MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday and got something good from Santa. Best wishes to all!

DONATE YOUR COMICS

A few days ago I was e-mailing with a friend who is serving our country over in Iraq and he mentioned how the men and women over there love comics and haven't had much access to them. As we chatted I told him I'd be willing to donate some copies of SENTINELS to them. He was happy to hear that and gave me all the info I need to mail the books. I figured it's the least I can do for the people over there that are serving our country and sacrificing their safety. And while I don't neccessarily agree with the reasons our men and women are over there, I do whole-heartedly support them and our country. I am trying to gather as many Indie comics as I can to send to them and hope others will also be willing to donate a few of their books.

But even if you're not a publisher, that doesn't mean you can't donate to our troops. Comics, magazines, used paperbacks, DVDs, or CDs (no adult material as it will get confiscated) can also be donated and would truly be appreciated.

Please contact me if you have any thing you want to donate. Tis the season and it'll do your heart a little good!

BUSY WEEK

Doh! Fell behind and haven't posted in a few days. Work, the holidays and finishing up the SENTINELS Anthology seemed to have taken up more of my time then I thought. But everything is on schedule and by January we'll be ready to print the Anthology and then it's full steam ahead with NEVERMINDS.

I still have lots of work to do, so this is just a quick entry. Posted along with this is a picture of Anne from the 3rd Gen SENTINELS by Jamie Fay. Jamie did this while at the NYC Anime Con along with the one of Julia and Simon (who I'll post soon). I love seeing his renditions of the kids.

More soon....

READ IT! MR. SCOOTLES

I really want to plug some great books on this blog that I think people will enjoy. So, I hope every week I'll do this "READ IT!" feature. For me, one of the best thing about going to conventions is finding something new and original. I try to always look through the aisles of my local comic shop too and look for something new, but most stores don't carry a lot of Indie comics and they're hard to find. Which is why finding a new book at a convention is always so much fun for me.

The first book I really love that needs to get more attention is MR. SCOOTLES. Written and drawn by Howie Noeldechen, Mr. Scootles is unique work of art. The story goes like this: Mr. Scootles was a successful cartoon creation from the 1930s who got trapped in Hell due to his creator's suicide. In Hell, he finds out that one of his films is a gateway between Earth and Hell. When two college students find the film and open the canister, they unknowing open the gateway. From there things really get crazy as control over the gateway pulls in agents of Hell and Heaven as well as a nutty/evil College Professor (didn't we all have one of those?). And poor Mr. Scootles is left to fend for himself and try to make his way out of Hell.

What I enjoy most about Mr. Scootles is the unpredictability of the entire book, It's not your typical hero fights villain and hero wins thing. It's full of different characters with their own stories and agendas that make for a great ride.

Then there's Howie's artwork. From the cover, you might think it's a funny cartoon book, but Howie's art totally sets a mood. It's sometimes dark and twisted, and other times light and peaceful. It fits the story so perfectly! Just his view of Hell alone is worth the price of the book. I can't see any other artist doing Mr. Scootles justice, the art is that unique to the story. As I read Mr. Scootles, I often felt as I did when I read Bone and Cerebus. Like I was reading something that really meant something to the creator.

I could go on and on about how great I think Mr. Scootles is, but then I'd probably be spoiling some of the story for people and I don't want to do that. Trust me when i say that you won't be disappointed by this book. The first storyline is about to wrap up in issue #5 and i can't wait to see what happens. It's the perfect time for new readers to discover this awesome book. Check out Howie's website and read through it. He's even posting the issues on his site to read for free. But if you're like me, you'll want to order the issues themselves or wait until Howie puts the first five issues together in a trade. Go to http://www.hcnoel.com/ to see what you've been missing!

CONVENTION SCHEDULE

Busy working on too many things today to really post much. But I thought I mention the conventions I plan to be at next year.

First up is MEGACON in Florida. I've never been there before, but I hear great things about it. The SENTINELS Anthology will be ready and I hope to see a few friends I know down there. Should be fun! MEGACON is March 7-9.

Next is the NYC COMIC CON from April 18-20. I haven't been told yet where my table will be, but I'm hoping for Artist's Alley again. I really did great there last year and had a blast at the Indie After Party that we always have. This year should be better cause they moved it to spring. Won't have to worry about the cold now.

The following week is the PITTSBURGH COMIC CON from April 25-27. I love this convention and always have a great time there. This year I have no idea how it's going to be with the organizer for the con on trial for murder. Yikes! Hope it all works out well for everyone and the convention continues. It's really a great show.

The last convention I plan to go to is the SAN DIEGO COMIC CON from July 24-28. It's been a few years since I've been there cause it's so darn expensive. But it's the big show of the year and I really want to go this year.

For now, that's all I have planned. If anyone knows of any others cons that they think are worth traveling to, let me know!

INDIE COMIC NETWORK

For the most part all I've been posting are spotlights for the SENTINELS Anthology on here. It just kind of happened that way and once I started I didn't want to stop. I wanted to spotlight all the creators involved equally and I think I have. All that is except for the creators working on Templar's story. And there's a reason for that. Unfortunately, the original artist that was working on the story had to pull out and I was left scrambling to find another. I hope to post spotlights on Javier Barrera Fanego (writer) and Teyo (artist) once I have some finished art to show. It'll be soon though and worth the wait!

But this gives me the perfect chance to mention a great site that focuses on Indie comics! I hope this blog allows me to plug a lot of great sites and Indie books and the INDIE COMIC NETWORK is doing the same thing.

The NETWORK consists of David Price, Vincent Bonavoglia, Michael Myers, Hakan Hellgren and last, but certainly not least, Miguel Rodrigues. They're a great group of guys who have a real love for comics. They started with the BULLPEN BULLETIONS PODCAST and this year decided they wanted to spotlight other comics by independent creators.

