Sep

2

Remembering Arlan

Filed Under Bold Star, Filipino Artists, General | 11 Comments

When Komikero Ryan Toledo posted this photo up at his Facebook, I couldn’t help but shed a tear. It’s been a while since I saw a “new” old photo of Arlan, and it reminded me of just how much I missed him.

Those of you who bought “Where Bold Stars Go To Die” know Arlan Esmeña as the talented guy who illustrated that comic book. Viewers of my videos at You Tube know Arlan as my frequent sidekick in our “Kwentong Tambay” videos, as well as the anonymous villains in my short films.

When he passed away on February 18, 2010, I realized that I lost not just a friend, but my best friend.

Arlan and I were both Architects, and it is through our local organization of Architects did I meet him. There was one major difference between us. He was a very good Architect and I wasn’t. A true artist, he was able to build houses that were astonishingly unique in both design and color. He would use colors that other Architects would never dare use on a house. He chose colors in conjunction with design elements inspired by the most surprising of motifs: robots, superheroes and chocolate snacks. A quick trip to his blog would demonstrate this as well as exhibit his other extraordinary talents.

As seeming proof of the impact that Arlan’s designs have had, some houses are popping up here in San Pablo have designs clearly inspired by Arlan but are executed by obviously less talented builders.

He was a geek like me, and it is because of that we have found so many things in common.

Arlan also loved singing. Unfortunately, singing didn’t love him back. He was by no means a bad singer. He could carry a tune well enough and that was enough. He sang confidently and he sang because he loved to. He sang at his wedding, and curiously enough, he even sang at his own funeral. Apparently, he had recorded a few of his favorite songs including “One in a Million You” and it was that recording that was played during his wake, and during the procession from the church to the cemetery.

There was something extra special about Arlan, something that he did not talk about with strangers. Some would consider it a gift, but Arlan at one point in his life, considered it a curse. Arlan had a third eye. Not a physical one of course. He could see the dead and other entities. And I believed him because me and Ilyn were there when he learned he had it, and we saw how it had tormented him for many months until he learned to handle it. Once in a while he would be off staring at something, only to tell us later that he saw spirits moving but did not tell us right away knowing it would freak us out. We told him that if he saw anything in our house while he was there, to just keep it to himself. We couldn’t see those things, so in cases like that, ignorance was bliss.

After his father passed away, he saw his father and spoke with him as he gave his final wishes to his family, divulging a few secrets along the way. Arlan could see things and knew certain things. He told me things about me that eventually came true. He didn’t readily open up about such things, but when he did, I bombarded him with questions about the stuff I was curious about. Through Arlan, matters beyond science was no longer a matter of faith or belief. To me it is already a matter of fact. I don’t believe it to be true, I know it to be true.

2008 was the busiest year of Arlan’s life, I could imagine. His Architecture practice was booming and he was getting clients not only from San Pablo but from other parts of the country as well. It was also the time he started visiting us in the house more frequently. He would just visit and hang out. Sometimes he asked if he could work on his architectural plans on one of the tables in our studio. Often times we would make a video. Arlan never completely shook his shyness off in front of the camera even as I kept encouraging him. And yet, he loved making those videos and had fun while we shot them.

I would often not tell him what I will be talking about in your “Kwentong Tambay” videos in an effort to catch him off guard and make him laugh. And he was *always* caught off guard. And I had fun being able to make him laugh.

We had the impression that while he loved his job, Arlan was being stressed out. I could understand that pretty well. I practiced Architecture for several years before I went into comics. It is one of the most stressful jobs out there. Arlan must have loved creating all these terrific designs, but had difficulty dealing with problematic, demanding and unrealistic clients. When he visited us in our house, he would rarely talk about his work and when he did, it was brief and it almost always came with a frown. He came to talk about comics, movies, TV shows, robots, painting, illustrating, and computers.

