I call this one Broken Trust. I've always liked the Ed McGuiness style for Superman, but Batman is supposed to be HUMAN, so he is always smaller. This one is like my own personal promo piece for Infinite Crisis. 

A quick sketch of Wolverine. I have always enjoyed the character, but drawing him has always proved difficult. 

The first of MANY sketches in my new sketchbook. This one is of Tim Drake in his two incarnations. And for anyone who thinks that he won't be Batman by mid-nextyear, you have another thing coming.  

Day 7...lost the money, but broke even

Well, The good news about this trip is that I'm not anymore in debt than I already was, but the $400 that I won the first day, I lost $300 of and spent the other $100. What that means is that I have just as much money in my accounts as when I got here, so I consider that a win, hehe...especially since I thought it would be about $600 lighter after the trip.

Anyway, I'm flipping through the sketchbook I bought and I've done quite a few sketches, not only for the characters from THIEF, but also of characters like Wolverine, Batman, Superman and of all characters, Moon Knight.

I was able to pick up copies of Moon Knight #1-3 of the 1980's series, so if it picks up in popularity, I was able to grab them.

Anywho, I am about 3 pages into the script of THIEF #3, which should make Eric happy that I am back onit. I should actually have issue #3 done by next week if I can stay on it, which I know I've written before, but I mean it. I SHOULD have it done by then. This is just a crucial issue to make the series work, and due to that, I need to make it good.

Day 4: Update on Casino and more!

Hey now...

At the Casino, I'm currently UP $380. Meaning I've got more money than I started with. Craziness of it... It's the same machine I won on last year. I've already taken a 16100 coin jackpot out of it this year. I'll be playing the same machine tomorrow, as well.

Also, when it comes to comic book output, I've designed the four heroes that show up at the end of THIEF #2, and I've even begun writing #3. I'm trying to see how big in scope this issue actually is. When a hero with a secret first meets the other heroes of the world, what happens is anyone's guess. That's what makes it so hard.

I almost want to write TWO versions of this issue. One where he does the right thing, and one where he doesn't. Don't know how well that would go in anything other than a TPB, but heck, it could be fun.

I go back to the casino tomorrow, I'll play the same machine in the Trop, but I'd like to see if I can actually get some luck on some other games. Just as I originally thought I was getting lucky the other night, I lost quite a bit.

I placed in the top 70 in the Poker Tournament, as well, but that was somewhat disappointing, since I only LOST one hand that I played. And it put me all in. It was just bad.

Well, I'll give more update when I've got some.

day 3: mental preparation.

Okay, so the writing hasn't happened, besides a post on the Keenspot forums about Landis...sorry...I'm just thinking about too many other things to write anything...

Right now, I'm thinking about the poker tournament that I'm going to be in tonight. We've got a room at the Tropicana tonight here in AC, and well, thats cool, since Im also going to take part in my first major poker tournament. This one is $20/10, so that means $10 goes to the house, and $20 goes to the pot. It'll be Texas Hold'm, so aslong as the cards go my way, I may actually do well. I'd love to get to a final table, but I don't think that's going to happen tonight...not because I'm not good enough, but because it'll be the first tournament that I'll be in.

Hopefully one of the three of us will do well, with my brother and my cousin in the game, too, so we'll see, I'm sure.

Anywho...if that works out, great, if it doesn't, oh well... I would've spent the $30 there anyway.

Well, time to get ready.

day 2 - sure are a lot of kids

Do you ever look back and remember a time when was just you, your cousins and aunts and uncles? With me, being in Sea Isle, NJ, today, I look at all my cousins that now have given me 2nd cousins...I mean, almost all of the older cousins already do, and I'm thinking its only going to get moreso. With my sister having my first niece last September, even the Potchak's are starting to have kids...crazy stuff.

I read the comics I bought while in Brooklyn, and you can see building in almost all of them towards something, and I can't wait to see what it is.

I've done some drawing in a $5 sketchbook I purchased here, and I'll probably upload any of the sketches worthwhile when I return home.

I revisited THIEF #2's script and will probably start #3's script tomorrow or Tuesday. The scary thing about this issue is that it has to deal with the conflict of him taking the role of Infinity from the last one...basically what he tells the other heroes, and how he deals with them. Will he lie, will he be honest...? That's the million dollar question.

Tomorrow I'll be at the casino, in a $30 buy-in poker tournament, and testing my live game "skills" against other poker players. I don't like that they allow rebuys and add-ons, but hell, the best players don't need that stuff anyway. Who knows, if I play well, I'll give more consideration to Arnie telling me that I should go pro... the winner of these tournaments is normally around $2600. It'll be fun.

Well, I'm gonna run. Check Out elisalandis.com tomorrow, and there's only a couple more pages of it before the material that has never been read. The site does about 1200 hits on days that new pages are up, so I think that's a pretty good number.

Stay good, and I'll see if I can get on here tomorrow to let everyone know if I've beaten my brother in the tourney, or if I played well or what not.

Day one, continued.

Well, I went to the comic store, and was able to find SIX copies of Breach #7 and also 3 copies of JSA Classified #1, two of one cover, one of the other.

Gotta say, these finds were great, since I couldn't find any of the Teen Titans issues, or the Wonder Woman issue. Oh well, but hey, it's kinda cool that I was able to snag what is probably THE MOST LIMITED of all the Infinite Crisis lead ins, which happens to be the Breach Book.

