hulk #18 original art I had been thinking all month on how to portray the climatic Civil War battle between She-Hulk and Iron Man, when I saw a book cover Dave Dorman had done with Darth Vader fighting Boba Fett. They were fighting on a precarious volcanic cliff edge and the colors were so beautiful I was really inspired— this was the color scheme this titanic scene needed! I immediately went into action with a composition— the idea was to have the pair fighting over a

(which you can only see in the final painting) and the ground beneath them is shattering and literally collapsing beneath them. It looks as though eventually they will be swallowed up by their own destruction and that was a metaphor I was trying to get across on this design.

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

She-Hulk and Iron Man TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

S.H.I.E.L.D. logo

GREG HORN Emma Frost #10 original art When you’re working on a close-up like this, It tends to alter your idea of what “details” mean. In a normal full-figure drawing, details might mean adding a bunch of characters in the background, spotting extra blacks in a costume, or just adding more elements in general to the scene. But with close-ups, details take on a whole new meaning. The textures become more critical, and you find yourself in a new world of “microdetails” like individual strands of hair, little wrinkles and creases in the skin, or the pattern of the

Emma Frost TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

iris. In a full figure drawing, these playing cards probably would have been simplistic black rectangles. But, in a close-up shot those same black rectangles become boring dead space…. a super spiffy design is called for!

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

27

GREG HORN Red Sonja original art I’m a big fan of Mike Mignola—I really love his “less is more” approach to art and the way he let’s shadows do a lot of talking. When I read a Hellboy comic book, I “see” things in those shadows. Whenever possible, I try to incorporate this concept into my own art (which is not often since I’m such a detail kinda guy). In this scene the big spider is largely cloaked in darkness.

The heavy black areas help to define the outline of Red Sonja and she pops right out in the final painting. The spider arms fade off into the blackness, and you can’t even see

the body. I’m letting the viewer decide this! Is the spider’s body skinny? Fat? Does he have a disgusting scaly gut?

All these things the viewer decides with a few visual cues I’ve included in the art work.

28

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Red Sonja TM & ©2009 Red Sonja corp.

how they connect to

GREG HORN Dwayne-Bot EA Sports’ advertising agency rep called me up one day with this job Artwork ©2009 EA Sports.

to design an ad for their new NBA LIVE 2006 video game. She said they wanted to portray an NBA player as a giant hollow robot that a person could operate from the inside. I asked her who the player was and she said “some guy named Dwayne Wade.” I happen to be a Miami Heat fan and this really irked me bigtime!… but luckily Business Greg took over and I didn’t say anything rash! This job was really out of the ordinary for me, because instead of a painting they wanted a black-and-white technical drawing of the robot with it’s inner workings showing. Kind of like a schematic when you buy a model airplane or something. Before advancing to the final drawing, all the mechanical parts were figured out in a very loose sketch as well as the back rest and arm portal where the person inside would operate the whole thing. I turned in the final drawing just before a convention and was unable to do any edits from the show… they ended up calling me on my cell phone to see if I would object to them “changing his face a little.” They said the change would only involve angling his eyebrows to make him look meaner, but I should have known better. A couple months later I saw the ad and they had completely changed the head to a straight-on view. The new head did not look like Dwayne... it looked like a generic black man, and I was pretty disappointed with this. Never let them make changes!

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

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GREG HORN Ms. Marvel #14 Here’s a funky thing I came up with while experimenting on designs for my second art book, The Art of Greg Horn Reloaded (published by Image Comics and due out in late 2008—ASK YOUR RETAILER!) whew, got that out of the way!

Anyway, the original pencils are overlayed on the final art. Then different blending modes are enabled in a grid pattern to make the pencils react with the underlying painting in different ways. In my actual finished paintings I rarely use techniques like this because I prefer to paint completely over the

usually not much pencil work to be seen in the final art.

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Ms. Marvel TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

pencils. There is

GREG HORN Ms. Marvel #21 This is a prelim for Ms. Marvel #21 where she gets her ass kicked by Cru, a big nasty alien destroyer type. I wanted to do something that got Carol interacting with the logo and originally I had hoped to have the logo being bashed in half, but it never worked out that way. For a prelim, this artwork is very finished, especially considering all the shaded detail. I had originally started shading Cru just to get a handle on his alien musculature. It looked so cool I just decided to finish the whole prelim in shaded art. I had to tone down the tentacles on the final Ms. Marvel TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

art because there was some big blowup on the Internet about a previous cover with tentacles—oh brother! This is why you should never hire anime artists… they are just too tentacle-centric!

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

31

GREG HORN Scarlet Witch After 9-11, I was contacted by a guy who lost his brother in one of the attacks. He told me about how he and his bro were big fans of the old Avengers from the ’80s and when he saw my remake of John Byrne’s cover for issue #187, “The Nights of Wundergore,” it had brought back great memories for him! A few months later his wife contacted me and said that I was one of his favorite artists, and she had decided to buy a sketch for his birthday. (What a great wife huh?) Expanding on the subject of awesome Avengers covers I decided to draw him something that would

BOB McLEOD Look for Greg's new book The Art of

Greg Horn on sale next month!

32

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Scarlet Witch TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

instantly register… I’d have to say he was extremely happy with his gift!

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www.romitaman.com WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

33

Convention-al

WISDOM

I

Captain America TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

By Rich Cirillo started reading comics at an early age, but didn’t see my first piece of original art until many years later at a local comic book convention. They had very large conventions in Manhattan, which I went to occasionally, accompanied by an adult. Local, smaller shows on Long Island were right on my back doorstep, and they would attract a big-name artist every so often. In the mid-’80s artists such as Bob Layton, Dave Cockrum and a newcomer

named Bill Willingham paid us a visit. Back in the day, a convention sketch could run you $5 - $20 for either full pencils or inks, depending on the artist. Most convention sketches back then were more quickly rendered and looser in style, very different from a lot of the tightly rendered sketches of today.

It had never occurred to me to buy original comic book art back then. I was a teenager with a meager part-time

Sketch by Mark Texiera

keep them interested with my unusual requests. For instance, in the mid-to-late ’80s, there was a smaller

job, and most of my money was going toward either the

comic company called Comico, which was putting out

latest issues of my favorite comics or the elusive back

some interesting titles. One of their better sellers was a

issues we all tried to find in near-mint condition. I can

book called the Elementals, a reinventing of the Fantastic

vaguely remember seeing original art for published pages

Four, if you will, had they come back from the dead. Bill

back then, but they would have been way too expensive

Willingham was the creator of that book and he was the

for me at the time, with their $100 price tags. Con

guest of honor at our local con that day in October of

sketches were more affordable, and they had one thing a

1986. Others asked for sketches of the main characters

printed page could not offer; they were more personal. I

from the book: Morningstar, Vortex, Monolith or Fathom.

could ask for whatever character I wanted, within reason,

But not me, I had to ask for the most obscure character

and I would then own a piece of art that no one else had

from the book I could think of. I could ask for none other

ever seen. Before the days of the Internet, an unpublished

than the villainous vermin... Ratman!!!

con sketch would occasionally appear in a fanzine, but

My con visits were few and far between through the

otherwise most would go years, decades perhaps, with-

’80s, but I also got sketches of the future Red Wolf by

out being seen by more than a few.

Bob Layton, Wolverine by Mike Zeck, and I happened to

I was on the shy side back in my teens, and approach-

meet an up-and-coming artist by the name of Adam

ing a comic book artist to me was like approaching a god

Hughes, who drew for me his first Captain America con

stepped down from Olympus. I wanted to stand out from

sketch, and like any true fan boy, I asked him to inscribe it

the crowd of sketch seekers, so I usually asked for

as such. I had only acquired a few original sketches back

obscure character sketches. I also felt the artists would

in those days, but the foundation for my future avid col-

tire of sketching the same characters, so I would try to

lecting had been laid.

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Doug Resnick I was looking at all my Spider-Man vs. a villain commissions and thought “wouldn’t it be great to be able to display all of my favorite pencilers at one time.” That started the idea of a poster jam. I also only wanted the artist to draw in pencil so an inker can ink it later to give it a better finish.

Before starting the poster jam, I needed a way to carry it around at shows. After thinking up a way, I started with Pat Olliffe right in the bottom center.

For the big body jam, I got to to play editor and showed the pencilers where to pencil. The second one had boxes laid out and I just had to ask the penciler what character they’d like to draw. I had a lot of fun watching the artists draw the villains. I remember sitting on a couch with Mike Wieringo outside of the Baltimore convention hall while he drew the vulture.

We talked and he drew. The real trick was co-ordinating the pencilers and the inkers. All pencils were done at shows and most of the inking, too. A lot of prep work went into these poster jams.

All characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

35

Chris Caira trophy wall: http://www.comicartfa ns.com/GalleryRoom.a sp?Order=Date&Page =1&GSub=22086 I happened into theme collecting by accident.

In an attempt to come up with an idea inspiring enough for Mr. Bolland to create a commission for me, I had a half-sleeping nightmare one night and immediately ran to my computer and sent it off to Brian.

Brian thought it just twisted enough and just darkly humorous enough to be worthy of bringing to life. That was where the Trophy Wall idea started. I realized it was a theme versatile enough to apply to comics, film, theatre and literature and adaptable enough to find the perfect project for almost every artist (such as McLeod’s Kraven pieces, and Layton’s Mandarin).

When you give an artist an idea that really inspires them you get their very best work every time. I did not mean to be a theme commission collector but the idea All characters ©2009 DC Comics.

has made me more friends and helped me reach out to more artists than I ever would have on my own. Now there are more than 30 Trophy Walls in the collection and for several still in development.

Illustration by Brian Bolland

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ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Time passed, and I realized it had been over ten years

to pastels. There were now even high-end commissions

BOB MCLEOD

since I had attended a con. I grieved during that time as I

done at home by some artists. Instead of sketches drawn

This is a montage of

read of comic greats passing, such as Jack Kirby and Gil

of just random characters, some collectors were now

just a few of Rich's

Kane. I realized I wanted to meet as many of my child-

coming up with inventive theme sketch requests. Some

hood heroes as possible while I still could. During my hia-

were getting drawings of not only comic book characters,

tus from conventions, a few things had greatly changed.

but also anything their imaginations could envision. One

Suddenly, there was the Internet and eBay in particular

collector I found online, Walt Parrish, was having charac-

had radically changed how the world collected original

ters hanging off of cliffs. Another, Dave Morris, had sever-

comic art, among other things. It was during this time that

al themes, such as dancing girls, devil girls, and Mucha-

I purchased my first published page, a George Pérez

inspired art nouveau pieces. A friend of mine, Shawn

Mark Texiera, David

Avengers double-page splash, which I won on eBay. I

Fritschy, decided to have his pet incorporated into his

Finch.

also noticed that sketch collecting was now quite differ-

sketches, and supplied photos of his bird Coda for the

ent. There were still the quick, free sketches that one

artists to use as reference.

Hawkman TM & ©2009 DC Comics.

Capatain America TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters Inc. Hellboy TM & ©2009 Mike Mignola. Red Sonja TM & ©2009 Red Sonja Corp. GForce TM & ©2009 respective owner.

could obtain from a few select artists, but the prices of

The sketch market had exploded! Sketches that used

the more involved sketches were approaching the hun-

to sit in obscurity in someone’s home were now displayed

dred dollar mark and beyond!

Also, instead of just the traditional pencil or inked

online for collectors all over the world to see. With each innovative spin on the con sketch, there was a friendly

sketches, artists were now doing colored pieces in all

competition building among collectors. As artists began

kinds of mediums, from colored markers to water colors,

to raise the bar with the time they put into each drawing,

many sketch acquisitions. Clockwise from upper left: Rags Morales, Adam Hughes, Gene Colan,

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

37

Illustration by Bob McLeod

fans would try to land the next big commission from the new hot artist. The hobby grew by leaps and bounds. As prices soared on published art, con sketches became a subculture of the hobby that was in most cases more affordable and more personalized as well.

As I attended more conventions over the years, I began to recognize a lot of the same collectors at each show. As we each waited in long lines for a drawing by our favorite artists, we began to identify each other, not always by name but by the art we collected or theme sketchbooks we had started. Sketch seekers started bringing bound sketchbooks to conventions instead of relying on the paper an artist had on hand. These days, art supply stores carry a large array of different size bound books, including

Star Wars & all related characters TM & ©2009 Lucasfilm Ltd.

some high-end leather bound editions. A friend of mine, Rob Luciano, started a Hellboy collection of sketches and found a red faux-suede covered book, which fit his Hellbased character appropriately. When I first started using bound sketchbooks a few years ago for my Captain America sketches, I used a small book. Once I discovered 11"x17" sketchbooks, they seemed to free the creativity of some artists who felt confined by the smaller book.

There were still the people who collected an iconic character like Wonder Woman or Batman, or even more bizarre characters such as MODOK, a favorite of collector Kasra Ghanbari. But now, there seemed to be no limit to the imagination for sketch themes. Mike Finn started a collection based on published covers, as they would appear taking place one minute later! Chris Caira started a collection based upon a hunter’s trophy wall after obtaining a killer commission from the legendary Brian Bolland.

WALT PARRISH CLIFFS http://www.thecliffguy.com/cliffs.htm

As collectors have become innovative with sketch themes there have also been those who will make the

It started with a crossover idea, basically. There was a comic show at The Tacoma Dome (Tacoma, WA)

most bizarre requests. It had been commonplace for

many, many years ago—1990, actually—and two of the guests were Stan Sakai & Sergio Aragonés. I

decades for fans to ask for a nude or undressing pose of

was (and am) a big fan of their work, and knew that they were good friends. So when I found out that

their favorite heroine. Ask any artist what their most dis-

artists would often sketch at comic book conventions (Original art! Created right there, in front of your

turbing request for a sketch was and they will have a laun-

eyes! For you!), I decided I’d ask each of them to draw their respective characters (Usagi Yojimbo and

dry list of examples to share. From sex scenes, to disem-

Groo the Wanderer) standing on cliffs, facing each other over a chasm. It would be like a crossover

bowelings, to anything a wicked mind can dream up,

event, but each could be seen as its own piece. I‘m not sure why the idea of just having them draw their

artists have been asked to draw them. While some artists

characters on the same piece of paper never occurred to me, but looking back. I’m glad it didn’t.

will not shy away from a tasteful nude request, most

Anyway, I approached Stan with the idea first, and he thought it sounded fun so he did this amazing piece in, like, under a minute. The grace, the speed, the accuracy—it was really cool to watch. As he finished he said, “If you think I’m fast, you should see Sergio draw!” I thanked him with a huge grin, honestly overwhelmed that one of my favorite creators had drawn something specifically for me.

Smiling, I turned to get into Sergio’s line to complete my quest, and saw that the line stretched and wound its way around the convention, seemingly for miles. I only had a limited amount of time to spend at the show, and was quickly running out of it. So, I wasn’t even able to ask Sergio if he’d participate.

respected artists will turn down the weirder suggestions.

A major difference in sketch collecting now is that many of us are no longer teenagers with financial restraints. Instead, a lot of us are around the same age, in our ’30s or ’40s, with more money to spend on art. I find the hobby to be an insatiable hunger that needs to be fed

I don’t think I went to another show for three years—mainly because there were very few around

regularly. Art that a collector would have never considered

this area back then—but Stan’s drawing (which you can see on my site) hung proudly on my wall, and

selling a few months prior is suddenly being made avail-

its simple elegance inspired dreams of what other people would come up with if I asked them to draw

able online to help finance the next big purchase.

someone on a cliff.

Collectors are doing everything they can to get an inside

38

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Michael Finn: http://www.comicartfans.com/ GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=26452 Shortly after I started collecting original artwork back in 2002, I decided that I wanted to commission pieces from many of the comic book artists whose work I had admired and enjoyed. However, straight-up cover reproductions didn’t excite me. I saw some of the other themes that were out there such as Brian Sagar’s Marvel Two-In-One theme and I decided that I needed a theme. After some thought, I came up with “One Minute Later” in which I ask artists to recreate a published cover but to depict the action taking place One Minute Later from that shown on the original cover. Needless to say, I have been thrilled with the results and have had many artists participate including folks like John Byrne, George Pérez, Ernie Chan, Michael Golden, Pablo Marcos, Rudy Nebres, Mike Grell, Alan Weiss, Ron Wilson, Keith Captain America and Iron Man TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Pollard, Bob Layton and many more.

Illustration by George Pérez

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

39

DAVE MORRIS My theme collections

profit-making at their expense. In

Illustration by Rudy Nebres

the last year, I have seen a few

have mostly started

artists who used to charge $100

from lucky coinci-

for a con sketch now raise their

dences. I would ask

price to more than double that.

for a sketch from an

As new artists-in-demand

artist on something

enter the arena and prices rise

that they would want

with each sale online, competition

to do themselves, and

has become fierce to get on

after a while I would

sketch lists at cons. Some artists

find a few sketches

have started using a lottery sys-

they turned out. From

tem at shows, handing out a limit-

that point on, I'd start

ed number of tickets to the early

to ask people to do their own take on that subject. My Dancing Girl collection started out that way, as did my Art Nouveau and Devilgirl collections.

It's great to see all the

Artwork ©2009 Rudy Nebres

that I really liked how

birds on line. Other artists have begun taking commission requests through the Internet to deliver upon their next con appearance. Hardcore collectors find themselves paying hundreds to thousands of dollars for new commissions and sketches. Now

different ways artists

fans don’t always have to wait for

can approach the

a convention appearance, they

same subject, and that is what keeps me

can sometimes e-mail their

coming back to get

favorite artist and try to arrange a

more commissions

sketch ahead of time.

One goal of a sketch collector is

from people.

to get the best examples from each artist. Con sketches can vary from the spectacular to the rushed, quick doodle. Sometimes having a sketchbook full of great examples by respected artists can serve to motivate another contributor to try

track to the latest hot artist. Some make friends with the artists, others buy them gifts, and some even become their art representatives in exchange for art.

As prices of comic book art has soared on eBay, the

40

harder on his own addition to the book. Supplying good drawings or photo reference for a character’s costume always helps to secure the best sketch possible.

resale of pieces has become commonplace, as people

Striking up a friendly conversation with an artist can

realized they could make a profit by reselling a sketch.

also go a long way in the hopes of getting a better than

Generally, when an artist is new to the convention circuit

average sketch.

their prices tend to be more affordable. This can quickly

There are some points to keep in mind for making the

change after a few generously detailed drawings fetch

purchase of art a good experience. Whenever possible,

high prices when sold by flippers on eBay. “Flipper” is a

agree to pay for a commission after it is complete. Many

term used to describe a person who buys art, usually at a

people have paid in advance for a commission only to be

low price, with the intention to resell it as soon as possi-

still waiting months or years later. Try not to give your

ble for a profit. Back in the early days of comic cons, a lot

sketchbook to an artist to take home unless they have a

of artists did sketches for free, and that’s still a common

good track record of returning books in a timely manner,

practice in Europe. With a buyer’s ability to easily resell

especially if you own a book that is already filled with valu-

sketches online at a great profit these days, many artists

able drawings; the loss of such a book could be devastat-

have substantially raised their sketch prices to quell this

ing. Ask other collectors you know who have had experi-

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

ences with different

Illustration by Ray Lago

artists about the

Shawn Fritschy Coda:

Artwork ©2009 Ray Lago

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=18391

quality of their art, their turn-around time, and their professionalism.

For all the gorgeous sketches that have been acquired

Back in the fall of 2005 is when I started the Coda theme with my first sketch being Wonder Woman with Coda on her shoulder by Adam Hughes. Since then, I’ve accumulated well over 100 pieces by everyone from Neal Adams, Travis Charest, Ray Lago, James Jean, Mark Buckingham, etc. When I return home from each show, I show Coda every sketch, and believe it or not, I get a unique and quite funny response from him reacting to each one. The sketches varies in price, though

by thankful fans,

some of the best ones were the cheapest. I figured incorporat-

there are also many

ing Coda into sketches was a way to keep it fun.

horror stories of

Unfortunately, sketch prices at shows have started climbing

commissions gone

exponentially so I’ve become quite selective in who I ask to

awry. You never

draw him now.

know what you will

hand over your cash. Some

get from any particu-

artists will disappoint you, but

lar artist at any given

others will go above and

show. Many fans

beyond what their fans could

have paid hundreds for what they felt would be a nice addition to their art collection only to get a quick, half-hearted effort in return for their money. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, and some fans will not be satisfied no matter how much time is put into a piece, but many commissions have fallen far short of expectations for the money paid by the collector. Sketch collectors have numerous stories of art not delivered and pieces that did not come close to expectation. Know your artists before you

ever envision.

As I attended more shows and would line up with my fellow rabid “sketch hounds,” I noticed a sort of band of brothers being formed through a common goal. As competitive as collecting art can be, I’ve found many genuinely nice people who are very willing to help their friends in this addictive sickness. Not only will collectors alert their friends to the latest hot artist at a show who may be the best bargain to come along, but they will also stand in long lines for their friends or pick up a sketch at an out-of-

Kasra Ghanbari MODOK Theme About three years ago, I found myself getting fatigued by the original comic art-collecting hobby. Published work that held sentimental value or were prime examples of artistic and storytelling genius had simply become unattainable due to a combination of factors, particularly the meteoric rise in valuation. I started feeling trapped in something that had up to that point given me incredible joy, satisfaction, and camaraderie.

