Thing sketchbook, part 29

Merry Thingmas, everyone! Here to Thing in the holidays is none other than Ben Grimm, with five more lovely sketches from the Thing sketchbook. Let's take a look! Thing!

 

Luis Perez Banus - Rhode Island Comic Con 2021

It's fun to grab sketches from artists I know or those who've drawn the Thing in an official capacity. It can be unpredictably exciting, though, to take a chance with someone you've never heard of, because you don't know what you're going to get. Take this zombie-esque Thing from Luis Perez Banus, who I saw at the tail end of 2021's Rhode Island Comic Con. Someone tabling at the show cut out after Saturday, so Luis commandeered the spot and was selling drawings, guerrilla-style, during those last, fleeting convention hours. I thought his style was interesting enough to take a shot at a Thing commission, and Luis delivered with one of the more unique entries into the book.

Lin Guo - Comic-Con Special Edition 2021

2021 saw San Diego's Comic-Con return following the cancellation of the previous year's show, and I was so excited to have it come back that I didn't mind that it was held on Thanksgiving weekend. The show was lighter and more subdued than the years immediately prior, but it also focused a lot more on art and comics than the show sometimes does now. I only got one Thing sketch at this show, from Lin Guo, but it's great one, a real slice-of-life drawing of Ben Grimm's morning routine. Lin drew a pinup of the Bulwark for Planet Comics soon after!

Jeff McComsey - 2022

Jeff's no stranger to the Thing sketchbook in general, but this is his first entry in my second book. Not only did he draw a human Ben Grimm, but this entry is also a period piece. Jeff drew Captain Grimm in 1951 as a pilot during the Korean War. He also drew it as if it were a photograph, with the caption written underneath. The drawing is secured to the sketchbook with adhesive photo corners, making this entry extra special.

Duane Redhead (2022) and Ian Nichols (Contropolis 2023)

It's a two-page spread! By two artists! At two different times! Oh wow.

For a brief time during Marvel's Fear Itself event series, the Thing was transformed into Angrir, Breaker of Souls after picking up a hammer, similar to Thor. He had these weird squid-like creatures around his neck and his rocks looked a bit volcanic. He also beat up the Red Hulk during this period, before returning to his much more lovable Thing state at the end of the series.

Anyway, it's always fun to get different versions of the Thing in the book, and this one's about as different as they come. Our pal Duane Redhead was visiting from the UK when I so rudely handed him the sketchbook, but he came prepared and knocked out this very intense left side of the page. Fellow Tick artist Ian Nichols finished off the right side the next year at a small comic show in Philadelphia named Contropolis. Ian added the Thing/Angrir's partially gloved fist and tried to match Duane's detailed style. This one definitely stands out in the book.

Kelly Phillips - Small Press Expo 2022

I know Kelly through our mutual love for "Weird Al" Yankovic - not only are we both fans, but we've both contributed to the Illustrated Al anthology. Kelly definitely one ups me in the Weird Al comic department with her beautiful Weird Me collection, though, hey, it's not a competition (is what I keep telling myself). Kelly also contributed to the first issue of Planet Comics, and I met her for the first time outside of a Weird Al concert at 2022's SPX show in Bethesda, Maryland. I really enjoyed the show, and I got quite a few Thing sketches when I was there, starting with this sultry pinup drawing of Ma Grimm's baby boy. Flaunt it if you got it, I guess.

That's it for another Thing-tastic sketchbook session. Plenty more to come. Happy clobberin', everyone.

Thing sketchbook, part 27

It's time for yet another round of "let's look at Jeff's Thing sketchbook, which has become so synonymous with Jeff himself that it's difficult to determine where one ends and the other begins." I mean, I like my Thing sketchbook, everyone. WHO WANTS TO SEE SOME SKETCHES?!

Phil Hester - 2020

2020 was a light year for Thing sketches - for the reasons we all understand - and I spent some time dropping the book in the mail and sending it to folks who agreed to draw in it at their homes. I was very nervous doing this. But it all worked out, and one of the sketches I got back was this absolute gem from Phil Hester. Phil's known for his Marvel and DC books like Green Arrow and The Irredeemable Ant-Man, which is a personal favorite of mine.