On top of that, went out and had a wonderful dinner tonight, and getting ready to take in some of the local night life. Tomorrow, we'll head down to Jersey, I'll read a couple of the books I bought and then hopefully, after all that driving and boredom in the car, be able to start into my own writing.

I want to hit a rumor I've heard.

52, a weekly series that DC comics is going to run after Infinite Crisis, is supposed to take place and fill in the gaps for the 1 year gap, and happen as close to Real Time as possible. Neat concept...the rumor is that Breach...Batman... Superman...Wonder Woman and a couple other characters will ONLY be seen in this series, while their own books deal with issues of their respective family groups, although Wonder Woman may end up on hiatus, we're not sure. During this time, I expect to see Nightwingjump into the mantle of Batman, while Bruce Wayne's story continues in 52, and the same with Superman...someone will assume the mantle (possibly even Majestic) to keep the mantle moving forward...

IT just jazzes me up thinking about the endless possibilities.

I'm out for now.

NY NJ trip, day 1

Got into Brooklyn about 5:30 am, after driving straight through. Gonna hit a comic store up here to try to find copies of Breach #7 and NEW TEEN TITANS #17 and 18, the issues were Tim Drake becomes Batman.

On top of that, had one of the best bagels I've ever had today (it is NY afterall) and Christy and I are having a blast just sitting around until we go out a bit later and walk around the most famous city in the world.

I'll try to give everyone updates as this trip goes, and who knows, since I'll be stress free, (Eric this is especially to you) I may get some writing done.

Gotta run though, before someone finds out I'm on their network.

So a new piece of art...today, I drea this Batman piece, since its probably one of the last times I'll draw a Bruce Wayne as Batman figure. Why, you ask? It's simple, because after INFINITE CRISIS, I don't expect Bruce Wayne to be Batman anymore. I expect Tim Drake, aka, Robin to pick up the mantle, due to losing both his father...and Bruce, during the imminent Crisis.I really like the head in this drawing, yes I know his one arm is too small, but I kinda like my fake lighting...I dunno, maybe its really bad, and I'm just happy I drew SOMETHING...hehe. 

Batman: Gotham Knights

Every so often a comic book makes you think. Sure, some would say not nearly as often as a Steven King book, or the latest Dean Koontz thriller, but there are some truly gifted writers writing comics these days, and my favorite Batman book to read for the past 16 months has been Batman Gotham Knights.

AJ Lieberman, the writer of the title, has found his niche and totally takes the characters to the next level in this book. The book itself is oftentimes written about the characters and the story is the side angle. His level of intuitiveness for the book is astounding, and unlike the other writers of the Batman titles, he has found a way to make you want to read every issue he writes.

It is far and away the best Batman title available on the market, and he has taken a character that Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb made famous from his introduction, Hush, and even topped their initial level of creativity to give this character not only a background, but also a very vindictive lifestyle towards one Bruce Wayne.

The regular artist for the series, Al Barrianeuvo (sp?) is an astounding talent, himself, although you can tell it takes him longer to complete a title, because he typically takes a break after about every fourth issue.

The most recent issue that hit this week was #67, and it dealt with a videographer that found tapes of Batman and Bruce Wayne using the same stylings for battle and the same moves in combat. While most people in the DC universe still can't figure out that Superman and Clark Kent are the same guy, this two bit thief is able to piece together that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one in the same.

After blackmailing Wayne, Wayne offers him the opportunity for a favor if he ever needs one. Not wanting to take this option he tells Wayne to make sure that Alfred delivers the money.

As much as I like this story and how easily its leading Batman down a dark path, I can't help but wonder one small thing...this guy is Batman, and yet he didn't just scare the shit out of the blackmailer. He didn't just break his arm, or tell him that his could make his life disappear as he knows it...nothing to instill fear.

Though I love the direction and the twists that Lieberman throws in...almost in every issue, and as much as I can't wait for the next issue, it still just doesn't seem like the kind of behavior you'd expect...although I guess as Batman is a guy that has recently figured out that time in his life had been altered by his friends, I guess he may not take the same action that he typically would have 3 yrs ago.

It leaves one to wonder...and yes, you should be reading this book.

Wizard World Atlanta - BOOO!!!

HEy, I know its been almost two weeks since my last report, but heck, work is driving me nutty and definitely taking too much wind out of my sails...but I wanted to comment on something.

Wizard, the magazine company for the comic industry has decided that it wants to hold a convention in Atlanta the same weekend as HEROES CON 06. This sucks for a small show like Heroes Con, since ultimately, the larger convention will end up squeezing the life out of the smaller show, and with it only being about 6 hours from each other, will totally make creators want to go to the larger venue.

Artists and writers from Gaijin Studios, Desperado Publishing, Bryan Hitch and Greg Rucka have already said that they intend to go to Heroes Con, and I continue to stay with my tradition of going to Heroes as well, because the people that you meet at that show are always interesting, and its cozy enough to have a 2 hour conversation after the show with the likes of Tom Feister, Tony Harris, John Cassaday and others.

It upsets me that knowing what I know of the industry, people that I have a lot of respect for in the industry, like Joe Q, Ethan Van Sciver, Brandon Peterson and more will opt to go to the larger convention because its a bigger spotlight, and you really can't blame them for doing so. But it'd be a lot nicer to be able to go to the smaller, more down to earth con, and be able to get to know these guys.

