X-Ray Studios

So I guess I should do what other people are doing and post information about where you can find Eric and myself during the week long madness that is San Diego ComicCon.

We will be doing a daily signing session at the SLG booth. That's the awesome booth right next to the DC Comics booth. Hard to miss.

Thursday 1:00-2:30
Friday 11:30 - 1:00
Saturday 5:00-7:00
Sunday 11:00-12:30

Additionally, Eric and I will be participating in two panels:

Friday:

4:30-5:30 - Spotlight on Landry Walker and Eric Jones— The creative team behind SLG Publishing's Little Gloomy series and the recent Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade for DC Comics discuss all of their work, past and present, including the upcoming run on Batman: The Brave and the Bold series. Landry Walker and Eric Jones discuss the pitfalls of working on all-ages books as well as developing their own properties for animation. Room 3

Sunday:

1:30-2:30 Comics and Graphic Novels for All Ages- It’s true! There’s a wealth of great comic books series and graphic novels out there for comics-loving kids of all ages-so much so, that Comic-Con presents its second big panel of the day on the topic! Moderator Randy Duncan (co-chair of the Comics Arts Conference) talks with Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Eric Jones and Landry Walker (Supergirl, Little Gloomy), Jeff Smith (Bone), and Alexis Fajardo (Kid Beowulf) about comics for everyone!
Room 3

...

Yup. That's where we will be. Come see us. Discuss things with us. If you attend, I will whisper to you the one true secret to successfully gaining employment into the comics industry. Maybe.

And don't forget, we will have limited edition signed prints. First come first serve.


 
We will also have a variety of comics on hand to sell and to sign. Trade paperback collections of Tron: The Ghost in the Machine and The Super Scary Monster Show. Not to mention an assortment of issues of Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade.

Spend!

I said I would be posting the last installment of this blog series tomorrow. This is true. But that doesn't mean I can't post something today as well. So here I am. Posting.

First up we have some more Supergirl.



Yup. That sure is Supergirl. Note: These images have been slapped together kinda randomly. All of the above were drawn before the series began, with the exception of the bit with Comet the Super Horse. I think that one was drawn last fall, well after production on the series was under way.

Now, one thing that's been all over the internet lately is the issue of Supergirl's shorts. Not my Supergirl, mind you. No... I'm talking about the mainstream DC comics Supergirl currently crafted by comics creators Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle.

That Supergirl, long considered overly sexy, has recently taken to wearing bike shorts under her skirt. We first saw this with the work of Renato Guede.

And more recently with the work of Jamal Igle.

Of course, our Supergirl wears tights under her skirt, so we circumvented the controversy a bit. Just a bit, mind you. There were websites chock full of outrage over the tights (though mostly over her lack of boobs). But it wasn't as bad, mainly (I think) because our Supergirl is younger. Therefore people felt a little creepier vocalizing their outrage. Also, there is the out of continuity aspect. People were less offended as the "real" Supergirl wasn't the one wearing tights. To that I just roll my eyes. I am not a believer in slavish dedication to continuity. And I'm not willing to buy in to the notion that one execution of the character is inherently more important.

Anyway, neither Eric or my myself came up with the tights. Those were introduced by Rikki Simons during the pitch process. Rikki provided color samples and I gave him two choices. Full blue dress, or red skirt. He took creative control and went with red skirt and blue tights. We loved it immediately. It made sense. Our Supergirl is young, inexperienced, insecure and unsure. A short hand to show this lack of confidence is for her to cover herself up a bit more modestly. So with that in mind, it was a very conscious choice to have Belinda Zee fly around without tights. The choice in uniform for a character is not one of fashion. We shouldn't look around and justify our decisions based off of current trends. The uniform should reflect the psychology of the person behind the uniform. Therefore advancing the story. Writing isn't just the placement of words or even the construction of a plot. It's everything. Every nuance. Every camera angle. Every expression.

And to weigh in on the shorts controversy. I like the choice. It allows Igle to draw more fluidly, with more energy. But more importantly it suggests that the "real" Supergirl has grown up a little. So the decision works visually and subtly.

Alright, tomorrow I will post the original 3 images that landed Eric and I the Supergirl job. Be warned: they are nothing like what appears in the book.

But for now, I will leave you with what I had in mind before I concocted the concept of the Moon Gang. I have a thing for imaginary rabbits.


I'm a big Captain Carrot fan. Origially, I considered a different direction with Supergirl's imaginary world. But Eric and I (along with artist Mike Shoyket) had just explored something similar in Tron: The Ghost in the Machine. Subsequently, a different direction was required.

Enter the Moon Gang. Blatantly inspired by our brief time working with the Beagle Boy's on a re-imagining of Scrooge McDuck.



You haven't seen the last of them. Mark my words.

San Diego Comic Con is almost upon us. Subsequently, Eric has illustrated two limited edition prints. These were meticulously colored at the last minute by long time collaborator Rikki Simons.



