Posts Tagged ‘Omega Comics Presents’

I know it’s been a long time since I last updated this website. I know your RSS feed feels neglected. I know it seems like I only check in when I have some sort of self-promotion to conduct. But, um, you did see the name on the masthead, right? Anywaaay …

How are you? I’m good. In the middle of another system reboot. Not going to bore you with the details, because as these get more frequent and less rare, they’re also getting somewhat routine (and easier to get through). Nothing new to report there.

I turned 35, so that was a thing. Been working on some new articles for the usual suspects. Finishing preparations for the release of As Yet Unbroken‘s long-awaited debut full-length album. Been hanging out on Tumblr, posting old comics and new(ish) drawings. Oh, and then there’s this …

That’s the cover(s) for The Best of Omega Comics Presents, Vol. 1. It’s a 102-page trade paperback coming out in September from ye olde publishing company, collecting the, er, best stories from the first four issues of that anthology series. And of certain interest to you, my friends, is the inclusion of the full four-chapter epic that is “Omega,” which I wrote, drew and slobbered over.

This thing is only $7.95. That’s really cheap. The single issues of this series cost $3.99 each, so even just to get all of my stuff, that’s more than a 50 percent savings, but you get ALL THE OTHER AWESOMENESS. We’re talking some really good stuff in here, things that made reviewers write nice things without having to be paid off. So, you know, feel free to pre-order a copy if such if your desire. I won’t mind.

See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? OK, fine, it was half-blog post and half-ad. So?

Hey, don’t I owe you guys another installment of the Magical Musical Mystery Tour? Maybe I’ll do that next…

Fellow unsung indy comic creator and colleague Dino Caruso is doing this neat set of interviews with other such creators over at the blog for Crystal Fractal Comics, a small Canadian comic publisher (hey, I know something about that). Last week, he finally posted the interview we conducted over about three months. Yes, seriously, because I am ridiculously busy and Dino is incredibly patient, it took me three months to finish answering all his questions. But that does mean there’s a ton of stuff for you to learn about how I got into reading and then making comics, what my process of creation is like, and a bunch of other stuff I can barely recall at this point. Enjoy!

p.s. Dino has a short story in the next issue of Omega Comics Presents, and I have a slightly longer story in there, too, and, well, you might want to buy a copy.

You guys know I use these “desktop snapshot” posts just as an excuse to blog, right? Right.

I’ve been mostly head-down for the last week, working simultaneously on three projects. One, as seen above, the final chapter of “Omega,” my action-espionage serial which has been running through the Omega Comics Presents anthology over the last year. The fourth issue (featuring the final chapter) is now available for pre-order and should be shipping the first week of April, so if you’ve read the first three chapters, you might want to order a copy NOW. It got delayed a bit by a variety of factors, including me having to switch inkers in the middle unexpectedly. But as you can see above, the man (well, I presume he’s a man. We’ve only spoken via e-mail!) has a way of actually making my poor excuse for comic art look almost pro!

The other project I showed you last time, but kind of talked around the specifics. It’s doing a comic book adaptation of “War of the Ghosts,” a story which has been used for memory research for almost a century, but this professor at UNLV had the novel idea to conduct the same research with a visual presentation, not just prose. I have two pages fully inked, but seven still to go, and a loose deadline at the end of this month, so most of my time is being spent drawing rivers, canoes and trees.

The third thing I’m not sure I want to talk about right now, at least not until I physically start the work. But it’s basically been approved and all the design work for it is done. You’ll just have to stay tuned for an announcement next week. Hopefully.

So, yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of artwork, and not as much writing. At least, not as much that you’re seeing in the usual places. I’ve been squeezing in time when I can to force progress on two screenplays and a potential novel, and once these art deadlines are met, I’ll be diving back into those full speed. It would also be helpful if I could obtain a new laptop soon. My lappy finally gave out last week, after barely holding on for the last year. To be fair, I’ve had it since 2004, so it was really waaaay past its prime. But I’m not the type to buy a new device when the one I have is usable in any way. However, I’m holding out for a MacBook Air, because, well, if I’m going to buy a new laptop, it’s going to be a good one. And the Air is the perfect middle ground between an iPad and a Macbook Pro — just enough power without the bells & whistles — and no moving parts!

All right, back to the Wacom tablet for me.

I’m trying to cram in getting as many of these comic book pages for the final chapter of my anthology serial “Omega” done as I can this weekend. If I avoid shenanigans like last night’s bar-hopping (though much-needed, and for good reasons), and not find myself dragging ass in the morning like I did today, maybe I can even get all five pages penciled and sent to my boy Vic to ink. But we’ll see.

It’s been a very interesting week, between posing for photos that may be featured in multiple publications, laying the groundwork for and promoting next week’s Utopian trade paperback release party, and working on a particularly physically challenging article that I’m sure you’ll hear more about later. That, and I had a meeting with a new friend that, depending on what side of the coin fate decides to land, could prove to be the start of something fruitful. Yes, I know I’m being very vague right now. I just seem to have a lot of things in the works that have to be kept under wraps right now, but I really hope to share the behind-the-scenes soon.

In other news, somewhat related to the earlier item about the physical article research, I realized this week just how out of shape I am compared to when I was running three-to-four days a week. I’ve already gained back a pound or two from the 10 or so pounds I dropped in the fall, and after one grueling experience this week, it struck me I need to get my act back together. Thanks to the amazing, Southern California-like weather we’re having in Las Vegas this weekend, I went for my first outdoor run in probably three months today, and while I’m definitely off my game, it feels as though it won’t take too much effort to get ready for my next benchmark, the Run Away with Cirque du Soleil 5k on March 19 at the Springs Preserve. I half-jogged, half-walked about 1.8 miles (if you believe Google Maps) in 20 minutes today, which wasn’t terrible, though I definitely felt it in my chest.

I’m gonna get back to the drawing board now. Hope you enjoy your Five-One Day.

Well, I believe it was actually still Jan. 7 when I grabbed this screen cap, but apparently we have moved to a new day. Hello Jan. 8!

I’m still hard at work finishing the pencils on these pages from “Omega” for Vic Moya to ink. Interestingly, I’ve spent more time painstakingly rendering these pencils than I ever did doing finished inks for any of the previous chapters. Go figure. Maybe it’s because I want to provide Vic the best pages possible for him to embellish. Maybe it’s because, unlike usual, I’m not doing layouts knowing I’ll be finishing them, so I’m actually putting more effort into the initial rendering. Either way, I still have five more pages to do, and Vic still has to make them pretty, so back to the drawing board/Wacom tablet I go …

I’m back at the art thing, feverishly (OK, fine, I’m not burning up or sweating or anything, but you get it) working to get done my portion of the next issue of Omega Comics Presents before I look like a jackass for holding up the issue’s release, while all my other creative teams actually made their deadlines. To speed things up — and make it look a lot better than I could do — I’m turning inking chores over to my man Victor Moya, who illustrated the post-apocalyptic story Jarret Keene wrote for Tales from the Boneyard (you have bought your copy, right?). Of course, that means I need to actually send him penciled pages (in my case, digitally), so no more slacking from me.

Aside from one other project that may or may not happen in the next year, I’m swearing off illustrating my own stories in 2011. I’m focusing heavily on writing this year, and I predict much better visual results if I hire out an artist as opposed to try to do the one-man show. Either the art or the writing suffers when I do it all, and I’d prefer not to choose.

I’m starting to fiddle with video production again, and I’ve been meaning to assemble a trailer for Omega Comics Presents‘ next issue for a while, so I finally did:

Omega Comics Presents #3 Trailer

Pop! Goes The Icon | Myspace Video

Not too bad, I think. It’s always kind of a challenge to present literature — even the graphic kind — in a motion medium, but I think this is effective enough. It really helped that by coincidence all the stories in this next issue center around a theme of paying back the bad guys, something that’s made promoting this collection a lot easier than earlier issues.

Of course, my serial “Omega” continues in this issue, so if you’ve read the first two chapters and want to continue doing so, please consider ordering a copy.

Thank you.