Sherlock Holmes

I've loved Sherlock Holmes my entire life. I love the books, I love Sidney Paget's fantastic illustrations (which these are based loosely on), I love Holmes appearing in other stuff (like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, my favorite comic, or Batman: Brave and the Bold). I love the movies (even the blockbustery new one w/ R. Downey Jr.), and I really really love Jeremy Brett as Holmes.

I don't know if I did the old genius justice, but here he is.

For those who are wondering: I've been working very hard on things I cannot yet show off. I hope to have news very soon. The fifth issue of Green Wake (which I lettered) is coming out next week; I highly recommend it as it's some of the finest work from my good pal Riley Rossmo.

As always, you can check me out elsewhere on the net: my webcomic That's So Kraven! just passed the one year mark and I'm revamping my main website. I will be at Fan Expo in Toronto in about a month; definitely come check out my table, there'll be plenty of new stuff to show.

I Love The Intrepids

For the last few months, I have been lettering the (excellent) Image Comics/Shadowline comic Green Wake, drawn by my fantastic friend Riley Rossmo and written by the great Kurtis Wiebe. Kurtis also writes another super-popular Image title called The Intrepids (formerly Rat Bastards) which is drawn by the charming Scott Kowalchuk.

I met Scott at the Calgary Fan Expo in 2010 and immediately took a shine to him. I was thrilled to hear that his book had gotten picked up and I was also flattered when he asked me to contribute a pinup to the book. I whipped up something for him and sent it off, and was soon surprised to find it had made it into the third issue!

Issue #3 of The Intrepids came out about two weeks ago, so I thought it was time to show the pinup to anyone who hadn't seen it. I was originally going to do something with the purple cyber-bear (the book's breakout villain!) but I thought that he'd already been seen enough... Then I thought I'd reference the old Janet Jackson cover from Rolling Stone in years past, and this was the result. I'm really happy with it.

As for the book itself, The Intrepids is about a group of mad scientists that hunt down and destroy other mad scientists. If that doesn't start your engine, I don't know what does.

As always, my weekly webcomic with Trina Johnson, That's So Kraven! has been updated. Check out the most recent strip right here. You can also find me on deviantArt, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Babies!

Hey, guess what? My wife had a baby on Saturday! I KNOW

I am super excited! She's the loveliest little creature in the whole wide world and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life fretting about her during every single moment. I love you, Tilly!

Toronto Fan Appreciation show wrapup

Wow, this one's really late. I have a good excuse! No, I don't. I've been terrifically busy; I'm learning French in the mornings, my wife is eight months pregnant, and I'm hustling work like I've never hustled before. Lots to talk about!

The Toronto Fan Appreciation show was the weekend before last. I had a great time (particularly during the busy parts of Saturday). Drew a bunch of cool stuff for fans, check them out:

Wonder Woman

Firestorm

Spidey and Batman

Deadpool

Catwoman

The Universal monsters (this one was super fun to do)

After the show was done, I went out to the amazing Tim Burton MoMA exhibit at the TIFF Lightbox theatre with T. and Russ. It was a really phenomenal show; Tim was my absolute number-one hero when I was a kid. Although I haven't enjoyed many of his films for the last few years, a number of them rank among my all-time favorites (Ed Wood especially). I could spend days checking out all that amazing work. Finish things! It's the only thing to do!

Lots of other things to check in about: I spoke at the Animation class at Dawson College last week about storytelling in comics. Big thanks to Dipti Gupta and her awesome class of future superstars; I had a magnificent time, the class asked smart questions, and I think I've caught the teaching bug.

Green Wake, the excellent Image Comics/Shadowline comic I am lettering, has been picked up as an ongoing series. I will be continuing as letterer; I'm super proud of the work everybody's done on the book and I can't wait to see what Kurtis and Riley come up with next.

I have also started a Tumblr site, where I'll be posting some older paintings and work from college. I'm also contributing to the Tim Sale Sketchblog, which is a weekly thing.

You can find me elsewhere on the net:
Twitter
deviantART
That's So Kraven!

More later this week. Got to get back to work!

