tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21659666857767836042024-03-13T12:35:40.120-04:00Don Simpson, Freelancer!™Hits and Misses from a Career in Cartooning!Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-115318713451530122022-09-20T11:11:00.003-04:002022-09-20T11:11:37.374-04:00Marvel's Open Space #3 (1990)<p>In late 1989, I illustrated a Will Shetterly story for the short-lived Marvel Graphics series <i>Open Space</i>, an experiment in a shared science-fiction universe packaged in an anthology "prestige" format, and issued under an imprint separate from the mainline Marvel superhero universe.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure how I landed the assignment, but I'm sure it had something to do with my science fiction series <a href="https://borderworlds.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Border Worlds</i></a>, which began as a color back-up in <i>Megaton Man</i> and became a moody, "mature readers" black-and-white series. Carol Kalish was the nominal editor of <i>Open Space</i>, but I mostly dealt with assistant editor Kurt Busiek, who was unknown to me at the time (this was long before he wrote the groundbreaking <i>Marvels</i>).</p><p>I had already met Will and his lovely partner Emma Bull at a memorable
convention in St. Paul, Minnesota in late 1985 or early 1986 (run by the
late John Annunziata, on whom I based a nameless "snitch" character in <i>Megaton Man</i> #6 and subsequently drew as <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-comic-warrior-lost-simpson-story.html" target="_blank">The Comics Warrior</a>, the namesake of his store). <br /></p><p></p><p>I don't remember much about the original script (my copy is now lost); I don't believe I ever discussed the story with Will before or even after publication. But the editors must have like what I did well enough, because I drew another story in the series which never saw print because it was canceled. I do recall a huge "Bible" being sent to me along with the script: over 200 pages, photocopied, explaining the backstory of the universe, the various planets and star systems, the general organization of the political structure of the society, etc. </p><p>I don't know how well the shared universe concept was carried out throughout the series; I imagine it was cumbersome, given that virtually each story was a stand-alone with different creative teams responsible for only a tiny portion and few, if any, continuing characters. Admittedly, I only read the stories I was assigned to illustrate, although my sense is there was a bit too much emphasis on consistency and continuity between the stories and not enough on imaginative adventures in and of themselves (although I seem to recall these concerns weighed and discussed).</p><p>Somewhere I remember reading a description of a planet (either in the Bible or in the script for this strip) as having 83 percent of the gravity of earth; that detail always stuck in mind simply because it seems so utterly trivial and beside the point. Stories, after all, should have human interest, in other words, emotion, not simply be compiled from formulaic recipes of made-up scientific facts.<br /></p><p>I still possess most of the original artwork for the story (I don't believe I ever got the colored bluelines back), so please contact me if interested in acquiring a page.</p><p><a href="https://donaldesimpson.blogspot.com/2022/09/lise-and-drake-taboo-space-opera.html" target="_blank">Elsewhere, I will comment</a> on the significance this story had on my subsequent career. But for now, enjoy the artwork.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqlzMcM1LP15byAzxIn_ckPY8SGMdCOfe_A5nOt9CLKz57vsbgfGRd_OXeGnQ-RSy35GsIVRDytumo4qqcLlxm1rcraBxtl9qdWSUwpIpYPVPc6UUJTiAchZyqD0iTgxJQR8ySn103tq2ghu7AIYPN5EBKPIh4HYH4gqTiQYo8oEb-coqT5C2uXoNN/s2933/Lise%20and%20Drake%2001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2933" data-original-width="1868" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqlzMcM1LP15byAzxIn_ckPY8SGMdCOfe_A5nOt9CLKz57vsbgfGRd_OXeGnQ-RSy35GsIVRDytumo4qqcLlxm1rcraBxtl9qdWSUwpIpYPVPc6UUJTiAchZyqD0iTgxJQR8ySn103tq2ghu7AIYPN5EBKPIh4HYH4gqTiQYo8oEb-coqT5C2uXoNN/s320/Lise%20and%20Drake%2001.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNERAmZcz3z0atShmku90wMKdoHmgrQSNX2KEStFcJzE6lu_X5wkDGRjU0ec1G2S2y4B-5Ozg8yX1TONLR9AP__sFYcn3GSDLZJExHLzzAwpIqJdfGzEcWIDgLDPSuHM3gxgCpgnSI7-tk8iORFIZSWivitIza9o7ZiOxZDRbCg1641Z_WdUTXZyRI/s3886/Lise%20and%20Drake%2002-03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2979" data-original-width="3886" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNERAmZcz3z0atShmku90wMKdoHmgrQSNX2KEStFcJzE6lu_X5wkDGRjU0ec1G2S2y4B-5Ozg8yX1TONLR9AP__sFYcn3GSDLZJExHLzzAwpIqJdfGzEcWIDgLDPSuHM3gxgCpgnSI7-tk8iORFIZSWivitIza9o7ZiOxZDRbCg1641Z_WdUTXZyRI/s320/Lise%20and%20Drake%2002-03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhT8NfJwjVu_3cZ2Nj1p_8XKaa8JavoD_cg0IzBfsM3lDofzQXDjcmA9Zgw18Fb8ugGwFnkfpPw8rNiI9QwnjkMR7zBAjI7H41hdC7dAH41Iz1NzydwC8ynZy4Tdm7q4R6Sgfq2S6j8zlBGFGXvC-EtgYB-itJQEdbpQ737zrr5qrAJ6O_PLV8WX8/s3886/Lise%20and%20Drake%2004-05.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2985" data-original-width="3886" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhT8NfJwjVu_3cZ2Nj1p_8XKaa8JavoD_cg0IzBfsM3lDofzQXDjcmA9Zgw18Fb8ugGwFnkfpPw8rNiI9QwnjkMR7zBAjI7H41hdC7dAH41Iz1NzydwC8ynZy4Tdm7q4R6Sgfq2S6j8zlBGFGXvC-EtgYB-itJQEdbpQ737zrr5qrAJ6O_PLV8WX8/s320/Lise%20and%20Drake%2004-05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-HDL_IEA4pfZBXIeLbbQVIhK4042-gMl0pEAOQJmcKfx1wAFDvjEmho4M116zGZ8A-O3woR1RJ6tHnix8GqsvlivQ1eXKB4e8KoA8uDm_hQQ3MC2mb71TwdraEmKXwJMGQo85jp1ZOkowB0fl3kq6TS6cQCFc34xYouidCe6jji2GfOiLDXIHWmL/s3876/Lise%20and%20Drake%2006-07.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2979" data-original-width="3876" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-HDL_IEA4pfZBXIeLbbQVIhK4042-gMl0pEAOQJmcKfx1wAFDvjEmho4M116zGZ8A-O3woR1RJ6tHnix8GqsvlivQ1eXKB4e8KoA8uDm_hQQ3MC2mb71TwdraEmKXwJMGQo85jp1ZOkowB0fl3kq6TS6cQCFc34xYouidCe6jji2GfOiLDXIHWmL/s320/Lise%20and%20Drake%2006-07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlqHUQ_oX50WW72XfC-WJuOi8VDBPGg_HfdXX6CoX92DCG3Y2G2UFmdBOVeB5w63XdDe6rjqJv-xGDCzs4dLHNmWl7uHcQFAB8m_H7HA2wom-wTNz1S8Ci5M1wLuUpwfPSCjBgkVN6XBQD4VnlQ8BquN_BTw3x6LdEfqZtKAxoKQHGK-MKMOZSC8w/s3869/Lise%20and%20Drake%2008-09.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitszTy53_-GC97fQeAVw5C3XjaN02JZWnGXHqPULYARuQ6N5g7Lsw3Bc8tJkR7IDMMlxkqAGM3gmZIKb8aXWLgRdLNh39WBnIYTlq9gSgcjw0Wx007DsIV_zqUmMiN028WdMuwkFf4-P6lzJGfjP7v6JFrx3ZDwT_wpVVl68ja24YMdxoODDWfWFws/s3887/Lise%20and%20Drake%2012-13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2973" data-original-width="3887" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitszTy53_-GC97fQeAVw5C3XjaN02JZWnGXHqPULYARuQ6N5g7Lsw3Bc8tJkR7IDMMlxkqAGM3gmZIKb8aXWLgRdLNh39WBnIYTlq9gSgcjw0Wx007DsIV_zqUmMiN028WdMuwkFf4-P6lzJGfjP7v6JFrx3ZDwT_wpVVl68ja24YMdxoODDWfWFws/s320/Lise%20and%20Drake%2012-13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo0YwaD5WiWyUVdGkzaW4PjTTa_SXUGOwT_kRtuWA9a7qAqJpA6OV5b0tDBAQ3ysyt5cJO9t28mBlxX8BvM4D8ntm0NvH4wQ5IuiNLT_wqCa90ylWBLSZFhPktfBWuHAN6XFwaAaJqWFfvBf6mKc5fVKetxC3qusg8HfylXZO2DFRN4YI2LIdrHVv/s3906/Lise%20and%20Drake%2014-15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2967" data-original-width="3906" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo0YwaD5WiWyUVdGkzaW4PjTTa_SXUGOwT_kRtuWA9a7qAqJpA6OV5b0tDBAQ3ysyt5cJO9t28mBlxX8BvM4D8ntm0NvH4wQ5IuiNLT_wqCa90ylWBLSZFhPktfBWuHAN6XFwaAaJqWFfvBf6mKc5fVKetxC3qusg8HfylXZO2DFRN4YI2LIdrHVv/s320/Lise%20and%20Drake%2014-15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxkUaTEUy3SfiOTzsg7Ax6eIHt8f17AIMnMSQBrYCM9Pto0rw9nkPR6ooQTAbJmZK69owI2OdOtGO9VsYlbx-riX2H1j3H8JrPHYLH7Aadvows3o-TyWGmCvZM1AxJbg6Bqtg8VuqacrXiO2FJ51lDpLNA_NKVYOjrdpRK4bpNFKMulw4if_BTjxE/s3912/Lise%20and%20Drake%2016-17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="3912" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxkUaTEUy3SfiOTzsg7Ax6eIHt8f17AIMnMSQBrYCM9Pto0rw9nkPR6ooQTAbJmZK69owI2OdOtGO9VsYlbx-riX2H1j3H8JrPHYLH7Aadvows3o-TyWGmCvZM1AxJbg6Bqtg8VuqacrXiO2FJ51lDpLNA_NKVYOjrdpRK4bpNFKMulw4if_BTjxE/s320/Lise%20and%20Drake%2016-17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="1961" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGw1tZmCozxeTc2T1yD47ymGy139prdK1E5pr13C2Le2xe4VeqeC0aK0NvqqgWZ52Cdo1Vdd69dPdiQcC_vpgIk526ZSBpH6EjzybfVigzQhRPTI4T1vQDL5xrba9CXg-DCCfvZ5KjVhI5SnUDqrNOFVCVj5IujoZlXFdnPF36rXt2Fm_GPQ8wZ1w-/w261-h400/Lise%20and%20Drake%2020.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">________<br />
Read my YA prose novel, <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/"><i>The Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series</i></a>! New chapter every Friday.</span></p>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-6301973118042555162021-08-03T18:27:00.000-04:002021-08-03T18:27:02.153-04:00Graphics for a Ghetto Tale!<p>Around 2015, I was asked to illustrate a non-fiction story based on the Holocaust for a non-profit org here in Pittsburgh (the true story was made into a movie not very long ago). Written by a Xeric Award-winner, I attempted an early Jack Kirby style, which seemed suited to the strip, along with a certain Old Testament look to some of the women. The computer lettering was applied later, so here is a look at the art without text. Enjoy!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cBhbsVaPAes/YQnCLuaoWjI/AAAAAAAAJWU/enchaBRk0WUp3-Gsk4smzZhzwTwLSktBACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bielski%2Bp%2B01%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1358" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cBhbsVaPAes/YQnCLuaoWjI/AAAAAAAAJWU/enchaBRk0WUp3-Gsk4smzZhzwTwLSktBACLcBGAsYHQ/w265-h400/Bielski%2Bp%2B01%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5fjSBF0o8nQ/YQnCJvLD9lI/AAAAAAAAJWM/IFMxePTJaO8Q8mjSkd28xfq9oZ2kCV7RgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bielski%2Bp%2B02%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5fjSBF0o8nQ/YQnCJvLD9lI/AAAAAAAAJWM/IFMxePTJaO8Q8mjSkd28xfq9oZ2kCV7RgCLcBGAsYHQ/w266-h400/Bielski%2Bp%2B02%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_uTEAO47yc0/YQnCKxtudCI/AAAAAAAAJWQ/TIWsqiUR-kcf7WivLV9A8RyA23alJGFzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bielski%2Bp%2B03%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1355" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_uTEAO47yc0/YQnCKxtudCI/AAAAAAAAJWQ/TIWsqiUR-kcf7WivLV9A8RyA23alJGFzwCLcBGAsYHQ/w265-h400/Bielski%2Bp%2B03%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dAiOAdoeXXw/YQnCNMm5a1I/AAAAAAAAJWY/EskT6Kzs_a8TvI2w7Mz4VqXpoiBo_jdOACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bielski%2Bp%2B04%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1363" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dAiOAdoeXXw/YQnCNMm5a1I/AAAAAAAAJWY/EskT6Kzs_a8TvI2w7Mz4VqXpoiBo_jdOACLcBGAsYHQ/w266-h400/Bielski%2Bp%2B04%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5iBIpfPQ01I/YQnCN8fg3mI/AAAAAAAAJWc/dKsrINAuREoSwVG4xL1ZlgRTEHS35O0ngCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bielski%2Bp%2B05%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1358" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5iBIpfPQ01I/YQnCN8fg3mI/AAAAAAAAJWc/dKsrINAuREoSwVG4xL1ZlgRTEHS35O0ngCLcBGAsYHQ/w265-h400/Bielski%2Bp%2B05%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6X2KSK6FXIQ/YQnCO01JzCI/AAAAAAAAJWg/wDPkoZyYDSY6Tau6WLnE48bmBXDLzmXyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bielski%2Bp%2B06%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1362" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6X2KSK6FXIQ/YQnCO01JzCI/AAAAAAAAJWg/wDPkoZyYDSY6Tau6WLnE48bmBXDLzmXyQCLcBGAsYHQ/w266-h400/Bielski%2Bp%2B06%2BLine%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcropped%2Bgrey%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><p>All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™ and © Don Simpson 2021, all rights reserved.