On the way to Manila to join a Coke Blogger’s event in 2008 (where Arlan and I created a video for a contest), Arlan suddenly asked me if I had a story lying around that he could draw. At that very moment, I was beginning to illustrate “Where Bold Stars Go To Die”, a comics story I wrote back in 2000, which went through several artists unsuccessfully until I decided to do it myself.

I asked him how well he drew girls. He said, yes, I can do that! And at the Blogger’s event an hour or so later, he demonstrated on a small piece of paper just how good he was. I knew he was good, but not *that* good. It turns out he was better than I expected. He harbored dreams of drawing comics you see, and he wished he could for a long time. In fact, he had come up with a 6-page pencilled submission on 11″x17″ and gave me five copies to bring with me to the 1999 San Diego Convention. I passed them around and showed one to my then editor Brian Haberlin. He said he could see the potential in Arlan’s work, but that he needed more practice, specially in the backgrounds.

That’s a page from Arlan’s 1999 comics submission. See if you can spot R2D2 on the dashboard in the last panel.

Looking at the entire submission again now, I can tell how serious he was. I remember asking him back then… what if you get a job out of this? I said, you’re going to have to choose between this and Architecture as both are time intensive jobs and cannot be done full time at the same time. And he said he’d love to do comics. Back in 1999 it was easier to believe him. In 2008 it was far harder to because his Architecture practice was such a success. But here he was asking to draw comics.

Seeing how good he was drawing women (just take a look at THIS and you’ll see for yourself), I gave him “Where Bold Stars Go To Die” to draw. I asked him if he was sure if he wanted to do this particular story as I knew how conservative his background was. He was very religious and he had priests as close friends and a nun for an aunt. But he said yes nevertheless. And so we were off.

He attacked those pages with startling enthusiasm, finishing a few pages right away and went here and showed them eagerly to me. They were pretty good and I thought they would do fine for the book. I lent him a copy of Berni Wrightson’s Frankenstein as well as a copy of Franklin Booth: Painter with a Pen and I can tell how blown away he was by those books.

He went promptly back home and redid those pages and they turned out spectacular.

It was while he was drawing “Bold Stars” that he learned that he was sick. He never said the word “cancer”, nobody did, but we all knew exactly what it was. He stopped working actively on his Architecture projects, and concentrated his efforts into drawing our comic book. He had joked that when he learned he was sick, he was suddenly compelled to work faster.

In his Afterword to Bold Stars he wrote:

No hospital bed could stop me from doing it, where I used pillows as a makeshift drawing table. It was truly a worthwhile experience.

It took him exactly a year to finish drawing Bold Stars. He bagan sometime in July 2008, and finished it sometime in July 2009. By this time Arlan had lost all his hair, and his body showed the effects of continuous chemotherapy. And yet I swear, that smile never left his face every time we saw him. He continued to draw and he continued to improve. His development as an artist was nothing short of astonishing. In just a short amount of time his work transformed from this:

Into THIS:

It was as if a creative tap was suddenly opened inside him and it was now furiously gushing out. He wanted more things to draw, and he looked forward eagerly to our next project, which would have been “Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby”.

I had began working for Marvel again during this time and my time was suddenly tight. I found less time to write the story, but I assured him that it was coming. I was also working to get a compilation of ELMER out, as well as the Bold Star book, in time for KOMIKON by October 2009.

I wanted to finish the layout of Bold Stars, and letter it, and somehow find the money to print it so Arlan could have the opportunity to experience launching and signing his comic book during one of the biggest comic events in the country. It is here I want to thank my friend Leinil Francis Yu as well as Jamie Bautista of Nautilus Comics and LSA Printing for helping make this possible.

That was me and Arlan signing at the Komikon 2009, talking with a fan. Actually, he’s my brother Noel.

I can’t even begin to say how happy I was that Arlan was able to experience that event. I believed that it was an experience that he will have over and over, but deep in the back of my mind I thought it might be possible that this may be the last event he could attend. It drove me to make sure that Bold Stars came out at that convention, just in case.