I first met Miguel at the 2007 NYC Comic Con and convinced him to buy the SENTINELS books. To my surprise, before the weekend was over he had persuaded two of his friends to come by and buy all four books too! Since then, I've been chatting with Miguel online and been on their podcast show. Miguel is a super nice guy and has been posting many things about the SENTINELS Anthology on the INDIE COMIC NETWORK since I started this blog. He also asked me to be involved in a project he's working on that I hope I can talk more about soon.

The NETWORK is still a new site and just starting to build it's following. But I think it's a great idea and a good place to find out about smaller publishers.

Please take some time and check out the INDIE COMICS NETWORK at http://www.indiecomicsnetwork.com/ .

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: LUCIANO AND RICH

For Sin's story in the SENTINELS Anthology, Luciano and I decided to try switching roles. He would be the writer and I would be the artist. For Luciano's part, I had no worries. During the time that we worked on the SENTINELS series, Luciano had grown a lot as an artist and as a storyteller. Along with co-creator and writer, Javier Barrerra Fanego (Templar writer for the Anthology), Luciano had published the graphic novel REAL CLOHE. It was a great story and showed me that Luciano had the ability to tell a story. This wasn't something new to me. Throughout the years we worked on SENTINELS, Luciano had always been my springboard for ideas and would keep me in line as to what truly worked and what didn't. His storytelling is very strong and before we even started on the Anthology, I told Luciano I wanted him to write one of the solo features. What I didn't expect was him telling me that if he wrote it, I would have to draw it. Ahhh!

I have been drawing since I could hold a crayon. I trained at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and got my Bachelors degree in Design and Illustration. But I've never felt totally happy with my skills. So, I was nervous. But Luciano encouraged me to do it, so do or die, I was committed.

When I received Luciano's story for Sin, I was impressed by the depth he put into it and how he really understood Sin's background. He focused on Sin's relgious background, something that always interests me, and it made me decide to try to work in a different medium then usually comic art.

Using watercolors and pastels, I've been trying to work on Sin's story while organizing all the other SENTINELS stories. It hasn't been an easy thing, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I only hope my art matches the strength of Luciano's story. Switching roles has been a fun experiment and I'm curious to see how it turns out!

And yes, this is a combo spotlight. I feel weird spotlighting myself, lol. Also, I had trouble posting art for this, so I had to post the page as gif. It's not the best resolution, but at least the page can be seen now.

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: SIN

I have to admit, Sin was the one member of SENTINELS I wasn't sure what to do with. When I first created him I liked him solely for his look and his connection to Gospel. I liked the idea of a twin brother and sister who who were powered by good and evil. I liked that their father would be a ruler of Hell and I had worked out that Sin and Gospel would eventually switch looks. But beyond that, I wasn't sure what to do with him.

When I was writing SENTINELS Book 1: Footsteps, I put in a line where Gospel tells Harlette that her and Sin's fate are intertwined. It wasn't my original idea to pair them up, but I liked it and as it developed it seemed to work. It also helped to add to Sin's change and gave him more of a personality then just "I have to find my sister.".

Another thing that eventually helped me to really like his character was Luciano's visuals for him. When I first saw his ideas for Sin for Book 2, I was blown away. It finally all became clear to me what he was about. And as we developed him in Books 3 and 4, I think he really grew into his own. Plus I loved the light wings, lol.

Another cool thing that wasn't planned was Harlette and Sin's twins. I originally saw them as having a son, but it was Luciano's idea that they have twins and it made perfect sense. It also gave Sin more depth in that he was now truly following in his father's footsteps.

I had asked Luciano to write one of the story for the SENTINELS Anthology and to my surprise, he asked to write Sin. Luciano had grown a lot as a creator and I knew he could tackle Sin's story really well. I joked that I should draw his story and it would be a cool change of roles for us.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

NYC ANIME CON REPORT

So, I went to the first NYC Anime Con this weekend. They've never had one this big here in NYC and it was the first time I ever went to an Anime con. I wasn't even sure what Anime really was until recently, lol. But I heard that it was going to be a good convention and the tables were relatively cheap, so i gave it a shot.

Overall, it wasn't too bad. I didn't sell hardly as many books as I usually do, but I covered costs and then some. It wasn't really the con for my stuff, so I think I ended up pretty lucky selling anything at all.

I have to say, Anime fans are by far the most diehard fans I've ever seen. I mean they are totally hardcore when it comes to their conventions. I've never seen so many costumed people in my life! And don't even ask me about Cosplay. I never even heard of that before! Also, they REALLY like their free stuff. It was almost as if they came to the convention solely to dress up and get free stuff.

I went to the convention with NEVERMINDS artist, Jamie Fay. He did a few commissions there but no where near as many as he usually does. In the free time he had, Jamie did some sketches of the 3rd Gen SENTINELS. You can see Julia (Harlette and Sin's daughter) along with this post. Pretty cool, huh?

I met some other self-publishers and hope to spotlight some of their work on here. That's always one of my favorite parts of conventions, finding new work that I can share.

Wendy Pini, co-creator and artist of Elfquest, made a surprise appearance at the con. I thought I saw her Saturday night as I left, then thought I must have been mistaken because there was no advertising for her. So, Sunday I went and asked. It turned out that she was there Friday and Saturday only. :( Wish i had known. She's really a great artist and one of the first self-publishing success stories.

Next convention for me is Megacon in Florida! Can't wait to be back among my own con people! lol

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: RYAN MCLELLAND

The writer for Serpenta's story in the SENTINELS Anthology is Ryan McLelland. Along with Philip Clark, Ryan is one of the first people I met when I began publishing SENTINELS. At the time, Ryan was a writer for Newsarama and we chatted a bit about the book and he was nice enough to review it for the site. It was also then that I found out that Ryan published his own comic called WISE INTELLIGENCE. I got the issues he had published from him and was impressed by how funny they were. Ryan is a funny guy and full of smartass remarks. So, we got along really well. Over the course of the next few years we chatted about trying to work on something together, but time seemed to get the best of us. We also attended a bunch of conventions together, got lost in the hicks of Pennsylvania (home of Hoss's 39 cent burgers) and have a great Margot Kidder story to tell.

