Thing sketch cards, part 5

Let's take a look at another batch of Thing sketch cards!

Mark S. Dali - This is another fairly random card that I picked up for a good price. The Thing's eyes are kind of beady and haunting, and I like his pronounced jaw, but for some reason I keep coming back to the rectangular blue background. It just adds something nice to this one.

Jason Worthington - I'm not familiar with Worthington's work, but wow, what a great job he did on this Thing card! I think the coloring really puts it over the top. Plus that signature in the upper left is nifty, too. This is one of my favorites.

Joe Phillips - Joe Phillips is a Marvel trading card pro - I can remember his work from several '90s card lines - so it was really neat to get an original from him. Also neat is the fact that this card, from the 2013 Marvel Fleer Retro set, was printed with the express purpose of drawing the Thing on it. Everything on the card is black and white except for the original art.

The back of the card is also specialized for The Thing, complete with power ratings and a stock image from Ryan Stegman.

Dan Day - This card comes from the Rittenhouse Archives Complete Avengers line. Rittenhouse Archives also produced a Fantastic Four card set in a similar format. The Thing has been an Avenger, so it counts. Art on this card is by Dan Day, who drew some issues of Dr. Strange and Marvel Comics Presents, among others.

This card has a stock back image congratulating you (or me) on finding the card. I wonder how many people find a sketch card and end up keeping it.

J. McKenzie - This card is drawn by J. McKenzie, whose signature is pretty close to the one I slap on comics when I sign them. I'll admit that I did a double take upon seeing it, even thought I was certain that I didn't draw it myself in some kind of coma or trance. I like the image, but I think the red background is too similar to the orange and is a bit distracting. But that's okay, J. McKenzie. I still love it.

I'll post more sketch cards...at some other point!

Thing sketchbook, part 5

Here's the next five Thing sketches that I've collected!  These five have a few things in common beyond the obvious: they're all from the 2006 Comic-Con International, and they're all AWESOME.  Check 'em out, with witty commentary on each:

Fiona Staples - Comic-Con International 2006

Fiona Staples was the art half of Markosia's "Done to Death" book.  Ryan Stegman told her to draw ears on the Thing (as I bugged him about doing the same in previous pieces of art), so she did - and then put flowers growing out of his head.  I love the uniqueness of this sketch.

Comic-Con International 2006

I really should remember this artist's name (Scott?), as he sat in at my booth for an hour or so at the 2006 San Diego show.  He had a pinup in Image's Invincible a few months later.

He apparently ran into Rosario Dawson a few minutes before stopping at our booth, and he was kicking himself for not being able to talk to her.  "She was just so beautiful", he kept saying.

Jason Martin - Comic-Con International 2006

Jason Martin (creator of "Super Real") had helped promote Mr. Massive, the book I had at the San Diego show this year, so we chatted a few times over the weekend.  The all blue Thing was a great touch.

Aaron Farmer - Comic-Con International 2006

Aaron Farmer (part of Ms. Monster's illustrious crew) had a booth next to ours at the San Diego show in 2006, and he did this cute rendition in no time flat.  I especially enjoy the Disney-esque look to the words.  This from a mohawk wearing hard core guy like Aaron...spectacular.

Todd Nauck - Comic-Con International 2006

Todd Nauck is a great artist and a really nice guy.  I apparently even cut in line to give him this book, but it all worked out - Todd even drew a really cool Mr. Massive cover for me that I was just able to use in the second issue of Teddy and the Yeti.

More to come, some of which even top these, as hard as that is to believe.

Thing sketchbook, part 4

It's time for some more great Thing sketches (and so-so commentary), including my first sketch with color (woo!), courtesy of...well, me.  We're not quite half way through the sketchbook at this point, and I hope to add a couple more in the next few weeks.  Hope you like!

Amanda Conner - Pittsburgh Comicon 2005

Amanda Conner is great a drawing expressive faces, and this is a good example.  Before adding in the speech balloon, she asked "what is the Thing's catch phrase again?"  C'mon, Conner!

Ruben Cordero - 2005

My friend Ruben drew this for me as we were waiting to see the midnight showing of Batman Begins in a theater in the middle of New York City.  I think he stopped drawing because the lights went down.

Ryan Stegman - Comic-Con International 2006

I've known Ryan for a number of years, but we first met (outside of the Internets) at the big San Diego Show in 2006, where he drew this Kingpin-esque Thing for me.  The red shading is particularly nice.

Comic-Con International 2006

This inker (whose name, other than "Dez", I unfortunately forget) stopped by the booth I had at the San Diego show in 2006.  At the time he mentioned being one of the dozens of inkers working on "Infinite Crisis".

Andrew Foley - Comic-Con International 2006

Andrew Foley and Fiona Staples were at the Markosia booth promoting their vampire comic "Done to Death", and Ryan Stegman passed the sketchbook on to them after he finished with his entry.

Some great sketches.  More to come!

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.