</p>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-46437632820434695012021-08-03T18:15:00.005-04:002021-08-03T18:55:55.488-04:00Cool Beans: An Aborted Comic Strip from dot.com Era!<p>Some time in the early 2000s, my entrepreneurial partner asked me to create cartoon characters for her educational website, S'Coolbeans. Little more than link list, the site aspired to be a clearing house of educational resources for teachers and educators. The characters were used in fridge magnets and promotion, and the logo I designed became a keychain. The site didn't take off, but the sample comic strips I developed independently, I thought, had some potential. My partner, however, spitefully demanded I kill it off. (Not long after this, we were divorced.)<br /></p><p>Selling a comic strip to newspapers is billion-to-one prospect at best, and I've never seen myself as having the sensibility for such a grueling production schedule. Still, I am fond of these strips and thought it could have gone further. Oh, well. Enjoy!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZChNW_7afw/YQm-5OXfYCI/AAAAAAAAJVM/cMFUrrYMz7IP-QXxwV-RbVTNxLLFNJUPACLcBGAsYHQ/s2192/schoolbeans%2B01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="2192" height="125" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZChNW_7afw/YQm-5OXfYCI/AAAAAAAAJVM/cMFUrrYMz7IP-QXxwV-RbVTNxLLFNJUPACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h125/schoolbeans%2B01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H4LRIA9F4YM/YQm-5U28g9I/AAAAAAAAJVQ/XjlPf04np_MlhB8HIbMp5eXGmwHbSU77wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2193/schoolbeans%2B02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="2193" height="126" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H4LRIA9F4YM/YQm-5U28g9I/AAAAAAAAJVQ/XjlPf04np_MlhB8HIbMp5eXGmwHbSU77wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h126/schoolbeans%2B02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UdCaQIajvFs/YQm-5HmpXlI/AAAAAAAAJVI/tHGvNebJhT8kIFBuTYDTHyt_PNglna6DACLcBGAsYHQ/s2192/schoolbeans%2B03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="2192" height="127" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UdCaQIajvFs/YQm-5HmpXlI/AAAAAAAAJVI/tHGvNebJhT8kIFBuTYDTHyt_PNglna6DACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h127/schoolbeans%2B03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kw79GlWtCLU/YQm-5iMNqvI/AAAAAAAAJVU/o-JwSTN8C4EPzpUm6NuQtqAqGtdFf2LoQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2194/schoolbeans%2B04.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="2194" height="130" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kw79GlWtCLU/YQm-5iMNqvI/AAAAAAAAJVU/o-JwSTN8C4EPzpUm6NuQtqAqGtdFf2LoQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h130/schoolbeans%2B04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qSP9Dtvmrk/YQm-5koqblI/AAAAAAAAJVY/oiipYbvP7PoDEX89pxoiuEeYgevuGCerwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2197/schoolbeans%2B05.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="2197" height="130" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qSP9Dtvmrk/YQm-5koqblI/AAAAAAAAJVY/oiipYbvP7PoDEX89pxoiuEeYgevuGCerwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h130/schoolbeans%2B05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wJyvORH_J5w/YQm-50tbcrI/AAAAAAAAJVc/7-9TgArZrrAhRinDr0CKSbbg0yAcDmZ_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2195/schoolbeans%2B06.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="2195" height="130" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wJyvORH_J5w/YQm-50tbcrI/AAAAAAAAJVc/7-9TgArZrrAhRinDr0CKSbbg0yAcDmZ_QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h130/schoolbeans%2B06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gjePY_RKPNg/YQm-6DZT9rI/AAAAAAAAJVg/vyhqbJrFmzEfojiy-RVAzBSCzP1QUKOdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2193/schoolbeans%2B07.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="2193" height="127" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gjePY_RKPNg/YQm-6DZT9rI/AAAAAAAAJVg/vyhqbJrFmzEfojiy-RVAzBSCzP1QUKOdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h127/schoolbeans%2B07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tlEoFLK3fek/YQm_bPUEibI/AAAAAAAAJV0/dIHjsOoNJuA-nkKorBtXHPySSDqVEWj1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s144/biker.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="119" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tlEoFLK3fek/YQm_bPUEibI/AAAAAAAAJV0/dIHjsOoNJuA-nkKorBtXHPySSDqVEWj1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/biker.gif" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eu4SHdcwEXc/YQm_dH3vvYI/AAAAAAAAJV4/GFFWMgFX6oQoLT_XfLLR4NV6FnLAyuMJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1289/schoolbeans%2B00.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1289" data-original-width="1069" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eu4SHdcwEXc/YQm_dH3vvYI/AAAAAAAAJV4/GFFWMgFX6oQoLT_XfLLR4NV6FnLAyuMJgCLcBGAsYHQ/w331-h400/schoolbeans%2B00.jpg" width="331" /></a></div><br /><p>All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™ and © Don Simpson 2021, all rights reserved.</p>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-67627876890684484252021-07-05T16:34:00.002-04:002022-11-13T13:13:21.519-05:00Lost Marvel Sample Pages from 1983-84!<p>Below are some sample pages I began but never finished that were intended to get me work at Marvel circa 1983-84. Ostensibly a <i>Fantastic Four</i> story (with Doctor Doom and Daredevil), it was no doubt an update of <i>FF </i>#73, a battered copy of which I had in those days. It was one of the few mainstream superhero comics I had lying around, having sold my collection of well-read comics I'd accumulated as a reader in the 1970s; by the 1980s, I was into undergrounds, French <i>Les Humanoides Associes</i> or <i>Heavy Metal</i> science fiction, and classic reprints of EC, American newspaper strips, and so on. (That copy of <i>FF</i> #73, by the way, sacrificed its price and issue box as well as the Comics Code seal for a mock Megatropolis Quartet cover in <i>Megaton Man </i>#1.)</p><p>Judging from the page numbering, the story was originally to run to six or more pages; no other notes, thumbnails, roughs or anything else exist but these three pages (2, 4, and 6), and since these are unfinished, it leads me to believe I never even started the others. The penciling looks so tight in spots as to appear traced (a good example is the Daredevil figure in page 4, panel 4); if so, I would have been working from some kind of rough layouts (now lost). Maybe pages 1, 2, and 3 were sold long ago to collectors; I honestly can't recall at this point.</p><p>All three pages are on Strathmore one-ply Bristol, also evidence that I was tracing roughs, but where I would have had access to a light table in those days is a mystery, since I didn't own one. (Perhaps former roommate Mike Kazaleh permitted me to use his animation table? He was still living in the neighborhood within walking distance from my Detroit apartment on West Forest.)</p><p>What is evident from looking at the art is that I was using white Zip-a-Tone (like over the space ship in page 2, panel 1 and the Sue Storm figure in page 2, panel 3), a regular Zip with scratched highlights on Doc Doom (page 2, panel 4). These techniques were employed on the early issues of <i>Megaton Man</i> (see #1-4), and I might have assayed these samples after completing <i>Megaton Man</i> #1 and awaiting to hear back from publishers in the spring of 1984.</p><p>Also of note is the use of white-out and the panel borders on page 4, the corners of which await cleaning up. (British artists, I understood at the time, ran their borderlines past the corners and whited out; I didn't often do that after I turned pro.)</p><p>Why I didn't complete them is unclear. The most probable reason is that <i>Megaton Man</i> #1 found a publisher, and ongoing issues kept me busy. But I was conflicted about work-for-hire for the big publishers anyway. Whether my interpretation of the characters or my style would have sold to any of the Marvel editors is anyone's guess; whether I would have been satisfied as a mainstream freelancer is also an open question. While I set these aside unfinished, I did attempt other samples years later (mostly for Marvel), many of which I have published elsewhere on this blog.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sm0lzr3eZTE/YONnjFTgGxI/AAAAAAAAJNE/vIcKKhPxnUkYKv3sQ0xGnAusrn740p2CACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Marvel%2BSample%2B1984%2B02%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1322" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sm0lzr3eZTE/YONnjFTgGxI/AAAAAAAAJNE/vIcKKhPxnUkYKv3sQ0xGnAusrn740p2CACLcBGAsYHQ/w259-h400/Marvel%2BSample%2B1984%2B02%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LwxT4hY3CIc/YONniiwOxtI/AAAAAAAAJM8/wtWrv0rQSWQyh_sbQ4lgh7s7RoBUax4hACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Marvel%2BSample%2B1984%2B04%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1320" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LwxT4hY3CIc/YONniiwOxtI/AAAAAAAAJM8/wtWrv0rQSWQyh_sbQ4lgh7s7RoBUax4hACLcBGAsYHQ/w258-h400/Marvel%2BSample%2B1984%2B04%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E78Xi3ELUww/YONnjJO2t7I/AAAAAAAAJNA/ir6XIyqp6DokV216bhxmaaiZ_WG6BUvmACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Marvel%2BSample%2B1984%2B06%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1323" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E78Xi3ELUww/YONnjJO2t7I/AAAAAAAAJNA/ir6XIyqp6DokV216bhxmaaiZ_WG6BUvmACLcBGAsYHQ/w259-h400/Marvel%2BSample%2B1984%2B06%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">_______________<br />Characters that are not my property are </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">™ and © the respective owners. All other </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">character names, likenesses, words and pictures on this page are ™ and © Don Simpson 2021, all rights reserved.</span></p>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-60955306541776301362019-11-05T03:02:00.001-05:002019-11-05T03:02:58.437-05:00Penciling CRAZY! (and Some Sketches that Never Flew!)Below are scans of the original pencils for my contributions to <i>CRAZY!</i>, the one-shot published by Marvel Entertainment in October 2019. "The No-Prizes" was drawn from a plot by Frank Tieri and John Cirelli; the "Galactus Go-Kart" pin-up was written (if you want to call that writing!) by me.<br />
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You'll either have to imagine your own funny dialogue (it shouldn't
be hard!) or buy the printed comic to see how it all turned out! You'll
see inking by Dexter
Vines and colors by Federico Blee ("Galactus Go-Kart") and inks by
Walden Wong and