While I knew him, Ryan also started his second comic called PHILLY and asked to use some of the SENTINELS characters in it. I, of course, agreed and he choose to use Templar and Serpenta. I loved the way he wrote them and when it came time to do the SENTINELS Anthology, I knew I wanted Ryan involved.

Ryan's take on Serpenta was extacly what I hoped it would be. Funny, original and full of action. He really captured her spirit and made me proud that I asked him to be involved.

Currently, Ryan is writing a TON of things. He's an editor at Latino Review, pitching numerous proposals, working on his Newsarama feature and involved in some other top secret stuff for a big publisher. I know Ryan is headed for greatness. Check out his work at http://wiseintelligence.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/wiseintelligencecomic

And see PHILLY at http://www.drunkduck.com/Philly/index.php

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: ANDREW CHARIPAR

Andrew Charipar is the artist on Serpenta's story for the SENTINELS Anthology. I met Andrew last year at the 2007 NYC Comic Con when he stopped by my table and started asking about self-publishing. I'm always happy to talk to other self-publishers and chatting with Andrew was a blast. We immediately hit it off and by the end of the talk, he handed me his trade of TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE. I was totally impressed with the amount of work Andrew had put into his book and was even more impressed that he had written, pencilled and inked the entire book himself. The book was a great mix of humor and mystery and I ended up reading it as soon as I got home. For the next couple of weeks we traded e-mails and before I knew it Andrew had agreed to work on Serpenta's story for the SENTINELS Anthology.

Andrew grew up all over the U.S. as his father was in the Navy and they moved around a lot. Settling in Jacksonville, Florida, Andrew attended the Douglas Anderson School of Arts High School where he perfected his talents. A mixture of cartoon and energy, Andrew's art really surprised me in it's style. I loved that he mixed his art with real-life photos and created an enviroment that worked so well. When I received Ryan's story for Serpenta, I knew Andrew would do a kickass job on it.

Another great thing about Andrew is he's amazingly fast. He was the first artist finished with his story and had been drawing 300 sketches for the Comic Geek's 300 podcast party at the same time. And on top of all that he had a full time job and a family to take care of. I have no idea when he slept!

Like I've said about all the other creators involved in the SENTINELS Anthology, I'm extremely impressed with Andrew's work and see great things in his future. His comic TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE is a great book and he's currently completing the second volume. Check it out at http://www.misfitcorner.com/ . You won't be disappointed!

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: SERPENTA

When I first came up with the idea for SENTINELS, I went through my old sketches and pulled a few characters I liked from other projects I was dreaming of and used them for the book. Blaster, Rapture, Adlivon, Silver Owl, Flare and Serpenta were among them and all of them except Blaster were created as villains. But when I looked at my old sketches for Serpenta I thought she'd make a much more interesting hero. I threw out all my old notes and did the total opposite of what I originally thought I would with her.

As soon as I decided she'd be a member of SENTINELS, I worked out Serpenta's personality and it just seemed to click. Sweet, innocent and happy, Serpenta became the heart of the team to me in many ways. She pretty much stayed that way through the entire book. Sure, her arc had conflict with the triplets and deciding to be a mother, but she never lost her upbeat outlook on life. Right up until the end when she said her goodbye with a smile on her face. I still love that last panel of her that Luciano did so well. It was almost as if she was saying farewell to readers too.

I'm always surprised by how much people seem to like Serpenta (and the triplets). So, when it came time to find a team to tell her story in the Anthology, I knew I wanted a team that understood her personality well. Ryan McLelland and Andrew Charipar have both published their own comics and both have a wicked sense of humor that I really love. They proved to be an awesome team and infused a lot of that humor into her story. They were also the first ones to complete their part in the Anthology and I'm really proud of the work they did. I hope one day I can return the favor to them and can't wait to see their Serpenta story printed.

REPORT CARD

I had my class at the Learning Annex last night. It was a lot of fun. There were 11 people there. I'd never taught a class before and was a little nervous. I really wanted people to enjoy the class and get the most for their money. I hope they did. My only regret is I think I talked a little too fast. I tried to slow down a few times, but I normally speak fast so it didn't work.

If anything, I learned a lot and gave them a ton of information that I know they will be able to use if they choose to self-publish. Who knows, maybe one day one of them will be at a table next to me at a convention? I look forward to seeing that.

Above is an image of Templar, from SENTINELS Book 2: Masks, that Luciano had turned into wallpaper. I always meant to have him post it on the site, but forgot to ask him. I have it as wallpaper on my computer.

Tomorrow, I'll start back up with the SENTINELS Anthology spotlights. There are still 3 other solo stories in the Anthology, so there's still some good art to show.

NYC ANIME CON

I almost forgot about the NYC Anime Con this weekend! I'll be attending the con and have a table in Artist's Alley from December 7th to 9th along with NEVERMINDS artist, Jamie Fay. This is a new convention for me and I'm curious to see how it'll be. I've heard good things about the con, so I'm crossing my fingers. Reed Exhibitors, the people that run the show, are very professional and do a lot of publicity to promote it. My concern is whether or not the crowd there will be into what I have to sell.

I've only recently gotten into Anime and have realized that there are a lot of great books/shows out there. They just started showing Death Note on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network and I'm totally addicted.

Tonight I'll be teaching my class at the Learning Annex! Report to follow...

BREAKTIME

I'm taking a short break from the Anthology Spotlights. I'll start them up again later this week. In addition to posting on the blog daily, I've been pretty busy working on a number of things.

First up is my Learning Annex class. I'm REALLY excited to be teaching there tomorrow. I've worked to gather as much information as possible to share with others and hope the class will be successful. I'm also eager to see who attends and to help them on their journey into self-publishing. As I've been working on the class, I've grown to realize there is so much that goes into it. Things even I forgot. I've been doing this for almost 5 years and things that were so hard in the beginning have become easy and second nature. But I remember when I started all the little things you never think of. It can be overwhelming.

