"Queen & Country: Operation Morningstar" Revisited

(you definitely need to click on image and enlarge it!)
I was really glad to get the chance to do this illustration. I've had some variation of this image in my head for years (ever since my 3-issue run on Queen & Country) so, when someone asked me to do an illustration inside their hardback edition of the aforementioned story arc I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I was doubly nervous about this commission as it was in someone's personal copy of the book and I was attempting to do a little watercolor for the first time in a commission. No room for mistakes! All said I think it turned out all right!

Note: Do not adjust your monitors--the paper inside the hard back has a marbled effect printed on it.

The Wonderer

These Marvel sketch covers have been popping up a lot lately--I've done a few in the last couple of months and they've all been a blast to do!  This one was especially fun because it's a breath of fresh air to do a comic character who isn't all grim and determined looking.  I really dug Wonder Man as a kid but I came to him after this "safari jacket" phase--I was reading him in West Coast Avengers and his mini-series.  That said, I always loved this costume and was more than happy to do this version of him (note: I will always prefer to draw the 70's version of any Marvel character).

Crooked Hills!

Just in time for Halloween, October sees the release of Crooked Hills, a novel for middle readers (and those of us who never quite grow up) from my frequent collaborator Cullen Bunn. It's a wonderful and perfectly spooky book that hit that sweet spot creepiness and fun where Cullen and I find our common ground. I liked the book so much that I petitioned to be the cover artist (and if everything goes to plan, a few interior illos as well). Here is the finished piece (which I'm awfully fond of) as well as the original line art and initial sketch.

Read Evileye Books official announcement of the upcoming
novel here and keep an eye out for it this fall!

Marvel: After Hours

If you read Marvel comics anytime in the late 70's or early 80's then you are familiar with this kind of scene. Couple Marvel guys having a night out and playing a friendly game of poker. This was back in the days when smoking cigars was still prohibited in Marvel books (I mean, what kind of world are we living in where Ares can be ripped in half, guts everywhere, but Wolverine can't smoke a stogy?). Anyway, this was a real fun piece for an old 80's Marvel Zombie to bathe in the nostalgia of.
Below is the original drawing I did in advance of the larger piece. As I've stated before, I always work small for the initial drawing and then blow it up and lightbox it. In this case my original drawing is more detailed and worked out than usual due to all the components of this commission.

Frog of Thunder!

Man-o-man! This is one of my favorite commissions so far and that's because,
as I've stated before, it was Walt Simonson's run on Thor that made me a comic nerd. I remember the Thor Frog issues fondly and when I describe them to folks they just laugh and say that it sounds stupid. Nay. Verily, I say thee nay.

Below is the rough preliminary sketch done for this commission.

Sixth Gun #6

Issue #6 of the Sixth Gun is solicited right now in the most recent Previews.  What the solicitation doesn't tell you is that there are 10 EXTRA PAGES of art and story for the same price as the standard issue.  This is a really cool thing that Oni is doing for a really cool issue (if I do say so myself)!  This is the big finale of the first story arc and we're celebrating it in a big way! Get the word out!

"General Hume is at the gates of the Maw … and he’s brought Hell with him! It’s the final showdown between the forces of good and evil, and no-one is safe. If Drake survives the undead battalion … if he defeats Hume’s malevolent henchmen … he’s still gazing down the barrel of a shoot-out with the Confederate general not even death could stop!"

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Catching up on posting some more of my long finished commissions!
This time around we have Harley Quinn, Mistress of Mayhem. This is part two in a theoretical triptych I'm working on for someone. The first piece being Poison Ivy. Harley here was fun to draw--her costume is great and it was fun to try and capture that manic personality in her eyes.