By December 2009 it seemed that Arlan was getting much better. He was further pursuing the development of his art, having taken up photography. He was able to attend the 2nd San Pablo Comics Festival as well as join us Komikeros in our monthly meetings later that month. His hair had started to grow back.

Arlan asked at this meeting how the writing of Rodski Patotski was going. I said I hadn’t started yet, but I was thinking of writing a short story for him, in time for the Komikero Anthology. Thinking hard as I looked at Arlan and the things that he had went through, I immediately knew what I was going to write. I wanted to tell the story of two people who, for some reason, have agreed to go out on a date once a week. The guy was dying of cancer, while the girl was depressed and suicidal. I called it “Mitch and Mischa”. I asked Arlan if the storyline was OK with him and he said yes.

I didn’t see Arlan too much in the month that followed, but we did keep in touch online or on the phone or through text (on my wife’s cell). He visited us once in January and I showed him the trailer to the live action movie of Battleship Yamato. He went berserk when he saw it, and so did I. He asked to see it several times, and couldn’t wait to see the actual thing.

By middle of January, we kind of lost touch for a week. No messages, no emails, Facebook updates or texts. I started to sense that something was wrong. Arlan never went for so long without getting in touch back. On January 29 he finally texted back to confirm what we had feared. The tumors had spread to his kidneys and lungs and he was confined at St. Lukes Hospital in Manila.

I visited Arlan on February 6 and although he had a full head of hair, he had difficulty speaking. But once again, he had a smile that never left his lips. He was actually game to do a video, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to bring my camera. I kidded him about hurrying up and getting dressed because we had a signing at Sputnik in Cubao that afternoon. He said “Let’s Go!”, and I could tell he was serious. I had mentioned that the store had run out of copies of “Where Bold Stars To To Die” so I brought 20 copies along with me to deliver to the store. When Arlan heard that, he asked to sign the books. ALL 20 books. And lying there on his hospital bed, attached to an IV and other gadgets, he slowly signed every copy. And when you look at those signatures, you would never know he was sick.

We received an urgent call on February 16, asking us to visit Arlan one more time, in case Arlan wanted to tell us something or for us to say something in return. The time was approaching, we were told, now that the tumors have reached his brain. He had difficulty remembering the names of friends and relatives the night before. I dropped everything and went back to St. Lukes that same day. Arlan could no longer recognize me, or maybe even see me. He could still hear me, I was told. So I held his hand and talked to him, thanking him for everything and assured him that we’ll see each other again.

Arlan’s family brought him home the following day, and on the early morning of February 18, we received the call that Arlan had passed away.

At Arlan’s wake, Mazinger Z, Voltes V and Optimus Prime stood watch over his body.

Aug

30

Bong Dazo Signing at Comic Odyssey

Filed Under Comics Artists, Filipino Artists | 5 Comments

You’ve seen this artist and his work on titles like Deadpool, Thunderbolts, Star Wars and now Moon Knight and wondered if he was Filipino. The answer is yes, Bong Dazo is a Filipino based in Meycauayan, Bulacan.

His new title, Shadowland: Moon Knight #1 will be launched, and Bong himself will be on hand to do signings, at Comic Odyssey at Robinson’s Galleria on September 4, 2010 from 1-3 PM. And as Comic Odyssey signings usually go, other artists will be there to hang.

I wish I could be there as well, but it’s my mom’s 75th birthday and that’s where I’ll be.

**************

On the work front, I’ve just finished inking issue #1 of Superior, and I have to say, page 24 practically blew me away. To be honest, I don’t hand out compliments easily so when I do, you know that I mean it. But man, seeing that page impressed the hell out of me, and I told Leinil so. I think it’s one of the best images he has illustrated so far. I can’t post it, but let me just say that it’s different from the kind of thing he’s done. To me it indicates a new level of maturity in his work, and it’s such a pleasure to have been able to ink it. I’m so inspired by it that I’m practically compelled to color it myself, just for fun, blow it up and post it up on my wall.

Aug

24

Four Pages From HULK

Filed Under My Art | 6 Comments

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to ink four pages of World War Hulks, HULK #23, written by Jeph Loeb, and pencilled by Leinil Francis Yu. I’m posting them here uncolored because quite a lot of my linework was obscured after printing.




That’s right. I inked MODOK. I came. Several times.

My Metro Comic Con report will appear in the Comics Journal website soon.

Aug

19

Guest Artists at the Metro Comic Con

Filed Under COMICS CONVENTIONS, Comics Artists, Philippine Comics | 7 Comments

There will be a bunch of artists, both young and veteran (and those somewhere in between) who will be attending the Metro Comic Con this weekend. Those include:

Manix Abrera
Danny Acuña
Gerry Alanguilan
Kajo Baldisimo
Jomar Bulda
Dennis Crisostomo
Edwin David
Rod Espinosa
Jann Galino
Ernest Jocson
Jun Lofamia
Heubert Khan Michael
Gilbert Monsanto
Ruben Nacion
Elbert Or
Ariel Padilla
Carlo Pagulayan
Ernie Patricio
Michael Jason Paz
Jay David Ramos
Rico Rival
Clem Rivera
Stephen Segovia
Mico Suayan
Edgar Tadeo
Mark Torres
Randy Valiente
Carlo Vergara
Leinil Francis Yu

For descriptions for each artist: http://bit.ly/cUCkhl

Also, there will be people cosplaying Jim Lee, James Jean and Whilce Portacio! Oh yeah!

Outside of the guest list will be many more other artists who will be attending and selling their stuff including Hazel Manzano, Josel Nicolas, Rommel Estanislao, Andrew Villar, Ronald Tan, Macoy, and many many more.

Aug

18

ELMER Collection from SLG Press Release

Filed Under Elmer, Philippine Comics | Leave a Comment

Elmer, the acclaimed graphic novel by Philippine cartoonist Gerry Alanguilan about talking chickens, will finally see print in the United States this November in a new edition released from SLG Publishing. A window into a world where chickens have suddenly acquired the intelligence and consciousness of humans, Elmer tells the story of a family of chickens who struggles to survive in a strange and dangerous world.

While Elmer is basically a book about talking chickens, SLG Publisher Dan Vado says it should not be dismissed as funny animal book. “This is not about talking chickens the way Babe was about talking pigs” Vado observed “Elmer has more in common with Animal Farm than any talking dog movie.”

Creator Gerry Alanguilan has worked in comics for some time on various work-for-hire projects from major publishers, but when casting around for ideas for his own project he looked no further than his own front window ” I’ve always been surrounded by chickens. I find them fascinating and I often found myself wondering what if… what if they could think like us and talk like us?” said Alanguilan “What would they say? What would they do? It was a ridiculous notion, but I tried to approach it very seriously and see what I would come up with.”

Self-publishing the series in The Philippines, Alanguilan’s comic attracted attention internationally for its mirror-like look at the world we live in. Neil Gaiman called it “heartbreaking and funny and so beautifully drawn.”

The SLG Publishing edition of Elmer will contain all of the same material from the self-published version which saw limited distribution outside of the Philippines. Scheduled for a November 2010 release, Elmer will be a 144 page black and white graphic novel priced at $12.95 and will be available at better comics and book shops, from Amazon.com as well as from the publisher’s own website.

The first chapter of the book is available as a free download from the SLG Publishing website (www.slgcomic.com).

via SLG Publishing

Aug

15

ELMER Previews Solicitation

Filed Under Elmer, My Art, My Comics | 6 Comments

Comic book retailers! You might be interested in ordering ELMER from SLG Publishing in the upcoming issue of PREVIEWS (it might be out already), where it’s actually a Featured Item! You can download the online catalog here, where you will find Elmer in page 108. Thanks!! :)


Click image to embiggen!

