Breathe

I thought this page was innocuous enough where my editor wouldn't mind. Also, I think it's a great example of one of the themes that ran through the first arc of the "Icelandic Trilogy" in Northlanders. One of the things that I felt Brian did so well in the scripts was give space to show the landscape that is Iceland. As much as the story is about a family and their struggles with making a life for themselves, it's also about this harsh land that didn't want to be occupied. It kind of reminds me of a Terrence Malick movie where the slow pans and wide countryside shots give you a real sense of immersion into their world. Hopefully, I was able to capture some of that in the issues. Space is always something that I'm concerned with when laying out comics. It's the main problem I run into when I read a script and I'm sure it's a headache to the writers. I find myself more and more just trying to divide the page in a way that gives the important moments there due rather then composing each panel within that page. I think Brian Wood was pretty great at having those moments in the script and I had fun trying to keep that impact on the page.

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Issue 2 Tomorrow!!

Seeing as issue #2 of Graveyard is coming out tomorrow I thought now would be a good time for an update. Now that Mark and I are looking more towards the end of the story rather than the beginning I'm really anxious to get to some very cool scenes we've set up. I always described the book as a ride that gets crazier as it goes and so what I get to draw now is off the wall fun. Look for the cover above and here's a couple of previews folks were nice enough to put up:

Newsarama Preview

CBR preview

Also, I can't say enough cool things about the other book I'm working on, Northlanders. It's a shame it's not continuing because that means I won't be able to draw things like this anymore.

So back to work.

Moving forward....

So I'm back from lots running around on planes and such. San Diego was great and the response Mark and I got from people (including some Military) was awesome. So glad they think we did them justice in Graveyard of Empires. It was a big concern of ours and a bit of a weight off my shoulders that I'm doing okay with the ref I have. Issue 2 will be out soon and it looks great. I actually already have my comps and I'll update everyone about the in-store date. Also, Northlanders #42 is out there and #43 is coming so I have a bunch of things out for people to see. I posted some pages from #1 since that's out and when #43 comes out I'll post some pages from there. I'm really into adding the grey layer now and I'm really starting to think about pages with that in mind. Without jinxing it I think it's the next step in my art and I'm excited I'm moving forward. Being stagnant with you own art can be the worst thing and I hope to never get stuck in my own style.

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Getting ready....

These are a group of panels from the second issue of Northlanders (issue 43). Issue 42 came out and from what I saw it received some nice press. I'll say it again that Brian is pulling out all the stops here on the last huge arc and it's a pleasure to work on these scripts. Here's a link to one of the reviews: Northlanders #42 review.

Also, I'm going to making my way to San Diego this week so swing on by. I'll be with Image comics and Mark Sable at booth #2729. We'll have some Graveyard of Empires copies for sale and I'll be taking commissions. I'm going to bring some Spidey pages too so if you're looking for some original art feel free to check them out.

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I suck at the internets....

Or so I've been told recently. I guess I believe it because here I am a whole month (or more) later before I throw up another update. I have been pretty busy and I have that excuse to fall back on but in the end perhaps that person was right about me.

The reason I've been so busy is my two latest projects collided and I've been working hard to get both out the door. Graveyard of Empires #1 is coming out soon and it was alot more work getting that together than I originally thought. The rest of the issues should go smoother but the all important tone setting first issue was a real trial. Look for it June 15th and hopefully Mark and I will be doing a signing in New York for the release.

The other book is Northlanders which I couldn't be more pumped about. I've never worked with Brian Wood before and when the opportunity came up I jumped at the chance. I only have the outline and first bits of the story but it's already promising to be epic. Which brings me to the art attached here. I've been thinking alot about the final product, thanks in part to working on my own book, and it's changing the way I approach my art. There have been many times before where I just did my job handed in my inked pages and crossed my fingers. So in an effort to see something in print closer to what I have in my head I started adding some grays and tones to the pages. I added some purely digital bits (like the shoreline and some of the mountains) and other odd and ends to give the colorist (in this case, Dave McCaig who's done a wonderful job on the series) a much better starting point. It's an experiment and I may abandon it halfway through but it's a step in the right direction. That's all for now but more soon.... really.

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