Art Attack: Ben's 90's X-Men Sketchbook

The year was 1993 (or 1994) and 11-year-old (or 12-year-old) Ben Morse's eyes were glued to either Fox's X-Men: The Animated Series or the epic X-Cutioner's Song crossover. And like a lot of kids my age, lack of formal artistic training (and possibly talent) certainly didn't stop me from attempting to emulate Jim Lee or Andy Kubert in depicting my favorite comic book characters.

I linked up with my buddy Husani Johnson to actually put together a "sketchbook" of our favorite X-Men as well as members of X-Force and X-Factor leader Havok (sadly Captain Britain made the cover alone and in name only).

Cleaning out my room back at my folks' house in Boston over Thanksgiving, I found said artistic treasure trove, and of course I had to share it with the world.

I offer the following with only two comments: I clearly still didn't quite have a hang of what women (or limbs) looked like and I was a friggin' logo master.

(Also, I attempted to only print my work here since I haven't spoken to Husani in years and don't have permission to show his, so I apologize if I got some mixed up by mistake)

We don't usually post press releases, but...

Good friend of the blog Sean T. Collins has unveiled the new digital HQ of his awesome web comic tour de force Destructor! Hopefully we're gonna be speaking to STC himself later in the week all about the Destructive One, but in the mean time, check out our man's origin of the concept here, his official PR below, and a spot of fan art from myself and Rickey following that...

IGNATZ AWARD WINNER MATT WIEGLE AND COMICS BLOGGER SEAN T. COLLINS UNLEASH 'DESTRUCTOR'

November 29, 2010 - Writer Sean T. Collins and cartoonist Matt Wiegle are pleased to unveil DestructorComics.com, the home of their new webcomic series DESTRUCTOR.

Set in a science-fiction-fantasy world that becomes all the more dangerous the second the title character sets foot in it, DESTRUCTOR is the story of the titular tyrant -- an armor-clad immigrant to the sprawling Alpha System who rises to unimaginable power with the help of his brutal Mob of allies. Destructor and his world were first conceived by Sean when he was in third grade, 24 years ago. Ever since -- in copious notes, in crude drawings, and in his head -- he has developed and expanded the story, with the entire arc of Destructor's career as a criminal and conqueror mapped out.

Now that career has been brought to life by Matt Wiegle, 2010 Ignatz Award winner for Promising New Talent. A fan of Matt's ever since he first saw his comics in the school paper while the two attended college together, Sean is thrilled to see the people and places he's known for all these years appear before him, more vividly than he ever imagined, thanks to Matt's bold, thoughtful art.

DestructorComics.com is launching with two previously published DESTRUCTOR stories, "Destructor Comes to Croc-Town" and "Destructor in: Prison Break." Originally seen in black and white on Top Shelf Productions' Top Shelf 2.0 webcomics portal and in the anthologies Elfworld (Family Style) and Murder (Partyka), the strips will be republished in full color for the very first time. New pages, freshly colored by Matt Wiegle, will be posted every Monday and Thursday. And upon the conclusion of "Prison Break," a series of all-new, never-before-seen, full-color DESTRUCTOR adventures will be serialized on the site.

Incorporating influences from Robert E. Howard and He-Man to Fort Thunder and Boards of Canada, DESTRUCTOR is an ongoing adventure-saga exploration of action and spectacle, violence and camaraderie, loneliness and anger.

About the authors:

Sean T. Collins has written about comics and popular culture professionally since 2001 for such publications as Maxim, The Comics Journal, Wizard, A&F Quarterly, Comic Book Resources, Giant, ToyFare, The Onion News Network, and The Comics Reporter. His comics have been published by Top Shelf, Partyka, and Family Style. He has lived on Long Island since 1978, with his wife and their cats since 2002, and with Destructor and his world since 1986. He blogs daily at Attentiondeficitdisorderly and regularly at Robot 6. Email him or follow him on Twitter.

Matt Wiegle lives in Brooklyn and draws things. He is responsible for the minicomics Ayaje’s Wives, Seven More Days of Not Getting Eaten and Is it Bacon? He was presented with the 2010 “Promising New Talent” Ignatz Award for his story “The Orphan Baiter,” which can be found in Papercutter #13. Email him or follow him on Twitter.

