Ego – Raging

Bye Bye Bongo

~ J.Ho ~ Leave a comment

After 27(!) years I am no longer with Bongo Comics—this news is actually several months old, but I held off posting about it until the last of my work with them was printed. So that’s a wrap for me on bulgy eyeballs and overbites! 

I started at Bongo many (many) moons ago as an intern in college, became a production assistant, then a staff artist, and finally an art director. In my tenure at this job, between comics, collections, foreign editions, exclusives, calendars, and miscellaneous books, I drew something in the neighborhood of *500* covers. 

My career with Bongo covered well over half my life, and literally has been my entire adult life. I’m well aware that this kind of run with one company is not a common story these days, and I’m very grateful that I got this experience.

I came up with the rough idea for this drawing a few years back when I realized I had been on the job for (at the time) half my life. Just wanted a bizarre way to illustrate my career versus my influences/favorites. It had been on the backburner for a bit, but this seemed like a good time to finally finish it and mark the end of an era!

Excited for the next chapter… 

Lo!

~ J.Ho

The good thing about getting a burst capillary and drawing a little cartoon about is that the next time you get a burst capillary you already have a little cartoon ready for it. 🙃 #flashbackfriday

TIGER FEEEEET

~ J.Ho

IDK a dang thing about fashion, but I do know that when you see a pair of sharp looking tiger feet sneakers for half off, you order those dang shoes! 🐯 I’m super excited for the new kicks to arrive even though I probably won’t be wearing them out until after I get vaccinated sometime this summer. 🙃⏳🗓💉

O_O

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been sitting on this info for a bit, and I’m so excited I kind of don’t even know how to say it… the TL;DR version: The Starfleet uniform in “Star Trek: Lower Decks” is based on a design by me! When Mike was creating the pitch for the show, he asked me to design some possible uniforms, and so I did. One of those uniforms is like, 96% the basis for the final design that you see in the show! 😱 So naturally, I drew this to commemorate the occasion! 🤓

Additional background for those who enjoy long rambling historical context: Six years ago, before I ever met Mike, his TNG Season 8 Twitter account was already a viral hit. Dafna and I were starting a Star Trek Zine and she had roped him into writing some tweets for the zine, which I would illustrate. 

The zine was a solid hit, Mike and I met and got along thick as thieves—and a few months later, Mike hired me to illustrate the book version of TNG Season 8, which was later titled “Star Trek The Next Generation: WARPED” (availableonamazonforprimeshippingsorrynotsorry). 

Fast forward a few years, and last night I attended the (virtual) premiere of Mike’s show “Star Trek: Lower Decks”! I can’t believe it! (BY THE WAY, the show is hilarious and beautiful, and chock full of Easter Eggs for hardcore Trek fans! I can’t wait for everyone to watch it! ❤️💛💙)

Art Dumppppp

~ J.Ho

Eek… I haven’t updated in over a year. But it’s never too late! Especially when no one is paying attention! Anywayzzzz…

  • As a kid, scoring a 4-in-1 multi-color pen was like obtaining the Infinity Gauntlet of stationary supplies (before the Infinity Gauntlet was even a thing)! Also, if you can relate to what I just said, you too are an old-ass nerd. ANYWAYSSS here’s an android lady I just made up, equipped with a 4-in-1 multi-tool arm! 😎🖤❤️💙💚🖋
  • Ever since I was a kid I’ve been wondering why BIC’s mascot is SO DAMN TERRIFYING… PS: no one tell this creeper that I was only able to finish this drawing with the aid of a number of non-BIC pens… 🤐

  • Rogue/Ranger specializing in monster photography. 📸
  • Dark Mage on a bargain hunt… 🔮💸💀
  • Gladiator! 💪🐯

  • A totally random smiling shark man from 2014 (yeesh!) that I never got around to posting anywhere. Drawn with red +white color pencils, silver + black markers, and white gel pen on a random cardboard scrap that felt like a good size.
  • Opening panel from the l’il 4-pager (written by my BFF Josh Williamson) for the Adventure Time 2013 Annual! 👑❄️🐧

  • REBEL ALLIANCE 4 LIFE 😤 (I tend to detest photos of myself, but I really liked this photo of me at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, so I only did a *slight* drawover. 😎)
  • Remix of an older group shot of the gang…
  • Some old lineart of Kylo Ren with new colors.
  • That feeling when you suddenly realize you can turn in that last bounty and then relax for a few days! (I understand there is some debate about whether Ortolans have 4 limbs or 2—I went with 4, Kenner style! 🤓)

  • Saurian brandy for a Saurian captain. New colors over old lineart.
  • Quick Counselor Troi warm-up. New colors over old lineart.