These will be signed and numbered and about 11 x 17. We'll mostly be camped out at the SLG booth, which is right next to the DC booth. I know that many people who read this blog will not be able to attend the convention, unfortunately we really, really cannot distribute these outside of a very limited number (for promotional purposes) during the show.

For those here for a specific purpose: The last entry of the Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures art blog will be posted on Friday.

So... Here we are again.

As promised, here is the start of the Supergirl artwork.



It has been a crazy week. I've been working on multiple projects at once. that's unusual for me. Subsequently I'm very tired. But that's not what you want to hear, is it? No... You just want to know about Supergirl.

One thing Eric and I knew as soon as we got the job was that Supergirl had to be played large, emotionally speaking. Her excitement and her stress, all had to be bigger than life. That way, when we would bring her emotions down to a quieter level, it would have more impact. More gravity.

It also goes along way to showing her age. I've heard it said that realistic teenagers are portrayed as sullen and surly. I don't think that's realistic at all. Can teenagers be surly and sullen? Sure. But not all the time and not all of them. And most importantly, it's not how teenagers see themselves.

That's a pitfall as an adult writer. When you start thinking that how you see things is how things actually are. The way a teenager interacts with me and how a teenager interacts with their peers are two different things. I may not be a teenager now, but I was one once. And I have a memory that can border on the photographic. I recall my teenage years vividly, as if I were watching them play out in front of me. And I must say, not everything should be recalled with such clarity.

Point is: Teenagers aren't just overcome with negative emotions. They're overcome with positive emotions as well. They're easily excitable and easily embarrassed. Imagine you're just as you are now, but you've never known sorrow or joy. You feel those things for the first time, you can barely contain yourself. It's overwhelming and amazing and horrible. That's being a teenager. And so we attempted to instill this in the character of Supergirl.

When we first meet Supergirl, she's still 12 years old. We wanted her in 8th grade, but still not quite a teenager when she debuts on Earth. Some people (mostly those who did not read the book) suggested that this was an attempt to make the character more "kiddie". Not the case. We brought Supergirl back to her roots. If you read her earliest adventures, she is portrayed as 15. But she acts significantly younger than any 15 year old I've ever known. A modern audience would have some difficulty accepting a 15 or 16 year old girl acting as young as Supergirl was when she was introduced. So we felt we could remain truer to the origins of the character by making her a bit younger.

I also didn't want to bog the story down with a tiresome exploration of teenage hormones. Frankly, it's been done to death. And if the character were older, I think it would have been necessary to make it a focus. As it was, I included the "Buzz" poster in issue 5 for multiple reasons.

1: Peter David told me I should put Buzz in somewhere. I am not going to argue with him.

2: Having this bit of Earth culture hanging over Linda Lee's bed suggests an acclimation to Earth culture that was utterly absent in issue one.

3: Having a pop-star poster on the wall suggests that teenage-girl hormones aren't absent. They're simply not the focus.

Going back to the choice of age, it was a surprisingly difficult choice. I felt 12 was a little young for 8th grade, until I did the math and realized that I was 12 at the very start of said school year. So I thought, why not have her birthday in September (as is mine), so she becomes 13 just after she starts school?

A little research turned up the fact that Supergirl has an official birthday, and it's September 22nd. Serendipity is awesome.

About the art: This is a good example of how drawing comics isn't just about on model imagery or marketable design. It's not just about drawing someone being punched by someone. It's about acting. The character must show the emotion and energy of the scene. That's more important and more sophisticated a story telling device than explaining the feelings through text. So in the majority of the above images, that's what Eric was focusing on. Acting.

I included one image that doesn't really fit the rest. Supergirl floating with her hands on her hips. It's the image that DC chose to use to announce the series. To be honest, Eric never intended that drawing to be publicly released. certainly not in any form other than perhaps this after the fact examination. It was off model within a few days of it being drawn and was not our favorite shot. But, as the book did well, we can't really complain.

Wednesday: More behind the scenes of the Pre-Teen Powerhouse! The truth behind why our Supergirl wears tights! Some other stuff I have yet to think about because I'm tired!

The link below leads to a wonderful Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures fan written story I recently came across. The most striking part for me was how clear the voice of Belinda Zee came through, despite me not having anything to do with this. There's a bit of ego tied in with these characters... they exist in my head. That's where they were born and that is where they will always live.

But that's ego. The truth is that a talented writer can take the characters and bring them to life. As exhibited below:

mithen.livejournal.com

The scene that plays out, and some of the perspectives held by the characters does not necessarily match how I would portray things. Nor should it. This is a well executed extrapolation from the mind of another writer. I think she does a very good job and I hope she chooses to write more in the future.

Yeah, I know that behind the scenes of Supergirl would be posted next. But my plan was always to make that post on Monday. Today is Saturday. So think of this as a bonus, not a detour.

So this is what a full page of pencils from Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures looks like.