colors by Dono Sánchez Almira ("The No-Prizes").<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-69ygtY9EsQk/XcEiLECJOeI/AAAAAAAAHYo/f1lGjg71HKAiURreRUxKZRectAw-h3arwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/No-Prize%2Bpage%2B5%2Bof%2B6%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bhand%2Bof%2BGalactus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1027" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-69ygtY9EsQk/XcEiLECJOeI/AAAAAAAAHYo/f1lGjg71HKAiURreRUxKZRectAw-h3arwCPcBGAYYCw/s400/No-Prize%2Bpage%2B5%2Bof%2B6%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bhand%2Bof%2BGalactus.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wFHNHn9RzuM/XcEiZ5YlewI/AAAAAAAAHYo/HceLrwSCtgotYxctb_iwKBXBcjwcl3rCgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/No-Prize%2Bpage%2B6%2Bof%2B6%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1031" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wFHNHn9RzuM/XcEiZ5YlewI/AAAAAAAAHYo/HceLrwSCtgotYxctb_iwKBXBcjwcl3rCgCPcBGAYYCw/s400/No-Prize%2Bpage%2B6%2Bof%2B6%2B200%2Bdpi%2Bcrop.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mmqgtVQEtbg/XcEif_VOTnI/AAAAAAAAHYs/sUlG6GCYAfsw5RKCxP5zanCt_EiekgJwACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/No-Prize%2BHamilton%2B%2528with%2BWig%2529%2BPatches%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1600" height="312" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mmqgtVQEtbg/XcEif_VOTnI/AAAAAAAAHYs/sUlG6GCYAfsw5RKCxP5zanCt_EiekgJwACPcBGAYYCw/s400/No-Prize%2BHamilton%2B%2528with%2BWig%2529%2BPatches%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A lot of the ideas discussed with editor Mark Paniccia revolved around the
Thanos Copter in one form or another. The Galactus Go-Kart was intended as one in a series of
"Crazy Villain Vehicles" I had in mind along the lines of the Thanos Copter, but none of 'em got off the
ground, so to speak. (I did work the copter into "The No-Prizes," but somehow it
came out purple instead of yellow. Go figure!) Here are the sketches:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SXFEOe86qWk/XcEo9XlCeKI/AAAAAAAAHZQ/D_domxsfJns1yaCWjycFa2b9rgxCnrnzACEwYBhgL/s1600/Annie%2BHelie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="1600" height="327" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SXFEOe86qWk/XcEo9XlCeKI/AAAAAAAAHZQ/D_domxsfJns1yaCWjycFa2b9rgxCnrnzACEwYBhgL/s400/Annie%2BHelie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cZfRiu5uM1Q/XcEo32mM_RI/AAAAAAAAHZI/ggYcvBX74wkVwChCJpbzPZ-O_y0lq16oACEwYBhgL/s1600/Bully%2BSubby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1330" data-original-width="1600" height="332" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cZfRiu5uM1Q/XcEo32mM_RI/AAAAAAAAHZI/ggYcvBX74wkVwChCJpbzPZ-O_y0lq16oACEwYBhgL/s400/Bully%2BSubby.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BFrkmmCEu1M/XcEo_tR5kaI/AAAAAAAAHZU/3pbl7lhxijgqz7Qz0W8TLeFE_2gzTOlTACEwYBhgL/s1600/Fin%2BFang%2BDoc%2BOck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1336" data-original-width="1600" height="333" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BFrkmmCEu1M/XcEo_tR5kaI/AAAAAAAAHZU/3pbl7lhxijgqz7Qz0W8TLeFE_2gzTOlTACEwYBhgL/s400/Fin%2BFang%2BDoc%2BOck.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BADvYzMj8DE/XcEpJbfYG-I/AAAAAAAAHZY/8nw6GaeWrBwOZ-XXsYhIhYnfC1dPQA8xwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Skully%2BMaggie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1313" data-original-width="1600" height="327" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BADvYzMj8DE/XcEpJbfYG-I/AAAAAAAAHZY/8nw6GaeWrBwOZ-XXsYhIhYnfC1dPQA8xwCEwYBhgL/s400/Skully%2BMaggie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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For more finished art that didn't make the grade, click <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2019/11/not-branded-yet-stuff-you-wont-see-in.html">here!</a><br />
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Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/"><i>Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series</i></a>! New YA prose chapter every Friday!Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-76395487813648424562019-11-05T01:33:00.001-05:002022-11-13T13:13:08.319-05:00Not Branded Yet! Stuff You Won't See in CRAZY!Followers on my social media know I was lucky enough to get an email
from Marvel Entertainment senior editor Mark Paniccia back in May asking
if I'd like to contribute to a 40-page one-shot revival of <i>CRAZY!</i>
I teach college writing during the fall and spring semesters, and
school had just let out, and I was a little rusty at the ol' drawing
board, but I said, "Why not?!"<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T5WKO8bYs4k/XWMQVPysFSI/AAAAAAAAG5M/NQ1YyG39i3kXS6SMt-T4bk9x_7OdMyvcgCLcBGAs/s1600/spidey%2Bslug%2BII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1445" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T5WKO8bYs4k/XWMQVPysFSI/AAAAAAAAG5M/NQ1YyG39i3kXS6SMt-T4bk9x_7OdMyvcgCLcBGAs/s320/spidey%2Bslug%2BII.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colorized Spidey. Detail of a page below.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>A number of possibilities were floated. Mark said he was a fan of <i>Megaton Man</i>,
so he obviously knew I wrote and drew parodies of superheroes from way
back. What he might not have known was I also grew up reading <i>straight
</i>Marvel superheroes and have harbored a desire to break into the
mainstream since the late 1980s—a number of those unsuccessful samples for Marvel and DC are all over <a href="https://donsimpsoncartoonist.blogspot.com/search/label/samples">this blog</a> and even more on my <a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/">freelance blog</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-37VKFn2ho_U/XWMPlDNPXlI/AAAAAAAAG48/oCO3PccqkL8KezlCOEjnvQO3KFRI9x_kgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1104" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-37VKFn2ho_U/XWMPlDNPXlI/AAAAAAAAG48/oCO3PccqkL8KezlCOEjnvQO3KFRI9x_kgCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B01.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue and graphite pencil on Strathmore Drawing 400.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ALbmMB-SxA/XWMNDstqZ9I/AAAAAAAAG3w/Cn_MEtjwdtMJjM0uP85QIaNT8ZtZ2X_JQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2B01%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1100" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ALbmMB-SxA/XWMNDstqZ9I/AAAAAAAAG3w/Cn_MEtjwdtMJjM0uP85QIaNT8ZtZ2X_JQCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2B01%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
To make a long story short, I ended up penciling a pin-up for <i>CRAZY!</i>
inked by Dexter Vines, and also penciling a six-page story written by
Frank Tieri and John Cirelli and inked by Walden Wong. You'll have to wait until
September when the book is released to see that work (as of this
writing the inking has been completed and looks great, and I'm waiting
to see the colors and final dialogued word balloons in place). I'm as anxious as you are!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TdKm3gipbXw/XWMPoLNwDtI/AAAAAAAAG48/E88eb3h0JQMUzn9OoRGdg3L910yKYWZ9QCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1600" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TdKm3gipbXw/XWMPoLNwDtI/AAAAAAAAG48/E88eb3h0JQMUzn9OoRGdg3L910yKYWZ9QCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue and graphite pencil on Strathmore Drawing 400.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E2ISEy54KfM/XWMOP7EqwdI/AAAAAAAAG4U/IP4fk8yRuM4SZjY8QvrXqUU7FYsnYajKQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2B2A%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1600" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E2ISEy54KfM/XWMOP7EqwdI/AAAAAAAAG4U/IP4fk8yRuM4SZjY8QvrXqUU7FYsnYajKQCEwYBhgL/s320/Thanos%2B2A%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But I threw a few other ideas at Mark which, for whatever reason, he didn't have room for. Below
is some of that artwork—which I hasten to stress I created of my own accord to warm up and shake off the rust
after not having sat down at the drawing board daily for eons. It was
loosely based on some of the possibilities we discussed, but I completely ad-libbed this stuff purely on speculation without a prior plot or script approval, so the failure to connect was completely on me.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7bSDsuyxAy0/XWMP08DA48I/AAAAAAAAG5A/Tnrfmoq6FeQuBI_Fpk6N-aBAvI0AZ7IlgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1600" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7bSDsuyxAy0/XWMP08DA48I/AAAAAAAAG5A/Tnrfmoq6FeQuBI_Fpk6N-aBAvI0AZ7IlgCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue and graphite pencil on Strathmore Drawing 400.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zVFXKzhWXCM/XWMNaK93qdI/AAAAAAAAG38/3GMb21a1gqYnW-m4dM3TWr8wKU1CEsnlACEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2B02B%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1600" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zVFXKzhWXCM/XWMNaK93qdI/AAAAAAAAG38/3GMb21a1gqYnW-m4dM3TWr8wKU1CEsnlACEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2B02B%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the course of our discussions, Mark had mentioned that the
Thanos Copter had become a huge internet meme in recent years (a
cultural phenomenon of which even I was aware as the Unfrozen Caveman
Cartoonist), and that Mattel had even put out a Hot Wheels version. I never
read <i>Spidey Super Stories</i> #39 in 1979, or really any of that series when I
was kid (I was actually outgrowing reading superheroes around that
time—the late seventies—anyway, and reading things like <i>Heavy Metal</i> and classic comic strip reprints), but I located most if not all the
