behind the scenes...

okay...

now that you've had a chance to pick up and digest the latest issue of the perhapanauts in all it's wonderfulness, here are, as promised, some of both leanne hannah and jason armstrong's preliminary sketches and designs for the characters, along with, in jason's case, some notes and suggestions on powers and personalities. (this is the way we work--the way mike and i and craig and i worked as well--each throwing out any and all ideas to build the character and then seeing what works best for both the character and the character's interaction with teammates.)

"molly's turn"

before scott even gave her the script, leanne worked up a couple perhapanuts sketches to get the feel for molly and the rest of the team...


molly




some of leanne's warm-up sketches of the team...




leanne's design for the guys in the ecto wing. i had said let's try to make them look as much not like ghostbusters as we can. (yeah, i talk that way.) but it's a tough call--what else do you do? we solved it with color--the suits are meant to be chameleon, shifting and changing in color to blend in and make them more stealthy. (uh...'cause...ya goota sneak up on ghosts...?) i dunno.





leanne's various designs for the poltergeist that scott so deftly made both scary and sympathetic.

"now and then"--the mon5ter 5 story

jason and i had worked together on a fill-in sensational spider-man story back in '98 and have always wanted to work together again--especially after i'd seen the wild new stuff jason was doing on his own book, "ferro city." we had so much fun on "the red team adventure" back in issue 4, that we just decided we had to start working on something more.
mon5ter 5 was it.

i threw him a quick email with a brief description of the characters and a little bit about how they fit together and he sent me these character designs a few days later.



our gypsy, the flora-whisperer, elena "mariposa" garcia...




monjo and the lovely dr. sharon botsford




steris--not what he appears to be...




the totem that brought the haps and the mon5ter 5 together!






the return of the
"five for friday!"

1. what was the name of farrah fawcett-majors' character on charlie's angels?

jill munroe

2. which michael jackson music video had him dancing with the bones of the elephant man?

"leave me alone"

3. what was the name of the weekly television talent show that ed mcmahon hosted from 1983-1995?

star search

4. what was the name of david carradine's character on kung fu?

kwai chang caine

5. name four of the hit tracks off of michael jackson's 1982 album, thriller.

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
2. "Baby Be Mine"
3. "The Girl Is Mine"
4. "Thriller"
5. "Beat It"
6. "Billie Jean"
7. "Human Nature"
8. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
9. "The Lady in My Life"

have a good monday!
smell ya later!
todd

nick's father's day breakfast!

okay...

last sunday morning at the con, we took our pal, comics legend nick cardy, out for a father's day breakfast. well, not really out, just downstairs, as the westin has a lovely restaurant in the hotel and a fantastic breakfast/brunch buffet. also, they were nice enough to hook us up with the private area in the back, with the fancy glassed-in room. (which i think is cool!)
nick is an incredible storyteller--if he weren't, my phone bills wouldn't be so huge--and he is easily drawn out by an audience. and we were all so very happy to oblige. nick told stories about his life, his time in europe, in a tank, during world war II, and about his time in comics.

the master.




a comics legend himself, joe staton, matt wieringo, christian leaf, suzanne wieringo



joe, matt, and christian listen to nick's tale of starting out as an assistant tank driver--and accidentally knocking all the troops off with low tree branches.



sharon, craig, and cully hamner. sharon's either heard this story before (nick talks to her on the phone a lot too, so it's possible...) or she was up just way too late last night...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a couple more items i brought home from the show were:



nate lovett's sketchbook/artbook called slacker, featuring nate's sweet perhapa-pin-up--seen in the current issue of the perhapanauts, now on sale!!--as well as a few marvel adventures spider-man pages from a story written by moi. it's always cool to see two different artists interpret the same scene--nate did a swingin' job on spidey and the prowler!



and this lovely print from keron grant...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i love the world of entertainment and pop culture. and i admire and respect quite a number of celebrities. and while i try to keep this blog upbeat and avoid posting about sadness and tragedy, i was saddened by the loss of farrah and michael yesterday. when i hear news like this, it really does feel, if only for a few hours or so, that the world is a little bit emptier.
on facebook, i asked, knowing that celebrities somehow--coincidence? fate? the lining up of the cosmos?--usually go in threes, i asked if david carradine, who died three weeks ago, would be considered part of this trio. three weeks is a long time. i was reminded though, that we lost ed mcmahon just the other day and so, there you go. i was a big johnny and ed fan.
so rest in peace, michael and farrah and ed. and david, too.
and thank you for entertaining us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the return of the
"five for friday!"

1. what was the name of farrah fawcett-majors' character on charlie's angels?

2. which michael jackson music video had him dancing with the bones of the elephant man?

