New Adventure!

Okay, I'll admit it -- I've not paid as much attention to this blog as I should have lately.  But I do have a rather snazzy announcement to make.  As of January 29, the art on the Sunday episodes of The Phantom newspaper strip will be by me!  Paul Ryan will continue to draw the daily strip (as he has for a good many years now) -- but the Sundays are mine. 

As a long-time fan of Lee Falk's  "Ghost Who Walks," this is a dream assignment for me and I'm thrilled to join writer Tony DePaul and colorist Tom Smith in continuing this classic feature.  I'll post links where you can see the strips once they start appearing.

I can't show you any of the Sunday strips yet -- but I can show you this quickly knocked out sample drawing I did, which caught the attention of King Features.  I'm drawing the strip a little "grittier" than this -- and while that's a good looking wolf -- I must admit it doesn't quite look like Devil -- but I'll make sure he looks right when he next shows up in the strip.

My original Batman Adventure samples weren't quite on model, either -- but that didn't keep me from getting it right once I was on the books -- and I stuck with that for eleven years.  I wonder how long I will draw The Phantom...?

In other news, I'm illustrating the next book in Max Allan Collins' "Jack and Maggie Starr" series for Hard Case Crime.  Glenn Orbik has painted the cover -- but I'll be doing the same comic-style panel chapter headings as the previous series entries.  More on that when we get close to publication.

Max and I are also hammering out the details of the Ms. Tree reprint series and new graphic novel slated to come from the new First Comics.  This has been a long time coming and we want to make sure we do it right.

In personal news, we are a few weeks away from adding a new member to our family -- and you can be sure I'll announce the details here when baby arrives.

For now -- see you in the funny papers!

Wild Dog Breaks Loose!

After the four issue Wild Dog mini-series appeared, Max Collins and I did several serialized Wild Dog stories for Action Comics Weekly. Wild Dog appeared on some of the covers -- but none of those covers were drawn by me. Below is the cover of #615, penciled by Barry Crain and inked by Rick Magyar. Recently a client approached me about recreating the cover, to see what it would have looked like had I inked it -- so, with Barry Crain's OK, I did just that.

I scanned and enlarged the printed cover, dropping out the color to get a black and white version of the logo and DC bullet, etc. But the end result needed a lot of cleanup work. I replaced much of the type in Photoshop, and dropped in a cleaner version of the Wild Dog logo from a scan of one of my covers from the original mini-series. When I had all the copy cleaned up, I printed that onto a blank sheet of bristol board.

The next step was to use a lightbox to roughly trace the artwork in pencil. I then tightened up the pencils, using the printed cover as a guide. I did make some minor changes -- but mostly stayed faithful to what had gone before. I then inked the piece -- mostly with brush -- but also some pen work on the guns, crosshatching, etc. Rick's original inks were great -- and I don't think mine are better or worse -- just a little different. Barry certainly went to town with all those different breeds of dogs -- and the extra guns for our masked vigilante! All in all, this was a fun project, and a treat to revisit the character. Despite having had a fairly short run at DC, quite some time ago, Wild Dog's fans just won't let him die.

For further evidence of this -- here's a pic of me with an attendee at the recent Free State Comicon in Lawrence, Kansas.

Studio Tour Part Four: Figures, books and one baseball card

More books this time -- though the top of this bookcase is loaded with figure kits and other figural items. From left to right, here's what's what.

The small figure of Julius Caesar is a piece I found in an antique shop as a kid, while accompanying my parents on one of their many weekend antiquing jaunts. Had to have it -- and they were good enough to get it for me.

Behind him is a vinyl figure of Ray Harryhausen's Talos from Jason and the Argonauts. The small ape in the foreground was a gift from my UMA (Universal Monster Army) pal, Packy. The seated devil with sleeping apprentice is a resin "garage kit." The alabaster copy of Venus DeMilo was something that was in the house when I was growing up. At some point it became mine.