Hell, what other show had Comics' Legend, Dave Cockrum at it this year? None. And why? Because he'd rather not be exploited, and I have to tell you, with everything that man has gone through, as a comic fan, I felt truly touched knowing that I had a ten minute conversation with him when he was just going around the con floor in his wheelchair, as he brought the industry one of my favorite characters (Nightcrawler) and his work continues to inspire.

Anyway, I thought I'd chime in that I would love to go to a Wizard convention, but I'll be attending Heroes Con because the only time I met Shelton, I thought he was a class act, and I admire that.

Sorry its been so long since I updated this place. I'll attempt to NOT go that long again. Today, I've placed one of the LANDIS #0 covers up here, to remind everyone that elisalandis.com is up and running and to pay attention because after the first 22 pages, this project really takes off. I have begun thinking that the reason the project probably didn't take off nearly as well as I originally wanted has a lot to do with the pacing of the first issue. I gave it a big romance feel with Jean Ayme, which the funny thing about him is that he was a REAL follower of Nostradamus, and that was part of all the research Owen and I put into the series. His designs were looked up for that era, and my history lessons were honest and true. I just know that as soon as the first issue finally shows up (about 15 strips from now), you'll notice a HUGE difference on the pacing and the flow is much more clear. Recently, there have been people in online forums that have said things about Landis being "not very good," but then again, this is probably a person who got that #0 issue FOR FREE and didn't pass it on to a friend who may've liked it, but heck, Owen and I gave our best efforts for that time when we worked on it, and I'm just ecstatic that its finally getting out there. 

a few notes about Landis and Direct Market

Hey folks.

I just figured I'd give some bulleted news about Landis.

*- It is a miniseries. At 22 pages per issue and five issues coming out, that means the story will span a year online, roughly, because 110 pages @ 3 times a week comes out to 11 months.

*- There is ALWAYS a possibility Owen and I could re-team for a sequel if pre-orders for the Trade do well.

*- Though the plan is set to definitely do a full-color trade, no date or timeframe is set for it.

*- The story is influenced by Highlander, Kevin Smith and Vampire novels. I will admit that the story takes a huge turn from the #0 issue which is being placed online right now. This story is all flashbacks and introductions, like a #0 issue is supposed to be. We get into the meat and bones of the book by the #1 issue (so sometime by August).

*- Landis was created in 1997 and first appeared in Scorn: Heatwave from Crosby Comics.

*- Ardy was created in 1986, and his first appearance was in CITY OF ILLUSION #1 from 5th Panel Comics. His appearance in Landis is an Homage to Silent Bob, because Smith said that when he spent all his money to make a movie he wanted people to say, "There's the guy that spent all his money to make this crap" and I felt that with as much love and all that I have for BOTH my characters, his showing up here was a natural fit.

Direct Market

*- Right now, the idea is to have AT LEAST 30 strips complete before sending it to Crosby to try to get it on Keenspot.

*- At my present pace, 30 strips is likely to be completed within a month.

*- Right now I consider this a fun and better WRITTEN project than ART project. I really look at the strips to be well written and hope people will forgive the use of the same scenes over and over. I've already taken this into consideration and plan to do different expressions, arm movements and just activities. I've played with backgrounds and all, and FINALLY got a REAL comic font on the comp for them. I've been satisfied with ALL the strips that have been completed, but want to expand my use of Photoshop and MS Publisher to really ease the process while still looking good quality.

*- The characters are loosely based on my current local comic shop and me. I wish I worked at the comic shop. Overall, I'd expect this to have elements mainly of being a PG title, but I'm contemplating doing more mature strips.

A Landis sketch from Brandon Peterson. He did this on the inside cover of his 2004 sketchbook for me, and man, like with Cully's piece, I'm just awestruck. I'll probably put these on the landis site in a fan-sketch area. I'm still just in awe.... 

Cully Hamner's rendition of LANDIS as done at Heroes Con this weekend. If it were to ever get made into a cartoon, I'd love to have him do storyboards and character designs. All that, and him and I look like brothers, hehe. Hopefully he'll check out the site and see all the praise I give him for appeasing my inner-fanboy =). 

ELISALANDIS.COM

Ladies and Gentlemen! The moment we've been waiting for...for a long...long time. ElisaLandis.com is up and has the first page of art online and ready for viewing pleasure! I'm extremely excited, as this is something I've been wanting for a while and now, it's finally up. I actually like the color of the project on the screen rather than newsprint, as its a lot more vibrant.

Yes, you will get a distinct Highlander feel, but couple that with the humor elements, the sci-fi elements, the horror, the superheroics and such, and this project is so much more than a simple clone. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it.

As a nice side note for this, Brandon Peterson and Cully Hamner actually did Landis head sketches for me at the Heroes Convention this past weekend, which is a total geek out moment for me.

Also, Ethan Van Sciver and I finally met face to face, and again, I totally geeked out on him, as he had never seen the Landis cover actually printed before. Super nice guy, and he said that if he weren't under an exclusive contract from DC right now, he'd definitely consider doing another Landis piece, which was cool.

Overall, I talked with John (Astonishing X-Men) Cassaday for about 2 hours, just listening to what he had to say about all the projects, colorists and what he'd want to do if he wasn't on X-Men. The guys from Jolly Roger studios were also extremely cool, and I shot the shit with them for a good long while Saturday night.

