Thing sketchbook, part 11

The legend of the Thing sketchbook continues to grow.  The trip to Comic-Con brought the numbers up quite a bit.  Now I've got five more sketches to show and others waiting in the wings.  Hope you enjoy!

Antonio Crespo - Pittsburgh Comicon 2012

I've worked with Antonio on a couple projects to date and have chatted with him online, but I was able to meet him in person at the Pittsburgh Comicon this past April.  Tony showed up on the Sunday and deftly grabbed an empty table to set up shop.  I think he made more in a few hours selling his prints than I made in the entire day!  He was also nice enough to add this beauty to the sketchbook.  A full body shot!  I don't have too many of those, and I certainly don't have many that live up to this level of detail or skill.

Tim Seeley - XCon Myrtle Beach 2012

Hack/Slash introduced me to writer/artist Tim Seeley, but he's taken on a number of different projects in the past few years.  I saw him once again at XCon in Myrtle Beach, and I was finally able to add a Thing sketch from him this year.  He took the artist's challenge and quite nicely cleaned up some of the bleed through from the previous sketch.  As always, the blue eyes are a nice touch.

Jonathan Hickman - XCon Myrtle Beach 2012

Jonathan Hickman is currently nearing the end of his successful run on Fantastic Four and FF, so of course, given the chance, I had to get him to add something to a sketchbook starring the FF's strongman.  Hickman is better known for his writing, but he's also a heck of an artist.  This is one of the more unique images in the book, and it's one of my favorite as well.

Ben Edlund - Comic-Con International 2012

According to Ben Edlund, this is the first time he's ever drawn the Thing.  That means I love this even more!  Edlund is best known as the creator of the Tick, but he's had a great number of successes outside of the comic industry as well, including involvement in Firefly, Venture Bros., and most recently the show Supernatural.  He's also one of my industry heroes, so it was so incredibly satisfying to add a Thing sketch by him into the book.  As if this isn't jealousy-inducing enough, I also got a Tick sketch on a backing board.  What a great haul!  And yes, he shouted "Look I'm a monster!" as he wrote the words. Awesome.

Bob Polio - Comic-Con International 2012

Bob Polio is the art director for New England Comics, publisher of the Tick comic - and he has been since the book's inception.  He added this classic cigar-smokin' Thing to the sketchbook almost immediately after Ben Edlund drew his version.  Bob's also a baseball historian of sorts who loves the old Boston Braves.  We chatted baseball at length during the show - and as anyone who knows me understands, once I get started, it's tough for me to hit the brakes.  I was glad to meet a fellow fan of both the Tick and baseball.


Okay, that's five, so we'll take a break.  But there are more to come!  So you can rest easy, America.

Thing sketchbook, part 10

It's pretty astounding that I've now got over 50 sketches in my Thing sketchbook...the recent Pittsburgh Comicon put it over the top.  I'm now past the halfway mark in my book.  Woo!  Now that I've got more to show, here are entries 46-50.

Patrick Block - Pittsburgh Comic & Collectibles Show 2011



Fellow Pittsburgher Patrick Block has spent years drawing Donald Duck and similar characters for pretty much whomever has the Disney comic book license at any given time. When I asked him to draw in this book, I guessed that I might see the Thing as a duck when I got it back. Instead I got a great, classic shot of the Thing with a no-doubt Uncle Scrooge reference to boot. The detail - all the money floating around - makes this sketch an instant classic.

Daniel Leister - Pittsburgh Comic & Collectibles Show 2011



Daniel Leister regularly draws the book "Hack/Slash" for Image comics, and every time I see him I feel like I'm pestering him (or fellow creator Tim Seeley) to take a look at my work. They probably hate me. But Daniel drew this confident-looking Thing at the very end of the show in no time flat.




I handed him the book without much explanation, and as I went back to my table, I thought, "did I even mention that every sketch in here is of the Thing?" It would have been terrifying to open the book up to see 47 sketches of the Thing and one of something - anything - else. But what I got was basically a clinic on how to draw the character.

Brittany Michel - Pittsburgh Comicon 2012



Brittany Michel draws the webcomic "Snow By Night" (www.snowbynight.com), and she recently had the title of "person next to me at the Pittsburgh convention". She's got a great fantasy style and I was impressed by all of the little character drawings she had in her sketchbook. Some deft haggling got me this great, unique Thing sketch. Love the smile.

Stephen Lindsay - Pittsburgh Comicon 2012



Stephen Lindsay created the book "Jesus Hates Zombies" and - little known fact! - came up with the title for the FUBAR books that I'm involved in. He also has tattoos of the Hot Dog Knights from Adventure Time, which puts him right up there in my book. I tossed the sketchbook at him on the first day of the show, and he came back with a drawing of the Thing with nipples. That's a first for the book, and as such I like it.

George Perez - Pittsburgh Comicon 2012



George Perez is a longtime fan favorite comic book artist who drew the main Fantastic Four title (as well as Marvel Two-in-One) in the 1970s. During his time on the book, the Thing lost his powers and reverted to plain ol' Ben Grimm. The solution to this problem? Reed built him a Thing suit and business resumed pretty much as usual. I did my best to push George in the "Thing suit" direction and eventually my prodding paid off. What a great piece by a classic artist.

That's all for now.  I'll hopefully be adding a few more entries at conventions later in the year, so stay tuned for more great sketches of the Thing!

Teddy and the Yeti cameo in "War of the Independents"!

Yesterday at Pittsburgh Comics, I picked up the first issue of Dave Ryan's War of the Independents, an ambitious crossover event with independent comic characters galore from dozens of different publishers.  Dave first previewed the book at the 2010 New York Comic Con, and the first part of this miniseries is now out in comic shops everywhere.

As I made my way to the back of the issue, I came to the following spread:

There are a lot of recognizable characters to be seen - Bone, Hack/Slash, the Tick, Ms. Monster, Todd Nauck's Wildguard, Digital Webbing's Fist of Justice...oh, and if you look near the top left corner, you'll see the Yeti!

I knew that Teddy and the Yeti would be making an appearance in this book at some point, but I didn't know it'd be so soon.  The image is taken from Jorge Correa's cover to T&Y issue #3 - it seems that there was a lot of cutting and pasting when it came to characters in this shot.

This won't be the last appearance of either Ted or the Yeti in this series - I'm told that they'll both have a part in issue #3 and, if I'm remembering correctly, we'll see them in issue #6 as well.  So check for this at your local comic shop...if you can't find it, I'll try to get some ordering info to pass along.  Issue #2 arrives this December!

XCon World 2011

I've just made arrangements to make an appearance at the fourth installment of XCon World, a small comic convention in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Last year's show was fun and the atmosphere was relaxed...so if you're in the area, stop by and check it out.  There'll be a number of cool guests there like the FF's Jonathan Hickman, Space Ghost's C. Martin Croker and Hack/Slash's Tim Seeley...plus me, with the last few con copies of FUBAR volume 2 for sale on Earth.

Plus the beach is there.  And it's still warm even though it takes place near the end of October.  Not that the beach is the only reason to go, but...the beach.  It's there.

The convention is a two-day affair, taking place on Saturday, October 22nd from 10:00-7:00 and Sunday, the 23rd from 10:00-4:00.  XCon's website with more info is here: http://www.xconworld.info/index.html

Q&A with Hack/Slash's Tim Seeley, part 2

My interview with Hack/Slash co-creator Tim Seeley concludes today.  This time around we'll discuss his new Ant-Man & Wasp miniseries at Marvel, and ending for Hack/Slash, and yes...of course...He-Man!  Well, kind of, anyway.  Read the first half of the interview here!

JM: The first part of the Ant-Man & Wasp miniseries is currently in stores.  What do you hope to accomplish with this series?


TS: I just approached it as a chance to tell a really fun, very "Marvel" superhero  book.  Marvel characters are great because they're often flawed guys trying to do better.  They're just like the rest of us.

JM: To me, Hank Pym has always been a very unlikable character and Eric O'Grady has been misused since his own series was cancelled.  It just seems to me like no one knows to to really do with either character.  Is it really that difficult to make these two appealing?


TS: To me, Hank's lack of likability comes from the way he's been used, but there's nothing inherently bad about him.  He's a cool character...the ultimate scientist with a whole bunch of flaws and ever more colorful costumes.  I just have to focus on those aspects.  Eric is a jerk, but is likable because he's hilariously immoral.

JM: Is Hack/Slash a book you hope to see continue in an open-ended fashion, or do you have an ending in mind?


TS: I have an ending!  But I won't get to it any time soon.

JM: Lastly, name at least one things you liked about the Masters of the Universe movie.


TS: One thing?  But there's so many!  Frank Langella as Skeletor, though - that's the best part.  Even if you hate the movie, you gotta admit that he is one awesome bad guy.

Q&A with Hack/Slash's Tim Seeley, part 1

Hack/Slash recently made a high-profile switch from Devil's Due to Image Comics, and following the just-concluded My First Monster miniseries, the action/horror book relaunches with a new #1 in the next few month.  Co-creator Tim Seeley took some time to answer some of my questions about Hack/Slash, some of his other comic work, and the Masters of the Universe, of which Seeley is a big fan.

JM: You might be best known for your creator-owned work with Hack/Slash, but you also manage to do a bit of the work-for-hire as well.  How do you compare the two?  Can they both peacefully co-exist?


