From Dave Kopecki via Joe Keatinge at Image Comics, please take a minute to read.

This is a call to action!

As many of you may know already, artist Josh Medors (Frazetta’s Swamp Demon & Sorcerer, Runes of Ragnan, 30 Days of Night) has been fighting a losing battle against a terminal form of cancer for well over a year, and it has recently taken a turn for the worst. The doctors and conventional medicine have all but given up on him and say there isn’t anything else they can do. But he has found an alternative treatment that has the possibility of extending his life a bit and can help improve the quality of his life near the end so he can spend it with his wife and son. There is even a slim chance it can make him somewhat better, so he has to try. But of course the treatment is very expensive and Josh has no medical insurance. (more…)

As you may have read a few weeks back, DC Comics Art Director Mark Chiarello, the mastermind behind Wednesday Comics, had alluded to Paul Pope doing a “1950s style sci-fi strip.” As soon as he said that, we’ve all been waiting for this:

Straight from the Batman: Year 100 creator’s Flickr feed, a page of the upcoming Adam Strange adventure in Wednesday Comics. Pope has already made some big splashes in the past, not just with Year 100 but also with a prequel comic for the upcoming Star Trek film, which appeared in Wired Magazine.

Wednesday Comics, a 12-issue weekly series printed on newspaper-sized broadsheets, will be out in stores July 2009.

Zenescope Entertainment seems to have landed one heck of a coup, based on the art below:

That’s right, Danger Girl artist and Amazing Spider-Man cover artist J. Scott Campbell, now working on a cover for Zenescope’s new series Escape from Wonderland.

The series follows the journey of Alice Liddle, who fell into a rabbit hole and spent years both building a life — and fighting for it — in the magical realm of Wonderland.

So many artists whose blogs I follow posted lovely stuff this week, I thought I’d devote an entire linkblogging section to pointing this out. So!

Molly Crabapple has CD cover art she did for a cajun band. Alligators in bowler hats! You love it.

Joelle Jones has a preview of Madman Atomic Comics #16, with her art.

Ryan Kelly has a “sketch” up from his upcoming DMZ #42. I put it in quotes because what Mr. Kelly calls a sketch is what many other artists would call finished art.

Fiona Staples has sketches as well, from the upcoming North 40.

The Phonogram boys have posted a 5 page preview of the long-awaited Phonogram 2.2. And I will have a review of it later this weekend, I promise.

Becky Cloonan has some fabulous sketches that she did at Emerald City Con, of the Sandman, Delirium, and Nick from Demo, among others.

Brian Wood put up the cover for Northlanders #20 (by Massimo Carnevale) and a page from Northlanders #18 (by Danijel Zezelj).

Anyone see any great art on the ‘net this weekend? Leave a link!

OK, this is just a big tease.

Warren Ellis has a page of sketches up at his blog for something called CAPTAIN SWING AND THE ELECTRICAL PIRATES OF CINDERY ISLAND, and I really, really want to know more. So far, the drawings are steampunky with a traditional pirate-looking gun, but since Ellis is the man who brought us the Bowel Disruptor (in the pages of Transmetropolitan) I wouldn’t want to place any bets on what that gun will actually be used for.

Go look, already.

Image’s Comic Book Tattoo, a 500-page beauty of a collection of comics inspired by Tori Amos songs, was nominated for Best Publication Design at this year’s Eisners (as well as Best Anthology), and designer Tom Muller took some time out to explain just how the design for the book took shape, complete with some images from the process.

Click to read on…

(more…)

Marvel has announced that they will be releasing a hardcover collection of the artwork of Marko Djurdjevic (Thor, Thunderbolts, Daredevil, Wolverine: Origins)!

Here’s what they have to say, according to a release on their web site:

“A friend of [Marvel Editor-in-Chief] Joe Quesada sent me some of the designs Marko posted online and I was blown away,” said Editorial Talent Coordinator Chris Allo of how Djurdjevic came to Marvel. “He jumped at the opportunity to work in comics and even though his digital painting process was new to many in the industry, he won over anyone on the fence once they saw his X-Men: First Class covers. The rest, as they say, is history!”

I think this is pretty cool — while Djurdjevic may look like an overnight success with his Daredevil, Thor, and Thunderbolts covers (the latter of which inspired the design of Songbird in the upcoming Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Fusion game), he actually busted onto the comics scene in 2006, working on covers for X-23 and X-Men: First Class, all before getting an exclusive contract within about a year. Whew — talk about speed. I really think Djurdjevic has only improved with his additional exposure, and this hardcover I think will put him at John Cassaday and J.H. Williams III levels of acclaim for lush, “cinematic” high-concept art.

The 200-page collection is due to be released July 1.

Looking for some more updates on DC’s upcoming Wednesday Comics project?

Their blog, the Source, has unveiled a page of Superman by Lee Bermejo (written by John Arcudi), and the reuniting of 100 Bullets’ Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso on Batman:

…Now discuss.

Via Colleen Coover, of Small Favors and X-Men: First Class fame:

I bring to you… “Tigra! Tigra!”

…Now discuss.

I wrote this originally on my blog back in 2007, but since we’re heading into the convention season it seemed a really good time to dust this off and post it somewhere more public. I hope you all find it useful.

———-

I don’t know where I first heard someone say “everyone at cons not already in the industry is trying to break in”, but it definitely feels that way. Attend any of the How-To panels at a con and they’re always packed full. Go to any panel and invariably the question gets asked:

“How do you break in to the industry?”

What they really mean is:
“How do you break in with a major publisher like Marvel, DC, Dark Horse or Image?”

Editors and creators should just have their answer to that question on a photocopied hand-out so they can save themselves endless repetition and add 10 minutes of better questions to the panel. I know that sounds callous and cocky, but hear me out. (more…)

Good stuff for you this week, I promise.

When Fangirls Attack linked to this piece about the Silhouette in the Watchmen film. I’m partial to this piece because on my first read through Watchmen, Silhouette was the character that most intrigued me, even though she only warrants a passing mention. Sally Jupiter was easy to read, and both she and Laurie are characters worth re-reading and studying many times over, but I wanted to know more about this other woman.

Becky Cloonan has another Comic Attack up, this one with a mention of a game I have many fond and not-so-fond memories of from middle school. Am I dating myself? Do I care? Go. Read. Laugh.

Leigh Walton wants to know why Swamp Thing didn’t warrant as great a “remastering” as the Absolute Sandman or Absolute Death.

This piece at Jezebel isn’t comic-related, but does ask some questions that I ask myself when thinking about comics. The story is about Flannery O’Connor, a famed Southern writer who apparently was both judgmental and racist in her private life. The question, one that most avid readers of any stripe ask themselves, is, “Can you love the work and not the author?”

Since comics writers and artists are often far more accessible to their fans than long-dead authors of canonical Great Works of prose, this question seems to come into play fairly often. My answer to it is a definite “yes,” and I back it up by my wholehearted defense of the works of authors whose political beliefs are pretty diametrically opposed to my own. Sure, I love reading works where the authors believe what I believe, but I also like to challenge myself. My criteria for a good work is based on the work itself–is it complex, deep, with living, breathing characters who have agency? Does it make me ask tough questions? Or perhaps, is it just thrilling, addictive fun? Not everything has to be Les Miserables (says the girl who wrote a defense of Twilight).

Joelle Jones has more preview pages up, Ryan Kelly has the prettiest Megan drawing yet on his blog, and Fiona Staples has some secrets she’d like to tell you.

(No, I promise nothing in this blog is an April Fool’s joke. I’m too tired for that.)

Man, did I miss sharing this with you?
Mea culpa, but here’s a little weekend “Moment of Zen” that celebrates Bat-branding through the ages.
Cheers!

Looking pretty big, by the looks of this rough color test by Ben Caldwell, who will be drawing the Wonder Woman feature in the oversized comic weekly. Check it:

[Via Purge Theory, Caldwell's blog.]

So Troy passed this article on to me about artist Rufus Seder and his Lifetiles murals, which appear to animate as viewers walk past. The article actually doesn’t do the story justice–it’s something you have to see to really understand. Luckily, there’s video.

The tiles were inspired by Seder’s children’s books, which use a similar technique to make the pictures move on the pages.

If the technology you see in Lifetiles looks familiar, you might have caught something similar at a local bookstore. The popular children’s books “Gallop!” and “Swing!” were also written and illustrated by Seder. With a technique he calls scanimation, pictures in the books come alive as you flip the page.

