Monday, January 26, 2009

More Mighty

Hmmmm...another post about THE MIGHTY. Noticing a trend here?

There's another article up on Ain't It Cool News regarding America's favorite new comic book. I didn't have much to do with this one. Tomasi put it together, it's a script to pencils to inks to colors guide to how a comic is made, using The Mighty as an example. Check it out if you're interested, here's the linkage:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39893

After all these years of blogging (three!), I still don't know how to insert a live link. I'm pretty pathetic.

In other news, I finished my last page of Supergirl #38 today, ending my professional obligation to the book. While I'm not happy with the way things have ended, I'm very proud of the run of work Jamal and I produced over the last few years, from Firestorm to Nightwing to Supergirl. Some artists I've worked with, it's a struggle to fit my style or sensibilities with theirs. Jamal's work always felt like a very natural fit with my style. But all good things come to and end eventually, even Big Poppa and I. So I'm shelving my pens and brushes to focus on writing full-time again. I've got a couple of new projects lined up with different companies and, I'm told, a third shaping up at DC. Let's see what the future brings.

I'll be travelling the world the next couple of weeks so blogging will be even more sporadic than normal. Eventually, I'll end up at the New York Convention, at least the final day of the show. No idea what my signing schedule might be but maybe I'll catch you there.

Take care. THanks for reading.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Coming in April...


THE MIGHTY #3

Written by Peter J. Tomasi & Keith Champagne
Art by Peter Snejbjerg
Cover by Dave Johnson

Alpha One may be the most powerful being on the face of the planet, but emotionally, he’s vulnerable – and he needs a friend he can trust. His ally Gabriel Cole, who has just officially taken command of Section Omega, is becoming that friend. But neither man knows the danger they tempt by inviting each other into their homes. And what amazing secrets are hidden in Alpha One’s underground headquarters?
On sale April 1 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Follow me to victory

Hey.

You.

The one reading this post right now. Do you read my blog on a regular basis? Do you see that list of followers over to the left hand side of this entry? Do me a favor, join the club, and officially follow me. If I get enough people, I'm interested in starting a cult (I make GREAT kool-aid!!). We'd need a good name for our cult, a robust health and dental plan, and a large tract of land to commune on (hopefully somewhere warm). And we can do cool things like wear robes, debate Superman versus Thor, and get tax breaks from the government.

But it all starts with you. I promise not to poison anyone or marry all the ladies (sorry ladies). I also promise to have movie nights every other weekend. So follow me to victory!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Gone in sixty seconds

The latest news is I'll be leaving Supergirl after issue #38. I'm not sure if I'll be completing the entire lead story. I'd like to but am leaving for vacation on February 1st. The way work dribbles in on the book, I don't know if I'll have the entire issue to finish before I go.

Based on some recent developments in my personal life, it's not the greatest time for me to be leaving the book--and the steady paycheck of a monthly--but the decision wasn't mine this time. I could bore you with the backstage shenanigans but there's a reason they're called backstage shenanigans. Because, y'know...it's mischief and it's behind the scenes. Anyway, I wish the team nothing but luck.

So...what's next for me? That's in the process of being worked out but rest assured I'll land on my feet. Always have, always will. I've been moonlighting as a writer for a video game company the past year, I plan on devoting more time to that work and I expect you'll be seeing me focus on writing more comics and inking less. I think I prefer to sit in the driver's seat...not the ejector seat.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of America's favorite writer/inker!

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Let's see...what to blog about?

I'm in the middle of dialoguing THE MIGHTY #5 and it's one of those nights where coming up with words for the balloons feels like pulling teeth from the all-powerful Zeus. I wish I had something witty to follow that up with but it's just not flowing. Or actually, it is. It's just flowing in a really bad, upset stomach kind of way. Frustrating.

I'm interested in hearing what everyone's New Year's resolutions are this year, if you're the type of quasi-anonymous blog readers that make New Year's resolutions. Aside from my plan to make ONE MILLION DOLLARS in '09, I'm going to finally build (or have built) my website because all the cool kids have one these days. I'm also going to be more interactive with the comments on this blog. Too often, I skim through but don't reply to anything. So I'll make an effort to be more polite. I guess the same could apply to returning phone calls, which I'm pretty horrible at doing promptly.

Aside from work-related stuff, on a personal level, I'm going to massage my self-esteem this year. I think waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too highly of myself, it's really sick how awesome I am. Or maybe the opposite. So I got to thinking it may be healthy to round myself off to a more normal level, either way. And if I don't have anything nice to say, I'm not going to kill myself to say something nice.

How about you?

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Good Riddance!

Good riddance to 2008. I'm not even going to give it a goodbye hug, just a swift kick in the ass on its way to the slush pile.

2008 was probably my most frustrating year professionally of any of the 16 years I've now spent working in the comic book field. It was a year full of behind-the scenes soap opera and politics and battles that I fought--most of which I lost. Many were the times I questioned why I even continue to work in comics, a field where hard work and merit seem to count for nothing most of the time, and the best answer I could come up with is: I'm too stubborn to quit. I'm a cockroach, I've worked too hard and too long at this to tuck my head and call it a day.

As various projects I've been working on were killed or delayed indefinitely, it became hard not to feel like I've had some kind of dark cloud over my head. And just as I thought I had escaped to a fresh start in 2009, 2008 kicked me in the balls one last time. Jamal knows what I'm talking about.

So bring it on, 2009. Hit me with your best shot. I'm refocused, I'm standing tall, I'm smiling, and I'm not going anywhere. This is the year of THE MIGHTY. This is the year JOKER: YEAR ONE will (finally) arrive. NEVERMORE starts in March. There are more projects shaping up on the horizon and, while I've learned the hard way not all of them will see the light of day, that doesn't mean I won't stop fighting.

Dirty this time.

By the way, my new year's resolution is to make ONE MILLION DOLLARS in 09. If anyone has any tips how to go about it, by all means share.

Happy New Year!