Friday, May 30, 2008

E--The Lost Pages


Okay, there's actually only one, but this is the cover art for the star-crossed, ill-fated, poorly conceived E/Beaverman crossover. It would've shaken worlds and junk, but it's just too volatile, times being what they are and all. Anyhoo, thanks to those who supported the E cause at Zuda--I hope we end up 3rd because that would be nice and ironic. If you haven't voted yet, find 500 of your best friends and sign 'em up!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

E sketches


Here are some sketches where I finally knew where I was heading with E (more or less). These weren't from the same page originally, I just threw them together for this page. Anyhoo--enjoy!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

E's nightmare!!



My good friend Clayton Cooke did this piece of E fan art, and I give it a big YEATH!! Not sure this will appear as part of the story, but it's so disturbing I had to share it with the world! If you're out there, Clayton, make sure you tell us what the heck you were thinking when you created this wondrous monstrosity! YEATH!!

Monday, May 26, 2008

E's Last Stand!


This is the last week of the Zuda competition, so it's time for one last push! If you haven't voted, what're you waiting for? A 3-eyed guy's life hangs in the balance! Thanks to all of you who have supported the cause! YEATH!!

E

Saturday, May 24, 2008

YEATH!!


My good friend Diego Tripodi did this "E" piece and I'm all goofy about it! YEATH!! You can catch more of Diego's graphic goodness at this address:

http://diegotripodi.deviantart.com/

Evolution of E jumps the track!



I don't remember the exact chronology on this, but at some point I ditched the "humans in danger" thing, and had this idea for this opening scene. It may look familiar to you. I was also trying a slightly different inking style, and I wasn't sure about E's costume, but I think this one was really a trainwreck. But you'll see I got closer on the robot design, though I hadn't firmed up exactly why E needed sidekicks or what purpose they served. Glad to say, eventually I did. Anyway, here's the last piece of full art before i got it right (IMHO, anyway). Enjoy.

Friday, May 23, 2008

More Evolution of "E"!!






These pages represent the next whack I took at fashioning a comic I'd enjoy creating. At this point, I stuck with the setting being Richmond and the bad guys as basically 2-legged dragons. I ditched the knight angle, but still tried to impose that sort of heroic feel onto it. I remember considering at one point if E should have a lance.But I think the idea of the humans being hunted and eaten was just too melodramatic a concept for the goofy characters I'd created--it seemed to me the comic would always be fighting itself over what it wanted to be. At this point I also added sidekicks. I thought he needed them in this story just for some added fun and weirdness, but they play a much more vital role in what "E" finally became (in my head, anyway). Anyway, here's as far as this idea got, and even though it didn't work, it moved the whole idea along quite a bit. Enjoy.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

More of the Evolution of "E"


Here are some sketches from around the time I was trying to figger out what kind of comic I wanted to do. I always liked heroes with goggles (and really, friends--who doesn't?), so I started messing around with some designs. At some point, I came up with the name "Mister E", only to find later that DC had come up with that name about 20 or so years before. Still, I felt I was heading in some kind of direction, so I went with it. I also got around to sketching some armored characters and thought maybe I wanted a monkey in my story. After seeing the results and realizing it was a crummy idea, I scrapped it. Anyway, here are the sketches.

The evolution of "E"


Years ago, I wanted to create a comic that happened in my adopted hometown of Richmond, VA.I had this vague idea that it would have a kind of modern knights vs. modern dragons theme to it. The basic idea was that earth had been invaded and run underground, but in their darkest hour, the knights would show up and save the day. Not terribly original, I know, but at the time it seemed like a good idea. So I worked up the first page, staging the action in front of a local monument (the Arthur Ashe monument, for no other reason than I liked the shape of the base). The idea of having the story take place in Richmond carried over into "E", so that's why I'm showing you this. So here's the first page.

Then I realized that I hadn't actually designed the armor yet, so I should probably do that.But once I started designing them, I decided I didn't like the idea, and headed in a different direction. More on that a little later today.

Friday, May 16, 2008

OMAC, page 9


Here's the last OMAC page. I did these quite a while back, but I'm glad I still like them. Hope you've enjoyed seeing them (the 3 of you who have come by to look, that is).

NEXT! The early "E" pages! I dug deep into the vault to find these, and I think you'll find them fascinating, just fascinating! Enjoy!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

OMAC, pages 7 and 8


Okay, almost done with the OMAC stuff. I'll be putting up more directly related "E" stuff in the next couple of days. Some of it's so wrong-headed, it's funny. Anyway, here are 2 more pages (last comes tomorrow).

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

E

OMAC, page 6


Splash page of the villain later used in my "E" comic. Those tubes aren't just there for decoration!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Smile!


This doesn't have anything to do with the ZUDA competition, but this is a piece I just got in a local show that opens next month. Doubt very much I'll get any work from it, but it was a fun piece to do.


OMAC, page 5


Here's page 5 of the OMAC submission. Not much new here as far as things you might also see in "E", but if anyone's following the pages, it'd be a shame to leave one out! Enjoy.

Monday, May 12, 2008

OMAC, page 4


Brother Eyes saves the day, and we get a better look at the villain that I designed for this submission that we see later in my "E" strip.

Friday, May 9, 2008

OMAC, page 3


Here's the 3rd page of the OMAC pages (just like it says above! I'm not lying!). Here we see OMAC up to his neck in little green morons before Brother Eye steps in. Enjoy.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

OMAC, page 2


Page 2 of my OMAC pitch from back in the day. You can see the tv sets that appear in the final screen of my ZUDA entry, and you get a better look at the villain, who's a lot like the one that ended up in the story. You can also watch the hero get dog-piled by a bunch of little green guys with really bad teeth. ENJOY!!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

It all began with...OMAC!!


This and subsequent posts this month will relate to my "E" web comic currently up at E.

I did this OMAC submission years ago, but as you might be able to tell, some of the elements from this submission made their way into the E strip (big monsters, weird little guys attacking en masse). I also was trying to capture some BIG Kirby action, which is more apparent in the regular comic format I did this in. I'll put more pages up in the following days.
E

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Michael T. Gilbert's Mr. Monster


This is a drawing of Mr. M I did a few years back, just for fun. Had the pleasure of doing a story with Michael years and years ago, and he's the kind of guy you wish all your favorite creators were like--a real nice guy. Some have noted that my "E" strip reminds them of Mr. M, so a gold star for them!