boba Fett

Friday, February 11, 2011

Ask an Artist on the 11th! - A3on11 - Timing with publishing?



This month's question is: "How far ahead do you work?"

Hopefully WAAAYY ahead of the deadlines...but that aint always the case! It's usually about 2-3 months from the time the page leaves my drawing board to when it gets published in the comic. For example, I'm currently working on pages for the next issue of WASTED which will be published in and around May.

I'm also just finishing up some Zarjaz pages which are set to be published in time for the comic expo in London mid-March. Admittedly, I'm cutting it a bit close on that one.

There is also the one comic that took about 8 years from when I drew it until it saw the light of day...that story is over here.

Comic covers have a much longer life cycle, as they need to be done very early for marketing purpose. (Website promo, the Previews catalogue, etc.) The next cover for Wasted was done back here, and that was done in early November. It'll be out in May, so that's like 6 months or so.

The publishing delay is frustrating to me. Once I finish the pages, I'm obviously happy with them or they wouldn't be finished! At this point I want to show EVERYBODY what I'm up to, and how they look. Problem is, publishers hate that and it will often spoil part of the story. (Spoiler alert- Johnny K. shoots a junkie!) You know, that type of thing. So...by the time the actual issue comes out, I'm usually thinking, "yea it's ok, but you should see these NEW PAGES I'm working on now...they really rock!" Unfortunately that art wont be out for about 3 months. The vicious cycle continues. ;-)

That's why I sneak in previews on my blog. It lets me my sanity, and show a little art to the world without getting in too much trouble.


Previous month's 'ask an artist' articles can be found over here : A3on11


Remember, I’ll be answering any questions you ask on the 11th of every month right here. Questions can range from very basic ones about general art creation and processes, to very technical comic creation ones. To shoot me a question, just email me (address on the right side on this blog), ask me on Facebook, or throw it in the comments section here. What I talk about just depends on what gets asked! Thanks for the question. Keep 'em coming. See you next month.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Zarjaz #11 Preview


I'm currently finishing up an A.B.C. Warriors 5 pager for the next issue (the A.B.C. Warriors Special) of Zarjaz.

It's been too long since I worked with the Futurequake crew, and its good to be back. The story is written by Richmond Clements, pencils by me, and inks by letterer extraordinaire Jim Campbell.

More sneak peeks, and the terrific cover, can be seen over here.

Monday, February 7, 2011

WASTED #7 now out !!



Wasted #7 is now out in the U.K. at newsagents everywhere. For those that dont live over there, just stop by www.badpressltd.com and they will sort you out. 64 pages of comic mayhem, including about 8 or so drawn up by me.

Previews are at my link below, and also at Alex's link .
Folks that are paying attention will notice the the final printed cover is a bit different that the preview version I shared below...the swastika is outta there!