story on the internet.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OogpXJDm1Y8/XWMQPIMPcRI/AAAAAAAAG5U/VZEWv_m5Mmgy4BfFGXEN_6e4wBuJRfstACEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1130" data-original-width="1600" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OogpXJDm1Y8/XWMQPIMPcRI/AAAAAAAAG5U/VZEWv_m5Mmgy4BfFGXEN_6e4wBuJRfstACEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue and graphite pencil on Strathmore Drawing 400.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BglZrOw7nxc/XWMNSei8DvI/AAAAAAAAG34/ZU-268GVR0oxISflaXwVheB9O1zMBuqBgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2B02C%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="1600" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BglZrOw7nxc/XWMNSei8DvI/AAAAAAAAG34/ZU-268GVR0oxISflaXwVheB9O1zMBuqBgCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2B02C%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the original story, the Cat (artist Win Mortimer had clearly drawn the black-haired Cat from <i>Claws of the Cat</i>, although the threw some red over it to make her look like Hellcat, Tigra's replacement) has somehow gotten the Cosmic Cube, and Thanos is pursuing her in—of all things—a helicopter. Thanos drops the Cosmic Cube and some little kid out of a Bazooka Joe comic picks it up—while Peter Parker and Mary Jane happen to be walking through Central Park. When Thanos bullies the kid for the Cube back, Spidey swings into action—and I don't want to spoil the rest of the story.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-daov4YPoNgI/XWMO6PiTCpI/AAAAAAAAG4g/N4i90AyljNkf7M_NWfwJ2mLdmnELiSaDgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2B2D%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="939" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-daov4YPoNgI/XWMO6PiTCpI/AAAAAAAAG4g/N4i90AyljNkf7M_NWfwJ2mLdmnELiSaDgCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2B2D%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Composited page.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The Thanos Copter has gone on to become an absurdist icon and campy symbol of a more innocent time in comics. The fact that Marvel and Mattel—and a growing number of fans—find this funny (along with <i>Batman '66</i>) shows that maybe comics are finding their sense of humor again, which is encouraging if you remember the humorless Marvel of the eighties when I was breaking into the business (they never would have sent me an email, if such existed!).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JCCEXQHYIVY/XWMQJ_EgLqI/AAAAAAAAG5Q/cEcwbAuYEOcNXCiTKtpfCOaQBXoFPvioQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1104" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JCCEXQHYIVY/XWMQJ_EgLqI/AAAAAAAAG5Q/cEcwbAuYEOcNXCiTKtpfCOaQBXoFPvioQCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B05.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue and graphite pencil on Strathmore Drawing 400.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sAyZKpiFD2g/XWMO-Sm1hzI/AAAAAAAAG4o/lnP_Kq9pN4wWEVftaipWF3-uKQx8F7-DwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2BCopter%2B03%2Bink%2B200%2Bdpi%2Brgb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1100" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sAyZKpiFD2g/XWMO-Sm1hzI/AAAAAAAAG4o/lnP_Kq9pN4wWEVftaipWF3-uKQx8F7-DwCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2BCopter%2B03%2Bink%2B200%2Bdpi%2Brgb.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Anyway, my riff on these ideas, I'm afraid, don't do anything to explain or elaborate on the 1979 story. Instead, they were just my chance to draw Spider-Man (my favorite character growing up), the Cat (I happen to own one of the original Marie Severin pages inked by Wally Wood for <i>Claws of the Cat</i> #1 on my wall—one of my proudest possessions), and Mary Jane, who for no reason I drew as Marie Severin drew Sarey Jane in "Comiclot" from <i>Not Brand Echh! </i>#12, in which she appears in a torn, "Daisy Mae" short dress (to this day, "Comiclot" features the most openly bawdy depiction of lust between Mary Jane and Spider-Man ever shown in a Marvel Comic).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FyWpX8ypSg/XWMSpS_aZjI/AAAAAAAAG6M/7J2k641hUA0XMPxgv46kXg0pl--Sp1ECgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1104" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FyWpX8ypSg/XWMSpS_aZjI/AAAAAAAAG6M/7J2k641hUA0XMPxgv46kXg0pl--Sp1ECgCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2BCopter%2BSample%2BPencil%2B06.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue and graphite pencil on Strathmore Drawing 400.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGB0uJtQCsw/XWMN6PxqgWI/AAAAAAAAG4I/1NsSJCnMEDwlAOSOkEDD5hQUeJgTkI_dgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Thanos%2B04%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1100" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGB0uJtQCsw/XWMN6PxqgWI/AAAAAAAAG4I/1NsSJCnMEDwlAOSOkEDD5hQUeJgTkI_dgCEwYBhgL/s400/Thanos%2B04%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The second thing I tried was "How to Draw the Cosmic Cube," a parody of
one of Marie Severin's how-to strips from the same issue of <i>Not Brand Ecch!</i>
This turned out more surreal than funny, although I think the ending
with Bazooka Kid turning into Teen Hulk redeems it somewhat. Last but
not least, Hellcat meets Claws of the Cat, with a bewildered Spidey
looking on, was a page I did for my own enjoyment and never even
bothered showing to Mark. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Admittedly, the stuff here is more <i>PLOP!</i> than <i>Not Brand Echh!</i> and more <i>Bizarre Heroes</i> than <i>Megaton Man</i>. Drawing in the hyper-manic early eighties <i>Megaton Man</i> style hasn't been my thing since, well, the early eighties, and my sensibility has surely changed over time. I'm actually at the point I envisioned in high school as to what an all-around comic book artist is supposed to be all about: straight, but not too serious about it. In any case, I had blast drawing this stuff!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sIN4W_LaagI/XWMRVfqBhlI/AAAAAAAAG5w/Ma7uKhfbGQEciy-DJG9bTLL16Wwi-fmqQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Claws%2Bof%2BTwo%2BCats%2BLine%2BInked%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1417" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sIN4W_LaagI/XWMRVfqBhlI/AAAAAAAAG5w/Ma7uKhfbGQEciy-DJG9bTLL16Wwi-fmqQCEwYBhgL/s400/Claws%2Bof%2BTwo%2BCats%2BLine%2BInked%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="353" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ink (Hunt #102 crowquill) and lettered with Rapidographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iLcy0frEkMA/XWMRnTFC_0I/AAAAAAAAG54/GWnhT78HW-wIHigKTWqRsQTMcZRVREZtgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Claws%2Bof%2BTwo%2BCats%2BCMYK%2Bcolored%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1417" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iLcy0frEkMA/XWMRnTFC_0I/AAAAAAAAG54/GWnhT78HW-wIHigKTWqRsQTMcZRVREZtgCEwYBhgL/s400/Claws%2Bof%2BTwo%2BCats%2BCMYK%2Bcolored%2B200%2Bdpi.jpg" width="353" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colorized in Photoshop.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What you'll see in <i>CRAZY! </i>is, I hope, even cooler than this, and benefited from this extended nostaligic warm-up. It was an opportunity to draw some major Marvel characters for the first time, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Deadpool (along with some obscure references like the '50s Atlas jungle girls), and I'm grateful to Mark and assistant editor Tom Groneman for the chance to be a 14-year-old again. Maybe I'll show some of my pencils for that after the book is published.<br />
______<br />
Read my YA prose novel, the <i><a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series!</a> </i>New chapter every Friday!Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-13747232294146808372019-11-04T20:33:00.001-05:002020-04-03T20:11:51.425-04:00Penciling Justice Machine #12I don't recall how I came to pencil the interiors of <i>Justice Machine</i> #12 (Comico, December 1987), but I do recall disappointed at how it turned out. The lettering wasn't what I had envisioned, and the inking was somewhat rushed. Of course, I had never drawn a comic book that I hadn't scripted, lettered, and inked myself, and had control over the color. But even so, I had much higher hopes for this, one of my first "mainstream" superhero penciling jobs.<br />
<br />
Ten years earlier, Mike Gustovich, the book's creator and inker over my pencils, had been one of the first pros I had ever met (at one of Stu Shapiro/Todd Loren's Fantasticons at Sans Souci Hall in Farmington, Michigan). He always had trouble drawing women, but Mike was awesomely talented when he took his time. He had a great Wrightsonish superhero style on his <i>Cobalt Blue</i> work for Michigan's Power Comics. Unfortunately, ten years later, he had devolved into a total deadline-driven hack.<br />
<br />
When I was tapped for the job of penciling this issue of <i>Justice Machine</i>, I recall hoping that in some small way I would be helping Mike out insofar as he'd be able to take his time on the inking and the final result would justify the series' (and his career's) early promise.<br />
<br />
I was also hoping, as an example of what I could do with "straight" superhero work, that this freelance assignment would lead to more mainstream jobs along those lines.<br />
<br />
No such luck. The final result appears as if Mike inked eight pages a day with a trowel to get the title back on schedule, pure and simple. I always considered that a profound shame. This was before the days of convenient photocopies or scanning, so I don't have any documentary record of my original pencils (perhaps scripter Bob Ingersoll does?), but I know they were tight and polished, and a lot better than this sloppy hatchet job is able to convey.<br />
<br />
The little girl looks awful, and I take full blame for that. But there are a lot of other qualities I brought to the job that were completely and forever lost, such as the graceful female figures, which are almost pathologically botched in the inking. You can still see some of the body language and layout sensibility I
brought to the job, but almost nothing of the finesse I brought to the
shading, and it's beyond anyone's ability to imagine how good this job might have turned out. Alas. <br />
<br />
It would be fun to pencil these pages again and re-ink them, but every freelancer has a job that got messed up by some hack inker. Only, very seldom does that inker turn out to be the book's own once-talented creator. It was a discouraging experience.<br />
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Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/"><i>Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series</i></a>! New YA prose chapter every Friday!Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-18380027754880468422019-07-25T18:37:00.001-04:002022-11-13T13:13:41.299-05:00Dr. Spidey and My Own Mr. Hyde!This time out, it's another Marvel sample I submitted circa 2002 to see if I could land some mainstream superhero work. Although highly regarded in some circles for my parody, science fiction, and even smutty underground work, I never broke into the mainstream or "straight" superhero ranks, where all the money in comics was to be found. Instead, I remained on the periphery with goofier or offbeat assignments like DC's <a href="https://whosouttherecomics.wordpress.com/2019/03/29/treasured-stories-american-squalor-1988/?fbclid=IwAR3692tFSg3s9Dfu8D3AemNLOMbf_8FoxHOqYtjGR1apXBWful9HwZ9sbUw"><i>Wasteland</i></a>, Marvel's <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/lost-in-open-space-complete-never.html"><i>Open Space</i></a>, or <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-rogues-gallery-secret-origins-41.html">oddball <i>Flash</i> stories</a>. (I did have my chances, early on: Mike Gold wanted me to ink First Comics' <i>Whisper</i>, and Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn wanted me on <i>Blue Devil</i> after Parris Cullens' departure, but the timing wasn't right in either case).<br />
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These samples are unusual in that they are pencil only; I usual went after jobs as both penciler and inker, and with the <a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-ii-more-exiled-rejects.html"><i>Exiles</i></a>. Also, I followed a garden-variety plot posted online at the time involving Spider-Man and a villain I never heard of: Mr. Hyde. I never heard of the villain and it never occurred to me to look him up online, so I designed my own villain. That's probably only one of many reasons the submission got me no work. But it is a better example of tight pencils than a <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2019/07/female-fate-doctor-is-in.html"><i>Dr. Fate</i></a> sample I made some years earlier.