San Diego 2010 Novarama Sketchfest

Once again the sketch gods smiled upon me again at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. I already showed off the new additions to Megan's Miss Martian collection, so now here's the dynamic duo I was fortunate enough to snag for my Nova Sketchbook.

In addition to being the son of the legendary Neal Adams, Josh Adams is a dang fine artist in his own right and a swell dude as well. I met him at a Ring of Honor show a couple months ago via our mutual friend Christopher Daniels and I gingerly mentioned I'd be tracking him down sooner rather than later for a sketch. At San Diego, neither of us forgot this pact and Josh was more than happy to take some time and do this neat piece for me. Josh went the Magneto helmet route on Nova's headgear, but not in a way that renders him unrecognizable, so I actually dig that his sketch stands out in that way. I also always love when somebody throws in an extra touch like lettering or a gag, and Josh did both; I may not totally understand the Dr. Seuss allusions because I'm, y'know, uncultured, but I certainly appreciate it nonetheless.

For my second piece of the con, I was wandering Artist's Alley and got super-psyched when I saw that Jacob Chabot was in the house. I first got to see Jacob's work when Rickey recommended Skullboy my way and then flipped my lid when he did X-Babies and drew every friggin' X-Men character ever as a baby (it was a thing of beauty)! I worked with Jacob a few times on Marvel.com to promote X-Babies and in fact a series of sketches he did for us ended up being variant covers for the series. I had a nice talk with Jacob and his buddy and X-Babies collaborator Gregg Schigiel about the book and other stuff and was of course overjoyed to get a sketch in the bargain. This sucker is everything I love about Chabot's style, particularly his ability to find the fun in a super hero piece without making it goofy; that's a Nova who knows how to party but is also ready to kick some ass. Factor in an awesome pose and great background and you've got one of my favorite sketches I've gotten in some time.

Thanks guys!

San Diego 2010 Sketch-o-rama Pt. 1

Oh man, I am wiped the heck out from San Diego Comic-Con! I've been to three of these suckers now, and no question this was my favorite so far. Besides the show itself, getting to interact with fans and see what they think of what we're doing, I had the perfect balance this year of seeing my bros, spending time with creators who I love to chat with, fostering some camaraderie with my Marvel colleagues and going on trippy pro wrestling adventures that land me on the top of PetCo Park shaking hands with Paul Heyman.

But right now, as much as I'm still tingling from great stories and better friends, I'm pretty wasted from taking a red eye back and then heading into the office on three hours of sleep (I'm hardcore).

So while if the past is any indication all four of us will be checking in throughout the next little bit with anecdotes, pics, etc., for now I want to show off some of the sketches I was fortunate enough to pick up this year.

I did snag some new Nova pieces, but my sketchbook is actually still in the physical possession of the great Josh Adams right now. However, I did get a very special surprise Human Rocket rendering from none other than pro wrestling superstar and my Marvel.com broadcast partner "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels!

Not bad, eh? Chris may "fall down for a living" as he puts it, but I think he's got some skills! I see a bit of early Jamal Igle in that piece; very nice shading on the musculature. You may have a second career awaiting you Mr. Daniels!

However, Nova aside, I also had Megan's very special Miss Martian collection along for the ride and got two new portrayals of my favorite Martian, first up from Andy Lanning...

Many may know Andy as one half of the supreme cosmic writing duo of DnA along with Dan Abnett or even as a prolific inker, but he's also a hell of an artist in his own right when not working over somebody else's pencils, as this more than demonstrates. I had some very fun times with Andy over the past week as he's one of the funniest dudes in comics or anywhere really; ditto for Dan. Very glad to see DnA get their well-earned props on the Mondo Marvel panel from an appreciative crowd.

I also got Megan a sketch she's wanted for some time as she's always been jealous of my own Chris Giarusso Nova...

What can I say about Chris G's work? The guy is awesome and I don't think he's capable of bad art. His Miss Martian is absolutely adorable, but I'm not surprised. Megan is totally in love with this sketch already, so I owe Chris, also a heckuva nice guy.

So that's it for the first wave, but when I wake up in three days or so hopefully I should have more for you. In the mean time...Kevin, where are you, kid?!

