Michel FiffeThe third issue of JM Dematteis & Mike Cavallaro’s “The Life And Times of Savior 28” comes out this Wednesday! It was a pleasure to do a pin-up for them for this issue.
I was going for a mock-semi-retro Manga thing, but I think it got out of control, as you can see. I still had a blast doing it. Behind the cut you’ll find some alternate cover sketches and the dreaded pencil version…
This drawing is for a pal of mine who requested M.O.D.O.K. fighting a Mexican wrestler.
Last year I began the process of interviewing comics legend Trevor Von Eeden. This July, the interview will finally come to light! I’ll post a note closer to the date, but be on the look out for The Comics Journal #298 featuring the “brutally honest” interview.
I stumbled upon the pic above and the links below at the Fantagraphics Flickr profile (which has tons of other great stuff), so imagine my surprise in seeing the piece come to to life, so to speak, previously existing in my head as a pile of handwritten notes and a Word document for the past year.
The close up and the video (at 00:46).
On top of all that, I recently received 2 pieces of Art from 2 fellow LJers for my birthday! The first is from cooltrash It’s probably the best portrait of me ever (I’m usually reduced to a ball of stubble… not far off from the truth but still…). Anyway, it’s the cover for a mix CD (I’m a mix tape & CD nerd) which is quite good.
… and from calling_alice who does tons of other cool art, displayed throughout the profile. Below is the old school Dagger from “Cloak & Dagger”. These are awesome, guys!
xoFiffe
Kat Roberts aka sateenduralux is featured at Seth Kushner and Chris Irving’s NYC Graphic Novelists site.
I was asked to draw up potential costume designs for a “Jagermeister Monk/Angel” at my day job at the costume/puppet shop. I was very excited to contribute to the mythology of the number one choice of drink of frat creeps and date rapists. Hey, I get it… it’s sweet and tasty and served cold. Yay. It’s like licorice but worse. You drink it when you have nothing else left, but even then…
Anyway, the folks at Jagermeister Headquarters green lit my design and off we went! I built the elk head interior and the other studio hands draped it. We had to do four of them total and we did them in record time (a week). We also did cloaks, paddles…
…was yesterday, but I made him a card anyway. He turned 81 years old.
You may recognize the name Ditko as the creator of many of your favorite comic characters such as… ah, the names escape me… Spider-something or other. Anyway, he’s a comics legend, an innovator, and he’s still making comics. I have cobbled a few of my personal favorite Ditko pieces, some not seen too often and others never to be reprinted elsewhere.
Like Ditko often suggests, there is black and then there is white and there is no in between.
Just in time for Halloween, Cthulhu Tales #7 (from Boom! Studios) hit the comic book shelves yesterday and look… I drew the cover!! Below, my initial image.
I bought the comic at my local comic shop and read it. You should, too. This isn’t shameless self-promotion, I promise. You will want to own this comic. I am actually honored that my cover graced the 2 horrific stories inside. I’m not even being sarcastic, despite what my close friends may think. You gotta see it to believe it.
I was going through some old files of mine the other day and came across a couple of drawings, each on one side of the same paper. I think they were scribbled on the nearest sheet in an inspired post-movie frenzy. I had seen “Friday the 13th part V” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”… in a row. My parents were asleep. I was six years old.
How did I have a concept of neck holes back then??
A few days ago I posted about FALL of CTHULHU #8, a new BOOM! Studios comic that had the awesome Tim Hamilton and I share the art duties.
The way we worked was very simliar to the old school Marvel Comics style: Tim pencilled a rough layout of the given page (think Sal Buscema) and then it was handed over to me.
I then took it to lightbox and pencilled the basic nature of the layouts (think Jim Mooney). While staying faithful to the initial placement and flow of Tim’s layouts.
The final version is now available at any comic book retailer. Twenty-two pages of this creepy epic AND you get to pick between two (that’s right, TWO) covers isn’t a bad deal whatsoever.
All in all, it was a fast paced job that left little room for either one of us to shine, but a job is a job. In other words, as Steve Ditko recently wrote me, “Welcome to comics.”
Hope you all had a good holiday!
Here is a sample page I worked on with the help of TIM HAMILTON. There was a possibility of Tim and I collaborating on the art chores for an issue of “FALL of CTHULHU” (published by BOOM! STUDIOS), but I had to furnish a sample before we signed on the dotted line. Tim was kind enough to let me ink this page of his:
As it turns out: we got the job!! Thanks, Tim! I heart you, 4 reelz.