This is page 21 from issue 5, to be precise. Here's a look at the same page, completed and printed:



Eric draws each panel on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. I take that stack of paper and scan it, Eric then assembles the page on Photoshop. I print it out at about 9 x 15 and he lightboxes the inks onto a piece of bristol board.

Don't ask me why it's done this way. I have no idea.

Then end result is stacks and stacks and stacks of paper. And since Eric has never sold any original art, and also not boxed it up and taken it out of my house, I get to live with it. All of it. Too much of it, really.

The upside is I have full access to it and get these opportunities to share.

So... Monday. Supergirl. The start of it anyway. There's more of her to see than any of the other characters, so I expect I will break up the images over a few posts.

Today I will post images of Belinda Zee.



See. Told you.

Belinda is notable as she is really the only original character we introduced to the Supergirl mythos. Admittedly, our version of Lena Thorul seems to have very little in common with the original version. But still...

Obviously, Belinda Zee's name is also a take off of Supergirl's secret identity, Linda Lee. Not quite as obvious is the fact that her name was also inspired by my fiance's name: Belinda Lee.

I've also seen it mentioned that she seems to have some common elements to Grant Morrison's Zibarro. What with the non-Bizarro like speech patterns and the color scheme and the prominent "Z" in the name... Coinicedence. I won't lie. I think All-Star Superman is one of the best books out there. But I didn't read it until a few months ago. In fact, I rarely read comics anymore. That's changing a bit... out of necessity more than anything else.

The design of Belinda was partially inspired by Archie Comics character, Veronica Lodge. A little of her temperament springs from this source as well. Belinda is a fun character to write. She's not exactly evil, and she certainly isn't good. Her emotional state of being is on a hair trigger. Essentially, she's an agent of chaos. Chaotic neutral, if I must let my roots as a D&D geek show.

The images here of her as Superiorgirl are Eric's original take on the concept. But I was looking more for the mirror image feel, so we switched to classic Bizarro look, with the mask. The mask was specifically inspired by the Silver Age appearance of an evil Superman, who was indistinguishable from the good version, except for his domino mask.

I didn't really realize just how common Supergirl doppelgangers were until after we had put the Belinda Zee wheels in motion. I'm not sure I would have done it differently anywaey. Anyone who has read much of our work will know that doppelgangers are a fairly common theme. Our Tron comic has a character who deals with multiple versions of himself. Seems natural in a universe with copy and paste functions. Little Gloomy has met two different doppelgangers in the pages of Super Scary Monster Show, and Kid Gravity once met his parallel universe twin named Kid Anti-Gravity in the pages of Disney Adventures magazine.

Evil duplicates are nothing new. But they're always fun. Belinda Zee was alot of fun to work with. From her arrogant sassiness, to her vulnerable emotional outbursts. Fun.

Again I bring you artwork from the depths of time. Almost a year and a half ago, to be precise.

First up is Streaky the Supercat. I just happened to have inherited a young cat about the time I began working on this. Her name is JoJo and she is made of razors and barbed wire. She's tamed a bit now. With me, anyway. Everyone else she still wants to see bleed. Anyway, she was the inspiration for this version of Streaky, and Eric designed Streaky accordingly.




I mean really. If a cat were to gain super powers, we would all be in serious trouble.

Next up: Brainiac 5. Brainy was never seen in the series. Originally he was planned to have a major role, but the only limitation given to us by DC was to not use Brainiac 5. At the time, he was a major player in the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st century book so I can understand why. The sketches below were done before Eric and I found this out, and truthfully, he wasn't quite done cooking. But unlike most of the other characters, we're not able to compare with a final version. Ah well. This was as far as we got with Brainy. Maybe Eric can be persuaded to draw a more up to date version just for this blog.

It was nice to have him working behind the scenes, even if he's not actually an active particpant in the story. It seemed very Brainiac 5 to me. To send Supragirl back in time with specific instructions to involve herself in events with some basic misinformation. Maybe someday I'll get to tell the story of why he did that, beyond the obvious "stop Mxyzptlk from destroying all reality" thing. Because it's never quite that simple with Braniac 5. His plans run very deep.

That's it for now. Next up? Maybe Superman and Zor El. Probably Monday. Depends on my mood.

The preview has been updated, and now dialog is present. Hoo-ray.



You can see the updated preview here.

A five page preview has been posted to Newsarama. The preview doesn't include page one of the book. Also, the preview does not seem to include the dialog. My understanding is that should be fixed today.

I was told I couldn't talk about our Supergirl book or post this cover image until the solicitation. So here is the image. Though most people interested in the world of Supergirl enough to read this blog have probably already seen it.



SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE EIGHTH GRADE #1
Written by Landry Walker
Art and cover by Eric Jones
Meet Linda Lee! She's the newest kid on the block - and the planet, too! Find out how an ordinary girl from Krypton became the most extraordinary girl on Earth in the pages of this brand new monthly series. And if you think life is tough as a hero, try being in the eighth grade.
On sale December 3. 32 pg, FC, $2.50 US