MY JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR INTERVIEW!!!

Out in stores now: JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #52...

This is quite possibly, the coolest thing that's ever happened to me! What an honor, what a thrill! And I'm equally proud to share the pages with JERSEY GODS co-creator and artist, DAN McDAID.

"B-BACK TO THE PAST..."--MORE SAMURAI JACK!

Still from the same SAMURAI JACK EPISODE as before with the robots. Eps. 18 I think.
And you can still see more and more finished ones in THE ART OF ANDY.

"BETA RAY BILL WILL BREAK YOU!"

I was so excited to see one of my favorite, more obscure Marvel Characters in his own comic one-shot last week: BETA RAY BILL. For those unfamiliar, he's a horsed-faced alien version of THOR. I was so inspired I did some sketches. I know these are totally ridiculous (look at that ill-jointed right arm), but thought them fun enough to post.
I would love to work on a series with him. Anyone?
Here's a drawing of him getting, er, "blasted" by BLASTAAR, another one of my favorite characters--I've been so happy to see these types of folks pop up in the new GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY series.

CSI: Part II

As promised, the colored version of the piece from 2 posts ago. Man, what a great eps. Way to go, Wally (and Liz)!

"GREAT NEPTUNE'S TRIDENT! CAVE MERA!?"

BATMAN: BRAVE & THE BOLD #4 comes out tomorrow, so I thought it safe to post some pencils from the issue. Make sure to check it out: super-surprise guest stars in the cold opener! You'll NEVER guess. Swear.
Also supposedly coming out tomorrow is the new JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #52--in which myself and Joe Casey are interviewed!!!

"THE BEAUTY OF..."

...childbirth.

My apologies in advance for the "graphic" nature of this new post. I came upon these drawings looking through a sketchbook I kept while performing at ACME Comedy Theater.

If you think these are in bad taste, you should have seen my more offensive Gingerbread Routine on stage.

"CALLING ALL BATTLESTAR GALACTICA AND STAR TREK FANS..."

WATCH CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION TONIGHT!!

CSI Goes Star Trek

Hey all you Trekkies and Trekkers - CSI will soon join the ranks of series that have done a take on Star Trek. The following was just released by SciFiWire.

CBS, part of the corporation that owns the rights to Star Trek, will go where lots of people have gone before with a sci-fi-themed episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on April 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and you can watch a clip here.

In the episode, Hodges (Wallace Langham) and Wendy (Liz Vassey) run into each other at a science fiction convention for one of their favorite classic television shows that is not Star Trek and end up investigating the murder of one of their beloved actors.

The clip shows a fantasy sequence in which Hodges imagines himself the captain of a starship that's not the Enterprise—though it has the Enterprise's sound effects and background score—who expresses his feelings for Yeoman Wendy, who is not Yeoman Rand, though she shares a similar if not identical hairstyle highlighted by a comparably preposterous hairpiece.

Did we mention Battlestar Galactica's Kate Vernon is a guest star?

Source: SciFiWire

A couple of weeks ago, my wife Carlyn and I visited our friend, "T.V.'s" Wally Langham on the set of CSI, shot at Universal Studios (on the old Phantom of the Opera sound stage, no less!) Here's us checking out our fingerprint analysis. I'm not even going to TELL you the results the body fluids/blue light wand came up with...

In any event, Wally thought it would be fun for us to check out the shooting of this particular episode (as detailed above). Needless to say, it was INCREDIBLE. The sets, wardrobes and even camera work was straight out of the classic 60's STAR TREK series! Here are some shots I was able to snap:I was so inspired, I drew this little number as a thank you for an amazing experience.

Check back to see this piece colored!

"Gotta get back, back to the past..."

I've recently been digging though boxes in my attic, inventorying and cataloging old drawings and designs I've kept from back in the (animation) days. If you'll recall the SAMURAI JACK episode where Jack saves a village of Obsolete Robots and Cat People from Baskets-Turned Assassin Androids; episode 18, I think...
Throughout the episode, there were several of these killer robots, each with their own, unique weapons and style of killing.
Yes, I know, big Hellboy, Mignola inspired fist.

Sometimes for Sam. Jack, because of the line-less visual style, I needed to trade a pencil for markers, to get a correct gauge of silhouette and form. And what one of the final models ultimately looked like:Hey, if you liked this post, there are tons more in MY SKETCHBOOK. Check it out!

"NO MORE HEROES"--The Stranglers

I know I'm now 2 days behind in posts, but only just delivered my last deadline moments ago.

