ATTACK ON ISLAND X

Hey gang! Here I am back to show off a snazzy new illo for the Proffessor Stone book. Well....what do you think? I did like about 20 pencil sketches trying different compositions before I finally settled on this one. For some odd reason no matter how I tried to set up the shot I just kept coming up with other layouts that looked a little better. This one I like as it has Stone looking a little more " heroic" than some of the other arrangements I trashed. Another change was moving the Prof.s submirsible seaplane the " MERMAID" to the left of the page instead of on the right where the original sketch showed it. In my mind this sets up a nice viewing triangle.

Artists....Pftt! What a kooky bunch we are....huh?

TO MOTHER FROM TWO BROTHERS

Okay....now you are all sworn to secrecy. This is a Christmas portrait I did for my co-worker Steve. He is planning on giving it as a gift to his Mom on December 25th. Now none of you can ruin the surprise okay? I told Steve I would like to put it on my blog "after" the holidays, but he insisted it would be perfectly fine to go ahead and splash it up here now.

Actually I'm kinda glad he allowed me to do this on account of I think it is one of the better portraits I've done this year. I have some others to show you in the coming weeks so stay tuned, and stay merry.

Happy Holidays everyone!

AN ILLO FROM ISLAND X

This, dear friends ... is an illo from the Proffessor Stone book I am working on. It is from the short story Island X. It features Stone encountering a secret Island filled with Dino-men, and an evil Russian scientist lady. The piece was finished a few weeks ago, but for two weeks now I have had no way of scanning art. As many of you know I am a computer dummy, so it has taken quite some time to figure out a solution. As it now stands I have to first scan my images to my photo impression program...transfer them to Picasa, ( a web host ) then log them in on a seperate post. Not, by any means, an ideal situation...but it's all I have for the moment. At least I am back on-line with much to show you in the comming day's.

I BEG YOUR PARDON.....

Sorry for missing in action so much lately....I had quite a round of comic-con's to attend in the last two months. First it was Boston, then Portland, and just yesterday...Nashua NH. The show in Nashua was a super groovy time and sales of ZB products were very steady. There was a huge crowd, steady customers, some good friends, and lot's of new and interesting people to meet. The above sketch was started, but never finished, at yesterdays show.

As things slow down and we head into the winter doldrums, I am just going to have to breakdown and learn a bit more about this blogging stuff so I can post permanent links to the sites hosted by all the way cool creators I have met at these conventions.

Soon I will be posting the latest illo's for the Proffesor Stone series ( hang in there Ron ) and lot's of other cool stuff that has been perculating on the back burners of my drawing board. Trust me ....you guy's are gonna love it. Peace out.

A LITTLE CONVENTION SKETCH

Some of you out there may be wondering how the comic convention in Portland went. Well, wait no more...I am going to tell you. My Son and I left the house at 6am in total darkness, (yes we were still without power!) and we couldn't help but wonder if we had forgotten anything after spending an hour packing up my comics and gear by candle light!

We arrived early, ( unlike my editor Ron Fortier....sorry Ron, couldn't resist ha-ha ) and got a great table. Dave at www.primatepromotions.com was a gracious host as always. The foot trafic was just a little slow and sales were a little marginal, however I did meet a bunch of good friends, Megan Miller was there, as was independant comic artist Mike Jordan, and several other customers who remembered me from previous con's. Of course my editor Ron from Wildcat books was there right beside me and we discussed plans for future illustrations in the Professor Stone series. I also was introduced to Howard Hopkins a Maine based Author.

One memorable moment came when a little girl about aged nine was looking through my portfolio.

"You do all these? " She asked,
"Why, yes I did. " said I.
" You're not too bad.." she said " Have you ever thought about being an artist someday?"
I answered cooly: " Yes.... I've thought about it a little "

PRICELESS.

CRAZY EDDIE

Here folks is the newest submission to Mike rodens most excellent underground anthology CRAZY MEN COMIX. I have learned recently that Mike has had a bout in the hospital, and I hope you all will wish him well and check out his high quality comic goodness at :TBHCOMIX@aol.com Just ask for info on CRAZY MEN, and tell him Mitchell sent ya!

This no-goodnick I name CRAZY EDDIE, and as usual I include a little rhyme to introduce him which goes like this:

CHECK OUT CRAZY EDDIE,
HE STAYS OUT WAY PAST BEDDIE,
AND DRESSES AS IF HE WERE TEN!

HE FIST-FIGHTS TILL DAWN,
WHEN THE BEERS ARE ALL GONE,
THEN EACH EVENING HE DOES IT AGAIN!

NEW LOGO FOR ZOMBIE BOY

Hey gang! check out the neato new logo I created for Ronnie Butler and his ongoing adventures as Zombie Boy! This new spify design will grace the covers of all future issues and is sure to spiff up the joint. Graphic artist extrodinaire, Anthony Schiavino , is going to scan this and enhance it and the rest of the banner to make a slicker look for the covers. Just thought you guys would get a kick out of the " raw' deal before it goes digital.

Hope to see you all soon at the comicons in Portland, ME and Nashua,NH I'll be the dude with the Zombie Boy tee shirt handing out free stickers. and hawking my doodles.....come on down and look me up!

HEY MUMMY...WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW?

