GL Xmas story

Here's a page of art from the upcoming GL Xmas story written and inked by yours truly and pencilled by the great John Byrne. For the record, this is page one.

I wonder who Green Lantern could be visiting at Andrews Air Force Base on Christmas day?

It was a great thrill to work with Mr. Byrne on a project, even if it was only a ten page story. I hope to work with him again as soon as possible but I think I'll let him get a 'real' inker next time.

The DC Infinite Christmas special drops (check out my super-hip lingo!) on 12/6 or 12/13.

This time, it's Nightwing...

I did a quick interview with Jen Contino today regarding my upcoming run on Nightwing with Jamal Igle. She beat out Vaneta from Newsarama for the fastest posting of an interview by about...8 hours so, give or take a few minutes.

Take a bow, Jen. You get the trophy!

Here's the link:

http://www.comicon.com/pulse/

Don't ask why I insisted on the pic of the shirtless Chuck Norris to be included. In lieu of any Nightwing art to post, I just thought it would be funny to include something that made no sense whatsoever. And what makes no sense more than a shirtless pic of the legendary Walker: Texas Ranger?

That's rhetorical, by the way.

How's everybody doing out there these days?

What's going on?

Having one of those weeks where there aren't enough days, nor are there anywhere close to enough hours in each day. But then again, that's pretty much every week so it's nothing new.

Om my plate right now, I've got the last four pages of 52 #36 to finish by Friday. I didn't realize I was also inking the two-page character origin in the back until the pages arrived this morning. All of Jamal's and my lead time as we start Nightwing has basically been eaten up waiting for Marv to turn in a script so now we need to start cranking on that.

I also need to turn in written plots for editorial approval, one for an issue of ROBIN that I'm writing and another for the second part of my BATMAN story. I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself to get them turned in by Friday but, realistically, I'll be happy to get one or the other done. On top of that, a few months back I was invited to pitch some Scooby Doo stories which were all approved last week. Four stories in all, two six-pagers and two eight-pagers, something else to finish up by the end of the year. Turns out Scooby Doo and crew will be paying for my Christmas shopping this year...thanks, gang!!

Anyway, DC released their solicitations for February 07 today, here's what I'll have out that month. Seems so far away but by the time one blinks...

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #9
Written by Keith Champagne
Art and cover by Patrick Gleason & Prentis Rollins

Concluding the suspenseful three-part tale “The Dark Side of Green.” The being known as The Dominator arrives on Earth with murderous intent! Halfway across the universe, only the rogue group of Green Lanterns known as The Corpse have the means to stop his destructive rampage...if only they weren’t already dead. Can anything stop The Dominator from destroying the planet? On sale February 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

The cover posted above for this issue of GLC. Again, I believe those are the flat colors. I would expect the final colored version to kick much more ass.

NIGHTWING #129
Written by Marv Wolfman
Art by Jamal Igle & Keith Champagne

Cover by Michael Golden

Introducing Bride and Groom — a marriage made in hell! Two new metas plague New York as an eerie competition begins: Who can achieve the most “kills” before their wedding day? But nothing is as it seems as Bride and Groom’s citywide war affects those closest to Nightwing! On sale February 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

This is Jamal and my first issue of the book. I was under the impression we were starting with a new issue #1 but I guess not. Also, I had no idea that Michael Golden was doing the covers. That's pretty freaking cool.

Back to the drawing board on this end...

Script to art comparison

As I mentioned in my last post, here's the page of script I wrote for this page of art, which has been released by DC.

It's a very benign page in that it doesn't give away ANYTHING in terms of the larger story, nothing that hasn't been revealed in interviews so far, anyway. But it's a good example of the type of thought that Pat Gleason puts into his art.

Aside from the dynamic composition, I like the fact that he didn't feel bound to what I was asking for specifically. He gave me what I wanted but wasn't afraid to do it his way and, personally, I like to see an artist make their own choices and use their own imaginations instead of being a slave to mine. I want to work with people who think independently, not who approach the job as robots. If I want something interepreted exactly the way I see it, I make a point to ask for it that way. Otherwise, I hope to be surprised when I see the pages come in.

Prentis Rollins also added a lot with his inks on this page, really solidifying the art. It's a great looking book, I'm lucky to be working with these guys.

Anyway, enough rambling from me, here's the script...

PAGE THREE
SPLASH PAGE

We’re in a large holding cell. The Dominators are looking down from inside the open partition set high up in the wall. They’re all shielding their eyes. Below them--

A Khund warrior, Uruk, is strapped to a futuristic medical table, bound at his hands, feet, and neck by chains composed of pure energy. His body is bowed outwards as he strains with all his might, every muscle about to rupture, struggling in vain to free himself from his bonds. He’s screaming, his eyes clenched tightly shut, straining to look away.

Uruk has been deliberately positioned to face a large, glowing asteroid held in position by a crane like device directly over him. Swirling, rainbow-colored waves of radiation emanate from the space rock and buffet the Khund in an unrelenting storm of cosmic energy.

It looks like it really hurts.

1- CASTE LEADER #1: Your work shows potential.


ORIGIN BOX:

Billions of years ago, the oldest and most powerful beings in existence, the Guardians of the Universe, created a police force to serve and protect every sector of space. Recruited for their bravery and courage, from planets across the universe, the best and brightest serve proudly as members of the intergalactic peacekeepers known as THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS!

TITLE: THE DARK SIDE OF GREEN (part one)

CREDITS

Writer: Keith Champagne
Penciller: Patrick Gleason
Inker: Prentis Rollins
Letterer:
Colorist:Moose Baumann
Associate editor: Michael Siglain
Dominator: Peter Tomasi