Bedfellows

From a recent Stranger article, about a Seattle millionaire and longtime Sonics fan teaming up with the mayor and city council to get a new arena built and return NBA basketball to the city.

Black Betty

T-Shirt Update

Hey, all, just wanted to hip all of you fine folks who pre-ordered the "Wanted" shirt with a status update...

There are no snafus with production, etc, but every step along the way has taken a little bit longer than I expected it would. I ended up leaving the pre-order period open for a few extra days, which added a little time on the back end. They should be printing this week, and ready to go out for delivery early to middle of next week, so please just bear with me just a little bit longer! It's my first time going with this crowd-sourced pre-order model...I promise the next one will go smoother!

Thanks a million for your patience...I adore you all!

Ultra Lass

Diamonds are a Girl's Worst Enemy - Pg 17

If You Say So...

This one could benefit from some inking.

Tank Top

I should try to do one of these sketch cards every day for like a year.

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Bangs

Diggin' these sketch cards lately...

Richmond Zine Fest 2012

Hey, y'awl! Tomorrow I'll be set up at Richmond Zine Fest, the River City's best local show! It'll be my first time exhibiting since 2008, as one event after another has conspired against me every year since then, so I'm pretty excited about it! Joining me will be my pal Jared Cullum, who'll actually be handling the reins solo the latter part of the day, since I have a five-year old's birthday party to go to (See what I mean?). But by all means, come out, say hi...you don't even have to buy anything, though Jared and I'd sure appreciate it!

It's at the Gay Community Center of Richmond, that faaaabulous rainbow-painted building you can see from I-95, from 11-6 this Saturday, October 6th. Really, you should totally come...it's gonna be fun.

Also, a quick reminder, today is the LAST day to pre-order your Atom-Bomb Bikini "Wanted" t-shirt. I'll be printing a few extras, but really not many at all, so if you want a guaranteed size and color, I implore you to set one aside for yourself now. Thanks.

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Orange Pencil

Queen Heggra

Kirby swipe on a sketch card.

'Stache Bash

Apparently this is a real thing! From SF Weekly.

Down By the Water

Sugar Strip

More years ago than I care to remember, I drew this comic strip, which saw print in issue one of my From the Curve mini-comic, about going to see Bob Mould's fantastic band Sugar on their File Under: Easy Listening tour in fall of 1994. It's one of my favorite records of all time...probably my favorite of the three Sugar LPs. I was completely obsessed with all things Bob Mould in my early twenties...his music tapped into every emotion I had...frustration and loneliness, but also boundless hope and exuberant joy. Sugar was perhaps Mould at his very best, superlative in every way. Of course, if you're reading this blog, you don't need me to tell you that.

Anyway, a remastered, deluxe edition of that record, containing 20+ bonus tracks, is currently on sale at Amazon for the criminally low price of $5. You're welcome.

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This was a fun one!

New Duds! It's the Atom-Bomb Bikini "WANTED" T-Shirt Preorder Party

Folks.

I get asked all the time if I ever print any t-shirts. I'd love to do a new one every month, but budgetary realities being what they are, I just don't have enough cash laying around to drop a few hundred clams on a shirt order. So, I'm gonna follow a trend and do the next best thing...Offer a pre-order! 

I scribbled up this little ditty in my sketchbook awhile back, and figured it'd be a cool design with which to dip my toe back into the shirt-making pool. If it does well, I'll feel empowered to make more... and if it does lousy, well, I'll finally get the hint and stick to mini-comics!

Anyway, this one-color design will be printed on either a white/navy blue or heather/navy blue ringer t-shirt, using only the finest water-based inks for maximum softness. These things are gonna be like butta', people!

As an extra bonus, the first 25 orders will receive a free set of Atom-Bomb Bikini stickers, as well as a sticker of the t-shirt image. They're available in sizes S-XXL, and will ship by mid-October. Best of all, it can be yours for just $16 plus shipping!

So are ya sold yet? Are ya? Then get that clickin' finger ready and CLICK HERE! And thank you SO MUCH!

Sketch Cards

Last Friday night before SPX, I went back to the hotel room cause I was feeling tired and a little under the weather, and wanted to rest up for the big impending Saturday crowds. I couldn't get to sleep, however, so I watched A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas and drew some sketch cards. Meant to put 'em on the table to sell at the show but forgot about 'em! Enjoy!