New Nova sketch

One of the cool things about having a sketchbook with even a little bit of a reputation among the comic circuit is that occasionally (like, twice) some artists will even ask you if they can draw in it as opposed to vice versa. This is a rare occurence for me, but after my last few Nova sketch posts, I was fortunate to experience it once more, as my officemate Margarita showed the blog to her boyfriend, Terry, and he decided he wanted to give a shot for himself. The result was this beauty...
Terry works in design by trade, but obviously part and parcel of the skillset required for that means he's got art chops, as you can clearly see here. This seriously vaulted right up to near the top of my list as far as favorite sketches as it includes several things I'm a sucker for, including (but not limited to) humor, color and the use of a Wite-out pen. I think Terry's take on Nova's costumes, with slight but significant alterations to the classic model, is pretty darn badass; I also dig huge on the energy effects he created and, of course, the inclusion of Iron Man in the perfect manner. Can you believe this dude doesn't draw comics for a living, but just for fun?

Anyways, much thanks to Terry as well as Margarita, and for those of you looking on with envy, I will totally pass him your name for a hefty but totally reasonable finder's fee.

More more Nova sketches!

After a nice evening of Megan's cooking, watching an advanced copy of The Rise and Fall of WCW courtesy of my friends at WWE and taking my first shower since the surgery, I figured a little light blogging before drifting off into drug-induced slumber (and before Kiel posts this week's Linko!) would be a nice capper.

So here are the remainder of my Nova sketches (until such time as I hit the scanner again) and the stories behind them...

Ethan Van Sciver
This one basically started out with me showing Ethan my Jim Lee sketch and him going "I'm not sure I can top that, but I have to try." Well far be it for me to judge between two titans of artistic prowess, but if Ethan didn't achieve his goal, he certainly came as close as what can and didn't fall short for lack of trying. He took my sketchbook home with him for a couple weeks vowing "Something you could put on the cover of Wizard" and I do believe he delivered there. I like a lot of things about this, but in particular I like how Ethan really brought his unique personal style to it rather than conform to any sort of template. You can see in the helmet that he took some liberties, but little touches like that really leave a distinctive mark. I also love that he gave Nova's chest starbursts a similar-but-different visual effect to what he does with the Green Lantern symbols beginning back with Rebirth; Ethan is so thoughtful about every decision he makes and how visuals effect a character's make-up, so it's a pleasure to look at his work.

Jamal Igle
Bit of an awkward story here, as I was at one of the Wizard World Philadelphia shows, spotted Jamal Igle (who I knew had done New Warriors and drawn Nova before) and very much wanted a sketch from him, but had a full day of working the booth and conducting interviews ahead of me. Much as it broke my own personal code of conduct, I sent then-Wizard intern Brian Warmoth over to Jamal with my book to see if he would do a sketch. I don't remember exactly how it went down, but I believe I gave Brian a certain ceiling on how much I could spend for the sketch and he either got nervous or forgot to mention it. Brian comes back and tells me he got Jamal to do the sketch but didn't quote a price, which of course freaked me out because when you don't quote a price at the outset, you can land in the awkward position of having to pay way more than you planned to because the artist needs to make a certain amount of money over a certain amount of time in Artist's Alley to cover their expenses (that's why if a dude quotes you a price too high for you, you politely move on rather than waste their time or see if you can get a quickie sketch or just a headshot for less, again not wasting their time). Long story short, my first meeting with Jamal Igle consisted of my sheepishly underpaying for the gorgeous sketch you see above because he's one of the nicest dudes in the world. Fortunately we have since gotten past that and not only does Jamal feel comfortable yelling "Hey, loser!" at me from across a crowded booth in San Diego, he's also the one and only comic creator I've actually randomly run into on the streets of New York City despite having worked there for nearly two years now. His stoic, reflective Nova is a page-stopper in my book since it stands out in such stark contrast from just about any other sketch I have in there; he told me he chose to draw that pose and feel because he had drawn the character enough in the past that he didn't feel like doing the standard "Human Rocket" bit and wanted to try something different, which totally worked.