Hello blogger hep cats!...Remember me? Mike the "hermit" Mitchell? Ha-ha, Okay... so's I been keeping it on the down-low just a widdle biddy-bit lately.....so sue me! I appreciate the concern from all you buddies of mine out there, but I assure you...all is fine and dandy in Retro-land!

My son-of Satan friend, Wayne Judge, wrote recently to insinuate I may even be going through the slip from reality madness that many artists seem to suffer inevitably....( he was teasing me of course....I think? ) unfortunately the real answer is pretty mundane, and far less dramatic.

I have just decided to take a little step back, sort of refine my blog a little...Posting everyday was getting to be more of a chore than a pleasure just now, so I'm trying to tone it down to once a week for awhile. As more and more potential customers log on to the blog to check out my junk, I want to make sure they are getting the best of my stuff, both art and writing wise.

Life is busy for us all sometimes, and you got to flex or you'll snap in two! Never fear ..Oh frenzied fans o' mine...I will be back to posting more frequently sooner or later. You jes wait'n see ifinn I don't !

Meanwhile why not take a good 'Ol gander at this wrist wringing, colossal cross-hatching, titanicly time consuming doodle I did for Wildcat books newest Professor Stone Novel. Whew! I wanna tell you friends...this puppy took a might longer to pump out than I first thunk it would.... I like it though...what do you guys thunk?...er I mean think?

Oh yeah...a little pesky friend O'mine keeps reminding me to tell you about the Boston show a couple a weeks ago...well, I did sell a bunch of comics...( just not ones I created) the show was more or less the victim of a most perfect day, a sunny end of summer Sunday. It seems the entire city wanted to be anywhere but at the show that day...( including me ) I did toss four long boxes of over-stock from my private stash of 1990's glut on a separate table my pal mal had inside the main auditorium. Miracle of miracles nearly two whole boxes sold to other dealers!

Damn! I knew I shoulda charged more than a quarter a piece for them rotten apples!

PLEASE COME TO BOSTON....

If your looking for a place to let your inner geek explode, why not follow me down to "beantown" on September 17th ? I'll be there with lot's of other terrific creators, and dozzens of New Englands finiest comic book proprietors.

I'm going to be peddling my own line of comics, t-shirts, and of course magic stickers.... Why not make plans to go right now? All the cool kid's will be there!

For more info click: www.primatepromotions.com

GREAT KIRBYS GHOST !!!!

I don't know why I do the things I do sometimes....Here I am with a mountain of illo, and comic work starring me right in the face, and what do I do? I go off on a lark and spend 8hrs doing a Kirby Homage....go figure.

It all started when I was working night shift last weekend, and came across a tattered old copy of CAPTAIN AMERICA # 196, ( April 1976 ) I love the old school Kirby stuff immensely, and couldn't resist grabbing a sheet of copy paper, and doing my best to pencil a page after the King of Comics.

This was supposed to be just an exercise to keep my pencil sharp during coffee breaks, but my heart fell into it, and I had to finish what I started. It's been so long since I've done a sequential page that I just couldn't put it down. I stayed up till dawn last night to get it out for you guys, and gals to take a gander at.

Warning!!! Do not try this at home ! Since I started at actual comicbook size, ( something you should never, ever do ) It was extremely tough to get those little details that make every Kirby comic work so well. Ever try drawing an action scene in a two inch square panel? It's a little nerve racking I assure you! Then I had in mind from the start to color it with standard Crayolas...why ?, you might ask.

Coloring with Crayons is fun and soothing, and makes you feel like a kid again Thats why...you nosey people you...ha, ha. Seriously this piece was not supposed to be an in depth study, just something done out of love for the form and the artist who made it great. When I saw the old comic in my locker I remembered when I first started drawing comics as a kid, and back then I colored all my comics with crayons, and so I just had to do it this way.

Well There you have it friends...a little visit from me,....me and Great Kirbys ghost.

DAVINCI DA - MONKEY

Oh what a grand life it would be to be nothing more than an artistic little ape, whiling away the hours and days in total artistic pursuit. I often envy those brave souls who sacrifice all for the advancement of artistic virtue! But even a monkey has to earn a few bananas now and then right?

My shift work schedule is affording me little opportunities for drawing this week, yet I am trying to make the most of each moment that allows me a few minutes to push the pencil. I hope you guys and gals enjoy this little pencil sketch, and I hope you enjoy the labor day weekend as well!
While your attending picnics, and parties remember to celebrate a little for me....I'll be caged up in the zoo I call my job, and trying to think of ways to escape. ha-ha !

MUMM-IES THE WORD

HEY ! Look out!..... dem mummies gwanna getchya! Here is the first of several chapter illustrations I'm doing for the Professor Stone paperback novel. Just thought you guys would like to take a gander.

If anybody out there is interested in a little something artwise I got lot's of photocopies I'll soon be just tossing in the recycle paper bin....if you would reather have them for your office, bedroom, or dartboard wall then...send a SASE, (self addressed stamped envelope ) to Mitchell Family Comics, and get a free Zombie sticker, and a little photocopied sketch from yours truly.

Here's the address kiddies:

MITCHELL FAMILY COMICS
78 North Road
Fayette, Me
04349

AND NOW... WITH GRAPHIC TEXT

Okay there is just no way I am going to top yesterdays post...you guys know that don't you? I mean c'mon that sucker took like 30 hours! I'm gonna need at least 24 more to crank out something even half-way as good. ha-ha

Fortunately Ron Fortier sent me a sneek peek at what my illo will look like when it's being passed out as promotional give-aways. Graphic artist Anthony Schiavino did a great job with the text. I thought that since I have been showing you the evolution of this piece from the very first raw pencils, ( see earlier posts ) that it would only be fair to show you the final end use version as well.