Then one day, after looking at new art postings on ComicArtFans.com, I realized that what I’d become most excited to

Modok TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

view were updates from themed collectors. And of particular interest were themes that were more evolved and even contextual, such as Brian Sagar’s Marvel Two-In-One collection.

At that same moment, completely by chance, I ran into an old friend/foe for the first time in what seemed like decades: MODOK. I remember seeing this character in a comic sometime in the mid-’70s. He

BOB McLEOD

freaked the hell out of me. MODOK was totally incomprehensible, and

I’ve done commis-

the feeling of self-consciousness that he created in me became synonymous with feelings I had growing up as the child of an immigrant family.

So I decided to exact my revenge on MODOK through an unusual themed collection, all the while honoring Jack Kirby’s singular genius by demonstrating that this seemingly absurd character embodied all Illustration by Bob McLeod

sions for most of these art collectors.

My MODOK for Kasra is obviously a riff on

that is good within comic books and Mr. Kirby himself. The character

Frazetta's John Carter

hasn’t disappointed.

of Mars paintings.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

41

state show that someone could not attend.

People are now arranging commissions for

find life on a collector’s page. An artist that has an exclu-

their friend’s birthday, anniversary or wed-

sive contract with one publisher can now show their inter-

ding. Sketches are now sometimes includ-

pretation of another company’s heroes. Collectors now

ing likenesses of friends, family or pets.

come armed with binders full of reference for their favorite

Conventions have now become social gath-

characters.

erings for collectors who have met online through their love of a particular artist’s work.

People from all walks of life, who would

Sketch by Travis Charest

G-FOrce TM & ©2009 Respective Owner.

books filled with my personal favorite characters, Captain America, The Avengers, or G-Force from the Battle of the

Planets cartoon, I can reflect upon the tale behind each

occupation are now getting together through

illustration. It is not only a collection of drawings, but a

their mutual admiration of art. Some of the

recollection of shows attended, new friends made, and

closest friendships I have made through

meetings with both current artists and those that have

conventions were forged by waiting on long

passed. I recall the conversations I had with each artist

lines, at insanely early hours of the morning,

about the industry and about life. Each line of those pages

braving the elements and sharing our war sto-

is a diary of both the collector and the artist who poured

ries of art won and lost. Tales are shared of

their creativity onto that page.

the pieces that almost were and the ones we dream will be someday.

The major difference between con sketches requested drawing. It gives the collector that feeling of being sort of an art director or editor. Imagined battles

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

As I now glance through my own collected sketch-

have never met before due to location or

and published art is the personalized value of each

42

between Superman and the Hulk, for example, can now

With every journey, there is a cost involved. In a collection of sketches that spans years, there is a cost of time, a cost of hundreds or thousands of dollars paid, and a price of endurance to brave the crowds and long lines. Yet with every mark that was placed upon a collector’s sketch page, the true cost of that experience becomes priceless.

D U R E F E A T

I S T A R T

S N I K R E P E K I M

tist now is a British ar Mike Perkins came da. He first be living in Flori ker for States as an in known in the . He’s and CrossGen se or H nt work k ar D , DC l and his rece ve ar M r fo g ses and inkin me away. He u now penciling ew bl st ju D N A ing’s THE ST d it really on Stephen K lor comics an co is h r fo en ash ev a lot of ink w erly. en colored prop h w ok lo t ea creates a gr

MIKE PERKINS The Stand promo This was one of those images that, pretty much, appeared fully formed in my head. I submitted various roughs for approval—some playing on similar poses and themes—and Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada suggested bringing one of the skulls right into the foreground to give added depth and to play on the primeval image of the skull in general. It worked. I really wanted to play with the gray-tones on this one using conte-crayon, black pencil and ink wash.

The Stand and all related characters ©2009 Stephen King.

Artwork ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

43

The Stand and all related characters ©2009 Stephen King.

Artwork ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

MIKE PERKINS The Stand Covers When it was determined that I would be illustrating the variant covers for Marvel’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, series editor Bill Rosemann and I put our heads together to discuss which approach to take and came up with the idea of a series of covers, for the first arc, which joined together to make one cohesive image.

I put my thinking hat on.

I knew that each cover should be a spotlight for a number of the main protagonists and should play on the flu-ravaged environment of New York. There’s a section in the novel—one of the most truly terrifying moments (and one I’m eagerly looking forward to illustrating)— where one of the characters, Larry Underwood, departs Manhattan via the clogged, and pitch black, Lincoln Tunnel. I had my backdrop set piece.

During the NY Comic-Con I spent the time to wander around some of the areas described within the novel and take plenty of reference photos and, luckily, the Javits Center is situated very close-by the Lincoln Tunnel.

44

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

MIKE PERKINS The Stand #1 Not much change from the rough here. You’ll notice that I’ve used one of the Randall Flagg poses that weren’t chosen for the promo piece.

Recycle! My pencils are pretty tight here as I wasn’t sure if they would use the pencils for promotional purposes.

With a concertinaed cover like this —a quintet (?)—it’s important to get the connecting artwork to correspond, and connect correctly to, the previous artwork in the series.

Luckily, Marvel’s cover illustration board comes equipped with trim lines. As long as I started the second image overlapping within the righthand trim section of the previous illustration, things would line up correctly.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

45

MIKE PERKINS The Stand #2 The second cover pencils differ slightly from the roughs in the sense that I’ve pulled the figure of Stu forward in order to form a triangle between him, Frannie and Harold—as in the novel.

46

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

MIKE PERKINS The Stand #3 Once more, I’ve changed the protagonist’s position from the rough. This would be the center of the linked images so I decided to bring Larry forward and place him on a motorcycle. It offers more variety to the covers and the composition of the whole. It also serves to bring your eye forward, complementing the dividing wall of the road leading down into the tunnel.

You’ll notice I’ve been adding a lot of textures in gray tone pencil and wash during the inking process, also utilizing a deadline weight, and flat wash, on the The Stand and all related characters ©2009 Stephen King.

Artwork ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

buildings in the Manhattan background.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

47

MIKE PERKINS The Stand #4 Pretty much the same as the rough here—and not that much difference between the pencil version and the ink finishes, apart from the grey-tone textures. One of the best things about shooting the reference photos was that I knew exactly where the next image would take place often leading off in the previous image, e.g. the traffic barrier just beginning on the righthand side of the page...

48

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

MIKE PERKINS The Stand #5 ...is continued here on the left of the final piece.

Varying from the rough I decided to add more crashed cars and corpses to complement the first cover—thus enclosing the piece as a whole image.

The Stand and all related characters ©2009 Stephen King.

Artwork ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

49

MIKE PERKINS The Stand Interior Thumbs I wanted to take a cinematic/landscape approach to the panels in this three-page opening sequence of The Stand and these layouts helped to figure out the placing of figures and shadows to a certain extent.

Pencils In order to attain a particularly oppressive atmosphere for this brief epilogue, I knew that I would be using a fair amount of grey wash for the backgrounds. Inking myself, I won’t pencil those backgrounds onto the page in order to be more spontaneous in the inking stage.

This goes so far as to not even pencil the reflection of the home in the third panel of the third page. I wanted it to look like a true reflection.

Inks A whole helpful heaping of graytones on this page, which, hopefully, brings to mind those fantastic Creepy and Eerie pages. I’ll often just let the brush dictate where the drybrush technique goes, although I love utilizing this approach—honed during my days at CrossGen whilst taking advice from Butch Guice, Steve Epting and Rick Magyar.

50

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

The Stand and all related characters ©2009 Stephen King. Artwork ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

MIKE PERKINS The Stand Scribble, Woman, and Baby Hah!! This is why, most of the times, I don’t show my layouts to anyone!!

Sometimes you just see the finished image completely in your mind. I knew exactly what I wanted on this page—the first shot of some of the first victims of the superflu that runs rampant throughout The Stand. The layout was really a quick scribble in order to consider placement of figures within the page. Even something as un-decipherable as this can help the artist!

Again, fairly tight pencils as it may have been used for promotional material. Blood, sweat, tears and buckets of snot added in the inking stage!

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

51

MIKE PERKINS Secret Invasion:

1

2

Step Two I’ve added some of

Who Do You Trust? pg. 1

the minor figures

Step One

fighting in the

A lot of the time I’ll just work

background and

directly on the board instead of

knocked in the

working through layouts; there

large shape of the

seems to be more of a spark of

T-Rex along with

spontaneity when I approach

some of the foliage

the page in this manner—par-

to knock those two

ticularly when the images

figures straight

come fully formed in my mind.

into the fore-

With this initial step I’m placing

ground.

the underlying structure of the main figures around the page—attempting the get the reader’s eye flowing in the right direction and leaving that dead space in the center for the massive Savage Land dinosaur

4

required by the script.

All characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

3

Step Three To grab some extra depth, with so much going on in the composition, I decided to omit any solid

Step Four

blacks from

At this point I’ve added the recognizable costumes of the individual

the essential

characters and, because I’m inking myself on this job, the pencils

“jungle” back-

are finished enough for me to start in with the embellishments. If

ground.

I’m working with another inker I’ll tighten the pencils up a lot more.

52

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Step Five

5

The initial inks after tackling the figure work (defining musculature—particularly on the Thor figure—turning Wonder Man around do that he’s facing the “camera”). I’ve also utilized a deadline weight on the background jungle in order to knock it back some more.

You’ll notice that I’ve outlined the solid black areas before getting the big brush out—I usually do this as it eliminates white-out time later!

7

All characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

6

Step Seven For the final step, I’ve added a few grey tones—primarily a flat tone in the jungle beyond the main action.

Step Six Solid blacks added.

I’m glad the black-and-white (and grey) image is actually seeing the light of day as the printed version came out much too dark. A little frustrating, but there you go.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

53

MIKE PERKINS HoM: Civil War cover A variety of images here for a House of

M: Civil War cover. I knew I had to use the characters of Sabretooth and Bucky and started off with a battle confrontation between the two, going on to the montage approach in the second rough.

I've always been a big fan of classic movie posters with the inspiration of Saul Bass’ The Man With The Golden Arm playing into this idea. I'm glad they chose this one, as opposed to some of the more obvious ideas [I showed

BOB McLEOD See more of Mike’s art and comments on the Rough Stuff section of my web site at http://www.bobmcleod. com/roughstuff.htm 54

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Bucky, Captain America TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

them].

D U R E F E A T

I S T A R T

EDGAR TADEO

do in the got nothing to e ’v ey th s es I gu Edgar draw comics. pt ce ex es n pi Philip Filipino other talented nciler, and Tadeo is yet an , inker, and pe st ri lo co a s e’ tist. H jobs for comic book ar done several s e’ H . os di tu valon S a member of A s. d Image Comic Marvel, DC an

EDGAR TADEO

Red Sonja TM & ©2009 Red Sonja corp.

Red Sonja pencil commission A customer asked me to draw him a Red Sonja character. He didn’t say what kind of pose but I assumed he wanted a sexy one. Since I’m the one who’s going to decide on the posing, I thought of drawing her arms raised up with the sword while walking in the water.

EDGAR TADEO

EDGAR TADEO

Red Sonja pencil commission

Red Sonja pencil commission

Most artists who do thumbnails or prelim sketches use a lightbox for the final

I sent the prelim sketch before I started on the bigger

drawing. In my case, since I change things a lot, I redraw it to make some more

version, and he said he’d like her arms to be thinner

adjustments. On this final drawing I made her crouching a bit. Since there’s a mas-

since it’s only a comic book character. So I drew Red

sive amount of water I made her look like she’s struggling walking.

walking in the water with flowing hair with the sword.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

55

EDGAR TADEO

Sabretooth and Wolverine TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Sabretooth & Wolverine inked commission I thought this was very difficult, because the customer gave me a long description of how the piece should look. Basically he just wanted Wolverine and Sabretooth standing with their arms crossed.

He likes veins and muscles popping out and details of armor, so I drew a basic rough [left].

EDGAR TADEO Sabretooth & Wolverine inked commission Since it was only a preliminary sketch, I was asked to draw Sabretooth a bit bigger with massive arms and body. Before I start inking I always have to send the final pencil to the customer.

56

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

EDGAR TADEO Sabretooth & Wolverine inked commission Every time I finish an inked drawing, I always refine the line hatchings using brushes or quills. I also use French curves, elliptical and circular templates for round objects and figures just like on Wolverine’s elbow pads and other parts of the armor. I used the French curves on the sword.

EDGAR TADEO

EDGAR TADEO

X-23 commission

X-23 commission

I really like drawing detailed characters, especially women. I was asked to draw another

The second prelim sketch was looking from below. I

Marvel character—X-23. I wasn’t familiar with the character so I had to search in

thought of changing the camera angle, so I drew her

Google. The recent designs I saw were from the mini-series where she was in a gothic,

looking little from above. A friend of mine told me that

funky outfit; where there were some belt straps, fingerless gloves, necklaces and chok-

X-23 is Wolverine’s clone, so I thought of giving her the

ers, and all that stuff. The first drawing (left) was kind of weak, and since I like details, I

look like she’s a tough girl like her “father.” This piece is not to be inked, so I had to do the lines as fine and clean

final drawing.

as possible. The customer loved it!

X-23 TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

didn’t like it. The second (bottom) is somehow okay to me. Final changes will be on the

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

57

EDGAR TADEO Sentry watercolor painting Whenever I start doing a watercolor painting, I always do a study using pencil shading. I draw thumbnails and a detailed drawing of the face. The pencil study (top left) will be the actual size of the watercolor painting, which will be traced onto the watercolor paper.

After tracing the basic line art, I started doing the background first (top right).

Note: The prelim sketches and pencil shadings are my guides for the final coloring so I won’t get lost since I only draw line art on the

Sentry TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

watercolor paper.

58

I always start my painting by using blacks and grays before ren-

Just like I did with the face and hair, I also render everything

dering the skin tones. I also apply this on the hair.

else using grays and blacks just to give shapes on the figure.

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

EDGAR TADEO Sentry watercolor painting Finally, I render everything with its proper colors; blue on the cape and yellow on the spandex. When I want to create white highlights, I just don’t render it with the colors.

BOB MCLEOD Obviously, this is a lot more impressive in color. You can download Rough

Stuff in full-color at www.twomorrows. com for just $2.95!

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

59

EDGAR TADEO Dejah Thoris commission I was asked by a customer to draw Dejah Thoris, who’s a character I am not familiar with. I didn’t get any reference from the customer, so I had to Google for the prelim sketch. I found one with an outfit (as on the prelim I did) but the customer told me he wanted her in the new costume drawn by Adam Hughes or Ernie Chan.

EDGAR TADEO Dejah Thoris commission I used Hughes’ drawing as the reference for the outfit and gave it more detail, like the beads and stuff. I also gave her a sword like those we see in pirate

Dejah Thoris TM & ©2009 ERB, Inc.

movies.

EDGAR TADEO Dejah Thoris commission On the final pencils, I changed the angle of her face. I’d wanted her to look directly at the viewer.

I also changed the gun from somewhat organic to mechanical. I read somewhere Dejah Thoris is the queen of Mars, so the gun is somewhat alien.

60

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

EDGAR TADEO Dejah Thoris commission Just like my other pencils which will be inked later, they’re all quite rough.

I polish everything when I’m going to ink my own drawing. As other inked drawings I did, I often use synthetic brushes with fine bristles.

EDGAR TADEO

EDGAR TADEO

EDGAR TADEO

X-Trio

X-Trio

X-Trio

Drawing a group

Just like my

I drew the

shot is a pain for me.

other draw-

characters

I thought of trying

ings, I roughly

in the fore-

just three characters

draw the

ground first

for now. This was

characters

before

never requested, I

and lightly

going to the

just thought of draw-

erase every-

one in the

ing three of Marvel’s

thing with a

back-

X characters. I once

kneaded

ground. The

thought I should be

eraser.

prelim

drawing them in

showed that

action; maybe fighting some ninjas or some-

Domino is the closest to the viewer, and then

thing. But I should try the basics for a while.

I thought of twisting Deadpool’s sword and placed him in the foreground, which makes

All characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

him the leader.

EDGAR TADEO X-Trio I drew Cable faded out from the waist down. This was to imply that he's farthest away and enable the illusion that he's big, and

EDGAR TADEO

also to separate the legs of the characters from each other.

X-Trio

Since they're literally on one plane, I drew them on rubble. This

Whenever I ink, I always start by inking all straight lines using Rotring technical pens,

means the land isn’t flat. To create that illusion, I made Domino’s

rulers, and templates for ellipses and circles. I also used [French] curves on Deadpool’s

left leg stepping on a higher ground. Deadpool’s sword and gun

sword. Some crosshatchings I used Hunt’s 102 quills, and synthetic brushes on the thicker

are drawn in “forced perspective” to create depth.

hatchings. I always fill blacks last after doing all the hatchings and other lines and circles.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

61

EDGAR TADEO Psylocke’s Rage This piece had no preliminary sketch. I usually do that, but on this one, I didn’t. I really didn’t know what’s going to happen; I just drew her

Psylocke TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

with her sword walking to the viewer.

EDGAR TADEO

EDGAR TADEO

Psylocke’s Rage

Psylocke’s Rage

I really like inking with tons of blacks. I’m very satisfied

Later on, I had an idea a few minutes after finishing her whole figure. To give it a story, I drew

with this one because I think I did well on the shadows. I

some dead people in the background in shadow. The shadow doesn't mean I‘m too lazy to

often polish my drawings when they are going to be inked

draw each of the dead people, but to give it a mysterious story of how many were dead. Also

by myself, which I also do when I’m inking someone else’s

to make us dread how incredible Psylocke is, I drew hands in the foreground. This will make

pencils. If I’m going to be asked for an inked commission, I

the viewer feel as if they are the person who’s going to be killed by the heroine.

always draw a bit rough pencils and polish the lines on ink.

62

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

EDGAR TADEO

EDGAR TADEO

X-Men vs. Street Fighter group shot

X-Men vs. Street Fighter group shot

This one was very difficult. Since it’s very crowded,

I started with rough sketches, positioned

I had to plan everything out. I drew the bigger char-

each character in their places, then light-

acters behind or on the sides. I also placed other

ly erased everything using a kneaded

flying characters like Magneto and Vega in the back-

eraser. This left my construction lines,

ground. Since the thumbnail is quite small, this prelim

which were my guides. Some characters

is just a rough breakdown, which will be changed in

on the thumbnails were repositioned

the final drawing.

because I had to add more characters like Storm just beside Gambit.

EDGAR TADEO X-Men vs. Street Fighter group shot Realizing that there were some spaces unoccupied, I added some more characters, like Cammy and Juggernaut. I also changed Chun-Li’s shoe’s sole because it was too plain. Since they’re not on a flat [spatial] plane, I had to create a background that's possible for them to be on; so I drew a rubble plane. This double-page spread pencil took me two days to finish.

EDGAR TADEO X-Men vs. Street X-Men TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. Street Fighter TM & ©2009 Capcom, Inc.

Fighter group shot Here are the finished inks. I used a synthetic brush with very fine bristles so I could create lines for the tiniest details I drew in the pencils.

In some parts of the background, I used Hunt 102 quills. I also used a 0.1mm Rotring Rapidograph for straight lines (Gambit’s staff), ellipses and circles for Gouki’s giant necklace beads.

Inking this spread also took me two days to finish.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

63

INTERVIEW

THOMAS YEATES T

By GEORGE KHOURY and BOB McLEOD

homas Yeates was born on January 19, 1955 in Sacramento, California. He was a

member of the first class at Joe Kubert’s School. Strongly influenced in his craft by old-guard illustrators like Hal Foster, N. C. Wyeth, Al Williamson and Wallace Wood,

Yeates’ favorite settings to draw are the outdoors and exotic locales.

He worked for DC Comics on numerous series, including Warlord, Mystery in Space and Swamp Thing.

From 1984 to 1985, Thomas Yeates was the artist for Timespirits from Marvel/Epic. He worked for Eclipse Comics on titles such as Airboy, Scout, Lugar, the political documentary Brought to Light, and Aztec Ace. For Pacific Comics, Yeates did Alien Worlds and Vanguard, and for T.S.R., he illustrated the Dragonlance Saga based on the Dungeons & Dragons game.

In the early 1990s, Thomas Yeates drew one of his child-

novel. During the same period, Yeates also illustrated Dracula

hood heroes, Tarzan of the Apes, for two and a half years, co-

vs. Zorro for Topps comics. This cult favorite was his first team-

authoring and drawing Tarzan, The Beckoning (for

ing with writer Don McGregor.

