(MY) CAVALCADE OF CARTOONS WEEKEND!!

Starting this Friday, June 28th at 8:30pm on The Disney Channel, you can see the brand new MICKEY MOUSE shorts I've been working on the past year--AND the very next morning you can turn on CN to watch another PLASTIC MAN short I did for DC Nation.

...then ANOTHER, all new MICKEY MOUSE short Saturday night, then another Sunday evening.

Sick of me yet?

Here's one of many great articles mentioning the MICKEY shorts:
http://comicsalliance.com/mickey-mouse-animated-shorts-preview-paul-rudish-disney-review/

"THE BAT AND THE EEL"

Tomorrow's new DC NATION short brings one of the remaining 3 Plastic Man shorts that haven't yet aired. This one features Plas and Bats very first adversarial encounter-- when Plas was Eel O'Brien, criminal safecracker!

Here's some preliminary art for the eps.

(Bat bunz)

 Color test

NO TITLE NECESSARY...

MORE PLASTIC MAN CARTOONS!!!

"Sorry, Archie--you and your Community Service Center didn't make make the new shorts." 

Buuuuut...even though Archie is a casualty from my original pilot from 2006, the pliable paladin survived and is indeed back--to be part of DC Nation's debut tomorrow, 10am on Cartoon Network!

Tom Kenny and I (and many other super talented people) did 6 brand new shorts, each a brisk 1:15 long. The first got a sneak peek via The Nerdist Podcast Channel here...

I will say one of the other (but not only) casualties from the pilot was my friend and artist extraordinaire, Stephen DeStefano. I would've loved to work with him again, but the timing and budget of these tiny 'toons necessitated a much more paired down, gorilla-style production (i.e. me cranking out all six over a weekend), but I hope I get to make more--and that I can invite all my friends to play. So please watch tomorrow (somewhere between Green Lantern and Young Justice I think)--if you like it, TELL PEOPLE YOU DID. Blog it. Tweet it. Tell Warner Bros Animation. More importantly, tell Rob Sorcher at Cartoon Network you want to see Plastic Man on their comedy lineup. If you do, there will be more! Or lawsuits. Either way.

"LET'S HANGOUT THIS WEEKEND!"

As I posted previously, the first ever IMAGE COMIC EXPO is happening THIS weekend up in Oakland, California! If you are coming up, come say "hi"--I will be in the Artist's Alley area, table 204. I'm looking forward to meeting new people and having my ego either stroked...or crushed. Please help it be the former! 

As a special treat, I created exclusive prints JUST FOR THIS CONVENTION!!!

Joe Casey and I will also be doing a special signing Sunday, 1-2pm at the Image proper island. Special giveaways abound like these exclusive prints below:

So please come on by, say "hi", get a sketch, original pages, prints, teeshirts and books...or rifle through all the neat stuff on my table, asking me where Robert Kirkman is.

Image Comic Expo
February 24-26, 2012
Oakland Convention Center
550 10th Street
Oakland, CA 94607

"SNEAK PEAK!!!"

Amazing digital paint by 'Stretchin' Steve Nicodemus!

"THE EEL AND THE BAT"

You all will either love or hate what I've done to ol' Bats.

"STRETCHED A LITTLE THIN..."

Sure, it's a bad pun, but true nonetheless.

"PLAS JOINS ARCHIE'S BOWLING LEAGUE!"

I love the fact that I keep coming up with episode ideas even though the show didn't get picked up...5 years ago.

"THANKS JOHN K!"

This is probably up there, in terms of one-of-the-cooler-things-to-happen-to-me-professionally...

John K actually liked my Plastic Man pilot!

Better late than never. It's amazing how many more people have viewed this since John K posted it:

JUST BECAUSE...

...WB Home Video sent me a couple Plastic Man DVD collections. Thanks!

And thank you all for all the kind words.

A

WATCH BATMAN: BRAVE & THE BOLD TONIGHT!!!

I storyboarded the opening sequence. Apparently it's an all-Plas episode...needless to say I have mixed feelings about it, considering my history with this character. The biggest feeling probably being that of jealousy! Not only were they allowed to use Woozy Winks, but it looks like Baby Plas appears as well! Back when Tom and I did our pilot, Ruby Spears insisted they owned the rights to Baby Plas, and not WB, who produced it.

MY PLASTIC MAN PILOT HAS FINALLY BEEN RELEASED!!!

