SDCC Links

I suppose it's obvious, but if you lack the Holmesian eyes of Chuck Rozanski your not going to understand SDCC by being there. I got to read about every booth and presentation and watch video here in my studio. I'm sorry I didn't make it, but for the first time I feel like I know what happened.

If you are Chuck Rozanski, owner of Mile High Comics and Rowan's dad, you've got the intellect and drive to find out what did happen. Worth reading. Insights on the different groups at CC, and how they did:

As is my annual tradition, I spent two hours walking the aisles of the huge San Diego Comic-Con International this afternoon. My goal in this annual exercise is to gain some sort of perspective on not only the convention, but also the current state of our culture. What I discovered this year is that the convention has morphed into a venue where otherwise impoverished fans seek to gain personal power by being the first to 'Twitter', or otherwise contact their friends through online social-networking, about the latest entertainment news. I realize that this sounds a bit ridiculous, but it is clearly evident today that a great many of the fans who are attending the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International are already completely broke...

I'm a feminist, so I took great interest in the "Sin to Win" Booth Babe controversy. Here are the basics, and here's some response from some Booth Babes. I take great pride that ten or fifteen years ago, most of the women in costume at US comic conventions were paid models, but most are now volunteer hobbyists. The nice women who sewed their Lara Croft and Power Girl costumes won't come back if they're not having fun. We all know some geeks who don't know how to act around girls, let 'em know if they're out of line.

It looks like it wasn't the debacle I expected. Huzzah for us geeks!:

On the other hand, given that it seemed that no one had entered as of our last post on the subject, perhaps there was less to worry about from Comic-Con goers than one might have imagined. Score one for the human race, I guess.

You're still here after my etiquette lecture? You get a prize! Here's my initial concept sketches of Peter Rook from Bill Willingham's Backroads. I decided that the armored girdle and kilt hid too much of his modern clothing, destroying his identity. I get rid of that. Also, having faces on his knees distracted from his real face. A classic "My face is up here" problem. Simplified those and got rid of the eyes. Enjoy.

Translation fun

A friend of mine gave birth in Spain (congrats, Darth Cita!). I've been trying to keep track using Yahoo! Babel Fish, but it's far from ideal.

Here's a note of congratulations from another Spanish friend, Irma, to Cita:

Hola current mama! No he podido pasarme por el hospital, y me dijeron que te soltaban hoy. Dime si te va bien algun dia para pasar por casa o algo para ver al enano, que yo ando de descanso!

Here's the Babel Fish translation:

Hello current sucks! I have not been able to pass me through the hospital, and they said to me that they loosen to you today. It tell me it goes if you someday or to pass through house or something to see the dwarf, that I walk of I rest!

The greeting is a bit rude, and I want to know who this dwarf is. Tut tut, Irma!

Totally different subject. Blackest Night #2 is out with my Star Sapphire story. Here, finally, is the interior art panel I'm most proud of this year (click to see a larger image):

Back Roads with Bill Willingham

I'll keep this short and sweet. I am starting work on a new book at IDW with Bill Willingham. He is my favorite living writer who isn't a bearded Englishman. I've been dying to work with him since I first read Death Duel With The Destroyers, and the urge only grew with every new project of his I've laid mitts on. Elementals. Clockwork Storybook. Down the Mysterly River. Coventry. Proposition Player. And of course, you all know Fables. Track them down, they're worth the hunt.

He's a genius storyteller who loves his craft, whether it's prose novels, comic books, or just entertaining a bunch of drunks in a San Diego hotel bar. Every time, he gets better and better. Very few start off so brilliant and maintain geometric growth.

As with my Alan Moore work, I'll give my all to make the artwork worthy of the story. I hope you like what I draw. I know you'll love what he writes.

No SDCC

Looks like I won't make the San Diego Comic-Con International this year. They should still be announcing the very exciting secret project there though. I'm working on what I'm hoping to be my most kick ass pinup image ever for the kickoff.

I want to use all the skills I've developed since Top 10 Season 1 to make my greatest project ever. Comics are expensive: they should be worth the price.