Don Kramer
Speaking of nice guys, "Dandy" Don Kramer is one of the genuinely coolest dudes in all of comics (Brief aside: despite attempts by myself, Jesse Thompson, Andy Serwin and others to work the "Dandy" Don nickname into Wizard whenever possible, it never stuck). He is incredibly outgoing, totally laid back and loves just shooting the shit with fans. If you ever spot Don at a convention (he's the good-looking one), you should take the opportunity not just to nab a sketch if you can, but talk to the guy, because he's a fount of knowledge as well as just a wonderful conversationalist (he's also doing career-best work in the highly underrated JSA vs Kobra right now, so I very much suggest picking that up). Don actually sought me out to do a sketch in my book, having seen me post some of the images online (on MySpace or something...oh the old days), and hey, I'm not gonna say no! He went a little bit the same way as Jim Lee initially with the heavy India ink approach, but I love the way he portrayed Nova's jetstream, making it look much more like how an actual rocket would during takeoff than I think I've ever seen. When I think of Don's work, there's a very specific tone I tend to imagine, so I was very intrigued to see how Nova would look in that setting and was certainly not disappointed.

Tony Daniel
When I was a 13-year old X-Force fan, there was no better artist in the world in my mind than Tony Daniel. When I came back to comics after a few years' hiatus, I would wonder from time to time whatever happened to Tony, but could never track down his work (which consisted mostly of The Tenth for Image, but I had yet to really step outside my Marvel/DC comfort zone). When I saw the name "Tony S. Daniel" in the solicits for Teen Titans one month in 2005, I immediately called Geoff Johns to ask if it was the same guy, and lo and behold it was. Though Tony started on Titans just doing fill-ins, he eventualy became the regular guy (I'm not sure if my pleas to Geoff had anything to do with it or not) which gave me the opportunity to speak with him and work together on a Titans East sketchbook for Wizard (me and Geoff co-wrote little dossiers from Deathstroke to go with each of Tony's sketches). At Wizard World Chicago in (I wanna say) 2006, I finally had the opportunity to meet Tony and he greeted me with a big hug, saying how much he appreciated the push for his work in Wizard, to which I shot back gratitude for being one of the guys who got me into comics in the first place with his art. He told me whatever sketch I wanted was mine and I'm sure you can guess what came next. Tony actually had my book for awhile due to some unfortunate health problems on his end, but the end result was the first ever full-color Nova in my sketchbook, and the images pops with an incredible intensity and vibrancy that very much reminds me of Tony himself.

Dale Eaglesham
At the New York Comic-Con in 2007, I tracked down Dale Eaglesham, who I had never seen at a show before and who I had long wanted a sketch from. Fortunately I kinda knew Dale and his wife, Wolfie, from Comic Bloc (which, if you haven't gathered yet from these posts, is a great place to get to know some cool comics pros) and from helping arrange a sketchbook feature for Justice Society of America when it launched. I've heard Dale described as "the Norman Rockwell of comics" and he definitely lived up to that label here with a cool retro-looking Nova who has a great earnest quality to him. I actually prefer this sketch just in pencil with no inks and colors as it makes it feel even more "down home" for lack of a better term.

Ahhhh, what a nice night of reminiscing--now for Vicodin.

Should that be my new sign-off line?

More Nova Sketches!

So, I haven't been around here much the past couple weeks. Y'see, after San Diego, I had to catch up on work and sleep, but then I had to go back to Boston for my cousin's wedding, and then there was more work and sleep to catch up on, and then I had to go back to Boston again for my college buddy's wedding...and so on.

I'm getting some minor nasal surgery this Wednesday, so I'll be laid up here in the house for a few days, and the my posting will either spike or do another fade depending on drugs, but first...

Some more Nova sketches!

Erik Larsen
The very first Nova sketch I ever got, from the Image founder and one of the character's biggest fans among pros back at a Big Apple Con in 2005. I actually saw Erik doing a Nova for the guy right ahead of me in line, so that gave me the idea to do a theme sketchbook in the first place--thanks, Erik! My sketch ended up looking almost identical to the other guy's, so I take it Erik gets a lot of requests for the character, though he still actd surprised when I asked for one. The most incredible thing about watching Erik work was the way he holds his pencil: as opposed to how most people hold writing implements, he treats it almost like a thin paintbrush, making a fist and then drawing from above. It was very cool, very different, and a great start to my collection.

Chris Marrinan
I was wandering Artist's Alley at WonderCon back in 2006 when I spotted Chris Marrinan, who was doing sketches and had an opening. Now Chris was mostly displaying DC stuff he had done (primarily Superman work), but I fondly recalled his stint as both artist and writer of Nova circa 1995. I had a nice chat with him about his time on the book, something I gathered he didn't get to discuss a lot, and told him he was a dude whose stuff I really dug as a kid; in return, I got a nice sketch.

