A Boy and His Lion

MONSTROSITY PREVIEW

Halloween is around the corner. Waiting to meet it head on is MONSTROSITY V.2!

Everyone knows that sequels are always wa-a-a-y better than their predecessors, and MONSTROSITY V.2 is no exception. It's stacked so high with incredible talent and wicked sci-fi horror action that you'll be ruined for other comics.

R U I N E D.

Don't believe me? I can't blame you, as such bold claims are often too good to be true--but that is not the case with MONSTROSITY V.2!

Since we all know talk is cheap, here's a preview of my contribution to this years greatest comic anthology, The Privateers Of Nebulon Five. It's written by Fred "Smoking Gun" Kennedy and drawn by Yours Truly. These pages are so hard hitting you'll think they're beating you up for your lunch money!!!

Monstrosity Vol. II

Here's a five page preview of The Privateers of Nebulon Five, created and scripted by Fred Kennedy and illustrated by Yours Truly. The full story will be featured in the upcoming sci-fi/horror anthology, Monstrosity Vol. II.

Enjoy!

 

Teuton Review

This week, Examiner.com posted a glowing review Teuton, an epic trilogy of graphic novels created by Fred Kennedy and Yours Truly. We are most pleased. Reviewer John Kirk writes of Teuton...

"This is a small, independently published comic that really deserves your attention."

We could not agree more. You can read the entire review here.

My thanks to John Kirk and Examiner.com for checking out the books.

Copies of Teuton, as well as prints and original art of mine, are all available at my online store.

Big Sexy Happenings This Week...

Recently I sat down with my friend and creative partner, Fred Kennedy, for another of his podcasts wherein we discuss working on indie comics. Joining me this time at the indie creator roundtable were Gibson Quarter and Ricky Lima. Both great dudes, both well spoken and insightful. It was a good a chat.

If you haven't already checked out these "Fredcasts" you would do well to listen to a few--or all of them. Fred's interviewed many amazing guests, the majority of them comic book superstars, and each of them infinitely more interesting than myself.

That said, you should also totally listen to the one I just did, which you can right here. I have not listened to it however, and I probably won't, because listening to my own voice is torture I don't need at the moment.

In other Fred & Adam related news, this weekend is Toronto ComiCon, and you can bet your booties we'll be there. At table P24 in fact, selling copies of our newly reprinted Teuton: Volume One!

But if you're not hitting up the old comic convention this weekend, you can always snag a copy of Teuton over at our Big Sexy Comic Shop. We have a deal running till Friday, 8th where you get a free colour sketch with every purchase!

TEUTON Trailer

In a recent podcast with Fred Kennedy, Gibson Quarter, Ricky Lima and myself, Fred begged Ricky to cut a trailer for our graphic novel, Teuton.

What you see is the result of that conversation.

Thanks so much to Ricky for the support and his efforts!

This Week In Drawing... 17 & 18

BIG SEXY COMICS

The past couple weeks have been heavy with web work and design. The new and improved website for Big Sexy Comics will be going live very, very soon and I can't wait for it to be ready. I'll have two blogs to upkeep!

The old site was the bane of my existence. For starters, the wrong artist was credited for Teuton. You know how awkward it is sending links to potential clients and/or editors only to have them ask why it says someone else drew my book? Secondly, the comic reader was not user friendly. Many people related their bungled attempts to navigate the comic. Lastly, the thing was rarely updated. It got to a point where I stopped directing people to the site because I couldn't rely on it to leave a good impression. In fact, the epic failure (in my opinion) of the site was the direct cause for me be proactive on this blog. If BSC.com had worked out the first time I wouldn't have this blog that nobody reads!

Getting our act together on the site brought another important aspect of the Big Sexy Comics brand to mind--the logo.

