Holiday Tradition!

My annual Holiday card this year! The good thing for poor Frosty is that re-constructive surgery for him is quite inexpensive.

Have a great Holiday however you celebrate it!
j.

Covering Old Friends!

Super Friends #19 - The School of Evil led by a very cool moustachioed villain, the Headmaster Mind. I wanted the Friends in a bit of distress for a cover just to show that it's not always easy being a superhero. Little heroes with a giant villain is sort of a classic type of image used on comic book covers (and movie posters, novels, etc...) for ages. In fact, it's sort of like Egyptian art where the most important person (usually the king) is represented much larger than his subjects.
Super Friends #20 - How to make a scary cover without being too scary? Hopefully I was successful here. The Friends are generally happy with only Aquaman and the Flash showing any awareness of the threatening figure looming over the group. I like toasting marshmallows so that the outside is lightly browned while the middle becomes melty and gooey. Yum!
Super Friends #21 - The Super Friends visit the land of make believe and fairy tale! I wanted to do literal versions of their literary counterparts. Thus, Superman becomes the man of steel/Tinman, Batman is a dark Knight, Wonder Woman a princess (loosely based on the Disney Snow White dress), Aquaman is Neptune: King of the Sea, Green Lantern a ghostly man of light, and the Flash is Mercury (lightning fast Roman God seen in FTD's Logo). I love playing around with the hero costumes while keeping them recognizable and using their proper colors!
Super Friends #22 - The Holiday issue! The Friends play the part of Santa. Totally something they would do in real life!
Super Friends #23 - I'm a big fan of old Science Fiction novel art. By old I mean artwork from the paperbacks printed in the 50's (mostly) with a few from the 60's and 70's. The books were usually re-prints of stories that appeared in pulp magazines with new, sometimes bizarrely abstract covers. The Super Friends head to space in this issue and I was influenced by those pulp novel covers in my drawing.

j.

Challenge of the Super Friends!

Super Friends #24 marks my two year anniversary as cover artist on this most excellent book! I asked if I could draw the interiors for that reason. I also wanted to draw the guts because Sholly had, once again, written a super fun story. So many super villains, so many characters I'd never even heard of but wanted to draw. Along with the mad scientists I was drawing wolf-men, monster-men, some winged dog creatures (I can't find my script to look up what they're called...Zombgiza? Zombizi? Something like that), robots, sharks and a whole bunch of other fun stuff!

Over at Comic Book Resources the fine Jeffrey Renaud interviewed me about my work on the Super Friends. Click me!

On a semi-related note I've been watching YouTube videos of Superfriends cartoons past...the old Filmation series in particular. I only ever saw the Aquaman cartoons and had never seen the Flash or Hawkman episodes. Boy, are they ever dumb! :) In an enjoyable fashion, yes! I don't know who wrote that stuff but it is awesomely stupid! I love it!

Oh, and I've also been watching the Plastic Man cartoon on DVD! I loved that cartoon as a kid and still love it today. Again...writing ain't so great. But who cares. I love a cartoon with a laugh track. It's so perfectly absurd!

best,
j.

Mad Science and an Honorary Super Friend!

First up is an older sketch, drawn last year when old man Obama won his wayinto the White House and into the hearts of Americans and Canadians alike. Now, I hear he's not doing so well. He hasn't done enough in a year, hasn't fulfilled all of his promises, etc... I won't go gettin' all political but I always figure let's give a guy a chance. I've done a lot of work by 'committee' and it is not at all easy to deal with everyone's opinions/notes/demands and all I'm doing is drawing a kid sitting in a classroom (for example)! This guy's trying to run a country!

All right - onto the mad scientists. I sketched all of these guys for an upcoming project (I'm sure you'll figure it out by the end). A lot of these characters I had never even heard of but kinda grew fond of 'em after a month of drawing them. The Sivanas - I knew them from Shazam comics. I never really noticed the overbite and squinty eyes before. Was Dr. Sivana supposed to be a caricature of an Asian stereotype? I try to be hyper-aware of cliched portrayals of race so I toned down the buck toothedness in this family as I drew them. Just in case!
Hugo Strange I knew but not Prof. Hugo! I loved drawing Prof. Hugo's gigantic head on his wee body. He shows up an awful lot in the book...er, project.
Okay, never heard of these guys but they were by far my favorite to draw! The Fox, The Shark and The Vulture! How amazing are these guys that they're mad scientists. I don't even know what they did that was so science-y but just the very fact that I got to draw talking animals was enough to make me just mad (as in "in love") with these guys!
Dr. Cyber - never heard of her. But she showed up in an episode of Justice League at some point and had, therefore, been given a Bruce Timm design. Easy enough to translate that.
Dr. T.O. Morrow - Inventor of the Red Tornado. I know him from my Super Powers Red Tornado toy packaging. A villain creating a Hero? How is that even possible?
Dr. Tyme - Old clock head! I basically just went with his original look, mixed with the Batman: Brave and the Bold cartoon version of the Clock King. I wonder which one came first?
Prof. Rigor Mortis, I.Q. and Louie the Lilac. First two both had a fun look I played with a little. Louie - the only reference I had for him was a photo from the old Adam West Batman tv show. Did he ever appear in a comic? I dunno! So I tried to work the actor, Milton Berle, into his look. I don't know that I was successful but I dug his ski-slope nose and spats.
Maxwell Tremaine seems more like a villainous hunter than a mad scientist. I imagine him running the island I read about in "The Most Dangerous Game". A story I first read in high school. Love the eye patch!
Hector Hammond apparently can't move. He uses his villainous mind powers to commit evil acts. Because he's immobile, and his first name rhymes with (Hannibal) Lecter, I drew him strapped to a dolly. In the actual issue he's been given a Segway...I figure that way he can get around on his own, using the power of his mind to control the personal mobile unit.
The Brain is a favorite Doom Patrol villain. He's supposed to be in a jar carried around by Monsieur Mallah (an intelligent gorilla). But, I couldn't resist sticking him in a mechanical body you might see in an episode of, oh I don't know...Dr. Who!
The gorilla brainiacs! Ultra-Humanite and Gorilla Grodd. Grodd has already appeared in an issue of the Super Friends...not that that has anything to do with my reason for drawing all of these characters. Not at all.
Moving on...the Ultra-Humanite, like Dr. Cyber, had a Bruce Timm-ed version from his appearance in the Justice League. I went with it but tried to give him something a little extra and used him often in backgrounds throughout the issue.

These guys are all scientists in the DC Universe? No wonder it's all screwed up :)

j.

Happy Hallo-Week!

I had a very strange dream the other night. I was watching a Charlie Brown cartoon. Linus was waiting, as he always does, in that cold, lonely pumpkin patch but no Great Pumpkin. Then up out of te shadows rose this weird multi-limbed pumpkin headed creature who could only be the Great Pumpkin...unfortunately Linus had already long ago expired. Death from waiting! Poor Linus!
I feel like my Great Pumpkin design owes a LOT to the art of Jay Stephens (in fact I'm partially convinced I've seen him draw something very much like it and that I've subconsciuosly stolen from him). Check out Jay's amazing art at his blog, and also on tv in his popular show SECRET SATURDAYS! I've got some cool Secret Saturdays toys. I love monsters!

A little warning before you see the next cartoon...Charlie Brown swears! Sorry!
Charlie Brown would never say that word. Again, poor Linus! Halloween just isn't his holiday!

Happy Halloween, ever'body!
j.

Leslie, My Name Is Evil!

So, here's something a little different from me. A slightly more realistic (though still old-fashioned), mildly gruesome, heavier subject matter with suggestions of sex (the last image is cropped because, while it's a suitable image for the movie for which it's drawn, it's a little too revealing for this blog :)

These were done for a film called "Leslie, My Name Is Evil" directed by Reg Harkema. They appear as pages from a Jack Chick-like tract detailing the seduction of the main character, Leslie, by a beatnik who gives her LSD and an unwanted pregnancy. A college buddy of mine was the Production Designer on the movie and got me the gig. I saw the Toronto Film Festival premiere of the movie and really got a kick out of seeing my artwork on he big screen.

The movie is a darkly comic look at a young girl seduced into the violent world of the Manson clan coupled with the story of a young man torn between his duty to his country and a fascination with Leslie.


j.

Batman: The Brave and the Bone!

Wahoo! This Wednesday the issue of Batman: Brave and the Bold drawn by me (and written by J.Torres) hits the stands. The special guest Heroes are the old/new Doom Patrol! Way back when Torres and I were working on Alison Dare we used to talk about dream characters we'd love to work on. Both of us have a strange infatuation with the Doom Patrol. Torres first worked on them in Teen Titans Go which he wrote for, like, ever single issue!

Now I finally got my shot! J. wrote us a fun story with the full team and I more or less got to design them for the B&B style! In order to keep them familiar with the old Teen Titans Go audience I kept the purple and black costumes (and also because those costumes are cool) and I just made a few little minor tweaks to make 'em my own.

I love the heck out of the Doom Patrol and hope I get to draw them again!

This is my favourite page out of the book. I don't know why...it may be the duck...but it just makes me laugh that I drew it.

best,
j.

He's Just a Baby Duck!

Sometimes, especially when I've got a lot of work on the board, I just want to draw something for ME! A doodle that makes me laugh, or an idea I've had for awhile but just never took the time to jot down in black and white (or grey if I only have time for pencils). Baby Huey is one such drawing. I LOVE the Harvey characters! Dark Horse has been releasing collections of Harvey kids, sort of a Best OF selection (though I really wish someone would do a COMPLETE collection...at least of Hot Stuff).
I'd had an idea to draw Baby Huey lookin' a little...dumber. He's a big dumb oaf in the comics, and the cartoons, which is all part of his appeal as a character. He's a baby with the strength of an ox!
So the above is my take on Baby Huey!
Here's the Super Friends ABC News screen cap as nabbed by blog reader Javier. Thanks, Javier! That's pretty cool!
And speaking of Super Friends, I finally finished the interiors to another issue. I'll let you know when it's coming out, but I drew the interiors for Super Friends #18 guest starring the Bizarro Super Friends! Holy socks, is there ever some funny stuff from writer Sholly in this issue.

best,
j.

Super Duper SUPER FRIENDS!

Urgh, I should have posted this last week...the latest issue of the Super Friends, #15 on stands now, has interior art by me! Once again I had a ton of fun drawing Sholly Fisch's terrific story! This issue has a paper cut-out doll of Wally West (and the Flash) as well as a fun little stand-up cut out of Batman and Robin! This is Robin's first appearance in the series.
I also found a review for the big by one of my biggest fans and a guy who loves this series: Adam Dechanel.

Story - 2: Wait didn't we just do a birthday issue a few issues back? Struggling for ideas anyone? The story itself is solid and perhaps if this wasn't a deliberate cash in on Batman's 70th Anniversary, so very close to the Superman birthday party an issue or two back, I may have given it a higher rating.
Art - 2: J. Bone's covers have been a shining light for this series on occasion but it just seems like the whole book was rushed. Some panels look great while others seem to have been aggressively churned out.
Cover Art - 2: Just last month I'd seen an upturn in the book and suddenly to prove me wrong we're delivered this... nice homage to the Silver Age style covers but though it presents a challenge the reader must participate in it's not J. Bone's best.

And here's some genuine love from the dear, sweet Rachelle, who interviewed me and posted about my book on the day it actually hit the stands! Click her name to see what I had to say about drawing for kids and making stuff out of yarn! Thanks, Rachelle. You're a peach!

best,
j.

Goddessess!

This weekend, May 9 and 10, I will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival! It's at the Toronto Reference Library this year. I'll be sitting with local super talents and Transmission X buddies, as well as doing a few panels throughout the weekend. I'll do my best to have original art on hand and a few prints available (I've moved recently and have yet to find all the art boxes).
I was itching to draw Storm for some reason, and the top sketch is the result of scratching that itch. I actually like that Loki is now a dame though I don't read any of the books in which she appears. She looks pretty cool, eh?

