Puma...just because!!

Parker and Parker: the RE-REVISION!!

Here's a couple of covers, wrinkled and battered, just like Aunt May!

Parker and Parker is presented here for the third, and last, time.
Savages is another li'l Marvel dream book of mine -- Ka-zar, Shannah, Zabu, Skaar, Kraven, Calypso, Moonboy & Devil Dinosaur serve as protectors to the Savage Land. The g'damn thing writes itself. Plus, I would finally make reference to the kid Wolverine had with a tribeswoman in Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure (it's great, go get it!).

Thanks to the talented Kerry Callen for advice on the creases & wrinkles. Visit his blog, NOW.

Washed-up...wait, isn't Latveria landlocked? ..maybe there's a lake..

I can't believe I didn't work Wolverine into this cover.
It's almost like I would WANT this book to tank.

Parker & Parker, The Original Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Another ficto-cover from Dimension D. Peter Parker's hepcat superspy parents -- yes, that Peter Parker -- died when Peter was just a kid. Peter was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben and his parents, Richard and Mary, were largely forgotten.It soon came to light that they had both been secret agents for the government, and were both killed while on a mission -- a firey plane crash. Well, they came back to life a couple of times (once as a pair of Life Model Decoys).

I never liked the story -- it was just too crazy that the kid who got spider powers from a radioactive bug bite would also have daring secret agents for parents.
Anyways, I've since embraced the idea. Not sure why, but I think it has something to do with my love of the television hits Hart to Hart, Simon & Simon, and MacMillan & Wife. I'd love to read a 70's set spy drama rooted firmly in the Marvel Universe.
Shaggy hair. Bell bottoms. Muscle cars. Done-in-one adventures with a revolving door of guest artists -- some fan favorites, some young up 'n' comers.

Anyways:

My art is getting all cartoony and angular again...weird.

Innnnvesssst...Innnnvesst..

Stare into the eyes of...The Wall Street Oracle!!

Happy Father's Day!!

ROCK'N'ZOLA

Armin Zola. Nothing more need be said.

Work-in-progress: Kamandi Fake

With the upcoming DC reboot (52 titles??) I thought I'd throw my two cents in: Kamandi. Kamandi, Kamandi, Kamandi, damn it. DC could get a hell of a run out of Kamandi. MY Kamandi would be set about fifteen years after the original Kirby series. kamandi is scarred, haggard, and has finally embraced his distant Kryptonian blood ties (he's, like, Superman's great great great great great great great great grandson)...hence, the Superman scar on his chest. On top of everything, he has OMAC's (Kamandi's Grandfather) Brother Eye on his side. The story: Kamandi has discovered that his future IS the future of the main DC universe -- but it is a corrupted, abnormal outcome. It is NOT how things were supposed to go, and it is up to Kamandi to somehow make things right. He needs to fix things, which means destroying his timeline forever, and everyone that exists in it. He's like Booster Gold, except his quest is to destroy. And HELL YES there would be time travel. But don't worry, things won't get complicated, because, if they do, Kamandi just starts poppin' caps and blowin' shit up. He's wreckless.

In this particular issue, Kamandi finds the SECOND strain of Morticoccus, a vicious bacterial strain developed by Kirby in the original series. A little misguided to his true quest, Kamandi considers destroying his PRESENT timeline, not the past...will he? Maybe. But since this is a fake, we'll never know. But it would be pretty cool to see him destroy the entire planet. Morticoccus kicks ass.

Note: I attempted to go all-out Kirby on this one, and I may have gone too far. Kamandi's head looks a little too big and weird, but then again, Jack Kirby pulled that shit all the time. I AM, however, very pleased with Morticoccus. I'm digitally inking this, and it's taking forever. I just finished a large, hand-inked version, and I think it looks MUCH better and took half the time. I'll post it, once I can get a scan of it.

Kamandi succeeded in uniting man and manimal...
...back before he got all genocidal and shit.

Like, so fake.

I love making 'fake' covers. I figure a good fake will fool the casual viewer (who just looks at it and thinks 'comic book') but gets a double-take from the comic book enthusiast. The 'Heeeyyy, that doesn't exist' -look. That's what I'm going for. It's tough. The art has to hold up, and mine often doesn't. It has to have a touch of obscurity to it, something beyond 'What if J. Jonah Jameson had Wolverine's claws?' -- ok, scratch that, that might make a great cover. What I mean is, if you're going to appeal to geeks, you have to do it right. You have to make a cover of a fictional book somebody might actually want to read, not just a one-shot gag cover. Though if you scroll down through this blog you'll find I'm guilty of that, too (I'm speaking of 'Frank White Castle', not my finest work) -- but those covers are just for a laugh, a giggle -- I want to make books that should exist, if I may be so bold. Because, you know, every geek thinks he could write the best goddamn Spidey story -- and I just can't stomach fan-fiction. So I'll just keep churning out what-coulda-been covers, and hope somebody occasionally agrees with me.

First up, The Power Complex. Blue Marvel leads a team consisting of Molecule Man, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Hyperion, and The Sentry. Yes, The Sentry. Every month Marvel's most insanely-powerful B-listers would take part in huge, galaxy-crumbling battles with the biggest and baddest. These guys would chew up The Green Lantern Corps, shit 'em up, and eat 'em again. On their own, they're uniquely dysfunctional -- but instead of another dysfunction superteam, these guys find solace in hanging with their own ilk -- finally, someone to relate to.

Artistically, I'm somewhat pleased. My primitive coloring abilities usually kill my art, but this once gets by on charm. Hyperion and The Sentry look a little weird, though.

Any excuse to draw Ultron...

Comeback Kid

OK, maybe I'm being a little presumptuous -- it's been about three months since the kidneys folded on me but let me tell you, after hitting rock bottom, I'm feeling better than I have in years. Whatever they're taking out (or putting in) to me in dialysis is giving me something I thought I'd lost forever: energy. And now I'm prepping for a complete kidney-pancreas transplant -- if this goes through, it would mean no more diabetes, no more dialysis -- essentially, the proverbial 'new lease on life'. I'd virtually given up -- now, everything is different. And my artistic output is through the roof! Time to start churning out the artwork.
Every day is a gift, bi-atches.

P.S. I appreciate the comments, Steve. Thanks, man.

P.P.S. Also, I started a blog about all the kidney-stuff. It's just a stark, raw retelling of what one can expect when going through kidney failure and just how to handle it: http://kid-knees.blogspot.com/

A piece I did for the Toronto Fan Expo ('11). Cable: what a big baby..