Semic/Malibu). He went on to illustrate a total of 15 Tarzan

Thomas then returned to DC and illustrated a comic

comics, many for Dark Horse. The Return of Tarzan featured his

book authored by Rachel Pollack titled Tomahawk. In the

adaptation into comics Edgar Rice Burroughs’ second Tarzan

late 1990s McGregor and Yeates created a highly regarded Zorro newspaper strip. In 2001, Yeates illustrated two Universe X specials for Marvel in collaboration with Alex Ross and John Totleben. Most recently he has illustrated seven graphic novels in the Graphic Myths series for Lerner publishing including King Arthur, Odysseus, Atalanta, King Arthur and Lancelot, and Robin Hood.

[This interview was originally conducted in 2002 by George Khoury and transcribed by Steven Tice. I recently posed some additional questions to Thomas to update it with what he’s been doing more recently.

-Bob McLeod] Swamp Thing TM & ©2009 DC Comics

64

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

GEORGE KHOURY: What kind of comics

of pictures. And it wasn’t until many

were you into growing up in California?

years later that I got interested in comic

THOMAS YEATES: I was into drawing pic-

books. I was aware of comic books and

tures based on movies that I saw on TV: Davy

had a few. But I wasn’t—I liked

Crockett, Zorro, monster movies and Tarzan, I

Tomahawk and Turok, Son of Stone

got inspired by that subject matter and histori-

when I was young. We had a few

cal adventure. I just liked to draw those kinds

Archies because they were funny. A few

THOMAS YEATES Flash Gordon is a favorite character of mine. I get to draw him every once in a while on covers for Comics Revue. It’s great to try and combine the elegant art styles of Alex Raymond and Williamson with wonderful lowbrow pulp elements. I still can’t figure out how Flash got his pilot’s license, he crashes almost every

Flash Gordon ©2009 King Features

rocket ship he flies.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

65

war comics. But I wasn’t a big comic book collector or reader

blood and it’s a lot easier for me to draw that stuff. I can do it

until I visited my cousin, Randy Yeates, who was a fanzine

faster, and speed is real important in this business.

artist at the time, in Colorado. And he introduced me to all the

THOMAS YEATES In the late ’90s I did a Zorro newspaper

periphery stuff: Witzend magazine, the Burroughs fan maga-

KHOURY: Would you say you were heavily influenced by

zines, the fantasy adventure comics. EC Comics. Wally Wood,

Williamson at the same time?

Bernie Wrightson, Al Williamson, all those artists. I was aware

YEATES: Yes.

of [Roy] Krenkel and [Frank] Frazetta through the Burroughs novels that they’d done the covers for. I had those; I was read-

KHOURY: You worked a period for him [Al Williamson]?

ing Burroughs. But as far as comic books, it really wasn’t until

YEATES: Yes.

I visited my cousin at the age of about 14 or 15 that I sudden-

strip. That’s penciling

ly started seeing comics in a different light. And thanks to him,

KHOURY: How long did you work for him?

and inking six

I started following those artists. Started buying DC comics,

YEATES: I wasn’t really an employee, I just helped him out

dailies plus a Sunday

mainly the mystery ones that were coming out at the time that

here and there as a friend. Around ’75 I went to a comic

page, plus coloring

had just great art and stories by people like Len

the Sunday page

Wein and Bernie Wrightson. I got the House of

every week. Don

Secrets with Swamp Thing in it off the stands

McGregor wrote the

when it came out. And then when the original

stories. We had done

Swamp Thing came out, I bought and read

Dracula vs Zorro a

every issue. I was a pretty committed fan of that

few years before.

kind of material by then.

After drawing the first four months solo I brought in Tod Smith to do tight lay-

KHOURY: You’ve always stayed true to your early influences, like the Zorro strip and Tomahawk, that kind of stuff.

YEATES: I was enjoying other kinds of stuff, too,

outs. You can see his

other subject matters. But the swashbuckling old

work here. I met Tod

adventure genre seems to really be what’s in my

when he was at the Kubert school, he’s a fellow Zorro fan and a hell of a good comic artist, with great storytelling skills.

I did the finishes on duo-shade board, which enables you to create gray areas that would print as line art. I used Micron markers for most of the line work, faces, details etc., as well as brush. Coloring all those Sundays enabled me to learn coloring, which has proved very useful.

Zorro TM Zorro Productions, Inc.

66

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Captain America TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

book convention in Berkley, California (I’m from Sacramento, originally). And I met Joe Kubert there. Some months later he sent me a flyer for his school he was going to start up. And I went to the Joe Kubert School in the first class in 1976, with the rest of those characters. And after I got out, shortly after graduating from the Kubert School in ’78, Joe Kubert called me up and said Al Williamson wanted a new, young assistant, and was I familiar with his work? Which was obviously a wisecrack. So through Joe I got ahold of Williamson, and we hit it off, and we’ve been friends ever since.

YEATES: No, no. This was the regular Gold Key, actually

THOMAS YEATES

KHOURY: Was he a tough boss?

they were called Whitman by then, monthly Flash Gordon

Captain America gets

YEATES: Williamson? No. I didn’t work with him that much

comic book that was still coming out at the time. Carlos

his muscles and his

at first. We were mainly just friends. I would bring friends and

Garzon was the main artist doing it, and he needed some

shield. From Cap, part

go up and visit him often. But [Rick] Veitch seemed to be

help on an issue. I penciled one. That was ’78, that was one

of Marvel’s Universe X

able to really supply him with what he needed more than I

of the first things I did professionally in comics. But anyway,

series. John Totleben

could as an assistant, to start with. Rick was really good at

eventually I got better and better at my work. I was still pretty

inked this page and

drawing technology and science-fiction machinery in the

amateurish at that point, but as I got more professional as

backgrounds and he could color and he could letter. He was

the years went by, I did end up helping Al here and there on

much more useful to Williamson, artistically, than I was at the

a number of different projects. Cliffhanger, the strip he did

start. The first thing I did when I met Al was I penciled an

with Bruce Jones for Pacific Comics, the back-up in

issue of Flash Gordon for Al’s friend, Carlos Garzon, who

Somerset Holmes, I helped him with that a little bit. I helped

was doing Flash Gordon for Gold Key. Al and Victor

him a little bit with the Star Wars movie adaptation.

KHOURY: Is this the movie adaptation?

dots” Totleben style. It was great to work with John on this.

The superior story was by Jim Krueger

DeLaFuente, who was visiting Al, did end up inking several of those panels, helping Carlos make the deadlines.

we got to do “Kirby

KHOURY: Return of the Jedi?

and Alex Ross. We

YEATES: I did a little bit on The Empire Strikes Back. But

did this in 2000.

then I did three or four full pages and a number of other panWINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

67

Swamp Thing TM & ©2009 DC Comics

68

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

els worth of stuff in The Return of the Jedi. I also ghosted

kind of career as a professional draw-er. I needed some kind

THOMAS YEATES

several weeks of the Star Wars newspaper strip for Al.

of a career that used my drawing ability, because I really did-

Drawing convention

Before that I would take work up there to do, like when I was

n’t see any other skills I had that would fit into any kind of

sketches can be a

first starting out, doing my science fiction and mystery short

career. So I had to pursue this drawing business, and that

real joy for me, partic-

stories in DC anthology books like Weird War and Ghosts

was a door that opened, so I went for it. I was fortunate to

and House of Mystery, things like that, I would do the work

have the support of my parents in that they helped me

up there and Al would look over my shoulder and give me

through the two years at the Kubert School, and then I went

pointers. He’s great, I always get along real well with him. It

off on my own. And living with Steve and Rick and John in

was a lot of fun to go up there, and we were on the same

New Jersey, in Dover, where Kubert had his school, after we

wavelength as far as our tastes.

all got out of school helped. We had to kind of support each

ularly when it’s Swamper and his organic shapes. I’ll do quick rough pencils nailing down the

other through those first couple years, when work wasn’t

toughest decisions

KHOURY: What’s the difference between working on a

coming very steadily. I just knew I had to get to the East

in the drawing, then

daily strip and a monthly book?

Coast, because every publication I looked at that seemed to

flesh it out in the inks

YEATES: Well, there is the work ethic, which is a big part of it.

be buying artwork was published in New York, New York.

with a Pentel

Williamson and I both had spent earlier parts of our careers

That’s where their offices were. So if I was going to get into

Japanese brush-pen

doing short stories, where you do a job and then you’re done.

the illustration field, that’s where I needed to be, whichever

and some pen, usually

And that’s the way I had always really preferred to work. I did-

end of illustration I wound up in.

just a fine line

n’t really want a regular, ongoing book when I was young. I val-

Sharpie. Abby helps

ued my freedom more than I valued that steady paycheck.

KHOURY: How did you guys end up being so tight?

With a newspaper strip, you can’t do that. You’re just always

Because you guys have similar interests? I mean, it seems

there at the board. You don’t ever finish it and then you’re

like both Bissette and Veitch are different, they seem to like

done. There’s always another week’s worth of strips waiting. And the newspaper’s not going to wait for you

make it more interest-

monsters and those kinds of things.

YEATES: Well, I think we’re different, true, but we

like with comic books, it’s going to come out

were all—. We had a very small class, it was only

whether your strip’s in it or not. [laughs] You

about a dozen kids in the whole class, so

really can’t goof off as much.

you got to know all of them real well. It wasn’t like getting lost in a huge num-

KHOURY: When

ber of students. And we were

ing of course, the girl who likes being carried off by a slimy monster.

BOB McLEOD The open white high-

Kubert recruited

of similar age, we had sim-

lights in these illus-

you, you were still

ilar tastes, similar poli-

trations are important.

out in California.

tics, we all liked sim-

When using so much

What made you

ilar music. We

linework creating

make the plunge to go to New

were sort of

grays, you need to

the

give the eye a rest

Jersey to

with solid blacks and

study

whites for contrast

there?

and depth.

YEATES: I knew that I needed to find some

Swamp Thing TM & ©2009 DC Comics

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

69

notice that at first?

YEATES: Yes. Totleben and I were both the ones who were into trying to make the pictures look pretty. This was not a concern of Steve and Rick. We could draw pretty girls, but Steve and Rick had a hard time with girls, so they had us do girls for them. [laughs] KHOURY: What kind of a teacher was Kubert? Was he a disciplinarian or was he tough on you guys?

YEATES: He was a bit of a workhorse. He loaded us up with a large quantity of assignments, which I snuck out of as much as possible by turning the same assignment in to all the different teachers. [laughs] The way the school worked was, we had two or three classes each day, each one with a different teacher. And each of those teachers would give us a huge amount of work to turn in the next week. And, for me, it was just impossible to do a decent job on all those assignments at once, even if I limited my all-important social activities. So it was quite a bit of a trial by fire, as far as the amount of work and the amount of stylistic lessons, and this is how you do this kind of a thing, this is how to letter, this is how you lay out, this is how you draw clouds, this is how you draw folds, this is how you draw hair. Joe had a personal style of instruction in his Swamp Thing TM & ©2009 DC Comics

classes. He would talk about a drawing, give you an assignment, and then draw in front of the class and show, basically, by example. He didn’t really analyze and articulate the thinking that goes on behind doing a good layout. He would just say, “You do it like this ,” and then he’d draw this amazing page, right in front of your eyes, and you were kind of scratching your head. And that’s the way Joe taught. And it was effective, but he didn’t do a real technical analysis like some of the teachers and, what do you call them, literary students of the comics media will go into this kind of scientific breakdown of “what’s

THOMAS YEATES

radical hippies, kind of reckless and young and rebellious, or

the artist thinking?” And “Why did he use this kind of a panel

I would bring in pen-

whatever. [laughs] And we just naturally fell together. We all

here?” You ask Joe, “How come you did a long shot there, and

cils that looked like

appreciated material that was bold and direct and innovative

a close-up in an inset here?” He’d say, “Oh, it looks good.” And

and skillfully executed. I was more into Alex Raymond and the

that was good enough for me.

this to Len Wein, and Len would point at the pencils, then at an inked page, and say “I don’t understand

cleaner, classier stuff, but it isn’t that big of a jump from that kind of work to Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, Russ Heath, Joe

KHOURY: I think you were considered the most successful

Kubert, Jack Davis, Richard Corben, Robert Crumb, Bernie

Kubert student, at first, right? You were the first to get a reg-

Wrightson. I mean, all that stuff is serious, meaty, semi-real, and

ular strip gig. Was that the objective when you graduated, to

powerful; they’re all sort of cousins, artistically speaking.

get a monthly book and that’s it?

how you get from this

Besides it’s personality that counts when enduring room-

YEATES: Not for me. I never was interested in that. Because

to the inked version?”

mates, not comic art tastes. Rick Taylor, another first-year stu-

as I said before, my freedom was more important than a regu-

dent who later did coloring and lettering for DC, also lived in

lar strip. But I wanted to have enough work, I needed enough

that house with us for a while and he was a Teen Titans and

work to pay my share of the rent and pay my share of the beer

Legion fan. We didn’t understand the appeal of that stuff, but

money and keep myself in record albums. But the work I was

Taylor still was cool.

after was short stories—illustration jobs and short stories—and that’s what I got, at first, and I was happy with that. The other

70

KHOURY: Of those guys, the closest guy, who had a style

guys made a big splash originally, as I recall, at Heavy Metal

very similar to yours, was [John] Totleben. Did you guys

and with some of the weird, Marvel black-and-white horror

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

books. Joe would occasionally give us some kind of odd work.

All through Kubert School and for a few years thereafter, he would throw us an odd job. Like illustrating a book on aliens by a guy named Jeff Rovin was one of those gigs. And putting together Ivan Snyder’s Superhero World Catalog. He actually got us a job one time proofreading, which was really funny.

Aside from the spelling, I wasn’t that bad of a proofreader.

KHOURY: The main thing, though, when you graduated, was it to get a monthly book and then you’d be set for life?

Was that the theory?

YEATES: Not for me. I don’t think any of us were thinking about a regular gig like that. We all wanted to do all kinds of different things. We didn’t want to be tied down. I certainly didn’t, and I don’t suspect that the other guys wanted to be tied down to the rigors of a monthly book. They got a couple of interesting jobs right off the bat, from Heavy Metal and these other places, but it seemed like once those jobs were done, it was sort of like they’d done the few jobs that were available for artists of their unique tastes, because at the time, the DC Implosion was happening. It was ’78, ’79, ’80. And Steve and John didn’t get that much work. Like I said, they did a few jobs Swamp Thing TM & ©2009 DC Comics

right off the bat. But my cleaner, more Alex Raymond type style was more marketable, evidently, so I started getting these short stories from DC right around the time that work started drying up for Steve and John. Rick managed to get himself a couple of really great gigs at Epic. He was doing Abraxas, the whales in outer space story. A great, full-color series that he did in multi-episodes in Epic Illustrated. Which was the target we were always trying to get into, Epic Illustrated and Heavy Metal. Those were the markets that we wanted. But Heavy Metal bought a number of pieces from Rick and John and Steve, and then they sort of weren’t interested in any more.

THOMAS YEATES

And they weren’t even publishing the ones that they bought, and you didn’t get paid until they were published, so that sort

KHOURY: He worked as a janitor.

In addition to the brush, I also inked

of didn’t go anywhere. Although it was sure fun going up there

YEATES: A janitor, that’s what it was, yeah. But Rick and I

and hanging out at Heavy Metal with John Workman and his

were still getting work, so we moved out of the kind of

with a steel tip nib

brother. I actually got a couple of things published in Heavy

Animal House place that we’d originally rented after we got

pen that we called a

Metal also at that time.

out of Kubert School and we moved to an apartment on

“school tip” nib,

Lake Hopatcong, which was a smaller place right on the

Joe Kubert used this

KHOURY: How’d you end up on Swamp Thing?

Lake, so it was great, ’cause you’d swim all summer and ice

YEATES: Well, anyway, those guys were not getting as

skate in the winter on the Lake, so it was terrific. And he was

much work, Steve and John. In fact, they’d both left New

doing this work for Epic Illustrated, and he also colored the

Jersey and gone back to their respective homes in Vermont

Flash Gordon movie adaptation, as I recall, for Williamson.

and Pennsylvania. Up until that point, Totleben had been illus-

DC went through a format change at one point and all their

and inking the car for

trating the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam for Harry Chesler, and

books suddenly had two empty pages in them, because the

me.

doing various other odd jobs, working with us on our proj-

main stories weren’t long enough to fit, for some reason, so

ects and doing various other things I don’t recall, but I know

they all needed two-pagers for two or three months. I did a

he was working. Once he finished with the Rubaiyat, there

few two-page stories for them to fill up the extra gap in their

wasn’t a lot of other steady work, and he just went back to

books. Some of these were done for editor Len Wein, and

Erie, Pennsylvania. He got some kind of a factory job, I think.

he told me at one point that if I would draw it, he would start

tool extensively.

Thanks to Chuck McVay for penciling

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

71

on the first couple of issues. I think it was issue #2, maybe issue #2 and #3. I know he worked on Saga of the Swamp Thing #2, on quite a few panels. And, of course, I was living with Rick Veitch, so I would often ask him to draw the bulldozers or the cars or things like that, which he was better at than me. And there was also a guy named Chuck McVay who drew cars for me in issue #1. Bob Hardin worked for Car Toons, that magazine that publishes cartoons about cars, racecars and stuff. He went to the Joe Kubert School. And he was my most steady assistant, Bob Hardin, all through that run. But Ron Randall, and others helped me too. Ron helped me quite a bit. And I worked with Ron Randall on some of his jobs, helped him through some of his early work. I inked a backup series he penciled called “Valda,” which is sort of a female Prince Valiant, that Roy Thomas wrote.

KHOURY: Did you have a hard time doing this Swamp Timespirits TM & ©2009 Steve Perry and Thomas Yeates.

Thing work?

YEATES: Sometimes. I managed though.

KHOURY: I mean, if you look at it, I think you always had a backup story, too.

YEATES: Yeah, it was seventeen pages or something like that. But I managed to pull it off, and some of those issues I was really happy with. I think they came out really well. I managed to direct my array of assistants in such a way that we weren’t fighting each other, our work would all kind of fit together at the end. But the tough part for me wasn’t only the deadlines, it was the stories. I didn’t really like the storyline. I thought that the writer was a very good writer, and I didn’t have any problem with him, personally. It just wasn’t my subject matter.

THOMAS YEATES

Swamp Thing up again. That’s the way he put it to me. “I’ll

KHOURY: Was this right from the get-go?

Pirates, sea monsters,

start Swamp Thing up again, Tom, if you will draw it.” And I

YEATES: Yeah. Well... within the first couple of issues, it got

rock and roll, Indians!

was very resistant, because I didn’t want a monthly book. It

pretty far afield from the Swamp Thing that I was thinking I

This must be

sounded like work to me! But I thought about it for a long

was going to be drawing.

Timespirits!

time, and he kept badgering me, so I finally agreed. In hindsight, I’m sure he would have started it up anyway, he just

KHOURY: Yeah, you got pretty far from the swamp. [laughs]

kind of used that line to appeal to my ego or something. So

YEATES: Exactly, exactly. They hired me because my forté

Marty Pasko wrote it, and I, with a great deal of help from a

was jungles, which is pretty similar to swamps, and yet we did-

whole lot of Kubert students, managed to do a monthly book

n’t do hardly any stories that took place in the swamp. He was

for twelve issues. My last one that I did was issue #13,

always flying on a jet or locked up in an institution, or riding...

because one of those issues was drawn by Tom Mandrake.

Maybe Jan Duursema inked it, I’m not sure. They did one of

KHOURY: ...in the Volkswagen? [laughter]

those issues to help me get back on schedule. So I did #1-

YEATES: Right. Of course, I’d get somebody else to do the

13, minus maybe issue #10 that they did, of that run. [Note:

Volkswagen. So I decided I’d had it. There were greener pas-

It was issue #9, penciled by Duursema and inked by

tures out there. I had a series I was going to do with

Mandrake.] And during that time, occasionally, Steve and/or

Bissette’s friend Steve Perry.

John would come visit. I actually sent John the bus fare to come from Erie, Pennsylvania back to New Jersey to help me 72

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

KHOURY: The Timespirits?

THOMAS YEATES This is the cover for a Timespirits reprint collection coming from Image. I studied some Steranko cover sketches for inspiration and got lots of encouragement and suggestions from Erik Larsen.

BOB McLEOD There are such interesting things to look at here, it was quite a while before I noticed the girl had claws and a pointed ear...

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

73

that that Swamp Thing book put on me.

Marty Pasko tended to write very, very dialogue-heavy stories, so my artwork was very cramped. And he would describe a lot of different things going on in each panel, so you’d have to—. Your artwork sometimes almost tended to be just a diagram with a whole lot of text hanging on top of it and a little tiny area to draw this diagram.

KHOURY: You’ve said that it sometimes took you more time to try to figure out where you’re going to put the dialogue than the actual drawings?

YEATES: Well, I could figure out where to put the dialogue, it’s just that the room that was left in the panel wasn’t a heck of a lot, and you’d have so many different things going on in each panel that you didn’t really have room to flex your artistic muscles. You couldn’t really showcase your potential as an artist under those circumstances. I wanted to draw big, elaborate, interesting scenes, and there just wasn’t room, and it was very difficult. It was a good trial by fire for me. I learned quite a bit. I learned how to edit a writer’s scene description. If he were calling for all these different things to be in the panel, I would just decide, “Well, I don’t think I need that.”