DIRECT MARKET #1. This is the original script, just revisioned with the new Design. I think it looks and feels a lot more professional. Don't worry, as I move forward with it, I'll be adding more art and not just doing the same panels over and over again...but as a start with Photoshop, it's a good idea to get enough of them under the belt this way and then go from there. It cuts production time down, and as JK told me...it allows me to continue with the strong point of my work, the writing. but the art is all 100% Rob Potchak. Hope you enjoy it. 

So, I redid my comic strip #2, and this is how it looks now. Thanks to JK Radtke for taking th etime to help me with Photoshop to be able to make the word balloons as well as get everything started. I hope you enjoy this one, as this is probably A LOT closer to the look of the strip when I finish it. 

elisalandis.com

Well,

The time is almost upon us. It's kind of exciting. The reason I say is almost, is because I was snooping around over at Keenspot.com (home to Chris Crosby's superosity.com and Owen Gieni's sorethumbsonline.com) and pulled up elisalandis.com. Currently, the site just goes to a copy of SORE THUMBS, but hopefully, by next week or so, we'll be seeing Elisalandis.com up and running.

Not a moment too soon, either, because with Heroes Con this weekend, I think I'm going to do up cheap business cards to hand out at the show.

Gotta run, I'm at work today...lata!

Update of Sorts.

So let me start by saying the ECW PPV F'n rocked. I loved it, it was great and it was almost surreal how it went over.

On the comic front, I know the elisalandis.com site hasn't launched, and I'm still waiting to see how that goes over. In the meantime, I've completed four strips for DIRECT MARKET, already and will continue to write and draw them. I think its coming along well, and due to my speed with drawing them, I could probably get a good amount of time into it, and a good amount of the strips done before it launches. I personally am thinking to try to get at least thirty strips done before even attempting to launch it, because that would be most fair and keep me ahead. It's hard to transition from the type of writing I'm used to, into this, but I'm still attempting to do so.

The difficulty comes in trying to deliver a standard amount of panels, while still trying to give a punchline, something I am definitely not used to. Of course, with a comic book, you are trying to give a payoff every 22 pages, not every four panels. So you've got to dumb it down while you smarten it up, and then shrink it to an eighth of what you really want. Uggh. It's cool though, because the payoff when you actually get that one strip to just come off right, you feel vindicated.

I'll be tackling more of the script of THIEF in the next week or so. Eric has already told me that if I thought #0 was good that #1 is going to blow me away. I can't wait.

I'm going to upload some art from #0 soon, too.

I did a digital inking over the original DIRECT MARKET STRIP #1, so hopefully it can be seen and read a little better. If and when I feel comfortable doing digital lettering, I'll probably start doing that as well, but for now, you'll have to like this. I think it looks great. 

This is a drawing that I did exactly one year and one day ago, which also happened to be the day I asked Christy to marry me. As the wedding draws ever closer (Sept. 10) we realize there is still so much to do for it, but that hasn't stopped me from trying my hardest to continue writing, drawing and doing whatever I can. The funny thing about this drawing is my favorite part of it is the hand holding the webbing. I actually feel I captured the wrist and everything else in it correctly, something I struggle with to this day. 

This right here is the 13th page of LANDIS #0, one of my favorite pages from the illustration side, as Owen TOTALLY went out of his way creating this masterpiece. Not only that, but also, Studio Makma, based in France, did a terriffic job bringing it to full color. 

ECW One Night Stand

So tonight, for one night only (so far at least), Vince McMahon goes against what he normally does, and puts on a Pay Per View of epic proportions, when ECW returns for an Extreme reunion.

I for one am psyched. Having been able to witness an ECW show in 1998 in Wildwood NJ, this is going to be great. It's at Hammerstein's Ballroom in NY, and if done correctly will bring back that nostalgia feel that is missing from Today's wrestling.

Already announced is Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman vs. the Dudley Boys, which promises a lot of run ins. The return of Mikey Whipwreck and more. Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis and Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero. Wow. How about Chris Jericho vs. Lance Storm and a 7 minute viewpoint from Rob Van Dam.

Not for the weak at heart, but still ought to be one great night.

So this is the first strip I did of my new Comic Store based Comic. If anyone else wants to draw it, let me know, hehe. I like it and it has a fun feel and appeal to it if you ask me. And yes, the TITLE of it is DIRECT MARKET. 

This is Steven. He's modeled after me, if I'd allow myself to grow hair, hehe. He's the guy who owns the comic store, and is content with everything going on in his life. As long as the store turns a profit, he knows he can keep doing what he loves to do and no one can tell him otherwise. 

For my new comic strip, this here is Mitch. You'll have to forgive the quick sketches, but I think to be able to make this as good as possible, I'll probably have to do it in an art style like this. Mitch is a comic reader with friends on "both sides" of the spectrum. He's got friends in the community of readers and outside. He's a tweener. Hehe. He likes his logo shirts and he's doing what he can to get dates and move up out of just the comic book store. 

June 10th update

Figured I'd run some stuff down pretty quick.

LANDIS

To my knowledge, LANDIS v.1 will begin online on Monday...take that as tentative, it can easily be shifted, but hopefully it will have started by the time Heroes Con (in Charlotte, 24th-26th) comes around. I'll try to keep the LANDIS material flowing, and even put up some stuff here that will probably make the overall book when that's finally got a date for arrival.

