Saturday, September 22, 2007

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 6 - Jason Martin / CONTEST!

Okay, this week has almost slipped by without an art peek from the new book, SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY SPECIAL, so here's my full colors from the first page (and the first page of the special), minus any text, dialogue or effects...

It's our cast being dropped off to begin the challenge, but it's also a pretty blatant homage to something, can anyone guess?
(Hint - it's movie based, just like the entire theme of the book)

In fact, lets make this a contest...
The first person to leave the correct guess in the comments section gets a copy of my 2007 convention sketchbook, PLANET LADIES, which has 22 b&w pages featuring women of comics etc, and a blank page that includes a sketch!
Good luck!

I'll try and be back early next week with more, and more frequent, behind-the-scenes art updates, as we've got a lot of really cool stuff happening!!
In the meantime, scroll down through the previous entries to see a bunch of art peeks that I've already shared!

Commission Crazyness this weekend!

Just like at conventions, I take commissions online to do artwork up by request, mainly via my online gallery at DeviantArt.com.

Right now I'm offering commissions at half the normal price, to drum up some extra cash.
So if you were thinking about contacting me for some kind of art, now's the time.

Here are the details:
Single character (or any reasonable request):
$10 for full pencils
$15 pencil with marker
$20 with digital color


and, I'll even throw in the originals if you add a couple extra bucks for postage!! ($2.50 1st class or $5 priority)

I can also do multi character or more involved pieces, just note for details!!

All requests must be able to Paypal funds to:
jasinmartin@hotmail.com
Here's one I've already done (with many more to come):


Just email me at jasinmartin@hotmail.com before Monday and we'll get you on the list.

Friday, September 14, 2007

SUPER REAL NOTES - CGS podcast interview

I recently did an interview for the podcast crew over at Comic Geek Speak that's up today on their website - 9/14/2007 - Episode 296

I believe it's they're monthly Previews episode, and they featured me to talk about the new books currently in Previews, SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY SPECIAL, and the SUPER REAL COLLECTED SET... The interview kicks off the show, and goes for about 20 minutes, so give it a listen!

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 5 - Dan Mendoza / PART 1

The next guest artist to feature behind-the-scenes-artwork from the upcoming SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY SPECIAL is Dan Mendoza.

Dan, well, I don't know Dan too well... He's out of Long Beach, California, and I got to meet him briefly at this year's Wizard World LA. I know he did some really cool animated shorts, apparently student films (Mortal Hunter)... which you can check out HERE. He also keeps a gallery on Deviant Art, and is working towards creating his own comic.

Dan is another artist who's style is very unique and doubtlessly born from many influences, from comics and manga, to anime and animation. I really dig his approach to character design and color, which was a treat to see him apply to the cast of Super Real, as his section features the entire cast. Dan may be the least polished of the guest artists, but he's got a raw energy to his work that I think you'll find very cool.

Here's a page from his section, from pencils, to letters!
Very cool!

Tune in for more behind-the-scenes art from the special next week!

Thursday, September 06, 2007

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 4 - Jerry Gaylord / PART 2

Continuing our tour of behind-the-scenes artwork from the production of the new special - SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY, yesterday we met Jerry Gaylord, another one of the guest artists on the book, showing some character sketches of his, so today I've got a couple of great pages from his sequence.

With the theme of the special being our genetically enhanced Super Real cast placed in dangerous situations from blockbuster movies, this section's theme doesn't get any bigger, because it's Star Wars, the mother of all blockbusters! Jerry's part of the story features participants 2 (Mike) and 3 (Kit) dropped into a setting that looks an awful lot like a classic scene from the original Star Wars film...
As you can see, Jerry does a great job with storytelling, page design, and expressive character work. There's no shortage of energy in any of it. His pages take the script and bring it to life so well, that by the section's end, he's created some really special moments with our two cast members (but you'll have to wait and see what I mean)...

What lurks in this "trash compactor"?
What hidden easter eggs have Jerry and I placed amongst the debris??
Will Kit and Mike find a way out before they get ground to super-human hamburger?!?

Pick up the book in November to find out!!!
Diamond Order Code SEP07 3591

Tune in next week for another peek at one of our guest artists from the special, with more in-process page art and more!!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 3 - Jerry Gaylord / PART 1

After an extended break for the holiday weekend (hopefully the last distraction for a great long time, cuz I need to get some serious work done), I'm back with another preview from the new special, SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY.

This time we'll look to another one of the 4 big guest artists, Jerry Gaylord.
Jerry is the driving force behind ID (Identiy) Comics, a comic company/studio based out of the D.C. area. They have some top notch talent lined up and working out some crazy cool comics, including Jerry's own HYPERBOY. Hyperboy is a bit of Invincible with an Antarctic Press sensibility. A pure fun, old-fashioned superhero book, with vibrant artwork. I first met the ID crew at Wizard World Philly '06, and picked up all their preview books and first issues, but have gotten to know most of the crew in the year+ since then (even meeting them all again at Pittsburgh Con this April).

Jerry and I hit it off and he'd previously done a pinup for me, so when I started putting together the new special, he was one of the first people I asked to participate. I'm glad he did, especially after seeing the amazing pages Jerry turned in.

I'm not going to show any pages here today, but I will share a couple character studies he did... They're of Mike (participant 2), and Kit (participant 3), as his section features those two characters teamed up in a scene inspired by the original, and 30 year classic, Star Wars. Jerry also happens to be a big time Star Wars fan (my kind of man), so he claims to have had a blast doing 9 pages of some detailed Star Warsy compactor scene fun!



As you can see, Jerry uses one of those hybrid styles, with lots of influences, mainly animated, and also, his background as a caricature artist shows in the vivid facial expressions and lively body language! His pages are very energetic and expressive indeed (as you'll soon see)!!

ID Comics are cooking up something new that they're set to debut at this weekend's big Baltimore Comic-Con. So check them out there, or stay tuned for more info, they're truly an outfit to watch.

Speaking of watching out for more work from The Franchize (Jerry's name from Deviant Art), be sure and tune in tomorrow for the first glimpse at some of his penciled pages... they're eye-popping cool!!
(Click the links to peep his DA gallery page, and ID website)

jason