When it comes to Blue Beetle, I’m a Ted Kord fan. Justice League International is my favorite incarnation of the JLA. The Blue Beetle/Booster Gold friendship and scams really made those two characters stand out. I wasn’t too crazy with Ted Kord taking a bullet to the head a few years ago. But since he IS a superhero, I’m just waiting for the day he “comes back to life”.
Back when I was in high school, my favorite comic books series was New Mutants. I had a mail subscription to the series because we didn’t have a comic shop in my small East Texas town at the time.
Cannonball was a character I could relate to: tall, gangly, goofy looking, unsure of himself, and Southern. I really liked that when he “blasted” into the air he could only fly straight. Turning was his weakness. It was fun to watch this character mature, learn how to control his mutant abilities (i.e. turn!), and grow into a leader. Glad to have him back leading his fellow New Mutants again.
One thing I loved about the original Cloak and Dagger mini-series and regular series was the awesome Rick Leonardi artwork. I love the shapes and movement of his figures. They move so effortlessly and naturally on the page. He is definitely one of the earliest influences on my art.
Iceman has to be one of my favorite X-Men. As a kid, I first discovered Iceman on the cartoon, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Once I got into collecting comics, Iceman was a regular in the Defenders comics. But the local grocery store, where I bought my comics off of a spinner rack in the cereal aisle, rarely ordered Defenders comics. So I pretty much missed out on those stories as the series ended shortly after I began collecting comics.
But I remember the day I found X-Factor #3. There he was on the cover along with Cyclops and Angel. I didn’t know who Marvel Girl was at that time since she had already died before I started to read comics and had just recently come back to life. X-Factor was originally a series that reunited the first five X-Men as a team once again. They posed as humans for hire to hunt and eradicate the mutant menace but were actually rescuing mutants and training them to control and use their powers.
I often would buy whichever comic issue interested me at the time, but X-Factor immediately became one of the few books I began reading regularly (along with Uncanny X-Men and Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham). I became a huge fan of the book when Walt Simonson took over as regular artist. His dynamic storytelling and figure work along with his unique design style easily made him one of my earliest influences.
I remember, back in high school, getting the first 3 issues of the Longshot mini-series from a friend. I read those over and over again blown away by the Art Adams art. But growing up in a small East Texas town, I couldn’t easily or affordably get the last 3 issues to finish the story. So I kind of just forgot about it. I was very glad Marvel put him in the X-Men Annuals, then into the Uncanny X-Men series to get a monthly dose of a cool character.
Recently, friend and fellow comic artist, Jonboy Meyers, gave me the Longshot hardcover. I love seeing all the thumbnail, prelim, penciled pages and character designs by Art Adams, one of my earliest and biggest influences. Now I know the whole story. Thanks, Jonboy!
I’ve been getting into drawing sketch cards using Copic and Pigma Micron markers. These cards have been posted on my Facebook Fan Page and Twitpic accounts. Now I will start to post them here. I have about a dozen previously drawn cards to post here and new ones will be posted as well.
First up: Supergirl.
When I first started reading comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths was going down. I had gotten some random issues of that series from a friend in High School. So my first real exposure to Supergirl in the comics was the Death of Supegirl in Crisi on Infinite Earths #7. I kind of got a little confused as they brought her bcak in different ways. But I really liked Peter David’s take on her through the late 1990’s-early 2000’s. And the newest Supergirl series has some great stuff going on as well.
If you live in or will be in the Southern CA area, I’ll be featured at James Shilaimon’s studio for the Santa Ana Art Walk at the Santiago Art District on Saturday, Feb 19th. The Art Walk is from 7-10pm. I’ll be there showcasing some of my original art, comic book art, and have a couple of prints for sale (Young Justice, Spider-Man). I may have some of my sketchbooks for sale there as well.
James Shilaimon is a friend of mine and an incredible artist. He is kind enough to showcase my art in his studio. Check out his amazing work!
There are a number of different studios featuring a wide variety of artists. I look forward to seeing everyone and hanging out for the evening.
Just recently Marvel contacted me to draw Chicago Bears’ linebacker, Lance Briggs, as a composite X-Man. Lance is a huge comic fan and ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown did an interview with Briggs about his passion for comics on Dec 13, 2010. My art, as well as me drawing it, is featured in the video on the ESPN website.
This is the original black and white line art. See the color art, by John Rauch, on my DeviantArt page or Facebook Fan page.
I recently drew a Spider-Man story¬† where an unemployed Peter Parker meets New York City mayor, Mike Bloomberg. It is a special 8 page comic promoting New York’s public employment services.
The story is available for FREE in the Wednesday, November 17 edition of the Daily News, can also be downloaded onto your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad using the Marvel App.
Learn more at Marvel’s website.
