How I Spent My Comic-Con 2010 Vacation

So, vacation’s the wrong word for it, because it’s very much work-work-work, but who am I to deny the playful flow of a post title?

But yes, Comic-Con 2010 ended on Sunday, 7/25, and as always, it was a whirlwind.

Many sketches were sketched, among them a “Punisher being annoyed by SpongeBob and Patrick”, a series of Batman related head shots (I was particularly pleased with the Clayface; hopefully I’ll get a scan of that soon), and interestingly enough, two separate requests for me to draw people’s dogs.

I’m happy to say a nice number of people picked up copies of the X-BABIES paperback collection, and I got to meet a nice bunch of folks who’d read and enjoyed the series when it came out at the end of last year. On the flip side, there were those two “industry” dudes who in one conversation passively mocked the X-Babies, but the less said about them the better (save for the fact that, if they read X-Babies they’d see that we were taking jabs at them, so ha-ha indeed!). Read more »

X-BABIES: STARS REBORN – “Graphic Novel” Edition

Tomorrow, June 3, the X-Babies mini-series I wrote gets released in its “graphic novel” collected edition; all four issues, alternate covers, and even some design/development sketches…96 pages under glorious paperback stock covers!

With its release, I wanted to share an e-mail sent to myself and (X-Babies artist) Jacob Chabot  shortly after the release of X-BABIES #4 in January. It’s a long one, even edited a bit for content (and be warned, there are spoilers) but worth sticking with it. The sender, Dennis, wrote:

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The Hypothetical Avengers

Many years ago, during my time at Marvel Comics, assistant editors (of which I was one) attended semi-weekly “Assistant Editors’ Classes”, something that happened throughout Marvel’s history from time to time. This round of classes were taught alternately by Chris Claremont and Mark Waid, both of whom were (and are) renowned for their work as comics writers. And the classes were less about being assistant editors and more about thinking about comics, characters, etc.

For a series of weeks we were given some homework. The first assignment was to choose either The Avengers or the X-Men, select a roster of six characters to make up that team, and explain why.

The second assignment was to take the team you’d composed and develop a proposal for a year’s worth of stories and what, given the power to do so, you’d do with the team/title you’d chosen – in theory something different than what was, at the time, happening in those series.

As a long-time Avengers fan…and at the time assistant editor of The Avengers, naturally I chose The Avengers. I composed my team and following that developed a proposal that took some glee in the hypothetical nature of it. In a nutshell, I proposed a storyline that would change the very nature of what The Avengers was, how the team functioned, etc. Something different.

In light of recent and not-so-recent goings on with Avengers comics over the past seven years (and for those who don’t follow this sort of thing I did consider taking the long way and explaining it all, but thought that might be…tedious) and more recently the launch of a brand new Avengers series last week, I thought I’d drag out and share the line-up and proposal I’d written way back when.

In reflecting on it I can’t help but notice some of the…similarities to what’s happened over the past seven years. Stylistically, yes, there are huge differences, but thematically, for those who’ve been paying attention, there are definite parallels.

The point of this isn’t to show off in an “I had this idea first!” sort of way…well, maybe a little…but really, it’s more to show how there’s sometimes parallel thinking out there and how similar ideas can be explored or executed differently. As to whether those ideas or stories are worth exploring…or whether the executions worked or didn’t, that’s a whole different discussion and surely a matter of personal taste and opinion.

But, for those who are interested, you can read my “take”, as it was written over 10 years ago, by clicking here.

Ten Years Ago, Today.

January 28, 2000 marked my last day working as an assistant editor at Marvel Comics.

I started there, first as an intern in the summer of 1996…followed by my first work as a freelance penciler a year later on WHAT IF? #104…and then joined the staff as Tom Brevoort’s assistant in October 1997.

In the two-plus years I was there I had the joy and honor of working on some of the best titles with some of the greatest talents in the field and an overall amazing crew at Marvel itself, from my fellow editorial staff to the production team in the Marvelous Marvel Bullpen to the folks in manufacturing, accounting, online, advertising and creative services. And I even got to draw a comic book here and there, when the opportunities and time permitted. To this day, so many years later, I think back on great memories of my time at Marvel Comics.

I thought it might be fun, upon reflection, to tell a few stories or make note of things I recall from my time. Read more »

X-BABIES #4 – FINAL ISSUE!

Just over a year ago (1/19/09) I sent in a pitch for an X-Babies mini-series. Tomorrow, 1/27/10, the final issue of that mini-series will hit comic book store shelves. And the world will never be the same! That, or it’ll go right back to normal. Hard to say.

But yes, tomorrow you’ll finally see how it all shakes out. Will the X-Babies reclaim their top-spot as stars on Mojo TV? Will Mr. Veech’s Adorable X-Babies outnumber and out-power the real X-Babies? And what of the revived Star Comics characters, what happens to them?

If you’re remotely curious…or just want to see a comic book where Jacob Chabot draws adorable versions of every single X-Man character ever, check out X-BABIES #4!

Meanwhile, I found this out on the internet and thought it, what with my love of cake, too cool not to share:

Mae Makes Cakes!

Yeah, a cake based on the cover art to X-BABIES #4. That’s way cool.

PS – If you haven’t picked it up, G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS #5, co-featuring my finale to the Pix, Teenage American Fairy story “The Most Dangerous Donut”, is out now. Pick it up tomorrow when you race to pick up X-BABIES #4.