And I would just cut out half of his directions. [laughs] And draw a picture that looked good and still managed to tell the story.

KHOURY: Did you get the impression when the series started, like, it had to be inspired by the movie, y’know, that DC wanted to do it. Did that have

THOMAS YEATES

YEATES: Yeah, the Timespirits was form-

This is a design that

ing in the mind of Steve Perry and we

just came to me fully

were talking about doing this for Epic, for

formed, simple.

Archie Goodwin. Actually, that was afterwards. What was luring me away from Swamp Thing was the new company, Pacific Comics. I had done a couple of stories for Karen Berger when she was editing House of Mystery, right before Swamp Thing, that were written by Bruce Jones, and Bruce was really happy with my work on those. And when he started writing his books for Pacific Comics, Alien Worlds and Tales of Terror, he came after me to work for him.

So I ended up doing some stories for them. And at that time I was really beginning to break out of this, sort of the restraints

74

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

something to do with it?

YEATES: Yeah. I’m sure that was quite a bit of the impetus. I did meet Michael Uslan a couple of times, it seems like. I think Len and I and a few others, maybe Paul Levitz saw a private preview of the first Swamp Thing movie. Uslan produced that first Swamp Thing movie, and I think he’s done quite a few other things in Hollywood since then. We all really resonated with that character. So when I got tired of working with Marty Pasko’s stories and went on to work with Bruce Jones doing other things, Steve had gone back to Vermont and was struggling with Marvel. They had this really

fascinating project that he had done this unbelievably wonderful artwork to. I can’t remember the damned name of the thing, “Kestral”?

KHOURY: The Dracula story?

YEATES: No, that was already done. That was fantastic; wasn’t that great? The artwork on that was amazing. No, this was another one, it never came out. He was working with [Jim] Shooter, and it was sort of a scientific project. And I remember the pages that I saw were just amazingly innovative and it was absolutely fantastic, but I don’t think any of it ever got published. And he was pretty fed up, even at that point. Steve had previously done several top notch war stories for DC and cooked up a way to rejuvenate the dying mystery line, though they mistakenly didn’t go for it. But I realized that I wasn’t happy with the Swamp Thing gig. I didn’t want to let down Len Wein, because he was going through problems with his— actually, he and his wife Glynis were splitting up at that point, and the last thing he needed was for his pet character, Swamp Thing, to lose its artist. So I figured that, since Totleben hadn’t Art ©2009 Lerner Publishing.

really done a lot of continuity—he was a fantastic drawer, but I hadn’t ever really seen him do a lot of sequential storytelling.

He was usually doing pin-up-type stuff, and inking and collaborating with us on our projects. But he did have this fantastic line that was just unbelievable. And Bissette, of course, his finishes are real rough, a scribbly, Sam Glanzman, underground comics, Jack Davis-y style that didn’t sell, at least not to the editors at the comic book companies; they were not willing to buy stuff that looked like that. But his vision, his sense of layout and storytelling and his incredibly innovative compositional sense were something that I thought would really lend itself toward an ongoing book like Swamp Thing. And I thought, “Well, these guys aren’t getting any work because they can’t

YEATES: Yes, Bissette laid out the

stand superheroes. And the only regular gig there that is not

King Kong issue. It was fun...

superheroes is Swamp Thing. So they should be doing this book, not me.” So I told Len Wein, “I’m going to leave, but

KHOURY: You both worked really well

don’t fret, because I’m going to bring in a couple of guys that

together.

will make you forget all about me once they get going. He was

YEATES: Yeah, I was moving along

nervous, but open to the idea, it saved him trying to find a

pretty good at that point, had it down,

replacement. So I brought in Steve and John, and I said,

and I remembered the old Swamp

“Steve, you pencil it; John, you ink it,” they scratched their

Thing comic would feature various

heads a little but decided to give it a shot. And the rest is his-

movie monsters. He met the vampires,

tory. One of my happier moves in comics, one of my most suc-

he met the Frankenstein-type monster,

cessful decisions, was getting those guys on Swamp Thing.

he met the werewolf, etc. So I told Marty Pasko, “Hey, why don’t you have

KHOURY: Of the issues you did, which one were you hap-

him meet King Kong?” One of my all-

piest with? For me, the one that stands out is the King

time favorite movies. So he cooked up

Kong issue. Do you remember that one?

this weird story which enabled me to do

YEATES: Yeah.

some scenes from various old movies.

So that was fun, we had some fun with

KHOURY: I think Bissette did the layouts for that issue?

that. I particularly enjoyed drawing King

THOMAS YEATES Cover for Perseus graphic novel for Lerner publishing, ’07. I’m real happy the art director went with this sketch rather than the traditional front view of the hero.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

75

KHOURY: But they kept you doing covers.

YEATES: Yeah, that was great. I loved doing covers. I wish I could get some work doing covers again. I was very happy that I got to keep doing them and that I at least had that much of an involvement in those early Alan Moore issues.

KHOURY: Did you ever help out Steve and John when they were doing the book? Or was Rick doing all the assisting?

YEATES: I don’t remember helping them. Steve and I collaborated on some of those covers, but that was more he helping me, because it was my gig to do the covers. Steve was living in Vermont and I was living in New Jersey, so I didn’t go up and visit him and help him out on it at all. They just went for it. I was busy with my Pacific Comics and getting started on Timespirits. And then at the end of ’83, November of ’83, I moved back to northern California and got into the Timespirits gig in earnest at that point. In fact, I got them to help me on

Timespirits a little bit. I don’t remember really going back and working on Swamp Thing until years later, when I—.

Art ©2009 Lerner Publishing.

KHOURY: I think you worked on the last issue, the last Moore issue.

YEATES: Yes. With the— KHOURY: —that character that seemed to be Alan.

YEATES: Yeah, the Cajun.

Kong and the dinosaurs. And working with Steve on that was great.

KHOURY: Is he supposed to be Alan Moore in real life?

YEATES: Yeah, I think so. I

KHOURY: What happened when [Alan] Moore came and you saw the direction with that, did you feel like you missed out on something, or were you happy for your friends that things were going to get better?

YEATES: It was both. There was a little twinge of, “Geez, if I had stuck it out...”. I mean, when I quit,

would say that’s probably true.

Although, as I recall, Alan said “It’s me, but it’s not me”. Alan Moore would give you these long, lengthy descriptions, and then at the end of it he’d say, “But of course, you can do it your own way if you want.”

Pasko was still writing. I didn’t know, no one knew Pasko was going to leave a few months later and Len was going to bring in this guy he found in British comics, named Alan Moore. If I’d have stuck it out, I could have got some of that glory. But at the same time, I couldn’t have done what Steve and John did. My brain just doesn’t work that way. I’m more of an old style Reed Crandall school and that kind of approach than that wild, psychedelic, over-the-top, comics-as-modern-art that Steve and John were doing.

KHOURY: But you finally got to work with an Alan Moore script, what were your impressions like? That was his last issue, but what were your impressions of it?

YEATES: It was great to finally get a little taste of that. He was late, so he called me up from England, and we had a long discussion, and he dictated to me over the phone what the first few pages were. And it was only a few pages that he did, maybe four or five, I don’t remember, a framing sequence at the beginning of the story and at the end. But even for just those few pages, the descriptions just went on

76

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

THOMAS YEATES Interior pages for

Perseus. I wanted to emphasize the weird ruins, inspired by Piranesi. When drawing men turned to stone like this, you have to make sure the colorist knows they are stone. Thanks to Ken Hooper for art Art ©2009 Lerner Publishing.

assist here tracing up my pencils and inking the backgrounds.

BOB McLEOD Wow, great job keeping Thomas’ style, Ken! Background inkers are the unsung

and on and on. And then, when I finally got the script, it

heroes of many an ink

was fun to read, but it was almost like reading a novel.

KHOURY: Did you do a lot on that comic?

You’ve got maybe a third of a page of paper describing one

YEATES: I didn’t do that much, maybe four pages over

panel. Usually writers describe a whole page of a comic

his layouts.

job in comic books.

They’re almost always uncredited,

book on one page of 81⁄2"x11" typed paper, but it would take a few pages to describe one page in an Alan Moore script.

KHOURY: Okay.

and have often inked

But that was all fine. I was real happy to tackle that. And he

YEATES: I know John gave me back some of those pages,

everything but the fig-

had told me originally, I don’t remember where, if it was on

and I think there were about four of them. The scene where

ures, particularly

the phone or—I think it was when he came to San Diego. He

they make love in the sky, which John went over and added

back in the ’60s and

came to San Diego and I saw him when he first got to San

some of his special effects. And then there was another page...

’70s. I myself started

work with you on a project sometime,” and yadda yadda,

KHOURY: Did you do the last page?

grounds for Mighty Mike Esposito.

Diego, and we talked. And he said, “What’s up? I’d like to

out by inking back-

which was nice to hear from this amazing writer. But by the

YEATES: There was a page toward the end where there

end of that convention, he was so overwhelmed by fan ado-

was a big party. John gave me that page; he had already

ration that, [laughs] I think he kind of bailed on fandom, on

started inking it, I think. And I pretty much finished the inking,

some level, at that point.

maybe I did a little bit of penciling, I’m not sure. And I sent it back to him, and then he went over it again, added some

KHOURY: He bailed out of the country after that.

more filigree and whatnot.

YEATES: Yeah, it was funny, because I saw him later at this same convention, and he turned, he saw me, and there was

KHOURY: Then Rick brought you back to Swamp Thing at

all these people swarmed around him, and he said, “Tom, I’m

a weird time. He brought you back to do to Tomahawk. Did

drowning in a sea of prying hands,” or some comment like

you have a lot of fun doing those two issues with him?

that. So we never ended up working together again except

YEATES: Those two issues, Tomahawk and the Shining Knight

for those few pages in his last issue of Swamp Thing.

were two of the favorite comics that I’ve done. For some reason I just really had a great time with both of those. It was my kind

KHOURY: That’s not true. You also worked on Miracleman

of stuff. It was the subject matter I like to draw.

#16.

YEATES: Oh, that’s right, sure. But I was basically working

KHOURY: They were tailor-made for you.

for John, though; I wasn’t dealing directly with Alan.

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

77

was working 12"x18" all through the 1980s. After I quit Pasko’s Swamp Thing, all my Pacific Stuff, all my Timespirits and those later Swamp Things, too, I did them all at that larger size. Being into that old illustrator’s school, the old illustrators worked oversized. You see original artwork from the 1950s, most of that stuff’s done oversized, and that’s the way I like to work. The artwork looks better when I draw it big. Rick was aware of this, so he figured, “Okay, we’ll turn the book sideways so that Yeates can really draw it big.” And who would think of that but someone like Rick Veitch? It was great, I loved doing that stuff, I really had a great time. My only regret on those two issues is that Swamp Thing himself doesn’t appear in them very much, so I’ve never been able to sell those originals, because every-

Swamp Thing and Tomahawk TM & ©2009 DC Comics

body wants a page with Swamp Thing on it.

KHOURY: You ended up sticking Prince Valiant in there somewhere, I think.

YEATES: Oh yeah. I put Val and Gawain in among the scenery. It was fantastic, I got to draw the stuff I like to draw, yet the story wasn’t a stilted, predictable, old fashioned adventure story, it was this wild, crazy, Rick Veitch story. But yet I was still drawing those images that I like. Those books were perfect.

KHOURY: The timing of those issues is pretty strange; you did those two issues, then Rick was supposed do his Jesus Christ story? After Rick left did DC (over the Christ story), what was your situation?

YEATES: They were tailor-made for me, but they had that wry Rick Veitch attitude. My work is sort of—I tend toward a more romanticized, classic, good guys/bad guys kind of story, where Rick’s work is much more complex, sophisticated and twisted.

KHOURY: With the Merlin issue you did, was it meant to resemble the Sunday newspaper strip at that time?

YEATES: Yeah. That was Rick’s idea. We had seen Williamson’s Hal Foster originals, and they are huge.

KHOURY: Those two-page spreads are actually on one page of art?

YEATES: Yes. KHOURY: Wow! [laughs] YEATES: Well, comics are traditionally done 10"x15", and I 78

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

YEATES: Well, Karen Berger had asked me to do the Swamp Things with Rick, the last few ones with Rick. She said, “Would you like to come back and do some Swamp Things.” I was never, in my mind, going to be the permanent artist on the book, I was just going to do a few issues. And I think that that was sort of the concept at that time, because he was traveling backwards in time, and each issue they wanted an artist whose forté would have been the subject matter of the story, because they were all different settings. He went from World War II, to World War I, to the Wild West, to—.

KHOURY: To the beginning of time, basically?

YEATES: Yeah, yeah. The Revolutionary War, the Tomahawk period, the Shining Knight’s period. Each one I think they wanted a different artist doing it, that way they could keep the book on schedule, because you obviously wouldn’t get behind, because someone else would be doing the next issue. And

Karen asked me would I like to do some of these, or Rick asked me—one of them. And I agreed to it, but it wasn’t supposed to be a regular thing. Then the whole problem with Swamp Thing meets Jesus came up, and Mike Zulli, I believe, that was the guy who was going to do that issue, right?

KHOURY: Yup, Zulli and [Tom] Sutton.

YEATES: And Sutton was going to ink it, yeah. So when that whole thing collapsed, Karen was kind of up the creek, there.

She didn’t have an artist and she didn’t have a writer, she didn’t have a book anymore. So they had to skip an issue or two and start over. And she asked me, because I did those last two issues, if I’d do the next one, so there would be some kind of continuity between them, artistically. I said, “Yeah, I’ll help you out for a while, to make it through this period.”

Tarzan TM ERB, Inc. Art ©2009 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

KHOURY: You didn’t get into any conflict there, being Rick’s friend and all that stuff?

YEATES: Y’know... there wasn’t any conflict. And I have thought from time to time that it was odd that there wasn’t any conflict, but there wasn’t. The four of us were real good friends, although me being out in California, I wasn’t as tight with those three as they were with each other, particularly at that point. They’d all been jamming on Swamp Thing, and I was off kind of doing my own thing. But when they called me

back in, I certainly felt a certain amount of solidarity with Rick

THOMAS YEATES

and his battle with DC. But I was also friends with Karen.

The Return of Tarzan

And John was still doing the covers. Rick didn’t seem to

for Dark Horse. Tarzan,

have any problem with us doing it. I didn’t get any kind of

hiding in the trees,

funny vibe or anything. I supported his move and understood

encourages the slaves

what he had to do, and he didn’t seem to have any problem

to turn on their mas-

with—I mean, we never even really talked about it; it never even came up. Later on, in hindsight, I have kind of won-

ters. Something I always support.

dered how come there was no problem there. Were John and I breaking the boycott or were we strikebreakers of some sort, but it just never came up. I just did it. He did the covers and I did the inside. And then I kind of spun out on that last issue, the second one by Wheeler.

KHOURY: That must have been a lot of pressure to get those issues out, because I think the book was on hiatus for two or so months, right?

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

79

YEATES: Yeah, yeah.

KHOURY: How was that? You basically worked with everybody who has ever written the comic except Moore. [laughs] YEATES: Now, the fellow who wrote the two issues after Rick left—.

KHOURY: Yeah, Wheeler.

YEATES: Doug Wheeler. The last issue I did with him was really tough. For some reason I had a real hard time with that.

I was kind of burning out again on it all. The story was fairly abstract, and I was just kind of having a difficult time with it.

In fact, Karen, I think, actually sent one page back for me to work on some more.

KHOURY: Was that the first time that had ever happened to you?

Tarzan TM ERB, Inc. Art ©2009 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

YEATES: Fortunately it doesn’t happen very often. It’s not a good feeling. But it did happen. I remember she sent one back, but I went in and touched it up some more, added some more detail or something. But yeah, I was kind of fried on the whole thing at that point, by that issue. A few years later, when I was doing Tarzan for Semic International, the European company— this was Tarzan: The Beckoning, which was published in the U.S. by Malibu. It was some point in that series where I took a brief break from Tarzan for maybe a month or so and laid out two issues of Swamp Thing. I just did brief layouts and gave them to another really great Bay Area artist named Shepherd Hendrix. Shep was a friend of Ken Hooper. He was part of this little gang of young artists, who were a few years younger than I, in the Bay Area, that I hooked up with when I moved out here. So Shepherd did the finishes on that.

THOMAS YEATES

YEATES: Yeah, I wound up getting some

I laid it out and he finished it. So I

Tarzan vs. The Moon

help on those. Mark McMurray and Ken

did come back and do that. And

Men, Dark Horse

Hooper were my assistants. Ken Hooper

that was a good story, and it was

1997. Inks by Al

was a good San Francisco Bay area comics

a lot of fun, as I recall. They were

Williamson.

artist, he’s done work for DC here and

in the swamp, there were some

there. A nice guy, and good guitarist. Mark

kind of corrupt politicians. There

McMurray was a student at the Joe Kubert

were elements that I resonate to.

School, who I actually taught in a Saturday sketch class. He came out to California to

KHOURY: And then how did

visit and ended up being out here at the

you end up doing those Heap

same time I was trying to get those issues

issues? Did Eclipse think your

done, so he did some drawing for me. He’s

forté was swamp men, all of a

a very good drawer. His father Chuck is a

sudden?

fan I knew in Jersey.

YEATES: Well, Eclipse’s offices were right down the road from

KHOURY: You also worked with Nancy Collins. Was it the last issue (#112) you did of Swamp Thing?

80

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

where I moved in northern California, on the Russian River.

KHOURY: So you were fairly friendly with them?

that, have fun with it. And I just enjoy drawing nature and the

YEATES: Right. So, since they were the local comics folks, I

plants, so consequently, plant-men. I’m the obvious guy to

got to know them, got to be friends with them. Actually, I got

draw that kind of stuff, because that’s what I like to do.

a call from either cat [yronwode] or Dean [Mullaney], I can’t remember which, I think Cat, when I still lived in New Jersey.

KHOURY: When you look back at your Swamp Thing work

She just called me out of the blue and said, “Do you want to

now, do you have a fondest one, or was it a lot of fun work-

ink this Aztec Ace cover over Mike Hernandez?” And I got to

ing with all your friends, that kind of stuff?

talking with her and found out where she lived, they were out

YEATES: Yeah, it was good, it was a good experience. As I

here. And when I ended up out here, I got back in touch with

said before, I learned a lot. It wasn’t without its problems, but

them, and ended up being friends. Spent a lot of time with

life always has problems. How you deal with them is what

those guys up at their office hanging out. Used their Xerox

counts, I think. And I did the best I could. Some of it’s pretty

machine and whatever. I didn’t do that much work for

rough, but most of it, I think, came out just fine. The vampire

Eclipse, but some important stuff.

punk rockers was a lot of fun; I enjoyed that issue. I was pretty happy with that; I thought it came out pretty well. It really

KHOURY: That particular issue that we talked about

moved. Some of the stories were kind of too much talking

before, with the sewer overflowing?

heads, but that one really moved well. My drawing in some of

YEATES: Oh yeah, that was great, that was fun. Tim Truman,

the later ones, I thought, was pretty good. Some of the last

who also helped me on Swamp Thing, I forgot to mention his

couple of issues, when they were in Europe, I thought there

name. He laid out one of the issues of Swamp Thing in my

were some good—

original run, and I’ve always been real close with him. He started working with Eclipse and developing various lines of books.

KHOURY: —shots, yeah.

And Tim was going to do Airboy and bring the Heap in with it.

YEATES: I did enjoy working with my friends and being sort

And cat and Dean and Tim and Chuck Dixon were all hot on

of a “studio boss,” almost. You’re really the movie director

this concept of doing a biweekly comic book. It was a thinner

when you’ve got a little team of helpers working with you,

book and it would come out biweekly. [laughs] It was kind of a

because you have to delegate who does what. I seem to be

crazy notion, but they were doing some kind of innovative for-

able to do that, although I prefer to draw everything myself

mat. And I inked, I believe, the first two issues of Airboy. I think

now. That was a good experience, especially when you had

the first appearance of the Heap that they did was a short

such talented people to work with. The highlight, for me, of

story, sort of a special issue showcasing this new line. And I

Swamp Thing, though, was those two issues I did for Rick,

remember inking the Heap coming out of the mud and the

with Tomahawk and the Shining Knight. That was good stuff.

World War I aviator crashing in the swamp and the birth of the

I also inked another issue, by the way. There was an annual I

Heap and all that stuff pencilled by Truman. I don’t remember if

inked somewhere in the middle of the run. I think it was an

I actually penciled any of those early ones or not. I did that and

Alan Moore idea that Rick Veitch then fleshed out. It was a

I did issue #1 and then Stan Woch took over on Airboy. The

Swamp Thing Annual that had a terrific Brian Bolland cover.