My Trick or Treat Devil Girl (a resin kit I sculpted and produced) is flanked by garage kits of Gil Elvgren pin-ups. The girl in the barrel is a Steve Kiwus sculpt, while the Aiming to Please cowgirl is by Tim Bruckner, and is a particular favorite.

In front of the cowgirl is a little glass birdcage Christmas ornament that belonged to my mother -- and was a family piece from her childhood. The little metal sexy private eye is a Phoenix Phollies model kit from the UK. Superman is a Chris Ware-designed piece that was part of a boxed set of figure, book and comic book reprint -- I think it's just superb. The puffy B&W fellow in the hat is a doll of Doug Allen's character Steven. In front of him is a resin casting of my sculpture of '50s kids' TV star Mary Hartline (of Super Circus fame). A copy of my Johnny Eck sculpt, primed but not painted yet, sits in front of her -- leaning against him is the original wax sculpture of Miss Hartline's head.

Here we have the first of several shelves in my studio packed with books by my friend and collaborator, Max Allan Collins. My sculpt of pin-up model Bernie Dexter as "Switchblade Siren" seems quite at home here. One of these days I'm going to produce a limited edition run of this figure -- it just hasn't happened yet. The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics reprints a Ms. Tree story by Max and me.

More books placed on the shelf in no particular order -- though I do have all the Hastings House/Nostalgia Press Prince Valiant books all together. The black book resting on top of the others is a photo album of my dad's -- pictures of him growing up on the farm in the '30s -- and in the service in the '40s. At some point, I may scan and share some of those photos. The gorilla is a Mold-a-Rama figure from Como Zoo in St. Paul.

A pair of books illustrated by the great N.C. Wyeth.

One of several books in my collection illustrated by Frank Godwin -- artist of the Connie and Rusty Riley comic strips. We had a Godwin illustrated version of Robinson Crusoe in the house when I was growing up, and I adored the drawings in it. Somehow, I did not end up with that -- but I've since collected many other books with Godwin illos.

Books, books and more books -- and a resin Dracula "Soaky" -- a fantasy item, as one was never commercially produced ( a gift from another UMA pal).

I loved this goofy Animal Lore book when I was kid, and recall many an hour flipping the pages to make the different combinations of animals. I also recall my father and me making our own versions -- folding paper and each of us drawing a part of the animal. That original copy is long gone -- this is a replacement I bought a few years back.

Somehow or another I seem to have started a collection of Joe Bonomo items! I think it started with this little boxed set of mini-books, which, if I recall correctly was a gift from my friend Barry Luebbert Phillips. All the books in the next picture down are stuffed into this little box!

This copy of stuntman Bonomo's self-published autobiography/photo scrapbook came from an auction of the the estate of Herman Cohn. Herman ran the local newsstand where I bought all my comics, magazines and paperbacks as a kid. Bought my first Playboy there, too! This copy is signed to Herman by Bonomo.

Another Joe Bonomo item!

A wonderful book -- Forty Illustrators and How They Work -- a few selections from the interior shown below.



I was thrilled when I opened this collection of editorial cartoons to discover it was a signed copy. I've since learned that pretty much every copy out there is signed as well! OK -- maybe not a rarity -- but I still like it!

A recent find at a Half Price Books store -- this '30s Mickey Mouse book is pretty darn sweet. I don't actively collect Disney items (except for Pinocchio stuff) -- but when something like this falls into my hands for cheap (ten bucks!), I'm not going to walk away from it.

A pair of the Prince Valiant volumes I collected back in the late '70s. I think I got all these at Readmore Book World in Rock Island. Readmore was (is?) a great bookstore, and I used to drive there several times a month to pick up new books, magazines and comics.

The only baseball card I own -- Bob Uecker! Why? Why the hell not?

More cool stuff coming up in Part Five! Come on back and check it out -- soon!

Is the end of "The Road" ahead?

If you've been wondering why this blog hasn't been terribly active lately, it's because I'm busy finishing up the art for the last section of Return to Perdition. This is a 180 page graphic novel from Vertigo Crime, written by Max Collins -- chronologically, the last story in the Road to Perdition saga.