3. what was the name of the weekly television talent show that ed mcmahon hosted from 1983-1995?

4. what was the name of david carradine's character on kung fu?

5. name four of the hit tracks off of michael jackson's 1982 album, thriller.

that's it!
have a nice weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

leanne and schwag from the show

okay...

so let's start off with the schawag part of the post...
here is some of the loot that i was so lucky to pick up or be gifted with at heroescon last weekend!


a gift from wicked awesome bprd artist (and sandman mystery theater and nevermen and the marquis and...) our perhapa-pin-up pal, guy davis




and, at the same table, a book that i just can't wait to start, basajaun by rosemary van deuren




as the show was winding down and everyone was packing up, artist david wachter stopped by to drop off his comic book prelude to the guns of shadow valley. i read this on the plane coming back and found it both exciting and intriguing! i can't wait to see more!




i got femme noir no.4 months ago, but couldn't find the one with mike's cover. my pal, joe staton, hooked me up! (i still like the unused version, mike!)



and for a quick little spotlight here (more spotlighting of our haps guest artists and writer will be taken care of on monday's blog...), we got a chance at the show to hang out with and enjoy the artwork of leanne hannah!
here's a quick glimpse for you--


we love rod and leanne hannah! leanne, of course, is the wonderful artist who illustrated scott (weinstein's) molly story in the current issue. and she'll be doing more. rod is a writer and he and i love to chat about character and character development and he digs the character interactions i've got going on in the book. (and it's always nice to hear that someone likes what you're doing. : ) check out rod and leanne's webcomic, blue milk special, at;

www.bluemilkspecial.com



leanne's sketchbook
(you can see lots of leanne's art and order her sketchbook at www.leannehannah.com)


i also picked up scott's after school agent convention special with art by leanne--man, she's everywhere!!



the molly figure that leanne was so sweet to give me, custom crafted by her friend, topher.
(yes, we're asking him to do more!)





our good friend and perhapa-pal (and, in my opinion, a fantastic writer...) ernie cooper, was kind enough to hook us up with this awesome tumbler/beer glass--perfect for here at the "plays well with otters" offices...
thanks, ernie!



and my friend, john, who's been a fixture every year since I'VE been coming to heroes and who is always so generous with his books and gifts, brought me this awesome buck knife. thanks, john!

more tomorrow!
smell ya later!
todd

perhapanauts 6!!! and birthdays!

okay...

first and foremost, this is a special day today~!
it's the day that two of my all time favorite people were born!
today is sharon's birthday and while this past weekend was a lot of fun, it was really all about comics. this coming weekend, we'll be celebrating on a smaller scale and she'll get her lobster dinner at the bowery--our favorite place place for a quiet evening. happy birthday, shay!
it is also, by some stroke of fate in my life or coincidence or whatever, mike's birthday. and while i know that, wherever he is he definitely won't be having lobster, i know he knows we're thinking about him...and missing him.

love ya, brother. see you soon enough...
happy birthday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and while i think i've certainly touted the arrival today of PERHAPANAUTS no.6 quite enough here on the blog, here's one more look a the cover you've gotta go get ...



and here's jason armstrong's dynamic perhapanauts/mon5ter 5 flip cover--


(although. like christian's pin-up the other day, the colors are coming up weird. well, at least you get the idea--!)
(hey--this looks like one of those cool old marvel pop art posters from the 60's!! sweeet!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and now, straight from the floor at heroescon in charlotte, the costumes...



golden age flash and ms. marvel
flash said that she just "whipped these costumes up" the night before the show. good job, ms. marvel!




this (mini) nova made matt's day!




supergirl




sweet christmas! luke cage and blade




green lantern john stewart




black canary


the wasp and the scarlet witch




i love these shots of this cute mary marvel. but what i love most is the sudden appearance in the second shot of kemple!






and, finally, the youngest of the ladd kids as the incredible hulk, wonder woman, and supergirl!

more pics and stuff from the show tomorrow!
smell ya later!
todd

home again, home again...

okay...

so, as you could probably tell, the weekend--and the blog post--got way away from us!
at the show all day friday, craig and i kept saying how we had to corral nick up to the room where we'd be able to get internet connection in his laptop (craig's, not nick's. nick wouldn't know a laptop if his was sitting on one. wait--that's not right.)

anyway, nick got grabbed to go to dinner with a better bunch of people and we missed him that night. (matt and suzanne, craig, sharon and i went to ruth's chris and had steaks that would make a grown man cry. and i did.)

saturday, was the big auction, led off with matt's announcement and awarding of the very first mike wieringo scholarship award which went to recipient katelyn "call me 'rae' rochelle. crying once again when the room stood to honor and applaud mike, craig, sharon and i silently headed out to have a quiet dinner on our own. missed nick again. he went to dinner with his sister and his niece, maryanne.

