Sketchbook: Elasti-Girl

And here's the next in my little DC redesign sketchbook series -- Elasti-Girl from the Doom Patrol. The Doom Patrol is a personal favorite of mine, and I've pitched several different takes on them over the years to no avail. But here's my take on a redesign for Rita (aka Elasti-Girl), one of the three core members of the Doom Patrol.

Sketchbook: Blue Devil

And here's the first in a new series of sketches. With the big DC relaunch on the horizon, I thought I'd try something different this time around and take some of my favorite DC characters and redesign them as if they were a part of the relaunch. First up, Blue Devil. Still one of my favorite characters and I was thrilled to do a little redesign on him for the Day of Judgment mini-series years ago. But while I dig the 'big-bruiser' look he'd been sporting for a while now, I wanted to get back to something closer to his original design -- lean, mean, and more acrobatic. Hope you like.

Updates and Other Bits of Business

Well, another story arc for IDW Publishing's DOCTOR WHO is out the door. Thanks, as always to Denton Tipton, Chris Ryall, and the rest of the gang at IDW for having me back. I'll be doing another story arc this year, but I have a little down time to catch up on overdue commissions, shipping original art, and a ever-growing stack of odds and ends that have been building up while I worked on WHO. I'm also already working out my schedule for next year, along with a work schedule for the NIGHT FOLK novel (which we have slated to come out in September).

Along taking the opportunity to get caught up on other things, when I finish a big assignment like this, I like to clear the palette with a pinup or series of sketches that are well outside my comfort zone. After Mirror's Edge, I drew a bunch of photo-referenced WildStorm superheroes as an experiment; after my last stint on WHO, I experimented with a looser style which led to work on the in-development October Girl graphic novel. So when model and actress Zoe Voss mentioned to me on Twitter that she'd love to see herself as a superhero, it sounded so far outside my comfort zone that I pretty much had to give it a try.

So in-between other things, I decided to do a one-off pinup of Ms. Voss as a superhero and doing it up properly with design sketches, layouts, roughs, and all the other stages that I usually skip over in the rush to get a comic book to the printer. It might not be the sort of thing all of you will get a kick out of, but if you are interested, you can view the progress here.

I'll also be back to my color sketches starting Monday. Not sure what I'll be drawing yet, but I'm open to suggestions, so feel free to chime in with requests.

On Shelves Now: Doctor Who #6 (UPDATED)

Forgive the radio silence, but between the successful NIGHT FOLK Kickstarter campaign, a stack of secret projects, and my DOCTOR WHO workload, I've been a bit buried under work lately. I'll be returning to regular blogging next week, but in the meantime, my first issue back on IDW Publishing's DOCTOR WHO comes out today. Story by regular writer Tony Lee, art by me, colors by Charlie Kirchoff, and editing by Denton Tipton. It's the first part of a three-issue arc that takes us from the Wild West to Primeval Earth and back again.

In other news, I've just completed work on two other comic book projects -- a secret project that I still can't talk about yet, and a short story for IDW's 2011 Doctor Who Annual written by me and with art by up and coming artist Mitch Gerads. I've seen the final art for it, and I honestly believe Mitch's work on this one is going to blow everyone away. So, keep an eye out for it.

As for the other project... still can't talk about it. But it was another writing assignment, and I was thrilled to get to do it. Hopefully I'll be able to talk about it soon.

UPDATE: Courtesy of Denton Tipton and IDW, here's a preview of DW #6, on sale now!

Quick NIGHT FOLK News

Just over 2 days left on the NIGHT FOLK Kickstarter campaign, and I'm thrilled to announce that the project is already fully funded and still picking up backers. So provided we don't have an epidemic of supporters backing out at the last minute, the NIGHT FOLK project is a go!

Countdown to NIGHT FOLK

Only 13 days left to raise the money on Kickstarter to fund my first novel, NIGHT FOLK. I took a gamble deciding to finance the novel through a crowd-funding site and publish the book myself, and the response so far has been wonderful, but we're still short of our $5,000 goal.



The NIGHT FOLK project is a labor of love for me, a return to the kinds of stories I wanted to tell at the very start of my career as a comic book writer and artist all those years ago, and a return to the mythology I began with one of my very first comic book projects -- WALK THROUGH OCTOBER -- and continued in the Fade stories I wrote and drew for the latest incarnation of Negative Burn.

It's a very personal piece of work, and the first in what I hope will be many more prose projects in the future, including the Fade novel I've been working on in between comic book assignments.

(NIGHT FOLK actually serves as a prequel to the Fade novel and a bridge between WALK THROUGH OCTOBER and the Fade stories, with several characters appearing in all three in one shape or form.)

I've been posting a steady stream of updates on the Kickstarter project page, giving everyone a sneak peek at some the character designs, sample chapters, and the incredible photos my friend Ian Struckhoff shot to use on the cover of the book. There are even a couple of mockup covers from my friend and sometime collaborator, Michael Gaydos.

If you'd like to find out more about the project and how to become a backer, the NIGHT FOLK Kickstarter project page can be found HERE.

And if you'd like to read the first two chapters, you can read them HERE.

We have lots of great rewards for our backers -- digital copies of the book, an exclusive print edition, posters, original art, and a lot more. If you haven't checked it out, please do. The Kickstarter campaign ends at midnight, April 1st, and I can use all the support I can get.

Upcoming Appearance: Albany Comic Con

Still buried under Doctor Who pages, but I wanted to stick my head out and remind you that I'll be appearing this Sunday, April 17th, at the Albany Comic con.

They've got a great bunch of guests lined up, including Ron Marz, Jamal Igle, Declan Shalvey, Paul Harding, and many, many more. For a full list of guests and more information on the show, visit the Albany Comic Con website.

I'll be there all day signing comics and talking up the NIGHT FOLK Kickstarter campaign, which is ending in two short weeks. Time is running out, and we still have a ways to go to meet our goal, so if you're interested, check out the NIGHT FOLK project page.

And speaking of NIGHT FOLK, here's a little sneak peek -- one of the illustrations from the novel: