Comikaze!!!!

Hey there.

Team Hero Chick will be at Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo on November 1-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We'll be at table AA1232. We'll have all four issues of the Super Cliche Hero Chick for sale. I will also be doing sketches, sketch cards, and private commissions. Who knows I may even have some original art. 

So come on down to see us. 

...and oh yeah behold the cover of Hero Chick Issue 4

The Lightbox.

Hey there. Just figured I'd drop a line to show you guys that I'm still out there and working. I've gotten going on Hero Chick Issue 5  and things have been going well, but onto what I've decided to talk about today. For the first four issues of Hero Chick I've drawn my final art straight to the board but with issue 4 I felt like I was keeping things too simple with my panels. I was having a hard time drawing small, cleanly, as well. This paired with the fact that issue 5 entails an airborne fight with a dragon as well as many pages with a four panel row grid, I've decided to go back to sketching many of my panels on a separate sheet of paper and then transferring them via a lightbox.

The Super Cliche Hero Chick #4 is Off to the Printers.

Hello!
The newest issue of my superhero sitcom "the Super Cliche Hero Chick" is off to the printers. And should be available October 15. For this issue we decided to go with a group of short stories highlighting different parts of the Hero Chick world.
  

The Future!

When I started making The Super Cliche Hero Chick last year I thought, "oh I'll write the two or three Superhero stories that have been aching to get out of my brain and get on to my other projects!" Hero Chick was only to be in a couple of comics and then maybe there would be others down the road as ideas came to me. You know the first story where she beats up the thug? Stories like that where supposed to be the extent of her existence. 

But y'know Creative endeavors never seem to go quite the way you expect, and as I was writing the first Issue Hero Chick took on a life of it's own! I started to really have a thing for the characters and as I wrote the origin and started working on the other stories. They began to really work for me. In fact issue two was written in an evening after falling out of love with the two followups I had already written (they're unlikely to see the light of day any time soon) Alice, Drew and Soon Erin took hold of me. But it wasn't just me they took a hold of. They also caught my cousin Ruben* in they're thrall. And as a leap of faith in both him as a writer and myself as collaborator** I offered Ruben to come on board as co writer. Then something happened, ideas really took off.  Ruben has this amazing ability to come up with an entire plot line from a line of dialogue in the current story! And when we started talking about ideas, they just kept going and by the time we had finished writing Issue 3 and I was drawing it we had started on at least four other stories! I think I like this collaboration business.

In a round about way what I'm getting to is that The Super Cliche Hero Chick isn't going anywhere, and for those of you along with us for the ride, it's only getting better.

Here's a bit of what's in store for The Super Cliche Hero Chick...

A Sharper focus. Hero Chick has had a bit of an identity crisis in it's first year as I then We have tried to figure out just what makes it tick. It's been a straight parody, big comedy, action, and situation comedy. And trying to figure out what, that we do is special, I think we've arrived at the answer. The Super Cliche Hero Chick is above all under all of the action a character piece. I'm for lack of a better term calling it a superhero sitcom.*** Not that the action is going away! but expect to see more character driven and comical work in the future.

Bigger Stories. The next three stories, and possibly the fourth (as planned today) are huge. With Ruben and I reaching to the farthest levels of our creative ambition. I mean these are so big I will have to be at the absolute top of my game as a cartoonist to even hope that they'll be pulled off.

An Arc based story structure. Since The Super Cliche Hero Chick is not going anywhere anytime soon. Ruben and I have gotten more comfortable with linking our stories together, forming arcs that we're jokingly referring to as seasons. If you've been following the book you are in the mid way point of season one, of which there are two more episodes, as planned. These have followed the loose arc (we hadn't thought of this until we where writing what will probably be issue 6) of Alice taking up the mantle of Hero Chick. The next Season starts at (the proposed) issue 7. Now those of you that are worried that we'll be dropping the stand alone Nature of the series. Don't worry! We plan for each issue of The Super Cliche Hero Chick to be a satisfying experience to any reader whether as a stand alone adventure or a chapter in a bigger narrative. Each book is more of a sequel to the previous not another episode in a serial.

