ShadowBox Comics has been on my mind for a few years now.  I’ve written a few other articles laying the groundwork for this project, but it’s moving along a bit slower than I would like it to be.  So here’s the story.

I’ve been an exhibitor at comic book conventions for 3 years now, but I’ve never worked on a comic book.  I’m am so thrilled that I’ve been able to work with Lucasfilm and make new art for Star Wars, that I figured that comics would be the next big hurdle for me to conquer.  When I looked into what it would take to be a comic book artist, I was completely overwhelmed.  There are so many talented artists and writers out there I felt like I just couldn’t compete with them.  So I decided I would have to figure out a way to stand out in the crowd.

I’ve had a good response to the ShadowBoxes that I make, so I figure that I could try and apply that attention to a comic book reader.  Most digital comics are simple image viewers and don’t really take advantage of the device to show off the comic.  So I looked back at the traditional animation technique of using a Multiplane camera to create a multiplane comic on the iPad.  Check out the video below to see a sample.

You can see another video where I explain a bit more of the history of the multiplane camera and how I came to create ShadowBox Comics here, and a demo on the iPhone here.

 The iPad application launched right before the San Diego ComicCon in July of 2010 followed by the iPhone version in November.  So far it has been well received.  Like I said earlier, there are so many talented artists out there, perhaps I can now use ShadowBox Comics as a platform to launch other comic titles.  We’re working on a new site now with an online store and hope to start launching individual comic apps within the next few months.

I’ve read Batman, Spider-Man, and X-Men comics, but I never really got into Hard Core.  I don’t have any complete sets of comics from my childhood.  I didn’t go down to the comic shop, or put every comic in a protective sleeve with a cardboard back so that it would remain in MINT condition.  I read them, but I was a lot more interested in cartoons and Atari games than I was in comics.

I got an iPod Touch in November of 2008, and I started reading comics again.  I downloaded the iVerse Media app that is now called Comics+ and there I discovered Atomic Robo.  The hook was simple, smart-mouthed Adventuring Action Scientist Robot.  The first comic of the Six part series was free, and I’ve bought them all now, digitally.  I loved the way that the iPod touch application would adapt to the reading experience.  If I was holding it vertically, I could see the whole page, but rotating it into the horizontal position would take me panel by panel.

 The company Comixology has a patented “Guided View” technology that’s pretty awesome, but I had my library in Comics+ and I couldn’t transfer it to Comixology.  There in lies one of the many problems of digital comics.  I bought it, but I really didn’t “Get” anything.

I upgraded to the iPad2 and really like the larger screen and when I updated my app on the iPad, all my comics came right in, but the Comics+ app didn’t work the same as it did on the iPod Touch.  I wasn’t able to rotate the device and get a panel by panel shot.  The term “Pan and Scan” is an apt description of my experience.  For those who may not know that term, it was used to described the process of editing a Widescreen move down to fit on our Square TVs.  You that phrase at the beginning of  the VHS tape that said “…modified to fit your screen”?  I think I lost a few of you out there on that old tech.  ANYWAYS, I was not happy with the reading experience.  THEN, I started filling up my iPad and I deleted some comics, and now it looks like I can’t get them back.

I think that Marvel has found a solution for this.  You buy the comic, and it comes with a code that you can download the digital comic at no extra cost.  The publishers are even starting to layout the panels in the comics to work better with the iPad.  So, this has been my experience with getting back into comics.  Next up I’ll tell you more about how I would improve the digital comics by becoming my own publisher.

To complete Duct Taped Avenger costume, we decided to make the helmet/mask.  I started with a grocery bag over my sons head, but I warned all of the other children that we DON’T put bags on our heads!  I put some tape around the eyes and nose to work to define the shape of the mask.  I drew the eye holes on it (added some pupils for fun), then cut out the eyes.

I added some vertical strips of tape to the nose to define the bridge and the brow line for the mask.  I used smaller pieces of tape and around the eyes and then wrapped the extra tape through the eye hole to make a clean edge.  Then I cut the tape and angled it on to block out the shape of the ear holes and the back of the helmet.

With the head covered with the blue tape, I cut out some strips of white to make the details for the “A”.

Then we added the “Wings” on the sides, a chin strap, and then outside for some photos in the full costume

Last a little video overview and seeing the shield in action.  In the video I talked about the costume being tacked together with “glue” and I meant to say tape.  ;P

I love that books are getting the full blown media treatment.  It makes sense that if you’re going to put the time and effort and money into a project, that you would work to create all sorts of support material.  Just because books are a low-tech entertainment medium, doesn’t mean that they can’t have a high-tech marketing campaign.  If you’ve got a story that you want the world to know about, the best thing to do is to create a shareable media package like a video or a wallpaper, or print image, and then put it on the net.  Remember the awesome Missle Mouse Comic?  So with that said, I’m doing my part to promote a project that I think is pretty cool (and not JUST because it reminds me of the fantastic shadow boxes that I make).  Go and check out the video trailer promoting the new Millennium Falcon book from Scholastic. It was written by Ryder Windham and includes art by Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff and the video features the Keeper of the Holocron himself, Leland Chee.