I've also been working on my pages for the SENTINELS Anthology. I'm drawing Sin's story that is written by Luciano Vecchio. It's a nice change of roles for us, but it's another thing I realized I took for granted. Drawing used to be soooo easy to me, but it's been years since I've done sequencials and I find myself hating things that come out on paper and redrawing a lot, lol. We're our own worse critic, I know, so I keep trucking along and now I'm finding I'm pretty happy with the results. It's also great to do drawing and painting again.

In addition to the Anthology, I'm also working on NEVERMINDS with Jamie Fay. We hope to have stuff for the NYC Comic Con In April. It's changed a bit since we first started but that's part of the charm of creating. Things grow and evolve. I think we've come up with some unique stuff though! :)

I'm also honored to be involved in a few other projects for other publishers that I can't mention yet. More on that later!

It's a busy time for me, but I'm having a blast on it all. Wednesday, I'll post on how the Annex class went. Wish me luck!!!

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: JUAN MILANESE

Harlette's story for the SENTINELS Anthology is written by Juan Milanese (aka'El Ninja-Tron'). Another of the five Argentinian creators involved in the Anthology, Juan was introduced to me a long time ago by Luciano. Both had worked on a comic called TOCATE and I was very impressed by the story they did. It stuck in my mind and I knew that someday I would like to work with Juan.

So, when it came time to find writers for the Anthology, I asked Luciano if Juan would be interested. I was happy he agreed and glad that he wanted to write Harlette's story. I had been struggling to decide who would be right for Harlette and when Juan came on board, I knew he'd be perfect.

Of all the Anthology stories, Juan's surprised me the most. His influences are all over the place. Post-Punk, dreams, Borges, Proust, drinking nights with friends, some anime, Fellini, Talking Heads, Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, Adrogue's way of life, Detroit techno music and a thousand different things. And Arnold movies aside (lol), he got Harlette dead-on and brought story elements into her story from the entire SENTINELS series. Things I even kind of forgot, lol. He put so much depth and thought into Harlette's story in only 10 pages, I loved it. Added to Charles awesome artwork, it was (again) another great story.

It's been a while since Juan has written anything and I was glad this got him back in the game. He has a distinct voice that I'm sure will one day get lots of attention.

Juan is currently studying Audiovisual Communication at the University of Buenos Aires. You can see and hear some of his work at these links:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LesDEDS

http://www.purevolume.com/ninjatron

http://www.purevolume.com/ninjatrondos

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: CHARLES HOLBERT JR.

Charles Holbert Jr. is the artist on Harlette's story for the SENTINELS Anthology. I first saw Charles work by looking through his gallery on Deviant Art. Almost immediately, I fell in love with his unique style. I thought to myself, this guy must be a professional already. But I wrote him anyway in hopes that he might be able to work on the Anthology. Luckily for me, he was free and could work within the deadline we had set.

I had only one character in mind for Charles to draw and that was Harlette. His style is perfect for her and with the bold colors he uses I knew it would be an awesome story. Charles works in markers and watercolors to create a truly striking look. It's that energy that first caught my eye and his pages for the Anthology are just as impressive! Working in watercolors can be very difficult, but Charles's pages make it look so easy. He brought Juan's story to life in a way only he could. I can't wait to see the pages printed!

Working with Charles was a pleasure. He kept in contact with me throughout the entire process and let me know how the pages were going. Most artists aren't as professional and you sometimes have to bug them just to make sure things are okay. And even though he lives in Las Vegas, Sin City itself, he didn't get distracted. I can't say I would be able to do the same, lol. Vegas is my kryptonite!

I keep saying this about all the creators involved in the Anthology, but it's totally true, I see BIG things ahead for Charles. I feel fortunate to have worked with him. Currently, Charles is working on a few different projects, which can't be mentioned just yet! Check out his gallery at http://www.kidnotorious.deviantart.com/ to see more of his work and hear what his next projects are.

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: HARLETTE

One of the first members created for SENTINELS was Harlette. I knew I wanted a tough, take-no-crap female character on the team and when I first sketched out Harlette I knew she fit the bill. What I didn't know was how much I'd enjoy writing her. Of all the characters in SENTINELS, I'd have to say she had my voice the most. The comments she would make just came naturally and I miss writing her.

When Luciano came on board as the artist on SENTINELS he used my original designs for reference. On some of them I told him who I was thinking of when I drew them (like actors or actresses or friends) and on some of them I just let me do his own thing. The funny thing with Harlette is that when I first drew her I based her on a guy! I wanted each of the characters to have their own look. Different weight, height, race, etc. So, when I first saw Luciano's rendition of her, I was happy she looked less feminine then the other female members of the team. It wouldn't be until later that I told Luciano this and he told me he drew her that way on purpose.

Like many of the other members of SENTINELS, Harlette changed a lot throughout the series and I really enjoyed her arc. Her relationship with Sin changed her and that can be seen in her appearance. She became more feminine. She grew out her hair, dressed differently and even stopped smoking. Then she came back full circle in her appearance, but she couldn't deny that her attitude had changed and eventually she realized she was no longer the person she used to be.

With the SENTINELS Anthology I wanted to have someone do something unexpected with Harlette. Something I wouldn't have thought of or done. Juan Milanese and Charles Holbert Jr. have done just that! I know I keep saying this, but I was blown away by their collaboration. I can't wait to show their work. They did Harlette proud!

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: NOEL SHORT

Noel Short is the writer on Splash's story for the SENTINELS Anthology. Noel is a good and very, very old friend of mine from outside the world of comics. And by old, I mean older than me, lol. :)

But seriously, I've known Noel since before I started SENTINELS and he has been one of the people to hear all about my trails and tribulations, ups and downs and always been supportive. It was nice to have that outside view of things and I really appreciated it.

During the days when I was writing SENTINELS, Noel and I started to develope some ideas of our own for different projects and he began reading comics. Most people don't know how wide a range of comics are out there and Noel quickly got into all different types of books. (Sandman, Fables, Astonishing X-Men, Y, Preacher, Kingdom Come, Watchman). All of this inspired Noel to consider writing something of his own. When he told me this, I asked him if he wanted to try writing Splash's story for the Anthology.