Aug

14

Metro Comic Con, August 21-22, 2010

Filed Under COMICS CONVENTIONS, Philippine Comics | 5 Comments

One of the BIG comic book events in the Philippines is now just about around the corner. Metro Comic Con finally happens on the weekend of August 21-22. August 21, a Saturday falls on a holiday so there’s no school and no offices so there’s plenty of opportunity to go and visit!

I for one will be there for the entire day of Saturday only. I wish I could stay for both days, but I can’t stay away from the drawing table for so long.

I really don’t have anything new to sell though, but I will be bringing more copies of “Umlauts and Atom Bombs” as well as “Where Bold Stars Go To Die“. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I will no longer be able to bring copies of ELMER as all my copies are gone. There are still a few hundred copies with my distributor, who will hopefully release it to the bookstores soon enough.

Speaking of ELMER, if you are a comic book retailer, you might want to order the SLG edition of the book in the upcoming issue of PREVIEWS, which I hear will make Elmer a Featured Item. Woo hoo!

At Metro Comic Con, I will also be hosting a veteran’s panel from 5-6 in the evening featuring many of our Filipino komiks veterans. This should be fun. I’ve been talking to a lot of them in the previous years and I welcome this opportunity to allow them to share their stories.

Here is the full schedule of activities for the convention:

DAY 1 – August 21, Saturday

10:00 Gates open

12:00-1:00pm – Band Performance – WETT DOGG

1:00pm-2:00pm – Game Developer’s Association Panel

Get an in-depth scoop on the Video Gaming industry in the Philippines, and find out more about how involved Pinoy Talents are in the development and production of your favorite games!

2:00pm-3:00pm – Kartunista Panel (moderated by EJ Howard)

Meet, greet, and listen to the talented men and women behind your favorite cartoon strips HAZEL MANZANO (Callwork), LYNDON GREGORIO (Beerkada), FREELY ABRIGO (Kulas), ANDREW VILLAR (Ambush) and MANIX ABRERA (Kiko Machine) as they talk about things such as their creative processes, latest releases, and more!

3:00pm-4:00pm – Band Performance – MARRY ME AMY

4:00pm-5:00pm – Marvel Panel (moderated by RJLedesma)

Celebrity and self-confessed comic-book enthusiast RJ LEDESMA interviews Fan-Favorite Pinoy Marvel Artists on stage!

5:00pm-6:00pm – Veterans Panel (moderated by Gerry Alanguilan)

World –renowned Komikero, Gerry Alanguilan, helps us gather facts about the rise and fall of local komiks industry through the eyes of the people who had seen every moment of komiks happen: our legendary veteran komiks artists! Don’t miss this segment and learn about the possible future of komiks!

6:00pm-8:00pm – Lifetime Achievement Awarding Ceremonies

Witness history unfold as Metro Comic-Con exalts 3 of the Philippine Komiks Industry’s unto the Hall of Fame, with the first MCC Lifetime Achievement Awards!

DAY 2 – August 22, Sunday

10:00 am Gates Open

12:00-1:00pm – Band Performance –FROM ETERNITY

1:00pm-2:00pm – Film Showing – SUPERMAN : DOOMSDAY

Witness how the World’s Greatest Super-hero faced his Doomsday, brought to us by Magnavision Inc. and DC@75!

2:00pm-3:00pm – Creativoices Feature
Meet the talented people that give voices to your well-loved Asianovelas and Anime shows! Join them on stage as they showcase their talents and throw in very familiar voices!

3:00pm-4:00pm – Band Performance –FLUSH AND THE TOILETS

4:00pm-6:00pm – Cosplay Competition (Intermission by Cloud 9)
Who would you wanna be for a day? Dress up and join the Cosplay Competition made possible by Cosplay.ph! And watch out for the intermission treat from fast-rising all-female group CLOUD 9!

7:00pm-8:00pm – Awarding of Contest Winners
The best of the best from each of our cool contests get rewarded for their awesomeness!