ONLINE COMIC STRIP

Well, I've been sworn to secrecy on the one project that Crosby had me looking into, but I've come up with one that as far as I can tell, with my rejuvenated interest in drawing recently, I may actually try to write and draw a strip, and hopefully get picked up by Keenspot, as I like the sound of their work for hire agreements, and as long as I hold the rights to the project, I'd be more than happy to take it there.

The project has a name, which I will not put here for right now, but it bases three longtime friends two of whom work at a comic store and discuss the industry, day to day life and promotes fun in not only the workplace. So it should be fun.

I'll be back later, maybe even today, to show some sketches of the characters.

A quick head and neck sketch I did on a piece of credit card tape at work. Figured I'd let everyone see what a four minute hold time does to me at my job. This one is Cipher again, although I don't like his hair in this one. 

Monday June 6th

Today was a thirteen hour day at "the day job," but it felt like an eternity. This merger and acquisition stuff sucks ass. It's too time consuming and there's too much bs floating around.

I figured because I don't get on here nearly as much as I do when I'm in a good mood, I'll give an update on the stuff that's going on.

LANDIS:

The release date seems to have been pushed back, which is fine, since I haven't heard what type of involvement they want from me on this. I want it to be the best it can, and though I'm still a little unsure about how it will be perceived by online comic strip readers, I still think it will do well enough to where it finally comes out in the format that I was and still am expecting, print.

THIEF:

You've seen at least one of the swipe pieces I've drawn, and I sent it to Eric to hear what he thought of it, but I liked it and felt it really blasted out into the eye of the public. I'll probably really tear into the script for #3 this week if I find a hole in my schedule large enough to jump in.

UNTITLED STUFF:

Crosby asked me recently to submit a proposal for an established online comic strip that would be work for hire. He never gave me any other info on it, but said that it was a good gig, so I told him to give me what he had on it, and I'll send in a submission if I feel like its something I can get behind.

CONVENTION SEASON:

It's that time of year again. The great thing about it this year is that I'll probably go to Charlotte for one day for Heroes Con, and miss the others, but at least I'll have some material out there that I can give everyone the website. Two years ago, I gave a lot of pros my comic LANDIS, so hopefully I can see what's up with everyone and how things are running. I'd love to buy some original art this year, but only if it's available at a reasonable price.

Speaking of art...BROKENFRONTIER.COM has an auction with the benefits going to Unicef, with some really great pieces. Check it out.

Rob

Typical

Heh...It's funny, I give mass updates all at once, and then I'm gone for a week or two. I have to apologize for that...I'd forget my own head if it wasn't attached at this point. Going through mass trauma at the day job. Hopefully it will get better, but the 48 hours I stay away from the store during the week just isn't enough.

As we move closer to June 6th, I'm expecting us to start LANDIS #0 being offered from Keenspot, where I'll have to get my free access set back up to the premium site, since it boots me off everytime, now.

Similar to SORETHUMBSONLINE.com, I want to include a blog in the site (haven't talked to Crosby about who is doing the design or whatnot for it,) but we're talking a launch in 8 days from what he originally said, and well, I'm plum out of info to give. If we put a blog atmosphere on it, I'm not sure if I'll integrate this blog into it, or if I'll continue to run it seperately, but I'm leaning to the latter.

The reason this blog was set up was so I could discuss things I like and do, much like my new projects and all. The blog there would discuss "Director's Commentary" of certain scenes and such as well as update the readers from both my side and Owen Gieni's side, like upcoming projects and whatnot, but in a lot quicker way.

I'll probably be doing another "Swipe" cover for an idea for THIEF, so it'll be interesting which one I decide on. I'll take suggestions, too...if anyone has a cool former famous cover they want me to try.

Infinity - After McFarlane - This piece is what I have intended for the character when it comes to doing the covers for THIEF. Though I haven't sent this art to Eric yet, It is one of the most recognized Spiderman images of all time, from both Amazing #300, and #301, both issues involving Venom. The eye catching aspect of doing this homage covers is with a book called THIEF, I think its cool to swipe the cover art. 

LANDIS v.1 Update

Well, this morning, much to my surprise, I received an email from Chris Crosby on the status of Landis volume 1. Though some of the news was upsetting, a lot of it was good, as in, the book will finally see light of day...only at first, online, and then in a director's cut of the story in print form (meaning with commentary, extra pages of art, maybe even a whole new story, and test art). All in all, I take this very well, and hopefully without him getting TOO mad, here is some of what Chris Crosby had to say.

"Rob:

With regards to the LANDIS book, the release date is (surprise, surprise) up in the air because of a couple annoyingly minor issues, but I can tell you that we do still plan to publish it, and it'll be exactly how you'd like it to be. Whatever extras you want to add is A-OK, you and Owen can go nuts. We're also open to publishing it in the standard comic TPB format (full size) instead of "manga-sized." We should probably wait until we have a definite final cover before submitting it to the online sales sites.