In this sketch, we not only get a despondant Ben Grimm, but also the Silver Surfer flying off with Alicia Masters. The Surfer and Alicia have a history that goes back to the classic Galactus storyline in Fantastic Four 48-50, and when the FF was stuck in the Heroes Reborn universe in the '90s, the two had a brief romantic relationship in the pages of the Silver Surfer's own book. So this scene of rejection has some pretext, even though I HATE IT. But Ben and Alicia ended up back together, so I guess it's all okay in the end.

Todd Nauck - 2020

Here's another sketch that I trusted to the postal service, from the always friendly Todd Nauck, known for his work on titles like Spider-Man and Young Justice. Todd is always thoughtful and kind, and oh man did he deliver a really incredible headshot of ol' Ben Grimm here for the sketchbook. This was done around the time that Todd was drawing a lot of headshot variant covers for Marvel, including one for the Thing's own series. The blue outline is a nice touch.

Jacob Quinn - 2020

I was really happy to have my nephew Jake draw a sketch in this book. It was 2020 and I didn't have a lot of movement with the sketchbook, so it seemed like the right time to open it up to a wider audience, I guess, but also having people I know and care about personally in the book makes sense to me at this stage as well. Jake was 10 when he drew this, and honestly, he did a really great job with it, and he added a unique version for the book. I'm really happy with it.

Anna Litofsky - 2021

The spring of 2021 rolled around and COVID restrictions were still pretty prevalent; there were certainly no conventions happening yet. I was teaching a class on scripting for comics at my current university at this point, where we met once every other week in person, and the rest of the time on Zoom. There was no requirement for artistic skill to be in this class, but Anna came in with her own polished style and a great perspective. Once the end of the semester rolled around, I asked Anna if she'd be willing to draw in my sketchbook, and she agreed, producing this as we had class.

The class would go on to produce their own full-length comic, Tales of the 399, which we funded on Kickstarter. This was a really fulfilling experience for me. Anna drew the cover for the book and we've kept in touch since. She's contributed to several issues of Planet Comics and I'm excited to see where her future takes her.

Chad Kelson - 2021

This is the last of my quarantine sketches, and it comes from Chad Kelson, who has the online persona of "Metal Al" for his death metal covers of "Weird Al" Yankovic songs, if you can believe it. I met Chad at Al's Hollywood Star induction ceremony in 2018; he's also a big comic book fan and an artist in his own right, so we became fast friends.

Chad went above and beyond the call of duty with this incredible recreation that combines the Thing and Al's 1985 "Dare to be Stupid" album cover, going so far as to adding in the background album elements, squeezing them all onto a 5x5 sketchbook page.

I managed to get six new Thing sketches in all in between conventions, which I think was pretty good, all things considered. I'm...really glad the book didn't get lost while it traveled the country.

The Illustrated Al is nominated for an Eisner and wins a 'Ringo! award!

As 2023 winds down, let's look back at my best comic memory of the year:

The Illustrated Al: The Songs of "Weird Al" Yankovic was nominated for an Eisner award! By default, I demand that everyone recognize that I was also nominated for an Eisner! I will not be taking any questions. Also in 2023, The Illustrated Al won a 'Ringo! Award! I am a 2023 'Ringo! Award winner! I WILL NOT BE TAKING QUESTIONS.

Okay, The Illustrated Al is an anthology. A lot of talented creators worked on the book. But I was one of those creators, and I'm counting this is as a win in my book.

In July, I attended the Eisner Awards at the San Diego Comic-Con for the first time. This is what I took away from it:

It is very fancy.

People dressed up. People gave speeches. They sat at fancy tables and took home trophies.

I sat closer to the back. The ceremony lasted close to three hours. The presenters pronounced the book "The Illustrated A.I." I took home a program!

The program got bent all to hell on my trip home, but I'll still keep it forever. It's listed in the program! The Nib ended up winning the award, but I still had a fun time and was excited to attend and to have some of my work nominated.

Later on in the year, the anthology was nominated again, this time for best humor comic, and this time...it won!

Z2 Comics, the book's publisher, held a special signing for the book at their booth at the New York Comic Con, where I got to not only feel very privileged, signing books for fans, but I also got to see the award in person. This was a big deal for me! Here I am with Josh Bernstein, the book's editor.

Some of the creators of the book took a group shot and I decided to kneel down for it even though Bill Plympton is, like, 6'6".

This was my best comic experience in 2023. I will not be taking any questions.

Planet Comics #4 on Kickstarter - and the San Diego Comic-Con!

 

Hello once again, internet. I'm here to tell you that the campaign for Planet Comics #4 is currently up and running on Kickstarter! Let's take a look at what this new issue has for us all.

There are two covers! Jake Smith drew the main cover.

And Mark Welser drew the Kickstarter exclusive cover. What is going on here? Is this a reference to a deep-cut Weird Al song? Who can say?

My four-part Bulwark story comes to an end! Co-creator Andrea Schivaone provides the lovely art for this one!

Jennie Wood and Erin Dodge have a new, eight-page story titled "Nightmare Girl" in this issue! I'm really looking forward to this one.

Duane Redhead and I have finished the second of a two-part Teddy and the Yeti story! What fate awaits our protagonists?

Diana Krueger pens a new essay on Golden Age comic creator Jackie Ormes!

Plus there are more stories from Jeff McComsey, Benito Cereno, Jorge Correa, Jr., Guillaume Deloizon and more! There are lots of rewards and add-ons for this issue. I hope you'll check it out! The campaign runs until the middle of August.

The 2023 San Diego Comic-Con starts tomorrow! I haven't packed yet! But I will be there! I'm sharing some space at booth 2200 with Ian Nichols and others. I'll have Planet Comics, The Illustrated Al, mini comics, pins and more! If you come and visit, I'll give you a trading card! I hope to see you there!

Let's take a look at "The Illustrated Al" from Z2 Comics!

Every once in a while, two great things converge. Sometimes the result is ranch dressing-flavored ice cream. But other times, two great things coalesce into a somehow perfect combination. Even more infrequently, I get to make the dang things. So here we are at today's much-anticipated blog post about The Illustrated Al, Z2's "Weird Al" Yankovic graphic novel, inspired by Al's catalog of songs.

As an aside, would you look at that picture at the top? I'm going to be buried with it. Anyway, let's move on.

The Illustrated Al is a collection of graphic adaptations of a number of Weird Al songs, mostly focusing on his original material from various albums over Al's decades-long career. I was contacted by Z2's EIC in May of last year asking if I would like to participate to this project, of which Al himself was overseeing. I've loved comics only slightly longer than I have loved Weird Al, so I naturally agreed and picked my contribution from a list of pre-selected songs. Wouldn't you know, my all-time favorite Weird Al song, "Good Old Days" from the 1988 "Even Worse" album, was available, so I jumped on that and contacted my friends Jeff McComsey and Mark Welser to help me make this short story. Folks, I gave it my all, and I'm happy with the results.

I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to just adapt the song in a literal way. First of all, "Good Old Days" is a very dark and violent song when taken at face value; making a comic about this means that right away, we're lacking the accompanying James Taylor-like musical track which adds half of the humor to the song. I could go on about how the combination of those two disparate elements creates a pitch-perfect package.

What I tried to do was create a narrative around the lyrics that centered around the story's main character looking back at his life and all of the havoc he's created. He's at the end of his life and he wants it all to mean something - he wants to perform his biggest and most terrible act yet. So he's pretty much a serial killer, which is an idea that is, in some ways, so difficult to accept as a concept that it lends itself to hyperbole from the beginning. Then I set it in outer space, because I like outer space.

Over the course of creating and submitting the story, I got a few notes from Al, his manager, and Z2's editorial team, but the story was mostly accepted as we made it.

I'll let the story speak for itself, but there are a few things that I want to call attention to. The panel above is from a sepia-toned flashback scene, where we meet the song's Mr. Fender ("who ran the corner grocery store"). There's only one line of dialogue in this story, while the rest of the lyrics are presented in dialogue boxes, which seemed more appropriate. This one line gave me the opportunity to use a different font, and I felt that I should probably use it to include my newly-minted McClellafont. Really, if there was a reason I made the thing in the first place, this was it.