As of this writing I still have a hefty chunk of pages to finish -- but the book is now available for pre-order and has an August publication date. Amazon has it listed with the black and white mock-up cover shown below. This is not the actual cover -- but as a promo piece, I think it looks pretty cool -- and does use some of my interior art from the book.

The actual cover is the color piece shown at the bottom of this page -- a wonderful illustration by Lee Bermejo that harkens back to the origins of the Perdition tale. Our story brings the action up to the 1970s, and brings a new generation into play.

I don't want to turn this into a commercial -- but I am rather proud of what Max and I are doing with this project and think it'll be well worth your time if you're at all a fan of our previous work. I'm drawing in a different style than usual -- meant to reflect the edgy nature of the story -- and doing a lot of the drawing digitally. At the pre-order price, it's a heck of a bargain.

And now if you'll excuse me for a while -- I have to finish the thing!

Latest news -- plus Quarry times five

Those of you following my blog have certainly noticed I've not been posting much lately. I'd intended to post a few more vintage horror comics before Halloween -- but that never happened. I've been so busy at the drawing board -- and raising my son -- that the blog has been on the back burner for a bit.

In the news department -- The Adventures of Unemployed Man has been getting a crazy amount of press. Authors Gan and Erich even appeared on CNN (in costume!) for an interview.

Another comics project I'm involved with, Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave, has been similarly embraced by the media -- with positive reviews appearing all over the web and in print. Both titles are in stores now for you buy, should you so choose.

I'm also happy to announce that Max Allan Collins' first five Quarry novels are back in print, thanks to Perfect Crime Books -- all with new cover designs/illos by me (and new titles in most cases) -- all shown above. You can order then HERE.

I have a few commissions in the works -- just finished a website illustration -- did a little something for a model kit company (can't say what, so don't ask!) -- and am working my way through Return to Perdition (I'm about half way into its 180 pages). Oh -- there's another Scary Monsters cover waiting to be created, too. Don't stop checking this blog, though -- I will still be posting here -- but probably not as often as I had been (for now).

Oh, I do want to give a plug to Netflix's streaming video service. We recently dropped our cable TV subscription and switched to on-air viewing (mostly PBS kids' shows for the youngster) and Netflix. With a DVD player that's Netflix ready, I've been able to catch up on a lot of the movies I've missed in the theater since the youngster came along. I recently enjoyed Let the Right One In, Survival of the Dead, Red Cliff, OSS 117: Lost in Rio, Big Man Japan -- as well as documentaries about Henry Darger and Ron English. I'm getting my wife hooked on the mid-'70s BBC mini-series, Poldark (it's as good as I remembered it) and checking out Slings and Arrows, thanks to a friend's recommendation. For the price, it's a heck of a great deal, and a boon to a freelancer/stay at home dad like me. End of plug!

Pencil/ink/color/print.

Today we have a series of images showing the process behind my cover illustration for A Killing in Comics, the first of the Jack and Maggie Starr comics mysteries by Max Allan Collins.  There were a few rough preliminary sketches before this pencil prelim.  The drawing style is inspired by 1940's DC Comics in general -- the Batman newspaper strip, specifically.

Image #2 shows the inked and cleaned up line art.  My favorite inking tool is the Niji "Waterbrush" (the large size) filled with Rapidograph "Ultradraw" ink bu Koh-i-noor.

  This is followed by the colored version in #3.  Melissa Kaercher did a great job (from my color notes) on the faux '40s comic book color --big dots,  bad registration and all!  And finally, there's the printed version of the book cover, incorporating a slightly cropped version of the art.

My cover illo for the second in the series, Strip for Murder, was a painting, incorporating some cartoon art.  Unfortunately, the series came to a halt before the planned third book, which would have had an EC horror comics theme.  Darn it -- I was really looking forward to illustrating that one.  Heck -- I was really looking forward to reading it!  Some day, if luck is kind, Max  and I will be able to return to this series.  In the meantime, we have other things planned....