On the LANDIS webcomic (which we believe will be key to the book's success), I've probably done this before (*sigh*), but I believe I CAN now give you a definite launch date: Monday, June 6th. We'll start it off on a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule, which means the #0 issue will run from June 6 to July 20, followed by #1 and #2 and etc. You'll get an appearance in the Keenspot Newsbox on launch date and it'll hopefully get exposed to even more people than the FCBD issue did. (SORE THUMBS had over 23,000 unique visitors on our first day, mostly from the Newsbox appearance, and has since had over 30,000 unique visitors in one day.) We'd like to use the domain name "elisalandis.com" for it. Sound OK?"

See, now all BAD news. Hopefully we can move forward with the launch date of June 6th, and actually get this bad boy off the ground...or bad girl? Good girl? ehh, forget it. Stay tuned, I'll keep you all updated.

The final one for right now, This is Raccoon Man, '05! I really liked this piece, as I showed it to Christy and she thought it was really cool of me to find drawings from 1993 and re-draw them in my art style of today. Max Houston, seen here in full raccoon transformation, was a Private Investigator that I believe was bitten by a genetically enhanced raccoon who he originally thought had rabies. Turned out, in much the werewolf fashion, it made him into a monster of mammilian proportions, hehe. I really liked this piece, since it was an inspiration to draw the other characters...and I have a few more coming soon, I'm sure. 

Good ol' Raccoon Man. This is such a classic character, you may see him show up in one of the books I'm working on, but not in this form. Created by Anthony Seymour when we were in highschool, I always enjoyed having him show up in my book. He was our Wolverine character as much as Ardy was our Spider-man. He showed up everywhere, and you can tell why, hehe. 

My favorite of my re-drawings...I gave Cipher a nice haircut, but kept him without a face, and think I did alright with the shadowy features. This character was always fun to write, but I always found him really difficult to draw. I'd say my art has taken a nice turn for the better in making it look a little more like a person. 

This is Cipher. He was originally called, "THE BLANK" because no one was supposed to know who was under the mask, and I'm not sure we ever revealed it. You can see some 6th grade Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld in there, but that's only because I couldn't draw AT ALL.... 

Now a more streamlined version, and definitely hipper =). Now you can actually see a brain in his helmet, but since that had been done many times before, I only made it a very SMALL portion of the safety helmet. I also gave him more of a round face, with big ears, because someone with the name Brain Bender could NEVER be a popular guy with the ladies. I thought about keeping him bald, but drew some sideburns in there for a little more effect anyway. 

So I decided after going to MikeWieringo.com and Mike's blog, that I would grab some of my old art, and then post reenvisioned versions of the characters from the old Illusion Comics days, and more specifically, CITY OF ILLUSION, my first published comic, back in 1993 from Fifth Panel Comics. This drawing is of the vile Brain Bender, and WOW... look at that head. I've never been good at drawing bodies, but back then, I even had problems with faces and heads, hehe... 

quick update...

Well,

Besides my dog eating my Wacom mouse...a mouse used to digitally color and ink comic pages, as well as for other artistic purposes...I really haven't had much time to complete anything.

Anyone who knows me knows that my time is used wisely in most cases, but I lose steam and have to take time away from everything if I'm stressed by anything, and right now, this means my current employment. Though I'm truly not looking for another job or anything, and am in the process of interviewing for a managerial position with Suncom, I almost wonder if its worth all the time and effort. I almost wish I had a way to go back to school full time and still pay all my bills. IF anyone knows a way to make this work, please, I'm all ears.

I'll probably get a little time this weekend to be able to write more of either Atomic Teen or of THIEF...I think I'm hitting that spot in writing one story where you need to take a break from it, but keep creative. I think I may enlist my buddy, Derek Hutchens to take a look at some of the scripts, plot out some stuff and see what he can come up with while staying true to the image of the characters.

If I were to do this, I'd probably do it with AT, because I think THIEF is a property I would like to just keep my name on as the writer behind it, but AT could probably use his experiences as another former highschooler that lived an a-typical life.

Who knows...he may even relate more to the characters than I do =).

Anyway, I just figured I hadn't been on in a while and didn't want anyone feeling left out.

Lata

Verizon and update.

Anyone out there know who Alias Entertainment is? Mike S Miller created a company with a pretty good initial sales idea...75 cent first issues on series. Card stock covers, full color interiors...these are quality books. Because of this, I think I'm going to submit both THIEF and ATOMIC TEEN to them and see if the feelers are looking to grab hold of anything. I think they will on BOTH projects.

On a different front, I have this thing called a job interview tomorrow. It is with another little wireless provider called Verizon. I think they are one of the smallest players in the g....er...largest players in the game, and no, believe it or not, I did not use my connections to a manager or a friend of a friend's sister to get this interview (amazingly enough, they finally friggin called me!). It's for a sales position, and I told them I'd be interested in full-time, since I don't think I can survive on a part-timer's salary, unless I got another part time job, which is always possible.

I told a co-worker of mine to send me their resume, and I'll make sure that I take it with me to give them, as well, if they are still looking for qualified candidates.

Hopefully if it works out (and I should get offered something), they'll be understanding of the two weeks I need off (family trip and honeymoon), and I'll begin making some serious money...well, decent money.

Anyways, just figured I'd give a heads up, since I've been kinda sporadic, again.

Quick Update

Well,

After winning two poker tournaments this week, I feel its time to go pro...nah, just kidding, the the thrill of winning is nice.

Actually, on the comic front, Eric and I had a little chat this past week and the first issue of THIEF is fully penciled and it looks like I'm going to try sending it to some smaller publishers and hell, maybe even Image and Dark Horse, because I'm getting psyched up about the idea.