Have a great day everybody...I'm going to start working on the inside of the book now....

IT'S FINALLY FINISHED

Break out the cigars blogger beatnik's! The long awaited final version of Professor Stone is finally finished!! This piece was by far, the most time consuming single page I ever worked on! Counting the pencils, the color tests, the corrections, finished pencil, and the actual painting I figure I got at least 30 hours in this bad boy! And he is a bad boy too! Don't he look super cool getting ready to plunge his little dagger into that malicious, murdering, mummy?

It was a lot of fun, and a big challenge doing this, I'm not much of a painter by trade, ( more of a pen and ink guy ) so I had my share of doubts going in to this. The powers that be seem very satisfied however, so if their happy....I'm happy!

I did just think a horrid thought however......

What will I have to post tomorrow to top this?

QUIT CLOWNING AROUND!

All the World loves a clown right? No....not true, in fact some people are down right terrified of the foolish fellows who wear the wig's and floppy shoes. A recent discussion of this with a friend has inspired me to do a series of scary clowns, which I hope you will enjoy.

Summer ends in a few short weeks, and I have a mountain of projects to get cooking on, but every artist needs a little warm up now and then so don't be surprised if, in between the serious illustration to come, the occasional scary clown pop's up quite unexpectedly!

Some of you have written to express concern about my lack of output the last two months, however what many of you don't realize is that I typically seldom draw at all during the months of July and August. Let's just call it a seasonal hangup of mine and leave it at that. In fact.... I have done more drawing this Summer than any summer I can ever remember! So never fear friends....Summer is over! Mitch is back at the drawing board once again!

I would like to dedicate tonight's post to my Mom who always encouraged my artistic nature, Mom...I got you a belated clown for your birthday, ( sorry he is a scary looking fellow ) ha-ha

HOT FUN IN THE SUMMER TIME...

Hey blogger bud's! So sorry for the infrequent posts lately...I'm way too busy enjoying summer. One fun thing I did recently was go to the beach with my Sissy, and her two kiddos! The water was incredible that day and I caught several way cool waves. After my icy dip, I climbed back on shore and sat for a chat with my ittsy bittsy six year old nephew.

"Unka Mike...." he said, "Ummmm was you gunna dwaw sumpin today?"

"Sure buddy !", I said.."You know I always draw wherever I go." Then I pulled out my ever trusty kit.

My little nephew watched intently as I did the BATMAN cover sketch shown here. I know it's barely visible, but I feel it is always fun to see artists raw first impression type sketches once in awhile, so I thought I'd overcome my embarrassment and show it to you guys.


A day or so later My Sissy brings little nephew over for a whole afternoon of drawing lessons. We talked about what he wanted to do, and decided we would spend the day , (each of us) practicing examples from the book oft referred to as the Comicbook artists bible : HOW TO DRAW COMICS THE MARVEL WAY.

Little neph' really spent a good deal of time on his spidy drawing, (shown here w/ inset of actual example from book) and I think for six years old he shows truly amazing potential. Good job buddy.

I just want to take a minute to remind all you artist types from all walks of life, how important it is to share your love of art with children. Giving them this new way of looking at the world will be a gift that lasts a lifetime.

Summers been so busy, and fun...but it's soon back to business for us all. I want to dedicate tonight's post to my new friend Michelle, who loves Children...loves Batman, and who also is the biggest Joker I know! Have a safe end of summer trip Michelle, and don't forget to check the blog.

AND NOW FOR AN IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello. Are you between the ages of 8 and 80? If so please stay tuned you may qualify for special savings now available through MITCHELL FAMILY COMICS. Right now we are offering Mitchell Family mini comics at a special discount when purchasing one or more. These fine comics are sure to be a pleasant addition to any small press, or mini-comic collection, and right now they are so affordable you just won't be able to pass on the savings.

Our flagship comic ZOMBIE BOY #1 is regularly available as a mini-comic for $3.50, but if you order soon for our premiere package we'll allow you to choose one of our other mini's at no extra charge! Think about it, that's two amazing Mitchell mini's for the price of only one! But that's not all. Order today and we'll also throw in a dandy ZOMBIE BOY decal, (while supplies last) perfect for lunchboxes, refrigerators, or back to school notebooks. Wait there's more!

Order our FANBOY PACKAGE and receive all four Mitchell mini's, two stickers, and a customized sketch by Mike Mitchell...All for just $10.00! We are so sure you will like these comics we're willing to write you a note that says sorry sucker if your not 100% satisfied.

Still want more, okay how about this? For the low, low price of $19.95 you can now order our special SUPER GROOVY PACKAGE. For a limited time we will send you all our mini-comic's, We will swap the ZOMBIE BOY #1 mini for a FULLSIZE AUTOGRAPHED COPY, and include a nifty ZOMBIE BOY T-shirt in your choice of size and color, plus the stickers ALL for just $19.95!! What are you waiting for? You may never see another offer like this. Order right now while I'm still at the computer.