A tighter Schedule (I hope) The Super Cliche Hero Chick has operated on the tightest turnaround I've ever had making comics, having something new for each Convention season. But I know, especially with the creative burst we've been having, it isn't good enough. I mean at the rate I'm going I'll be finishing Season one in 2015. So I'm going to try to get my turn around to bi monthly, I really hope I can for both you guys and myself, but I work a job, and try to get wahtever freelance and convention work I can get in between, so i won't promise you guys anything until I've actually acommplished it.

More con appearances (and hopefully getting Ruben to them) I've learned that the only way to get the book out there is to get out there! So I hopefully will be getting to more cons in the next year. I really need to find something (preferably in the LA area) in the middle months of the year. Also I hope to get Ruben to more since half the creative team just doesn't seem quite as impressive. But as said earlier he is a busy man and has the misfortune (at least for cons) of working on Saturday, but we're working on it.

Well here's to Hero Chick's Future. Hope you come along.

*Check out his Tumblr Doctor Jigga Who the Expert on Everything. He doesn't update often (he's quite busy and I think I'm taking up all of his writing time :P) but, just like the man, it is very insightful, funny and heartfelt.
**Something I had never done and was afraid I was too self centered to do. 
***I love this name but sitcom has so many unfortunate implications these days.

Hero Chick Issue #4 Progress.

Hey Everybody. for as you probably recall I did a progress Journal for Issue 3 of my Comic Series, "The Super Cliche Hero Chick". I've chosen not to do one for Issue Four. Since I haven't I've decided to show you a couple of bits from the upcoming book.

After the big action pieces that where the last two issues I've decided to go more low key with this one. Issue four is comprised of four short stories. Two of which are introduction of other heroes in the Hero Chick world, one is an epilogue written for issue three that just didn't quite fit into an issue that was already ten pages over, and finally the last is the most unique Hero Chick story to date. Well enough of that! on to the purdy pictures.

Hero Chick #3 is Here!

Well you've followed it from the day I started drawing it and now Hero Chick #3 is a real honest to god comic! I just received my copies from the printer and they look good. The comic will be making it's debut at the Long Beach Comic Expo May 11. What's that I hear you say, You can't make it to the Long Beach Comic Expo? Well you can pick it, and issues one and two, up from indyplanet.com.


Speaking of the Long Beach Comic Expo. I will be at table 5000 it's on a corner right inside the door to the exhibit hall look for the red table cloth and the lovely comic pictured to the right. 

Production blog 18

Hello and welcome to my last Hero Chick Production blog. As you've probably guessed, I've finished up issue #3 and it's off to the printers. I'm sorry it's been a while since I wrote one of these but I was in a mad dash to get the book done on time for it to be ready at the Long Beach Comic Expo on May 11.  Also the pages I was producing where full of spoilers and we wouldn't want to see those now would we. Maybe I'll make a process book and put it up on my deviantart after the book is out. 

But there's one more thing to talk about when it comes to a comic and that's the cover. So for this final Production blog we're gonna talk about designing the cover....

Production blog 17

Hey Everybody. Well good news I'm almost done with the pages for issue 3. Every page of the book is now started, I only have to finish four pages, do some touch ups and re draw a panel where I made Drew walk in a physically impossible way. Then the cover and then print. Unless I screw up royally I'll have issue #3 at the Long beach Comic Expo May 11. Now I recently finished a part of the book that I can't show you. But I'm now doing a part that comes earlier, which has one of my long time nemeses
Crowd Scenes...

Production Blog 16.

Hey everybody...

Well I've been keeping busy. Just more of the same. This book should be finishing up soon. Not much really to talk about, so I'll just get to the pictures.

Actually I'll use this time to let you know about my convention schedule. So far I have confirmed the Long Beach Comic Expo on May 11 2013. And the Long Beach Comic Con on November 23-24. And I hope to get a table at the Comikaze expo.  

Also I'm getting to the ending of this story, so I'll have to not post one of these for a little while, don't want to spoil it.

Production blog 15

Hello Everybody. Well I'm still trucking along on the third issue of "The Super Cliche Hero Chick" And Finally there is an end in sight. I'm now drawing the finale of the fight, I do however have one more major scene to finish after that. There really is nothing much to say at this point except, I'm still drawing and I will get it out on time for the Long Beach One Day Comic Expo.