8:00-onwards – Band Performance (Rap Performances)- KIDY’ALL /X’O ICY

Aug

6

SLG Publishing’s Official ELMER Trailer

Filed Under Elmer, My Art, My Comics | 1 Comment

Aug

6

The Quarterly Bathroom Companion Comics Compendium

Filed Under Comics Artists, Philippine Comics | 4 Comments

When this image appeared on Facebook, I was immediately impressed by the audacity of it. I thought, holy crap, is that what I think it is? Right between the eyes? Insane, these people. It reminded me of Alex Niño, who drew genitalia in his illustrations which few people noticed because they were so awed by the awesomeness of the entire thing.

It’s an 80 page quarterly anthology which launches at Komikon in November. And they’re calling out for submissions! All dealings, pitches and submissions will be done through their Facebook Page.

From the cover alone, I have a feeling that they would be looking for material that would really push it, in all sorts of directions. And I’m interested to read what they come up with, come November!

That cover is by Mervin Malonzo, creator of the beautifully drawn Tabi Po online strip. Check that out. I think Mervin is one of the most talented young Filipino comics creators I’ve seen. Seeing his work makes me feel ecstatic for the future of Philippine comics.

Aug

5

Tipping and Discounts, WTF?

Filed Under My Art | 15 Comments

I’m curious about the tradition of tipping at restaurants and hotels. In the US, tipping seems to be mandatory, while in the Philippines, it’s optional. In the US, you HAVE to tip or else the waiters come after you. If anyone is in the waiting biz, I’d like to know the rationale behind it. Aren’t you being paid by the restaurant already? If you aren’t paid enough, in any other industry, you would look for another job, isn’t that right? I’m sure there are laws that ensure that businesses pay their employees at the very least a minimum wage.

What if people from other industries start asking for tips as well? I’m sure the average postman doesn’t make that much money either. What if they start asking for tips for every letter they deliver? After all, it’s a tough gig walking all day.

What if teachers, another under-appreciated and underpaid sector of society, started asking mandatory tips from students? How about cops? If you call them to your house on some emergency, what if they asked for tips for their trouble?

What if EVERYBODY started asking for tips on top of the money they are already paid to do their jobs? You know, fair is fucking fair.

I’m just scratching my head here because as artists, we are never given tips. But then again, we never ask for it. In fact, people ask for discounts left and right. Am I the only seeing how whacked out this is?

Waiters offer a service, get paid for it, and get tips on top of it.
Artists offer a service, get paid but a certain amount is then subtracted.

What a fucked up world we live in right? YES I KNOW.

I guess all I’m saying is, if you want me to draw something for you, or you want to buy one of my artworks, don’t ask for discounts. Quite frankly, it’s insulting to artists when you do that. Every single piece of art we do is the sum total of our experience and skill, no matter how short or how long that drawing takes. The rate we give to our art is how much we value what we create. If you ask for discounts, you devalue my work and disrespect me.

Keep this in mind when dealing with other artists. If others give discounts, they may say nothing, but deep inside a piece of their soul is taken out every time they do it.

Aug

3

I Shouldn’t Have Had That Cappuccino

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Really. But they had this awesome coffee machine that spits out all kinds of coffee just like that and it was just too tempting to decline when I was offered a cup.

And now here I am several hours later with a rumbling stomach, wide awake at 2 in the morning. Well, I am up because I had to finish inking a Superior cover. (Yes, I’m inking Mark Millar and Leinil Yu’s new book) Twist my arm or break my ankles but I won’t spill any of the awesome beans that make up this comic book, unless of course you manage to get me Season 4 of Mr. Belvedere on DVD. Yes, even I have a price.

How do I find a friend?

This is one of those embarrassing things to admit, but in the early 90′s I had this friend. We would talk once in a while on the phone. I know he lived/lives in Los Baños. He’s a tall guy (Maybe 5’11″ or maybe 6′), probably as old as me. One day we had agreed to go to Mayric’s together for a night of drunken debauchery with groupies of whatever band that was playing. It wasn’t a stretch for me because one, I was a drinking maniac in the early to mid 90′s before comics saved my life, and two, I lived in P. Noval very close to where Mayric’s was.