A while back Fred and I had to ask ourselves what our game plan was in comics. Was Big Sexy Comics and it's properties means to an end? Hopeful springboards to professional work, or were we going to build our own house and take it the distance? We landed somewhere in between. As we both crave a perceived legitimization by finding work with publishers, we also love what we're creating and work at honing or storytelling skills with our own material. Big Sexy Comics will always be our stable, regardless of what else we do. To keep that stable up, Fred had the website rebooted and we're looking to take our books to market. Currently our books, specifically Teuton Volumes 1 & 2, are carried by a handful of stores in the GTA, and although they're available for purchase online at Indy Planet, we haven't advertised our focused on marketing. So while we remain hopeful creators, we've learned we're also terrible businessmen.

This year we aim to change that by pulling our heads out of our asses and fully getting behind the books we've worked so hard to create. I think. To do that I felt we needed a new logo, and after hours of work I presented Fred with a host of options, emphasizing my personal choice. He did not go for it and I was crestfallen. If you've worked with me then you know I can be picky, pushy and strong headed. With Fred I've got my way with many things, including with this website, so bearing that in mind I applied some gentle insistence to see things my way. Nope. He likes what he likes, so I've relented. Check out this cover mock-up to see what it came down to:

OTHER STUFF

Now because I'm tired of typing, here's a bunch of other stuff I worked on recently...

TEUTON: Volume 3 (7-11)

TEUTON: Volume Three

TEUTON vol.2, pages 6-8

Surprise!

The fiend who wants Perkunas' axe, a terribly powerful weapon, is none other than his own brother: Bangputys, god of the sea!

What is Bangputys' nefarious scheme, and how does it involve the mighty axe? Who will find the weapon first? And who is the cunning agent known as Ziburnis?

Yikes! Stay tuned...

TEUTON MYTHOLOGY

It's now exactly a week since Fan Expo started. As I type this it's 10:54 AM, and I remember distinctly driving down a long and winding ramp to the convention loading bay around this same time last Thursday. I felt like a tie fighter zipping down that bright, cavernous tunnel. Pew! Pew!

Anyhow, I'm still flying high off the release of our first trade. I'm well and truly proud of it, as you can tell. More than that, I like the book Fred and I are making. It's grown on me. Several times on this blog I've written about first hooking up with Fred. I think so, anyway--I start entries and delete them after 30 minutes of typing. I've written heart-breakingly beautiful things you'll never read because I suddenly decided to toast Eggo waffles and watch Dragon's Den, but I digress... When Fred first pitched me his idea I was just excited that a cool pseudo celebrity wanted to make comics with me, and would pay me to do it. I was saying yes no matter what. But he said "knights" and a part of me winced at the thought of drawing horses and armor. That shit can get complicated.

That's all to say that I liked it then, but I love it now. What's always impressed me with Fred and his script--and indeed, anyone who hears Fred talk about Teuton concedes--the guy did his homework when it came to researching the history and the obscure Lithuanian mythology that serves as Teuton's backdrop. There's nothing random or arbitrary about the places and names involved in the plot. It's interesting stuff. As we carry on with our story, I would like to give readers a chance to compare our comic with the history and mythology it borrows from.

If you've read the trade, you'll know it ends with the arrival of a new character: Perkunas.

A fearsome and courageous being, Perkunas can easily be described as the Lithuanian equivalent of Thor. His great strength and power are akin to mountains and thunder storms--in fact, he is deity to both, as well as to the rain, the sky, and oak trees. Indeed, everything about Perkunas is elemental and way over our heads. He reigns in the heavens above and commands the trees and mountains that rise up to him. He is bad ass. We hope that was made clear when he lands on the scene in our two-page spread.

Perkunas' name has been dropped several times before his arrival in our story. Issue one opens with the raid on a Pagan village, and it is there the fabled Axe of Perkunas lies hidden in a shrine, protected by Lithuanian worshipers Aras and his foxy apprentice Asura. Charged with retrieving the axe is the Teuton Komtur, who is secretly working for Maras, one of three death gods in the pantheon. It's important to note that Perkunas' Axe is the most devastating weapon in all creation. Imagine wielding an instrument capable of such destruction, it could level mountains with thunder and raise them up again with an earthquake. That is why it's kept hidden from other power hungry gods in a shrine where only mortals can enter.

