Thing sketchbook, part 21

I've been waiting to show off my new Thing sketchbook for quite a while. I call it new even though I've had it for over three years already - but it's newer than the one I've been filling up since 2003, at any rate. Once I finished posting art from the first book, it finally gave me the opportunity to start sharing these new-ish sketches of Ben Grimm.

This new book is both smaller than the first and more art-worthy; its square pages measure 5.5x5.5 and the paper is both thicker and more archival than the first. Now I don't have to worry as much about one person's drawings bleeding onto the next page (though I still carry something to put under each newly-drawn page as it's being worked on). And while I'll always have a special place in my heart for the first sketchbook, I've found that a smaller working area allows artists an opportunity to spend a little more time making a great sketch and less worrying about filling up all that space of the first book. It creates pages that feel a little more full!

This book has 128 pages in it, which means that it'll take me, like, 15 more years to fill it up at the rate I usually get sketches. That's daunting. Maybe I'll be dead before it's finished! Wouldn't that be something! Anyway, let's take a look at the first five sketches from this new book.

Lonny Chant - New York Comic Con 2016

Lonny is a friend who I know from books like FUBAR; we've worked on a few stories together and I think he's a tremendous artist. NYCC was the first place I took the new book after buying it in 2016, and I'm happy to have this gritty Ben Grimm as the first image in the book.

In the last book, I eventually got another friend to draw something on the inside front cover, which came blank. This new book has a lot of writing on its inside front cover, so I doubt I'll be getting any art on it...though I guess you never know.

Erica Henderson - New York Comic Con 2016

Erica Henderson is probably best known for her work on different Archie titles and Squirrel Girl for Marvel. I walked through artist alley at NYCC with the hope of getting one more sketch for the book's initial run. I really like Erica's blocky, cartoony art - it's perfect for the Thing!

Tim Showers - 2017

After filling up a good portion of the first sketchbook, I would get nervous taking it with me and leaving it with artists while they worked on it (or added it to their to-do lists). The book represented years of effort and I worried a lot about losing it! Once I got the new book, I realized that I didn't have to have the same emotional attachment to it while it was still in its early stages. This was an opportunity for me to not just leave the book for longer periods, but to actually stick the dang thing in the mail and send to various folks to put their own stamp on it.

The first to take up this offer was Tim Showers, a friend I met when I lived in South Carolina; he and I were at a few XCon World shows and I really liked his hip, graffiti-esque artwork. I contacted Tim in early 2017 and he was up to the task. I love the "4" symbol in this one.

Caroline Moore - 2017

Caroline has been a friend of mine since high school, and is a really skilled photographer and graphic designer. She had drawn the Thing for me on a loose sheet of paper before, but I'm happy to get this meme-worthy official entry into the new book. I think I took a drive to her house just to pass off and pick up the book. Was it self-serving? Yes. But I got a Thing sketch out of it. It's a win.

Kurt Belcher - 2017

Kurt is my Naked Man at the Edge of Time collaborator and an all-around good guy. I mailed him the book and he sent back this, dare I say it, Two-in-One sketch with the Thing and Lockjaw. I don't know what it is about it, but I really like the trunks that you can see at the very bottom of the sketch. I guess it's because most artists don't draw ol' Benjy below the shoulders. This one was very fun. And yes, it was getting tough to let the art book out of my sight once I got the first five entries.

I've managed to get a bit of a head start on this new book, so I'll try to update these entries again soon. It's a new Thing sketchbook!

All Star FUBAR!

There's a new volume of FUBAR coming your way soon! All Star FUBAR is scheduled to arrive in comic shops around the end of the month. Did you know this series made it on the New York Times bestsellers list? Have I mentioned that before? I will bring it up until I die, I imagine. Until I die and come back as a terrifying zombie, still talking about that NY Times mention.

This new volume features a knockout cover by Matt Smith, as you can see above. I'm happy to once again be the story editor on this 200-page collection.

In addition to lettering a handful of the stories in this book, I got to write one about Gilgamesh, which is the oldest known surviving story on the planet. The original story has threads in it about the search for life after death, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to add a little horror to the concept. This story has some art from Kurt Belcher.

The volume also publishes a few stories that haven't been collected before, including one of my favorites, "Takin' Care of Business", with art by Rob Croonenborghs.

It also collects, for the first time, "Eat It", my "Weird Al" Yankovic tribute, with art by Jim McMunn and Jeff McComsey.