So I decided to talk about the end of project malaise. One thing no one tells you when you get a how to draw comics book is just how much work one of these thing is. And more so how repetitive it is. You really do end up drawing the same thing over and over again. At recent count I've drawn my character Alice 72 times (on panel I'm not counting the sketches or separating pencils and inks). Luckily I have the disposition for it. I really don't mind doing this sort of repetitive work. Some of my artist friends however have said that it would drive them mad.

That said, usually around the end of a project (though sometimes in the middle) I start to get a real boredom with the work and the work slows. Of course taking a break is not really an option, these things need to get done. And while I'm not putting out a monthly I like to have something new for each portion of the convention year. So this is where making comics really becomes work. I as an artist have to keep myself from getting bored, and more important keep that ever necessary sense of momentum.

How I tend to do this is by succumbing to my shortened attention span constructively. I do this by working out of sequence. As you know I've been doing this book scene by scene out of sequence. But when I'm working on a page and get bored I'll start another, then when I'm bored with that go back to the previous, or start yet another page (though I do cap it at three pages at a time). This keeps the process fun for me and it also keeps the pen moving. When I'm not feeling it There's always lettering to be done. When I'm tired of coming up with pencils, I often start to ink. Even when a page isn't finished, some part of it is.

This is how I keep my Momentum and over come the end of project malaise. 

And now the pretty pictures.....

Production Blog 14

Hello all.

I've been working pretty full tilt on the book since we last talked. And haven't really been able to keep up to date with this blog.

I've been plowing my way through the fight scene, keeping with the two to three pages at a time work schedule.

There really aren't any neat stories to tell  about any of this except I recently finished the last two panels of an earlier page that I put off  because they had part of the fight scene in them. So it was kind of nice seeing where I was then as opposed to now. Well. now on to the purdy pictures.

As always from this point on....

SPOILER WARNING. 

production blog 13

Sorry I've been away so long, went off to visit my friend Dr Jigga Who and I learned that when he tells you to not press the red button on the quasi quantum time dilation generator.... don't. but anywhoo I'm back and I'm hitting the pages so much so I'm having a hard time remembering to take pictures and post them.

I'm at the fight scene now and am working on two to three pages at a time. I've found that in the action bits it keeps my energy up. It also keeps continuity easier.

Another problem has arisen while writing these Production blogs. I'm now getting into spoilerey territory. For a while I was redacting the parts of the image that would spoil things but that was driving me insane. so I decided instead to place all the spoilery stuff after the jump. Don't worry I'm still withholding really important pages. But you just got yourselves a SPOILER WARNING.

SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP.

Production Blog 12

Well I hope you enjoyed your holiday gift, and now it's back to my normal blog.

I've really gotten myself back into the swing of things. The exposition pages are now all done so now it's on to the big actions scenes. Sadly this also means we're getting into spoilery territory so I will probably be a bit less forward with the pics I post and there will be mosaics and blurs from now on.

Production Blog 11 Holiday Edition

Hello Again. Well it's looking like these things are coming out on Mondays instead of the intended Fridays. But here we go. Well I've continued working on the pages that I wrote about last week and I've finished a couple but this week I wanna talk about the Christmas card.

Ever since 2004 I've made a "Christmas card" for my comic as a little something for the people kind enough to read it. And this year was my first card to feature the characters from my new comic The Super Cliche Hero Chick. 

More after the Jump...

Production Blog 10

The Marker Experiment

Sorry I missed last week between Thanksgiving and an involuntary trip to the Negative Zone. I've been AFK for a bit. But I'm back so here I am. Well during the last two weeks I've really gotten back to work, starting on Four pages a drawing and my Christmas card. Due to Hand pain from caulking and painting my dad's storage shed I mostly worked in pencil only recently have I started inking. I'm working all Four pages at once so none are complete yet but they will all be done soon.

As for the Drawing I've begun a working with grey markers. Thank you Copic promo at LBCC. And I've been Experimenting with Photoshop colour "washes" over them the results look promising. "why are you wasting your time with this" I hear you ask. Well my straw friend I'm hoping this will become a new way that I can do my cover Illustrations.

Production blog 9

Hello. Not much to say this week so I'll keep it short. This page which has occupied me for this week and much of last is a interpolated scene, which plays a pivotal point in the narrative that is why I've redacted the <redacted> and the <redacted> that it produces. but if you really wanna know what <redacted> does. I probably have posted an image where I didn't redact <redacted> or what it produces.