  • I’ve had GI Joe on the brain recently, and got an idea for a Storm Shadow redesign that I had to draw! (This is actually my second go at it check the Instagram post for a janky video of my previous attempt plus some in-progress views)
  • For the TL;DR crowd, look, it’s Ironhide & Sparkplug! Yay, we like them, right? For lovers of long rambling: this was one of the first things I ever drew on a Cintiq, 5 years ago. It’s a weird artifact because I was using a Cintiq Companion which I never got the hang of (too heavy and too ungainly) and Manga Studio (aka Clip Studio Paint) which I never got the hang of either (because the Cintiq Companion was so awkward). About a year later I got a desktop Cintiq at ye olde dayjobbe, and I took to that much more intuitively. Over the last five years my work has become mostly digital, and I recently got an Apple Pencil and Procreate (which I am really enjoying) so I think that will push me even further into the completely digital world. I just hope this all ends with me living in the world of Tron.
  • I drew this last Fall—an idea for a different way Pretender Monsters could work. 👹🤖

Lastly, here’s a pandemic postcard…✌️💙

It’s my first real go at a finished drawing with Apple Pencil + Procreate. Really happy with these new tools! ✏️📲

And that, should just about catch me up. Phew. More art coming, I’ll try to post more regularly lololololol sighhhhh. 😅

Profiles In Nerdery

~ J.Ho

I stumbled across this old gem from ye olde daye jobbe, and thought I’d share it. It’s a staff profile of me that appeared in the letters/editorial section of Simpsons Comics circa 2003. ENJOY:

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A few things have changed in the past 10 years… buuut I’m still basically the same nerdy doofus. What can I say,I YAM WHAT I AM, Popeye styles.

Hair and Now

~ J.Ho

 

Something that happened to me at my friend’s wedding. (This is a 93% true story… in the real version, the rhino’s martini didn’t have an olive in it.)

I am a terrible letterer!

Pillow Fortitude

~ J.Ho ~ 4 Comments

This basically really happened. It has been one of those weeks.

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By the way, those throw pillows are based on the actual ones on my couch. YEAH, I’M A DUDE WHO KNOWS HOW TO ACCENT HIS LIVING ROOM, SO WHAT?

This should have gone up on Tuesday. For those keeping track, I have missed a total of 4 posts (that includes Tuesday as well as my previous illness-induced delinquency). Don’t worry about me forgetting to make those posts up, the number is etched in my brain, lit up with the red hot fires of shame.

True Tales of Bronchitis #1

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments

First, I am acknowledging that this post is late.

Second, when I say I’m hacking up Lovecraftian horrors, I really mean it:

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I pencilled this while I was actually sick, and finally got around to inking and coloring it. The lettering, you can see… is a bit jury rigged. I drew the sound effects by hand, and did sloppy lettering in Photoshop. I’m capable of doing a rudimentary version of professional lettering in Illustrator, but I confess, I was just too lazy. In retrospect, I should have simply hand-lettered the dialogue to match the hand-lettered sound effects.

For some time I have been meaning to shift the focus of my blog to begin including sequential art. So, I guess this is the start of that. I honestly can’t claim that I have any idea how this will go, but let’s just see what happens…

Shinobi Me

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment

So first I drew myself as a Naruto-style ninja, and then Jazyl did the same. This got Jazyl, Dylan, and myself talking about drawing ourselves as a Naruto-style three-man ninja cell.

We talked about our characters a little, Jazyl continued to refine his design, and I even pencilled my avatar out (though I never scanned it and therefore never showed anyone). But as happens, we all kind of got busy and forgot about it. That was 3 years ago, and last week Jazyl posted this:

click above to visit Jazyl’s gallery

 
BAM! Such an awesome piece, that I’m totally honored to be portrayed in (that’s me on the right with the mohawk, naturally). Please do yourselves a favor and check out Jazyl’s Deviant Art gallery, he’s a great illustrator!

So, the gauntlet has been thrown–now Dylan and I both need to draw a group shot of the three of us as ninjas. For me, the first step of that process is finally inking up and coloring the picture I drew of my own shinobi avatar:

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The original story for our characters was that we were going to be ninjas from the village of Hidden Wacom. Three deadly digital art ninjas, if you will. As you can see, my avatar is armed with ancient relics–a Wacom Graphire II tablet (shoulder), along with a stylus (pendant), and mouse (hand guard). And yes, for those who are wondering, I’m still rocking all my digital art with a Graphire II from like 1999.

This is a more basic design, so I will probably change things up when I draw the completed group shot. I feel like the bar has been raised! Also, Jazyl has developed the story more, and now he has assigned our ninjas to the village of Hidden Paint, which definitely sounds classier. In the end, each piece will be it’s own take on the matter, but I think that’s the fun part. I’m making the ninja group shot a short-term goal, so stay tuned–more on this as it develops!