All Star FUBAR brings back a lot of the creators you've come to expect under McComsey's wing, such as Eric Esquivel, Jennie Wood, Shawn Aldridge, plus some new contributors like fellow Tick friends Benito Cereno and Tony Sedani. You can find copies at your local comic shop starting April 25th, and soon after online directly from Alterna here:

https://www.alternacomics.com/product-page/fubar-all-star

...and from Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/FUBAR-All-Star-Jeff-McComsey/dp/1945762144

The Naked Man at the Edge of Time: Homecoming

The Naked Man lives!  Last month, a friend put a Facebook group called "The Prompt" together, the purpose of which was to create one page stories based on a single theme.  It was a fun idea so I threw my figurative hat into the ring (don't want to waste literal hats) and teamed up once again with Naked Man co-creator Kurt Belcher to create a new story about our favorite nude time traveler.

The theme for this first prompt was "going home".  I probably copped out and went with the most obvious title that there was, but nevertheless I'm happy with the results.  Joining us this time around was inker Silas Dixon and colorist Tomas Marijanovic, all the way from sunny (?) Australia.    The new guys did a great job.  The story may be published this year in an anthology if all goes well, but here's the finished product to read no matter what happens to it.

If nothing else, I got to use the phrase "nude yourself" in a story, so I can mark that one off the list.  I hope you enjoy this short story!

Original art alert! Naked Man at the Edge of Time, FUBAR, FF color guides and more!

I landed a few items of original art recently, so I might as well share 'em with the world.  And you, faithful reader.

First on the docket we have a few pages of pencil work from The Naked Man at the Edge of Time, our soon (for real) from...me.  These pages were drawn by Kurt Belcher, and they turned out really nice.  I picked a couple pages from the issue, notably this one, featuring...

...pants.  What a great word.

Kurt sent over some preliminary art as well as the final pencils.  The above page is an early version, in which the background was eventually replaced by what's below:

This artwork is on 8.5x11 inch paper...which means if I choose to frame it, it'll be a cinch.

Next up is art I own...of me.  Hooray for narcissism!  This piece by Steve Becker was drawn as a FUBAR Kickstarter reward a while back.  I finally got a chance to get the original art when I visited Jeff McComsey to pick up some books to take to Comic-Con.

A striking resemblance...minus the beard.  I'm thinking of hanging this in my office or something, just to confuse people.

Lastly, I got in a few more color guides that I enjoy so much (apparently).  I stuck, of course, with the Fantastic Four, but I branched out into some other books that (ah hem) featured members of the FF.  The cream of the crop is undoubtedly this one:

It's actually a page from an issue of Peter Parker: Spider-Man from the mid-2000s.  I remember reading the issue this came from and being a bit surprised, because the Thing wasn't in the book at all until the last page, and he didn't really serve to move the story along at all.  Spider-Man finishes his adventure and then HEY!  There's the Thing.  What I'm trying to say is, all books should end in this manner.

The next color guide comes from Fantastic Four #362, the second page I've got from this issue.  It's got that little guy from the Innerverse (or whatever) and three quarters of the FF.

The last one I bought is a page from The Avengers, from the time that Reed and Sue took some time away from the Fantastic Four and ended up with the Avengers for a few issues.  This page also has some decent images of Thor, Captain America and, hanging uncomfortably upside down, Firelord.

Okay, one more.  This isn't art, but it's close.  I got a Mego Thing in really nice shape.  It goes into the permanent collection, which includes everything I've ever bought.  It's not a very exclusive club.

Magic Bullet #6: The Naked Man!

Lost in the shuffle of Free Comic Book Day and other such festivities is news that a new issue of DC Conspiracy's Magic Bullet is out!  Issue 6 of the Washington, DC-area free comic newspaper in on stands now, and it features an oversized, one-page comic written by me that you can read by clicking the image above.

My entry is titled "The Naked Man at the Edge of Time", and it's drawn by Kurt Belcher with inks by Jonathan Brandon Sawyer and greyscales by Tom Ziuko.  It's about a guy who time travels, but has to do so naked.  That's...pretty much all you need to know about it.  I got the idea while reading an issue of Dark Horse Presents, specifically a story titled "The Marked Man".  I just glanced over the title and had to look at it again, because I mistook "Marked" for "Naked".  Who knows what kind of Freudian analysis that conjures, but let's just take it for what it's worth.  Anyway, I thought the idea was funny, so here we are.

The whole issue turned out really well, if I can say so.  I love the format and I love the idea of a bunch of creators getting together to work on something of this scale.  It's pretty neat.

Also in the issue, FUBAR bigwig Steve Becker gets inadvertently name-dropped in a story...about...heck, it's a comedy story about a time traveler.  Oh well.