Heap was right in there with Airboy on the ones that I did. The issue about the city with sewer problems was based on an

KHOURY: Oh, the gorilla?

actual ongoing environmental problem for us who live down

YEATES: Of a gorilla, yeah. And Karen asked me to ink that

river from a city that wants an easy place to dump their

book, because there was a lot of different pencilers and she

sewage. We’re still trying to make it less easy for them today.

thought if I inked it, the art would kind of stylistically come

They brought me in to draw that issue quickly when the regular

together. That was fun; I enjoyed doing that, although I was

artist said he didn’t want to do it. I put many real local people

only inking. I did it really fast.

in the book and had The Heap dump a manure spreader full of manure on the actual real city council members. I can think of

KHOURY: That’s the one that had Angel and the Ape or

a few politicians I’d like to do that to today...

something?

YEATES: And all these gorilla characters were in it, yeah.

KHOURY: Did you find any similarities between him and Swamp Thing while you were doing it?

KHOURY: All the DC gorillas. [laughs]

YEATES: Some. I like the Heap. He was not as complex a

YEATES: A special “Swamp Thing meets all the Gorillas”...

character. The Heap didn’t really have a hell of a lot of per-

As long as you get the gorilla on the cover, that’s what

sonality. [laughter] But that was okay. You can still work with

counts, right?

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

81

draw the Swamp Thing, and often do at conventions.

BOB McLEOD: Hi, Thomas! So it’s been six years or so since you did this interview with George. Do you still do a lot of Swamp Thing sketches, or have other characters moved to the head of your list?

YEATES: Oh yes, I still get occasional requests for Swamp Thing sketches at San Diego and Wondercon. Guess the moss is still clinging to me.

McLEOD: Well, fill us in on what all you’ve been doing for the last few years. I see on your web site that you’ve been doing some graphic novels.

YEATES: My last body of work that’s been released is a Outlaw of Torn TM ERB, Inc. Art ©2009 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

series of graphic novels for kids from Lerner Publishing. They distribute to libraries and schools, and have been publishing kids’ books since 1959. I drew seven, including Robin Hood, two King Arthurs, Odysseus, Perseus, Atalanta, and William Tell. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I’m really a 1950s Dell comics artist at heart and this gave me the opportunity to draw the stuff I love, without concessions to the current tastes of the fickle comic book market.

McLEOD: I love those old Dell comics, too. That sounds like a lot of fun, but graphic novels are also a lot of work. Did you do all that all by yourself, or do you use assistants?

YEATES: I went back to using assistants with the series, which I hadn’t done much for a while. Sam Glanzman,

THOMAS YEATES This is The Outlaw

KHOURY: Yeah. But you had a lot of different—

Prince, adapted

I’m looking at it, Stan Woch did something, Jim

from Burroughs’ The Outlaw of Torn.

Michael Kaluta is doing the layouts for me, one of which is included. I’m inking

Fern, Shawn McManus. A lot of different styles.

Did you have any problems with that issue?

YEATES: No problems. Somebody else may have done a little bit of inking, but I think I inked just about that whole book. Swamp Thing is a great character, because not only does he have the potential of drawing the outdoor adventure stuff that I lean

it in wash instead of

toward, but he’s, like I said, this character has, the

line because I

formation of his character gives him a great deal of motivation in

believe with digital

a storyline. And with the right script, you can do a lot of really

reproduction my

interesting stuff with the guy, and I think that’s part of the suc-

style of art prints

cess of the character. It’s really a terrific concept. And I’ve got to

better in wash.

credit Len with coming up with that idea, originally, and then of course Alan Moore really ran with it when he re-sculpted the character. But I think it’s a great concept. I’m always ready to

82

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

Tod Smith, and Chris Marrinin did some layouts for me, and Ken Hooper did a lot of background art and layout transferring.

Thanks Team!

McLEOD: So are you still doing graphic novels right now?

YEATES: My main current job is painting a graphic novel called The Outlaw Prince, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’

The Outlaw of Torn. Michael Kaluta is doing the layouts. Dark Horse will publish it. My partner Lori Almeida is helping with the color. The technique is a black acrylic wash over the pencils, which serves the same purpose as inking in traditional comics, and then a color acrylic wash, done watercolor style over that.

shame adventure strips are dying in newspapers. Today’s

THOMAS YEATES

newspaper readers don’t know what they’re missing.

I love working from

YEATES: But it was great to have a strip. It put me in with a

Kaluta’s layouts. They

different circle of folks, including an afternoon with Charles

are loose enough that

Schulz, who was impressed with my drawings of horses.

And it made me simplify more than ever. I brought fellow Zorro-nut Tod Smith in on layouts to help me make the very demanding schedule of six dailies plus a color Sunday strip every week. Tod is an old music jamming buddy from the Kubert School days and an excellent comics artist. Another

I feel free to change anything I want while still being very inspiring. Great shapes, great angles, great

good thing about doing the strip is I was forced to really

suggestions of detail.

learn color while coloring the Sunday strip.

I’m doing the finished art in FW acrylic ink

McLEOD: So at least it was basically a positive experience

wash. My partner Lori

for you. Leaving the newspaper world and getting back to

Almeida and I are

comic books, how did you like working on Universe X for

doing the coloring, on

Marvel?

the originals, with

YEATES: Great gig. While I was drawing the Zorro strip I got a

acrylic paint washes.

call from Jim Krueger, who was writing that series for Marvel

The Outlaw

with Alex Ross. I was so intimidated by Alex when I first saw his work that I figured I’d better just give it up. But it turned out that he’d read my comics when he was young and always liked my work. Wow, that was very encouraging! So I quit the Zorro strip to work with them. Got some other old pals from Kubert School, Totleben and Ron Randall, to do most of the inking on McLEOD: I read The Outlaw of Torn years ago. I got the

two books for Jim and Alex, Cap and Beasts, then I did the last

paperback just because of that great Frazetta cover. That’s

one, Ragnarok, solo. Of the three, Cap was the best story;

how I discovered all of the Burroughs stuff. It should be

really great concept. Beasts was the most fun to draw, though.

Prince graphic novel will be published by Dark Horse.

BOB McLEOD This illustrates something I was teaching my students about color: Notice how Lori

interesting to see you working with Kaluta, who also has a history with Burroughs from his old “Carson of Venus”

McLEOD: I’ve also seen a couple paintings by you. Are we

and Thomas saved

comics. Any other pending projects you can let us in on?

likely to see more?

bright red for the

YEATES: On the subject of upcoming work, I am also illus-

YEATES: I hope so. I don’t really think like a cartoonist, in

child, who’s the cen-

trating Burroughs’ first three John Carter novels in one vol-

outline, contour drawings. I can do that, but I really think

ter of interest, and

ume for Barnes & Noble publishing. Book illustrations, not

more like a painter. I’d just never had the opportunity to mas-

kept most of the other

comics, though, should be out in the fall of ’09. Also there’s

ter a color medium. I did watercolor paintings for the Tarzan

colors muted. Also

a Timespirits reprint in the works from Image.

the Beckoning covers and title pages, and acrylic and oil

notice how much

paintings for the Timespirits covers, but they were always

interest is added by

McLEOD: You’re a busy guy! Tell me about the Zorro strip

very intimidating to attempt. Now however, I’ve come across

the use of cast shad-

you did with Don McGregor. Adventure strips are a tough

a technique that I’m very comfortable with, and I’m doing

ows in panel three.

sell in today’s newspaper market.

quite a bit of color these days.

YEATES: I was approached by Creators Syndicate when the Anthony Hopkins’ Zorro movie was making a big splash,

McLEOD: And finally, how did this Nature comic you did

to do a Zorro newspaper strip. But then they failed to pro-

for PBS come about?

mote it, so the strip died after about two and a half years.

YEATES: Rick Veitch was slated to do that job but was too

That was a great experience though, artistically. I love Don,

busy, and brought me in on it. Thanks Rick! I used it to try

he’s a very entertaining character. I bowed out of the strip

out my new color technique and it was a blast. I love doing

about six months before it died. There is very little money in

nature comics, again the Dell Comics artist in me. In fact, I

newspaper strips that don’t have many papers carrying them.

just finished a second one for them.

McLEOD: Yeah, I worked with Don on my first series, The

McLEOD: Well, thanks for the interview, Thomas. Maybe I’ll

Black Panther, back in the ’70s. He’s a great guy. It’s a

see you at Heroes Con this year!

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

83

ROUGH CRITIQUE

By Bob McLeod

T

his issue’s sample page was sent in by the mysteriously single-named Wattana. It’s far from typical in style and subject (what, no superheroes!? Does that even count as comics anymore?), but it’s nonetheless very typical in many of the problems he’s having, and I chose it because I think discussing them will help a lot of

other artists as well as Wattana. Some pages just need some tweaking here and there. But other pages need to be rebuilt from the ground up, which is the case here.

Art ©2009 Wattana.

First off, I just have to commend you, Wattana, for trying to be original. This girl apparently has no super powers (she can’t even spear a lion six feet away) and she’s not even blonde! I haven’t seen a brunette jungle girl since Frazetta’s glory days. Your story-

84

ROUGH STUFF • WINTER 2009

telling is fairly clear, and your figures have some problems, but at least they aren’t stiff. You’re drawing very sketchily (with what appears to be a pencil badly in need of sharpening—or did you draw it all on the computer?). The reason it’s so sketchy is because you don’t really know what anything looks like and you’re trying to fake it all. If you study the arm, for example, and really memorize what it looks like, you’ll be able to draw it much better. Right now, you’re just guessing at everything. That’s the wrong way to go.

But good drawing is only one aspect of pencilling comics.

There’s also a lot of thinking involved. One of the first things you need to do when starting a page is decide on the number and size and placement of the panels. On action pages, the fewer panels the better, because you want to have room to show the action in a dynamic way. Looking at your page, all the hot action is squeezed down into the lower left corner, and the page as a whole is too heavily weighted there. Your biggest panels are the first and last, where nothing is happening, and your smallest panels are where the most action is happening. This is totally opposite of how it should be.

Think of your panel shapes as design elements. Even as empty panels, they should create a design. Using one slanted panel border on an otherwise very horizontal/vertical set-up is simply bad design. Clustering them all on one side of the page is also bad design. You also need to decide how best to tell your story. Usually, the fewer panels it takes, the better. I eliminated your third and sixth panels to make room for enlarging panel 5, where the most dramatic action is happening. Your third panel is also clumsy, attempting to show the action from both sides at once, which turns her into a disembodied spirit. Your panel six, with her jumping over the lion, seems superfluous. Why would she do that? You have limited space on a page, and you have to use it wisely. So I staggered the panels to better balance the page design, straightened the slanted border, eliminated two panels, and enlarged the last two panels. This really could have been two pages, with the first three panels on one and the last four on another. Then your third panel would have been a dramatic cliffhanger and the reader wouldn’t have been able to wait

to turn the page. A lion attack is certainly worthy of two pages.

Going back to panel one, you committed the grievous sin of aligning her spear parallel to the panel border. Always try to use diagonals, and never put shapes parallel to the panel border. Notice I also tilted the girl to a more diagonal angle, and moved her away from the panel border. Place your figures more within the panel, not pushed over to the sides or corners. Then place your background elements to fit around them and balance out the panel. So I moved your bush, and moved and enlarged the distant mountain. I eliminated the volcano, because it distracts from the tension between the girl and the lion. Now, let’s look at that lion. This is not a lion, but rather your best recollection of what a lion looks like. His tail is too long and sticking out of his, um, butt (the tail is actually an extension of the spine, and is much higher up). His snout is flat and his ears are missing. Never try to draw an animal without reference. Also, with his body facing away from her, he seems to be minding his own business, rather than threatening her. Look

at the difference when I turn him around. Now I’m scared! Get ready with that spear!

She has too much hair in panel two, and you need to put it on one side or the other. Her head is also misplaced too far forward (the neck also continues from the spine). Making her arm black sinks it too far back into the background, and it’s not good to position it parallel to the horizon. The lion needs to be higher up, overlapping the horizon to create more depth. Since his tail is coming out of the panel, the spear should also. In the new panel three (your fourth panel), her knife should be in the panel, since you already have stuff extending out of the previous panel. You don’t want to repeat the same gimmick. I don’t think a profile shot is the best way to show action, but it’s works okay here.

Imagine how much more impact this panel would have if the lion were jumping toward us rather than past us. I pieced together a (female) lion photo to fit your pose, so you can see the proportions are quite different than you imagined. Animals (and people) are so much more interesting when you draw them correctly. Your girl has two left hands, by the way. And what is that, a sand storm in the background?

In the new panel four, where she stabs the lion, you want to pull in closer for more impact, and make the panel as large as possible. You don’t really want her left leg there, do you? I just rotated them to fit the space, so the corner of panel three doesn’t hit the lion in the head, but it also now leads the eye nicely toward the last panel. In the last panel, I flopped her to better balance the composition, and also enlarged everything a bit to get us more involved and to have more variety in figure size. It’s good to have the figures a different size in every panel. I also did a quick redo of your figure. With arms folded across the chest, her breasts would be pushed up, and I like the way you cocked her hip, but I think you took it a bit too far. Her face is also a bit small. This panel really needs some more backgrounds. You can delete backgrounds in action panels, but when you get to a panel like this, you need to give us more to look at. You established some horizontal clouds in the top panel, so I’d stay with that in this panel, rather than those diagonal whatsits you have there. So, to sum up, you obviously have a lot of studying to do. What, did you think drawing comics was easy? Get out some comics and study the panel layouts and where the artists place the figures, and which panels are big and which are small. Get some reference and practice drawing some lions. And, along with the rest of us, study figure drawing every day. Oh, and sharpen your pencil.

Any thick-skinned readers who’d like me to critique their sample page should e-mail me at mcleod.bob@gmail.com, or mail me a sample at P.O. Box 63, Emmaus, PA 18049

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

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ROUGH TALK I disagree with the individual who would prefer more text, I personally would prefer more artwork. I would like to see the preliminary sketches which were rejected and why they were rejected in favor of the one which was chosen. Also it might be interesting to see the script behind a page of art. [Look at Gene Ha’s scripts in his feature this issue! -Ed.] The part of the interview I do like is the discussion of materials and working methods.

On inking: I was recently looking at some B&W Prince Valiant from 1954. Then there were the Flash Gordon strips and the Jungle Jim strips. I do not believe they would be the same if left in pencil, no matter how tight the pencil. [I couldn’t agree more! -Ed.] Harold Shindel I just want to tell you that I really, really enjoyed your last issue of Rough Stuff, especially your article on “Inkers: Who needs ’em?!” Well, lots of artist do, but then again, an inker can make you or break you, right? One of my favorite inkers is Klaus Janson, and speaking of Klaus I just finished reading the latest Modern Masters featuring John Romita Jr. Great stuff, and by the way, nice inks on the cover. I was hoping in the near future you would feature artists like Russ Heath or maybe Rich Corben.

Jose Ortega For those of us who are art-impaired, [Rough Stuff]’s a great way to learn something about the fundamentals of comic art (and art in general). I particularly enjoy seeing the pencils vs. the inked versions of a picture.

I enjoyed the Haynes and Jusko interviews in issue #9. For whatever reason, I find that I enjoy the art more

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when I know something about the artist (of course, that can work the other way, too, if the artist is a boor). I’d comment on the other stuff in the issue, but I haven’t finished reading it yet.

Your enthusiasm for art shows on every page of Rough Stuff. Keep up the good work! Is there any chance of getting some color pages in the magazine or is that simply cost prohibitive? The Vampirella cover story screamed for color. I did check out the PDF version, which is a reasonable way to get the art in the readers’ hands, especially for subscribers, but it is cumbersome.

[We just can’t afford color in the print mag at this time.

Thank goodness we have the PDF version! -ed.]

Mag www.comictreadmill.com I recently decided to take advantage of TwoMorrows’ blowout sale on mags, since (unfortunately) I haven’t been able to find any issues of the much acclaimed... well, around here anyway!... Rough Stuff mags at my local comic shops. I just figured I’d pick up a lot of them at the next con. Well, wasn’t able to get to the last Megacon in Orlando... so I was ecstatic to see RS mags being blown out... I got the entire run! (and a few other things also!). Wow... great, great, great stuff, Bob! These are really wonderful to look through, and I love seeing the process like this.

Huge thanks to John at TwoMorrows for putting this offer out there, hope everyone took advantage of it. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing many more issues of this great “stuff.”

Big thanks to John & Bob! Jeff Scott I just took advantage of the $2.00 magazine sale at TwoMorrows to buy all nine issues of Rough Stuff. I always wanted to get these issues, but the store I had them on my pull list with shut down and the other store in town doesn’t carry them. I have the first 19 issues of Back Issue and “Rough Stuff” was one of my favorite parts. I was thrilled to see them on sale and, again,

ordered them all.

I received them last Friday and finished them on Sunday. I was very impressed by the magazine and thoroughly enjoyed every issue. They are just what I had hoped they would be. I’m glad I was able to order them all and definitely feel I got a major bargain. There is not one section I didn’t enjoy to some level. The interviews and artists section were well done and informative. My favorite sections are the “Rough Critique” and the articles that you wrote.

Not being a professional comic artist, I still have to say that I agree with your assessments that the industry has changed a lot since I started reading comics in 1975 when I was eight. I had seen several pieces of pencil art and always enjoyed seeing the transition to inks. Now there seems to be no transition, but just “tracing,” as you stated. A lot of the problems with meeting deadlines that seem to plague the business these days can be attributed to the tighter and tighter pencil work done by today’s artists. You know the problem better than I, so I guess I’ll stop reiterating your position to you.

At this late stage in my life (I’m 41), I know that I’ll never achieve my dream of being a professional comic book artist, but I can still learn to draw better for my own need to draw. Rough Stuff has helped me learn some new tricks that other comic book “how-to’s” never even approach. My sincere hope is that one day you will write a book yourself that shows the lessons you teach from “Rough Critique.” I know I would love to take a class that you taught.

Well, as you are a busy man, I will sign off now, but just know that your efforts are definitely appreciated. I will most certainly be picking up future issues, sale or not. Now if Back Issue would go on sale I could get all ten issues that I missed since the store shut down. Ha-ha!

Thank you again for the fine magazine and keep up the good work!

Tobi L. Miley I enjoy reading Rough Stuff more than any other ’zine because it takes me over two hours per issue to read

and absorb what is shown and said. For the student of comic book art, your magazine has evolved into a clinic on the various approaches that can be used to create comics. Congratulations and continued success.

I’m not certain I share your view on inking, however. I certainly hear what you have to say, but there are a few points that might make inkers survive, albeit smaller in numbers: 1. A lot of pencilers aren’t anywhere near good enough to draw the exact line all the time without sacrificing a good deal of the vigor of the picture.

2. Not all stories lend themselves to photorealistic rendering. A more traditional cartoon-like drawing serves the purpose of a lot of stories still being written by the Big 2.

3. The concept and impact of the color black and the spotting of blacks is so much a part of the language of comics that it would seem very hard for it to disappear completely.

Now I suppose the Big 2 could only hire pencilers that were good at photorealism and fire their lesser pencilers. And I suppose one could take a drama like the recent “Planet Hulk” and force a realistic style on it in order to eliminate the inker. And the color black, which rarely appears in nature, could be assigned to the dust bin of comic book history. The Big 2 could do all of this, but I doubt it would save them any money or time. The photorealistic pencilers would be slower and demand more money per page. Some stories like “Planet Hulk” sell better the way they are drawn (photorealism on “Planet Hulk” would have taken all the fun out of the story). And I suspect the comic-buying public would miss the color black and sales would go down. I think you said it best in Rough Stuff #8, pg 25 : “It’s almost photographic (talking about DeZuniga over Buscema in Conan) in that you feel like you’re in the tent with them, but it’s even better because the art has so much style and isn’t trying to be photographic.”

There are many stories still being published that are better served by a stylistic rendering (like “Planet Hulk”) vs. a literal rendering. There are many artists that are better at this type of penciling than photorealism. The job of

WINTER 2009 • ROUGH STUFF

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the inker in these cases is to choose the best pencil line, add the dark line weights, and spot blacks. The job of the colorist is then to complement, not overwhelm, what he is given. So I think inkers will always be with us. And comics are the better for it. [I hope you‘re right, Michael! Good points! I just wish you’d apply for an editorial position at Marvel. -Ed.] Michael Greczek www.comicspace.com/ accolade_graphics Just finished reading Rough Stuff #3... and what a fantastic magazine! Great insights into some of my favorite artists and the whole process of creating comics. I especially enjoyed the piece on John Buscema, wonderful penciller, and JRJR. Love these “old’s cool” artists!

As much as I enjoy detailed artwork such as Hitch and Cassaday, I agree with some of the sentiments in the mag that the art has little of the animation and, dare I say it, “character” that the Buscemas and Romitas put into their work. I’ll definitely be hunting down those other issues… guess better late than never!

Kind regards, Simon Wyatt I have read two issues of Rough Stuff so far, and I am now a full blown addict for your publication. Just can’t get enough!

I especially enjoy your detailed coverage of the inking world and have finally gained a much greater grasp of what the inker brings to the table in the comic book creation process, thanks to Rough Stuff.