Well enough of that silliness. I will be moving on to the bigger scenes of the book now including the action. So things should be speeding up soon.

This page also marks the first in book appearance of Dr Mishlov the self proclaimed nemesis of Hero Chick. She has already appeared however in the first set of Interwebz Adventures of Hero Chick 

instead of giving you my normal pretty pictures. I've decided to give you the progress of a single panel after the jump.   

Long Beach Comic and Horror Con 2012

Me at the booth  photo Nick Newman

Well My first con season in support of The Super Cliche Hero Chick  has come to an end the same place it began last April, at the Long Beach Comic and Horror Con (LBCC). This is always a fun con with a very good atmosphere. I did pretty well, getting my comic into the hands of more people than all the other cons of the year. I also met a lot of people, and may have gotten some future Illustration opportunities. While I've never had truly bad neighbours at a con, I was pleased and honoured to have some wonderful neighbours. First Richard Holmes and Shelly from Orion's Belt with whom I had the great pleasure of talking about pop culture and the art of writing for many of the slow moments of the con. And Illustrator Terry Huddleston who shared many a clourful story about the failings of The Dark Knight Rises. Good neighbours means a good con and therefore I had a great con. Saw some great cosplay as well, including a group portraying the X-men of the 90s and a great Fourth Doctor. What's neat about doing these cons in the LA area is that I'm starting to recognize and know con-goers and they are starting to know and recognize me. It kinda shocked me when a lady was passing by and said "oh it's that Hero Chick I saw the other day" these are the moments that make life good.    

My Copic Sketch card

A cool thing at this con is that Copic a con sponsor gave everyone in Artist alley one of their awesome and pretty expensive markers. And I had a lot of fun toning my artist trading cards. I'm really thinking of getting back into marker toning my stuff again... So mission accomplished corporate advertising guy.

My nieces with their copies of SCHC

On Sunday I got a nice visit from my cousin's husband Nick and my adorable nieces. They where happy to see me and  I them. It's always nice when friends or family stop by at a con, it reduces the feeling of isolation (that at least I get) and gives you a nice second wind during the long day. They liked their copies of my comic. My younger niece insisted on hold hers downside up because "now the girl is right side up"

the Doctor and his sketchcard portrait.

Something that I've enjoyed about this con season is that my book has attracted many female readers. While I'm not really going for a female audience specifically (I truly believe an audience chooses your work not you your audience), but I was always hoping my little funnybook would appeal to both gals and guys. And I find it exciting  that it not only does but that it seems to appeal more to gals.  What do these observations mean? I don't know for sure? but it's exciting none the less.

The best X-men Cosplayers ever

So all in all the LBCC was a great end to a really good con season. I think The Super Cliche Hero Chick launched quite well, all things considered. I've learned a great deal about promoting at a convention, and I hope that next year's Con Tour will be even better.

Bye

Speaking of the next con tour the dates are shaping up (none are yet confirmed)
Free comic Day Bases Cards and Comics May 4
The Long Beach Comic Expo May 11
Stan Lee's Comikaze 2013 Nov 2-3
Long Beach Comic And Horror Con 2013 Nov30-Dec1

Later 

production blog 8

We do it with SCIENCE!

Hello sorry I didn't post last week I was real busy and I had F'all to post.

Well I've gotten started on a one page scene, and I've taken my time with it (aka been faffing about) but I got some good looking stuff on it. I won't get to much this weekend as I'll be at the Long Beach Comic and Horror Con.

I also have been designing a new character for the upcoming fourth issue of The Super Cliche Hero Chick. I'll go more in depth on that after She's introduced.
well that's all for now so here's some Purdy Pictures.

Production blog 7.

Not much to say this week except I finally, finally got past the first scene. Between work and other BS I could never seem to get any sort of flow with this scene. Well here's to hoping that I can get into a groove on the next group of pages.

In other news. I've gotten some notes on the next stories from Ruben, and we're steadily progressing into the writing of the future issues.

So not much this week so here's some pretty pictures.

Production Blog 6

Well Sadly Not much to post this week between other obligations and a crippling malaise, I haven't been able to get much done on the book. Not that I haven't been working, it's just I haven't been working enough. I'm still on the same pages as last week. And I'm hoping to get them finished this weekend. Not much more to tell so enjoy these pretty pictures.