Yesterday, October 20th, Warner Bros. and classiccartoondvd finally released the entire Ruby Spears animated Plastic Man show! Within the 4 discs, 35 episodes (gems like"Plastic Mummy Meets Disco Mummy" and "Gostfinger", which sounds sort of gross), they've included Special Feature Extras...including our never-before-seen, unaired PLASTIC MAN PILOT! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me, knowing that those 4-5 people who will actually pick up the dvd set will finally get to see Tom Kenny and myself's dream project.

Be forewarned, the packaging is mislabeled--and our pilot is actually on disc 2. There's also a special featurette on disc 1 about the history of Plas and Jack Cole. The folks who put it together at The Cannery were generous with the amount of time they let me speak--even though I looked like a sweatier, twitchier version of a crack addict. They used a TON of our production art (looks GREAT, "Uncle" Phil Rynda, Stephen DeStefano)--floating and morphing behind me, Tom, Jerry Beck, Mark Evanier, Dan Riba and Batman: Brave and the Bold's James Tucker (sorry, James! hahaha). Check it out, let me know what you think!

...and y'know what this means? You can finally post, publish and saturate the web with the pilot! Get on it kids! heheehe

No, seriously. Do it.

"VOTE FOR AN ARCHIE BRONSON SPINOFF!!!"

Digging through some of my old files from mine and Tom Kenny's PLASTIC MAN PILOT @ WB a few years back, I came across designs for Plas' parole officer, ARCHIE BRONSON. Little known fact: Dynamite Jones was originally created to be Plas' mentor and boss, but after initial notes from DC Comics, we decidedly went another direction and came up with this diminutive supporting character, unabashedly inspired by ROBERT FORSTER's "Max Cherry, Bail Bondsman" from Jackie Brown. GEORGE LIQUOR comparisons aside, Archie also has as much to owe to Yogi's BOO BOO Bear, than John K. Although he does owe a lot. Especially his rage.

+ +

=


See?
And...We even modeled Archie's office after his...
(I'll try and dig up other views. Beautiful work by SEONNA HONG and layouts from BILL FLORES)

Apparently Tom ran into Robert Forster at a Christmas party--and talked about of all things, Plastic Man, his favorite superhero! He was flattered to be the point of reference and supposedly loved the dvd of our short Tom gave him.

Looking back at these drawings now, they are in no way "great" design theories. At least not as much as I thought they were. But they made sense to me at the time.

I'd actually love to do a show or comic team-up w/Dynamite and grizzled ex-cop with a sensitive side Archie.

BUY A BOOK! (It's my birthday)

Hey folks! Wanted to thank everyone that has bought THE ART OF ANDY sketchbook from either me or my buddies at HOUSE OF SECRETS or wherever else you might have seen it (Stuart NG is carrying some, as well as Golden Apple and Meltdown Comics). And also a big thank you to those that have purchased the Charlatan Ball Vintage Tee. Because of you, we're SOLD OUT! of the teeshirt and currently working on producing the other design(s). For those that don't know, or haven't picked up your copy A of A, I have just over a hundred left, so I wanted to share with you some of the perks...


PICK IT UP!
First off, yes, I know it's a surprisingly unusual size and format: 6x11. We wanted something different, that would separate it from the other sketchbooks coming out. Secondly, it's a sturdy HARDCOVER, jam packed with 120 full color pages.


GET A PERSONALIZED SKETCH!
If you order from my site, I always do an original sketch on the inside cover. I also personalize each one; so if you are getting the book for someone else, let me know!


READ A MESSAGE FROM SPONGEBOB!
Once you flip the page or two, my good buddy Tom Kenny (aka Spongebob Squarepants) was nice enough to write a very kind , witty, intro. CHECK OUT PLASTIC MAN STORYBOARDS!
(...and other failed pilots! hahaha) The book is then broken down into sections, denoted by the color tabs at the lower corners of the pages. There's work from ANIMATION and DESIGN, Comic Books and Concepts, followed by a brief section of my Paintings and Fine Arts.

LOOK AT A SMORGASBORD OF DESIGNS AND SHAPES!

SHUDDER AT SAMURAI JACK ZOMBIES!

BE BLOWN AWAY BY BLOWN-UP BATTLEDROIDS!

MARVEL AT HOW I ALMOST COLOR INSIDE THE LINES!


Okay, okay, enough with the sales pitch. But seriously, if you haven't already, click on that little button on the left and buy a book. It's my birthday! (For real)

And if you already have, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a comment if you'd like and let me know what you thought.