Let me also point out that I did add several Easter egg-style references to some of Al's other works and the like in this story. A few people have found some to this point, and there are some in this very panel. Most of them are pretty obvious, though maybe not all.

In addition to lettering, I tried my hand at color separations (or flatting) for the first time with this story. This is the process of adding color to the image that a traditional colorist will refine later. I will say that this process didn't take a lot of skill (perfect for me), but it did take a LONG time to do. It was very time intensive. I did what I could.

In true form for the modern comic book industry, the hardcover volume was released with a few different covers. The main cover is on the left and has art by MAD Magazine's Drew Friedman. On the right is the limited Local Comic Shop Day exclusive cover by Mark Fredrickson, also of MAD fame. It's interesting to note that the LCSD version of the book was actually the first to be released in late November of '22, while the proper, wide release version didn't come out until early this year.

The back cover actually has my name on it (and they spelled it correctly, too!), alongside some real comic book heavyweights. You might notice, along with myself and Jeff McComsey, a few Planet Comics contributors in this list such as Hilary Barta and Weird Me creator Kelly Phillips.

"Good Old Days" is located toward the end of the book. It's surreal to see it printed in this fine collection. Oh, and I also feel like mentioning that I created the 3-D title effect in Illustrator specifically for this story.

There was also an oversized, super deluxe model that came with a slipcase, a cover by Mike and Laura Allred, and a bunch of extra stuff like trading cards, coasters, a turntable dust cover and a print set. There's supposedly a miniature accordion still in the works that got delayed in production. This version is really extravagant and it seems like a real collector's item that some folks will keep for years.

I mentioned Planet Comics earlier - issue #3 ran this ad in the back, which I believe is the only print ad for the book out there. I contacted the folks at Z2 and they put this ad together. I suggested they use the line, "give meaning to your boring, miserable life," which is along the lines of something Al would say about his songs and concerts in the past, and they went with it.

In the very back of the Z2 hardcover, we find this page, which was probably created to fill some blank space at the end. Am I implying that this sequence made it into the book because of my ad copy suggestion? I am outright speaking it into existence, my friends. You are all welcome.

Once the book was widely released in January, Al and the Z2 staff went on something of a mini promotional tour, talking with a number of comic book and mainstream entertainment outlets about the collection. I get how these work: so that a bunch of sites can claim that they have exclusive looks at the book, giving them an incentive to promote their interviews and by extension the product being sold, creative talent will talk about certain things with one site and other things with other sites. Cynicism aside, it was still very gratifying to see my name pop up at a few of these outlets, such as Entertainment Weekly.

The best of these interviews, bar none, came from Gizmodo, where Al mentioned the "Good Old Days" story, Jeff McComsey and me by name:

This was, and is, a pretty big deal to me, and I'm really grateful that Al noticed the story and some of the effort we put into it.

A lot of this coincided with Al's 2022 tour and the release of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story from the Roku Channel. And speaking of effort, I got to play "Weird Al Jeopardy" at the Pittsburgh tour stop and I cleaned up. Don't worry that one of the individuals I beat was a literal child.

After the show this night, I got a brief opportunity to speak with Al. Without any prompting (I promise), he told me how much he enjoyed the Illustrated Al story that I worked on. I realize that he is both a professional and an actor, but he seemed genuine and I choose to believe that this was a truly spontaneous moment. It is - without a doubt - a moment that I will remember for a long time to come, and I really appreciate his words.

There was a Weird Al flash mob that performed outside at the UHF screening, earlier in the evening: pic.twitter.com/fe0bI8bQ74

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) September 9, 2022

Around this same time, I got to attend the premiere of Al's movie in Toronto...

...and I found a seat at the Weird panel at the New York Comic Con...

...where I bought this "Fat" portrait from artist Clay McCormick.