Steve Lieber
At that same WonderCon, Steve Lieber was offering free sketches to any member of Comic Bloc, so I cheerfully took him up on his offer. Having only gotten fairly traditional takes on Nova from guys who had actually worked on the character in the past up to this point, Steve was a cool change of pace, and I love the darker, moody look he went for; it's really a beautiful piece and reminded me of something Neal Adams might have done (that's high praise).

Todd Nauck
This was Todd's first go-around drawing Nova for me, and you can check out my previous post to see how his take has evolved over the last three years. Todd has a lot of the same tastes I do when it comes to the comics, so I was not surprised to learn he was a fellow Nova devotee and had tremendous enthusiasm to draw the Human Rocket. Perfectionist that he is, Todd wasn't fully pleased with this finished product (hence one of the reasons he did another one for me so recently, I presume), but I think it's rad and he's at least half-crazy. I dig the way he really accentuated the big, bright shapes, from Nova's helmet starburst to the stars on his upper bodies; this sketch makes Nova like appropriately heroic and larger than life (much like Todd Nauck himself).

Jim Lee
The unquestioned crown jewel of my collection in many senses: it's an amazing "sketch" (I hesitate to call it that), most people can't believe I got a Jim Lee sketch, just as many people can't believe I got Jim Lee to draw Nova, and Jim Lee was my absolute favorite artist when I was growing up (he's still up there today). The way it went down was at WizardWorld Los Angele in 2006, I was up in the Green Room when Jim came by to take a load off in between signings and my bosses asked me to do an interview hyping the show; this was actually my second time meeting Jim as we had met over Korean food at WonderCon to discuss WildCats a couple months before and he remembered me (he has remembered me every time since, from saying polite hellos in the halls of the New York show to yelling my name outside of L.A. bars in front of my then-girlfriend, and for Jim Lee to know my name is a huge deal for me to this day). After we wrapped our interview, I innocently kidded with him about whether or not he did sketches at shows anymore, never in a million years expecting him to say he did, but instead he just went, "You got a sketchbook?" Instead of fainting with delight, I pulled out my Nova book, explained to him the theme (which drew a chuckle) and became to my knowledge the owner of the only Jim Lee Nova sketch in existence.

Watching Jim work was absolutely incredible as he only had about 15 minutes and had certainly never drawn Nova, but he just went into a zone and produced this incredible piece of art; the thing I remember most was that after doing an initial pencil layout, rather than go over the lines with a marker or anything, he just dumped a ton of India ink on the page and then basically used Witeout to noodle in the details from memory, so he basically worked in reverse of any other artist I've ever seen. At one point he spilled a bit of Witeout, but ended up just making it into the little glint coming off the helmet. He capped things off by using an empty glass to make a perfect circle for the moon and then signed it and bid me adieu; absolutely incredible. Jim Lee rules.

My Watchmen Sketchbook

This one's gonna take a sec...

Following in the monumental footsteps of several of my closest friends, I decided to start a themed sketchbook in Spring 2008. My girlfriend has a monster book, my buddy Matt has a Saturday morning cartoon book, my boy Sean has a David Bowie book and my future ex-husband Dave has a Lockjaw book as well as a Calvin and Hobbes book! It took me about a year to decide on a theme and then it hit me. Watchmen.

It's my favorite comic, and you don't get much new art featuring the characters, so I figured it was perfect. The problem, though, is that I'm a huge wiener when it comes to asking people for sketches, so my girlfriend and Dave have had to push me to ask. I'm also reluctant because I have this fear that the artists will assume I'm just some kid who wants a Watchmen sketch so I can sell it online or because, "Hey, there's a sweet-ass movie coming soon, dude!" But I said screw all that noise and at MoCCA in 2008, I began the book by collecting the following sketches:

Rorschach by Jason

I couldn't believe Jason (writer/artist of many amazing, brilliant comics you should read) was going to be at the show in the first place, but when I thought about who I'd like to have start my book, he seemed like the perfect guy. I LOVE his work and he's the kind of artist other artists would see and know that they could take my book seriously. And not only did he happily sketch away for me, he chatted with me for a second about the film and how excited he was to see it. He's just a genuinely sweet dude.

Rorschach by Adrian Tomine

I walked right from Jason's table directly over to Tomine's and there was only one girl in front of me. He's another guy I absolutely love and who I thought other creators would respect if they saw in the book. But when I got to the front, he politely asked if I could come back because he only had a short while for the rest of his signing and wanted to make sure he could sign for anybody who had his book, Optic Nerve. It totally made sense, so I walked back over to Jason as my girlfriend got a sketch from him. Ten minutes later, I walked back to Tomine because his signing time was almost up and he apologized to me (!) "for making me walk away." He said not many more people came up after I left, and he could have knocked it out for me before. When I told him the theme, he seemed happy to oblige and we chatted about the then-upcoming edition of Good-Bye, the new Yoshihiro Tatsumi volume from Drawn & Quarterly. Watching him draw, even upside down, seemed very delicate and was a great pleasure. He even took the time to letter my name in and smiled when he was done.

Rorschach by Josh Cotter

Cotter first came to my attention when he won the Isotope Comics award for best mini-comic in the award's first year. My best friend Josh Peichoto had also entered that year with a mini-comic collection of his college newspaper strips so when we checked into the guy who "beat" him, I was stunned by how his work oozed gorgeousness. Cotter won for Skyscrapers of the Midwest, which was eventually published as a miniseries by AdHouse, which I eventually bought, which I instantly loved. Plus, Cotter's a great guy in person and very warm and was happy to draw Rorschach's fedora for me.

Nite Owl II by Bryan Lee O'Malley

O'Malley (of the Scott Pilgrim series) was the last guy I got at MoCCA. He'd been signing and hand-shaking and selling things all weekend, but even still, he was happy to knock out this baby. It's cute and simple and I love it.

The next show was SPX in Fall 2008 where I got:

Dr. Manhattan by Jim Rugg

When I left Wizard, as a going-away present, the guys commissioned Rugg (Street Angel, The Plain Janes) to do this AMAZING original piece for me (It's Kamandi and Impulse (my two favorite characters) saving me from falling debris in an homage to this cover and kinda this one, too). I knew he'd be at SPX, so I made sure I introduced myself and thanked him personally. When I told Rugg what the book was, he seemed happy to provide me with a sketch! Then he asked if there was a character I'd like him to do that no one else had done and I told him Dr. Manhattan. He laughed about how he "got" to be the first one to draw a penis in my book. After a full-page try-out penis in pencil (which he didn't erase and I still have), he did this wonderful picture that does the God-like being right. Reminds me of Mobius.

Alan Moore by Brian Ralph

My second and final Watchmen sketch of SPX 2008, this Alan Moore was actually the second image Brian Ralph (of Day Break and many other books) did for me. I left my book with Ralph and walked the floor a bit before coming back and collecting my book from him. Later, at home, I found that he's done ANOTHER image, but pulled it out of the spiral book, folded it in half and stuffed it into the middle of the book. The discarded image was of Dr. Manhattan on the toilet reading a newspaper. But I don't wanna post it cause Ralph clearly didn't want anyone to see it. And besides, this hilarious image of Moore is completely rad. I like the socks.

And my one and only sketch at New York Comic Con 2009 was this beauty:

The Comedian by Cliff Chiang

Cliff is one of my favorite superhero comic artists, so it was a treat to break in my book with the superhero scene by starting with him. The only problem was, I had to work the DC booth at NYCC, and Chiang was signing at the time. In comes Dave with the save! Dave agreed to stand in line for a sketch from the Dr. Thirteen artist for me. And what do you know? Cliff goes all out for the Comedian in his earlier leather fetish wear. Cliff told Dave the fetish costume doesn't get enough love. I'd say Cliff doesn't. Check out his work here.

And that's it! I should note that I did get up the nerve to also start a ninja themed sketchbook and started it at the same time as the Watchmen one as a happy alternative for artists who don't even want to attempt a Watchmen sketch. Which I can dig.

And I gotta say, if you're looking to start a themed book, please, please PLEASE do it. It'll make you 87% more happy than you are RIGHT this second and you'll be all the rage at the local rave parties and gas stations. Just choose something you'd like to see an endless supply of and be polite when asking for submissions. Good luck!