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As with most of my samples from this era, and judging from them, it's no loss to the world of art and letters that they didn't yield me the assignment desired, or any assignment. (Usually, the work from Marvel, DC, Mirage Studios, Image Comics, and even Fantagraphics resulted from them asking me, not the other way around). But I'd like to think if I had gotten past the gatekeepers and actually drawn a strip like <i>Spider-Man</i>, I would have done a pretty good job on the real thing. For whatever reason, hypothetical samples never brought out the best in me.<br />
_____<br />
Read my YA prose experiment: The <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/"><i>Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series</i></a>! New chapter every Friday!Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-22208390502184303832019-07-13T14:32:00.000-04:002019-07-13T14:32:17.221-04:00"Chances Are the Chances Are": Munden's Bar from Grimjack #63These are some low-res scans of pages and the preliminary rough sketches (done at full size, which I traced on a light table onto the Bristol board) for a story I did in <i>Grimjack</i> #63 (First Comics, October 1989). This was after working with John Ostrander and Del Close on <i>Wasteland</i> for DC Comics, so maybe it was felt I was ready for a <i>Munden's Bar</i> back-up feature.<br />
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I don't have a very clear recollection of the sequence of events, but early in my career (1985) I moved to central Wisconsin and stayed at Kitchen Sink Press, publisher of <i>Megaton Man</i> for a year. This meant that I was close(r) to Chicago, and frequently attended Chicago Mini-Cons and the big annual show. I recall visiting John Ostrander's home with Bill Loebs on one occasion, I think before I was hired to be on of four artists on the <i>Wasteland</i> anthology. I also met editor Mike Gold, who I think edited both <i>Grimjack</i> and <i>Wasteland</i> at one time or another. But again, I'm not too clear on how this happened to unfold.<br />
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One noteworthy thing about this story is that I chose to draw it using markers--probably Pilot pens or the equivalent--a technique Gil Kane was known for. This was a departure from my usual pen/brush and India ink approach, which is more archival. As expected, the markers have faded and discolored over the years, and I haven't used markers on Bristol board since (although I have inked roughs using tracing paper with Pilots, et al, to good effect). I still prefer the classic India ink approach, although a number of things (like patches made with Avery labels, and dot screens) have not aged well.<br />
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Cartooning is an ephemeral art, and a commercial art; it will be up to the archivists and preservationists to sort all out. I did like the freedom pens offered; it was a freer drawing process, not having to dip a brush or quill every couple minutes, or wait for the India ink to dry.<br />
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I don't have complete scans of the originals or roughs, and all of these images are culled from the internet (I sold the art years ago and no longer even have a copy of <i>Grimjack</i> #63), so the quality here is not the best. But I still have fans bringing these up to me at shows to autograph, which I'm only too happy to do. It was one of my more thorough freelance jobs--I was learning the craft, only five years into my career!<br />
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Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/"><i>Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series</i></a> - a new prose chapter every Friday!Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-30721132695450233082019-07-01T12:30:00.001-04:002019-07-01T12:30:17.642-04:00Female Fate: The Doctor is In!Here is another pitch I made to DC Comics, probably around 1989. I can't remember if this was at the bidding of editor Mike Gold (who I worked with on <i>Wasteland</i>) or writer Bill Loebs, or someone else, but it was suggested to me that they were looking for an artist for a female <i>Dr. Fate</i> series, and that I should send in some samples.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Fate leaps into action. Don't ask me who the guy with the mullet is!</td></tr>
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I created the two pages below--one a story page and one more or less a pin-up--as a pencil sample. At the time, I almost exclusively inked my own work, and did not pencil tightly--the early <i>Megaton Man</i> comics of five years earlier were loosely penciled--scribbles would have been a fair description--before I inked like a neurotic madman. But by the late eighties, I was consciously trying to simplify; still, I didn't see much point in penciling tightly when I would be inking myself.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The penciling here is stiff and heavy-handed; I usually left feathering details for the inking stage. These were hypothetically intended for someone else to ink.</td></tr>
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These <i>Dr. Fate</i> samples show the struggle for me to pencil tightly. They are stiff and somewhat artificial, and lack the grace of later work--were I naturally penciled more thoroughly, even for myself as inker. These days I pencil tightly mainly because I so often have to lay aside a project for long periods of time, and when I come back to it, if I only have scribbles or thumbnail layouts, I have no idea what I was thinking.<br />
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Needless to say, these samples did not result in any work, on <i>Dr. Fate</i>, at least, and have languished for thirty years as rejects. I've carted them around to conventions for years, where I've sold lots of rejected sample pages, but these have never appealed to collectors. Still, I thought there was something left to get out of the pages, and yesterday I started inking them.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have no idea if my helmet design was in any way innovative, but I seem to have been concerned her to show it off. There's a clumsy Golden Age feel to the final result that I find charming, if I do say so myself.</td></tr>
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It was fun, particularly given the high quality of DC Comics Bristol board, which beats anything available today. The result is somewhat smudgy and dirty--I'm not used to inking pencils on Bristol as much these days (I prefer Strathmore 400 Drawing), and these pencils were particularly heavy handed and smudgy to begin with. But I got some tinge of Joe Kubert, Frank Thorne, and even Lee Elias, I think, in the final inks, and something of a Golden Age vibe that pleases me, despite the 90s vintage.<br />
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I don't think it was any great loss that I was never assigned <i>Dr. Fate</i>, male or female, since I never was as much of a DC fan as I was a Marvel fan. I couldn't tell you anything about the characters depicted or the story--there isn't much of one. It's obvious that I was just putting some panels together in a layout and trying to demonstrate how I would handle the character in movement.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why let a piece of quality Bristol board go to waste, even if it's from the last century?</td></tr>
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<br />
I draw a lot differently today, and if I were doing something like this from scratch the result would be a lot more pleasing. But it's not bad for art started three decades ago. I've gotten pleasing results by finishing sketches of <a href="https://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/2015/08/1989-to-2015-early-ms-megaton-man.html">Ms. Megaton Man from this same period</a>, but if I go much further back beyond 1989, I can't do it. You can't put new wine in old wine skins, and my drawing from 1984-1988 is too different from my drawing today for inking old pencils to work. I think too differently and approach the whole problem of drawing too differently. Plus, I know a lot more about anatomy and figure drawing than I did in the 1980s. (My "mature" period doesn't kick in until about 1998.)<br />
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But hopefully some collector will find my inked <i>Dr. Fates</i> more desirable--and it was a good warm-up for other projects I have on the ol' drawing board.<br />
______<br />
Please read my YA prose experiment <i><a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series</a></i> and tell me what you think!<br /><i></i>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-6449419715342948092019-06-30T13:39:00.002-04:002019-06-30T13:39:50.070-04:00They Call the Mister...Monster!Back when I was working on the original Kitchen Sink run of <i>Megaton Man</i>, I was called upon to contribute to Eclipse Comics' series <i>Mr. Monster</i>, a superhero monster fighter. I've never quite gotten the history of this character to make sense in my mind, but writer-artist Michael T. Gilbert did not create Doc Stearn; he only perpetuated it. (Feel free to Wikipedia and see if you can figure it out.)<br />
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To further complicate things, the Eclipse series was highlighted more by the contributions of Alan Moore, Dave Stevens, Bill Loebs...and pretty far down the list, me. Exactly what MTG did--aside from function as a wise old editor in the Will Eisner mold--and make some really arbitrary alterations here and there that, in my view, did not improve the work. But then, I don't entirely recall how we worked--whether it was from a script, layouts, or what.<br />
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I do recall Eclipse editor Cat Yronwode intervening at one point--she was angry at me because MTG hadn't kept her apprised of who he was collaborating with. In particular, she didn't care for how I inked the babe's hair on the cover to #6--she thought I had used a pen, when in fact I had used a brush. The whole assignment was really strange. The same went for #10, in which I was called upon to draw the 3D segments--again, with arbitrary alterations made by MTG after the fact. I guess he felt the need to change a few heads and figures to maintain consistency with his readers, but I thought his patches were sloppy and hardly an improvement. Oh, well. It was his book; I had my own thing to worry about.<br />
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The main thing is that fans enjoyed the end result, and nearly every convention I appear at, at least one or two fans bring <i>Mr. Monster</i> #6 and #10 up to me to autograph, and I'm proud to have been a part of it. I've also done <a href="https://donsimpsoncartoonist.blogspot.com/2017/03/commission-artwork-price-list-spring.html">Mr. Monster commissions</a>--don't tell MTG--for art collectors. And what would comics be without convoluted character histories and production processes that make mincemeat of the auteur theory? Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-57180917665485118942019-05-22T19:06:00.002-04:002019-05-22T19:06:38.880-04:00Off-Brand Yechh! Some Marvel SpoofsHere are a few samples I made at the request of Mad Magazine a few years back when they were first converting to color. Gary Groth passed along my name to the editor at the time - believe it or not. These samples did not fly (maybe because they weren't spoofs of DC characters?), but someone recently reached out to me concerning a similar project, so stay tuned!<br />
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<br />
Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Maxi-Series</a> YA prose novel every week!<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">__________<br />
All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™
and © Don Simpson 2019, all rights reserved (unless otherwise noted). </span> Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-12280130476852945652019-05-19T17:24:00.002-04:002019-05-19T17:24:21.411-04:00Kennywood's Open! Or, Is That a Picnic, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?Here are some graphics I created for two freelance jobs. The first is a superhero illustration accompanying the profile of <a href="https://winzeler.ucsd.edu/winzeler/">Dr. Elizabeth Winzeler</a>, noted researcher into pediatric drug discovery, for a pharmacological publication. Second is a promotional campaign for Kenny Entertainment featuring the <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20061128006061/en/Kennywood-Entertainment-Selects-CommuniTech-2007-Marketing-Campaign">Picnic Pros</a>, a group of superheroes who sold companies on outdoor festivities in the fabled amusement park.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BL4oN0jhRpk/XOHH4inPZvI/AAAAAAAAGcM/S93WPZHPC7wAmB3zle7MokjQrcsmi8qpwCLcBGAs/s1600/Dr%2BDecoder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="846" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BL4oN0jhRpk/XOHH4inPZvI/AAAAAAAAGcM/S93WPZHPC7wAmB3zle7MokjQrcsmi8qpwCLcBGAs/s400/Dr%2BDecoder.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustration for a profile on a scientist-researcher.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KoZ9qGy9i7A/XOHH4-oDICI/AAAAAAAAGcQ/O0SGK11qojgdg3S_pMHmt80630PvIaJMgCLcBGAs/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="188" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KoZ9qGy9i7A/XOHH4-oDICI/AAAAAAAAGcQ/O0SGK11qojgdg3S_pMHmt80630PvIaJMgCLcBGAs/s1600/index.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picnic Pros for Kennywood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I will add more graphics as they become available.<br />
Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Maxi-Series</a> YA prose novel every week!<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">__________<br />
All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™
and © Don Simpson 2019, all rights reserved (unless otherwise noted). </span> Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-38251607847862174702019-05-19T16:02:00.000-04:002019-05-19T16:02:16.450-04:00Brightnet Brigade: Promotion High-Speed Heroes!Here is a series of promotional pieces I did including mailers, trade show displays, and more featuring a group of superheroes for Brightnet, an internet service provider.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DogJUVa2oaY/XOGy1C5FP6I/AAAAAAAAGZ0/KHvSTCZa0ioPr_LXsmZxTG9POG3J-LNhwCEwYBhgL/s1600/0_0_brightnet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1018" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DogJUVa2oaY/XOGy1C5FP6I/AAAAAAAAGZ0/KHvSTCZa0ioPr_LXsmZxTG9POG3J-LNhwCEwYBhgL/s400/0_0_brightnet.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>
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<br />
Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Maxi-Series</a> YA prose novel every week!<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">__________<br />
All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™
and © Don Simpson 2019, all rights reserved (unless otherwise noted).
</span>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-9174360575208917492019-05-19T15:37:00.002-04:002019-05-19T15:37:40.213-04:00Concoman: The Captain of Clean!Here is a series of successful promotions I created for Conco Industries featuring a superhero mascot, Concoman - a cross between Captain America and Batman - rescuing a bevy of babes and solving a series of technical problems for cooling systems in industrial power plants. Materials included mailers and trade show display materials. Also shown are some early marker roughs, including a few rejected ideas.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WZDjPvyIpbY/XOGrsqobRgI/AAAAAAAAGW0/ROaEQHvdTyQE7afJG3nPldWdI31m5jczQCEwYBhgL/s1600/000%2Bconco3_1final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WZDjPvyIpbY/XOGrsqobRgI/AAAAAAAAGW0/ROaEQHvdTyQE7afJG3nPldWdI31m5jczQCEwYBhgL/s400/000%2Bconco3_1final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FIJfZo7SIuo/XOGsVLFp0NI/AAAAAAAAGXo/Rp6gE3FrzYwWD98QZWyJjnBWvE77cmiVQCEwYBhgL/s1600/2clogtrap%2Brough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1352" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FIJfZo7SIuo/XOGsVLFp0NI/AAAAAAAAGXo/Rp6gE3FrzYwWD98QZWyJjnBWvE77cmiVQCEwYBhgL/s400/2clogtrap%2Brough.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original marker rough.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original marker rough.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Is5F3J-AZPw/XOGtPY7e0BI/AAAAAAAAGY4/6j33DR3VWxUnIIQsGvUuos-ZKHzNdv5AACEwYBhgL/s1600/conco1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1366" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Is5F3J-AZPw/XOGtPY7e0BI/AAAAAAAAGY4/6j33DR3VWxUnIIQsGvUuos-ZKHzNdv5AACEwYBhgL/s400/conco1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original marker rough for rejected idea.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cpgCV7sFXK4/XOGtQvodU7I/AAAAAAAAGY8/OxNnING0emMeS02RxQFGuWsNzB0_S8aFACEwYBhgL/s1600/conco2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1357" height="263" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cpgCV7sFXK4/XOGtQvodU7I/AAAAAAAAGY8/OxNnING0emMeS02RxQFGuWsNzB0_S8aFACEwYBhgL/s400/conco2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original marker rough for rejected idea.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ESWgOXJJPNQ/XOGtTwIoVAI/AAAAAAAAGZA/OrWnTeJ9kQYOS91UWFUoY5Z_3ba5QJD9QCEwYBhgL/s1600/concoman2pose%2Btiff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ESWgOXJJPNQ/XOGtTwIoVAI/AAAAAAAAGZA/OrWnTeJ9kQYOS91UWFUoY5Z_3ba5QJD9QCEwYBhgL/s400/concoman2pose%2Btiff.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">design used for 3D keychain (below).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6c9pKbJLDek/U5DWiHp1NJI/AAAAAAAAB1A/rn1BhXb4IBM22KjZs44LVC_DoVtonwlMgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/WIN_20140605_162520%2B%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="688" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6c9pKbJLDek/U5DWiHp1NJI/AAAAAAAAB1A/rn1BhXb4IBM22KjZs44LVC_DoVtonwlMgCPcBGAYYCw/s400/WIN_20140605_162520%2B%25282%2529.JPG" width="171" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3D sculpted keychain (a valuable collector's item).</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-My-Pb3LjTZg/XOGtU2brOCI/AAAAAAAAGZE/0qobbwTknsEtpxIwO8KFWQGksgM94egkgCEwYBhgL/s1600/concoman3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="1051" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-My-Pb3LjTZg/XOGtU2brOCI/AAAAAAAAGZE/0qobbwTknsEtpxIwO8KFWQGksgM94egkgCEwYBhgL/s400/concoman3.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unused rough.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GvbhCrDV6Ng/XOGv9GxF2LI/AAAAAAAAGZM/WqJXvdC5Q9IJcsZNbtdNiBGfhpRLa6XrQCLcBGAs/s1600/concoman1pose%2Btiff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="899" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GvbhCrDV6Ng/XOGv9GxF2LI/AAAAAAAAGZM/WqJXvdC5Q9IJcsZNbtdNiBGfhpRLa6XrQCLcBGAs/s400/concoman1pose%2Btiff.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So long from Concoman!</td></tr>
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Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Maxi-Series</a> YA prose novel every week!<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">__________<br />
All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™
and © Don Simpson 2019, all rights reserved (unless otherwise noted).