TO ORDER YOUR MITCHELL MINI COMICS PACKAGE TODAY CONTACT MIKE MITCHELL c/o mitchellcomics@verizon.net for security reasons we ask you to place your order through this Email address where a friendly operator will assist you with your purchase.
Have a great day, and thank you for choosing MITCHELL FAMILY COMICS .

KEEP WATCHING THIS SPACE

Hey there Blogger buddies, your favorite workhorse is hard at it again. In a bold unprecedented move I am showing you a work in progress. I need another day or so to finish this piece, but it's just so much fun, and since it is show and tell Sunday, I thought I would let you all have a sneak peek. When it's finished I'll re-edit this post and insert the final version.

I hope to do a whole series of these which I title MOVIES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. The idea occurred to me when I was looking for some source material for an illo Jim Main suggested of She-creature, and coincidently noticed a nearby photo of the Stooges. Having a passion for mixing horror with humor, I couldn't resist combining the two.

When I was a wee little lad some friends from school and I would hang out on rainy Saturdays and watch old B-movie horror flics on WSBK's CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE. This would occasionally lead to conversations about what would've made the movie better, different actors, different rivals, location, ect. Now I have come up with a short list of lobby cards for MOVIES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN, (and I think you'll get a kick out of them), but I would also like to hear from each of you out there in Blogger-land...what movies would you have liked to seen during the schlock film era? Please let me know, If I use the idea, I will send you the original art.

COFFEE BREAK NUMBER 17

Well I've put it off long enough...Here is page 17 of Monster Disco. I was really disappointed with this one. I wanted it to come out so good, as it is the first time we see Draculas Brides as back-up singers. But I was just having an off day I guess. I rushed everything, the pencils were not well planned, the lettering was choppy, the spot blacks were slap n'dash, and the result is a big mess.

This series is about learning however, and making the most of my free time. The pages are done "on the go" as it were and God knows that can sometimes be very challenging. I've tried not to beat myself up too badly over this page, since I have been encouraging my friend Megan not to be self-deprecating, but it sure is tough sometimes.

There are already two-or three pages of Monster Disco that will have to be totally re-drawn, and this one will now be added to that pile. Part of the problem has to do with envisioning this vast studio scene, and then trying to squash that down into a panel ruled out to actual print size, (another part of this series challenge) It was just a simply bad decision to lay things out that way. I should've opened with the largest panel for the studio, then the two blocks, then finished with the wide screen shot of the brides.

The point is, all this is valuable lessons that can later be applied to my more serious comicbook work. Also, we are pushing the story ahead still which is a good thing. Hopefully the next page will see me back on track artistically.

WASSSUP?

Yo Dude's and Dudette's, Check out the narly sidewalk surfer I just zapped off to my friend Mike Roden, (see earlier posts) he's AWESOME!!!. I try to throw in something new with every piece I work on. With this I was experimenting with line weight, cross-hatch textures, and marker-wash. I named this piece Stevie De'Gone, after a skateboarding friend of mine from the 70's. Steve wasn't a bad looking young fella, (unlike this ugly mug) but when practicing jumps, his hair would fly back, his eye's would pop out, and his tongue would spit out of his mouth. I composed this poem to accompany the drawing:

Stevie De'Gone, rode his board dusk till dawn,
I thought he would skate till his teeth were all gone!

Now he's not young and brash. He's retired with cash!
Yet he's still somewhat covered with nasty road rash.

The whole Wolverton/Roth look is coming a teensy bit easier to me now, but is still a really big departure from my own stuff, and a total 180 degree shift from the pulp illo's I've been doing for Ron Fortier, (see earlier posts) Oh and Ron, if your reading this...Don't worry, I'll be getting back to Professor Stone and the gang real soon. Ron was nice enough to invite my whole family and I to a pool party at his house last weekend, while relaxing by the pool, I got to know Ron better, and also to meet several independent creators.

But, I digress....I must apologize for leaving my blog un-attended for an entire week. I could make a bunch of really good excuses for my absence, but let's just chalk it up to the distractions of summer.. Shall we? The good news is I will be back at the drawing board for several day's and churning out my usual plethora of pulse-pounding pictorials for your perusal. Stay tuned blogger fan's...The super summer of illo's continues.

LOOK UP IN THE STARS...IT'S SUPER GROOVY MAN!

Hello Blogger boy's and Girl's... your 'ol pal Uncle Mitchy here to say it was a simply scrumptious day to be up at the lake relaxing with the family. The water was grand, but after about two hours I was feeling a little wrinkly, and decided to take a spot in the shade with my wife by my side, and my trusty art kit in my lap.

What spilled forth during the next 45 minutes was SUPER GROOVY MAN. Who I have decided will be the next star of my COFFEE BREAK COMIC SERIES as soon as I finish up with MONSTER DISCO sometime near summers end.

I think if I were filthy stinking rich I would spend every day relaxing at the beach, going for a nice long swim, followed by a cool stiff drink in the shade, and catching the final ray's of the day whilst pumping out silly comics from the comfort of my surfside lounger...aaaahhhh Now that's what I'm talking about!

ACTION, ADVENTURE, INTRIGUE,....PROFESSOR STONE

Hey Groovy ones, Your Ol' Busy beaver Mitch here. Today's offering is a piece for Ron Fortier's Pulp projects, this one a Character from a Novel by Wayne Judge. His name...PROFESSOR STONE. The character Judge has created is equal parts Doc Savage, and Indiana Jones, a real dashing, intrepid, smart guy who stops the villains at every exotic locale. Ohh-hoo, and villains there are a plenty. It looks like this series will keep me busy for as long as these two creators want to keep pitching this stuff to me, so keep your eyeballs peeled.

