SCARY MONSTERS cover #76

SCARY MONSTERS 76, originally uploaded by scarytb.

Just finished this wraparound cover for Scary Monsters #76. This all digital creation is the result of a lot of photo manipulation and reworking in Photoshop. The notion here was to recast FRANKENSTEIN with Bela Lugosi in all the major roles!

This is also my first attempt at posting something to my blog via Flickr's new "Blog It" option. Let's see how well it works....

Haven't had time to post much over the last couple weeks. A trip to Iowa to celebrate my mother's 90th birthday had me off line for a while -- and I'm trying to get ahead of schedule on my Return to Perdition pages -- but here's an item worth sharing. Martin Powell (script), Tom Smith (colors), Kerry Gammill (art direction) and I collaborated on a short story for the new comic book, Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave. Here's the listing for the book in the August Diamond Distribution Previews catalog. The painted cover is by Famous Monsters cover artist Basil Gogos. This was a great deal of fun to draw -- and I'm eagerly looking forward to the comic! Here's hoping it has a long run and I can contribute another tale or two down the line. For now, I have to get back to the drawing board. I'll try to post more "cool junk" soon...!

Photoshop fun with Frazetta

Here's another recent restoration job -- of a different sort -- but still using Photoshop. I found this Canaveral Press edition of Tarzan at the Earth's Core at a local Half Price Books for just a couple bucks. It's an ex-library copy, in dust jacket -- a little rough in spots, but in fairly good shape over all -- except for the front endpapers.

As you can see, this remarkable Frank Frazetta illustration of a saber-toothed tiger has has a library card pocket glued over it. Try as I might, there was no removing the pocket without damaging the illustration underneath. No glue remover or technique that I know of would lift the damned thing off. Now, as I said, I only paid a couple bucks for the book -- I could live with this one negative aspect -- except, I figured a fairly simple way to fix the problem.

Years ago, I scraped up the dough to purchase a copy of the three volume, slipcased Edgar Rice Burroughs Library of Illustration from Russ Cochran. In one of those books is that same saber-toothed tiger illo, shot from the original art. So, with the help of my scanner and Photoshop, I copied the illo, changed the black ink line to a brown that matched the inks used on the endpapers, and printed it on a similar weight paper. I then used an ink wash to tint the paper to match the Canaveral Press book's endpapers.
The next step was to remove the unfixable endpapers -- and replace them with my newly created version. So there you have it -- the book is still not the greatest condition copy ever -- but now when I open it up, I see a gorgeous Frank Frazetta drawing unmarred by a Hennepin County Library card pocket. This isn't exactly a museum quality restoration -- but heck, it's a whole lot better than it was -- and it makes me happy. Not bad for two bucks and a little scanner/Photoshop time.

And it's a darn good book, too.

Famous Fantastic Photoshop Fun!

One of my favorite blogs is Mr. Door Tree's Golden Age Comic Book Stories. While the site often does post some great vintage comic art, it's actually more likely to sport a great selection of vintage illustration. A recent post included this wonderful pulp cover -- in not so wonderful condition. Because I was so taken with it, I decided it would be a good candidate for a little Photoshop clean up. Since it's not a high resolution scan, I only went so far with the piece -- but I think I came up with something that allows you to appreciate the incredible image without the distraction of the damage and wear of the original cover. Anyhow -- just a little time spent with Photoshop when I needed a break from my real work -- and something old is new again.

Art sale, Perdition pencilling -- and living in a digital world

Just a quick note here today to alert my fans to the fact that I'm having a 1/2 price art sale over on my website. Details can be found on the NEWS PAGE. The deal runs through Sunday, and I'm already having quite a response. Have a look if you're so inclined.

I'm currently trying to get ahead a bit on my Return to Perdition work. I've finished 55 pages of the eventual 180 -- and am now pencilling the next section. It's a sign of changing times, I guess, that with the current batch, I'm drawing digitally in Manga Studio. The pencil work just goes faster that way. I'm still printing the pencils as blue lines and am inking by hand -- so I haven't totally given in to the digital revolution. I'm not sure when I'll get the OK to give you a preview -- but I will say that if you've liked the previous Collins/Beatty projects, this one should not disappoint.

That said -- I need to get back to the drawing board - err, I mean the Wacom tablet and laptop. But, wait a minute -- I'm already on the laptop! Aw, this modern world is too darned wacky!

I'll be back soon -- with more stuff!

UNEMPLOYED MAN: Inking Ramona

I recently finished inking a large portion of the pages for an upcoming book project called The Adventures of Unemployed Man. The book is written by Gan Golan and Erich Origen -- and has sections pencilled by Rick Veitch, Mike Netzer -- and a long-time favorite of mine, Ramona Fradon.

Ramona began her comic career in 1950 (eight years before I was born). Early work includes Shining Knight and Aquaman. But it was with DC's Metamorpho in the 1960s that I was introduced to her work. I loved this series as a kid -- and still do as an adult. There's a quality to Ramona's drawing that just clicked with me. It reminded me a bit of the Golden Age Batman art I was seeing reprinted in DC's "80 Page Giants." At the time, I didn't know the name of the penciller of those stories (Dick Sprang) -- or the inker (Charles Paris) -- or that Ramona's Metamorpho pencils were being inked by the same hand! Somehow, though, my little kid brain caught the visual connection between the work.

As the years rolled on, I followed Ramona's work -- Super Friends, Plastic Man -- and a long run on the Brenda Starr comic strip. When she retired from drawing Brenda she still kept producing commissioned pieces for fans -- but actual comic book work by her became a rare treat -- a short story or cover once in a while.

Once when attending the San Diego Con, Ramona got news that a week's worth of Brenda strips had gone missing and would need to be redrawn. She enlisted the aid of several artists at the show to ink the quickly redrawn panels. I was jealous of those artists for a long time -- and then Unemployed Man came along.

I was contacted by Gan and Erich, who were looking for someone who could do comicbook inking in a "Silver Age" style. That's certainly something I can do -- but with 180 pages of Return to Perdition to draw, should I be taking on other work? When they told me who I'd be inking, there was no question I'd say yes to signing on to the project.

At 83 (yes, 83!), Ramona still draws as well (or better!) than ever -- and though there are some editorial/art direction changes that were made along the way, that's no reflection on Ramona's exceptional cartooning talents. As an inker, I've mostly worked with my contemporaries -- rarely getting to ink any artists whose work inspired me when I was younger -- so getting to ink Ramona's pencils (something I thought would never happen) was one heck of a thrill. I didn't need to be jealous of those San Diego Con artists anymore -- at long last, I go to ink one of my favorite cartoonists, Ramona Fradon.

And on top of that, she told me she liked my inks more than her own pencils. Even if she was just being nice, I'm going to run with that for a while.

Metamorpho covers

Unemployed Man art by Fradon/Beatty (with Gan Golan)

As we get closer to the October publication date for Unemployed Man, I hope to share more art previews here -- including, perhaps, some of Lee Loughridge's color work for the book. Stay tuned for more...!

Cool Comic Cover: Russ Heath UNCANNY TALES #48

From Atlas Comics in 1956 comes this surprisingly different comic book cover by Russ Heath. This is unlike any other comic cover from the period. Most are overloaded with detail and copy. This simple, strong graphic is a knockout!

For more on Atlas Comics, check the Atlas Tales website.