X-BABIES: While You Wait…

X-BABIES #4, the final issue of the the X-Babies mini-series I’ve gone on and on about lo these past many months, won’t be out yet for another 30 days, on 1/27/2010. That’s 30 days on top of the past three weeks since issue three rocked the comic book reading masses to their core*! That’s a long wait. What are you supposed to do then if you want your X-Babies fix? Read more »

X-BABIES #3

X-BABIES #3 is on sale today at better comic shops everywhere.

It’s an issue I’m really proud of and happy with, chock-a-block with all kinds of good comic booky stuff. And the last five pages…oh man…I only hope people dig it as I much as I do.

So check out X-BABIES #3, “Chase, Fight, Snikt!” in comic shops TODAY!

*Special bonus game: in this issue, due to a deadline crunch, I stepped in the help Jacob on the art side by working up layouts for several pages in this issue. Can you tell which six pages I had a hand in, visually?

From the Reject Pile: DEADPOOL/SPICE GIRLS “World Tour”

Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth, Marvel Comics’ resident maniac gun-for-hire is all the rage these days. But this wasn’t always the case. 11 years ago last month, Marvel had a big Deadpool push with “Deadpool Month”, October 1998, when Marvel put out a series of Deadpool related one-shots and such in addition to his monthly title.

Now coveted on the back issue market as collectors’ items, books like Encyclopedia Deadpoolica, Baby’s First Deadpool Book, and Deadpool Team-Up Starring Widdle Wade all came out that month.

Being in the offices at the time I was aware of the upcoming event and pitched my own idea for a one-shot: DEADPOOL/SPICE GIRLS: WORLD TOUR.

The premise was simple: Deadpool meets The Spice Girls, who, at the time, were HUGE. The movie Spice World was released earlier that year and yeah, they were a big deal. And it seemed to me a perfect pairing.

The story was a simple one: Deadpool, a mercenary, gets hired to off the Spice Girls. He takes the job but when he’s finally got the girls in his sniper scope he’s taken by Scary Spice and instantly falls deeply in love. He cannot kill the woman of his dreams…his soul mate… He confesses his love to Scary Spice and the plot to kill them is revealed, leading to Deadpool and the Spice Girls teaming up to flip the game and take out those who hired Deadpool in the first place. I wrote up the pitch, worked up a piece of art, and, suffice to say, it’s now appearing on my site under the “From the Reject Pile” heading.

I’d be lying if I said I actually thought it would fly (though, courtesy of my intern at the time, Dennis, I do have the address for Spice Girls Limited, who I was prepared to contact should rights need negotiating).

But what could have been has long since passed and all that left is that single piece of pitch art, in pencil, appearing here for the very first (and really, only) time. So, from 1998, please enjoy:

Don’t it just make you want to zigazig ah?

I just keep talking…

I’m still going on and on about X-Babies out there. And in the event that you don’t regularly do web searches of my name, I’ve gathered a few here so as to share.

First up, an interview on the appropriately named site, Lots of Interviews.

Next, I had a brief chat with Rachelle up in Nova Scotia from the always pleasant and comics-positive blog Living Between Wednesdays.

Thirdly, the audio of my appearance on Comic Book Club (along with Jacob Chabot) is available on iTunes or here, should you care to give that a listen (though for those not familiar with comics and without the visual, it could be…challenging).

Jesse Thorn over at Maximum Fun (PRI’s The Sound of Young America and a series of podcasts) kindly posted the reference I dropped to his “Jordan, Jesse, Go!” podcast in X-Babies #2.

And finally, a couple of video interviews, both from the weekend spent at Acme Comics in Greensboro last month. The first of these is an interview with Dylan O’Connor, a very savvy interviewer despite his age:

And here’s my post-show, wrap-up interview with Julie, who helped out at the event and brought us delicious cookies and brownies.

I can’t explain the color changes to my flesh in the two videos, though it might have something to do with the different cameras used. I can explain, however, my seeming ignoring of the camera in the second video, as I was working on the last sketches of the night and people were waiting on us to get dinner.

Oh, and that fella sitting to my left in the video, that’s Jacob Chabot, artist on X-Babies.

And if all that weren’t enough: G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS #4 is on sale today, 11/17. The penultimate issue (and it’s got not only three more pages of PIX: TEENAGE AMERICAN FAIRY, but an all-new SAFARI JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL comic in there too). It’s a good one!

X-BABIES #1 Reviews: “This is not a serious comic…”

So X-BABIES #1 has been out for just over a week and reviews have popped up here and there. Some have been formal reviews, others discussions on newsgroups.

Reviews tend to range from the “this is fun” to “what’s the point of this?”. But overall reviews have been positive, mostly focusing on Jacob’s fantastic art and its uncanny cuteness. Phrases like “oh, and there’s a story too” were usually what followed a thorough heaping of praise upon Jacob (which he deserves). The occasional negative seemed more to question the motivations or reasons for the series less than the content. Hopefully they’ll stick around for the next three issues to find out. Though the other common negative was the cover price of $3.99, to which I cannot disagree. That four dollar price tag tightens my jaw, too.

So to that end, I thank each and every person who bought the first issue and thank in advance anyone who buys the next three.

But if you’re bored and want to follow along, here are links to all kinds of reviews: Read more »