Now this guy came over but I couldn’t go because I somehow injured my foot and I couldn’t walk. I had to beg off our nearly sinful rendezvous for another time. Which never came.

I don’t know where I met this guy or in what circumstances (comics? architecture? other?), and sad to say, I don’t even remember his name. He’s a sad victim of the worst time in my life to meet me. I have a long list of people who have regretted ever meeting me at this time because I was just so screwed up. And angry. And mad. In more ways than one.

Stomach still rumbling. Maybe I need go and evacuate.

I wanted to make a video but the batteries ran out just as I was saying HELLO, YOO CH

Jul

28

French Elmer for Pre-Order

Filed Under Elmer, My Art, My Comics | 7 Comments

If you would like to read ELMER in French, or would just like a French edition, Amazon.fr is now offering it for pre-order. It will released on November 19, 2010. CLICK HERE.

Elmer in French will be published by Editions çà et là.

Jul

26

ELMER at the San Diego International Comics Convention 2010

Filed Under COMICS CONVENTIONS, Elmer, My Art, My Comics | 2 Comments

Photos from the SLG Publishing booth, care of Mr. Dan Vado, at the recently concluded San Diego International Comics Convention.

SLG Publishing will be releasing ELMER Internationally on November 1, 2010.

Official ELMER Site:
http://elmercomics.com

SLG Publishing Site
http://slgcomic.com

Jul

21

What’s in the BOX?!

Filed Under General | 9 Comments

Working on a new project at the moment. It seems quite superior to a lot of the other stuff I’ve done lately. Yeah, kinda superior. It’s not a boast. It’s a fact. Come October 2010 you’ll see. You’ll ALL see. *cackle*

I’m taking a quick break to talk about SOMETHING. Not anything specific, but something actually substantial. Hopefully. Because for the past several months I seem to have done nothing much on this blog but PLUG something. Jeez. The last thing I want this blog to be is a blog that does nothing but PLUG stuff. I would hate that.

Ok, I will talk about something now. Something maybe shallow, something almost inconsequential, but it’s something honest about me. Something other than comics and videos and short films.

I’ve been sitting on a BOX for the last couple of years. It’s a box that I sit on when I draw.

It’s actually been comfortable to sit on, but it’s pretty unstable and the cushions tend to move around a lot under my ass. There comes a point when the cushions form something a bit pointy and well, neighbors have heard my screams once or twice in the middle of the night.

Today I decided to just go ahead and buy myself to a nice ergonomic chair. As a famous comic book artist once said of his Herman Miller Aeron Chair (est $950): “Nothing’s too good for my ASS!” Although an Aeron chair would be nice, I can’t afford it so I settled for a nice basic office ergonomic chair. I can sit back now, relax, play with the hydraulics and contentedly declare: “There’s something too good for my ASS! But this will do!”

My wife asked on Twitter, “What’s inna BOOOOX???” Yes, my wife and I converse on Twitter. That’s so sad. But that way I can avoid the flying plates. Ah see? I’m using the old noggin’ there. That’s sound advice to you sensitive type husbands out there.

To answer the question, no, what’s in the box is NOT the head of the wife of a popular British band. They’re just comics. Books and more comics. There’s a Rocketeer graphic novel in there somewhere. A bunch of Superman: Birthright original artwork, Graphic Classics, X-men Stuff, and oh yeah, a big-ass Marvel Treasury magazine featuring Barry Windsor Smith’s RED NAILS. If you are a comic book fan and don’t know who Barry Windsor Smith is, stand back as you witness the spectacle of my eyes popping out of their sockets. You might want to shield yourself.

That’s it for this post. Stay tuned for the next one where I may or may not talking about Tony Soprano’s damned ducks.

Jul

19

Ultimate Comics Avengers Vol. 2 #5

Filed Under My Art, My Comics | 1 Comment

That’s detail from the cover of Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #5, which I inked over Leinil Francis Yu. The issue is set to be released on July 21, 2010!