Having said that, I wanted to offer an observation on the matter. It seems to me that there is a unique similarity

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between comic book inks and bass guitar. Both mediums developed along similar lines and evolved out of necessity. Both provide the necessary weight and depth, the contrast of shadow and light needed to make a presentation complete. You might not notice the inker or bass player when they are doing their work, but you absolutely notice when they’re gone.

You have discussed the rising trend in young artists entering the industry, only wanting to ink. The last 20-30 years have also witnessed a rise in the number of young musicians entering the rock world who only wanted to play bass. Naturally, some are better than others. But players like Flea, for instance, have done what legends like Paul McCartney and Chris Squire did back in the ’60s, exploring what can really be done with the instrument and what can be accomplished in the lower frequencies.

The rise in technology and computer software have clearly brought about some awkward times for the comic book inker, sparking questions about the need for them.

Take heart! History shows that bass players have fought a similar battle with technology at different points. But being persistent, determined and just plain stubborn have all made the best ones stronger in the long run, and proven how crucial they really are in their field.

I have seen some recent issues of different comics where the pencil art was simply scanned and colored with no inks, and the examples I was shown were just dreadful. Nothing had any weight, there was no sense of gravity to it. Further, the sense of eye flow was pretty chaotic. The whole experience was disappointing and served to remind me how much life a good inker will add to pencil work, and why they are so important to the whole. I’m hoping for a young generation of inkers with roots to rise up, with an understanding of the work of the greats that made the inking medium matter in decades past.

That day is coming. Inkers like Tim Townsend, Mark Farmer and Scott Williams will keep inspiring up-andcomers to pay attention, see what’s missing and bring about the rebirth of the inking world.

It’s just a matter of time.

Pete Flood SEND YOUR ROUGH COMMENTS TO:

email: mcleod.bob@gmail.com (subject: Rough Stuff) or snail mail: Bob McLeod, Editor- Rough Stuff, P.O. Box 63 Emmaus, PA 18049

TwoMorrows Publishing 2009 Update WINTER/SPRING

Supplement to the 2008 TwoMorrows Preview Catalog

ORDER AT: www.twomorrows.com

SAVE

BATCAVE COMPANION

All characters TM & ©2009 their respective owners.

IT’S FINALLY HERE! The writer/editor of the critically acclaimed KRYPTON COMPANION and the designer of the eye-popping SPIES, VIXENS, AND MASTERS OF KUNG FU: THE ART OF PAUL GULACY team up to explore the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman comic books in THE BATCAVE COMPANION! Two distinct sections of this book examine the Dark Knight’s progression from his campy “New Look” of the mid-1960s to his “creature of the night” reinvention of the 1970s. Features include issue-byissue indexes, interviews with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA, DENNIS O’NEIL, and NEAL ADAMS, and guest essays by MIKE W. BARR and WILL MURRAY. Contributors include SHELDON MOLDOFF, LEN WEIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, and TERRY AUSTIN, with a special tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS. With its incisive introduction by DENNIS O’NEIL and its iconic cover painting by NEAL ADAMS, THE BATCAVE COMPANION is a must-have for every comics fan! By MICHAEL EURY and MICHAEL KRONENBERG.

15

WHE % N YO ORD U ONL ER INE!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95 US • ISBN: 9781893905788 • Diamond Order Code: NOV068368 • Ships April 2009

COMIC BOOK PODCAST COMPANION Comic book podcasts have taken the Internet by storm, and now TwoMorrows offers you the chance to go behind the scenes of ten of today's top comic book podcasts via all-new interviews with the casts of AROUND COMICS, WORD BALLOON, QUIET! PANELOLOGISTS AT WORK, COMIC BOOK QUEERS, iFANBOY, THE CRANKCAST, THE COLLECTED COMICS LIBRARY, THE PIPELINE PODCAST, COMIC GEEK SPEAK, and TwoMorrows’ own TUNE-IN PODCAST! Also featured are new interviews about podcasting and comics on the Internet with creators MATT FRACTION, TIM SEELEY, and GENE COLAN. You'll also find a handy guide of what you’ll need to start your own podcast, an index of more than thirty great comic book podcasts, numerous photos of your favorite podcasters, and original art from COLAN, SEELEY, DC's MIKE NORTON, and many more! By ERIC HOUSTON, with a spectacular new cover by MIKE MANLEY. (128-page trade paperback) $15.95 • ISBN: 9781605490182 • Ships May 2009

ALL-STAR COMPANION Volume 4 The epic series of ALL-STAR COMPANIONS goes out with a bang, featuring: Colossal coverage of the Golden Age ALL-STAR COMICS! Sensational secrets of the JUNIOR JUSTICE SOCIETY! An index of the complete solo adventures of all 18 original JSAers in their own features, from 1940 to 1951! The JSA's earliest imitators (Seven Soldiers of Victory, All Winners Squad, Marvel Family, and International Crime Patrol)! INFINITY, INC. on Earth-Two and after! And the 1980s SECRET ORIGINS series! With rare art by ALEX ROSS, TODD McFARLANE, JERRY ORDWAY, CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE KUBERT, ALEX TOTH, GIL KANE, MURPHY ANDERSON, IRWIN HASEN, MORT MESKIN, GENE COLAN, WAYNE BORING, GEORGE TUSKA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, GEORGE FREEMAN, DON NEWTON, JACK BURNLEY, MIKE MACHLAN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, DICK DILLIN, and others. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

CAPTAIN ACTION: THE ORIGINAL SUPERHERO ACTION FIGURE

(240-page trade paperback) $27.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490045 Ships June 2009

(Hardcover 2nd Edition)

CAPTAIN ACTION was introduced in 1966 in the wake of the Batman TV show craze, and later received his own DC comic book with art by WALLY WOOD and GIL KANE. Able to assume the identities of 13 famous super-heroes, his initial career was short-lived, but continuing interest in the hero has led to two different returns to toy-store shelves. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 toy photos, this FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SECOND EDITION chronicles the history of this quick-changing champion, including photos of virtually EVERY CAPTAIN ACTION PRODUCT ever released, spotlights on his allies ACTION BOY and the SUPER QUEENS and his arch enemy DR. EVIL, an examination of his comic-book appearances, and “Action facts” that even the most diehard Captain Action fan won’t know! The original softcover edition has been sold out for years, but this revised, full-color hardcover second edition includes behind-the-scenes coverage of CAPTAIN ACTION’S TRIUMPHANT 2008 RETURN to comics shelves in his new series from Moonstone Books, and spotlights the new wave of Captain Action collectibles. Written by MICHAEL EURY. (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490175 • Ships July 2009

MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide

The comic book industry experienced an unexpected flowering in the early 1960s, compliments of Marvel Comics, and this book presents a step-by-step look at how a company that had the reputation of being one of the least creative in a generally moribund industry, emerged as one of the most dynamic, slightly irreverent and downright original contributions to an era when pop-culture emerged as the dominant force in the artistic life of America. In scores of handy, easy to reference entries, MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1960s takes the reader from the legendary company’s first fumbling beginnings as helmed by savvy editor/writer STAN LEE (aided by such artists as JACK KIRBY and STEVE DITKO), to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity.

With the history of Marvel Comics in the 1960s divided into four distinct phases, author PIERRE COMTOIS explains just how Lee, Kirby, Ditko, and others created a line of comic books that, while grounded in the traditional elements of panel-to-panel storytelling, broke through the juvenile mindset of a low brow industry and provided a tapestry of full blown pop culture icons.

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490168 • Ships July 2009

GRAILPAGES:

Original Comic Book Art And The Collectors GRAILPAGES brings to light the burgeoning hobby of collecting the original, hand-drawn art that is used to create comic books! Beginning more as a novelty, the hobby of collecting original comic art has expanded to a point where some of the seminal pages commonly run more than $10,000 each. Author STEVEN ALAN PAYNE lets you meet collectors from around the globe and hear their passion in their own words, as they detail collections ranging from a few key pages, to broad, encompassing collections of literally hundreds of pages of original comic art by such artists as JACK KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR., and others! Balancing out the narratives are incisive interviews with industry pros, including writers GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, and ROY THOMAS, and exclusive perspectives from Silver Age artists DICK GIORDANO, BOB McLEOD, ERNIE CHAN, TONY DeZUNIGA, and the unparalleled great, GENE COLAN! Completing the book is a diverse sampling of breathtakingly beautiful original comic art, some lavishly presented in full-page spreads, including pages not seen publicly for decades. Fans of comic art, comic books, and pop culture will find in GRAILPAGES an appreciation for a uniquely American form of art!

(128-page trade paperback) $15.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490151 Diamond Order Code: JAN094470 • Ships March 2009

MAGAZINES

DIEDGITIIOTANSL BL AVAILA

E

BRICKJOURNAL magazine is the ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages, spotlighting the LEGO Community with contributions and how-to articles by top builders worldwide, new product intros, and more. Edited by JOE MENO. ALTER EGO focuses on Golden and Silver Age comics and creators with articles, interviews and unseen art, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), Mr. Monster & more. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

BRICKJOURNAL #3

BRICKJOURNAL #4

BRICKJOURNAL #5

BRICKJOURNAL #6

Event Reports from BRICKWORLD, FIRST LEGO LEAGUE WORLD FESTIVAL and PIECE OF PEACE (Japan), spotlight on our cover model builder BRYCE McGLONE, and interviews with ARTHUR GUGICK and STEVEN CANVIN of LEGO MINDSTORMS to see where LEGO ROBOTICS is going!

There’s also STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS, TECHNIQUES, & more!

Interviews with LEGO BUILDERS including BREANN SLEDGE (BIONICLE BUILDER), Event Reports from BRICKFAIR and BRICKCON, plus reports on new MINDSTORMS PROJECTS, STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS and TECHNIQUES for all skill levels, NEW SET REVIEWS, and a report on constructing the Chinese Olympic Village in LEGO!

Features event reports from around the world, and the MINDSTORMS 10TH ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS! Plus an interview with the head of the LEGO GROUP’S 3D DEPARTMENT, a glimpse at the LEGO Group's past with the DIRECTOR OF LEGO'S IDEA HOUSE, instructions and spotlights on builders, and an idea section for Pirate builders!

Spotlight on CLASSIC SPACE SETS and a look at new ones with LEGO SET DESIGNERS, BRANDON GRIFFITH shows his STAR TREK MODELS, plus take a tour of the DUTCH MOONBASE with MIKE VAN LEEUWEN and MARCO BAAS. There's also coverage of BRICKFEST 2009 and FIRST LEGO LEAGUE'S WORLD FESTIVAL and photos from TOY FAIR NEW YORK!

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: JUN084415

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: SEP084428

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084408 Ships March 2009

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Ships June 2009

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

TM

BACK ISSUE celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through a variety of recurring (and rotating) departments, plus rare and unpublished art. Edited by MICHAEL EURY. DRAW! is the professional “How-To” magazine on cartooning and animation, featuring in-depth interviews and step-bystep demonstrations from top comics professionals. Edited by MIKE MANLEY. ROUGH STUFF features never-seen pencil pages, sketches, layouts, roughs, and unused inked pages from throughout comics history, plus columns, critiques, and more!

Edited by BOB McLEOD. WRITE NOW! features writing tips from pros on both sides of the desk, interviews, sample scripts, reviews, exclusive Nuts & Bolts tutorials, and more!

Edited by DANNY FINGEROTH.

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

ALTER EGO #84

New FRANK BRUNNER Man-Thing cover, a look at the late-’60s horror comic WEB OF HORROR with early work by BRUNNER, WRIGHTSON, WINDSOR-SMITH, SIMONSON, & CHAYKIN, interview with comics & fine artist EVERETT RAYMOND KINTSLER, ROY THOMAS’ 1971 origin synopsis for the FIRST MAN-THING STORY, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood,

by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover

by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, in-depth art-filled look at Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, DC’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Dagar the Invincible, Ironjaw & Wulf, and Arak, Son of Thunder, plus the never-seen Valda the Iron Maiden by TODD McFARLANE! Plus JOE EDWARDS (Part 2), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

Unseen JIM APARO cover, STEVE SKEATES discusses his early comics work, art & artifacts by ADKINS, APARO, ARAGONÉS, BOYETTE, DITKO, GIORDANO, KANE, KELLER, MORISI, ORLANDO, SEKOWSKY, STONE, THOMAS, WOOD, and the great WARREN SAVIN! Plus writer CHARLES SINCLAIR on his partnership with Batman co-creator BILL FINGER, FCA, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: AUG084454

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: OCT084483

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084368

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JAN094555 Ships March 2009

C o l l e c t o r

The JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine celebrates his life and career through INTERVIEWS WITH KIRBY and his contemporaries, FEATURE ARTICLES, RARE AND UNSEEN KIRBY ART, and more.

Edited by JOHN MORROW.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PRINT EDITION, AND GET THE DIGITAL EDITION FREE, BEFORE THE PRINT ISSUE HITS STORES!

BACK ISSUE #29

BACK ISSUE #30

BACK ISSUE #31

BACK ISSUE #32

“Mutants” issue! CLAREMONT, BYRNE, SMITH, and ROMITA, JR.’s X-Men work, NOCENTI and ARTHUR ADAMS’ Longshot, McLEOD and SIENKIEWICZ’s New Mutants, the UK’s CAPTAIN BRITAIN series, lost Angel stories, Beast’s tenure with the Avengers, the return of the original X-Men in X-Factor, the revelation of Nightcrawler’s “original” father, a history of DC’s mutant, Captain Comet, and more! Cover by DAVE COCKRUM!

“Saturday Morning Heroes!” Interviews with TV Captain Marvels JACKSON BOSTWICK and JOHN DAVEY, MAGGIN and SAVIUK’s lost Superman/”Captain Thunder” sequel, Space Ghost interviews with GARY OWENS and STEVE RUDE, MARV WOLFMAN guest editorial, Super Friends, unproduced fourth wave Super Powers action figures, Astro Boy, ADAM HUGHES tribute to DAVE STEVENS, and a new cover by ALEX ROSS!

“STEVE GERBER Salute!” In-depth look at his Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, Defenders, Metal Men, Mister Miracle, Thundarr the Barbarian, and more!

Plus: Creators pay tribute to Steve Gerber, featuring art by and commentary from BRUNNER, BUCKLER, COLAN, GOLDEN, STAN LEE, LEVITZ, MAYERIK, MOONEY, PLOOG, SIMONSON, and others. Cover painting by FRANK BRUNNER!

“Tech, Data, and Hardware!” The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and GREENBERGER on DC’s Who’s Who, SAVIUK, STATON, and VAN SCIVER on Drawing Green Lantern, ED HANNIGAN Art Gallery, history of Rom: Spaceknight, story of BILL MANTLO, Dial H for Hero, Richie Rich’s Inventions, and a Spider-Mobile schematic cover by ELIOT BROWN and DUSTY ABELL!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: MAY084246

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JUL084393

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: SEP084399

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084369

DRAW! #17

DRAW! #18

ROUGH STUFF #10

ROUGH STUFF #11

ROUGH STUFF #12

Interview with Scott Pilgrim’s creator and artist BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY on how he creates the acclaimed series, plus learn how B.P.R.D.’s GUY DAVIS works on his series.

Also, more Comic Art Bootcamp: Learning from The Great Cartoonists by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, reviews, and more!

Features an in-depth interview and demo

by R.M. GUERA (the artist of Vertigo’s Scalped), behind-the-scenes in the Batcave with Cartoon Network’s JAMES TUCKER on the new hit show “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” plus product reviews by JAMAR NICHOLAS, and Comic Book Boot Camp’s “Anatomy: Part 2” by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY!

Interview with RON GARNEY, with copious examples of sketchwork and comments.

Also features on ANDY SMITH, MICHAEL JASON PAZ, and MATT HALEY, showing how their work evolves, excerpts from a new book on ALEX RAYMOND, secrets of teaching comic art by pro inker BOB McLEOD, new cover by GARNEY and McLEOD, newcomer critique, and more!

New cover by GREG HORN, plus interviews with HORN and TOM YEATES on how they produce their stellar work. Also features on GENE HA, JIMMY CHEUNG, and MIKE PERKINS, showing their sketchwork and commentary, tips on collecting sketches and commissions from artists, a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work, and more!

Interview and cover by comic painter CHRIS MOELLER, features on New Zealand comic artist COLIN WILSON, G.I. Joe artist JEREMY DALE, and fan favorite TERRY DODSON, plus "GOOD GIRL ART" (a new article about everyone's favorite collectible art) by ROBERT PLUNKETT, a "Rough Critique" of an aspiring artist's work, and more!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • Ships Spring 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: AUG084469

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084404

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships April 2009

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • Ships February 2009 Diamond Order Code: DEC084377

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

WRITE NOW! #20

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stories, and in court, with art by WALLY WOOD, CURT SWAN, and GIL KANE), an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Spotlighting the Frantic Four-Color MAD WANNABES of 1953-55 that copied HARVEY KURTZMAN’S EC smash (see Captain Marble, Mighty Moose, Drag-ula, Prince Scallion, and more) with art by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT & MAURER, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, EVERETT, COLAN, and many others, plus Part 1 of a talk with Golden/ Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE, and more!

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and early editors WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, VIN SULLIVAN, and MORT WEISINGER, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CREIG FLESSEL, FRED GUARDINEER, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

Focus on THE SPIRIT movie, showing how FRANK MILLER transformed WILL EISNER’s comics into the smash-hit film, with interviews with key players behind the making of the movie, a look at what made Eisner’s comics so special, and more. Plus: an interview with COLLEEN DORAN, writer ALEX GRECIAN on how to get a pitch green lighted, script and art examples, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships May 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships June 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships July 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships August 2009

(80-page magazine) $6.95 US FINAL ISSUE! Ships February 2009 Diamond Order Code: DEC084398

BACK ISSUE #33

BACK ISSUE #34

BACK ISSUE #35

KIRBY COLLECTOR #52

KIRBY COLLECTOR #53

“Teen Heroes!” Teen Titans in the 1970s & 1980s, with CARDY, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, PÉREZ, TUSKA, and WOLFMAN, BARON and GUICE on the Flash, interviews with TV Billy Batson MICHAEL GRAY and writer STEVE SKEATES, NICIEZA and BAGLEY’s New Warriors, Legion of Super-Heroes 1970s art gallery, James Bond Jr., and… the Archies! New Teen Titans cover by GEORGE PÉREZ and colored by GENE HA!

“New World Order!” Adam Warlock examined with JIM STARLIN and ROY THOMAS, the history of Miracleman with ALAN DAVIS & GARRY LEACH, JIM SHOOTER interview, roundtable with Marvel’s post-STAN LEE editors-in-chief on the New Universe, Logan’s Run, Star Hunters, BOB WIACEK on Star Wars and Star-Lord, DICK GIORDANO revisits Crisis on Infinite Earths and “The Post-Crisis DC Universe You Didn’t See,” and a new cover by JIM STARLIN!

“Villains!” MIKE ZECK and J.M. DeMATTEIS discuss “Kraven’s Last Hunt” in a “Pro2Pro” interview, the history of the Hobgoblin is exposed, the Joker’s short-lived series, looks back at Secret Society of Super-Villains and Kobra, a Magneto biography, Luthor and Brainiac’s malevolent makeovers, interview with Secret Society artist MIKE VOSBURG, plus contributions from BYRNE, CONWAY, FRENZ, NOVICK, ROMITA JR., STERN, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MIKE ZECK!

Spotlights Kirby’s most obscure work, like an UNUSED THOR STORY, his BRUCE LEE comic, animation work, stage play, and see original unaltered versions of pages from KAMANDI, DEMON, DESTROYER DUCK, and more, including a feature examining the last page of his final issue of various series BEFORE EDITORIAL TAMPERING (with lots of surprises)! Color Kirby covers inked by DON HECK and PAUL SMITH!

Spotlights THE MAGIC OF STAN & JACK! There’s a new interview with STAN LEE, a walking tour of New York showing where Lee & Kirby lived and worked, a re-evaluation of the “Lost” FF #108 story (including a missing page that just surfaced), “What If Jack Hadn’t Left Marvel In 1970?”, plus MARK EVANIER’s regular column, a Kirby pencil art gallery, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, and more, behind a color Kirby cover inked by GEORGE PÉREZ!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships May 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships July 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JAN094556 Ships March 2009

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084397 Ships February 2009

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Ships May 2009

THE ULTIMATE MAGAZINE FOR LEGO ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL AGES! TM

BRICKJOURNAL magazine (edited by Joe Meno) is the ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages. It spotlights all aspects of the LEGO Community, showcasing events, people, and models every issue, with contributions and how-to articles by top builders worldwide, new product intros, and more. Edited by JOE MENO. Begun as a digital-only publication in 2005, the NEW PRINT VERSION (Vol. 2) of BrickJournal launched in 2008, and is available in both print and digital form. Print subscribers get the digital version FREE!

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BRICKJOURNAL #4 (Vol. 2) BRICKJOURNAL #1 (Vol. 2)

BRICKJOURNAL #2 (Vol. 2)

The ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages, showcasing events, people, and models! FULL-COLOR #1 features an interview with set designer and LEGO Certified Professional NATHAN SAWAYA, plus step-bystep building instructions and techniques for all skill levels, new set reviews, on-the-scene reports from LEGO community events, and other surprises!