At the very end of the year, a radio station in Wisconsin changed their format to all Weird Al, all the time for a brief period. Suffice it to say, 2022 was a big year for Weird Al, and a big year for me and a few different Weird Al projects.

I walked away from this project with some really great original art, too, starting with pencils (and a book of thumbnails) from Jeff McComsey.

I also managed to grab the title page image from Craig Rousseau, who put together the "Melanie" adaptation in the book.

Danny Hellman drew the trading card art that was also included as a set of pinups at the back of the book. I got this one, drawn on vellum, of the absolutely incredible "Living with a Hernia" piece. I'm debating on whether or not I should frame this one.

This was an incredible experience, and it was something in which I took a lot of pride contributing. I'm eternally grateful to Al and his team for considering me when this project was just starting out, and to Z2 for their work in putting the book together.

The book itself has had a pretty wide release, and you can find it at comic shops and bookstores worldwide, as well as online on Z2's website and the usual places like Amazon. I'm hoping to grab a bunch more to take to conventions with me this year.

I think I've made it clear on this site that I'm a really big fan of Al and his music, so this was a really big deal to me. And in case I need to show off my nerd cred even more, check out these stage-worn boxer shorts I just bought that Al rubbed in someone's face while singing "One More Minute:"

Take care, all.

"The Illustrated Al" from Z2 comics

All right, I know that I talk about "Weird Al" Yankovic on this blog a lot. You all know that I'm a big fan and as such, I have tried to make and pitch a few Weird Al comics in the past. I mean, there's one tagged at the top of the page here. You get the point. Anyway, it was only a matter of time until someone published a bonafide authorized Weird Al comic, and, through various steps of good fortune, I am going to be contributing to it. Wow!

The Illustrated Al will be published by Z2 Comics in the fall of 2022, and it's going to be produced by some dang comic book luminaries, such as Mike & Laura Allred, Bill Plympton, Peter Bagge, Ryan Dunlavey...and a few of my friends like Craig Rousseau and Kelly Phillips!

There will be a few different versions of the book, including a softcover, a hardcover slipcase, and a super deluxe version with a bunch of extra stuff included, like trading cards and a mini accordion! All of the versions are currently up for pre-order on Z2's website, which you can get to here!

All of the entries will be adaptations of some of Al's songs, hand-picked by the man himself. For my part, I'll be working on the song "Good Old Days," which is absolutely one of my favorite songs of all time. It's a James Taylor-sounding original and it goes to some dark places. Joining me on this story is my friend and frequent collaborator Jeff McComsey.

To say that I'm excited about this project is quite an understatement. In a lot of ways, I feel like this is the biggest project that I've ever been involved with, and I'm really excited to see it move forward. I can't wait to hold it in my hands. Can I share any artwork from my story yet? I don't know! Maybe? Heck, let's throw caution to the wind:

That'll have to suffice for now. I'll post about this again when the book comes out. If you'd like to hear me blab on about this further, I did an interview with Dave & Ethan's 2000" Weird Al Podcast, and you can get some more info there!

pictures from the 2021 New York Comic Con, part 1

I went to the New York Comic Con in October - 23 months after the last time I had been to a comic book convention. It was weird. I was anxious about going. But ultimately, I had a good time and I took a bunch of pictures. Let's take a look at NYCC 2021!

I'll admit that I was a little worried about going to this show. I was able to get a professional pass and I live within driving distance, so the decision to go or not was decidedly low stakes, but I still wasn't sure if I was making the right choice. Beyond the obvious fear-for-your-safety worry, I didn't even know if the show would have anything interesting to see.

Even though the event returned to the Javits Center in Manhattan, there were very few big-name guests or vendors in attendance - no Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, etc., and very few media properties, either. The show was operating at a limited capacity, and it's my understanding that Saturday was the only day that sold out. But when Friday came around, I grabbed my bag and hopped on a train to Penn Station, where I immediately saw a guy crossing the street get into a heated argument with someone trying to direct traffic. New York was back, baby!

I made it to the convention center after 1:00, and I walked right in. There were clearly and noticeably fewer attendees than in 2019 or years past. I usually enter at one of the left entrances, near what is usually the Funko booth and the small press publisher section. Nickelodeon's Star Trek: Prodigy had one of the biggest displays at the show.