Dick Tracy -- 1935!

From the same 1935 Sunday section as the ads in my previous post, it's Chet Gould's Dick Tracy.  Dig that classic profile! One of my favorite comic strips -- though, truth be told,  I prefer the '40s and '50s -- great villains, great stories -- and really cool cartooning! Thankfully, we're currently getting a classy hardcover reprint series of the strip -- just now getting to the really good stuff from the mid '40s.  I had the pleasure of visiting Chet at his Woodstock, Illinois digs in the '70s -- thanks to my pal Max Collins, who'd just taken over the writing of the feature upon Chet's retirement.  

More Wild Dog!

Sorting through my files, I stumbled across these Wild Dog cover roughs that I'd completely forgotten about.  Well, it was two decades ago, y'know! These are all very different from the final cover of the Wild Dog Special (WD behind bars).  Drawn with marker on typing paper.

The Secret Origins of Wild Dog!

Shown above is Ed Hannigan's rough design for the cover of the first issue of the Wild Dog mini-series.  You didn't know he designed that, did you?  Ed did a lot of uncredited design work for DC over the years -- and all four of the Wild Dog mini-series covers are from his designs.  A very (extremely!) belated "thank you" to Ed!

Max Allan Collins and I created Wild Dog for DC Comics some twenty-two years ago.  We produced a four-issue mini-series, a one-shot special, and several serialized stories in the ill-fated Action Comics Weekly.  That was it.  Wild Dog had a short and sweet life.  Hugely popular in the Quad Cities area where the series was set, it never quite caught on big enough with the rest of the country to continue.  Still, DC maintains ownership of the feature, squeezing WD into some company-wide crossover every few years -- for just a panel or two.

Several years after the initial run, Max and I pitched a revival to DC -- specifically to (much missed) editor Archie Goodwin.  We had some good talks and I did a few drawings - but eventually we decided DC wanted so many changes to the core concept that it wasn't working for us anymore, and we went on to other things.  We never did work on anything for Archie, darn it.

But despite his short time on the shelf, Wild Dog still has a (pardon me for saying it) rabid following.  When I (very) recently dipped into my "keeper" art files to sell some original comic art I'd held onto for years, it was the Wild Dog art, more than anything that caused a stir.

So, spurred by that interest, I started digging through my files for anything else Wild Dog related.  I found the material posted here -- most of which I'd forgotten I had.

Wild Dog began as "Machine," a name rejected by DC because of its similarity to "Machine Man," a Jack Kirby feature at Marvel. It seems we may have also considered calling him "Commando" for about two or three minutes....

After rejecting "Mad Dog," we settled on "Red Dog" as the character's name and proceded to put together a package to sell the series to DC.

A detail of the cover page for the 16 page series pitch written by Max Allan Collins.  The pitch ends with a suggestion that Max write the feature and I ink it over pencils by some classic silver age artist.  Thankfully, we all decided I should pencil the thing!

The first drawings of the cartoon dog mascot for Red Dog/Wild Dog's shirt.

Here's the evolution of the "pitch art" used to sell the series. He's still "Red Dog" here. I left the shirt blank on the second piece and made a stack of photocopies of it, on which I drew different versions of what would become the dog mascot design.

Logo concepts provided by DC.  I'm sorry to admit I've forgotten which talented letterer designed these.

Rough concept sketches for covers -- done when the feature was still being called Red Dog.  The first of these ended up being drawn -- but rejected by DC.  Eventually it was used as an Amazing Heroes cover.

"Red Dog" became "Wild Dog" after discovering a GI Joe action figure had already used the Red Dog name.  If we ever wanted action figures of the character, we'd need a name that hadn't already been used.  Never did get those action figures, darn it.

Preliminary roughs for a few Action Comics Weekly pages and photocopies of pencils for an ACW page and two of the mini-series covers  are shown below.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of this long-hidden material.  Who knows if Wild Dog will ever return -- but I'm grateful that after all these years, his fans still remember the series fondly.  Stay wild, kids!