Animal Alphabet

It's here! My Animal Alphabet Sketchbook! It's 28 pages of animal drawings, suitable for all ages (Evie  has already colored two-thirds of the copy I gave her). It also has three different covers... I'm getting in one the early-90s Marvel Comics business model... so be sure to specify which one you prefer!

This was a fun book to work on, and I'm glad I finally finished it. I hope you'll dig it too!

Order Animal Alphabet here!

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Whew! Funny how a little vacation break turns into an entire month!

If this is your first visit, welcome! Please, have a look around! I don't usually use this many exclamation points!

SPX Haul!

SPX 2012

SPX 2012 begins in just one week! I'll be at table W69 (*snicker*)... you can juuuust make it out on the map there. I'll have copies of the brand new, finally finished Animal Alphabet sketchbook, Bluelines, Hockey Tales, Atom-Bomb Bikini, and literally a table full of other good stuff. Be there or be square!

The San Francisco Baseball Giants

A and M

Jenna

Triple Threat

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Man, drawing comics is HARD. Why does anyone do this?

JailED

A piece in a recent edition of The Stranger looks at opportunities for male prisoners to acquire their equivalency diplomas while serving their time...and wonders why the same opportunity is not extended to female inmates.

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Got the next few pages pencilled, so they should roll out a little faster as I can scratch out time to ink 'em!

A Sale on Commissions!

It's been a little quiet around the ol' studio recently, so I've decided to launch my own little stimulus program in the form of a deal to my blog readers. I'm offering the next half-dozen sports uniform pin-up girl commissions for 15% off, $215 rather'n the usual $250. I next to NEVER offer deals on the sports commissions (mainly cause I can't afford to), so if you've had your eye on one…now's the time!

The discount will be good until I hit six commissions, or until next Wednesday, the 25th, whichever comes first. Shoot me an email (via the link on the sidebar) to discuss details and whatnot!

In addition to the examples all over the blog, there are a bunch of 'em in this gallery on my Flickr page, and this post from a few years back pretty adequately describes the process! Thanks!

The Matador

A fun story from Virginia Living, about Jorce Carillo, a matador from Tijuana who had his pocket picked on a 1962 visit to Washington DC, leaving him penniless and stranded, and the kind samaritans at the Woodbridge, VA Greyhound station who donated some dollars and cents toward the bus ticket that would enable him to make it to Atlanta and his relatives.

Buc-some Beauty

I've given a lot of love to my teams here on the blog... the Penguins especially, but also the Steelers, Team USA and even the VCU Rams. The Pittsburgh Pirates, unfortunately, have mostly gotten the short end of the baseball bat, having been miserable since before the internet was invented. But with the team sitting in first place (!!) coming out of the All-Star break on the strength of an amazing first half, the fortunes of the Bucco faithful might, I dare say, be beginning to change. We'll see you in October.

Keeping Up

Busy times around Casa de Atom-Bomb lately, between birthdays, power outages, national holidays, babysitters on vacation and 24-hour stomach viruses...but I'm hoping to get at least a page or two of the strip up before the week is out, along with some other goodies. Don't stop believin'!

She-Hulk!

A comic book cover illustrated for a benefit for my pal Kerry Talbott, who's dealing with cancer. The book was auctioned off along with a bunch of others a few weeks back, and you can peep some of 'em here!

Never really paid too much attention to the "blank cover" phenomenon, but I must admit it was kinda fun to work on!

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FIGHT!

Look Ma, I'm on the Teevee!

I was contacted last fall by the fine folks at PopMark Media on behalf of Ameri-Dry, a leading basement waterproofing company based in Maryland, about creating a super-hero-type character/pitchman for use in all aspects of their identity, from their website, to their service vehicles, to television commercials.

Right away, I felt like "grim and gritty" would be the wrong direction to go with this character, envisioning more of a 1950's type, working-man super guy... more All-Star Squadron than Image Comics... almost corny, to some extent. I did a few sketches, and ultimately came up with this:

I know, right? A few tweaks (and proprietary conversations) later, and we have a corporate mascot! 

I then designed a few more characters and illustrated some keyframes, before sending them off to be animated by the guys at Resolution Post, resulting in these two commercials, which are now running in Baltimore and Knoxville, TN!

Look ma, I'm on the teevee!

Heroes Con 2012

Wow, how is it that something you've been looking forward to for over two years can sneak up on you? Still, that's what I'm looking at. I'm talking, of course about Heroes Con, which'll be kicking off right around this time tomorrow morning in loverly Charlotte, NC. I missed last year's show, thanks to this handsome little bastard, which means I'm more anxious than usual to see all my fans and comics pals, do a crapload of commissions, and get some con deals!