The longest wait in line for the weekend was probably at the Chucky ice cream truck, which had some interactive displays and, from what I hear, actual ice cream.

I heard that two people got engaged at this bridge over the weekend. That's definitely a choice you can make.

This was the strangest thing to see at the show - not Captain Carter, but the empty space along the walls along the main floor. 

Most of the floor space was used, even if vendors were certainly allowed to spread out more than in previous years. But there were also these empty spots in some places that would've been packed any other year. How crazy was this to see at one of the world's biggest conventions? I naturally understand the reason, but it was still something to see.

There were plenty of folks in costume. Here's Mal and Zöe from Firefly!

Omni-Man had the good idea of putting his mustache on the outside of his mask. 

I think this is Dragonball, right? There's a werwolf in the show? Okay. Anyway, this 30-foot statue was an imposing figure on an otherwise scaled-down exhibit floor.

I read some of NYCC's COVID rules on their website, and a big one stated that protective masks must be worn, and that costume masks that covered up your face (so you couldn't see if you were wearing a protective mask) were not allowed. That rule...was not enforced.

This space is near where the Funko booth usually is, and is usually packed full of people waiting in lines. This year, there were a bunch of comic book longboxes! It was a big departure. I was glad to flip through some comics at the show.

Maybe the most popular booth at NYCC was, if you can believe it, the eBay booth. eBay was one of the few booths at the show with giveaways that people wanted, including a Dr. Strange comic book with cover art as seen here on the left.

Here's some space cowboy.

I was surprised that I didn't see anyone wearing a facehugger as a mask - but this costume is pretty great, in any case.

While waiting in line, I saw my friend Maryellen, who absolutely nailed this Masters of the Universe: Revelation Teela and Orko!

I wonder how she got the spear inside. Still, another great costume!

Griffin Newman, "Arthur" on Amazon's The Tick show and Orko on MOTU: Revelation, did a signing at the FYE booth on Friday.

It was great to see Griffin again. I'm very happy for his success on this new show.

What are our thoughts on the new Netflix Cowboy Bebop show? I'm hesitant to give it a shot, given how great the cartoon was. I guess we'll see how it is!

Prodigy probably had most of the banner space at the show.

Hey, it's Lego...Carnage...

I got an autograph from William Shatner in the afternoon. This was taken directly before his handler said, "no pictures, kid!"

This was probably the best costume I saw at the show. It's not just Doom, but Doom 2099?! Amazing!!

It's not Doom 2099, but these were okay, too.

The bowls of gak were a nice touch.

After about 6:00, the floor really cleared out. I've never been at NYCC with so few people walking around. This guy behind me thought it'd be okay to start eating a red pepper like it was an apple. Just real nonchalantly and everything. This was one of the highlights of my trip.

Here's a very involved Death Metal Wonder Woman!

Don't feel so down, murder guy.

What If...? Spidey!

If you have a dog at a comic convention, I want to take a picture with it.

There's a weird courtyard-like area out in front of the Javits Center that is technically still part of the show - you have to have a badge to be there. There were a few things happening there. Also here's Simon and Gunther.

Danny, the Doom Patrol ambulance, made his presence felt at the show.

Near the end of the night, I decided to check out the Prodigy display one more time. Things had really died down and I was able to walk through with almost no delay. There were a few activities - a VR-style game and a t-shirt station, but I mostly just wanted to sit in the chair and see the display.

So I did!

This was a promotional image they sent to you as you made your way through the booth. I don't know what kind of pose I'm making here. Don't try to make sense of it.

Look at this suit. I really hope they make one with the Thing at some point.

Walking back to Penn Station after the show, I came across this, which, at first glance, appeared to be a space dedicated to playing ping pong in downtown Manhattan.

And what do you know? That's exactly what it was. PingPod is a 24-hour ping pong center. You rent time and play. Wild.

I got some pizza and ate it on the steps across from Madison Square Garden.

I also witnessed some Weird Al-related vandalism. Who would do such a thing??

That's it for now. Saturday's pictures await!