This FULL-COLOR issue spotlights blockbuster summer movies, LEGO style! Go behind the scenes for new sets for BATMAN and INDIANA JONES, and see new models, including an SR-71 SPYPLANE and a LEGO CITY, plus MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATIONS, BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS, tour the ONLINE LEGO FACTORY, and more!

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Diamond Order Code: FEB088010

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BRICKJOURNAL #3 (Vol. 2) Our third FULL-COLOR print issue has LEGO Event reports from BRICKWORLD (Chicago), FIRST LEGO LEAGUE WORLD FESTIVAL (Atlanta) and PIECE OF PEACE (Japan). There's also a spotlight on the creation of our amazing cover model, built by BRYCE McGLONE, as well as interviews with ARTHUR GUGICK and STEVEN CANVIN of LEGO MINDSTORMS, to see where LEGO robotics is going! Plus step-by-step building instructions, techniques, and more!

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) • Diamond Order Code: JUN084415

FULL-COLOR issue #4 features interviews with top LEGO BUILDERS including BREANN SLEDGE (BIONICLE BUILDER), Event Reports from LEGO gatherings including BRICKFAIR (Washington, DC) and BRICKCON (Seattle, Washington), plus reports on new MINDSTORMS PROJECTS, STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS and TECHNIQUES for all skill levels, NEW SET REVIEWS, and a report on the recreation of the Chinese Olympic Village in LEGO! (80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Diamond Order Code: DEC084408

BRICKJOURNAL #5 (Vol. 2)

BRICKJOURNAL #6 (Vol. 2)

FULL-COLOR issue #5 features event reports from around the world, and the MINDSTORMS 10TH ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS! Plus an interview with the head of the LEGO GROUP’S 3D DEPARTMENT, a glimpse at the LEGO Group's past with the DIRECTOR OF LEGO'S IDEA HOUSE, instructions and spotlights on builders, and an idea section for PIRATE BUILDERS!

FULL-COLOR issue #6 goes into space, with a look at old LEGO CLASSIC SPACE SETS and a look toward the new with set designers! BRANDON GRIFFITH beams in with a look at his STAR TREK MODELS, and you'll take a tour of the DUTCH MOONBASE courtesy of MIKE VAN LEEUWEN and MARCO BAAS. There's also coverage of BRICKFEST 2009 and FIRST LEGO LEAGUE'S WORLD FESTIVAL as well as photos from TOY FAIR NEW YORK!

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Diamond Order Code: DEC084408 Ships March 2009

(80-page FULL COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 (or FREE to print subscribers) Ships June 2009

4-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTIONS: $38 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($48 First Class, $55 Canada • Elsewhere: $78 Surface, $85 Airmail)

PRINT SUBSCRIBERS GET THE DIGITAL EDITION FREE, BEFORE THE PRINT ISSUE HITS STORES!

DOWNLOAD A FREE DIGITAL EDITION OF VOL. 1, #9 NOW AT www.twomorrows.com

GET THE 9 ORIGINAL DIGITAL ISSUES! The first nine original issues of BRICKJOURNAL shown below comprise VOLUME ONE, and were released online from 2005-2007 as Digital Editions only. They’re available in PDF form for downloading now for $3.95 EACH, and #9 is FREE!

Those first nine digital-only issues that comprise Vol. 1 are finally available in PRINT FORM FOR THE FIRST TIME in our series of BRICKJOURNAL COMPENDIUMS! Each full-color trade paperback offers a wealth of information and building tips on all things LEGO! (NOTE: These are DIFFERENT ISSUES than the new ongoing print edition (Vol. 2)!

BRICKJOURNAL COMPENDIUM 1 COMPENDIUM 1 compiles the digital-only issues #1-3 (Vol. 1) of the acclaimed online magazine for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages — for the first time in printed form! It features interviews with LEGO car builder ZACHARY SWEIGART (showing his version of the timetraveling Delorean from the movie Back to the Future), JØRGEN VIG KNUDSTORP (CEO of LEGO Systems, Inc.), Mecha builders BRYCE McLONE and JEFF RANJO, paraplegic LEGO builder SCOTT WARFIELD, BOB CARNEY (LEGO castle builder extraordinaire) and RALPH SAVELSBURG (LEGO plane builder), REVEREND BRENDAN POWELL SMITH (author of the LEGO version of the Bible), NASA Astronaut Trainer KIETH JOHNSON, JAKE McKEE (Global Community Director for The LEGO Group), builder JASON ALLEMANN on recreating the spacecraft from 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, features on the BIONICLE universe, how to make your own custom bricks, plus instructions and techniques, and more!

(256-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $39.95 US • ISBN: 978-1-893905-97-9 Diamond Order Code: FEB084083 • Now shipping

BRICKJOURNAL COMPENDIUM 2 COMPENDIUM 2 compiles the digital-only issues #4-5 (Vol. 1) of the acclaimed online magazine for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages — for the first time in printed form! It features interviews with: MIKE WILDER (about using a Mindstorms robot to film a 3-D documentary) and MARK LARSON (creator of the Fabuland Housewifes online comic strip), ALBAN NANTY on his LEGO-based Star Wars® film, plus features on LEGO character sculptures, tutorials on LCad software for creating projects, an examination of LEGOLand's history, behind the scenes at a LEGO factory, building big with LEGOs (from castles and rollercoasters to ships and skyscrapers), creating custom minifigures, instructions and building techniques, and more!

(224-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 • ISBN: 9781605490021 Diamond Order Code: JUN084416 • Now shipping

BRICKJOURNAL COMPENDIUM 3 COMPENDIUM 3 compiles the digital-only issues #6-7 (Vol. 1) of the acclaimed online magazine for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages — for the first time in printed form! This FULL-COLOR book spotlights all aspects of the LEGO COMMUNITY through interviews with builders KNUD THOMSEN (builder of a LEGO city), ANTHONY SAVA (castle and dragon builder), JØRGEN VIG KNUDSTORP (CEO to the LEGO Group) and the duo ARVO (builders of many incredible models), plus features on LEGO FAN CONVENTIONS, such as BRICKFEST, LEGO WORLD (the Netherlands), and 1000STEINE-LAND (Germany), reviews and behind the scenes reports on two LEGO sets (the CAFE CORNER and HOBBY TRAIN), how to create custom minifigures, instructions and techniques, and more! Edited by JOE MENO. (224-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490069 Diamond Order Code: JAN094469 • Ships April 2009

BRICKJOURNAL COMPENDIUM 4 COMPENDIUM 4 compiles the digital-only issues #8-9 (Vol. 1) of the acclaimed online magazine for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages — for the first time in printed form! It covers a Lego art show, building a larger-than-life Yoda, an interview with LEGOLand builder GUY BAGLEY and a top LEGO Star Wars set designer, how to build a DROID STARFIGHTER, a LEGO POKÉMON character gallery, a look at the POWER FUNCTIONS electric building system, a visit to an amazing STAR WARS LEGO DISPLAY in the United Kingdom, coverage of the 75th Anniversary celebration at the LEGO headquarters in Denmark, and more! Features LEGO event reports, building instructions and techniques, and more!

Edited by JOE MENO. (256-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490199 Ships July 2009

TM

TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of LEGO. (& Comics!)

TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

NEW MODERN MASTERS VOLUMES Each book contains RARE AND UNSEEN ARTWORK direct from the artist’s files, a COMPREHENSIVE INTERVIEW, DELUXE SKETCHBOOK SECTIONS, and more!

Volume 19: MIKE PLOOG

Volume 20: KYLE BAKER

Volume 21: CHRIS SPROUSE

Volume 22: MARK BUCKINGHAM

Volume 23: DARWYN COOKE

by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Roger Ash (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490076 Diamond Order Code: SEP084304 Now shipping

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490083 Diamond Order Code: SEP084305 Ships February 2009

by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Todd DeZago (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 97801605490137 Diamond Order Code: NOV084298 Ships March 2008

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490144 Diamond Order Code: JUL088519 Ships May 2008

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $15.95 ISBN: 9781605490205 Ships June 2008

AGE OF TV HEROES Examines the history of the live-action television adventures of everyone’s favorite comic book heroes! FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER features the in-depth stories of the actors and behind-thescene players that made the classic super-hero television programs we all grew up with.

Included are new and exclusive interviews and commentary from ADAM WEST (Batman), LYNDA CARTER (Wonder Woman), PATRICK WARBURTON (The Tick), NICHOLAS HAMMOND (Spider-Man), WILLIAM KATT (The Greatest American Hero), JACK LARSON (The Adventures of Superman), JOHN WESLEY SHIPP (The Flash), JACKSON BOSTWICK (Shazam!), and many more!

Written by JASON HOFIUS and GEORGE KHOURY, with a new cover by superstar painter ALEX ROSS! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490106 Diamond Order Code: SEP084302 Rescheduled for July 2009

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EXTRAORDINARY WORKS KIRBY FIVE-OH! OF ALAN MOORE: LIMITED HARDCOVER Indispensable Edition Limited to 500 copies, KIRBY FIVE-OH! The definitive biography of the co-creator of WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA finally returns to print in a NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED VERSION! Features an extensive series of interviews with MOORE about his entire career, including a new interview covering his work since the sold-out 2003 edition of this book was published.

Includes RARE STRIPS, SCRIPTS, ART, and private PHOTOS of the author, plus a series of tribute comic strips by many of Moore’s closest collaborators, a COLOR SECTION featuring a RARE MOORE STORY (remastered, and starring MR. MONSTER), and more! Edited by GEORGE KHOURY, with a cover by DAVE McKEAN! (240-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490090 Diamond Order Code: OCT084400 Limited Hardcover Signed by Alan Moore (100 hardcover copies) $49.95 US Only available from TwoMorrows!

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JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

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BACK ISSUE! (6 issues)

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DRAW! (4 issues)

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ALTER EGO (12 issues) Six-issue subs are half-price!

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BRICKJOURNAL (4 issues)

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LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION covers the best of everything from Jack Kirby’s 50-year career in comics, including his 50 BEST STORIES, BEST COVERS, BEST EXAMPLES OF UNUSED KIRBY ART, BEST CHARACTER DESIGNS, and profiles of, and commentary by, 50 PEOPLE INFLUENCED BY KIRBY’S WORK! Plus there’s a 50-PAGE GALLERY of Kirby’s PENCIL ART, a DELUXE COLOR SECTION, a previously unseen Kirby Superman cover inked by DARWYN COOKE, and an introduction by MARK EVANIER! Includes a full-color wrapped hardcover, and an individuallynumbered extra Kirby pencil art plate not included in the softcover edition! It’s ONLY AVAILABLE FROM TWOMORROWS, and is not sold in stores! Edited by JOHN MORROW.

Reprints JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #27-30, with looks at Jack’s 1970s and ‘80s work, plus a two-part focus on how widespread Kirby’s influence is! Features rare interviews with KIRBY himself, plus Watchmen’s ALAN MOORE and DAVE GIBBONS, NEIL GAIMAN, Bone’s JEFF SMITH, MARK HAMILL, and others! See page after page of rare Kirby art, including a NEW SPECIAL SECTION with over 30 PIECES OF KIRBY ART NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED, and more!

(288-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490120 Diamond Order Code: DEC084286 Ships February 2009

(168-page Limited Edition Hardcover) (500 hardcover copies) $34.95 US Only available from TwoMorrows!

SHIPPING COSTS: Order online for exact weight-based postage, or ADD $2 PER MAGAZINE OR DVD/$4 PER BOOK IN THE US for Media Mail shipping.

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Subscriptions will start with the next available issue, but CURRENT AND OLDER ISSUES MUST BE PURCHASED AT THE BACK ISSUE PRICE (new issues ship in bulk, and we pass the savings on in our subscription rates). In the US, we generally ship back issues and books by MEDIA MAIL.

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR Volume 7

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

DRAW! (edited by top comics artist MIKE MANLEY) is the professional “HOW-TO” magazine on comics, cartooning, and animation. Each issue features in-depth INTERVIEWS and STEP-BY-STEP DEMOS from top comics pros on all aspects of graphic storytelling. NOTE: Contains nudity for purposes of figure drawing. INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS. TWO-TIME EISNER AWARD NOMINEE for Best Comics-Related Periodical.

4-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTIONS: $26 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($36 First Class, $44 Canada, $60 Surface, $72 Airmail).

DRAW! #4

DRAW! #5

DRAW! #6

Features an interview and step-by-step demonstration from Savage Dragon’s ERIK LARSEN, KEVIN NOWLAN on drawing and inking techniques, DAVE COOPER demonstrates coloring techniques in Photoshop, BRET BLEVINS tutorial on Figure Composition, PAUL RIVOCHE on the Design Process, reviews of comics drawing papers, and more!

Interview and sketchbook by MIKE WIERINGO, BRIAN BENDIS and MIKE OEMING show how they create the series “Powers”, BRET BLEVINS shows “How to draw great hands”, “The illusion of depth in design” by PAUL RIVOCHE, must-have art books reviewed by TERRY BEATTY, plus reviews of the best art supplies, links, a color section and more! OEMING cover!

Interview, cover, and demo with BILL WRAY, STEPHEN DeSTEFANO interview and demo on cartooning and animation, BRET BLEVINS shows “How to draw the human figure in light and shadow,” a step-by-step Photo-shop tutorial by CELIA CALLE, expert inking tips by MIKE MANLEY, plus reviews of the best art supplies, links, a color section and more!

(88-page magazine with COLOR) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: JAN022757

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DRAW! #8

DRAW! #10

DRAW! #11

DRAW! #12

DRAW! #13

From comics to video games: an interview, cover, and demo with MATT HALEY, TOM BANCROFT & ROB CORLEY on character design, “Drawing In Adobe Illustrator” step-by-step demo by ALBERTO RUIZ, “Draping The Human Figure” by BRET BLEVINS, a new COMICS SECTION, International Spotlight on JOSÉ LOUIS AGREDA, a color section and more!

RON GARNEY interview, step-by-step demo, and cover, GRAHAM NOLAN on creating newspaper strips, TODD KLEIN and other pros discuss lettering, “Draping The Human Figure, Part Two” by BRET BLEVINS, ALBERTO RUIZ with more Adobe Illustrator tips, interview with Banana Tail creator MARK McKENNA, links, a color section and more!

STEVE RUDE demonstrates his approach to comics & drawing, ROQUE BALLESTEROS on Flash animation, political cartoonist JIM BORGMAN on his daily comic strip Zits, plus DRAW!’s regular instructors BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY on “Drawing On LIfe”, more Adobe Illustrator tips with ALBERTO RUIZ, links, a color section and more! New RUDE cover!

KYLE BAKER reveals his working methods and step-by-step processes on merging his traditional and digital art, Machine Teen’s MIKE HAWTHORNE on his work, “Making Perspective Work For You” by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, Photoshop techniques with ALBERTO RUIZ, Adult Swim’s THE VENTURE BROTHERS, links, a color section and more! New BAKER cover!

Step-by-step demo of painting methods by cover artist ALEX HORLEY (Heavy Metal, Vertigo, DC, Wizards of the Coast), plus interviews and demos by Banana Sundays’ COLLEEN COOVER, behind-the-scenes on Adult Swim’s MINORITEAM, regular features on drawing by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, links, color section and more, plus a FREE ROUGH STUFF #3 PREVIEW!

(96-page magazine with COLOR) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC032848

(104-page magazine with COLOR) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC043007

(112-page magazine with COLOR) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY053188

(96-page magazine) SOLD OUT (96-page Digital Edition) $2.95

(88-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: OCT063824

DRAW! #16

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DRAW! #14

DRAW! #15

Features in-depth interviews and demos with DC Comics artist DOUG MAHNKE, OVI NEDELCU (Pigtale, WB Animation), STEVE PURCELL (Sam and Max), plus Part 3 of editor MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP on “Using Black to Power up Your Pages”, product reviews, a new MAHNKE cover, and a FREE ALTER EGO #70 PREVIEW!

BACK TO SCHOOL ISSUE, covering major schools offering comic art as part of their curriculum, featuring faculty, student, and graduate interviews in an ultimate overview of collegiate-level comic art classes! Plus, a “how-to” demo/ interview with B.P.R.D.’S GUY DAVIS, MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ COMIC ART BOOTCAMP series, a FREE WRITE NOW #17 PREVIEW, and more!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY073896

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG074131

Features an in-depth interview and coverage of the creative process of HOWARD CHAYKIN. From the early ’70s at DC, STAR WARS, and HEAVY METAL, to AMERICAN FLAGG and now WOLVERINE, we catch up with one of comics most innovative artist/storytellers! Also, we go behind the drawing board and animation desk with JAY STEPHENS, from JET CAT and TUTENSTEIN to his new Cartoon Network show, SECRET SATURDAYS! Then there's more COMIC ART BOOTCAMP, this time focusing on HOW TO USE REFERENCE, and WORKING FROM PHOTOS by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY. Plus, reviews, resources and more!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 Ships Summer 2008

Don’t miss our BEST OF DRAW volumes, reprinting the SOLD OUT ISSUES!

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HOW-TO BOOKS & DVDs

WORKING METHODS: COMIC CREATORS DETAIL THEIR STORYTELLING & CREATIVE PROCESSES Art professor JOHN LOWE puts the minds of comic artists under the microscope, highlighting the intricacies of the creative process step-by-step. For this book, three short scripts are each interpreted in different ways by professional comic artists to illustrate the varied ways in which they “see” and “solve” the problem of making a script succeed in comic form. It documents the creative and technical choices MARK SCHULTZ, TIM LEVINS, JIM MAHFOOD, SCOTT HAMPTON, KELSEY SHANNON, CHRIS BRUNNER, SEAN MURPHY, and PAT QUINN make as they tell a story, allowing comic fans, artists, instructors, and students into a world rarely explored. Hundreds of illustrated examples document the artists’ processes, and interviews clarify their individual approaches regarding storytelling and layout choices. The exercise may be simple, but the results are profoundly complex!

(176-page trade paperback with COLOR) $21.95 ISBN: 9781893905733 Diamond Order Code: MAR073747

HOW TO CREATE COMICS FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT

HOW TO DRAW COMICS FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT DVD

REDESIGNED and EXPANDED version of the groundbreaking WRITE NOW!/ DRAW! crossover! DANNY FINGEROTH and MIKE MANLEY show step-bystep how to develop a new comic, from script and roughs to pencils, inks, colors, lettering—it even guides you through printing and distribution, and the finished 8-page color comic is included, so you can see their end result!

PLUS: over 30 pages of ALL-NEW material, including “full” and “Marvelstyle” scripts, a critique of their new character and comic from an editor’s point of view, new tips on coloring, new expanded writing lessons, and more!

Documents two top professionals creating a comic book, from initial idea to finished art! In this feature-filled DVD, WRITE NOW! magazine editor DANNY (Spider-Man) FINGEROTH and DRAW! magazine editor MIKE (Batman) MANLEY show you how a new character evolves from scratch! Watch the creative process, as a story is created from concepts and roughs to pencils, inks, and coloring—even lettering! Packed with “how-to” tips and tricks, it’s the perfect companion to the HOW TO CREATE COMICS FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT book, or stands alone as an invaluable tool for amateur and professional comics creators alike!

(108-page trade paperback with COLOR) $13.95 ISBN: 9781893905603 Diamond Order Code: APR063422

(120-minute DVD) $29.95 ISBN: 9781893905399 Diamond Order Code: AUG043204

BUNDLE THE BOOK & DVD TOGETHER FOR JUST $35.95 (SAVE $8)

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COMICS 101: HOW-TO & HISTORY LESSONS TwoMorrows has tapped the combined knowledge of its editors to assemble How-To and History lessons including: “Figure Drawing” and “How To Break Down A Story” from DRAW!’s MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS, “Writing Tips” from WRITE NOW!’s DANNY FINGEROTH, plus ROUGH STUFF’s BOB McLEOD provides “Art Critiques” of promising newcomers! There’s even a “Comics History Crash-Course”, assembled

by ALTER EGO’s ROY THOMAS and BACK ISSUE’s MICHAEL EURY! (32-page comic book) FREE! (shipping charge applies) • Diamond Order Code: FEB070050

COMICS GO HOLLYWOOD TwoMorrows unveils secrets behind your FAVORITE ON-SCREEN HEROES, and what’s involved in taking a character from the comics page to the big screen! It includes: Storyboards from DC’s animated hit “THE NEW FRONTIER” (courtesy of DRAW! magazine)! JEPH LOEB on writing for both Marvel Comics and the Heroes TV show (courtesy of WRITE NOW! magazine)! Details on the unseen X-Men movie (courtesy of ALTER EGO magazine)! A history of the Joker from his 1940s origins to his upcoming appearance in the Dark Knight film (courtesy of BACK ISSUE! magazine)! And a look at Marvel Universe co-creator JACK KIRBY’s Hollywood career, with extensive Kirby art! So before you head to your local cineplex this summer, make sure you pick up your FREE copy of this must-have item from your local retailer on May 3, 2008!

