Shameless Plugs

LIKE A FORCE OF NATURE, COMIC-CON IS UPON US AND NOTHING CAN WITHSTAND ITS UNHOLY MIGHT

~ J.Ho ~ 4 Comments
Here it is, a giant post plugging all the projects that my friends and I are involved with for Comic-Con. To start, the most basic information for those who dislike reading long posts:

I will be at Comic-Con International in San Diego from July 25-29, You will be able to find me at the Big Boss Comics table in the small press area. Our table number is N10. And please visit our friends, the Tired Girls at table N4.

As promised, I have two illustrations to cover the week’s posts, which simultaneously act as plugs for my convention projects. Convenient and diabolical, yes? Click images for larger view.

The first up is the cover of the sketchbook that I’ll be selling. The lovingly rendered characters on that cover are (from left to right) Mer-Man astride Panthor, Whiplash, and Beastman, as rendered by me when I was about 9-years-old. The guts of the sketchbook, however, contain my modern day work–including a lot of uncolored line art from the sketches that go up on this blog, but also debuting a number of pieces that have yet to appear. The sketchbook, titled Action Figures I Wanted as a Child, & Other Assorted Drawings, is 40 pages, with color cover and black and white interiors, and sells for a mere $5. FYI, the real version of the cover doesn’t have the watermark with the blog URL across the cover.

Next up, is art from both the front and back of a free promotional postcard for my comic-in-progress, The Legend of Cog. For more on the progress and status of Cog, please check out the website (and you can read the first 8 pages for free). I will also be selling copies of the first “issue” of The Legend of Cog, which is basically a black and white ashcan preview that gives you the first 24 pages of the story. The ashcan goes for the neglible price of $1.

In addition to the Cog postcard, I also put together a free promotional postcard to promote this very blog. The art, of course, is taken from this post, which I spruced up with some type and background elements.

Beyond my personal projects, I’ve got some stuff going on with the day job, as well. One of the give-aways at the Bongo Comics booth will be a mini-comic promoting the return of Futurama. I penciled the comic over Bill Morrison’s layouts.

Also, I will be speaking on a panel. Actually, I will probably do everything in my power to not speak, but I will be sitting on the stage, with the other people on the panel. The reason I’m on the panel is that I’m pencilling a 6-page story for this year’s Treehouse of Horror comic, written by none other than the uber-funny Patton Oswalt himself. Patton Oswalt couldn’t make it to the panel, but I’ll be there, and I’m just as funny and talented. BWAHAHAHAHAHA… well, we all had a good laugh about that. Anyways, here’s the info about the panel from Comic-Con’s website:

Thursday, July 26, 2:00-3:00 Bongo Comics Sneak Peek— Bongo Comics offers a mouth-watering preview of upcoming projects featuring The Simpsons and Futurama. Managing editor Terry Delegeane and creative director Bill Morrison host a panel featuring the writers and artists who create the comics and books based on Matt Groening’s phenomenal TV shows. Find out what’s in the future for Futurama Comics and what to expect in Simpsons Comics and Simpsons Super Spectacular. Plus, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911), Tone Rodriguez (Violent Messiahs), and Gerry Duggan (The Last Christmas) will be on hand to talk about their terrifying contributions to this fall’s star-studded issue of Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror! This is a ”must-attend” panel for all fans of The Simpsons and Futurama—and anyone looking for a place to sit down! Room 3

My tablemates from Big Boss Comics have got plenty of goods too. First up is the Big Boss Comics Was Here anthology. For a measly $10, you get 100 whopping pages in black and white, with a gorgeous color cover by Andrew Tunney. The Kid Justice story I mentioned a few posts ago is in there, with a humble “cover” by yours truly, and awesome interior art by Vinny.

Speaking of Vinny, he’ll be selling the latest issue of It’s Ninja Time, a quirky action-packed comic that I dearly love. Vinny will also be selling color sketches, many of which you can see on his blog.

Big Boss is also promoting Josh’s new comic Necessary Evil, which is in the August Issue of Previews, and will be on sale in October, published by Desperado Comics. The cover for issue #1 (as seen in the flyer to the right) is by the superb Dustin Nguyen, who’s a pretty big deal over at a little company you might have heard of called… DC comics. O_O

And don’t forget about the Tired Girl Collective. They were quite a hit last year, and they’re back for more. Jodi will be packing buttons and various hamster-related paraphenelia. Sherri will have a book called Johnny Popcorn and a book called Momfight! (Surely, your interest must be piqued by now!) And Ren will be there with clever and surreal cards, nerdcore totebags (see below), shrinky dinks (yes really), and more!

So, in summary. If you are in San Diego this week, go to the convention and visit:

  • Big Boss Comics (table N10 in small press)
  • Tired Girl Collective (table N4 in small press)

If you are not in San Diego this week, or when you get back from San Diego, visit:

Phew–I’m off to the convention! Back to the normal hi-jinx next Tuesday. Have a great week everyone!

Wherein I talk about my friend’s new comic, and ramble on a bit about next week’s blogging schedule.

