Tuesday, November 30, 2010




Long ago three pager for a Generation X tryout. I created the whole thing, thought it was a clever piece of writing and all.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Detective Comics 678


Who I am artistically and who I want to be artistically are sometimes at odds. I can reduce anything to its barest components and recreate with a few pencil strokes, but I always wanted to be one of those guys who use a lot of shadows like Mignola or Kelly Jones. Denny O'neil (great name that) was a stellar gentleman, who was as good as his word and would occasionally send me scripts to see where I was artistically... I've sold most of these pages. Another artist suggested that when it comes to Batman my style stiffens up. I know I was trying something different artistically, so it wasn't my best.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Marvel Age Spiderman 44 Samples






I consider myself a writer's artist, sticking closely to the writers' script as much as possible, that said, there are times when a writers inexperience shows through and you disagree with their script directions. In this instance I went with the script as written, otherwise I would talk to the writer and editor, make suggestions and explain why I think such a shot wouldn't work -- like crossing the line of action on page 11, some odd storytelling beats through out the story...etc.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Black Panther Layouts 3

Black Panther laying into the Man-Ape?

What would I do differently now? I would establish the village much better, give the area a more complete feel. In the second set of layouts there was supposed to be a page spent riding in a areo chariot to the village that I took out, but I think it should have been there. Using reference for the Haggia Sophia as a basis for the Panther "Castle" was one of my best considerations. There was way too much thought that went into the story. The chair in Layouts One has a historical story to it, as well as, the Panther Castle. The paints given to Captain America in Layouts two were classical oil paints of a type not available currently.


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Black Panther Layouts 2





I tried to show the difference between the Black Panther and Captain America in their fighting styles. The Panther mixes Capoeira and other exotic martial arts, Cap would be a more straight up fighter.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Black Panther Layouts






I believe that layouts are such a valuable resource, sometimes even more so than finished pencils. Layouts rarely make it to the finished stage unaltered, sometimes things are moved to accommodate the needs of storytelling, an image is unclear in its message, the angle is wrong or a better solution presents itself through the process. So I will post some layouts as well as finished pencils.

As a creator I rarely write tryout stories of a few pages, they usually are a full 22 pages. I've heard the Black Panther called the African Captain America, so I wanted to explore that -- what makes them similar and what makes them different? This takes place during the Christopher Priest run after it was revealed that the Black Panther may have joined the Avengers under false pretenses. Captain America journey's to Wakanda to connect with T'Challa. I felt as a trained military mind Cap would have a better understanding of why the Black Panther (leader of a country, as opposed to T'Challa a person), would find it necessary to do such a thing. I think the repercussions could have been explored more. Each member of the Avengers that served with The Black Panther coming to terms with his actions.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Marvel Adventures Spiderman 44




Adventures of the Phantom Backpack: While using the Phantom Backpack I have powers that are beyond belief. Among my powers: my hands and feet are as adhesive as every piece of gum stuck under all the school desks in the US, I can fire spit balls and every broken shoe string from my wrists, I possess the strength and agility of every geeky freshman shoved in a locker...

While patrolling the city I notice one of the Iguana men running through the city -- following it to one of the water processing plants on the edge of the city. For some reason Super villains routinely raid the water works of cities, every superhero will tell you randomly visiting the water works of any city you will meet a super villain. There was the time that the Fists of the Golden Flower and the Venomous Horde raided the water works of Apple City on the same night, Dragara and the Fatal Fury made short work of them. I would think the hazard pay for water works' employees is commensurate to police officers. Water works buildings aren't really very interesting, though...

Or this is from the script for MA Spiderman 44

Monday, January 4, 2010

Black Panther Pages



In writing my own tryout pages I usually overwrite: writing pieces that are book length, with exacting details and background information. This is one such piece. In my story of the Black Panther, there are an influx of outside influences into Wakanda society, besides secretly sending students to schools outside Wakanda to bring back new knowledge and discoveries, there are the occasional lost explorers, hunters, and adventurers. So the great palace of Wakanda is built like the Haggia Sophia, with room enough for all the peoples of Wakanda to live in case of trouble. There is a Wakandan University in the palace, where King T'Challa, teaches several esoteric science classes.