Process: Superman Illustration for Akron Comicon

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The theme for November 9th’s Akron Comicon will be 75 Years of Superman. For that occasion I’ve created this color illustration.

Superman

Here’s the genesis of the piece:

Supermanpencil

At this year’s Phoenix Comicon I overheard two artists talking about the difficulty of depicting Superman. The problem is that he has a sky blue costume and is constantly flying against a blue sky background. This idea for this illustration immediately revealed itself to me. I’d use that element as a strength, rather than a weakness.

I began this drawing as I’ve described these other process drawings, rough sketch, flip the paper over to do a tighter pencil on a lightbox, then flip it back over to ink.

Supermanink

I gave everything a contour line except for his costume to really make it blend into the background. Note the missing eyes, like a painted religious icon where a conqueror gouged out the eyes.

Supermancolorseps

On a separate sheet of typing paper I lightboxed a line drawing to indicate areas of color to make the color-flatting process easier in photoshop. This saves me from having to click-click-click an outline around every shape.

Superman

The end result presents Superman as an aspirational sky god. The “painted on” eyes hint at similar flourishes in Hindu statuary. The absence of the costume suggests a universality, but maybe also an emptiness to the character.

I keep trying to stifle my fannish impulse. I strive to be an iconoclast, not a pious delineator of illuminated manuscripts.

I can’t stop myself. I love comics, and superhero comics most of all.

As with previous process posts, I’m selling the original artwork on my Etsy page. Click here to purchase: www.etsy.com/listing/154719261/superman-drawing-by-tom-scioli?

Supermanproduction

The fictional character Superman is tm and copyright DC Comics

Process: Finishing Godland

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I’m finishing Godland, with just a few pages to go. This project represents a big chunk of my life and I’m finding it difficult to finish. With less than 10 pages to go, why is it taking so long? There are multiple reasons. I think I don’t want to let go of my last remaining connection to that nostalgic world of old-school, serialized, wednesday crowd comic-book-comics. A more pressing reason is that sales of Godland reached a point where I was no longer earning a royalty check. As of issue #16 I was making the comic for free.

I continued making the comic out of love, but I soon found other projects that I loved more: American Barbarian, Final Frontier, Satan’s Soldier and Mystery Object. Godland was exactly the kind of comic I wanted to make in 2005 (Kirby-esque pop art with as close to a “mainstream appeal” as I was comfortable with), but it isn’t 2005 any more.

In many ways, Godland had become a hobby not a job. For me a job takes precedence over a hobby. Here’s my solution, how to get myself to finish these last few pages: make Godland into a job. Make a schedule and something to sell at the end that’s worth my time and effort.

I’m breaking my policy of not selling Godland original art. You can view my progress here. I’ll post updates for the progress of the art. When I finish the page, it will be available for sale.

Here’s the rough layout:

Godland037060roughs

Here’s the pencilled version:

Godland037060pencils

What I did was flip the rough layout over, put it on a lightbox, and do the tight pencil on the other side of the bristol board, changing and editing as much as I feel is necessary. Since I ink Godland myself, I don’t need to make the pencils as tight and refined as I would if someone else had to ink it. At this stage I’m basically giving myself instructions in my own particular visual shorthand.

Next up: Inking.

For this phase, I turn the page over again and erase the layout that I started with. I then start inking on the frontside, with the pencils on the back side of the page, that way I’m more free to interpret the pencils rather than merely tracing them. So on the back of the board is a pencil drawing, on the front is the inked. I have a friend who displays pieces like this in a frame with a glass back so either side can be viewed. Here’s the finished art:

Godland037060flat

It’s on 14″ x 17″ bristol board. If you want to purchase the original art, here’s the Etsy link for it:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/154558618/godland-finale-page-60-original-artwork?

Drawing in Progress: Zodac

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I read a pretty cool Zodac vs. Hordak (turns out they’re brothers) comic book today by Keith Giffen. It put me in a nostalgic mood, so I drew this loose sketch:
Zodak1
Then I tightened up the drawing a little:
Zodak2
Here’s the finished, inked drawing:
Zodak3
If you’d like to buy this “Cosmic Badass” drawing, it’s $200.00 USD. It’s drawn in ink and pencil on 8.5 x 11 inch cardstock. Click the “buy now” button below to purchase.




Zodac always struck me as an odd character. Is that a beard or a chin strap? Even as a kid, it was obvious that there was some Frankensteinian mixing and matching going on. A lot of this stuff made more sense on Skeletor or Stratos. He was described as an “Evil Cosmic Enforcer” but on the cartoon he was aloof, but nice. Good guy? Bad guy? Zodac? Zodiac?Just throw out a bunch of random character traits and let the kids sort it out for themselves.

The characters Zodac and Masters of the Universe are tm and copyright Mattel

Satan’s Soldier #1 Signed Comic

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BookA

You might notice a PayPal button under the daily comic. Click on it to order the Satan’s Soldier #1 comic. It’s the first 41-page chapter of Satan’s Soldier. It comes signed by the author. Here’s the front cover:

BookB Here’s the back cover:BookC Here are pages two and three:BookD

Buy Satan’s Soldier#1 signed comic: