Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

Zombie vs Cheerleaders is anthology featuring stories by different creators every issue. It is currently on a bi-monthly schedule and can be ordered from April 2010 Previews (Diamond). I read through a preview copy and it was hilarious. Combine some teen angst, cute cheerleaders and oh . . a zombie invasion and it’s a very interesting formula! It’s short stories and definitely a lot of fun, not to mention sensational pin-ups.

Cover :

Alternate Cover :

Sample Interior :

I managed to get creator Steve Frank to answer a few questions.

What started you on this project?

We released the Zombies vs Cheerleaders sketch card series in December of last year to rave reviews. Collectors wanted to see more, but we were not ready to release another full blown sketch card release so quickly. We have a nice relationship with Moonstone (we released Moonstone Maximum, a sketch card series featuring many of the characters Moonstone publishes, like The Phantom and Buckaroo Banzai, at the same time as ZvC), so we decided to do a comic book and to release a limited amount of sketch cards with each comic issue as ordering incentives. So, 5FINITY produces the book and Moonstone publishes it.

Who have got you involved in this project?

The only commonality is I will write at least one story for each issue, but many different creators will collaborate. Rich Koslowski is bringing his popular The 3 Geeks characters to our second release, ZvC: Geektacular #1, for example. ZvC #1 features a different artist for each chapter, as well as different artists for the covers and interior pin-ups.

I would like to know a little about your company. How did 5FINITY start?

We started 5FINITY last summer to produce two officially licensed sketch card series to benefit March of Dimes, Archie Comics and Greatest American Hero, respectively. These two releases did very well, so we decided to start producing sketch cards mainstream and we have had a ton of success ever since. All of our projects sell out quickly (knock on wood) and we have received kudos in the industry. We did what no one else has done, provide one sketch card per pack. You get fantastic quality at an extreme value, plus we do cards of niche, cult favorites that have not had trading card treatment in years, if ever.

Thanks for your time and good luck with ZVC.
It was a brilliant read.

Zombie vs Cheerleaders is scheduled for a June 2010 release with 4 different covers! Make sure you ask your local comic shop to order copies. It was solicited in Previews (April 2010). 5FINITY direct buyers will get the comic and the tie-in sketch cards in early May.

More info can be found at :

• http://www.5finity.com
• http://www.5finity.blogspot.com
• http://www.5finity.deviantart.com

French artist Cedric Poulat (whose other interests include drawing, painting, comics, girls ,music,video games and horror movies) is showcasing an absolutely amazing Witchblade piece. Absolutely tremendous detail in this showcase, the final colours are absolutely sublime.

Witchblade Showcase :

Cedric has been awesome enough to show the breakdown of the piece and showing the details in the image.

And lastly of course . .
The Final Showcase :

Thanks for your time to answer a few questions.
Getting into you work, how would you describe it?

It’s basically Typical American comic book stuff; with a mix of pin-up, art nouveau and some underground stuff.. The “problem” is I like to go on too many directions. One week I’m gonna do cartooning and the other I’m doing extremely tortured stuff.
But yeah . . basically my artwork is mostly about good looking woman. One thing I still keep in mind is not making my ladies too . . . vulgar. I know that for a few people, they are (hell I can’t please to everyone ) but it’s one of my obligation. Sassy or sultry are OK however slutty is not.

It’s definitely a fine line. Some of people like their the female characters extremely voluptuous and it can be difficult to be sexy without be skanky. How did you learn and develop your art?

I did art school but it’s not here you will learn what you have to know about your pictural identity. Art School is great because you meet other people with different artistic culture. You share that with them then you learn new stuff. Also you do stuff you won’t do by your own. But you have to learn about your identity by yourself. Artschool is always a problem about that; cos’ there always will be one teacher or two to slow down your way. Then, mainly I can say I’m self-taught, like most other artist.

I guess for most artists, developing your identity is very important. Is there any other artists you like or can identify with?

J.S Campbell is the artist I follow since his early beginning; and I never stopped, so my style evolved a bit in the same way than his. By that time I was a die hard fan of McFarlane and Silvestri, but as I decided to make drawing without all these huge shads, I had to give up and go for other artist like Adam Hughes, Franck Cho and Terry Dodson. I studied a lot Ashley Woods work which was a useful stuff to go.

Are you working on anything at the moment?

In France I worked for a small time with a team of illustrators to make some kind of animated comics “Chronique des ombres” written by Pierre Bordage (distributed by Virgin). However this kind of project was very new in France and that didn’t last more than 6 months . I’m now working a small sequence for other french indie comics books and will begin to work on a creator owned in the next few weeks.

Good luck with that project and let me know how it goes. Thanks again for your time and the fantastic Witchblade piece!