I truly believe, as I always have, that the idea is bigger than one person, one writer, and one initial concept. I just need someone higher up in one of the big companies to take notice, because this story is THAT good.

Eric will be sending me some of the pages to play with and I'm going to be sending all the penciled pages to the publishers with the concept.

Other than that, Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.

Rob

This is a little Sample cover I did for THIEF #0. Obviously, I'm going to try to give full color covers, but I've been playing with MS Publisher, so hopefully they'll look great when we get them all squared away. 

Update on THIEF

Well,

Eric tried to get in touch with me about two days ago, and well, I wasn't able to get back in touch with him. Instead of complaining and not being able to get anything done because of that, I went ahead and finished and edited the script for THIEF #2. That now puts me three full 16 page scripts into it, and I think I may want to do a backup story to totally give people what they are looking for the most, good stories and bang for the buck.

As Countdown to Infinite Crisis proved, a good story at a reasonable price will sell. Its just, in this industry, without advertisers, an 80 pg comic for $1 is darned near impossible without taking a HUGE loss. As much as I want to give everyone what they want, I do on some occassions have to look at a bottom line perspective.

I'll also be doing some sketches of the other characters from THIEF, like the other super humans that show up in issues #2 and #3, as soon as I get the drawing bug to work on them.

Writing has been slow, mostly because of all the crap at the day job, but I am looking to start remedying that.

Work Related BS

So, today, at Suncom's morning meeting, we heard the latest company cost cutting measure...and its a doozy. Starting June 1st, our compensation is being cut in terms of our commission.

So what that means is that I'll still be doing the same, IF NOT MORE, work, and making LESSSSSSSS money...does the company realize that they will not be able to keep the best people is suddenly we are making $1000 less PER MONTH?!

Just when things were finally starting to look up a bit, they throw this bullshit at us, and why? So Wallstreet thinks we are making more money. But look at this from the sales associates side...

Currently, I sell between 50-70 new lines per month. Currently, the 70 range makes me about $2000 in commission. The new compensation plan has shown that 62 sales should average $818...a difference of 1100! Wow...to the company...

New Job to any of the employees. That's what we're all thinking, and its not going to get better. My current boss, Mike, has been promoted and there's no new boss in site for the foreseeable future...no one to bitch at, and no one to complain to. What this means, is even if he voices our opinions, we're not going to be heard.

Commission packages are set up by people that haven't sold in years, and would NEVER take my job over theirs, EVER again.

As hard as we're working and to pull this kinda crap is just ridiculous...and Suncom? Where's the TRUTH in that?

THE SHIELD

There are three shows I watch religiously, now, every week. They are 24, Scrubs and THE SHIELD.

Starring Michael Chiklis, I can actually say that this is one of those shows that I have watched since its very inception. Chiklis, who plays Vic Mackey, a guy that doesn't always play by the rules, but you can't help but root for him anyway.

The show is in its 4th season, and although it doesn't feel like its crossing any lines this season (The first season had nudity, the third season had a male on male rape and a serial rapist that went after the elderly), it still hits the wall at full speed. Glenn Close joined the cast, and at this rate, you get the feeling she'll still be back after this entry into the hell known as LA.

Anthony Anderson has also joined the cast this season, and if you think he tends to be a great comedic actor, he totally sheds that to be a totally radical drug dealer who doesn't look like he'd laugh at anything.

Cast, Crew and balls to the wall action...man, I'm gonna miss this one when its gone...but hell, at least I'll have NIP/TUCK and RESCUE ME to take its place again...and thank goodness, since I don't know what I'd do without my fix of FX.

Time to Chime in.

Helllllo.

Figured I'd update you folks on what's been going on. This past weekend I spent two days at the Cherokee Casino in NC, and well...lost my shirt, and two of my fiances. Just kidding, and I actually had a lot of fun, but now have to tightwad my money until this weekend when I get a commission check (which will go towards paying mortgage, 2 credit cards and ...dum...dum...duhhh....honeymoon). It should be enough to where I can at least put some of it towards all of it.

When I returned from my trip, I hopped online to see that Eric had gone and sent me another 4 pages from THIEF #0, and let me say, I can't wait to get my hands on these and have some fun. The other great thing to all this is I found my lightbox, so I may ink these with a different feel on a different paper...maybe adding a European or Japanese feel to it much like my last piece of art I put up here.

Ooh, I can't wait til he sends me some pages...I'm itching for them, now.

Other than that, I'm stoked that I now have three nights of TV watching...Sunday for Family Guy (I've already seen the season premiere and it's freakin sweet, to steal a quote), Monday for RAW and 24 (5 episodes to go, something big next week, followed by 4 more rip-roaring eps) and THE SHIELD on Tuesday which means I will once again get NOTHING done on writing, because NOW that show is finally kicked back into high gear and it only runs on 93 octane.

I'll check in later with more.

This is a drawing I did of myself and my fiance, Christy last night as an attempt to draw things a little differently. It definitely has a european or even japanese influence, and now that I am seeing it here, on the screen, I am starting to see the flaws, much like one can with any art after its taken time to settle in. I figured the way I added a little of a "Frank Miller" element to it by implying positive and negative space in parts was just to add a little more fun. Maybe you guys will see more stuff like this when I ink the pages from THIEF.  

