a blog-ful of treats~!

okay...

i have been rather silent here the past week or so telling myself--and craig--that, well, nothing's really happening much around here...(other than the fact that craig has heroically managed to set aside some very precious time to really crank out a huge number of perhapanauts pages lately, getting us ever closer to publication and getting me really REALLY excited...!)
so aside from that, i hadn't really had any news...

and then, well, it all started pouring in!
so here are some cool things to fill your day and pique your curiosity...



as craig continues to find time to finish up what i'm calling the main story in our upcoming miniseries, one of our other oh-so-talented and equally generous artists, eric henson has finished his back-up story and is eagerly, (im)patiently awaiting further instructions. while i don't want to say much about the story (okay...choopie, molly, keith and karl go off to investigate reports of...another chupacabra?!?!?) i posted the first page or two of eric's story in a previous post and don't want to reveal any more, but i can show you eric's flip cover for the issue here...





and if you'd like to see two very talented, yet very different colorists took to this masterpiece, you can see how alex sollazzo and nate lovett envisioned the gang over on eric's blogfolio...

http://erichensonart.blogspot.com/2012/02/perhapanauts-preview-part-2.html?spref=fb

as always, thanks eric!

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as the long-awaited tellos colossal vol. 2 inches closer to release--and it looks fantastic, gang!! image did such a great job on this, i'm thinking of picking one up for myself...!!--i've gotten in touch with several of the contributing artists just to check in and see how they're doing. my pal thor badendyck--who i don't get over to see as much as i'd like to--linked me to this gorgeous wonder woman piece that he did a little while ago that just blew me away!



i love the perfect blend of strength and beauty here. i've had a crush on ww for a long time now, but have noticed that many artists either make her too glamorous or too much of a brute. this is a lovely mix.


you can see more of thor's beautiful work at his site/gallery at

http://www.thorsartwork.com/

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and, from across the pond...

my two friends, ellie and lily egleton of the very famous FIRST CLASS COMIC REVIEW fanzine, were patiently, but excitedly, awaiting the arrival of this past weekend as they were going with their father, tim, to a comic book convention in london that would feature none other than stan the man lee himself! the girls were eagerly hoping that they might be able to score some time with mr. lee, but, knowing how these things tend to go, i was trying to gently prepare them for the possibility that they might only get the customary handshake and a smile as the photographer popped their pic with the legend and then sent them on their way. (no dis on stan--but he's just SO popular and SO busy...)
but i guess i underestimated the tenacity of these two junior journalists, their drive to get their story...and maybe their all-around cuteness. the girls managed to not only get a picture with stan, but were able to be a part of a mutual interview; they talked to stan for the next big issue of FCCR and stan grilled them for his own company's webcast! great job, ladies!



lily, stan, and ellie


and as if that weren't enough, here's some vid of stan's panel in london where, as ellie put it, "6 mins and 8 seconds in something really cool happens :D "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW-FcAmaACw&feature=share


okay, i'm outta here~!
smell ya later!
todd

michael finn's green lantern commission

okay...

i have, for the past several months, been...advising, i guess you could say, and shepherding my pal nick cardy through tackling a commission that i have been very eager to see done. see, nick--like me---and probably like a lot of you out there--tends to get on one project and stay with it until it's done; day and night, large or small, realistic or unnecessary.
maybe unnecessary is too strong a word?
unneeded? still too harsh.
whimsical? too fluffy...

anyway, nick has been, for the past six months or so, been collecting and compiling pieces from his long and storied career for another book--a companion of sorts to his nick cardy: the artist at war book--from little eva ink, this time featuring nick's humor comics and illustrations from his years in both comics and advertising. in our phone conversation we've talked about this constantly and nick has bounced his ideas for the order and layout of the book off of me til the cows came home. which, let me say now, i am not complaining about--i love to hear the excitement and enthusiasm in nick's voice as he does this--but the order and layout and design of the whole book is going to be handled by eva ink publisher and editor, our friend renee witterstaeter, who did such a magnificent job on the first book.

so, is he wasting his time? no. and who knows, maybe having projects like these and having something to focus so intently on is the secret behind my 91 year old friend's longevity. i dunno. but i'm not gonna upset that apple cart.

but, as nick was working away at this, keeping his head down, i was trying to nudge him along so that he could tackle an exciting commission (i think, anyway) that would not only get him drawing again, but would especially make him a little money.
nick doesn't do many commission's in a year. he would like to do more, but too much time at the drawing board these days does take it's toll on his eyes and his hands. but this commission, i thought, would be extra fun for nick as it was coming from one of the nicest guys i know and one of the most appreciative of the work that these artists do.