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
I had originally planned to post a Harry Potter sketch to commemorate the release of the final book in the series, but something even more interesting popped up this week–

My comrade Josh Williamson‘s comic, Necessary Evil is being solicited in this month’s Previews catalog! The comic is pencilled by Marcus Harris, inked by Vinny Navarrete and colored by Winston Suk. Josh created and wrote it, and Desperado is publishing it. Oh and did I mention that I did the character designs for the main cast? I’M MENTIONING IT NOW.

Please ask your local comic shop to order a bunch! Previews is out next week, and the first issue of Necessary Evil ships in October. It’s a great comic, and I hope you’ll all give it a try.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting some more of my Necessary Evil art and telling you all some more about the comic itself. But for now, here is a pin-up/mock cover that I created for Josh when he first asked me to design the characters:


click above for larger view

So, next week, is the big San Diego Comic Book Convention, which I have alluded to. Technically, it’s known as Comic-Con International, but I rarely hear people call it that. In fact, people usually just call it Comic-Con, with no qualifiers. The epic proportions of the convention are such that no qualifier in the human language would be appropriate. But I digress.

I will be gone at the convention for most of next week, which means I’ll be away from my precious computer and internet connection, which means no post on Friday. HOWEVER! I would never abandon you, dear reader–which is why on Monday, I will be putting up a huge mega-post, containing two pieces of brand new art to cover the entire week’s posts. And it is no coincidence that these two new pieces will both be terribly relevant to the wares that I am peddling at Comic-Con.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL–in addition to plugging my own projects, I will also be plugging the projects of my chums and cronies, who will be peddling their own wares at Comic-Con. Please stay tuned!

Post Script: The aforementioned Harry Potter post will go up sometime soon after the convention, probably with a review of the book.

K.J. stands for…

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
As Comic-Con preparations have me somewhat busy, here’s another older piece, done for the cover of a mini-comic called Kid Justice:


click above for larger view

The actual Kid Justice story was written by Josh, drawn by Vinny, and published by Big Boss Comics. Incidentally, the Presidential seal in the background of my cover was snagged from one of Vinny’s panels inside the comic. The story (and a black and white version of my humble cover) are going to be included in a Big Boss Comics anthology, which will be on sale at Comic-Con. More on that (and my other Comic-Con happenings) as Comic-Con gets closer.

Quick Post, and a Plug

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment
(Posted early, as has become my habit…)

From a commisioned project where I was asked to illustrate a few distinct TV characters. First up, Eddie Munster:

click above for larger view

Drawn in pencil and inked with a Tombo brush pen and Sakura microns, meticulously touched up in Photoshop to make it look like I know what I’m doing, and then colored (in Photoshop). This piece is actually a bit older, but I think it holds up decently.

But enough about me–remember this post? Well Charles has completed the mystical fish’s extensive background story, entitled “The Children of Gods,” complete with an appendix explaining some of his references and influences.

It’s really an excellent piece of writing, so go read it! Go!

I don’t actually have a magenta hoodie or red hair… or neon skin… or a turquoise shirt…

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
Taking a break from vector art and He-Man–a self portrait to appease my tremendous ego:
click above for larger view

This started out as kind of a quick random sketch done for the sake of fulfilling my Friday post (hence the self-deprecating word balloon and the super hi-larious t-shirt text). I felt somewhat lukewarm about it, until I stumbled upon the idea of using an abstract color scheme. Now I’m actually pretty happy with it.

The style of this piece resembles an Oekaki, but rather than using a dedicated Oekaki program or interface, I just used the pencil tool in Photoshop to sketch and color this. The simplicity of sketching with the pencil tool is something I’ve been enjoying, and I dig the pixelly pseudo-16-bit look.

Post Script: Perhaps you’ve noticed the advertisement on the sidebar for Skill City? Check it out–it’s free and fun, and… what do you know, my dear friend and longtime crony Jacob designed 90% of the visuals. Seriously, it’s good stuff, and I will gladly play anyone a game of Librum Confundo! My screen name on Skill City is “Ohsnap”–drop by and say hi!

**EDIT** It was brought to my attention that I should have warned people that Skill City is for Windows only. Sorry!

**EDIT#2** For whatever stupid reason, I had comments on this post turned off. I am an idiot. Comment away, if you so desire. Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience!

BONUS POST: Rare Mention of the Day Job

~ J.Ho ~ 8 Comments
My first professional writing credit will be debuting in comic book stores on Wednesday January 31. Before you get too excited, it’s just a 3-pager, and I co-wrote it with my friend and colleague, one Nathan “The Hammer” Hamill. This immediately brings to mind jokes about how many people of a particular brand it takes to change a lightbulb, but nevertheless, we are proud of our efforts. As it is a 3-pager, here is the only panel I can show you that has no spoilers.

In addition to co-writing the story, I pencilled it, and The Hammer colored it. The inks were executed with steady, surgical precision by the one and only Mike Rote. Our story is entitled “Scream A Little Scream” and it appears in Simpsons Super Spectacular #4, published by Bongo Comics: