NYC KONG Signing

We had the signing for KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND last week. Jim Hanley's Universe and Vito as well as Harry were all very friendly and accomidating.

Things went very well. It was ALL of us together in one place at one time.

Joe DeVito, the creator of K: KOSI, me, Dan O'Connor (interior artist), Tommy Castillo (Cover artist), Kris Johnson (colorist), Sal Cipriano (letterer).

Here are a couple pics:

I quit

I swear to God...I would be saying that if I didn't have so much invested in comics already. I am at my wits end with people.

If I wasn;t starting to be paid for work like i am for the good folks at Bozell and Platinum and other places...I'd be done and doing a regular job and probably have a house and decent credit and such.

I am just being pissy today.

Sleep...glorious sleep

This has been a bizarre year for me. I had a heart attack in August and then in October, I was coaching Luke's (my son) flag football team and I got karate chopped in the nuts in just the right place. This reulted in me losing a testicle in emergency surgery. I had an infection after that and spent even more time in.

I am trying like hell to write but it has been hard.

On top of it all, I can not sleep well and I found out (after I almost died on the operating table) that I am suffering from severe sleep apnea. Tonight, I go into the hospital again for a sleep study so I can finally get some sleep. I am told that, after you get the apnea machine, a life can be changed. I am looking forward to it.

On the comic creation front, I am really excited. I may be going into business with Tommy Castillo in a new publishing endeavor. I am also working with my pal, Szymon Kudranski, on a new series called GUN TOTING BIBLE BANGER. Here are a few pics:

Of Bitter Souls to be a cell phone game

How cool is this...

Kolcom is making an OF BITTER SOULS cell phone video game! It will be out in December. It is very cool and they should be sending me the beta version soon.

You didn't hear it from me but it looks like there is interest in a PLaystation game too!

Here are some screen shots:

Some projects I am working on...

CLOUD NINE

I am working on this with Brian Augustyn, who is co-writing. The art team consists of South Africans Peter David Douglas and Neil Van Antwerpen.

Here is some of the art, which has just been started:

Platinum Studios

I'm happy to announce that I am working on a horror OGN as a work for hire for PLATINUM STUDIOS. I am not sure what I can say about it and what I can't so I will be cautious and say nothing. It is cool to be getting paid though. I thought that day would never come.

As far as art:

Here is some from KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND #1:

Well, that whole updating daily thing is a bust.

Anyway, I am back on the blog. I thought I'd update what I've been up to this summer and early fall.

I went to the COMIC GEEK SPEAK 300th Episode celebration last month. Very fun! I was able to visit with some dear friends I have made while being a member of the online community. If you're not listening to Comic Geek Speak, you really should be.

Comic Geek Speak


Here are some pics from the event:

Oh, and I had a heart attack.

It was a minor one. It was a wake-up call. I am on meds now and am trying to lose weight and get healthy.

I'm not going into detail on it.

My series are coming along nicely. THIRTEEN STEPS is getting good reviews. I am excited about KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND and I have also been hired by PLATINUM STUDIOS to write as well.

I'll upload some art soon. (I hope :))

Reading some lately:

I have been reading some lately. I thought I would comment.

ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #5

I had such very high hopes for this series. I am a big fan of Jim Lee and Frank MIller is a personal hero. Then they started to come out. I wasn't a big fan of issue 1. Then issue 2 arrived and I was less impressed. I was getting nervous. Issue three came and went with even less regard for the series on my part. Issue four was my stopping point. If issue four wasn't great, I was giving up.

Issue four was ok. It ended with a line that made me think that the series was going to be ok.

"Alfred just told me to take a flying leap. This kid is going to ruin everything."

Or something like that.

Then a year passed and issue five fell in my hands last week.

I love being the Goddamn Batman?

I love this goddamn book.

Frank is back and he never left. When this is a trade, it will read so much better. He has been setting us up for this and he delivered. The art is, as usual...Jim Lee awesome. I love this series now.

Kudos to the creative team for bringing a series back from near death.

NO OTHER GODS

My first series under my new banner next year will be NO OTHER GODS. I am co-writing this one with Brian Augustyn. Alessandro Scacchia was going to handle the art, but unfortunately, his Mother is ill and he needs to spend some time with her. This created a need for a new artist and now fellow Shocktraumanaut, Fredd Gorham is handling the art. He has told me that he has a number of pages ready and I am chomping at the bit to see them! Fredd has a very col style. Here are a couple of character sketches based on Alessandro's designs:

BOB

I have had this in my head for over twelve years. I created this character with my old pal, Tom McKeon. He is a multi-talented artist and animator. However, he is not able to do a full on book and BOB has therefore been dormant. That is now over. Tom is going to do covers and I am self-publishing BOB in my line-up next year. My fellow Shocktraumanaut, Aaron Guillespie is going to handle the interiors. I'll figure out a colorist soon.

Here is a very preliminary cover for BOB by Tom.

NO OTHER GODS changes next.

And here are some character sketches from Aaron: