KID PHANTOM #2 Wraparound Cover

Due for release in a couple of weeks, debut of ongoing series writer Andrew Constant. Process above, thumbnails, inks and final. Cover as shown in recent 'Giant Sized Phantom #1' on Newsstands now. 

Anatomy of a Cover: Kid Phantom #1

Final low res cover mock up, announced by Frew last week (via Facebook)

From go to whoa- The wraparound cover for Kid Phantom #1, due out via Frew Publications in 2017.  This was actually the last thumbnail cover idea, with the other half a dozen being a single front cover design. But then, seeing as though many of Frew's other Phantom comics tend to have the wraparound, I scribbled up this idea, based on event in the first issue. 

The designs were inspired by memories of great covers and wraparound covers from John Romita Jr., such as his "Daredevil: Man without Fear" 90s mini-series/graphic novel with Frank Miller (tiny figures from story element, big background title character taking up the majority of space) and the Wraparound from memory that I also loved, from his 'Wolverine: Enemy of the State' part 1 (#25 of the Marvel Knights series? Can't remember the issue number, but the cover stands out, almost a callback to John Buscema's Wolverine #1 cover, standing on the pile of beaten bad guys) with Mark Millar as writer. Again, large element/title character from story, tiny figures that feature in story. 

For con season, if time permits, I'd like to do a WIP sketchbook, for "scholars review". Maybe. Anyways. Gotta run, Cheers!

Thumbnail: about A5

scribbly pencil roughs

Inked and pencils removed digitally in Photoshop

Colour Flats, and colour holds on various lines: Mainly clouds and smoke.

Some mild rendering

The Soldier Legacy's Strange Tales #1 cover progress. a.k.a: Confessions of an Obsessive, Compulsive and Paranoid Comic Illustrator

Basically, this is it. The final cover for next month's new release at OZ Comic-Con Perth, Adelaide and beyond: 'The Soldier Legacy's Strange Tales'. Back cover will feature characters from the back up feature: Lazarus Burne's Maleficent Seven'.

As mentioned previous, this book reprints the first two parts of the Dr Nikola /Soldier Legacy story from 'Dark Detective: Sherlock Holmes' (with touch ups), and will newly publish the conclusion of this story being penciled and coloured now, and due to be released in 'Dark Detective: Sherlock Holmes #9' out soon. This 3 part story and the 'Larry Burne' tale were plotted by my writer buddy Chris Sequeira (DD: Sherlock Holmes, X-Men vs Vampires, upcoming 'The Avenger' story for Moonstone etc.) and I, and then scripted by Chris once I flooded his inbox with the pages. I'm currently lettering LB on the other screen, and waiting on Chris to give me the proverbial slap upside the head with the corrections and tweaks before I can finally leave that story alone. 

The guys on the Whatcha podcast recently touched on the Dark Detective: Sherlock Holmes series, mentioning the Dr Nikola back up feature kindly, and I'm stoked to finally be able to complete it and assemble it into this one-shot book. And, to see LB finally completed as intended a while back, I'm pleased to include this in the Black House Comics Soldier Legacy family.

http://whatchapodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2013-01-26T15_50_15-08_00

(about 1hr 08 mins in)

Anyways, enough of the official nonsense. Let's crack open my head a little and spill some OCD-related imagery and madness, with a spattering of indecisiveness ;P

Progress on the covers: it was basically a question of trying to make the colours of the back ground vs images vs the logo work within the concept of "weird"/"strange", while at the same time not confusing the eye with a muddled mess- I wanted the primary image to stand out as well at the title header. 

The main thing here was as as much as I dug the Red/orange and yellow versions, they looked too "warm" in respect to the whole "strange" vibe I wanted. And though I really liked the original green colour for the 'Strange Tales' title, it was too close to the value of the background (as well as green on green). Loooking back at some of the 'Strange Tales' covers from the early 60's I really liked the yellow and red combination on the headers (white would have been good, had it not been for the white "page tear" in the bg.) Thankfully, red and green compliment each other, so once that combination was hit, the colour balance of the page seemed to fall into place, and I could start to finalise the other elemnts with the paranoia that all the different bits clashed with each other/didn't suit the overall "theme".

It was just a question of getting another round of feedback from the publisher Baden Kiragn, and writer collaborator on these tales, Chris Sequeira, before making my final decision. Will probably re-align one or two things but essentially, the top image of the post is the final version. Phew! Perdantic, much? 

Below are examples of the original 'Captain America's Weird Tales' (the original kernel that started this concept,) from 1949/1950, and the 1960's 'Strange Tales' title.

       

          

 

Thanks, folks! More to come soon. 

The final cover

See you next week, Brisbane :D http://www.supanova.com.au/guest/paul-mason/

Soldier Legacy #5: Working Cover

The working cover for the next chapter in 'The Soldier Legacy'. An early sneak peek to thank new followers, and long-time supporters of the series. Your attention and feedback doesn't go unnoticed. I look forward to releasing this next issue before the end on the year, and I hope you'll stay for the journey. More previews as we go, including some big news soon :D

Yes, I have to say, Jack Kirby drew the best fiery explosions in my humble opinion. Perhaps I'm bias. Ah, well. Who better to learn from with an image aimed to grab the eye?

Gotta run, thanks all ;)

Soldier Legacy #4 Cover- book available April 2012

Available along with the Volume 1 trade paperback at Supanova next week for the new price of $5!

More updates before the show :)