Like all the creators involved, I was really happy with Noel's work. But with Noel, I was also proud because I knew it was the first time he had written something in comic form. He got Splash's character dead on and added just the right sense of humor. It's a great story and teaming him up with Ms,Shatia was perfect.

This year Noel began work on his own series BREAKERS along with Andrew Reaves. It's a retelling of the origins of Merfolk and their undersea world. Little Mermaid it isn't! I can't wait to see it come to life. I'm also hoping to revisit the project Noel and I started to develope a while back. Noel is also on Deviant Art at http://kanoely.deviantart.com/ .

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: MS,SHATIA HAMILTON

Ms,Shatia Hamilton is the artist on Splash's story for the SENTINELS Anthology. What can I say about Ms,Shatia's art that you can't see with your own eyes? I love it. Like all the artists involved in the Anthology, I think Ms,Shatia's art is amazing. She is the perfect match for Splash.

I was introduced to Ms,Shatia through Jamie Fay (Firebomb and NEVERMINDS artist) and Deviant Art. Jamie had Ms,Shatia do a protrait of Alanis from our NEVERMINDS series and I was blown away. Then looking through her Deviant Art gallery, I knew I wanted to work with her. Before I even had Noel's story for Splash in, I contacted Ms,Shatia in hopes she would work on it. Okay, maybe I begged her, lol. See, Ms,Shatia is a busy artist and always seems to have a looooong list of commissions. To my delight, she agreed to work on the Anthology and the rest will soon be history.

Ms,Shatia's art reminds me of really beautiful anime. But that's only part of her style. Her characters seem to move in every panel and when she adds color they truly come alive. Her style is much more then any anime I've seen and I think everyone will agree.

Like I said, Ms,Shatia is a busy person, with a full time job and tons of commissions, but somehow she managed to get Splash's story done and I couldn't be happier with the results. I know I keep saying this but I feel blessed to be working with all the talent involved in the SENTINELS Anthology and just viewing Ms,Shatia's gallery over at her Deviant Art page ( http://nashya.deviantart.com/ ) you'll see why I'm so into her art.

Ms,Shatia is also working on her own series called FUNGUS GROTTO, which I can't wait to read. You can see over 40 pages from it on her site at http://www.destiny-makers.net/ . She's showing those pages for free, so don't be afraid to donate to her PayPal account on there if you like what you see. I predict BIG things ahead for Ms,Shatia! Mark my words.

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: SPLASH

Just when I thought I had created all of the SENTINELS team members way back, I happened to be doodling in class again (guess I did that a lot, lol) and created Splash. Honestly, I wasn't really trying to come up with any new characters and wasn't even thinking when I designed her. But there she was on paper. I kind of liked the crazy water flowing costume she had and suddenly lots of ideas came to my head. Splash sort of forced her way on to the SENTINELS team.

From the moment I first drew her, I knew who Splash was going to be. Pretentious, selfish, narcissistic. All those good qualities. lol. And I really liked it. To me, one of the best things about Splash was that ,unlike the other members of the SENTINELS, she wasn't a legacy member. She had no history with the team and only sought them out in order to achieve more fame. I liked that it added to her uniqueness. What she didn't count on was having feelings for any of them and especially not the one guy she could never touch (Electron).

Of all the SENTINELS characters, Splash was the funniest to write. To me she had a mixture of bitchiness and innocence that worked. She'd say bitchy things sometimes, but coming from her they didn't seem that mean to me. Maybe it was Luciano's portrayal of her and the expressions he gave her, but it was hard to stay mad at her. Like all the SENTINELS, Splash had a new costume each book. It made the most sense to me that she would do that. She was a Popstar. She would never think of wearing the same costume twice and I loved all the alternate versions Luciano came up with.

When Noel Short agreed to write Splash's story, I wasn't sure what to expect. But he came up with a great idea and I was also lucky enough to have Ms,Shatia Hamilton agreed to draw the story. Noel and Ms,Shatia are a great team and I can't wait to get their story out there. Wait until you see some of the preview art! It's awesome!

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: TODD LATOSKI

Electron's story for the SENTINELS Anthology is written by Todd Latoski. I first met Todd when he sent me an e-mail regarding SENTINELS Book 1: Footsteps. His comments were thoughtful and justified and we chatted and sent e-mails back and forth for some time. I quickly learned that Todd was an aspiring writer (and MAJOR Earth-2 Huntress fan) and was fortunate enough to get to read some of his work. I was totally impressed. He's very detailed in his descriptions and in setting a mood. So, much so, that when it came time for the Anthology, I knew I wanted Todd involved. I had asked Todd which character he would want to write, hoping he would say Electron, and his answer was Phazer or Electron. Since Phazer isn't spotlighted in this Anthology, I was happy to have Todd writing Electron's story. (Next time, Phazer, Todd. Promise!).

I had tried to give all of the writers freedom when it came to the content of their story, but in the back of my mind I did have ideas for Electron. So, when Todd sent in his story, I was shocked to read exactly what I was hoping he would write. Todd really gave Electron's story the urban feel Iwas looking for. He also really understood the character's history and expanded on it without negating any of what we had printed. I knew with Matias illustrating his words, that this would be a great addition to the Anthology.

I know I've said this before and I'll continue to say it until I've spotlighted everyone involved in the Anthology, but I'm really proud of all the work they have done. What really excites me about the SENTINELS Anthology is getting the chance to help others get work printed and encouraging them. I've met so many talented people since jumping into the self-publsihing game that I really hope they can use their experiences here and move on to bigger and better things. So many great talents just never get the chance to break in. Todd is one of those people I've gotten the chance to watch grow from a fan to a professional.

