Inspired by a late-night viewing of The Runaways, and partly an exercise to see if I could make star-spangled pants and Wonder Woman go together. The idea started with Wonder Woman  (I briefly entertained using an Ian Curtis Batman) but the idea of an all-girl rock band with Black Canary, Zatanna and Batgirl seemed too good to pass up.

The original black and white art will be auctioned off at Heroescon this weekend, June 3-5, so please come visit one of the best comic conventions in the country. It’s a fantastic family show with great guests and excellent programming, and it’s one of my personal favorites. Hope to see you there.

Next week, I’ll be posting sketches from the show over on my Tumblr account. I will probably crosspost those images, since I like reading your comments here, but please let me know if you prefer one format over the other.

It was hoppin’ in Chicago last weekend! C2E2 ‘s second year was even better than the first, which I felt was a really solid show. Cheers to all the people at ReedPop for all their hard work. Lance, Peter, Kim, Mike and everybody else, you have my sincere thanks and deserve a round of applause. I had a great time, drank a lot of local brews, ate some unbelievable burgers at Kuma’s Corner with C.B. Cebulski and my friends from Threadless, and drew a few sketches, too. A great batch of interesting requests, and one really special Galactus piece for the Hero Initiative tattoo auction. The tattoo turned out great, thanks to master inker Brian Stringer and the patience of our super-cool winner, Artie. We only had time for black and white at the show, but I can’t wait to see the piece evolve with color. Maybe next year?

I’ve been hearing about how great the Emerald City Comicon is for years now, so I was really grateful for the chance to attend this year. Jim Demonakos and his crew have created a truly excellent show that caters to both fans and professionals. The atmosphere is super-friendly, and everyone I spoke with had as wonderful a time as I did. Add to that all the amenities of downtown Seattle, a food-lover’s dream, and you’ve got an incredible event. I really can’t wait to go back.

Looking for some ink? If you’re attending C2E2 next week, we’ve got something special cooked up. I’ve teamed up with tattoo artist Brian Stringer and the Hero Initiative to offer a custom tattoo, drawn by me and inked by Brian on the C2E2 convention floor! There are more details in this eBay auction link, but here’s the gist: the winner gets a custom design by me,  the tattoo by Brian, plus the original art and ALL proceeds are going to the Hero Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping comic creators in need. Everybody wins!

But who’s the sassy girl on the left, you say? I met Brian at last year’s Baltimore Comic-Con, where I drew this sketch for him. He wanted a pinup style girl with tattoos, and since I’m not a tattoo artist, I asked Brian to design the girl’s arm. He just went to town on it, adding all the clouds, lightning, and cool design swirls. It was a really fun collaboration, and I was thrilled when Brian asked me to work with him on the auction. Good luck bidding!

If you’re attending the Emerald City Comicon this weekend,  they’ll be auctioning some of the art from the Monsters and Dames 2011 charity book on Saturday, March 5. All the proceeds go to the Seattle Children’s Hospital, a premier child health care & pediatric center and one of the leading hospitals for children.  Running with the children’s book theme, I decided to base this on a beloved fairytale. Maybe not as monstrous as some of the other pieces, but I think that gold digger is pretty damn scary!

If you read any X-Men comics in the 80′s, you probably have a soft spot for mohawk Storm. I also have a soft spot for Janet Jackson, so the two seem like a natural fit. I actually pencilled this last year, but only recently got around to inking and coloring it.
Hey, if you’re in the Seattle area this weekend, I’ll be appearing at the Emerald City Comicon, March 4-6. Come find me at table D-17! I’ll be doing sketches and will have prints and postcards, too. As a reminder, my commission list fills up pretty fast so try to find me early. On Saturday I may take names for Sunday as well. See you there!

Gaga ohh-la-la! Check out the December issue of GQ Magazine, on sale later this month, for a one-page Lady Gaga comic I illustrated. Hot like Mexico, rejoice! To get myself in the mood, I immersed myself in all things Gaga (awesome), and drawing the piece turned out to be a really fun experience.  The only p-p-p-problem is I can’t get these damn songs out of my head after pulling that all-nighter.

Special thanks to Jared Fletcher for the hot lettering!

JUSTICE LEAGUE:GENERATION LOST #13 goes on sale this week, both in stores and digitally from Comixology. Here’s the last cover I did for Gen Lost. It was kinda tricky, since it features Magog, a character that was intentionally designed to be ugly and ridiculous as a critique of “kewl” comics, so I had to work around it a bit. The original sketch was not quite focused enough, so a few days before it was due I sent in a revised version. The new sketch was much more direct and powerful, so I’m glad I second guessed myself there. Click on the image for the sketches and final.

JUSTICE LEAGUE:GENERATION LOST #12 goes on sale this week, both in stores and digitally from Comixology. Catfight! Rowr! Brrr! Click on the image for the original sketches and stuff.

Man, what a weekend! The Javits Center was completely filled all weekend, with attendance reportedly near 96,000. NYCC is now truly one of the biggest shows of the year, and I’m surprised I survived. I had a great time talking with everyone at the show and I’m looking forward to next year. But first, some sleep!