To check out more of his work :

• http://j-estacado.deviantart.com/
• http://cedricpoulartworks.daportfolio.com/

or contact him cedricpoulat[at]aol.com

I recently featured a Spider-Man by Paul Mason, here’s the second piece I had commissioned. Unfortunately I have to give it Wolverine it really came down to a no holds barred, beat down rumble. Logan would go straight for the jugular (literally) and ole’ Peter wouldn’t really stand much of chance!

Tell me if you think otherwise though.
Who would win?

From the Capcom, here’s one fight possibility :

It’s been a while since my last comic reviews (Dusk and Negafighters come to mind). I was fortunate enough to get a preview copy of City of Abacus by British musician and model VV Brown and David Allain prior to the official 07-May-10 release date.

With an amazing backstory covering political intrigue, royalty (and affairs), forgotten children and throw a brewing war into the mix. The preview I saw was promising although it was only a glimpse, from the sample provided you get an idea of the art style of the works. Great for an independent Emma Price but not as polished as more mainstream or established artists.

Cover :

Interior Sample :

For more information or to pick up your copy visit :
http://www.thecityofabacus.com

Special thanks to Ben Moore for allowing me to showcase this comic!

A gentle reminder that tomorrow (30-Apr-10) is the last day for Kirk Lindo Competition. Get your entry in!

It’s finally out here in Australia! Iron Man 2 released 28 April 2010 (UK release 30 April 2010 and US/Canada on the 7 May 2010). With Robert Downey Jnr reprising his role as Tony Stark, it’s been getting some rave reviews with Samuel L Jackson and Scarlett Johansson stealing their scenes as Nick Fury and the Black Widow respectively. Definitely going to try to catch it this weekend, along with Free Comic Book Day on 01 May 2010!

Make sure you stay for the extra ending after the credits! It’s confirmed there’s a little Easter Egg for those willing to wait right until the end of the movie.

Iron Man 2 Trailer :

Check out the trailer!
The suitcase armour looks awesome.

5 more days (30 April 2010) before Kirk Lindo’s competition closes. Be sure to get your entry in before it’s too late. Thought I’d share DRUMCZAR – Alan‘s entry, he picked Sojourn (from CrossGen) as his favourite artwork. Remember you can pick any of Kirk’s prints for this competition.

Click below to enter :
Link to Competition
Just leave a comment in that post, on which is your favourite print and why. It’s that simple.

Sojourn :

As a special treat, Kirk allowed me to showcase one of this new images. This one is an extremely voluptuous female Robin. It’s a wonder how she fits into that costume!

Female Robin :

There’s quite a few artists waiting to be featured. There’s so much great stuff just waiting to be showcased. Keep checking this space and you’ll see some incredible artwork being displayed. If you do want to see your artwork here, always feel free to email me sigmatestudio[at]sigmatestudio.com and I will respond ASAP.

Batman – Under the Red Hood Trailer :

Coming out 27 July 2010, I’m eagerly anticipating the release of this one! DC has done a great job on these DVDs (loved the last Green Lantern one)! If the storyline follows the comics, I already know the identity of the Red Hood but it’ll be great to see it translated onto animation. Unfortunately we don’t have Kevin Conroy giving the voice of Batman, this version of Batman seems to sounds very much like Christian Bale’s rendition.

As a plus however Neil Patrick Harris (Barney from How I Met Your Mother) as Nightwing and my favourite bit of casting, Jensen Ackles (Dean from Supernatural) as the Red Hood. His voice and performance (from the short youtube video below) fits what I would imagine Red Hood to sound! Just 2 more months before I can check this out!

Jensen Ackles supplying the voice of Red Hood:

Featured artist Dion Hamill has put together a comic strip entitled Luba – Hard to Kill. She’s part James Bond, part femme fatale with the cool action one liners (wait to get your to the part 24). I loved this series and appreciate Dion allowing to showcase his work!!

The most recent comic convention had people dressed as Harley Quinn but it was also a great chance to meet Australian artist Paul Mason. Got this awesome Spider-Man sketch from him complete with spaghetti webbing! (The term spaghetti webbing was dubbed by Tom DeFalco during McFarlane’s run on Amazing Spider-Man.)

Coming out in March, Route des Maison Rouge (published by GG Studios) with cover by featured artist Pasquale Qualano and coloured by Alessia Nocera. (Both recently collaborated on a Fanstastic Four piece. Love his pencil work and the colouring adds depth to the cover!

Sketch :


Full coloured Cover :

On other news, thought I’d give a small shout out to blogger My Comic Book Crisis. Check out Tami’s blog if you get the chance! She has a great writing style and does interesting analysis and reviews of various comics.