finally complete: the Andromeda Jones cover

Karin Rindevall dropped this in my e-mail today - it's the final version of the Andromeda Jones cover that has been a work years in progress, and it's truly an international collaboration.  Those who've worked on it have been from North America, Asia and Europe.  Pencils for this beauty are by Chris Whetzel, inks by Alan Gallo, colors by Karin Rindevall and the background image by Jason Moser.  I think it's one of the nicest pieces of art I've ever been involved with.  The final logo for the cover is below...all in all it'll look very nice in print.

The slow, (relatively) steady progress of Andromeda Jones

A few weeks ago, Karin Rindevall sent me the colored version of this Andromeda Jones pinup/cover.  It's been a long time coming but it's not quite finished just yet.  Chris Whetzel pencilled this about eight years ago (eight!) and I recently sent it to Alan Gallo to ink it...I'm planning on using it as a back cover for Teddy and the Yeti #5.  I've got a background option for it - an image of deep space Jason Moser put together for me probably around the same time Whetzel's pencils were originally done, but I'm not sure how that'll come together (a blank background might work better in any case).  Hopefully it won't take eight more years for us to see further adventures of Andromeda Jones.

Andromeda Jones by Whetzel and Gallo, X-Men: First Class review, the Mourning Star and More!

- A little while ago I posted a pinup of Andromeda Jones by Chris Whetzel that I had forgotten about for a number of years.  I decided to actually do something with it and, if nothing else, have a finished piece of art, so I shipped it off to Alan Gallo to ink it...and he came back at me with just a fantastic rendering.  The original file wasn't of optimal resolution, but Alan really kicked it's butt completely.

The next step is to get it colored, which will hopefully happen soon.

- I went to see X-Men: First Class on Friday, and like a lot of people I was pleasantly surprised with how good the movie actually was.  There's one trailer that compares it to The Dark Knight, which is just a ridiculous claim, but it was still very enjoyable and right up there, in my opinion, with the second X-Men movie (which was the last even remotely good one before Friday).  It's a shame that Marvel is doing next to nothing to promote this movie.

I did go through the entire movie thinking that the "Azazel" character was just a renamed Belasco, but Newsarama tells me that he was actually from the comic, as well.

- Paul Tucker has been going over in some detail the process he went through to put the new "Oh! The Horror!" cover together on his website, including thumbnails, the title design and the above pencilled piece.  If you haven't yet, check out Paul's site at http://tuckercomics.blogspot.com/.  It's great.

A few days ago, I got the second volume of Kazimir Strzepek's The Mourning Star in the mail, and I am extra excited to break into it.  I bought the first book at a tiny comic festival in Olympia, Washington when I spent a summer a few years ago in nearby Shelton.  I absolutely love the first volume, which was nominated for an Eisner award.  It still doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, so I wanted to mention it here.

I bought the book for $13 from Bodega Distribution and got free shipping!  Anyone who's reading this (BOTH OF YOU!) should literally run right out and buy it today.  I mean, literally.  Put your shoes on!

- And lastly, because I apparently have to end with some kind of Franks and Beans reference/update, have you ever said to yourself, "where can I get a copy of that 'beard arrow' thing that I saw on that episode of Franks and Beans, my favorite irreverent Internet sketch comedy show of all time?"  I'm just saying, lots of words are said every day and eventually, even if at random, those words will be uttered in the proper sequence.

Regardless, on the main Franks and Beans website I've uploaded a few things recently, including the famous "Beard Arrow" graphic from the extended episode "Irony", as well as the great "Cha-Ching!" graphic from our most recent episode, "The Education Lottery Lottery Education", which is a more clever name than you could have come up with.  For real.

More Andromeda Jones

My last post about Andromeda Jones, in the matter of two weeks, became the most-viewed post in this blog's entire history (take that, Pop Culture Connection!).  While this is most certainly because my friend (and yours) Ruben Cordero put a link to it on his Twitter page, which was then re-tweeted by Todd Nauck, artist of the page I wrote about, I nonetheless feel that it is my duty to kowtow to the masses by showing more Andromeda Jones art.  Some of this is ages old and some of it is newer, but almost all of it is going to be printed sooner rather than later.

One of the things I like about Teddy and the Yeti is that it gives me the opportunity to print other short stories that otherwise don't have an outlet, and Andromeda Jones is the best example of this that I have.  I printed the five-page "Message in a Bottle" story, with art by Ryan Stegman, in issue #1 because I had been sitting on it and trying to do something with it for what seemed like forever.  And wouldn't you know it, I actually got mail that mentioned the story.

At the time, the Todd Nauck one-page story was the only usable sequential art that I had at my disposal, so to make it worthwhile for a future T&Y issue, I wrote another short story to appear with it - a three-page deal that artist Nick Acs and colorist Paul Little worked on.  The first page for that story is at the top of this post, and I think it turned out well.

I then went looking through my old files and found some other art that I had almost forgotten about, such as this pinup by Chris Whetzel.  I'm currently having this inked and colored and I plan to use it as the back cover for the issue the two stories are printed in, just like how Teddy and the Yeti #2 had a back Mr. Massive cover (coincidentally by Todd Nauck).

It should be noted that I've since changed the character's costume to make it a little less skimpy (or otherwise known as "just like every other female comic book character's costume", which I've tried to break away from), but hey, you work with what you have.  It looks nice in any case.

There are a few other pieces of art that I'm holding onto, such as the above pinup by Eric Pugh and the sketch below by Jeff Lafferty, but I don't have any hard and fast plans for either right now.

The Todd Nauck story, the Nick Acs story and the Chris Whetzel back cover will probably show up in Teddy and the Yeti #5 or #6, wherever it works out best.  It almost feels like spring cleaning, finally showing these things the light of day.