This issue also features an ad for Franks and Beans!  That's right, we convinced someone to actually advertise for our Internet show.  I'm sure this will drive viewership through the roof...I mean, if it wasn't already.  THE ROOF, I TELL YOU!

I do have plans to do more with the Naked Man.  Okay, that sounds a little weird, but you know what I mean, right?  The Naked Man idea.  That doesn't sound any better.  Whatever, there are still plans for a full length (that sounds bad in this context as well) story later this year.  I'll post updates...whenever.

Visit the Magic Bullet website here: http://magicbulletcomics.blogspot.com

You can even buy a copy of this issue for your very own self.  It's only 99 cents!  http://dcconspiracy.storenvy.com/products/1352276-magic-bullet-6

This comic strip will make its way onto the webcomics section of this site.  Look for more soon!

A new photo shoot; new Magic Bullet; Thing vs. Hulk; Franks and Beans and more!

- I think I'll just post the above picture to all of my blogs, or on anything I publish, anywhere.  That way when readers see it, I'll create a level of intimacy by virtue of my gentle staring from in front of a wall of comic books.  That's soothing, right?  A picture of Jeff McClelland looking at you from a comic shop?

This image is part of a project being undertaken by my friend Vicki, who is creating a portfolio of images of people doing what they do at work.  Apparently, I stand around reading comics, which is terrifyingly close to real-life truth.  You should all check out Vicki's website here: http://morisuphoto.blogspot.com/

The picture was taken at McMurray's Pittsburgh Comics.  On the wall behind me is a copy of IDW's Hawken by Ben and Tim Truman.  I wish I had a segue for my next item, but, oh well.

- Oh, look!  It's IDW's Hawken by Ben and Tim Truman!  Both gentlemen have contributed to FUBAR at one time or another, and now the crossover runs the other way, too, as Jeff McComsey (layouts, colors), Dominic Vivona (pencils) and Steve Becker (inks) put together the above incentive cover for Hawken #3, which is on sale very soon!  The book is a western horror tale and it's worth picking up.  So pick it up!

- I initially thought that the above strip (of which I'm showing just part) would be appearing in the soon-to-be-released Magic Bullet #4, but it now looks like it instead will be part of issue 5.  It continues with the theme of one page stories that the publication is becoming known for; its title is "The Naked Man at the Edge of Time".  The story deals with a naked time traveler.  And yes, that's Gandhi in panels 2 and 3.  My apologies, India...I know that you can be sensitive about that sometimes.

Art for this story, which was very fun to produce, is by Kurt Belcher (pencils) and Jon Sawyer (inks).  I'll post more once the publication date draws near.

- A little while ago, I posted some initial art from a Charles Atlas ad parody that Duane Redhead and I were working on.  As you can see, there's been more progress on this front, as the monster design as been tweaked and an old-time coloring scheme has been added by Rafer Roberts.  I've got the text just about done, and then the page is off to be rendered.  It's turning out very well so far, in my nowhere near objective opinion.

- One of the reasons the Thing is better than the Hulk is because the Thing isn't just some raging, mindless brute.  He's a tough guy who knows how to fight, but he's also no dummy.  The above image is just further proof of that.  My friend Mike Adams took my suggestion for "the Thing beating up the Hulk" (which I suggest often) and put this piece together.  Great work, Mike, and finally, some truth!

- A few interesting website stats caught my eye recently.  First up is this phrase that I found among search terms; that is, someone (obviously I don't know who) found this blog by typing in the phrase "teddy and the yeti promo card 1 price".  If, by some stroke of fortune, that person is reading this post, let me say this: I...I don't charge anything for the promo card.  Seriously, if you reply to this post with a comment, I'll send you one.  For free!  I will.

Now that I sit back and think on this for a moment, another explanation might be that the person searching got a card at a convention and is looking to see if it's worth any money.  Hrumph.  That would be the less desirable explanation of the two.  So I refuse to believe it.

The next interesting search term is above.  Someone found this blog by searching for fellow Franks and Beans collaborator Larry Franks, and we know this person was looking for our Larry, because they even added information on the city and state.  That's weird.  Larry, are you searching for yourself online?  You know I plug www.franksandbeansonline.com all the time.  See?  I did it again!

- Lastly, and speaking of Franks and Beans, here's the highly (?) anticipated and painstakingly produced 54th episode of the probably hilarious Internet comedy show.  Seriously, we worked a long time on this and our entry to the Comic-Con film festival.  I'd like to think that this is one of our better ones.  You watch and decide!  That was not a suggestion.