Note: Just before Stone decapitated the native witch doctor, the fiend had managed to make off with every last one of the pizza's I ordered you guy's for FREE PIZZA TUESDAY. Sorry I think he threw them in a volcano or something. There's always next week blogger fan's

TIME FOR A LITTLE COFFEE BREAK

It has been quite awhile since I've visited the coffee break series, but nevertheless, here is page 16. Now I cannot, (in all fairness to the regular visitors) rehash what this whole project is about. Suffice it to say an education on the subject can be easily had by gleaning earlier posts. I had a good bit of fun with this one especially the dialogue between Vlad and the Witch-like shopkeeper. Summer conditions and considerations, both at home, and at work, have slowed this project down considerably, but I am determined to see this personal pet project through till the end. I originally wanted to be done by July 4th, but that was back when I was going to make it a simple 16 pager. Had I kept to my original plan I wouldn't have been too far off, since I finished this page on the 10th of July, but the story as it developed was just to fun to confine to anything less than 24 pages. In fact, I may keep this going till the end of the year and make it a 58 page special...whadaya think fanboys? (and fangirls...which I'm proud to say we have many off) Hmmmmm?

DEATH HAS A COACHMAN

This recent piece is a favorite of mine, and Mike is going to use it in his up-comming Skele-toons
comix. I was really surprised how nice this came out. But don't bother to ask for the original...I already sent it to my new favorite E-pal Michelle, congradulations shelly...your a winner!

HOLY HANNAH IT'S HOT ROD RODDY!

This is a guy I made for Mike's comix, but I'm not sure where he's going yet? With that set of wheel's he can go just about anywhere you want, as long as you don't mind him pickin his nose a little on the way.

HERBERT FINE

You may remember an earlier post entitled Herbert Fine, But just look at the incredible background Mike Roden inserted it in!!!! Not only that but he Jazzed it up with color and made it an entirely new piece of work. Mike and I have done more than a few pieces together, me doing the characters, and Mike doing the background. It still astonishes me the wild details he comes up with that really help put it over the top. Let's look at some more.

OCEANFRONT VIEW

Hey retro-freaks, and geeks! Your old pal Mitch here with an update to the blog. Yesterday my wife and kid's convinced me to take a much needed break from the drawing board, and we all went to the Ocean for a lovely day of swimming and building sandcastles. But you know me....with my trusty traveling art kit in tow I couldn't resist sitting in my lawn chair surfside and banging out this homage to my good friend and 1970's Hulk artist HERB TRIMPE. Herb was, (in my mind) the consummate Hulk artist, and one of the first illuminati to visit my blog. Now before I get ten-thousand e-mails from fanboys saying this cover is all wrong, I want to say I know that already, and I was just unwinding at the beach and having fun okay? Sheeesh, the nerve of some people! I did the pencil sketch in about 15 minutes, the ink in about 20, and my wife was kind enough to offer to drive home so I could give it the Ol' crayola treatment.

The summer fun continues this weekend with an over-nite fishing trip with my boy's, and back to the beach for some rays again tomorrow. Have you been enjoying these Black and White spot illo's I'm doing for RON FORTIER'S pulp series? I know I sure have. Stay tuned lady's and Gent's the Moonman is coming....He's the main character for this story and the next illo in the series is the big finish, Also be ever watchful.. Sunday-nights show and tell will feature all the silly characters I've been whipping up for MIKE RODEN'S underground hippie comix. And first thing Monday morning the latest Coffee Break post, I promise.

Gotta go see if the big one's are biting!

GOTTCHYA!

A LITTLE SUMMER MONSTER TOON FOR A FRIEND

Hey it's a nice hot summer day! Why not head to the beach and take a dip, catch a killer wave, or say hello to an uninvited sea monster?

IN THROUGH THE WINDOW COMES RONDO

Here is another classic horror illo for a totally different magazine. This portrait of B-movie actor RONDO HATTON was commissioned by Tim Goebel, publisher of MONSTER-A-GO-GO, a truly fun and entertaining read for any monster movie fan. Tim had me do a portrait of TOR JOHNSON recently, which some of you may remember from an earlier post. Mr. Goebel was so pleased with my TOR he just had to have a RONDO as well. I wanted to do something different for this and chose pointilisim. For those of you who don't know pointilisim, or stipple, as it's also referred to, is the process that employs a light pencil outline covered over by layers of millions, (literally ) of tiny dot's placed one at a time by tapping the paper with varying grades of tech pen's. at least that's how I do it. The result gave the piece a real grainy 1940's feel. If your not familiar with RONDO you should know he had a progressive disease similar to giganticism that distorted his facial features, and led to him being cast as goulish villans. This was a real blast to tackle.