Earlier this year, Todd had his first comic work published in TRAILER PARK OF TERROR #7 from http://www.imperiumcomics.com/ . And even though I wanted his SENTINELS work to be his first published stuff, I'm really glad he's getting his writing out there and doing so much. In addition to his comic work, Todd has also worked on numerous stories including Nancy Drew and a new top-secret children's mystery series. I look forward to reading what Todd does next and so will everyone else I think. Check out his myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/justicesocietyofamerica to see what he does next! But whatever you do, don't mention the Earth 2 Huntress's death in Crisis to him. He's finally getting over it after 20 years.

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: MATIAS SAN JUAN

Matias is the artist on Electron’s story for the SENTINELS Anthology. A native of Argentina, Matias spent time training there at “sotano blanco”, a comics workshop, while also being influenced by artists like Chris Ware, Mike Mignola and Horacio Altuna.

I feel lucky to have Matias involved in the SENTINELS Anthology and feel his style is perfect for the story Todd Latoski wrote. With a real urban feel to it, I was immediately impressed with his use of shadow and color. I love the tone he set and his pacing on the story is excellent.

I got in contact with Matias through SENTINELS artist Luciano and Deviant Art. You’ll be hearing a lot about Deviant Art on this blog, because it’s a place I found many artists and think it's an excellent site for people to showcase their work.

Working with Matias was a true pleasure. He was professional, fast and dead-on in his portrayal of Electron. What more could I ask for? How about he’s also a really nice guy? In the comic industry, that’s a rarity, but with Matias it’s true. As the pages came in, I was more and more impressed each time. I was a little worried that Matias won't get everything into Electron's ten pages that needed to be there. See, Todd put a lot detail into the story and I really liked it the way it was, but wasn't sure it would all fit in. I didn't want any of it to be cut. Thankfully, Matias was able to work it all in and even said he had fun doing it and didn't feel pressured at all. (lol, talk to the other artists and I'm not sure what they'll say).

Currently, Matias is working on a new magazine that will be published in Argentina and a new comic strip he will be shopping around. Check out more of Matias's work on his Deviant Art page at http://peor-imposible.deviantart.com/ and you can see his comic strip work at http://rutinaencubitos.blogspot.com/ (it's in spanish).

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: ELECTRON

One of my favorite characters in SENTINELS was Electron. He was just a fun character to write. When I first began working on the series, I would do sketches of characters and costumes while sitting in acting class (being bored watching someone ham it up doing Hamlet for the hundredth time). I'd just be daydreaming and playing around to see what worked and one of those throw-away sketches was of Electron. I don't know why, but I just liked the colors I came up with for him. I thought they were unique and worked well. Once I decided I wanted to use him for SENTINELS, I worked out his back story and powers and thought I had figured out his personality. But like many writers say, sometimes your creation takes on a life of it's own.

With Electron, you can see in the first few pages of SENTINELS Book 1: Footsteps, that he was a slightly different person. I originally thought him to be a kind of smartass, but sensitive sort of guy. But once I started writing him, the smartass personality quickly vanished. What emerged was the down-on-his-luck, sensitive-yet-strong, hero that people seemed to care about. It was hard to write him sometimes because he had such a compassionate side and I didn't want him to seem weak. Hopefully, it read that way. I think his character truly grew into a hero by the end.

When Luciano joined on as artist on SENTINELS, he really made each of the characters his own. With Electron he added many elements that, at the time, I wouldn't have thought to. Though I had created each of the characters to be as unique as possible, by trying to make them different heights, weight, race, etc., it was Luciano who added many of Electron's characteristics. The visible tattoo was my idea, but all the other tats and the body hair were Luciano's input. Also, Luciano really strived to make the characters body language unique too. You'll notice in many panels that Electron is shyly to the back of the scene or his posture is somewhat inward to indicate his insecurities. I think this sort of detail set Electron apart from the rest of the team and just as he had his own voice, he also had his own look.

One of the main arcs in Electron's story was his relationship with the somewhat vain, Splash. Being the last two team members I created, it's funny that they ended up together. Even though they were totally opposites, I think they fit. I grew to believe their love for one another as I wrote it. I'll even admit that at times I fought to find a reason for Electron to want to be with Splash after how crappy she usually treated him. But, in the end, I think they both made each other whole and was proud of how Electron evolved.

When it came time to decide who would be working on Electron's story for the Anthology, I knew I wanted creators who would do him justice. And in my opinion, Todd Latoski and Matias San Juan are just those guys. Both of them really seemed to understand who Electron was and I'm proud of their work. Like the team responsible for Firebomb's story, I'm excited to see their work printed. I'm really lucky to have so many talented people working on the Anthology!

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: NEI RUFFINO

Nei is the colorist on the Firebomb story for the SENTINELS Anthology.
A professional colorist already, Nei graciously lends her talents to Philip and Jamie’s story adding a powerful element to an already excellent team.
Currently, Nei is the colorist on RETURN TO WONDERLAND and GRIMM’S FAIRYTALES published by Zenescope. Before that she was a tattoo artist for years and her designs can even be seen on the packaging for Hasbro’s My Little Pony. Really!
Nei comes to work on the SENTINELS Anthology through Jamie Fay and Deviant Art where she has colored many drawings by Jamie. Her work is very detailed and striking and I’m really happy that she’s involved in this story. Her colors are the perfect blend to Jamie’s line art. And you can just tell by checking out her sites at http://neiruffino.com/ or http://bakanekonei.deviantart.com/ that she's a true talent.
This year, Nei also had her first work published by Platnium Studios called INCURSION.

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: PHILIP CLARK

Philip Clark is the writer for the Firebomb story in the SENTINELS Anthology. I first met Philip at the Big Apple Con in 2003. It was the first comic convention I ever attended selling SENTINELS. Being there for the first time was a mixture of excited and fear. I had no idea what I was getting into. But up walked Philip with a big smile and a friendly hello welcoming me and asking about my book. Philip was at the convention selling his own comic, QUANTUM: ROCK OF AGES, along with artist James Rodriguez. Philip and I hit it off immediately and became friends. Over the next few years I've learned a lot from Philip about self-publishing and the comic industry. One of the best things about Philip is he's always helping and supporting other Indy creators and sharing infrmation with them. It's something I hope to do too.

