In Memory of Marjorie Cameron

The back page of my comic is dedicated to Marjorie Cameron...

and since I've been slacking in posting I thought I'd give you a sneak peak.



This was colored using Dr. PH Matin's Concentrated Water colors. They are awesome.

Morihei Ueshiba

I promise I'll put more pictures up soon...

But while doing research for the next issue, I came across this video of O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba demonstrating Aikido (which he created) and I thought it was too beautiful to keep to myself.

What is great about this video is how his sense of humor comes across without even saying a word.

The first video that comes up when you search for "Aikido" in youtube is incredible... just fyi!

Imperialism

Pawnee Bill fights imperialism... how about you?

Barack Obama has been in office for three whole days and we're already bombing Pakistan. The new regime is touting "Diplomacy is back!" If this is tact, I shudder to think what recklessness looks like.

Is this change?

My Process

This is the first book I've worked on where I put all the pages up on my wall. I thought I'd share them with you (well, a few aren't shown). This has been a bit of an eye-opener as well as a curse. I am able to see how the story flows much better, especially throughout multiple pages, whereas before I thumbed through a folder filled with giant papers. It is sometimes hard to look at. Whenever I'm reading something like Batman Year 100 and I look up from Paul Pope's luscious brushes to my own stilted pen and brush sprawlings, it can be torturous and disheartening. It has pushed me forward in many ways and it has beat me down in others.

One of the most important things it has done is to make me think of comics in a whole new way. As they hang on my wall, like prehistoric wall paintings, they often lull me into a trance and force me to respect my own work. As completion nears; it will be hard to take them down. They will leave a space. An empty space with 28 pin-holes on my wall.

But I will replace them with something better.

It is a rough journey. It is heartbreaking very often. But if you break the heart of your demons first, they will wither and fade.

Although you can't see it now, some of these pages were once blank or merely penciled outlines. This was the stage that was the most daunting, but everything began to fill out, grow and develop like a polaroid, evolving into an alter to something bigger than myself. A humbling and inspiring act. This is art and it needs no justification or apology.

Thanks to everyone that helped inspire me along the way to this point.

LOVE LXVE LOVE LXVE LOVE LXVE LOVE LXVE LOVE LXVE LOVE XOXOXO

Fun Home

If you don't know about Alison Bechdel's book, you should really check it out. It's one of the best graphic novels ever. Maybe you won't get as much of a kick out of this picture of the Ortiz Funeral Home I took in Brooklyn:

Twyla Tharp on the Subject of Motivation and Creativity

I've been reading her book and it is absolutely incredible. It's straightforward, yet general enough to apply to everyone, very orderly yet with surprises. And it lingers. Some of it won't leave my head. I really can't praise this book enough and I'm only 1/2 way through it!