It’s a kids’ favorite that quite a few parents enjoy, too, based on sales numbers. “Swing!” and “Gallop!” are currently on The New York Times bestseller list.

Seder originally used scanimation in greeting cards he sold at trade shows around the country. Then Workman Publishing came calling, asking Seder to develop a book based on the eye-catching technique.

That’s when Seder caught lightning in a bottle. After several decades as a somewhat unknown artist, he found himself flying to China to teach the scanimation technique to book makers. Just a few years later, there are over 2 million copies of “Gallop!” in print in more than 13 languages.

The similarities to motion comics aren’t many, but they’re there. Static images made to move a bit, with simple techniques? It’s pretty cool, either way.

(h/t Racialicious)

For many years, Beacon Press–a nonprofit book publisher since 1854–has had the privilege of publishing Octavia Butler’s “Kindred,” the story of a modern black woman transported through time to the antebellum South. Octavia Butler died tragically in 2006; those familiar with her life and work know how singular and important her legacy remains. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the novel, and Beacon is deeply honored to announce a collaboration with the Butler estate to produce a graphic adaptation of “Kindred.” The press is currently inviting proposals from cartoonists who appreciate Octavia Butler’s legacy, and reflect hercommitment to social justice in their own work.

Those interested in discussing a proposal should email the editor of the Graphic Books list, Allison Trzop, at atrzop AT beacon DOT org. The deadline is March 16.

We’ve been discussing portfolios and such here at the blog recently, so I thought this was particularly well-timed. Have art that you want someone to look at? Here’s an open call. Plus, Octavia Butler’s work is amazing. Can’t wait to see what they come up with for this project.

One of the coolest things about going to conventions is getting original art. Sometimes you can’t make it out, and luckily there’s the wonderful world of eBay. Christine Norrie, who you may know from her work on American Virgin, Hopeless Savages, or the Black Canary Wedding Special, has a sweet color sketch up now, in honor of the late, great, Bettie Page. Check it out!

I promised myself that I wouldn’t just turn these Art Link posts into a steady stream of plugs for UDON stuff, but I’m not going to pretend that it’s not part and parcel of what I’m up to either.

Omar Dogan is a dear friend who I’ve known since college. We’ve worked together at multiple companies and he was the person who introduced me to UDON and helped break me in to this crazy industry. His dedication and hard work is inspiring. Watching his quality kick into high gear over the past few years has been a joy.

His latest comic series, Street Fighter Legends: Chun-Li, hits stores today and if you get a chance to check out his line work and colouring, I think you’ll agree that it’s great stuff.

Go to Omar’s deviantArt gallery and you’ll see his car obsession on full display. Many pro artists avoid technical perspective when they can and loathe drawing cars. Omar loves them. He can’t get enough.

When I first saw Phil Noto’s online gallery, quite a few years ago, I instantly thought “Man, this stuff looks like 70’s Playboy art filtered through the brains of a comic-loving nerd… Awesome!”

Apparently I wasn’t the only person who had this observation, especially the ‘awesome’ part, because the next thing I knew Phil Noto was doing artwork for comics and all was right with the world.

His gallery is still chugging away and his work is just as impressive as it ever was, possibly moreso. I imagine that in the world of Phil Noto illustrations, everybody is kind of like James Bond and vinyl records, complete with sultry ladies on the covers, never go out of style.

Tatsuya Ishida’s Sinfest is one of the most consistent and impressive strips on the web. His cartoony characters have a wonderful simplicity and energy, expressive and rich but not overly detailed. The jokes run the full gamut from cutesy newspaper-strip style through to the blackest politically incorrect humor. Each day you can go to the site and not know which kind of humor you’ll get, but almost certainly be entertained.

The site celebrated its 9th anniversary this past weekend, so you can be assured that there’s a massive archive of material to pore over and enjoy.

This is the only thing that would make me want to see The Sound of Music again:

Julie Andrews vs. Nazi Vampires! Somebody get Michael Bay on the phone and tell him to stop working on that new A Nightmare on Elm Street remake and get to work on this film right away.

For more awesome pieces of art like this, go check out Jim Rugg’s website and livejournal, where the Street Angel artist regularly posts new works.