When the NYC Comic Con began in 2006, Philip and I were among the first to sign up and knew we wanted to do something different for the convention. We banned together and got some other Indy creators (Crazee Comics and CAG) to start the Indy After Party. We wanted it to be a cool place for creators to met and hangout after the con and not feel left out because they didn't get invited to one of the big industry parties. Our doors were open to everyone. It was a big success and most of that was due to Philip.

So, when the SENTINELS Anthology began I knew I wanted Philip to be a part of it. Following the story of QUANTUM, I knew Philip was capable of writing any of the SENTINELS characters. But I was especially happy that he wanted to write Firebomb because I already knew Jamie Fay would be drawing her. Philip and Jamie's collaboration is perfect match as you can see from some of the preview art. They're both good friends of mine and now they've gotten to work together and create an awesome story.

Philip Clark recently married and relocated to California with his wife Christie. (Love that red-headed woman!) And even though he's no longer a New Yorker, Philip still has his groove and continues to play his music on the west coast. You can listen to some of his music at http://philipclark.com/ .

And be sure to check out QUANTUM: ROCK OF AGES at http://www.quantumcomic.net/. I even had the pleasure of inking the latest issue (#7).

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: JAMIE FAY

Jamie Fay is the artist on the Firebomb story for the SENTINELS Anthology. What can I say about Jamie that I haven’t already? His art rocks! With his clean and fresh style, I have no doubt that one day Jamie will be drawing his dream book X-Men. I’d place money on it.

I first met Jamie at the Pittsburgh Comic Con. He was showing his portfolio and was walking by my table not intending to show me. When he stopped to look at the SENTINELS books, I asked to see the portfolio in his hand. I was glad I did. I really thought his work was great and saw the potential that is now beginning to shine. We exchanged e-mails and after chatting for over a year, we began to develop our series, NEVERMINDS.

Jamie also became a big fan of SENTINELS and especially Firebomb. In fact, it was due to Jamie’s rendition of her that Luciano even added some elements to her design in Book 4: Hope. So, when Luciano and I decided that doing a SENTINELS Anthology would be a fun idea, there was no other artist that I would have allowed to draw Firebomb’s story. I don’t think Jamie would have allow anyone else to either!

Originally from Massillon, Ohio, Jamie began his art training by taking a lot of private classes while he was high school and then by attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Along the way Jamie became a major X-Men fan and developed a HUGE crush on Ms. Marvel. (Don't ask him to see his Halloween costume from last year!) Determined to become a professional comic artist, Jamie recently relocated to NYC and has been attending a lot of convention and doing many sketches as he develops a following.

I feel very fortunate to have met Jamie and to be working with him. I'm also very glad we've become good friends and happy to be publishing his first printed work. His art has that classic and fun style that I love and he's developed his own voice while working on the Anthology. There are big things ahead for Jamie. I’m sure of it! You can see more of Jamie’s art at http://windriderx23.deviantart.com/ .

ANTHOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: FIREBOMB

The next few posts will focus on the characters and creators involved in the SENTINELS Anthology.

The first Anthology story focuses on Firebomb and is written by Philip Clark and drawn by Jamie Fay.

When I first created SENTINELS, I knew I wanted a powerful female counterpart to Templar. Someone who would appear to be weak and grow as the series evolved to show they were his equal. Then there was also the baby aspect and the fact that her powers would change and become the childs', leaving her powerless. I also knew I wanted someone hot!

Of all the characters in SENTINELS, Firebomb has definitely changed the most and has one of the biggest followings. I have to admit I was a little shocked by it all. Even though I intended to have her evolve, I didn't think it would work out the way it did. And I didn't think readers would enjoy it so much. Sammy was just one of those characters that took on a life of her own.

My favorite arc of her story had to be in Book 3: Echoes, when she took the Templar costume and went off in search of her lover. That wasn't totally planned and was one of those things that just happened and worked out brillantly. It was the moment she moved out of the shadows and into her own. It was also when I think her character clicked with both Luciano and I. Luciano even commented once that it wasn't until then, and also after seeing Jamie's pinup of Firebomb, that he felt he got her. If you follow her look throughout the series you can see a major change in her look and behavior.

So, when we decided we were going to do the Anthology, it was a no-brainer who I wanted to work on this character. Philip Clark and Jamie Fay have been two of Firebomb's supporters since the beginning and the story they've done shows how much they like the character. I'm extremely proud of their work and look forward to seeing it printed.

BACK FROM MEXICO!

Well, I'm back from my vacation in Mexico. I had a great time and much need relaxation. I haven't had a real vacation in over a year and I needed to re-charge.

But now it's back to work! I have lots of projects and deadlines looming and in the next few weeks I will be posting preview art from the SENTINELS Anthology as well as spotlighting the creators involved.

My Annex class is in a few weeks and I hope the turnout is good.

And I'm still working on SENTINELS merchandise.

The artwork above is what will soon be inked on my back. Yup. I'm getting a tattoo. I've wanted one for a while but could never decide on a design. I think it's pretty cool and definitely symbolic and meaningful to me. It might even end up being one of the images we use for a T-shirt.

That's it for now, just a quick entry. More soon....

THE 3RD GEN

I'm about to go away for a few days, but wanted to post this image that Luciano finished up for the SENTINELS Anthology. It's a promo piece that we'll be handing out at conventions. I've been wanting to do something with the 3rd generation SENTINELS for a long time now. From the moment I first came up with SENTINELS, I also created most of these characters. It was always the intention to finish the book with them. When Luciano and I teamed up we re-worked them a bit, added some, subtracted some and came up with the team that exits now. And I think they are all really unique characters and personalities, just as the original SENTINELS were and hope people will like them.