And while we’re on the subject, you should also check out this video for the Jedi Path by Dan Wallace and Illustrated by Jeff Carlisle, Chris Reiff, and Chris Trevas.

Long before I’d ever heard of Jake Parker I was a fan of the artwork created by Agent 44.  I felt like Lois Lane when I finally connected the dots and found that these two were the same person!

I feel a certain kinship to Jake.  You see, he’s doing the things that I wanted to do.  He got that job at the animation studio and used the opportunity to learn everything he could.  He realized early on that the only work that is going to be steady is the work that you make for yourself.  He’s taken all of this talent and all connections and has put it together in his very first solo graphic novel. The following video was put together by Darren Rawlings.

you can hear the podcast below or click on the image to visit the site.

You can also head over toAmazon and pre-order this book.  I’ve got mine!

There has been a bit of a fuss lately about Star Wars Zombies. Several of us artists were involved in Zombie Week on the main site at StarWars.com leading up to the release of the Dell Ray book Death Troopers. This was followed by the Clone Wars episode “Legacy of Terror” about the Jedi’s return to Geonosis to face the Queen and her horde of undead warriors. I had mentioned this trend to my friends the Fillbach brothers to which they replied, “Well, we did it first.”

Matt and Shawn are quickdraw cartoon cowboy guns for hire. They have been working on many different comic projects including the Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures digest sized books. In volume 9 fist printed in Oct. of 2007 there is a story written and illustrated by the Fillbach brothers called “No Way Out”. In this story Mace Windu is looking for a missing squad of Clone Troopers and comes across the Countess Rajine and her ZOMBIE ARMY!

So I went over the Old Navy to get some new shirts (I left some hanging up in my last Hotel room and SURPRISE! the can’t be found by the hotel staff).  While I was there I notices some really fun t-shirts with Marvel characters printed on them.  I’ve been looking into obtaining the license to create some new art work from a movie, so I found myself wondering how much Old Navy paid Marvel to be able to make the shirts.  I haven’t found anything about the amount for the deal, but I was surprised by the comic book that they gave me.

So, there is a promotion going on that coincides with Marvel’s 70th anniversary.  From Aug. 8-17 shoppers who purchase a Marvel T-shirt will receive a limited-edition reprint of the first appearance of Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15.  (I actually got the book without the Marvel purchase.)  Here’s the comic reprinted exclusively for Old Navy.

So I’m reading through the story, remembering how in the original story Peter Parker made his own webslinging equipment and then I see it.  Peter Parker in his room working on his costume, just hanging out in his OLD NAVY T-SHIRT!!!!  I always thought that Petey was a bit geeky and wore a lot of button up shirts with pocket protectors, but there it was starring me in the face.  The revisionist history of Spider-man clearly shows that Pete was a fan of Old Navy.

It reminds me of this subtle bit of Product Placement from the 1992 film Wayne’s World.

Here it is!  I’ve just finished the mini-poster for my own personal project titled, “s.a.m.M13″.  I’ll have 100 of these 5.5 x 8.5 prints to hand out next week at the San Diego Comic-Con.  If all goes well, I may even have some prototype toys as well!  The series production will begin after next weeks convention with the initial focus being on the production of a game.  I know it sounds like a big deal but the truth is that it’s going to be a TON of work doing this all on my own.  I’ll be posting more about the production here as I develops samM13’s site.  Wish me luck!

*because it’s a spy themed series, I couldn’t help but use the movie poster for Thunderball as reference.  :D 

I found this link on the World Superhero Registry’s website under the section for Tutorials.  I think that this animated gif is going to give me a headache.

Hero at Large is a 1980 comedy film starring John Ritter and Anne Archer.  Ritter plays the part of Steve Nichols a struggling actor.  He takes a job posing as comic-book hero Captain Avenger at comics stores and conventions.  On his way home from one of these appearances and finds his life unexpectedly complicated when he stops a robbery while wearing the costume of Captain Avenger.  He’s feeling pretty good about helping people and continue trying to be a superhero only to discover that the superhero life is more complex than he initially thought.

I’ve always thought that the idea behind this movie was pretty interesting.  Anybody can see the news and see the crime going on all around us.  It would appear that there are real life super-villains, so why not have some real life super heroes?  This leads me to the World Super Hero Registry.

I saw an article on Gizmodo about people dressing up to help out with patrolling and protecting their neighborhoods.  Both Rolling Stone and the Times Online have written about the US’s superhero phenomenon. Labeled by some as a post-9/11 response and apparently spurred by Obama’s call for “active citizenry,” everyday people are dressing up in spandex to patrol the streets in a manner reminiscent of The Watchmen.