That being said--and I know this isn't a typical post for me--while elbows deep in graphite lead and erasure shavings, I overheard on the news of the passing of not one, but TWO of my childhood heroes...albeit on opposite spectrums and for different reasons--and most definitely developmental stages: Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, former all star pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and Marilyn "Behind the Green Door" Chambers both died yesterday.

While I never had the opportunity and pleasure of making the acquaintance of Miss Chambers, as those that know me might assume due to my past encounters; though that's not to say I didn't spend a lot of...er, time with her-- I did, however meet "The Bird" several times during my youth. I can't recall what did it for me, in terms of idolyizing a baseball pitcher, having traditionally been a horrible player myself, almost always delegated to (far) right field. I will say I have more than one autographed ball from him and had an uncle that worked as an usher in the old Tiger's Stadium that was able to make the introduction. My Uncle inconsequently was missing a thumb do to some sort of saw and/or assembly line accident.

More tomorrow!

THANKS FOR ORDERING MORE BOOKS!

I was super excited to find a couple more orders of my book and tees after the last post! Not only for the sales, but the opportunity to step away from my current freelance and deadline to draw some craziness just for the fun of it. Here's one I was sad to part with but happy to give a good home...
Check back next week; I'll have more time and will be posting daily (or attempting to in any event).

SKETCHBOOK & TEES ORDERS: BONUS SKETCH!

For those of you that have received an Art of Andy Sketchbook or T-Shirt from me know, I always include a personalized, one of a kind drawing. It's my little way of saying: "thanks for dropping twenty bucks on me!" My favorite thing to draw has been Demon Empty. Here's a couple of sketches that I liked and scanned (my apologies if one of these are yours and consequently might have bent the spine scanning), that went out recently:
Sometimes I color them, sometimes not:
...I felt like this one just worked better as a B&W. I also feel like I'm just starting to turn a corner with my inking and the black/shadows worked in this drawing.


I like this guy--sort of reminded me of Elmer Fudd mixed with Mark Twain. I don't think I've sent this book off to anyone yet!

INAPPROPRIATE

I'm a big Jay Ward fan. I love Dudley Do-Right. I was super excited when I happened along a strange, new comic book shop around the corner from my dentist's that had a treasure chest of gems (to those of specific tastes), for 30% off! Among the titles I purchased were "Lancelot Link" (for a friend), DC's "Prez" and this Dudley Do-Right comic from Charlton Comics. What a SCORE, right?


After carefully undoing the tape from the bag and backing, I took in a deep breath, savoring the old, moldy, parchment smell. Keeping the brittle paper away from anything flammable, even overhead light--lest it burst into flames, I took delight in the antics of Mr. Snidley Whiplash, Nell and friends. Now, I wasn't yet around for the 'swinging' year of 1970--but after a two-page mini story about a, ahem, Beaver, my jaw dropped at the ad immediately following:

I love old comic book ads, I really do. I wish I was one of those kids that sent away for a build-it-yourself submarine (any Get a Life fans out there?), but this one struck me as a littler out of place in a kids funny book. Then again, had I seen this one when I was a kid, I'd have absolutely sent away for "Judy" instead of any bike, binoculars or sub!

A TALE OF TWO ("PRESIDENT") BATMANS...

This has been a big week for me, comic book-release-wise; bigger couple of weeks, if you include CHARLATAN BALL #6, two weeks ago! Along with CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #55 (cover image above), BATMAN: THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #3 (cover also depicted above--it should be noted I did neither), came out this past Wednesday. Pretty neat!

I'll post some of my MY GYM PARTNER IS A MONKEY pages next week, but wanted to show you some rough pages from this latest Batman issue. You'll notice there are a couple versions of each--with one small, but major alteration...
In this story, Batman assumes the identity (by way of hologram) of the President of the United States. In the current comics climate of slapping Barrack Obama's mug on every funny book out there, DC decidedly didn't want to follow the current trend...and while my first take wasn't exactly our new Prez, he definitely wasn't different enough. So revisions were made and this is what ends up in the final printing.

I sort of think he ended up looking like the dad from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

I've been digging the 2-page openers...

This was a cool sequence: Batman fights Congress!


That being said, I've been loving working with Rachel, DC Comics and drawing Batman, writers like Matt Wayne and J. Torres, being inked by Dan Davis (who's working overtime on all the extra line work I've put into issues #4 and #6). I feel like I'm just starting to loosen up and bring a little warmth to my designs and panels. It can be really tough and at times, paralyzing, following someone else's designs--especially translating one medium to the other. But challenges can be fun too; it inspires growth and I'm definitely learning with every issue.