Rob Nikolakakis and more

Ever heard of CafeDNA? Ever heard the name Nikolakakis? No? Check out Sniper and Rook #6, I'll try to get you folks a link for it. (Or go to his website, robniko.com) The funny thing about "the other Rob" (he probably calls me that, too, since we both have weird and unusual last names)is that both of us have a lot of common industry friends, and have actually technically worked on the same book together at one point. When Rob was picked to be the artist for EboniX-Files, and I personally wrote EboniX-MEN, Chris Crosby and his cohorts decided we'd run them as a flipbook instead of a single issue, which I thought was a good idea, because why would you put out two parodies that could steal sales from one another, instead of putting them together and possibly getting more people to pick it up. Crosby wrote the EboniX-Files side and Tony Furtado drew my story, which I still feel was a fun book and very oriented to those of us that actually like the convoluted history of the mutants.

Anyway, I was talking with Rob for the first time in many many moons, and he showed me his latest comic, although he said he's in the dvd menu making business, as well now. Hopefully both realms work out for him, and I told him any project he tries to develop if he needs an ear, or help, I'd be more than willing to help him out, and I sent him the script and discussed THIEF with him.

IT is really a good feeling when an artist in the same field tells you that you've come up with a story that is "so good, it could write itself." It makes you feel like you can seriously do some good in an industry that only about 3% of the people that ever enter get notoriety for. And I totally appreciate the compliment he gave me there. Hopefully he'll feel the script justifies the premise, since I worked hard on it, but still have some doubts, even though Eric has reassured me its some of my best work.

Going back to Rob, his art is heavily influenced by Travis Charest, and it is VERY easy to see that fact. Again, another interesting note is that Charest is probably my favorite artist, although very rarely is he able to get the work done because of the amount of time it takes him to complete a page...because typically he pencils, inks and colors his own work, and he has his own MSN group which I urge ALL to check out.

Til next time!

Jars of Pots?!?

Ever heard of the band, JARS OF CLAY? They are a Christian Rock Band, and tonight, they showed up on my turf...what did I do? I made them believe the devil was real by doing incantations in Karaoke and such...and...oh wait...Actually, I told them I really appreciated them coming to the bar and singing...the only thing I didn't like was that when they went to sing, I had to follow them directly, meaning its like an amateur comedian going up after Robin Williams closes a show...I did a pretty good rendition of WHEREVER YOU WILL GO by THE CALLING after they sang, "Don't let the sun go down on me..." which me and three other guys were yelling, "Don't let YOUR SON go down on me..." just to add humor to it...

All in all, it was a truly fun and lifting experience, and one that I am more than appreciative that I get to share here, with you.

UFC, wrestling, comics, and more.

Time continues to be passing real fast, so updating the blog seems to be something that is not happening as often as it used to...I'll try to be on a little more frequently.

Anywho, next week, I think I'm going to the Cherokee reservation casino for some much needed R&R and drinking and money losing. It's not even gambling if you aren't going to win, right?

Heh, so I watched the ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALS and it was really good. The fights, the insight, all of it was good...except Ken Shamrock getting cut in the eye and then looking really bad. Tonight's PPV promises to be a good striking and grappling
experience with Liddell vs. Coutoure...the two best in the sport.

Well, in wrestling, HHH hurt himself, and now may have to take it easy as he passed out back stage and was in noticable pain...too bad...especially with Hogan coming back...again...(boo) At least this means that Batista may get the push he deserves as the champ. On the other show...they are boring me...hopefully they have that draft and really show it all up...that'd be great.

This week I picked up a couple good comics, but nothing really shocked me or made me want to jump at the next issue...maybe next week.

THIEF Update

I was talking with Eric the other night, after an absence from even emailing, and it seems that he's almost completely done penciling the #0 issue. This is great news, because he said he's already done all the breakdowns for the 1st issue of the series, as well.

From there, he's going to send me either the original pencils or photocopies of the pages so that I may start inking them. Either way, I'll probably make copies of all the pages so they can get scanned as both pencils, and then after the inks are done, so you get before and after pages, and finally get some good art on here =).

I'll probably start seeing the pages within the next two weeks, or so, and then with that added energy, I'll probably be able to get my butt back in the sling to write the next two issues =).

Just figured I'd give you guys a quick update. I am about 3 pages from completion on the #2 script and after that, I'll head fast into #3. The trick is to give everybody a good story in 16 pages while still giving them a reason to want the next issue. Fun stuff.

PSP...I got me one

Well,

As Christy, my loving, yet not always understanding, fiance said, I always need to upgrade and get better stuff...so today I did.

I traded in my GBA SP, and about 7 games for $100 and after paying the mortgage, used what I had left over from her to purchase myself a Sony PSP, the new handheld game system.

I have to tell you, the only thing I'd change is its size, and due to the screen on it, you really can;t...but it's beautiful. I bought the Spider-man 2 movie GAME to go with the free copy of the movie that comes with it. The game is stunning with its cartoon screens, looking MUCH better than what was originally seen in the PS2 version.

anyways, you may not see me on here too much for the next couple days, even with me being off from work, I need to discover how to rip movie files for a memory card for it, and then see how big the files are so I can see how much I need to spend on a memory card...since the gaming feature is nice, but that's what I REALLY want it for.

Later all!