2nd Printing For UNDERTOW!

The 2nd printing of Undertow #1 is officially out of my hands and at the printer (comicbookprinting.com) as of last week.  The book features a new, Western-style paint job by Greg Harms (which I've dubbed "The Black Cover"), and an outstanding addition to the interior: an Organ-Grinder pin-up from Comic Book Bootcamp instructor and Ultimate Spider-Man writer/artist Ty Templeton!  Here's a shot of the new cover, but you'll have to buy the book to see Ty's poster!

The book is AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE NOW on this website, and also from Greg, Gibson, or myself if you catch us at one of the cons.  Speaking of comic cons...

Things are getting very exciting as I feel the impending date for Emerald City Comic Con (Seattle, WA March 1-3) when Undertow #3 will make its debut.  The book is looking so hot it's hard to remember my former expectations because the people helping me along the way have exceeded them by so much.  I just keep rolling along with it, smile, and enjoy myself, messaging and sending files back and forth with fellow Undertow founders Greg Harms and Gibson Quarter, wondering what they'll show me next, and even more surprised with the pages from new team-member Adam Gorham.  Getting the oportunity to create with these guys is SO MUCH FUN!  Take a look at a couple of Adam's first pages for "The Forgetting."

 

There's more great work to see for anyone who's able to come by and see us at Emerald City Comic Con.  Please check back soon here as I'll be posting more work from the book.  Thanks for reading!

Artist Adam Gorham Joins UNDERTOW!

It's taken some time on the starting blocks but Undertow #3 is officially on its way as pages of finished artwork have begun showing up in the Dropbox.  The two stories featured in #2 ("The Organ-Grinder" and "The Forgetting") will appear again in #3, packed into 32 pages of story.  Gibson Quarter has provided another rendition of the OG for the cover (I've seen the pencils and can promise you it is nothing short of wicked), Greg Harms will be there to lend his color and discerning eye, and most exciting of all, artist Adam Gorham has come onboard to take up the task of illustrating "The Forgetting!"

Adam is solid in many mediums, but best of all (for Undertow and myself) he does excellent work with human figures and characterization, which there is going to be a ton of in the story.  It's always nice to be able the tell your characters apart when you have no color or spandex designs to do the job for you.  Adam has his own book, Teuton (just released the 2nd TPB in fact), which is set in the dark ages and full of interesting creatures and characters.  When Adam expressed an interest in Undertow, I had to see what he was all about so I checked out both of these books, and to tell the truth I was jealous, because they are nothing short of spectacular!  He and Fred Kennedy are both amazing storytellers and all the time and attention they've put into these books really shines through--great work and congratulations to both of them.  Both books can be purchased online from Indyplanet, or head straight there by clicking the images below.

 

More of Adam's work can also be seen on his blog at aprincelydreadful.blogspot.ca.  He's a busy guy with a ton of talent so he usually has something new up several times a week.  I can't wait to see what he'll bring to Undertow.  Thanks for reading!

 

Undertow Across America (and Canada)

One month since my last post and so much has changed--seems like the theme for my life which is rapidly approaching its halfway point with my impending 35th birthday.  Said goodbye to Atlanta this past month, and took a hellacious, two-thousand mile, four-day road trip to Boise, Idaho, that featured a visit to Metropolis, a thirty minute Q&A session with a very nice police officer without a lot to do, a big T-bone steak in Nebraska, and an evening spent in a Wyoming hotel bar with a bunch of truckers while the mountain highway was snowed closed.  God, I love America.

But back to comics!  Gibson Quarter was at the Toronto Comic-Con Fan Expo recently and managed to sell out all the copies of Undertow #2 I'd just shipped him, which has me stoked.  He'll be attending the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) from April 13-15, and then the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo from April 27-29.  Go Gibson!  Can't say enough about how much this guy helps me out.  Ghosthill Greg in the meantime will be attending the West Texas Comic Con in Lubbock April 13-14.  These guys stay so busy I don't know how they do it (no sleep and Dr. Pepper for Greg), but I appreciate it.

And in case you're wondering what I'll be up to during this time--I'll be back at work in balmy Naknek, Alaska, watching the ice in the Naknek River, waiting for it to break up and the tide take it out and away into Bristol Bay, so we can start bringing the tugboats and barges back in the river.  Ah, but the days they do go by.

I thought this was going to be a short post--not sure why I always go in thinking that because they never are.  Guess I've got lots to say, especially when it comes to my comic book.  My friend Jay at Comic Book and Movie Reviews recently posted an online interview with moi, which you can check out here, if you're interested.

There are also a couple of reviews up for Undertow.  You can read a review of Undertow #2 at Sequential Review, and there's another review of Undertow #1 just up at Crikey! so please take a look if you have the time.  Thanks for reading!

GHOSTHILL GREG

Just a few words today about a guy who has been my brother-in-arms through the whole Undertow process that's become such a big part of my life these last couple of years.  An interview with Greg Harms went up today on Comic Book and Movie Reviews, so I thought I'd mention that to start, and then show a little bit of what Greg does to help me out and make our comic looks SO GOOD--which it definitely does.  If you haven't seen one and don't think comics are just for kids, they can be purchased at the right hand side of the screen via Paypal account or credit card.  A digital copy of Undertow #1 is also available for $1.99 at DriveThruComics (the file is about 90MB in size).  With that being said...

This is some of the work Greg has done with Jonathan A. Rector that's appeared as the front cover of Undertow #2 (images on top) and back cover of Undertow #1 (images on bottom), for a story called "The Forgetting," which begins in Undertow #2.  Here's the kick-a$$ work done by JAR in pencil on 11x17-inch artboards, which is then scanned at a high resolution and moved on to Ghosthill Greg.

Greg then prints up the scans with blue lines in place of the gray pencils (again at 11x17 inches), and hits it up with his pens/brushes and helps to add focus, depth, and shade to the page.  The pages are scanned again in preparation for the coloring process, which will all be done digitally.  The illustration at the left has been scanned and adjusted to compensate for irregularities in the ink, examples of which can be seen on the right where the scan has not been adjusted.  This is how the page looks after Greg is done inking by hand.

Greg then adds the color and design elements like the logo and title/issue number for the front, and some text and ISBN code for the back.  I'm not gonna pretend to know what goes on here as I'm still a photoshop novice (but learning!), but I will say that it's a painstaking process to make things look as good as they do!  And on that note--a final word to my friend, Greg, and many thanks--I don't even want to think what Undertow would be with out you.

Thanks for reading!

UNDERTOW on Quinntessential Comix!

Just a quick note here, folks--Gibson Quarter was very recently interviewed on Quinntessential Comix (tdotcomics) out of Toronto, and you can see it here!  Take a look!

GQ Interview with Comic Book and Movie Reviews

Just a quick word for anyone checking out the blog who has not yet seen this--"Organ-Grinder" artist Gibson Quarter has recently done an interview over at Comic Book and Movie Reviews that can be seen here.

If you're not familiar with this website think about taking a look around, especially if you're interested in movies and comics, which you definitely should be!  There are a lot of great reviews that are well worth reading through--great info and background on many of the items being reviewed.  Being a story and back-story guy like I am, I can't get enough of this place!  Be sure to check back again later as there will be an interview with Greg Harms posted next week, and one with yours truly the week after.  Thanks for reading!