michael finn has been collecting commissioned artwork for quite a while and i love it when anybody shares their sketchbook with me to show me what treasures they've acquired at conventions and such. but michael has a very creative--and highly respected--sketchbook that he's titled "One Second After". in this, michael selects a classic comic book cover or an iconic image from inside and asks the artist to imagine what the cover might look like "one second later"--in other words, what might the next panel or sequence be.
for nick, michael suggested the cover to the classic cover to green lantern no.1--see below--and once i was able to steer nick in the right direction, he got right on task--and did have a LOT of fun with it--and turned in this gorgeous piece!




michael was kind enough to let me share this cool cover with you and invited us all to come and take a look at his Comic Art Fans Gallery at:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=9834

thank you, michael!
nick had fun!

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and while we're on the topic of awesome art and cool galleries; i don't remember how i stumbled over this cool drawing online a few months ago, but i love it and made it my desktop for weeks and thought i'd put it up here for you to enjoy as well as it's by one of my all time favorite artists and favorite people--kevin nowlan!

now all i can do is dream of what a kevin nowlan justice league would have been like back in 1981.
gorgeous, just gorgeous...

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and finally, if you want something to pick you up and have 8 minutes to spare, my dear friend alison sent this to me the other day and it made me happy to know there are caring people out there and eager to go see some whales.
check this out...

http://m.wimp.com/humpbackwhale/

thank you, alison!
that's great.

okay--gotta go!
smell ya later!
todd

jerald lewis

okay...

you would think, as i continue with my protracted convalescence, that i would find more time to get some blogs put together and not have such a wiiiide span between postings. but alas, while i am improving everyday and able to sit at the keyboard for longer blocks of time, there really hasn't been much to report. things have been pretty stagnant around here when all i'm allowed to do is read and watch a lot of tv.

one of the cool things that DID make me smile last week was when our own BIG and CHOOPIE showed up on facebook, flashing through when our pal, jerald lewis, posted these awesome sketches in his gallery!
thanks, jerald!
love your style!




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i also had a very nice visit from my pal terry austin the other day and we sat for a couple hours and solved all the problems of the world. (...if marvel or dc are ever ready to repair the horrible market the industry is in, terry an' me has got the answers...!) as usual, terry gifted me with an armload of books and comic books, absolute treasures that he claims he has doubles of. (i think they are mostly items that he no longer has room for in his museum...er, i mean, house...)


plastic man no.10 from 1948--i'm a HUGE plasstic man fan and i especially love the stories by plas' creator, jack cole! sweeeet stuff!



remember lil jinx from those one pagers in all the old archies...? well, terry, rick burchett, and j, torres did and they growed her all up in this awesome miniseries (now graphic novel) bringing her into the 21st century with a bang! if you want a fun read--and a really well done re-imagining of a classic character--you'd be doing yourself a great service to track down this collection! i loved it!!



and as much as i loved those two offerings, terry also gave me the first three volumes of the pogo collection from fantagraphics books! i had read various pogo books over the years, but being able to read them as they appeared as daily newspaper strips makes walt kelly's charming, adorable, and insightful characters come to life in a whole new way! if you've yet to discover pogo--or, for that matter, walt kelly--you're in for a treat! love love LOVE this stuff!





okay--that's all i can write--
hafta go!
smell ya later~!
todd

loren sends news: the san diego diablo~?!

okay...

world renowned cryptozoologist--and now our close personal friend--LOREN COLEMAN--sent me a link this morning to his latest posting over on cryptomundo.com regarding the discovery of what may be a brand new cryptid for all of us to ponder over!

this photo is just one of several, but if you want to see more and read the whole story from the man himself...



head right over to cryptozoo news via the link below...

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/sd-diablo/


thanks, loren!
we'll keep checking back for updates!


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as i continue to convalesce, i grow bored-i-er everyday. the neck brace makes sitting at the computer a challenge and i can only sit at it for 25 minutes or so before i have to rest. i know it'll all be over soon enough, but i had really hoped that i'd be able to spend much of this time writing. which i'm not able to do.
rats!


i'm also sad that i'm going to have to miss all of the very cool groundhog's day parties tonight!
rats again!

hope all of you have a very happy groundhog's day~!
smell ya later!
todd