After the Komtur is unexpectedly killed in the ensuing melee, Olbert assumes command and sends the axe to Konigsberg for political points with his superiors. Aras, however, believes the axe to be taken to the hill fortress of Pilenai, which the Teutons have assumed control of. Believing he is doing the bidding of Perkunas himself, Aras performs a ritual before the Stelmuze Oak (an actual tree in Lithuania where Perkunas was worshipped. It's estimated to be 1500 years old.) and transforms Olbert into one of Perkunas' fearsome Oaken Sentinels. Well, it gets nasty for everyone inside Pilenai, but we'll get more into the plot in later posts.

As for my vision of Perkunas, I modeled him after Tom Hardy in Bronson. My reasoning behind it was simple: I just didn't want him looking much like the Thor we all know. I wanted my thunder god to look blunt and heavy, like a polish butcher. I've debated putting a cape on him, but am leaning towards the negative. Vakiris, one of several antagonists in the first volume, was given a flowy cape. Although I modelled him from 80's wrestling costumes and Flash Gordon. I always intended him to be a bit of a doofus in appearance, but takes himself very seriously. Perkunas on the other hand is the real deal. I'm excited he's here in our new volume, and I think it'll make for fun storytelling.


Stay tuned for more as this story develops, more will be revealed!

IT'S A SIGN!

As always, I had meant to post sooner, but then prepping for Fan Expo kicked up to high speed. I was dancing on hot coals until the show finally got rolling. What a rat race though. Here's one of several embarrassing stories I told over the weekend:

A few weeks ago I was creating promotional signs for our booth and I was thinking of ways to hang them to make the most of our table space. I was getting tired of using easels because kids in their manga costumes always knocked into them. It's almost always manga costumes, by the way. Often because of their big, awkward accessories. Anyhow, Fred didn't want to spring for a professionally printed display. They're expensive, and it's his dough, so that's how it is. Suddenly I got it in my head that just buying timber to build an 8'x6' sign would be far easier and more cost effective than paying for large scale printed posters. Was it really? Nope! But like Zaphod Beeblebrox, I plunged head first into a messy situation with blindingly stupid optimism.

I bought all the materials from DeSerres and Home Depot. I designed the text for our sign to read Big Sexy Comics, looking large and mountainous, but had a bitch of a time a time trying to get it on the big wooden boards I bought. I tried rasterbating my image, which was total bullshit. Then I just plain free-handed it: more bullshit. Finally I bought a light projector and was on my way... for about 20 minutes. After setting up the projector, I knelt before one of my 4'x6' boards and began to trace the B when I noticed the projected outline was dipping. The projector itself was stable, so I simply put my pen to where the outline had come to rest... only it sank some more, and was picking up speed. That's when I smelled the fumes of hot plastic and saw ghostly wisps of smoke rise from the lens--only then did I realize that my projector was melting. The bulb was too damned hot! I switched it off and unplugged it, but it was beyond saving. I brought it back to the art store immediately. Staff hovered around me to bear witness to the molten monstrosity I dared exchange for a new projector.

I left the store with a new projector and some nifty spray paint, because I did not intend to paint the thing by hand. With the design traced onto the boards, thanks to the new projector, I masked the letters and broke out a can of blue spray paint. Blue mist hissed, covering bare wood, and I watched with detached amusement in my sealed garage at how the fine blue particles seemed to dance. Their flight was dizzying and I soon felt nauseated, even sick. I put the can down to stretch my tired arms. That's when I noticed the label. My eyes bulged at the very bold, and very clearly printed warnings on the can of spray paint: "Highly Toxic! Use in Ventilated area! Must wear mask!" So I got out of there, having not done any of that shit, and later on painted the letters by hand with acrylic, just the way I tried avoiding. I didn't like the job it did, but I was out of time. I left it to dry and tried to sweat out and shower away all the toxins I had no doubt absorbed.

The next day at the convention, bits of the acrylic paint ripped off my painted sign. You see, I sandwiched the painted sides in my car, and they adhered during the drive. Andre Fernandes, another artist for Big Sexy Comics, did the best he could to cover up the blemishes. Despite having an otherwise fine reception at the show, I couldn't help but notice upward glances followed by brows furrowed with confusion and distaste--but the sign worked! They were caught in their bemusement and in those moments of displacement I sold them a book. Still, it left a lot to be desired. I firmly believe that's what prompted Fred Kennedy, writer and creator of Teuton and Big Sexy Comics, to turn to me and say, "you know, next year I think I'll invest in some printed banners." What a guy!

