The Comics Reporter has a great review by David Welsh of Osamu Tezuka’s unfinished manga Dororo, which was just re-released over here by Vertical with a well-designed cover. I picked up the first volume (of three) a few weeks ago, and like Welsh, I found the book very haunting and affecting despite its flaws. There is something about the two main protagonists that is more profound than the usual manga archetypes they seem to follow. Perhaps its that their tragedies are far more realistic than the metaphysical gobbledygook propelling them. They are victims of other people’s greed and pride, as well as the constant quest for power that surrounds them and coats their environment in blood.
And maybe, I liked it because, like my own views, I have no faith in the human race at large, but occasionally a few people come out of the mire and make me glad to be alive. There is pessimism and yet hope in the struggle.
Dororo can come off like just another 12-year old boy fantasy, but I think once a reader puts down the book, they’ll find themselves thinking about it the next day. And that pulls it above the rest.

I am a sucker when it comes to freelance work. I generally go above and beyond the call of duty on a project when the payoff doesn’t really warrant it. Like this last week, I designed a brochure and splashpage for some plush toys I designed for a startup clothing company, designed multiple ‘roughs’ for a web design company I occasionally work for, designed and produced a long-running ‘zine, all the while having to address production issues on my own book. And let’s not forget I have a full-time day job laying out books. I busted my ass from 7A.M. until 11P.M. everyday up until today. I made probably $300.

The reward is, as it has been on these projects, that I get to work on some kick ass stuff from time to time. Granted, its insulting when you work this hard and clients dismiss your work out of a lack of understanding or direction, especially when you are working for them either pro bono or gratis. If I receive very little direction and spend 6 hours designing and painting an illustration only to have a client say, “y’know, that’s not really what I had in mind,” I feel like crying inside. For some reason, some clients think I just hit some filter in Photoshop and TA-DA – art! If it were really that easy I wonder why they don’t just do it themselves? Because there is more to it than that! Sometimes the only filters I use are maybe blur or sharpen.

Enough with the kvetching, let’s take a look at what I did last week. And my apologies to Chad, with whom I was late delivering the goods.

First up, here’s a project I love working on because I’m pretty much given carte blanche on what I can do. And this time, I got to illustrate the cover. This is a ‘zine called The Harveyville Fun Times! that’s been around for 16 years. I redesigned the whole thing for four color printing on the last issue and this is the cover to the most recent. I love designing publications and I rarely get the chance to do it. Most of the time at my job I just fill in and arrange a pre-designed template, but not here. This is the Halloween issue and it’s due out in October.

Up next, these are items I did for the children’s clothing/toy line. The plushies turned out great and I want one super bad, but I have to wait until after the Las Vegas trade show (which is this week!). The first image is the front of the brochure and the next one is a splashpage I painted for the website. It still needs some work, but for a guy who doesn’t paint that often I think it turned out nice. FYI: I did not take the photo for the cover.

And lastly, I did a bunch of business card mockups for my pal Jeremy at Circle Division. These are going to print on a transparent/frosted acetate and have a die-cut cover. As the card is pulled the circles divide in color. Pretty cool. This design has not been settled on, but I thought it was kinda cool.

As for this week, I have to start working on marketing and publicity materials for Lulu & Mitzy and continue to work on a new book, which you can see a sample of in the previous post.

Here is a page from a project I started a little more than a week ago. Now that I’ve finished one book I just can’t stop drawing comics. This current project is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, which is to blend horror with an old-school cartoon aesthetic. For a while, I thought I would just straight up mimic old cartoons, but things just kept coming out stained with my imprint. Possibly because I am not that good of an artist. I still enjoy it and think it has a lot of potential.

Bored at work so I did some drawings of Hot Stuff. I really wish I could do a comic of this guy.

I have finished page 96 with only 24 more pages to go! I’ve filled up two (HaHa) portfolios now and let me tell you, the feeling of holding all of that work in my hands is amazing. It’s heavy! And it feels like life gone right. Why, if I weren’t poor I’d celebrate, but that will have to wait until the book is actually finished.

I have now completed over 50 pages of Lulu & Mitzy, filling up the first of three Itoya Art Portfolios (24 acetate sheathes that hold 48 pages). It feels like a real accomplishment holding it in my hands. I want to cuddle up next to it in bed, but this strange Japanese woman refuses to sleep on the couch.

Below is a shot of my crowded and ergonomic-unfriendly desk:

-Tons of pens, brushes, pencils, and ink. Check.
-Computer. Check.
-Wacom Tablet. Check.
-Headphones for listening to The Learning Channel’s Gunfighters of The Old West while inking. Check.
-Sergio Aragone’s Groo the Wanderer issue 32 at hand for inspiration. Check.
-Photocopy of a cover of The Weekly World News for no apparent reason. Check.

All systems are go.

After over a decade of failure, I have accomplished something! Sorta! In December, my beautiful wife created a fairly rigid and complex spreadsheet for me that laid out what I should accomplish to finish my book by the end of June. The goal for January was to finish 17 pages. And as of 10:12 p.m. on January 31 I have met that goal. I finished page 41 of my 120 page graphic novel. Now, it is drinky time. Accomplishment, here I come.

Pretty much everyone I know is aware of this by now, but Lulu & Mitzy have been picked up by a publisher. Rather than the 6-issue mini-series I had planned, L&M will be compiled into a single graphic novel, which has helped change the story a bit. Personally, I think the long format suits them and stops them from being the crass Laurel & Hardy I pictured them to be in the beginning.
Slave Labor Graphics has given the go ahead and now I am neck deep in work. I’ll have 120 pages of luscious madness completed by the end of June and the book will hit stores in late 2008. I’m really excited about this and look forward to all of the drawing and everything else that goes into making this happen. Sometimes when I am laying in bed I am eager to get on and draw the next page. Its becoming a real passion.
Babble, babble, babble. Onto the drawing.

On Saturday I colored a page of Lulu & Mitzy to see how it would turnout. Ultimately, this is how I would like to do the book, but it would be very labor intensive and cost a lot to print. If only I could hire an intern or outsource it to make this achievable. Alas, I cannot. So I fantasize.