I’m back from the convention, trying to get some sleep and recuperate. It’s not easy to slip back into a regular schedule after staying up all hours, fueled by booze and caffeine. It was a great time overall, and I’m making big plans for next year. (More on that when the time comes.) Not too many commissions this year, partly because I spent a lot of time sketching at the DC booth and signing artbooks at Splash Page, but I’ve been really happy with the way these turned out. It was, of course, a pleasure meeting everyone who came up to me at the show, and I’ve met a bunch of comic shop owners I’d love to visit in the coming year. The San Diego show is a lot like New Year’s Eve for me; it’s a chance to look back at the work I’ve done in the past year and see how people have responded to it, and to look ahead towards new work and new projects. There’s a lot for me to process still, but I’m feeling pretty good these days.

I can’t believe it, but the San Diego convention gets bigger every year. They’re saying it may reach 160,000 people over the course of the weekend. Over at the DC booth, they put up some of my artwork on the side of the booth. It turned out great, and it was a really cool surprise.

Just landed in sunny San Diego after pulling an all-nighter on some covers for Green Arrow/Black Canary. It’s gonna be a rough week! Anyway, here’s my schedule. I’ll be signing at the DC booth on Wednesday (7-8:30), Saturday (10:30-11:30), and Sunday (3-5). All other times, look for me at the Splash Page booth (5101&5200), particularly on Friday and Saturday from 3-5 when we’ll have a special signing for the new artbook. We’ll also have a very limited edition black and white print for sale. Look for sketches on the blog later in the week, unless I get crushed backing the wrong side of a Klingon/stormtrooper conflict.

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.

The beans were spilled this past Saturday at HeroesCon: my new book is Green Arrow & Black Canary! It’s thrilling to be drawing straight-up, no chaser superheroes. I had a great time working with writer Judd Winick on Josie Mac a few years ago, and I think it’ll be even more fun this time around. We’ve got an easy rapport that should translate into some seamless comics, and I think our teamwork will play a big part in differentiating this book from the previous Green Arrow title. And I get to draw Connor Hawke, which is cool because there aren’t enough mixed-race characters in comics anyway. Somewhere out there, a half white, quarter black, quarter Asian kid is looking for superheroes that look like him (or her)… Ahh, who am I kidding? That kid is actually 30-something and drives a better car than I do, but better late than never…
Click on the image to see the pencil and ink versions of the cover, too!

Thanks to Shelton Drum, Dusty Harbin, and the entire Heroes crew for making it another great HeroesCon! Everyone was extra cool, and I had a great time sketching and talking to fans. In fact, I think I confirmed for next year last night at the bar. What a cheap date… Anyway, ready to go home and sleep for a few days straight. When did I become an old man? Wait, don’t answer that.
p.s. Andy, if you’re reading this, that’s still not your Mary Jane sketch. Your friends are bastards.

…for fightin’! Fewer sketches today, cuz I jumped on the DCU panel. We announced Green Arrow/Black Canary (or Black Canary/Green Arrow, I’m down with that), which is coming out in October. My favorite comment from the panel? A woman hoped Green Arrow would “act right” when it came to being married. It was like being on Jerry Springer — I love it!
So hey, some of you guys guessed right! What’s everybody think? Meanwhile, as Morrissey once sang: “I will be at the bar, with my head on the bar,” trying not to think of what people are saying about me. Wizard Magazine, here I come! There’s a quarter page article with my name ALL over it. Boo ya!

Day one — 7 sketches. Pimpin’ ain’t easy. Ready for drinks. Actually, met a lot of nice people today. Lots of love for the Cinder and Ashe piece, which I didn’t expect. Also having fun drawing girls, which I did expect.