SATURDAY SPECIAL

 
The words 'comics' and 'scandal' are a rare pairing, at least to my knowledge, but any person with even the slightest interest in the comic book industry is probably still leering at this Rob Granito affair even as I type this. It's been a couple days, but accounts on Granito's fraudulent career are going strong and can be seen on sites like Bleeding Cool and the anti-Granito Facebook page. It's wild stuff, but I won't delve into specifics here. Read about the affair via the links above. I will, however, strike while this iron is hot. Aren't I entitled? I'm a comic book person and I'm utterly fascinated by the news, like passing a horrible car crash on the highway.

Firstly, I'm not personally offended by Granito's lies. How could I be? Nothing of mine was at stake. He certainly would not have ripped off anything I've done. So I won't insult actual professionals whose work was stolen by trying to share in their anger. What I am is saddened. I ask myself questions: what was he thinking? how and why did he start? did he have an endgame? The questions don't end there, but they'll all go unanswered unless someone can get a hold of this guy. Apparently he's slotted to attend a convention somewhere this weekend. Everyone following this story are probably on pins and needles. It's like Fritz Lang's "M", only geekier!

So yes, I feel sad for the man. Don't confuse that for sympathy, mind you. What he's been doing is wrong and disrespectful to everyone in the business. Every single artist at a convention, from the biggest professional to the newest beginner, has worked very hard to be at their respective tables. By sleuthing his way into these shows with his counterfeit artwork, Granito has spat time and again on the hours of dedication every honest artist has spent on their craft. The reason I feel sad though is I can't reckon why someone would go through all the trouble and effort to lie so convincingly and to create these forgeries just to make a few hundred dollars at a show.

Incidentally, I passed Granito several times at the recent Wizard show. Like me, he had a table opposite Artist Alley. He was mingled with all the celebrities. I remember his booth vaguely. I never looked closer because what I saw of his work didn't impress me. They all looked like lame versions of better pieces. Go figure. I do remember thinking, "that kinda sucks" and then immediately chastising myself for putting someone else down at a show--in my own head, no less!--because it felt like the wrong attitude to bring to a convention. I honestly try to approach everybody with a positive and accepting frame of mind. Like I said, anyone at these shows has worked hard to be there, and you must respect that about a person, if nothing else.

What did he stand to gain? A spotlight? Didn't he think any attention would bring him down? What void, what lack of soul, kept him from working as hard (or harder) to create original works? I've looked at his forgeries. He clearly has an understanding of the materials used, some skill with his tools. Why did he do it? I can't wrap my head around it. So all I can do, from this comfortable distance where I sit at my computer, is laugh. What else can I do? Asking myself these questions, trying to put myself in his shoes, I just feel dirty and, again, deeply sad. So I prefer to laugh instead. Here's a big Nelson Muntz right in your eye, Granito: Haw-Haw!


Last weekend I promised 5 new pages of Teuton #3 and only delivered 4. Despite my superficial complaints about the Wizard show, I enjoyed the time spent meeting people, catching up with familiar faces and watching those fierce rollerskate girls zip so fearlessly through the crowd. Although the jokes about the cute one named "Rugburn" got tired very fast. But I digress. I did not get much work done for all the fun and excitement. Not following through has been eating me all week. I have been working quite tirelessly on several projects, the biggest being Teuton of course. So today I decided to toss up a lot of fun stuff, including the page I did not finish on time.

There will be some new faces in the upcoming issues of Teuton: the dreaded Pagan Gods! Fred eats up history and mythology, and has done a lot of research for the book to make our antagonists fun to design and draw. Making his debut on page 5 of this issue is Vakaris, a ruler of the winds and lightning and lots of fun stormy stuff. He shows up unannounced and inexplicably in true god-like fashion, standing eight feet tall, all muscle and furious business.