If you can make it out to the Festival stop by and say "Hi".
best,
j.

Sha-ZAM!

It's out on the 'net so it's now okay to show off the cover I did for the Magic of Shazam (DC comics). I always try to err on the side of caution when it comes to covers and what projects I'm working on...it feels like I might jinx things if I announce too soon. Now, I've only done this one cover. The new team was announced on DC's website and it's a pretty spectacular gang. Franco and Art Baltazar of TINY TITANS fame and Stephen DeStefano. I can't wait to see DeStefano on art. I LOVE his stuff. I think he draws the best Mxyzptlk the DC world has ever seen!

The issue of Brave and the Bold that I'm drawing has also been solicited...so I can talke about that now, too! I'm drawing the G.D. Doom Patrol!!! Holy AWESOME! And I'm drawing them in a style that feels pretty much like my own (in fact, apologies to James Tucker and the amazing group of guys working on the Batman B&B tv show but I may have strayed off-style a little with some of my artwork...I try not to but I sometimes can't help myself).

Sha-ZAM!
j.

Coco Framboise!

Another drawing of the lovely and talented Coco Framboise! She appeared here first as Uhura, real name unknown...before the delightful Nicole Stamp told me who the model was. Click on Coco's name above to see a video of her Candy Apple routine! It's delicious!

j.

Challenge of the Super Pets!

It's time for another Super Friends cover update! This week the Super Pets appear in issue #14 of the Super Friends. The story is written by the fabulously talented Sholly Fisch and hilariously drawn by Scott Shaw, Mike Kazaleh and Terry Beatty. Wow! Was this ever a fun cover to draw! My editor suggested I go iconic with it...and when I think I iconic I always remember Art Adams drawing covers with legions of heroes leaping out at the reader. So this is my Art Adams Super Pets Super Friends cover!
Two more covers to enjoy. The Circus issue is already out! I love the elephant on that one. Hey, does that horse only have three legs? Oops! The mystery cover is for issue #15 for which I drew the interior art. I can't show you any of that or else I'll risk spoiling the surprise. I will tell you that the cover image gives you NO CLUES for solving the RIDDLE...er, I've said too much :)

best,

j.

p.s. Just tacking on a p.s. to say that there's an interview with J.Torres and myself at the Doom Patrol blog. We talk about, well, Doom Patrol.

Drawing Lena Love!

Last night I attended my very first session of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School Toronto Chapter. I don't think we could have asked for a better model with miss Lena Love. She wore some incredible outfits and struck very striking poses!
I wasn't paying attention during the intro to the first contest of the night...we were to Theme our drawing and this sketches theme was to be "Video Game Character". I just drew Lena as was and therefore did not win any contest. C'est la vie!




The girl in the pony tail is the photographer for the event.



This time I incorporated the contest theme into my drawing...Lena wanted a Dark Carmen Miranda. Dead fruit and a cobweb shoulder ruffle weren't enough to rate. But who cares...I had fun. This sort of 'life drawing' is really all about the model as a personality and character. Usually the point of the exercise is anatomy and not (necessarily) likeness.

best,
j.
p.s. In case anyone missed it in the comments section...Uhura from the previous post was played by Coco Framboise! She's a local burlesque performer!

Uhura's Hoops!

Yet another drawing based on that very same incredibly awesome night of Classic Star Trek themery from Dr.Sketchy's Anti-Art School Blog! I love the stunning beauty who portrayed Uhura! I've been going through the blog trying to find other pictures of her and discover her name. Hopefully she's a regular so I'll get a chance to draw her at a future session.

j.

Marta! Dancing Girl Divine!

I recently learned about a fun life drawing program taking place at the Cameron House, here in Toronto. It's called Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School. The models for the sessions are costumed, themed or otherwise not your typical life drawing models. Star Trek was the theme for a recent "class" and I'm very pissed that I missed it. Check the link to the blog to see some fantastic photos of the event. The girl dressed as Uhura is gorgeous! I love the photo of her with the knife between her teeth. What a great pose!