</span>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-46125987070856991442019-05-19T14:06:00.001-04:002019-05-19T14:12:16.441-04:00Curette Crusader: Promoting Hygienic Surgery!Here is art I created for a promotional campaign for Curette Blades, a manufacturer of precise surgical instruments. The mailers featured old-style Sunday newspaper comic strips featuring Zorro-like sword characters with gender parity and was aimed at doctors, surgeons, and hospitals.<br />
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Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Maxi-Series</a> YA prose novel every week!<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">__________<br />
All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™
and © Don Simpson 2019, all rights reserved (unless otherwise noted).
</span>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-38135860445821709612019-05-19T13:47:00.001-04:002019-05-19T13:47:43.335-04:00Play Ball: The Pirate Parrot Kid's Club Logo Strikes Again!Here is the original art along with other images I created for the Pittsburgh Pirates, including the Pittsburgh Pirates Kid's Club Logo that is still in use today, and a beach towel giveaway that was a popular promotion at the old Three Rivers Stadium.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-92q_1w8DDDk/XOGUtQzZgRI/AAAAAAAAGUg/S_so_koxDKcvCkoI6Q02RVTCogs7TPDBwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Parrot%2BLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="536" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-92q_1w8DDDk/XOGUtQzZgRI/AAAAAAAAGUg/S_so_koxDKcvCkoI6Q02RVTCogs7TPDBwCEwYBhgL/s400/Parrot%2BLogo.jpg" width="371" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pirate Parrot Kid's Club Logo</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original art for Pirate Parrot logo, pen, brush, and India ink.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach towel design for terrycloth silk screen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rough logo and original line art for proposed Parrot comic book.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colored art for Parrot comic book pitch utilizing several versions of the Pittsburgh Pirates mascots.</td></tr>
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Read the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/">Ms. Megaton Maxi-Series</a> YA prose novel every week!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">__________<br />
All characters, character names, likenesses, words and pictures are ™
and © Don Simpson 2019, all rights reserved (unless otherwise noted).
</span>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-37478259617223646042018-07-17T19:42:00.001-04:002019-07-06T06:49:20.139-04:00Simpson Sampler IV: Spidey in the Crosshairs!Below are the four pages of a sample I created in 2002 of Spider-Man. This particular round of samples, created in an attempt to land freelance work from Marvel, had the distinction of being personally rejected by Axel Alonso, then editor of a <i>Spider-Man</i> anthology that utilized alternative creators like Peter Bagge. And when I say personally rejected, I mean I made my one and only visit to New York and the Marvel offices in order to have five minutes of his valuable time, in which he told me my work was a curious hybrid of John Romita and Jack Davis (one of the more astute remarks I've ever gotten from a mainstream editor, as it so happens). But it garnered no freelance work.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colorized panel from page 4.</td></tr>
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Higher-res scans courtesy of <a href="https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=81726">George Hagenauer, who has these pages for sale</a>!<br />
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[Interspersed is my original plot, from the original text document.]<br />
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<i>"Four Letter Word"<br /><br />J. Jonah Jameson, at his desk in his office at the Bugle, trying to figure out the paper's crossword puzzle. <br /><br />17 Across: To tug, suddenly<br /><br />Jonah goes through various expressions of frustration, exasperation, befuddlement, etc.<br /><br />Looks through crossword dictionary, throughs it into wastepaper basket in anger.<br /><br />Robbie Robertson sticks his head into the office, concerned at loud noise. <br /><br />Jonah asks Robbie. Robbie shrugs.</i><br />
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<i>Jonah goes to door of office, holding folded paper and pencil, quizzes his perky receptionist. She doesn't know the answer.<br /><br />Jonah asks the even quirkier punkette intern making photocopies, a flat-chested, tattooed, gum-chewing brat. She doesn't have a clue either. She give Jonah the finger once his back is turned, as he storms back into his office.<br /><br />Close up of puzzle - answer in tomorrow's Bugle. Jonah gets an idea - smiles!</i><br />
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<i>Calls
down to puzzle/features department. The stern librarian-looking editor
scolds him, wagging her finger. She can't divulge the answers!<br /><br />Jonah
pulling his hair out. Paper nearly in shreads. About to give up.
Jonah, resignedly, looks forlornly at the paper. Doesn't see behind
him, out window, as Spidey swings up.</i><br />
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<i><br />Spidey, taking a perch upside down outside the window, below the sill, looks in curiously at Jonah.<br /><br />Jonah, gesturing with his hands, eyes closed, says something out loud.<br /><br />Spidey, hands to his mouth, yells something at Jonah.<br /><br />Eureka! Jonah has the answer at last! Pencils in the word 'jerk'.<br /><br />Jonah beams. Then his face falls into a not-amused frown.<br /><br />As Spidey swings away chuckling to himself, Jonah shouts and waves fist at him angrily leaning out of the open window.</i><br />
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Anyway, the thumbnails and final versions tell a little story of J. Jonah Jameson struggling to complete his own paper's crossword puzzle, calling the puzzle's editor for some extra clues (she scolds him for trying to cheat), and finally Spider-Man dropping by, uttering the only dialogue in the sequence, and inadvertently solving the puzzle. I thought it was kind of clever.<br />
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As I've mentioned elsewhere, it is a bit astonishing to me as I look back on these samples to see the level of mastery and craft one could attain and still get no response from the major publishers. This, coupled with what I considered the dreadful level of craft manifest in the books since the 1970s ... but then, I'm sorta biased. Some would say it is simply a changing of style; as I've written elsewhere, I think the cognitive skill of drawing has all but vanished from our civilization.<br />
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Keep those submissions coming! Failed Pitch <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-retro-rejects-c-y2k.html">One </a>| <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-ii-more-exiled-rejects.html">Two </a>| <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-iii-webs-rocks-and.html">Three</a>
| Inferior <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/07/many-are-called-inferior-inferior-five.html">Five</a>!<br />
________<br />
Read my YA prose experiment, the <a href="http://msmegatonman.blogspot.com/"><i>Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series</i></a> - new chapter every Friday! Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-9806309814775897582018-07-17T13:42:00.002-04:002018-07-17T19:24:30.330-04:00Many Are Called: An Inferior Inferior Five Pitch!In 2002, after I illustrated "Batman 5.0" for <i>Bizarro World</i> (which didn't come out until 2005), DC editor Joey Cavalieri suggested I submit a pitch to revamp The Inferior Five, a spoof comic book series from the 1960s. I went out and located the back issues, read them, and came up with a piece of art and a 3-page conceptual outline, which I reproduce below. The pitch obviously went nowhere, and like several other pitches I've posted on this blog, the experience soured me on trying to obtain work from the big comic book publishers. Now, looking back, it's probably just as well that DC didn't waste the paper publishing my take on the <i>Inferior Five</i>! Enjoy.<br />
<br />
<i>Hey Joey C., <br /><br /> Your comments on the phone last night are all well taken. I agree that character-based humor is preferable to self-conscious "we're in a comic book" humor. I'll try to upgrade such instances as the project evolves (almost always better ideas occur to me once I'm 'on the ground' and actually producing art pages). Forgive the few instances herein where imagination fails and I feel I need to keep the plot moving! I'm always open to suggestions for improvement. <br /><br />White Feather's proposed gayness is humourous only in the sense that he thinks the revelation is going to be shocking to his teammates, when in fact it's anything but. In fact, my point would be that coming out is currently so hip that it's verging on being overused. As for how I would treat it down the road, I would point to Doonesbury's Mark, in other words, matter of factly, not something to be a source of guffaws. It's also the best plausible explanation I can think of for his absurd (and not very funny) behavior in the past. <br /><br />I also realize that parodying/pastiching DC characters will be more hassle-free than trying to get them to officially guest star, for narrative as well as editorial reasons. Heck, that's been my stock in trade. I've enjoyed enormous creative freedom by this parodic sleight of hand, but at the same time it's made me a sissy when it comes to editorial elbowing and political machinations. Maybe if we get this thing off the ground, DC will learn to trust me enough to have some of the funnier characters (i.e. Plastic Man and Ambush Bug) drop in on the IF. <br /><br />Rather than try to project the story arc for the first six issues, I've decided to concentrate on the 'pilot episode' (in reality probably the first two issues), which reintroduces the stars and sets up the basic premise for an ongoing series. Since so much of my stuff is character-driven, as you point out, I really need to work with the characters before subsequent events will begin to suggest themselves. In particular, with new characters such as the Superior Seven, I will need to decide on who or what I intend to parody, and get my pencil involved (in other words, draw them), before I'll know where things will go. (So much of my humor depends on names and visuals, and I can site numerous instances in Megaton Man where minor characters surprisingly grew to become major players with involved sub-plots.) <br /><br /> As for creative duties, as you know I'm capable of penciling, inking, writing, coloring and lettering (hand or digital) and can even design the logo. However, I'm more than open to collaboration for the sake of frequency. For my part, I think a monthly 20 pages of art and script is readily doable. I'd be happy to work with DC's stable of digital talent for coloring and lettering, or I could work with one or more assistants locally, and provide you with one stop shopping. <br /><br /> That said, here's the new hopefully slightly improved pitch for the first couple of issues of the Inferior Five. </i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TCSGwSz3guQ/W04moWqMC4I/AAAAAAAAFfk/Y0PLgavqjsQrf-uMBZXnW_JqUWvKvAO5QCEwYBhgL/s1600/InferiorFive2004pitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="943" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TCSGwSz3guQ/W04moWqMC4I/AAAAAAAAFfk/Y0PLgavqjsQrf-uMBZXnW_JqUWvKvAO5QCEwYBhgL/s400/InferiorFive2004pitch.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The piece of art I created for the <i>Inferior Five</i> pitch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i> The Inferior Five: "Secretive Origins and the Coming of the Superior Seven" <br /><br /> We begin with a brief "Wonderfella" set piece (Wonderfella is the superhero comic strip that cartoonist Myron Victor, aka Merryman, draws). Just as all looks hopeless for Wonderfella, we're yanked into reality, where Victor is being let go by the All Purpose Funny Book Company, in favor of trendier artists and edgier storylines. As Victor is booted from the premises, he sees the Inferior Five signal beaming brightly in the sky above Megalopolis. <br /><br /> Elsewhere, Athena Tremor, aka Dumb Bunny, who is not so much dumb as religiously devoted to the superficial, has become the head of Dumb Bunny Omnimedia, an empire consisting of fitness tapes and fashion magazines, all revolving around Athena's charismatic, if shallow, personality. However, news breaks that Athena had insider information when she sold her shares of I'm-a-clone Inc. when her friend, the owner, told her human cloning was impractical -- having babies is just as fast. Dumb Bunny Omnimedia comes crumbling down, and Athena is reduced to being an artist's model again, until she sees the IF signal in the sky... </i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i> Across town, William King, aka White Feather, continues his career as a famous fashion photographer, shooting the loveliest women on earth, all of whom insist on coming on to him. Naturally, he spurns their advances, and after work, when a manly bunch of fashion photographers invite him to a weekend of shooting grizzlies, climbing sheer cliffs, and white water rafting, he declines, fearing injury to his good looks. Later, in a bar over a beer with a male friend, he declares he just can't get into the rugged, macho fashion photog lifestyle his career seems to demand. The friend is sympathetic. William is suddenly struck by a thought -- "You don't suppose I'm gay, do you?" The friend assures him of course not, while we pull back to see that everyone in the bar is male. Just then, the IF signal is televised on the bar TV... <br /><br />Meanwhile, Herman Cramer, aka the Blimp, has a wildly successful deli and catering biz, but has become obsessed with losing weight, so much so that he's developed a diet line of deli foods. These foods actually make people lose weight as they're eating them, but Herman himself still, frustratingly, maintains his large size, and yet is parodoxically lighter than air. A national food distributor is about to take on Herman's line, but at the last minute declines, because of the appearance of the line's creator. "But can't you see? I look big, but I'm still lighter than air!" It doesn't matter, since the public won't buy diet food from a fat guy. Luckily, Herman spots the IF signal above Megalopolis... <br /><br />And finally, Leander Brent, aka Awkwardman, fulfills his duties on the beach as a lifeguard, reading an old Dick Briefer Frankenstein comic (or maybe a Wonderfella issue), until he hears the call for help from some little boy who's drowning. Doing a huge belly flop, Leander inundates everyone else in the water as well as on the crowded beach, but manages to rescue the sputtering boy. Striding ashore, a Baywatch-type babe, who would be his boss, fires him on the spot -- Leander's too clumsy and stupid to be a lifeguard. Pondering what else he can do with not skills and a desire to lounge on the beach all day, he spies the IF signal...