long day at the show sunday and we finally got nick to look at the entries--which were all kinds of amazing, by the way--but once he made a decision, craig and i were scrambling to get that post in (hence the crazy caps and shortness of the final announcement) as matt, suzanne, christian and angie were waiting for us downstairs to go to the convention after-party at shelton's store, "heroes aren't hard to find" and then dinner down the street at the cajun queen. many apologies to all for that quick and confusing post.

what i really wanted to say was that, though uriel was the one nick ultimately picked (based mostly on the color purple...!) (okay, and the fact that uriel managed to use all of the elements from carmine's original list in his piece), everyone who entered did a phenomenal job on their respective pin-ups and we can't thank you all enough for being a part of both the contest and the perhapanauts family! hat's off to all of you!
thanks so much!

so, here, a little more officially, let me present the winner of the PERHAPANAUTS "Perfect Cover" Pin-Up Contest...


URIEL DURAN!

(i should note that the final decision was very, very close, between uriel's pin-up and michael kasinger's entry. the judge was torn for many a minute. in the end, however, it was the more purple cover that took the prize...)

and the prize, of course, is that the winner will be published in an upcoming issue of the perhapanauts and a shirt.
further details on these proceedings will be made available here on the perhapa-blog!

and for those of you dying to see pics from the show, well, we'll be posting them too...on friday...

'cause wednesday will be devoted to pushing the heck out of PERHAPANAUTS no.6--ON SALE THIS WEDNESDAY!!!

don't miss out! call your local comic book shop and ask 'em if they've got it! and if they do, tell 'em to get more!
perhapanauts 6--the issue that comes out just before 7...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


what christian's entry was supposed to look like...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

picked up a few cool sketchbooks and comics at the show--i'll show you more of those later--and a couple of really neat gifts--leanne has a pic of me with one of the awesomest ones over on her blog--but i really wanted to drop the word on my best buddy, our own craig, who had an "i-told-ya-so" weekend (and was doing the "i-told-ya-so dance the whole time...) and i have to congratulating him for putting it in my face through the whole show.
see, with the new trade out and available for the first time at a convention--and because image was nice enough to ship us a box of perhapanauts no.6 a week early for the show--i didn't think we'd need--or sell--any copies of the two dark horse perhapanauts trades, first blood and second chances. craig was insistent and so he brought five of each.

which we sold out of.

fast.

"i told ya so."

also, craig has been putting together his two new sketchbooks to debut at heroes and opted to have them done in a larger format (8.5x11) rather than the traditional 5.5x8.5. i cautioned him 'cause many of our friends who've gone for the larger size have found that fans don't usually go for the larger sketchbooks and are left with boxes of them unsold.

"in yer face, todd."

they sold like...well, like copies of first blood and second chances.

i don't mind being wrong.
actually, i couldn't be happier.

and couldn't agree more with the decision to go big. in both books, the larger size lets you see the true beauty of craig's line work and colors. the canson book, especially--printed on a similar stock (by rico and our friends at indigo ink!!)--shows the stunning layering and texturing that goes into each one of these pieces. anyone who's visited craig's site

www.craigrousseau.com

and taken a stroll through his gallery knows what i'm talking about and won't want to miss either of these two gorgeous art books. go get 'em! you won't be disappointed.





(note here though, c.--maybe next time it'd be a good idea to put your name on the front cover someplace...?)
idiot.

more tomorrow!
and all week!
smell ya later!
todd

okay...

well, we're all done at the convention, there will be lots more of a REPORT WHEN WE ACTUALLY GET HOME. had a great time, and last night we coaxed fellow otter and our honorary "dad" for this father's day weekend, nick cardy, to give the entries a look and award a winner...
but first, here's a look at what nick had to review...


to kick things off, a fun (and funny!) one from matt belskis!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and the man who initially took up the challenge, uriel duran!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here's one from our pal, david hill. WHO was here at the show with his lovely wife, gretchen, and their faMILY. GREAT TO SEE YOU, dave!
for me, you can never go wrong with 1965 dc go-go checkers~!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here are both the inks and the finished colors from michael kasinger



inks: Michael Babinski
colors: Jon Zamar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

our brother, christian, was going to disqualify himself from the running because he's currently inking a haps story for us, but we said nay, nay! you're in it, man!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and the one nick liked the best, the one that he felt best exemplified the parameters of the list--

is URIEL DURAN!!!!

congrATS, URIEL--YOUR PIECE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN AN UPCOMING ISSUE OF THE PERHAPANAUTS!!!


GOTTA RUN--MATT AND SQUEEZE ARE WAiting!
have a great weekend!
show your dad you care!
smell ya later!
todd