On the subject of Grammar: in reading Dr. Sketchy's event title I question the placement of the word "anti". Is Dr. Sketchy against Art itself or just Art-School. If it's the latter wouldn't they be better called "Anti-School Art Class" or some variation of the same. Not that I'm an expert on language...I just read the name as Anti-Art, which is not what I think they mean.

Either way, I'm glad they didn't call the sessions "Anti-Life Drawing School". I've never enjoyed drawing the dead nor wish to die in a life drawing class.

:)
best,
j.

Madman #14!

Gee whiz! I completely forgot that this was coming out this week! Madman #14 has a back-up story written by me, Drawn by Darwyn and colored by Laura Allred. I poke gentle fun at the ever-in-development Madman movie! I truly hope Mike gets to see his creation hit the big screen one day.
Y'know, when I first got into comics I used to buy just Spider-Man titles. I branched out occasionally to other titles if there was something about the art that I liked, but mainly I stayed with Marvel. Then a friend gave me an ashcan of Madman that had come in his copy of Heroes magazine (Heroes was a Wizard clone that didn't last). I loved the art. The story was kooky, so I didn't even know what to make of that...but the art and colors had me poring over that ashcan. I used to carry it around so I could flip through regularly. I was still inking with a marker back then...but I remember trying to figure out how this guy, Allred, got such thick lovely lines. With no other artists in my family I had no one to tell me that you could ink with a brush! I was not art savvy!

Anyway, years later, still collecting Madman, get published by ONI press and find out that Jamie S. Rich is good friends with the Allreds. Boy, was I ever nervous sending out that first e-mail to Mike. I think I may have even addressed it to Laura as a coloring question rather than babble on about my love of Madman and the Allreds.

I'm glad I did strike up a friendship with Mike and Laura. We teamed up back then for a Mr. Gum one-shot, I drew a Madman pin-up (which is re-printed in the back of Madman #14...and is, thankfully, relatively embarassment free art-wise) and then finally this latest issue...which I got to work on with my other great pal in the world, Darwyn.

Blah, blah, blah...enough nonsense from me. Check out the book and see if you can find the super secret hidden Scientology message. I'll give you no hints!

best,
j.
p.s. Okay, one hint: it's in the dialogue.

ICE to Meet You!

Ah, the joys of ice fishing! What kid doesn't love throwing on eight layers of clothing, itchy thermal underwear, three mittens per hand, scarf, tuque and snowpants and following his father out onto the frozen lake for a ten hours of chopping through ice and waiting for the fish to bite. I know I used to LOVE it! Freezing! Running out of hot chocolate by noon! Peeing behind a snowbank and praying that your bits don't get frostbite! It was really my favourite childhood winter pastime.

The ice fisherman looks more than a little like my own father. It's not his fault I'm not built for the cold (actually, it sort of IS his fault genetically speaking :) My brother and sister didn't mind ice fishing at all.

Enjoy!
j.

Making Lemonade!

"Sun! Surf! Snow! I am in a tropical paradise! I am in a tropical paradise!" My mantra for the past few weeks as Toronto's refrigerating system reaches all time lows. As promised, I am only drawing girls in bikinis until the weather grows warmer. However, I couldn't resist a little tongue in frost-bitten cheek humour...they say draw what you know! Well, it snowed here the entire weekend. I've almost forgotten what a sandy beach looks like, but I still remember how to draw a girl in a bikini.

Warmest regards,

j.

Summer Lovin'!

It is currently minus 20-something degrees celsius...which is, I think, -4 degrees farenhiet (I count on you guys to correct me if I got that all backward). Either way you slice it, it's cold. And it's snowing like a sonovagun! Yes, I've lived in Canada my whole life and I know what winter is all about. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. I find no joy in frosty fingertips and wearing layers of clothing in my own home. 

Which is why I've decided to post summer images until Winter is over! I drew this Black Canary piece with the hopes of selling it at a store signing. It's been a while since I've drawn pin-up girls, I've been so busy with Super Friends and my other illustration work. 

I'm going to enjoy drawing bathing beauties while outside it blizzards. 

j.