the spoils of Free Comic Book day

Every year for Free Comic Book Day (since 2013), I've been lucky enough to travel to Boston and New England Comics to sign copies of the annual Free Comic Book Day issues of The Tick. This year was like previous years in that it was awesome, but I also managed to grab a number of original art pages while I was there, so I thought I'd show them off here.

I started off the day at NEC Quincy, which was busy from the time the doors opened until after I left at around 3:00.

From 4:30-7:00, I signed comics at my favorite NEC location, the Harvard Square store. It was surprisingly busy at this store as well, and there were still people wandering in as the shop closed down for the night.

These kids walked in and were just enthralled by the Batman: The Brave and The Bold episode that was playing. I'll admit that I was watching it, too.

So let's take a look at some of this art that I picked up this weekend. The first is a Son of Hitler page from Jeff McComsey. Jeff's not from Boston, but I managed to meet up with him on my way to New England. This is probably my favorite page from the book - one of the main character dons a pair of glasses as a disguise, which is just about the most comic book thing in the world, so I was glad to pick this up.

I spent some time at NEC Quincy with artists Alex Harris and Tony Sedani, and I was able to get some artwork from both of those gentlemen. The first two pages are from the new Tick #2. Alex drew the short story I wrote that showed up in the back of this issue.

The story in question didn't have The Tick in it, and Arthur was only on the first page, but dangit, I enjoyed writing it. And Alex did some nice work with Running Guy and Rubber Ducky.

Tony Sedani had a three-page short story in this year's FCBD issue, and I was able to grab one of them from him. This particular page features a nice rooftop scene with The Tick and Arthur.

After FCBD ended, I met up with Ian Nichols for dinner and comic talk (this is my life), and he surprised me with a page from last year's Comic-Con Special issue. I love that handwritten sound effect!

I hope everyone had a great Free Comic Book Day. What comics did you get? Anyone still looking for a particular issue?

"Son of Hitler" from Image Comics

I just finished lettering a new original graphic novel, "Son of Hitler", that will be published in late May/early June from Image Comics. This is my first published work of any sort through Image!

Before we step any closer, let's address the title, which is of course a bit provocative, and the content. The phrase "Son of Hitler" dredges up a lot of uncomfortable imagery, but the book is a spy thriller set in World War II and features a plot to kill Adolf Hitler. I'm sure the book title will raise some eyebrows, and understandably so, but let's put this story firmly in the category of "anti-Nazi" before we go any further.

The story is written by Anthony Del Col and Geoff Moore, and drawn by my pal Jeff McComsey. I've done a little bit of work for Anthony before, but I got involved with this project after Jeff asked me to add some lettering to it. Jeff and Anthony appeared at the Image Comics Expo a few weeks ago to talk about the book.

Image even ran a feature of it last month in their "Image+" magazine.

The issue includes a few different pieces on the book, starting with an interview with Anthony about his work and his previous career in the music industry.

And there's a nice spread with quotes from both Anthony and Jeff, followed by a short preview of the book, all of which has my lettering work on display, which is pretty neat.

The book clocks in at nearly 200 pages, so this was easily the largest single story that I've lettered. There were some sleepless nights as deadlines drew a bit closer, but I'm happy with the end result and I'll be looking forward to seeing the book in print.

Other than Anthony, everyone involved with the book had some iteration of the name "Jeff" - McComsey, me, (Geoff) Moore, and even one of the editors at Image who worked the title. Once I started lettering, Anthony sent me a message asking if I had a nickname or anything he could use to differentiate, other than my 10-letter last name. I guess I had to disappoint him, because nothing springs to mind, but I guess I'm open to suggestion.

This book will show up in comic shops soon! I hope you check it out!