This year's show is extra special, too, as I was honored...HONORED...to provide the artwork for the official Indie Island t-shirt. I'm really stoked about how it turned out, I hope you like it too. You can get 'em at the show, in both men's and ladies' versions, and who knows, I might be able to make a few available on the blog next week. Also, I'm submitting the original art for the shirt to the must-attend Heroes Con Art Auction Saturday night, so you can take this little comics-lovin' gal home with you in all kinds 'a different ways!

Anyway, I'll be there all weekend in a J Chris Campbell/Brad McGinty sandwich at AA-546 on Indie Island. There'll be a bunch of new to Heroes books like Old-Timey Hockey Tales and Teeny Bikini #7 and some just plain old new for real books like Bluelines and Ghost Story. Lots of new prints, too, and the second set of Legion Ladies prints. Honestly, I'm bringing the whole damn store, so if there's something you want, it's for sale. If you want to give me a heads up on a sketch or commission you might like to have done, drop me a line in the comments as well!

And finally, if you have a few minutes, check out this piece from Rob over at Panel Patter, talking to a bunch of Heroes Con vets about why they love it so. Also, if you happen to be going to the show, then for god's sake check out this list of dining recommendations Heather Peagler has put together...it's a must read!

So I'll see you this weekend, right? Awesome.

Diamonds are a Girl's Worst Enemy - Pg. 9

Last page before Heroes Con!

Diamonds are a Girl's Worst Enemy - Pg. 8

The good news is, boards to screen, this page has required the least amount of edits and cleanup. Bad news...nine days since the last one. Ye gods!

Atom-Bomb Bikini Playoff Challenge: The Results

Well, Monday night the Kings finished off the Devils, so the time has come to announce a winner in the Atom-Bomb Bikini playoff challenge as well. It was a crazy year...with all the upsets and a completely unexpected final four (not to mention the LA Kings inexplicable transformation into the '77 Canadiens), it didn't take many correct picks to slide into contention for some prizes!

To review the scoring...I awarded 1 point for each correct conference final team predicted, 2 points for each Stanley Cup final participant predicted, and 3 points for picking the Cup winner. Out of a possible 11 points, readers Craig W., Elliott S. and The Dave Show finished in a three-way tie for first place with 4 (yes, 4) points apiece. Now without further ado, let's pick a big winner!





Congratulations to Elliott Smith! He'll be receiving all kinds of cool stuff, including a custom piece of original artwork by yours truly of a pinup girl wearing the jersey of his favorite team (the Devils, maybe), along with a copy of the Atom-Bomb Bikini book, a copy of Old-Timey Hockey Tales, and a pack of Atom-Bomb stickers, a signed "Hockey Socks & Skates" print by Katie Sekelsky and a super-comfy, 100% made in the U.S.A t-shirt from the wonderful folks at Original Retro Brand ( have several of these myself, and trust me, they're the tops!) Our two runners-up, Craig W. and the Dave Show will receive the books and stickers! 


I want to congratulate all our winners, and thank all of my great readers for entering the contest! I especially want to thank my kind prize-providers, Andy at Original Retro Brand and Katie Sekelsky, and encourage you to visit and patronize their respective sites! 


Til next spring, when we'll do this all again!

Pittsfurrgh

This Savage Love classic goes out to all my pals in Pittsburgh today. If you see someone in a bright, colorful costume downtown this weekend, DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN APPROACH FOR A PHOTO.

Playoff Challenge Business

I need The Dave Show and Craig W to get in touch with me, ASAP!

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Whew... falling behind a bit recently, but the next two pages are about ready to go after this!

Night of Honky-Tonk Angels III

Pals and gals, if you're in the Richmond area and are looking for something AWESOME to do tomorrow night, June 2, might I suggest The Night of Honky-Tonk Angels III show at the Canal Club. It's a benefit for the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation, featuring bands, music and cars, and it should be a rollicking good time. What could possibly be wrong with an entire club filled with folks who are absolutely dedicated to boobs?


For my part, I was thrilled to be asked to handle the poster design and illustration, and I'm very happy with how the art turned out. The original art will in fact be auctioned off at some point tomorrow evening, so you can own this illustration of the lovely "Angel", our official mascot for the event. There'll be a few other items featuring Angel for purchase as well.


You can find out more via the NOHTA blog or on the Facebook... So c'mon out, for goodness' sake, and tell 'em Chappy sent 'cha!