LOOK OUT! IT'S THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN

Here is one of the magazine illustrations I've been promising to post for awhile. It was done for small press publisher, Jim Main's excellent fan mag MAKE MINE MONSTERS. The medium is ink wash, and it's one of the few times I've used this style exclusively in a portrait. Of course their is always room for improvement, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. I gave Steve Bisset a sneak peek via E-mail last week and he said " Looks great, but none of us will ever top the Basil Gorgos painting of Ol' Crater face." Believe me I was extremely conscious of this fact when Jim suggested the idea. I went through great pains to distance myself from the master's classic work for the cover of FAMOUS MONSTERS #53. For starters I did a left facing three-quarter downward view, instead of the right facing one-quarter forward view Gorgos chose. I was fortunate that the assignment called for Black and white, which further distanced me from Gorgos' brilliant use of color. I at first considered doing a view from the abdomen up, (my thought being that would prevent even further comparisons) but ultimately chose a head shot, to better capture all the gory detail. Gorgos is the consummate classic monster artist, so I suppose just being asked to tackle the same subject matter is a reflection of others faith in my ability. I hope I hit the mark...what do you think?

CITIZENS OF APE CITY, YOU HAVE BEEN DECEIVED

Good people of ape city, It has fallen to me, Dr. Zaius , to explain to you the treacherous web of deception perpetrated by the human known as: "Mitchell". Some time ago, it was reported among you that this human had been ransomed away by the evil General Aldo, and taken to the forbidden zone. I assure you now that such reports have been greatly exaggerated. While it is true that this human has journeyed to the land forbidden to us by the great lawgiver, I have recently uncovered artifacts that prove not only, that he was not kidnapped, but moreover that he went there willingly to seek refuge from his masters.

Upon further examination of his cage I found rudimentary writting and drawing utensils, on loan to him from Dr. Zira, to be missing. Furthermore, it has been known to his fellow humans that for sometime now he has been busy fufilling requests for drawings and illustrations of all manner since the creation of this blog. These facts, coupled with the evidence that he is slipping in his release date of zombie boy, lead me to the conclusion that he has concocted this entire story of being held prisoner merely as a ruse to concentrate more fully on his artistic commitments.

In an attempt to remedy this situation I instructed the signal corps to send a mirrored message to Mitch on yesterday morning. The message implored him to return to Ape City at once, or failing that to send more ape related artwork until his mission is completed. I urge you all to return now to your tree houses and prepare for Tuesday's free day of pizza.

FEAR NOT HUMAN FRIENDS!

"Do not be afraid humans, Cornelius and I have spoken to Dr. Zaius and even now negotiations for the release of the one among you known as Mitch, are underway."

"Thank you Zira, In fact I want all of you to know that all indications are that Mitch is utilizing his current isolation from this blog to create more art for all of us to enjoy."

"Yes but, Cornelius dear, In the meantime all we are getting to look at are these ancient drawings from Mitch's , "ape period" he went through in the late 90's."

"Now Zira really, we cannot expect much from one held captive by such a fearsome gorilla as Aldo."

"Oh...I suppose you are correct, but I still hope Dr. Zaius finds an answer to this terrible situation quickly. I know these poor human pet's of ours are all scratching their heads."

A MESSAGE FROM GENERAL ALDO

Hah! you fool's thought you could keep me locked away in the forbidden zone forever? Well I have escaped, (and just in time to ruin Free pizza Tuesday) I inform all of you to be on gaurd. I am hunting human's to use as my slave's.

Already I have captured the misserable wretch known as "Mitch". He is cowering in a cave scribbling silly drawings. Bah, soon he will be racing through the target practice fields ha-ha.

I cannot be stopped this time. I have found a device from our future, (I don't know how it work's yet ) I am sure it will give me great power. Be on gaurd all of you.

General Aldo has spoken!

WILL THE REAL TOR JOHNSON...PLEASE STAND UP?

Well I've been at it again all night. Here is the final of three versions of Tor Johnson, the B-movie horror actor most noteble for his role in: "Plan-9 From outerspace ". I was invited recently to contribute a piece to the small-press zine "Monster-a-go-go" by publisher Tim Goebel. He suggested I do a pic of Tor, as he was their magazines un-official mascot.
This is the first time I have ever been invited to do a magazine so I wanted to create an image that was lasting, iconographic, and well suited as a logo. My approach was to first do a pencil sketch, going easy on the cross-hatching, really just trying to create a map of his face. Next I made several copies of the pencil sketch. I did a color version using your basic department store brand of crayola crayons, with a magic marker back splash, and finally tonight the black and white inked piece, which employed brush work, black ink, white opaque, tech-pens (fibermicrons) and muted wash. Tim said the work was quote "Awsome...more than I could have dreamed of." It was a real fun and gratyfing piece.

HERE IS TOR JOHNSON WITH THE LATEST NEWS

If anybody is curious what I am doing today, (other than recovering from last nights show ) I am busy spending time with my wife and kid's, getting ready for an up-coming comicbook show in NH, and working up some more horror art. I'll be at the drawing board, and checking e-mails, listening to disco...all night long. If anybody has a notion drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you. Finally, ....the next Tor Johnson head you see will be pen and ink.

RENY GET'S IT RIGHT!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all you hard working dad's out there. Sorry I'm late getting to tonight's post. Believe it or not I had to work today...the good news is that I peeled off this coffee break page in less than an hour! I'm getting faster guy's.

There may be some of you who have not had a chance to read all the MONSTER DISCO post's yet, ( I suggest you do if you seem lost in this thread topic ) suffice it to say for now that these pages are not about creating perfect art, they are about creating PERIOD.

