Magneto's Ride

[Livio]

The idea behind this painting is that X-Men villain Magneto has just taken out a Sentinel and is now using his powers to essentially reanimate it as a "chariot" of sorts as he declares war on some unfortunate party off-screen.

My challenge here was trying to balance out a busy composition while hopefully making sure Magneto doesn't get lost amid the details. I was going for less of a traditional comic book image and more for a concept art painting, like how this scene might look in a movie,etc.

This piece was also fun as it let me play around with one of studiomate Carlos D'Anda's favorite quirks - putting stickers and labels on all things mechanical. I've got to admit it was really enjoyable making up fake warnings and whatnot, and I think it helps sell the idea of the Sentinel as a machine that was actually built at one point.

Hope everyone enjoys!

Madame Xanadu

(entry Richard Friend)

I wanted to post up a little info about the new book I am working on (well have been working on for the last 5 or 6 months)

Last year was strange for me. I was inking Whilce Portacio on Superman Batman (not on the stands yet) but working on that story arc took FOREVER. Last year I had basically NOTHING on the stands. Literally for 14 months I had one fill in on JSA over Fernando Pasarin come out, a few other small odds and ends and that was it. I've never had a dry spell like that with so little on the shelves, although I was working every day. Even SD comic con 2008 felt weird because I had very little new work I could even show...(since nothing was even published at that point) But now finally all this work is coming up or is already hitting the stands.

I started inking Madame Xanadu in June. I've already inked 4 issues and I am back on a monthly. I LOVE it. I love Amy Reeder Hadley's art, I love the book, I love the writing by Matt Wagner....I love the fact that DEATH is coming up in the series. This is literally the most fun I've had on a book in a long time. I personally work best when I am really working hard. This pace keeps me super limber and I haven't felt this confident in my inks in a while. My work on Steampunk keeps coming to mind while inking MX/ (I inked Chris Bachalo for 2 years straight and NEVER had one fill in inker ink one single page EVER) So, while I am working on this new series...the pace and quick tempo really reminds me of that time. How all that hard work really adds up, and at the end you have something you can really be proud of. There's just a level of consistency that can't be matched by one team working and growing together, getting tighter and tighter on the art doing a monthly...and telling a story most importantly of all. It's incredible when it clicks.

This book feels special...I can't really put my finger on it..but when I was asked to ink it and I saw the pencil art; the answer was immediately yes. My gut instincts were right...this is a great comic and I am so proud to be part of this team.

thanks for reading!

ricH.

"Furry, Gray Creature"

[Sandra]

Hey, Sandra here.

I drew this self-portrait for Comic-Con, colored by Adam Archer, featuring my assistant, Dingo, who helps me with my inking supplies. He's a Queensland Healer and I've had him for 13 1/2 years.

Glad you like it!

Sandra

DC Universe Online Magazines

[Eddy]

Wanna know more about the upcoming DC Universe Online game? Well, these three magazines are a great place to start! Each one has enough pics to whet your appetite and gives you the lowdown on what we've been up to lately:

Playstation – 6 pages of concept art and in-game screens

Edge – 8 pages with a Jim Lee Q&A

PC Gamer – 3 pages with a double-sided, fold-out Batman poster

But if that's not enough for ya', you can also join the DC Universe Online MySpace page for all the latest and greatest.

And did I mention Geoff Johns is working on the game too?

UPDATE: Game Informer - 2 page Jim Lee Q&A

Lost Boys: Bonfire Blues

[Joel]

Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs #4 came out recently and, as a fan of the original film, I gotta say I had a lot of fun working on this book. I felt the writing retained quite a bit of the nuances and dark campy humor of the film. I hope the readers enjoyed the twists and turns that writer Hans Rodionoff put our dark young vampire hunters through...anyway, just wanted to share some tidbits from issue 4, and the thought process behind it.

In the last 9 pages of the book, we introduced a new major villain to the Lost Boys mythos and I felt it was a great opportunity to try something a little different. We shot straight from the pencils and I did mostly tonal work, as well as speaking with WildStorm colorists Randy Mayor and Gabe Eltaeb to see about creating a nice monochromatic tone that would really utilize the mood of the moment...as well as be a complete departure from the way the art had been handled, up until now- to create a distinction in narration.

For those who didn't follow the book; Edgar Frog narrates most of the series...and, well, let's just say he's definitely not the most reliable source for information...so I wanted the end of the book to be more 'realistic' to give more credibility to the narration...and because it just looks kick-ass! JOEL

TETSUOOOO!!!!

[Oliver]

Hi ya'lls, how's it goin? I just stumbled on and saw a little known anime called "Akira". ( I definitely recommend you watch this gem of Japanese animation if you haven't.) I loved it and was inspired to draw my favorite character from it, the very misunderstood, Tetsuo.

This is the first in a three piece triptych I plan on doing of all the main characters. I can't believe I never heard of this "Akira"...funny.

Hope you like.

Serpent Love

[Lopez]

Hello everyone, this is Marvel's Shanna the She-Devil, that I did for my good friend from down under Royd.

What's the deal with the snake? When I was looking for reference for this pic, I came across a Steve Gerber/Tony DeZuniga story from the 70's that featured this snake as her love interest. There was even a scene that suggested she was into asphyxiophilia.

Anyhow the piece was a lot of fun, I can't wait to draw her again.

See ya, Michael

New Nuñez

[Nuñez]

Hello everyone, hope everyone had a good Labor day weekend! I feel like it went by too darn quick :( Anyhoo. I wanted to post up a couple of things I was working on over the weekend.

I wanted to do a Batman/ Joker Piece so after seeing the badass job Carlos did for Game Informer mag I decided to swipe his idea and do my version of the two. On this piece I used Copic markers ( they rock) for the gray tones. I just love the control you get with the brush tip.

The next piece is of Kaneda. I have always been a fan of Otomo and as a kid I loved AKIRA. I never really drew Kaneda much it was always about Tetsuo, so I wanted to take a crack at him. I have to say as simple as Otomos caharacters are, there a pain in the @$$ to get them right.

And last is a pinup of the Batfamily. This one I drew a couple of months after starting here at the studio. This one was supposed to serve as a practice for my phobia of backgrounds. It took me a loooong time to complete, but finally I had to sit down and complete the damn thing.

Btw, if anyone's interested in these pieces, you can contact me here.

Lates

It's Magik!

[Oliver]

I did this "Magik" piece right before Comic-Con just for the heck of it. I've been wanting to draw Illyana Rasputin for awhile now and had a little window one night and cranked this out.

I was inspired since Marvel is bringing her back and I've always loved this character. I hope they keep her around and do good things with her.

Apocalypse Now!

[Livio]

The idea behind this painting is X-Men villain Apocalypse has been hibernating beneath a desert for some time, and has just awakened to rise up through an unfortunate settlement of nomads. I mainly wanted to portray Apocalypse as a force of nature, one that would barely notice if he crushed an entire village of people beneath him. I wanted to treat this one a bit more cinematically, like if David Lean shot an X-Men film..so I added "widescreen" black bars because I'm a big movie dork. And below are some of the initial steps:

Image 1) The painting in progress. At this point the painting is super loose and dark as I'm just throwing down shadows to make sure Apocalypse will have a dramatic contrast when I eventually put some atmospheric perspective in. There's also a bunch of scribbly notes I write to myself as I work, if I happen to get ideas along the way.

Image 2) My first sketchy thumbnail.

Hope everyone enjoys!

-Livio