</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rKpy7nrS1Lo/W04mo7J4moI/AAAAAAAAFgE/wLtDGr6MHwMZHQipoMgjWjIU7E46WRBHgCEwYBhgL/s1600/logoif.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="880" height="227" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rKpy7nrS1Lo/W04mo7J4moI/AAAAAAAAFgE/wLtDGr6MHwMZHQipoMgjWjIU7E46WRBHgCEwYBhgL/s320/logoif.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original pencil logo I created, translated later into Adobe Illustrator.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i>Assembling at the IF's rundown inner-city HQ, the five, in costume, ponder who might have set off the IF signal. Apparently it's been quite a long time since the group has been together or seen one another. Just then the phone rings, and it's Merryman's mom, Lady Liberty, who wants to know when the IF is going to visit their parents, the Freedom Brigade (basically the JSA), at the old heroes retirement home. Merryman scolds his mom that this isn't an appropriate use of the IF signal, but the IF decides it's a good idea to pay the old folks a visit anyway. <br /><br />Downstairs, the IF finds the jalopy called the Gold Bug and it's driver, Plato, waiting for them. Expecting to find a bunch of doddering old coots in wheel chairs at the home, the IF is surprised to find the Freedom Brigade as a bunch of robust teenagers, frolicking in the pool and tennis courts, having so much youthful fun it's practically an orgy. The IF asks them how this is possible. Princess Powerful says they've been revamped, and holds up a perscription drug bottle marked "Revamp", a wonder drug that has Viagra beat hands down. But if they never retired, why did they force their kids -- the IF -- to go into the family business of superheroics, which they were so inept at? Princess Powerful responds that it was the Sixties, with drugs, riots and Viet Nam -- they wanted to keep their kids out of danger, and fighting crime, even ineptly, seemed like a safe haven. <br /><br />Anyway, the Freedom Brigade is very proud of the fact they look so good, being grandparents and all. Grandparents??? That's right, Merryman suddenly remembers. "We have teenage kids! We should probably pay them a visit too, in their high-tech hangout across town." And in short order, we are introduced to The Superior Seven. (Numerous other revelations occur in the scene between IF and FB, including various philandering parents and how the Blimp's costume actually works, but I'll save that for later drafts). </i><br />
<i><br />The IF is awed by the high-tech 'danger room' like technology of the Superior Seven's hangout. Before they even meet the Seven, the IF runs a gauntlet of robots, lasers and other automated defense devices that have detected their intrusion. Finally, after the parodic pyrotechnics, the IF comes face to face with the Superior Seven, seven surly types taken from today's hot comics. (Note: I'll name names if I get the gig, but suffice it to say for now that I'll try to step on toes evenly throughout the industry. The SS will consist of Post-mutant, post-image grim and gritty angst-ridden teens who needless to say will contrast immediately with their parents, the Inferior Five). The kids are none too thrilled that their embarassing parents have dropped by, and it's a real effort for them just to be civil to them. What other superhero team has such uncool parents? <br /><br />Meanwhile, the Inferior Five's various old adversaries (I'll try to include as many from the original series as possible) gather in a secret place elsewhere in Megalopolis, and plot the downfall of the IF. They too are ageless, and have a new generation of offspring (parodying Manga, Vertigo, Extreme/Ultimate/Marvel Knights and whatever else we can dream up). <br /><br />(That's what I have so far, Joey C. I know it kind of trails off, but hopefully it's sufficient in this state to ellicit an affirmative response from the Powers That Be. I think I've addressed your major concerns and at the same time opened up the premise to a lot of possibilities down the road. As a veteran of a few series, I can say that the trick will be finding the right pace, and this pitch as it stands already shows a good deal more forethought than some of the seat-of-the-pants projects I've initiated in the past! The older and more 'seasoned' a pro I become, I tend to be a much more careful planner in the plot (and even full script) stage than I was as a young buck. I look forward to developing The Inferior Five further with you. Let me know whatcha think!) </i><br />
<br />
Well, that was it!<br />
<br />
I remember that this pitch, such as it was, was both further than I had gone in thinking through any big-company pitch, and also, still pretty threadbare. What made composing this pitch difficult was an almost complete lack of enthusiasm for the original series, which I recalled from my childhood with some fondness, but reread for the occasion, and found pretty uneven and mostly dreadful.<br />
<br />
I will say that revisiting the extant <i>Inferior Five</i> corpus through this ordeal made me appreciate the brilliance of such humorous masterpieces as Marie Severin's <i>Not Brand Echh</i>, which seemed almost on the level with Harvey Kurtzman's <i>Mad </i>by comparison. <i>IF </i>was weak tea indeed, with very little reason to exist except to provide the lamest kind of "ha-ha" jokes, which has never been my forte. Whether I would have been able to turn it into something worthwhile as a series we will never know!<br />
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___________________<br />
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Keep those submissions coming! Failed Pitch <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-retro-rejects-c-y2k.html">One </a>| <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-ii-more-exiled-rejects.html">Two </a>| <a href="http://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-iii-webs-rocks-and.html">Three </a>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-79766047975005069882018-06-30T12:50:00.001-04:002018-07-03T07:13:09.974-04:00Lost in Open Space: A Complete Never-Before Seen Story!Here's one I know you've never seen, because no one has ever seen it since the day it was drawn and turned in to the publisher! It is a complete 10-page story intended for <i>Open Space</i>, a science fiction anthology published under a now-defunct imprint: Marvel Graphics. The series was edited by Carol Kalish and associate editor
Kurt Busiek, and ostensibly featured a "shared" future universe (I
remember a large photocopied "Bible" that was sent to me, naming
planets, intergalactic corporations, etc.).<br />
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I had drawn a story that appeared in #3 (June 1990), and this story
was slotted for #6 (December 1990, by my calculations). Unfortunately,
the series ended with #4, and the story never saw the light of day.<br />
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The artwork was never returned to me (I was told it was Marvel policy not
to return stories that were not yet printed), but I did get bluelines to
color (the artwork photographically transferred, like a blueprint, to
high-quality illustration board, to be colored with watercolor, gouache,
Cel-Vinyl, etc.).<br />
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These bluelines (which I never
colored, since the book was cancelled in mid-production) included a film
positive overlay, which is what these images are scanned from, and are
now my only record of the story.<br />
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The script is by Joe
Clifford Faust, whom I don't believe I've ever met, and I hope I have the pagination correct (the pages did
not have any record of numbering). It is interesting to speculate where
the series would have gone. I know the main reason I was hired for the
project (and one of the few artists to have created two stories for the
series) was because of my work on my science fiction series <a href="http://borderworlds.blogspot.com/"><i>Border Worlds</i></a>, which featured lots of hardware in outer space. <br />
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<br />
I never seemed to get many assignments where I got to draw
recognizable, big-name characters (my humorous work on <a href="http://megatonman.blogspot.com/"><i>Megaton Man</i></a>
pigeon-holed me away from most mainstream "serious" characters), but it
was always nice when I at least got the opportunity to draw the female
figure in a freelance assignment (storytelling is hard work, and I took
my narrative pleasures where I could find them). I was lucky that both
of my <i>Open Space</i> stories featured female characters.<br />
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For whatever inane reason, I would simply follow the script (for <i>Wasteland</i>, the <a href="http://tmntentity.blogspot.com/2011/01/red-sails-in-sunset.html"><i>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</i></a>, <i>American Splendor</i>, or damn near any assignment I was given at the time), and
if there was a point of character or plot I didn't understand, I would
just muddle through. That approach seems utterly insane to me now, particularly with email so prevalent (not to mention search engines making visual research infinitely easier), and
no doubt why I look back on so many freelance assignments from that era
with mixed feelings.<br />
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<br />
I don't know if I would ever have been asked to write a story
for <i>Open Space </i>eventually myself. I can tell you in those days it was difficult for me to draw
stories that other people wrote; it took all the discipline I could
muster to work up the enthusiasm to do a creditable job. This was
because I was used to drawing my own ideas, for which one innately has
enthusiasm, but also due to a lack of experience. <br />
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My earliest freelance assignments (for DC's <i>Wasteland</i> circa 1987-89) are pretty choppy because of this difficulty, although by the time I drew <i>Splitting Image</i>
(for Image Comics, 1993), some five years later, I had learned to
approach the work more professionally, and turn in a creditable job
every time. It was a learning curve.<br />
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<br />
<br />
This story,
"Difficult Choices," was pretty far along on that curve. I was learning
to do a thorough job, regardless of whether a script particularly
grabbed me, and it seems to have turned out pretty good. I don't know
why, in retrospect, why I didn't get on the phone and call up the
various writers I worked with during those years (John Ostrander, Del
Close, Joe Clifford Faust) and make an effort to get inside their heads;
that is certainly what I would do know.<br />
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<br />
<br />
But I flatter myself to think that sooner or later, if a steady stream of<i> Open Space </i>assignments had continued, I would have thought up some ideas of my own, pitched, them, and gotten to draw them myself. Perhaps I could have become the Lord God Emperor of the <i>Open Space</i> universe! (But probably not.)<br />
<br />
<br />
No doubt one of the reasons <i>Open Space</i> did not take
hold was because, while it was a shared universe (like a superhero
universe), it did not featuring recurring, or for that matter all that
spectacular characters (like a superhero universe). They featured
more-or-less real people (like the shoe protagonist of this tale) who
did fantastic things (like fly around in space), but not in a
particularly spectacular way. That's the problem with science fiction
(and take it from someone who has tried his hand at it), cerebral