Increaseing one's speed is just one of the many benefit's of this exercise. Sure I would like to slow down and take my time with each page, but that's not what this is about.

Among the challenges to this piece was the unbearable heat and humidity at work today...Wow! It was like drawing on wet toilet paper, and I'm only exagerating slightly.

I look forward to everybody's comments KEEP POSTING!

PAGE FOURTEEN " I WRITE THE SONG'S "

In today's Monster Disco page, ( that's page fourteen, for all you score keepers out there ) we get to see vlad's reaction to Renny's all night song writting marathon.

I was originaly thinking of doing this as a four panel lay-out, but then as I began to work out several dialouge ideas, I began to see the advantage to breaking up the middle with a three panel change of emotion scene, with connected balloons. This is a great effect for taking the reader into the moment, and when it's done correctly the reader can easily imagine it as if it were an animated sequence. NOTE: relying on quick, familiar dialouge also seem's to help this trick.

My heart lies with the 1970's comic, I am trying on purpose to employ several of the devices used by main-stream comics of that era. I had less time than usual today. I would like to have punched-up, and defined my spot blacks. Oh well.

THE RETURN OF MONSTER DISCO!

Surprise! You thought that Monster Disco was going to remain a 12pg rough-cut mini, didn't you? BBgggnnammph, WRONG!
Here is proof that Frank, Blaze, Vlad, and poor ol' Renny will be making their comic debut in a full size 24 pager.

I did stop production during my vacation at 12 pages so I could get some other work done, but now I am back to the coffee break idea and luving every minute of it baby!

As always time was a constant hound at my heels, ( less than one hour for this one folks! ) however that is the true point of this exersice. I am trying to teach myself that any down time available can be used creatively. The results are sometimes mixed, but the therepudic value is incalcuable.

I used think I needed to be a proffesional comicbook artist to feel this happy about my work, now I know I just needed to be able to find a little time each day to make comics...and that's just what I'm going to do.

A NAUGHTY LITTLE POST

Hey gang! It's me again...Good news! I have been invited to contribute to Tim Goebel's Monster Magazine called: "MONSTER-A-GO-GO".

The theme of the issue is Bride of the Monster, however Tim tell's me they already have more than enough Frankenstein illo's, so I'll probably be doing a few pin-up's on other horror related topics.

Nevertheless, I could not resist the temptation to skratch out this little number once the idea came to mind. I know it's a little disgusting, but at the time it seemed funny.

I'm sure somebody will find a use for it someday, and the balloons can always be re-done to say something a little more acceptable.

What can I say, sometimes I can be a bit ribald in my humor. Hope this don't offend anyone.

NOT BACK TO WORK SO SOON MASTER!

Yes it's hard to believe but my vacation is over after tomorrow. I must say I had a really great time drawing, and blogging with all you good people out there. I plan on working on zombie boy all day tomorrow, as long as I don't get side-tracked with another horror piece.

It's all Matt Dembicki's fault. He turned me on to a great monster site http://www.gdarkness.com/monstermags/
which led me to: http://www.filmlandclassics.com Which led me to pulling out all my old horror mag's and pouring...no, DROOLING, over all the gorgeous black and white photography. A few years back I would not have been secure enough in my inking skills to tackle some of this material, but now I figure...what the hell.

Here is a portrait I did this afternoon of actor Dwight Frye who portrayed Renfield in the 1931 classic "DRACULA"

FAIR WEATHER...GLOOMY OUTLOOK

Howdy folk's! Perhaps if I start of with a cheery greeting like "howdy" it won't betray the gloomy spirit I'm in. Why so gloomy? I was afraid you would ask. It's not real bad it's just that after day's of rain we finally got some nice weather, which means....you guessed it YARDWORK!
And brother do I got a ton of it to do. I should've worked on Zombie boy more while I was off instead of having a blast on blogger, and I whittled away what little drawing time I had this morning on doing this silly horror piece, which was fun, but has no venue. ArrrGHH=gghhUmp!

Oh yeah and one other thing this is the third time now FREE pizza day has been ruined. I asked that they deliver the pizza to this blog at 4pm right? What did they do? They brought it all to my house at 4am! Of course untill we got up at six the skunks, and strays in the neighborhood had ruined it all. Sorry folks. Hey you guy's over at Cyber pizzaria really SUCK!

Anyway I got to get out there and mow the back forty, you can almost lose a kid in the grass it's so high, I say almost because the little smarty's keep finding their way back somehow.
Sorry for my grumpy mood. No comics from me today kiddies, maybe tomorrow I'll surprise ya.
Later gators! NOW GO MAKE ME SOME COMICS!!!

DID YOU MISS THE TOUR?

If you haven't been here in a few day's you missed a real wild time. I took everybody on a virtual tour of the Retro-Wonderland studios, and all the amazing exhibits held tightly within it's wall's. It is all just a memory now, but fear not, I hereby decree that every Sunday night will be a secret show and tell night. On this sacred night of the week all the goodies will be paraded for everyone to feast their eye's upon. My usual witty commentary will accompany of course, so fun is sure to be had by all. Now a question. How many of you kept a copy of your ticket? Well if you read the instructions carefully you would've read they were re-deemable for a FREE gift.
All of you who did keep a copy, affix them to an e-mail as an attatchment, along with your mailing address, and I will send you a Monster Disco comic FREE of charge. While we're on the subject of freebies I should remind everyone that tomorrow night is FREE pizza Tuesday, so bring your appetite. Sorry no new art today, I was tuckered after this weekends doings

AND NOW.....ISSUE #2, PAGE ONE

Hey gang, look...it's page one of ZOMBIE BOY #2!!!
Just to show you that I do create some rather detailed and serious comicbook art now and again, I figured I would take a break from my Monster Disco comic today and get some much needed inking done on issue #2 of Zombie Boy.

