What are YOUR plans for FCBD? I’ll be signing and sketching at Upstate Comics with Brian Wood and editor Will Dennis. If you’re in the neighborhood this Saturday, please stop by, hang out a bit, and grab some free comics.

UPDATE: Thanks to Brian DeStefano and everyone at Upstate Comics for a great time. I had a blast talking with people, drawing Skrulls, eating pizza, and watching Raiders. You can check out some pix here.

Pick up the Spring 2008 issue of NYLON FOR GUYS for a cool Q&A with 5 comic book artists. Alex Maleev, Paul Pope, Ron Wimberly, Gabriel Ba, and yours truly(!) answer questions like “How have you seen comics change?” and “What is the craziest fan encounter you have ever had?” Thanks to the people at NYLON and DC for putting me in such great company.

Green Arrow & Black Canary #6 is on sale March 12! With only the slimmest of leads, Ollie, Dinah and Mia begin their international search for Connor’s kidnappers. First stop: Prague; and when they pose the right questions to some very wrong people, Team Arrow becomes the target!

With this issue, I’m sad to say that I’ll be leaving Green Arrow & Black Canary. Due to some recent family medical emergencies, I’ve elected to take myself off the book. Pencilling and inking 22 pages a month isn’t easy even under optimal conditions, and the last few months have been anything but. Rather than continue with the book and subjecting the readers to rushed artwork or intermittent and unexpected fill-ins, I thought it best to exit on a high note and asked my editors to find a new permanent replacement. It’s been a blast working with writer Judd Winick, and incoming artist par excellence Mike Norton is more than up to the task. And I’m not completely out of the picture — you’ll still be seeing me on covers. Best of luck to the team (though they won’t need it), and now I can look forward to reading the book like everyone else!

Bounce on over to the AMC website to see a little mini-interview I did about the 3 best animated films of all time. I deliberately gave some sincere but oddball answers to mix things up a bit. Other favorites of mine include Sleeping Beauty, Totoro, and Wallace & Gromit, but that’s like naming Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns as your favorite comics, y’know?

I also did a short Q&A at Comic Addiction where we discuss, among other things, the romance of Green Arrow & Black Canary.

Also, check out the signings link on the left! Several new conventions have been added to the list: the Boston Comic Book Spectacular in April, Fan Expo Canada in August, and the Baltimore Comic-Con in September. Looks to be a busy year.

Christmastime is here! While you’re all out doing your holiday shopping, I’d like to take a moment to remind you of what’s really important this season: me making money. Perhaps one of your loved ones might appreciate a page of original artwork from yours truly? Or, more likely, is there some holiday money burning a hole in your pocket? Well, there’s a big sale on my older artwork over at Splash Page Art! Up to 30% off! Scroll down to their news section for more deets. For every dollar you spend, an angel gets its wings and I’m that much closer to a new spoiler for my 2nd Ferrari. Happy holidays!

If you’re in New York this weekend, I’ll be signing at Midtown Comics in Times Square on Saturday, October 13 from 5-7pm. With the recent release of the Doctor 13 trade and Green Arrow/Black Canary #1, I thought it might be a good time to show my face in public again. Special thanks to the fine folks at Midtown for pulling this all together on short notice. After the signing, I’ll put my trenchcoat on and I’ll be selling dvd’s, “gold” watches, and “Prada inspired” handbags downstairs, so it should be a fun time for all.

But, you ask, what if I’m nowhere near New York? What if I’m from, say, Toronto? Well, then you’re in luck, my convenient fictional friend — I’ll be at the Toronto Comicon on October 21! When I got a note from Kevin Boyd asking me to attend this special 1-day show, how could I say no? I’ll have some small pieces of original art for sale, and I’ll be doing free sketches at the show and commissioned sketches in the afternoon as time allows. This’ll be my first time away from U.S. soil in a few years, so please bear with my ugly American tendencies. You guys have McDonald’s right? Whew!

As promised, one of my finished sketchbook pieces is now up on Ebay! Check out the auction, and good luck! I’m a huge fan of Paul Smith, and his work on the X-Men is one of the main reasons I got into comics. So when it came time to draw a piece for the Splash Page Art Sketchbook, I had to take a shot at these 80’s X-men characters. Coming up with the image was surprisingly tough. I wanted to draw as many of the characters as I could and emphasize their teamwork. So it was either the Danger Room or softball! My only regret is that I couldn’t fit in Cyclops, but I did get most of the New Mutants in there. This was definitely a labor of love, and it brings back a lot of memories. Like that summer when I helped save the community center with my friends Turbo and Ozone. Pop and lock! (more…)

So, anyone out there a whiz at CSS? After wrestling with the website code for a few days, I’m throwing up my hands. Just a couple days ago, I learned that everything looked kinda screwy in Internet Explorer 6. (You guys are really polite, by the way.) I’ve managed to get things looking pretty good across the most popular browsers, and added hovering orange borders on clickable images, but IE 6 is still acting quirky. More details after the jump, but be warned, you’re entering nerd territory. No entertainment value whatsoever! Can anyone help? Does anyone remember laughter? I gotta get this figured out so I can go back to eating candy and watching cartoons all day long. And by “candy” I mean cocaine, and by “cartoons” I mean strippers, but I was trying to be classy.

UPDATED! Special thanks to Steven Gettis for rolling up his sleeves and getting dirty with the code. He was in fact able to find a small workaround for the issue, but in the end, I decided to go in a different direction. Thanks, Steven! If you get the chance, check out his website, which features his personal collection of drawings of literary authors and characters. It’s a lot of fun seeing the different interpretations and choices for subjects. I’m on board to do one, but I have to read something that’s not a comic book first.

Yes, things are abuzz here at my secret underwater headquarters. I’m off to Charlotte in a few days, and just wrapping up a few things before I go. First, there will be a big announcement at the DC panel this Saturday at HeroesCon. Yep, we’re gonna spill the beans on the new book I’m drawing. Any guesses? C’mon, put down that sandwich and add to the comments!

Second, I will be doing commissioned sketches all weekend, and I’ll also have a binder of sketch artwork for sale. You can check out a bunch of the pieces in the “Sketch” section of the gallery. There are also a few goofy pieces that haven’t shown up online, so if you’re at the show please drop by. Just don’t stand too close, as it triggers my deadly ninja skills.

Run, don’t walk! All of my Dr. Thirteen artwork is now available at Splash Page Art! Sure, you could spend that money on a new iPhone, college tuition, medicine, or baby food… but you’d be a fool to pass up this opportunity to own a Chiang original! I could retire from the game tomorrow, and your investment would skyrocket! I’m not a businessman, I’m a BUSINESS, man!