TS: Because I write and draw, it's tough to get hired to do both.  So, I originally created H/S for me to write, and then I whore myself out to get art jobs for the bigger companies.  Doing both evens out to a better paycheck for me.  I live in Chicago...it's expensive here!

JM: You often work with other artists when creating Hack/Slash.  As an artist yourself, do you find it difficult turning over your creation to someone who might have another, different vision?  How much input do you have in the design or "look" of a book when you're not also the one drawing it?


TS: Well, because I draw, I know how much I hate some overbearing writer type crawling up my butt.  So, I pick artists whom I trust, and let 'em do their own thing.  I'm rarely disappointed, so it must be doing it right.

JM: Conversely, what are some of the challenges of drawing from someone else's script, as with a book like Exiles?


TS: In general, I find working from other writers' scripts to be totally educational.  With Exiles, I was looking at a Chris Claremont script, and obviously that's a guy with some solid credentials.  The learning makes it more fun, I think.

I'll post the second half of the interview in the next few days.  Watch for it soon!

Public Financing

I recently got a message promoting the upcoming miniseries "War of the Independents" (a play on words, I get it!), which is a big crossover event featuring lots of independent creations.  If you look at the image above you'll see some fairly big names on the independent circuit: Savage Dragon, Zot!, Hack/Slash, Kade...oh, and hey!  Ms. Monster in the top right.  I'm not quite sure how this all came together (or how many permissions the people working on this had to get), but it seems like a pretty cool idea.

The message included a link to the website Kickstarter, which allows people to raise money for various causes - in this case, the creators are looking for funding to create the project and are asking the Internet comic community at large.  I'm not sure how I feel about something like this.  I mean, if someone wants to ask for money for a project, then he or she is more than welcome, and if someone is willing to drop a few dollars in the cyber hat, then all the better.  But I don't think it's something I'd ever do with Teddy and the Yeti.  Maybe I just want to keep the creation process as simple as I can, or maybe I just want to focus on putting the book out and not asking for donations.

In any case, there's a tiered structure that awards several "prizes" based on how much one donates.  Donations start at $5.00 and go all the way to $350, which gets you a bunch of things including the miniseries, a page or original art from the series and - oh yeah - a cameo appearance by characters of the donor's creation.  It's a unique concept.  I'd be happy - naturally - to get Teddy and the Yeti in this book (hell, almost any book), but it's not something I want to spend $350 on.  For that price I could get a top-rate cover for the book or a bunch of other production work.  Now, if I could talk the people putting this together down to, say, $100 for just the cameo, well, that might be a bit different.  Ah hem.

"War of the Independents" debuts at the New York Comic-Con in October.  The Kickstarter donation page is here.

Cover Cameo

Hack/Slash: My First Maniac (I almost typed "My Pet Monster"), the first issue published under the Image Comics banner, comes out in stores today.  This issue features three covers: two standard editions and one exclusive edition from New Dimension Comics.  As I've mentioned before, the exclusive includes tiny pictures of Teddy and the Yeti scattered about (look closely, they're there).  And really, isn't that enough reason to run (RUN!) out to your local New Dimension Comics and buy a copy today?  If not, oh, look!  You can buy it online here!

It's like having my characters appear in an Image book without having to do ANY of the work to get my ideas approved by Image.  Because...that's what happened, I guess.  Hooray!

guest appearance

Take a peek at the cover posted above.  I'm willing to guess that the hidden Teddy and the Yeti covers aren't the first things people are going to notice.  Or the second, etc., but since this is a Teddy and the Yeti-centric blog, it's my duty to point them out to readers and general passers-by.

This image was just passed on to me by my good friend Todd at New Dimension Comics.  The folks at NDC are working with the creators of Hack/Slash, the Devil's Due horror/monster title that recently made the switch to Image Comics, to put out this exclusive cover.  If I'm not mistaken, this will be a special cover to the first issue of the miniseries Hack/Slash: My First Maniac, which will be the first issue that Image is releasing.

To say that I'm thrilled is an understatement.  Obviously, the image of the NDC version of Teddy and the Yeti #1, with cover art by Alan Gallo and Karin Rindevall, is a minor aspect of the cover that I'm sure most people will skim right over (because, hey, there are sexy girls on the cover, and one of 'em has a knife), but seeing my work in this regard, on the cover of an Image book that has a movie in some form of production, is really fun to see.  Beyond this, I can now make the claim that the Teddy and the Yeti comic book exists in the Hack/Slash universe along with Invincible (#46, bottom left, next to the pizza box).  Perhaps we'll have a crossover or something.

I'll keep an eye on the release date for the book and update this blog when it shows up in stores.  And if you STILL can't pick out Teddy and the Yeti on the above cover, I've cropped the images out for you.  Now that's service!

What is that, a bent corner?  Man, you gotta be more careful with those things.