This is the opening splash page which picks up less than an hour from where issue #1 leaves off. Our heroine, Jasmine is in her bedroom with her Mom and Judge Warner, ( who brought her home ) trying desperately to explain to them that she saw her boyfriend Ronnie alive, (sort of...) at the graveyard.

Trouble is our boy Ronnie's been dead almost a year gone by now. The Judge, (who knows she's telling the truth ) on the page following suggests to Jasmine's mom that the poor girl might be cracking up.

To complicate matter's, unbeknownst to Jasmine, creepy judge Warner is really her Father, ( the result of a high school fling ) and use's his considerable influence
with Jasmine's Mom to suggest the little dear take some much needed away time...in a state Mental Hospital. Look's like a job for Zombie Boy!

If you bought issue#1, then you know that this series is Gothic Horror/ Romance set to a page turning retro-art style like you've never seen before. If you have'nt seen this series yet you've come to the right place. Issue #1 still available. If you order through this site you can get a standard comic sized copy, bagged and boarded, personaly autographed, and including a FREE
Zombie Boy decal for your home or locker for only $3.50 (postage included in price)

RENNY WRITE'S A SONG, ...and eats bug's

Here it is folk's Page 12. If you remember from yesterday, our poor put upon Renfield has been threatened into producing a Disco hit for his Malicious Master...Vlad. This guy Vlad...AKA
Count Dracula, satisfied Renny has finally got down to business,
decides to leave him alone, and step out for a ...shall we say,
liquid lunch? In a rare act of kindness he offers to bring back a snack for the hard working Renfield. The little fellow however decides not to take advantage of his masters gracious offer and settles instead for a delicious snack from his bug jar.

What on Earth is this? You may be asking yourself, if you've never visited before. Simply scroll down comics fan's and you will see it is all about a fun little daily exercise called Coffee Break Comics.

Please excuse my brevity in tonight's posting, however Blogger has been down most of the day. Add to that the fact we are having a wicked lightning storm outside. Given the situation I have decided like our fiend Renfield not to push my luck.
(I still refuse to eat bug's though....okay maybe just one...CRUNCH!

COFFEE BREAK CONTINUES DESPITE PIZZA CRISIS

Here is todays coffee break post. We've arrived at page 11 folks, by tomorrow we'll be half-way to a 24 page standard comic. For the dozzens of first time visitors who don't know what this is I will say please scroll down about 20 posts or so and work your way up. For now just know it's alot of fun.

I must say this exercise is funner at work. When I'm at home
there is a terrible temptation to run to the studio and get better tools, better lighting, or to spend a couple of good hours cleaning it up. At work I know none of that is available to me so I just make due.

I really wanted to flesh this out some more, but when my hour and ten minutes was up I came down to the scanner like a good little boy and slapped this sucker out there for everyone to laugh at.

The good news is it is really keeping me loose and warmed up for ZOMBIE BOY (which I hope you newbies scroll down to see)
and it gives me a break from that kind of detail oriented work.

This page has some sarcastic dialouge to it which is always fun.
Stay tuned the next couple of days while I put all the other posts
up in the attic and re-design the main page. It may not be untill
the weekend, but it does have to be done. Things is gettin all
cluttery like up in here.

NOTE: Due to a mix-up with the delivery people all the truckloads of pizza
for FREE PIZZA Tuesday were delivered to an orphanage in Hackensac, NJ.
Sorry.....We'll try again next week.

THE WORLD ENDS AT MID-NITE SO ENJOY THIS POST

Here is page 10 in our coffee-break series, a dark and moody piece to fit the rain. In case your wondering, yes I am on vacation, and yes I'm still doing coffee-break comics anyway. "Hey this here is sur-posed to be ahn at wirk pro-ject taint it feller?"

Why yes it is festus...however I thought long and hard about this and decided I could still ethically do it at home provided I keep myself limited to the same amount of time available on the job, and that I use the same materials available at work.

Besides It's my game and I make up the rules. Seriously, lot's of folks work at home today...you wouldn't want to exclude them from our coffee-break challenge would you? Of course not.

And you know I didn't cheat. Does this page look like I spent much more than an hour on it, hmmmmm? In fact I think this page isn't even as good as some of the pages I did at work.

So needless to say there will be much more of this schlock comming your way. I actually couldn't stop now even if I wanted to. There are several of you,(you know who you are) who have decided to spread the coffee-break comix gospel. Most recently Ron Fortier, himself a comicbook writer and frequent visitor here, had a nice mention on his web site: http://airship27.com/ Thanks Ron! Matt Dembicki also made mention on his shared blog D.C. conspiricy, and Small Press Syndicate Chairman, Jack Bertram helped in bringing visitors from several comic related chat groups.

Thanks to everyone who visited last month and made the debut of this blog such a rousing success! June is going to be even better with new features, upgrade tool's, and several secret projects....err...that is if the world hasn't ended by then.