Why I Love American Elf

I love James Kochalka. I've read American Elf, his daily autobiographical webcomic, for years now, and I'd like to take a few words to explain why it's one of the most important strips on the internet and a highly significant accomplishment for comics in general.

It seems easy for some people to shrug off James's work; they think his family-friendly work (such as Johnny Boo) is too saccharine, while they assume his highly adult work (such as SuperFuckers) is just puerile and rude. Both criticisms, in equal parts, can be thoughtlessly applied to American Elf, and, in my opinion, would hopelessly miss the point.

The beauty of American Elf comes entirely from the fact that it ranges wildly from juvenile to serious, from childlike to sexy, from fluffy to deadly serious. Any given day's update may find a situation ranging from totally dull to deadly serious. It depends, like real life always does, on what significant event makes that day unique.

And, again, the fact that each day's strip can be wildly divergent in tone and seriousness is not the point.

The point that I realized that American Elf is significant in the juxtaposition of banality and drama came when James opened up his archives. Alone in my apartment one day, I carved through entire years of this man's life, watching his children be conceived, born, and develop their own personalities. I watched his love for his wife lengthen and deepen through fights and sex and romance and rides around town. I watched his father get older and sicker. I watched, and smiled, and frowned, and finally a swelling in my heart made me realize that I had experienced a chunk of real, actual existence, a real life, told entirely through designs and colors.

James' work means a lot to me. I think American Elf is the best webcomic on the internet, Johnny Boo is my nephew's favorite comic, and Hulk vs. the Rain is one of the funniest comics I have ever read. Here is a drawing of James' avatar in American Elf:

As ever, my own webcomic That's So Kraven! is updated with a new strip. Check it out here.

Joker Joker Joker

I love to draw The Joker. I'm thinking about having an art sale to raise some money for the impending birth of my first child, so to get back into practice I drew a favorite of mine.

The latest That's So Kraven! is online, check it out over here. Have a good weekend, everyone. Stick together!

Portrait-Dex

Whoa, this year is screaming by at a tremendous click, don't you think?

Nothing particularly new to show right now (news soon!) but here's my contribution to Steve Wolfhard's super-cool Pokemon parody Portrait-Dex. The site hasn't been updated since Scott Kurtz's addition so I'm using my entry for my own sketchblog. I hope Portrait-Dex comes back soon.

Last week's That's So Kraven! has been up for a bit, and I'm very pleased with it. Nice emotional ending to the most recent storyline.

Also, I have been named as letterer for the upcoming Image Comics/Shadowline series Green Wake. It's drawn by my old Proof chum Riley Rossmo (and written by the super Kurtis J. Wiebe) and it's very fantastic work. I think it's Riley's finest work to date. Go add yourself to the Facebook page right here. Check out this great cover:

Green Wake is a five-issue series; the first issue comes out in April. Can't wait for you to read it!

Sexy Kraven

My dear friend Jen turned forty yesterday. She's a fantastic lady and I couldn't be happier to scandalize her with a sexy drawing of a hairy man.

I don't know if this reference will fly over people's heads; it's from the famous Burt Reynolds nude photo from the seventies. Behold!

As always, there's a fresh webisode of That's So Kraven! online. Click here to check it out. Happy New Year's!

Spider-Man painting

Here's a commission I finished two weeks ago. The client wanted me to paint my version of Spider-Man (and his one true love Mary Jane) and this was the result. The webbed border wrapped around the canvas; I hate it when painters leave the edges blank.

12"x14", acrylic on canvas

Montreal con roundup

Monday arrives like a boot to the face!

The Montreal mini-con held on Sunday was O.K., not fantastic. Lots of regulars but not a lot of new fans. It's always a good show for me, but the crowds were much more interested in browsing than buying. Had a great time chatting with Tom Fowler; he's a fantastic talent and a great guy to chat with. Good to meet Marcus To, as well; no time to talk with him but he seems like a pleasant cat.

Some sketches from the show:

Sandman

Death's Head/ The Engineer from Team Fortress 2 (probably the most random thing I've ever drawn)

Gambit playing poker with dogs

Dazzler ruining a funeral

The Scarecrow

And Nikola Tesla, everyone's favorite scientist

Thanks again, everyone. More soon.