Finding a story that fits them and is as unique as the original SENTINELS story is the hard part. For now, we've come up with the Anthology that I think works. It'll be out this spring and it'll incorporate stories of the 2nd generation Sentinels as well as spotlight the new kids. I'm curious to how they'll be recieved and if it goes well, we might consider doing more with them or another Anthology down the line.
When I return from vacation I plan to start showing some previews and introduce the creators involved in the Anthology!

CRUEL THING

One of the things I hope to do on this blog is spotlight other Indie books that people might not know about. There are a lot of great books out there and I hope others will spread the word about them.

Of course I couldn't start with anyone else by my SENTINELS partner in crime, Luciano Vecchio.

CRUEL THING features Luciano's current work. The first OGN just came out and seems to be taking off. Created by writer, Lean, and Luciano, CRUEL THING follows the story of being empowered by the sexual misery of others. It's a mature book, so Luciano is allowed a lot of artistic freedom and uses it throughout the book. Visually the book is just as beautiful as Luciano's work in SENTINELS and REAL CLOHE (http://realclohe.blogspot.com/), but it's complete different. Using only black, white and red to color the entire book, the mood created is very impressive. You immediately find yourself pulled in the world of CRUEL THING and you won't soon forget it. The only drawback for us here in the U.S. is that the book is only available in Spanish right now. But I believe an English version is coming soon, along with the second OGN.

You can see preview and an animated trailer at http://www.cruelthing.com/ .

CRUEL THING is a 104 page OGN published in black, white and red. It is the first of three in a series.

LEARNING ANNEX

So, I'm really excited to be teaching a class at the Learning Annex on December 4th, 2007 on "How To Self-Publish Your Own Comic Or Graphic Novel On A Budget"!

I was approached last month about this and think I can do a great job. Why? Because I can't tell you how many people I've met at conventions who are interested publishing their own comic and have asked me how I got started.

The hardest thing about self-publishing is knowing the ins and outs. It's tough work but I believe that anyone with a idea and a dream can be successful.

When I first started SENTINELS, I knew nothing. All I had was an idea and a dream. I really got in over my head, but after researching a bit and talking to some great people in the biz (both professional and self-published creators) I leaned a TON! And I truly want to share that info. To me, there's nothing like discovering a new comic that's fresh and original and full of the creator's energy. I look at other self-published Indie creators that I know and I'm really inspired by their work. I want to help others achieve their dream and I think this will be a great way to do that.

Right now, I'm gathering all the years of info I've collected and pulling it into a focused and complete template for others to use and go by. It's not that hard when you think about it. To me, the hardest thing about self-publishing is having an idea and then getting people to buy it. Now, no one can come up with the idea for you. You have to do that yourself. But I believe that in order to be successful at this you need to be inspired by something and every person has a story in them. Whether it's Comedy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Superhero or whatever, there is a market out there and if you believe in what you're doing people will notice it.

Getting their attention and putting your product out there for them to notice in the first place is what really matters. And I fought that battle a lot. It's some of the hardest work about self-publishing. But I have lots of info to share and hopefully can make it easier for others to achieve their goal. That's why I'm excited about this class.

I'm hoping the class will be pretty full and I can help anyone who takes it. As I get closer to doing the class I'll post some other info.

NEVERMINDS

I haven't had the chance to talk about Drumfish Productions second series NEVERMINDS that much. Mainly because we still were developing it. But now that we're worked out a lot of the kinks, I figured I'd explain it a bit.

NEVERMINDS came about after I attended the Pittsburgh Comic Con for the first time in 2004 and met Jamie Fay. Jamie showed me his art and I was definitely impressed. We chatted a bit and Jamie asked if I accepted fan art for SENTINELS. The following year, after chatting a few times through e-mail, Jamie showed me a pin-up he did for SENTINELS. I was blown away, it was awesome and I put it in Sentinels Book 3: Echoes. I liked his art so much that I asked him if he wanted to work on a project together. We bounced ideas back and forth for a while until finally we found something we could both agree on.
As we started to develop NEVERMINDS, we both got a little distracted with other things and had to set it aside for a bit. Then earlier this year, Jamie moved to NYC and we've started getting NEVERMINDS back on track.

For this series I only had three things I insisted on:

1) This would not be a superhero book. I want to branch out and do something new and after spending so much time in the SENTINELS universe. I needed a break.

2) This series would focus more on one character. I really want to challenge myself and try to fully develop a character and not depend on a team book element.

and lastly,

3) We had to call the series NEVERMINDS. lol. I don't remember how I thought of that name, but I really liked it and had ideas about it. It'll all make sense once the book is out. Plus Jamie came up with a kickass logo!

So, with those rules established, we developed the main character of NEVERMINDS, Alanis Monroe. In my mind she's totally different than any of the characters in SENTINELS and I'm excited to write about her. Anyone who's read my work know I like to write about strong women and Alanis is definietly that. We've developed a core group of people around her and established the that the series would be more supernatural and vertigo-ish.

We aiming to have something out by April in time for the NYC Con and the Pittsburgh Comic Con. It's going to be a tight schedule but I think we can do it. More preview art coming soon!

SENTINELS ANTHOLOGY

So, in hopes that I post something regularly, I wanted to talk a little about the new book that will be out. The first Sentinels Anthology is scheduled for March release and will premiere at the Megacon in Florida. The Anthology will be 96 pages in full color. I'm really excited about it being in color since the previous SENTINELS books were all in black and white. The book will feature 7 different solo stories all by different writers and artists and have bridging sequences by myself and Luciano Vecchio that focus on the 3rd generation. The book is on schedule and all the artists and writers are doing a great job. I think everyone will enjoy this book. In a few weeks I will do a series of blog entries that focuses on each creative team and show some preview art.
We're also working on setting up something which will finally allow people to purchase T-shirts, mugs and such from Cafe Express. We're still in the process of deciding what art to offer. More on that soon.

FIRST POST!

Welcome to the official blog for Drumfish Productions!

The first series published by Drumfish was SENTINELS.

In 2008 we plan to release the first Sentinels Anthology as well as our second series NEVERMINDS.

This is the first time I've ever done a blog but hope to update this regularly.

Check back for previews and news!