material isn't always visual material.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Artwork is copyright the artist. All relevant characters, names, images and text created by Don Simpson are ™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved. Other properties are owned by their respective owners.</span>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-9349336379323414432018-06-24T08:05:00.001-04:002022-11-13T13:11:38.518-05:00Simpson Sampler III: Webs, Rocks, and Roughs!More petulant postings in the resentful retro manner! Some past samples I worked up to obtain freelance work from the big boys around 2002. The Web vs. The Rock was never submitted, but was a fun idea to work on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gMIzjJD4qHM/Wy-HUFh4dZI/AAAAAAAAFNU/YEtqcps_7ic0X4r6byUKvtwURH1DCP7-wCLcBGAs/s1600/spideycolorcrop00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="552" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gMIzjJD4qHM/Wy-HUFh4dZI/AAAAAAAAFNU/YEtqcps_7ic0X4r6byUKvtwURH1DCP7-wCLcBGAs/s400/spideycolorcrop00.jpg" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colorized Web Man!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsGUTwOOpSI/Wy-HVlVB8pI/AAAAAAAAFNY/X9P2mMci5W0QIGEKJzor0gaJcU6_fyHdwCLcBGAs/s1600/spideything00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1217" data-original-width="797" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsGUTwOOpSI/Wy-HVlVB8pI/AAAAAAAAFNY/X9P2mMci5W0QIGEKJzor0gaJcU6_fyHdwCLcBGAs/s400/spideything00.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first page (incomplete), as Web Man lands to confront Rock Man!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYt9qzEoQMM/Wy-HY8Zgo5I/AAAAAAAAFNc/p0HjHPLPdBomyanqeYsk-5bBYGEgj3aDwCLcBGAs/s1600/spideything01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="796" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYt9qzEoQMM/Wy-HY8Zgo5I/AAAAAAAAFNc/p0HjHPLPdBomyanqeYsk-5bBYGEgj3aDwCLcBGAs/s400/spideything01.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A second shot at the same idea, with more background.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wl4e3Q3bamM/Wy-Hb-EulyI/AAAAAAAAFNg/dyMPsi4ejUMCFqCrXc7wjgtvK7547kxCgCLcBGAs/s1600/spideything02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="794" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wl4e3Q3bamM/Wy-Hb-EulyI/AAAAAAAAFNg/dyMPsi4ejUMCFqCrXc7wjgtvK7547kxCgCLcBGAs/s400/spideything02.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rock Man shatters, but reassembles! Wallopin' Web-Snappers!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tVLlzdG5t2M/Wy-Hc5KBQKI/AAAAAAAAFNk/tF1bILb5pj0w00c_Njdwfpt-tcfHHtN0gCLcBGAs/s1600/spideythingskbk00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1024" height="302" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tVLlzdG5t2M/Wy-Hc5KBQKI/AAAAAAAAFNk/tF1bILb5pj0w00c_Njdwfpt-tcfHHtN0gCLcBGAs/s400/spideythingskbk00.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sheet of sketchbook scribbles as I worked out these ideas in rough form.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y4QH2jKQsKE/Wy-IKcJLdaI/AAAAAAAAFN0/jRgwupldbuoSo0Ns6Jb_uAUsX3YaPzTWwCLcBGAs/s1600/spideythingskbk01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1020" height="311" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y4QH2jKQsKE/Wy-IKcJLdaI/AAAAAAAAFN0/jRgwupldbuoSo0Ns6Jb_uAUsX3YaPzTWwCLcBGAs/s400/spideythingskbk01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A second sketchbook page of Webby and Rocky!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DquPUCTZ3i8/Wy-MbnYaz_I/AAAAAAAAFOg/rEYUXSzjg78cyvrlPTezykuEl6AsE_zwwCLcBGAs/s1600/spidey%2B120%2Bdpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DquPUCTZ3i8/Wy-MbnYaz_I/AAAAAAAAFOg/rEYUXSzjg78cyvrlPTezykuEl6AsE_zwwCLcBGAs/s400/spidey%2B120%2Bdpi.jpg" width="323" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We'll end this post with a figure I drew as an inking demo for my Carnegie Museum of Art Cartoonist's Sketchbook workshop circa 2007!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-retro-rejects-c-y2k.html"><i>Simpson Sampler I</i> Updated with rough sketches!</a> | <a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-ii-more-exiled-rejects.html"><i>Simpson Sampler II</i> updated with rough sketches!</a>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-32807970475564850992018-06-23T17:44:00.002-04:002022-11-13T13:11:54.764-05:00Simpson Sampler II: More Exiled Rejects!Here is another set of samples I created (pencil and ink on Bristol board, from my own plot idea) and pitched to a big NY company, around 2002. I actually paid a visit to the offices, having an inside contact, and got five minutes with the editor. I will never forget this jackass and his sneer as he looked over my work. To much like Wally Wood, Joe Sinnott, and John Veerpoorten for the new millennium! What a jackass. Enjoy!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gyjN8gHYOB4/Wy-JIzDyPPI/AAAAAAAAFOA/UWxcgT9eavgLLCEvrbjF8zOOPMFZflDSACLcBGAs/s1600/exskbk001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1011" height="312" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gyjN8gHYOB4/Wy-JIzDyPPI/AAAAAAAAFOA/UWxcgT9eavgLLCEvrbjF8zOOPMFZflDSACLcBGAs/s400/exskbk001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketchbook roughs of pages 1 and 5.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UIKJ9_4DLvU/Wy-JKSxfKAI/AAAAAAAAFOE/jCi7M7AEwmIy-gH6C01TjQlrYjcEc9yYQCLcBGAs/s1600/exskbk002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1023" height="310" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UIKJ9_4DLvU/Wy-JKSxfKAI/AAAAAAAAFOE/jCi7M7AEwmIy-gH6C01TjQlrYjcEc9yYQCLcBGAs/s400/exskbk002.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketchbook roughs of pages 6 and 2.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6g_fzEKOS_4/Wy-JLF3s5FI/AAAAAAAAFOI/7MPQxa4w9K0LnzYOWgBqzdnLTm_4MOfJwCLcBGAs/s1600/exskbk003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1015" height="250" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6g_fzEKOS_4/Wy-JLF3s5FI/AAAAAAAAFOI/7MPQxa4w9K0LnzYOWgBqzdnLTm_4MOfJwCLcBGAs/s320/exskbk003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketchbook roughs of pages 4 and 3.</td></tr>
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Excelsior!<br />
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<a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-retro-rejects-c-y2k.html"><i>Simpson Sampler I</i>: Golden-Age Meltdown!</a> | <a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-iii-webs-rocks-and.html"><i>Simpson Sampler III</i>: Web-Rocks!</a>Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-48137878634000969422018-06-23T16:37:00.002-04:002022-11-13T13:12:11.736-05:00Simpson Sampler I: Retro Rejects Circa Y2K!Just to show young aspiring cartoonist the level of mastery one can achieve <i>and still be completely ignored by major publishers</i>, I offer this 5-page story sampler I created for an outfit in New York, and submitted around the year 2000. (In fairness, at other times I did create a handful of pages of art for them). The plot is my own, as are the pencils and inks; note that melting your boy sidekick out of a block of ice - an idea later exploited in a major movie franchise - was my own original idea ...<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RHdgu0LFwrQ/Wy6tJJ_Fd3I/AAAAAAAAFLw/SrFvcrxAJ-IG2F5Wkxp7Ic8QE2-pBnvgwCLcBGAs/s1600/cap%2Bvis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="1025" height="397" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RHdgu0LFwrQ/Wy6tJJ_Fd3I/AAAAAAAAFLw/SrFvcrxAJ-IG2F5Wkxp7Ic8QE2-pBnvgwCLcBGAs/s400/cap%2Bvis.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz9RIOy3dag/Wy6tIUTXYKI/AAAAAAAAFLs/EZT4TkZITc02F1bIwO76PxKx9mlZzVdIgCLcBGAs/s1600/capsamp01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1072" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz9RIOy3dag/Wy6tIUTXYKI/AAAAAAAAFLs/EZT4TkZITc02F1bIwO76PxKx9mlZzVdIgCLcBGAs/s400/capsamp01.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The team has a surprise for the old World War II veteran!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-69yqwRlv270/Wy6tG0AA6ZI/AAAAAAAAFLo/XvaUr91HBrgXTxet2fAFdCqgi5uuTGbOwCLcBGAs/s1600/capsamp02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1056" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-69yqwRlv270/Wy6tG0AA6ZI/AAAAAAAAFLo/XvaUr91HBrgXTxet2fAFdCqgi5uuTGbOwCLcBGAs/s400/capsamp02.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Veteran recalls losing his boy sidekick, who perished while trying to defuse a buzz bomb!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Be5ZztElJ-Y/Wy6tNpHvYzI/AAAAAAAAFL0/qVt5s9f6-zoj-qgBwaN1N8ljMhUwH8uvACLcBGAs/s1600/capsamp03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1050" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Be5ZztElJ-Y/Wy6tNpHvYzI/AAAAAAAAFL0/qVt5s9f6-zoj-qgBwaN1N8ljMhUwH8uvACLcBGAs/s400/capsamp03.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surprise! The boy sidekick, like the Veteran years before, was frozen in a block of ice! Suspended animation!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0PQTuJNHF80/Wy6tUNQXUaI/AAAAAAAAFL4/sYS0f1UdFNUENXtpKk7a_Ozm1Dv_ZBuLQCLcBGAs/s1600/capsamp04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1041" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0PQTuJNHF80/Wy6tUNQXUaI/AAAAAAAAFL4/sYS0f1UdFNUENXtpKk7a_Ozm1Dv_ZBuLQCLcBGAs/s400/capsamp04.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The android lets his tool go limp, and electrify the puddle of melt runoff!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EeFLeZbMWLg/Wy6tV15hsAI/AAAAAAAAFL8/5X-j1QJl2ywn0q6ULLW4vxblA22xJaUhACLcBGAs/s1600/capsamp05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1044" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EeFLeZbMWLg/Wy6tV15hsAI/AAAAAAAAFL8/5X-j1QJl2ywn0q6ULLW4vxblA22xJaUhACLcBGAs/s400/capsamp05.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The android reverts to his golden age form - and combusts!</td></tr>
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On the other hand, now that I look at the panel I quickly colored above, perhaps one reason no editor at the House of Ideas would hire me was the hugely phallic device the android uses to both melt the block of ice and accidentally reactivate his own golden age self - but this is purely speculation. <br />
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Speaking of team books, below is an ink sample over a long-running penciler, who was kind enough to provide with photocopies of his penciled pages. Presumably it was too much like Sinnott, Wood, and Veerporten to result in any work in the early 2000s <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While I appreciated the penciler giving me a shot to work over actual layouts, I would have gone nuts as an inker. I did several pages in a row from this issue, and found the layouts to be incredibly pedestrian, the body language stiff, and the storytelling slow as molasses. I prefer doing (at least) the entire art job myself, and the story and lettering as well whenever possible. Being such a stickler has limited my opportunities!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dZE0l_97J0I/Wy-KBs50muI/AAAAAAAAFOU/aUP80rlVyUcahs40hOgk3lqCvlOk5FPagCLcBGAs/s1600/ffpencilryan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="789" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dZE0l_97J0I/Wy-KBs50muI/AAAAAAAAFOU/aUP80rlVyUcahs40hOgk3lqCvlOk5FPagCLcBGAs/s400/ffpencilryan.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original pencil layout (photocopy), which I lightboxed (traced) onto Bristol board, then inked with crowquill, brush, and India ink.</td></tr>
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Years later, I sold the samples (which I had light-tabled onto Bristol
board) to a fan, and the penciler contacted me and accused me of
forgery, apparently having forgotten ever meeting me. I had to remind
him that he was the source of the photocopies that I worked from. He
never apologized and I never heard from him again. 'Nuff said!<br />
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<a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-ii-more-exiled-rejects.html"><i>Simpson Sampler II</i>: Exilic Exodus!</a> | <a href="https://donsimpsonfreelance.blogspot.com/2018/06/simpson-sampler-iii-webs-rocks-and.html"><i>Simpson Sampler III</i>: Web-Rocks!</a> Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-12263710933967115042015-08-30T21:17:00.000-04:002015-12-13T07:16:01.779-05:00The Rogues' Gallery: Secret Origins #41 (June 1989)Here is a freelance job I drew and lettered from a script by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn of <i>Blue Devil</i> fame (and I believe they also performed at weddings!). This is one of those work-for-hire assignments that earned me a rep as a <a href="http://donaldesimpson.blogspot.com/2015/07/whatever-happened-to-megaton-man-11-or.html">primadonna hack</a> from my erstwhile publisher, but I think it turned out rather well, and still holds up. In fact, I've always been rather fond of this piece, as it shows a more serious, relaxed superhero style emerging out of the overworked early <i>Megaton Man</i> and <i>Border Worlds</i>, just as the opening chapter of my career at Kitchen Sink Press was coming to a close.<br />
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<br />Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2165966685776783604.post-73708084811926177452015-07-25T18:16:00.002-04:002018-06-24T08:29:25.492-04:00Pittsburgh Talent City: Illo for Annual ReportIllustration of The Pittsburgh Foundation's Annual Report...<br />
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Update Monday June 28 2015: The almost final shaded version... <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pen and ink on Bristol board.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original blue and graphite pencil art.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flat coloring with some editing of the lower right panel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original concept sketch forwarded to me by Rob Rogers, who got me the gig! Thanks, Rob (and we're forwarding your samples to DC Comics -- expect a call from the Superman editor, they're looking for a fresh take!)</td></tr>
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<br />Donald E. Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08966389552890782417noreply@blogger.com0