(32-page comic book) FREE! (shipping applies) or FREE at your local comics retailer on May 3, 2008

BEST OF DRAW! VOL. 1

BEST OF DRAW! VOL. 2

Compiles tutorials, interviews, and demonstrations from DRAW! #1-2, by DAVE GIBBONS (layout and drawing on the computer), BRET BLEVINS (figure drawing), JERRY ORDWAY (detailing his working methods), KLAUS JANSON and RICARDO VILLAGRAN (inking techniques), GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY (on animation and Samurai Jack), STEVE CONLEY (creating web comics and cartoons), PHIL HESTER and ANDE PARKS (penciling and inking), and more! Cover by BRET BLEVINS!

Compiles tutorials and interviews from issues #3-4 of DRAW!, with ERIK LARSEN (savage penciling), DICK GIORDANO (inking techniques), BRET BLEVINS (drawing the figure in action, and figure composition), KEVIN NOWLAN (penciling & inking), MIKE MANLEY (how-to demo on Web Comics), DAVE COOPER (digital coloring tutorial), and more! Each artist presents their work STEP-BY-STEP, so both beginning and experienced artists can learn valuable tips and tricks along the way! Cover by KEVIN NOWLAN.

(200-page trade paperback with COLOR) $24.95 ISBN: 9781893905412 Diamond Order Code: AUG078141

(156-page trade paperback with COLOR) $17.95 ISBN: 9781893905580 Diamond Order Code: APR063421

NEW FOR 2008

COMICS ABOVE GROUND

SEE HOW YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS MAKE A LIVING OUTSIDE COMICS

BEST OF WRITE NOW! Whether you’re looking to break into the world of comics writing, or missed key issues of DANNY FINGEROTH’S WRITE NOW—the premier magazine about writing for comics and related fields—this is the book for you! THE BEST OF WRITE NOW features highlights from the acclaimed magazine, including in-depth interviews about writing from top talents, like: BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, WILL EISNER, JEPH LOEB, STAN LEE, J. M. STRACZYNSKI, MARK WAID, GEOFF JOHNS, TODD McFARLANE, PAUL LEVITZ, AXEL ALONSO, and others! There’s also “NUTS & BOLTS” tutorials, featuring scripts from landmark comics and the pencil art that was drawn from them, including: CIVIL WAR #1 (MILLAR & McNIVEN), BATMAN: HUSH #1 (LOEB & LEE), ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #47 (BENDIS & BAGLEY), AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #539 (STRACZYNSKI & GARNEY), SPAWN #52 (McFARLANE & CAPULO), GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #1 (JOHNS & VAN SCRIVER), and more! Also: How-to articles by the best comics writers and editors around, like JOHN OSTRANDER, DENNIS O’NEIL, KURT BUSIEK, STEVEN GRANT, and JOEY CAVALIERI. Professional secrets of top comics pros including NEIL GAIMAN, MARK WAID, TRINA ROBBINS, PETER DAVID, and STAN LEE! Top editors telling exactly what it takes to get hired by them! Plus more great tips to help you prepare for your big break, or simply appreciate comics on a new level, and an introduction by STAN LEE! Edited by Spider-Man writer DANNY FINGEROTH.

COMICS ABOVE GROUND features comics pros discussing their inspirations and training, and how they apply it in “Mainstream Media,” including Conceptual Illustration, Video Game Development, Children’s Books, Novels, Design, Illustration, Fine Art, Storyboards, Animation, Movies and more! Written by DURWIN TALON (author of the top-selling book PANEL DISCUSSIONS), this book features creators sharing their perspectives and their work in comics and their “other professions,” with career overviews, never-before-seen art, and interviews! Featuring: • BRUCE TIMM • BERNIE WRIGHTSON • ADAM HUGHES • JEPH LOEB

• LOUISE SIMONSON • DAVE DORMAN • GREG RUCKA AND OTHERS!

(168-page trade paperback) $19.95 ISBN: 9781893905313 Diamond Order Code: FEB042700

(160-page trade paperback with COLOR) $19.95 ISBN: 9781893905926 Diamond Order Code: FEB084082

NEW FOR 2008

NEW FOR 2008

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

TOP ARTISTS DISCUSS THE DESIGN OF COMICS

BEST OF DRAW! VOL. 3

BEST OF DRAW! VOL. 4

Compiles more of the best tutorials and interviews from DRAW! #5-7, including: Penciling by MIKE WIERINGO! Illustration by DAN BRERETON! Design

by PAUL RIVOCHE! Drawing Hands, Lighting the Figure, and Sketching by BRET BLEVINS! Cartooning

by BILL WRAY! Inking by MIKE MANLEY! Comics & Animation by STEPHEN DeSTEFANO! Digital Illustration by CELIA CALLE and ALBERTO RUIZ! Caricature by ZACH TRENHOLM, and much more!

Cover by DAN BRERETON!

More tutorials and interviews from DRAW! #8-10, spotlighting: From comics to video games with artist MATT HALEY! Character design with TOM BANCROFT and ROB CORLEY! Adobe Illustrator tips with ALBERTO RUIZ! Draping the human figure by BRET BLEVINS! Penciling with RON GARNEY! Breaking into comic strips

by GRAHAM NOLAN! Lettering by TODD KLEIN! International cartoonist JOSÉ LUIS AGREDA! Interviews with PvP’s SCOTT KURTZ and Banana Tail’s MARK McKENNA, and more! Cover by MATT HALEY!

(256-page trade paperback with COLOR) $29.95 ISBN: 9781893905917 Diamond Order Code: JAN083936

(216-page trade paperback with COLOR) $24.95 ISBN: 9781605490007 Ships May 2008

Art professor DURWIN TALON gets top creators to discuss all aspects of the DESIGN of comics, from panel and page layout, to use of color and lettering: • WILL EISNER • SCOTT HAMPTON • MIKE WIERINGO • WALT SIMONSON • MIKE MIGNOLA • MARK SCHULTZ • DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI • MIKE CARLIN • DICK GIORDANO • BRIAN STELFREEZE • CHRIS MOELLER • MARK CHIARELLO If you’re serious about creating effective, innovative comics, or just enjoying them from the creator’s perspective, this guide is must-reading!

(208-page trade paperback with COLOR) $24.95 ISBN: 9781893905146 Diamond Order Code: MAY073781

MODERN MASTERS SERIES Edited by ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON, these trade paperbacks and DVDs are devoted to the BEST OF TODAY’S COMICS ARTISTS! Each book contains RARE AND UNSEEN ARTWORK direct from the artist’s files, plus a COMPREHENSIVE INTERVIEW (including influences and their views on graphic storytelling), DELUXE SKETCHBOOK SECTIONS, and more! And don’t miss our companion DVDs, showing the artists at work in their studios!

MODERN MASTERS: IN THE STUDIO WITH GEORGE PÉREZ DVD

MODERN MASTERS: IN THE STUDIO WITH MICHAEL GOLDEN DVD

Get a PERSONAL TOUR of George’s studio, and watch STEP-BY-STEP as the fan-favorite artist illustrates a special issue of TOP COW’s WITCHBLADE! Also, see George as he sketches for fans at conventions, and hear his peers and colleagues—including MARV WOLFMAN and RON MARZ—share their anecdotes and personal insights along the way!

Go behind the scenes and into Michael Golden’s studio for a LOOK INTO THE CREATIVE MIND of one of comics' greats. Witness a modern master in action as this 90-minute DVD provides an exclusive look at the ARTIST AT WORK, as he DISCUSSES THE PROCESSES he undertakes to create a new comics series.

(120-minute Standard Format DVD) $29.95 ISBN: 9781893905511 Diamond Order Code: JUN053276

(90-minute Standard Format DVD) $29.95 ISBN: 9781893905771 Diamond Order Code: MAY073780

Volume 1: ALAN DAVIS

Volume 2: GEORGE PÉREZ

Volume 3: BRUCE TIMM

Volume 4: KEVIN NOWLAN

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905191 Diamond Order Code: JAN073903

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905252 Diamond Order Code: JAN073904

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905306 Diamond Order Code: APR042954

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905382 Diamond Order Code: SEP042971

Volume 5: GARCÍA-LÓPEZ

Volume 6: ARTHUR ADAMS

Volume 7: JOHN BYRNE

Volume 8: WALTER SIMONSON

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905443 Diamond Order Code: APR053191

by George Khoury & Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905542 Diamond Order Code: DEC053309

by Jon B. Cooke & Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905566 Diamond Order Code: FEB063354

by Roger Ash & Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905641 Diamond Order Code: MAY063444

Volume 9: MIKE WIERINGO

Volume 10: KEVIN MAGUIRE

Volume 11: CHARLES VESS

Volume 12: MICHAEL GOLDEN

by Todd DeZago & Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905658 Diamond Order Code: AUG063626

by George Khoury & Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905665 Diamond Order Code: OCT063722

by Christopher Irving & Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905696 Diamond Order Code: DEC063948

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905740 Diamond Order Code: APR074023

NEW FOR 2008

NEW FOR 2008

Volume 13: JERRY ORDWAY

Volume 14: FRANK CHO

Volume 15: MARK SCHULTZ

Volume 16: MIKE ALLRED

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905795 Diamond Order Code: JUN073926

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905849 Diamond Order Code: AUG074034

by Fred Perry & Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905856 Diamond Order Code: OCT073846

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905863 Diamond Order Code: JAN083937

MODERN MASTERS BUNDLES

NEW FOR 2008

NEW FOR 2008

Volume 17: LEE WEEKS

Volume 18: JOHN ROMITA JR.

by Tom Field & Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905948 Ships May 2008

by George Khoury & Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905955 Ships July 2008

BUNDLE THE GEORGE PÉREZ VOLUME & DVD TOGETHER, OR THE MICHAEL GOLDEN VOLUME & DVD TOGETHER

ONLY $37.95 EACH (SAVE $7 PER BUNDLE)

MODERN MASTERS VOLUMES ON MIKE PLOOG AND CHRIS SPROUSE ARE COMING IN FALL 2008 SEE OUR SUMMER CATALOG UPDATE!

“HOW-TO” MAGAZINES Spinning off from the pages of BACK ISSUE! magazine comes ROUGH STUFF, celebrating the ART of creating comics! Edited by famed inker BOB McLEOD, each issue spotlights NEVER-BEFORE PUBLISHED penciled pages, preliminary sketches, detailed layouts, and even unused inked versions from artists throughout comics history. Included is commentary on the art, discussing what went right and wrong with it, and background information to put it all into historical perspective. Plus, before-and-after comparisons let you see firsthand how an image changes from initial concept to published version. So don’t miss this amazing magazine, featuring galleries of NEVER-BEFORE SEEN art, from some of your favorite series of all time, and the top pros in the industry!

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ROUGH STUFF #1 Our debut issue features galleries of UNSEEN ART by a who’s who of Modern Masters including: ALAN DAVIS, GEORGE PÉREZ, BRUCE TIMM, KEVIN NOWLAN, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, ARTHUR ADAMS, JOHN BYRNE, and WALTER SIMONSON, plus a KEVIN NOWLAN interview, art critiques, and a new BRUCE TIMM COVER!

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ROUGH STUFF #2

ROUGH STUFF #3

ROUGH STUFF #4

The follow-up to our smash first issue features more galleries of UNSEEN ART by top industry professionals, including: BRIAN APTHORP, FRANK BRUNNER, PAUL GULACY, JERRY ORDWAY, ALEX TOTH, and MATT WAGNER, plus a PAUL GULACY interview, a look at art of the pros BEFORE they were pros, and a new GULACY “HEX” COVER!

Still more galleries of UNPUBLISHED ART

by MIKE ALLRED, JOHN BUSCEMA, YANICK PAQUETTE, JOHN ROMITA JR., P. CRAIG RUSSELL, and LEE WEEKS, plus a JOHN ROMITA JR. interview, looks at the process of creating a cover (with BILL SIENKIEWICZ and JOHN ROMITA JR.), and a new ROMITA JR. COVER, plus a FREE DRAW #13 PREVIEW!

More NEVER-PUBLISHED galleries (with detailed artist commentaries) by MICHAEL KALUTA, ANDREW “Starman” ROBINSON, GENE COLAN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, and STEVE BISSETTE, plus interview and art by JOHN TOTLEBEN, a look at the Wonder Woman Day charity auction (with rare art), art critiques, before-&-after art comparisons, and a FREE WRITE NOW #15 PREVIEW!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG063714

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV064024

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB073911

(116-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: APR063497

ROUGH STUFF #5

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NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED galleries (complete with extensive commentaries by the artists) by PAUL SMITH, GIL KANE, CULLY HAMNER, DALE KEOWN, and ASHLEY WOOD, plus a feature interview and art by STEVE RUDE, an examination of JOHN ALBANO and TONY DeZUNIGA’s work on Jonah Hex, new STEVE RUDE COVER, plus a FREE BACK ISSUE #23 PREVIEW!

Features a new interview and cover by BRIAN STELFREEZE, interview with BUTCH GUICE, extensive art galleries/commentary by IAN CHURCHILL, DAVE COCKRUM, and COLLEEN DORAN, MIKE GAGNON looks at independent comics, with art and comments by ANDREW BARR, BRANDON GRAHAM, and ASAF HANUKA! Includes a FREE ALTER EGO #73 PREVIEW!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY073902

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG074137

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Features an in-depth interview and cover by TIM TOWNSEND, CRAIG HAMILTON, DAN JURGENS, and HOWARD PORTER offer preliminary art and commentaries, MARIE SEVERIN career retrospective, graphic novels feature with art and comments by DAWN BROWN, TOMER HANUKA, BEN TEMPLESMITH, and LANCE TOOKS, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV073966

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ROUGH STUFF #9

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ROUGH STUFF #8 Features an in-depth interview and cover painting by the extraordinary MIKE MAYHEW, preliminary and unpublished art

by ALEX HORLEY, TONY DeZUNIGA, NICK CARDY, and RAFAEL KAYANAN (including commentary by each artist), a look at the great Belgian comic book artists, a “Rough Critique” of MIKE MURDOCK’s work, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB084188

Editor and pro inker BOB McLEOD features four interviews this issue: ROB HAYNES (interviewed by fellow professional TIM TOWNSEND), JOE JUSKO, MEL RUBI, and SCOTT WILLIAMS, with a new painted cover by JUSKO, and an article by McLEOD examining "Inkers: Who needs ’em?" along with other features, including a Rough Critique of RUDY VASQUEZ! (100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY084263

4-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTIONS: $26 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($36 First Class, $44 Canada, $60 Surface, $72 Airmail).

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NEW STUFF FROM TWOMORROWS!

ALTER EGO #83

BACK ISSUE #32

WRITE NOW! #19

DRAW! #17

BRICKJOURNAL #4

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, in-depth art-filled look at Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, DC’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Dagar the Invincible, Ironjaw & Wulf, and Arak, Son of Thunder, plus the never-seen Valda the Iron Maiden by TODD McFARLANE! Plus JOE EDWARDS (Part 2), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

“Tech, Data, and Hardware!” The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and GREENBERGER on DC’s Who’s Who, SAVIUK, STATON, and VAN SCIVER on Drawing Green Lantern, ED HANNIGAN Art Gallery, history of Rom: Spaceknight, story of BILL MANTLO, Dial H for Hero, Richie Rich’s Inventions, and a Spider-Mobile schematic cover by ELIOT BROWN and DUSTY ABELL!

DARK KNIGHT and SPIRIT executive producer MICHAEL USLAN on the writing process for films, Dennis O’Neil on adapting THE DARK KNIGHT movie to novel form, BRIAN BENDIS script and LEINIL YU pencils from Marvel’s SECRET INVASION #1, MAX ALAN COLLINS, MILLAR script and HITCH pencils from their run on FF, SLOTT script and McNIVEN pencils from BRAND NEW DAY, and more!

Go behind the pages of the hit series of graphic novels starring Scott Pilgrim with his creator and artist, BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY, to see how he creates the acclaimed series! Then, learn how B.P.R.D.’s GUY DAVIS works on the series, plus more Comic Art Bootcamp: Learning from The Great Cartoonists by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, reviews, and more!

FULL-COLOR issue features top LEGO BUILDERS including BREANN SLEDGE (BIONICLE), Event Reports from gatherings such as BRICKFAIR (Washington, DC) and BRICKCON (Seattle, Washington), plus reports on new MINDSTORMS PROJECTS, STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS and TECHNIQUES for all skill levels, NEW SET REVIEWS, and editor JOE MENO shows how to build a robotic LEGO Wall-E!TM

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084369

(80-page magazine) $6.95 Now shipping

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE:

HAWKMAN COMPANION

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084368

KIRBY COLLECTOR #51 Bombastic EVERYTHING GOES issue, with a wealth of great submissions that couldn’t be pigeonholed into a “theme” issue!

Includes a rare KIRBY interview, new interviews with JIM LEE and ADAM HUGHES, MARK EVANIER’s column, huge pencil art galleries, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, two COLOR UNPUBLISHED KIRBY COVERS, and more!

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 Now shipping

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR VOL. 6 Reprints KIRBY COLLECTOR #23-26 plus over 30 pieces of Kirby art never published!

(288-page trade paperback) $29.95 ISBN: 9781605490038 Now shipping

Indispensable Edition The definitive autobiographical book on ALAN MOORE in a NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED VERSION! Includes new interviews covering his work since the original 2003 edition of the book. From SWAMP THING, V FOR VENDETTA, WATCHMEN, and LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN and beyond – all are discussed by Alan. Plus, there’s RARE STRIPS, SCRIPTS, ARTWORK, and PHOTOGRAPHS, tribute comic strips by NEIL GAIMAN and other of Moore’s closest collaborators, a COLOR SECTION featuring the RARE MOORE STORY “The Riddle of the Recalcitrant Refuse” (newly remastered, and starring MR. MONSTER), and more! Edited by GEORGE KHOURY, with a cover by DAVE McKEAN! (240-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490090 Diamond Order Code: JAN088702 Ships December 2008

Go to www.twomorrows.com for FULL-COLOR downloadable PDF versions of our magazines for only $2.95! Subscribers to the print edition get the digital edition FREE, weeks before it hits stores!

Behind a fabulous CLIFF CHIANG cover, this collection documents the character’s history, and contains interviews and commentary from many who have helped Hawkman soar through the ages, including JOE KUBERT, GEOFF JOHNS, SHELLY MOLDOFF, TIMOTHY TRUMAN, JUSTIN GRAY, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, RAGS MORALES, STEPHEN SADOWSKI, DON KRAMER, BEN RAAB, TONY ISABELLA, DAN JURGENS, ROY THOMAS, STEVE LIEBER, MURPHY ANDERSON and many other top comics creators. Also included is a copious image parade, profiles on the Hawks through the ages, as well as their allies and adversaries, and a timeline of Hawkman's storied existence throughout the DC Comics Universe. With insight into the character and the creators who made him what he is, the HAWKMAN COMPANION is certain to please any Hawkfan.

Written by DOUG ZAWISZA.

Media Mail

(80-page magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL COMPENDIUM, VOLUME 1 FULL-COLOR! Compiles the first three digital-only issues of BRICKJOURNAL, the ultimate magazine for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages! Features interviews with LEGO car builder ZACHARY SWEIGART, JØRGEN VIG KNUDSTORP (CEO of LEGO Systems, Inc.), Mecha builders BRYCE McLONE and JEFF RANJO, paraplegic LEGO builder SCOTT WARFIELD, BOB CARNEY (LEGO castle builder extraordinaire) and RALPH SAVELSBURG (LEGO plane builder), REVEREND BRENDAN POWELL SMITH (author of the LEGO version of the Bible), NASA Astronaut Trainer KIETH JOHNSON, JAKE McKEE (Global Community Director for The LEGO Group), features on the BIONICLE universe, how to make your own custom bricks, instructions & techniques, and more!

(256-page trade paperback) $39.95 ISBN: 9781893905979 Diamond Order Code: FEB084083 Now shipping

(208-page trade paperback) $24.95 ISBN: 9781893905931 Now shipping

2009 SUBSCRIPTION RATES:

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • (Digital Edition) $2.95 Ships Winter 2008

MODERN MASTERS VOLUME 19: MIKE PLOOG

(120-page trade paperback with COLOR) $14.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490076 Now shipping

VOLUME 20: KYLE BAKER

(120-page trade paperback with COLOR) $14.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490083 Ships February 2008 Each features an extensive, career-spanning interview lavishly illustrated with rare art from the artist’s files, plus huge sketchbook section, including unseen and unused art!

1st Class Canada 1st Class Priority US Intl.

Intl.

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

$50

$60

$60

$84

$136

BACK ISSUE! (6 issues)

$44

$60

$70

$105

$115

DRAW! (4 issues)

$30

$40

$47

$70

$77

ALTER EGO (12 issues) Six-issue subs are half-price!

$88

$120

$140

$210

$230

BRICKJOURNAL (4 issues)

$38

$48

$55

$78

$85

For the latest news from TwoMorrows Publishing, log on to www.twomorrows.com/tnt

TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com