SUPER REAL NOTES: issue 6 preview 5

This week I'm showing artwork from the just released 55 page sixth issue (and upcoming graphic novel release) of Super Real.

This is page 46...
Is that Darth Cheney vs Super Obama??
Is Obama getting his ass handed to him?!?
WTF!?!


**Don't forget you can pick up issue six now in the website store, and you can also still pre-order the graphic novel via comic shops/Diamond# NOV090909, with a huge discount via DCBService.com, or directly via SuperRealGraphics.com!

The final 28 page issue, number 7, will be available late December, early January!

STAY TUNED!

SUPER REAL NOTES: issue 6 preview 4

This week I'm showing artwork from the just released sixth issue (and upcoming graphic novel release) of Super Real.

This is page 42...
Our main gal Holly (aka participant number one) possibly sneaking around an air duct?
Yeah, we pointed those out in issue 2 for a reason...


**Don't forget you can pick up issue six now in the website store, and you can also still pre-order the graphic novel via comic shops/Diamond# NOV090909, with a huge discount via DCBService.com, or directly via SuperRealGraphics.com!

SUPER REAL NOTES: issue 6 preview 3

This week I'm showing artwork from the just released sixth issue of Super Real (and the upcoming graphic novel).

This is page 28...
In panel 3, the gang's all there; Bush, Cheney, and Obama...


**Don't forget you can pick up issue six now in the website store, and you can also still pre-order the graphic novel via comic shops/Diamond# NOV090909, with a huge discount via DCBService.com, or directly via SuperRealGraphics.com!

SUPER REAL NOTES: issue 6 preview 2

This week I'll be showing artwork from the just released sixth issue of Super Real.

This is page 27...
a bit of a break in the action at the 56 page issue's mid-point...


**Don't forget you can pick up issue six now in the website store, and you can also still pre-order the graphic novel via comic shops/Diamond# NOV090909, with a huge discount via DCBService.com, or directly via SuperRealGraphics.com!

SUPER REAL NOTES: issue 6 preview 1

While we wait for the graphic novel to come out in January, those following in single issue format can pick up the first giant-sized part of the two part finale, issue number 6, which is available now (in print and digital from the website), and with the final part, issue 7, set to release in late December.

So, besides the first 8 pages which have been previewed on the website and around the web, I thought I'd share some art from key pages of the issue (that also don't give too much away). Here's the first, page 12...


A good side by side shot of our cast on what may be their final genetically enhanced reality show challenge!!

**Don't forget you can still pre-order the graphic novel via comic shops/Diamond# NOV090909, with a huge discount via DCBService.com, or directly via SuperRealGraphics.com!

SUPER REAL NOTES: Graphic Novel new colors 2

This week I'm doing a little show and tell of the production for the Super Real graphic novel collection, and focusing on the inclusion of the Super Real VS The Comic Book Industry special issue, which was originally in black and white, but will now be in color.

There were five sections in the special, each by a different artist, and my section was in color (of sorts) already, so that left four sections needing color, with no time on my schedule to do it.

Yesterday we looked at samples of the first section, and today we'll focus on another, the section by Edward Pun, who worked in a manga style, as his section pit our cast member Kit against Poke-Zap, a Pokeman stand-in.

It was also one of the sections I filled via an open call, so today, here are the two sample pages I received for the section...


So that's Ed's lineart (with grayscale), and sample 1 by Jesus Alessandro Esparza Hurtado, and sample 2 by Fabián Cobos...

Both samples were cool, but quite similar, so I had a tough time picking. Stay tuned to see some future samples from the selected artist!

And again, a big thanks to everyone who took the time to do up some samples, and color some pages!

Tune in tomorrow for more before and after from new colorists on new artists!

SUPER REAL NOTES: Graphic Novel new colors

When I started to setup Super Real in one graphic novel collection, I knew right away, that with the collected format being in color, there was an opportunity to go back and colorize our first special, Super Real VS The Comic Book Industry, as it was originally printed in black and white. However, I also knew, with everything else that needed done, I wouldn't have time to color the pages myself. Even though, since it featured 4 sequences by guest artists Jim Mahfood, The Boo, Daniel Campos, and Edward Pun, it would've been a lot of fun to color all those different artists. So, I asked a couple folks if they were interested, and decided to try putting out an open call to the DeviantArt.com community, for the remaining sections.

Over the next few days, I'll share some of the newly colored pages here, starting with the three folks who were kind enough to submit color samples for the two open sections (by Daniel, and Ed). As you'll see, I found some cool artists, and I really appreciate them taking the effort to try out for a non paying gig like this.

Today I'll show our first selection, by Oliver Lee Arce, and his colors over Daniel Campos' first page from the special...


A side by side comparison, from inks, to colors, and letters...
As you can see, his colors really bring the page to life, and also are full of unique touches. Very nice!

If anyone else wants to play with colors on the pages, feel free, just click on the ink image, and let me know so I can post your results here (just remember the slots for the book are already filled!).

Tune in tomorrow, and we'll share the two submissions we got for Edward's section, and then after that, some of the cool colors provided by friends!

STAY TUNED!

SUPER REAL NOTES / PREVIEW 12

It's official, Super Real VS The Movie Industry Special is done and off to the printer!

I'd planned to have the book wrapped by the first week of October, but missed that date, and have spent pretty much the last 4 to 5 weeks working on finishing it in every spare minute, so I'm very happy to be done. The book is massive, and proved to be much more of a challenge than I had thought. Originally conceived as about 35 pages and involving 4 additional artists, it wound up 43 pages and with 14 different creators (not counting me), with a 5 page artist jam section added, and a couple of awesome pinups. Also, for the four featured guest artists, I'd offered to color their sections of find colorists for them if they liked, and two of them took me up on it, and I never set up any coloring help, so that added 16 pages of coloring to my workload.

This was also the first time I had any help with lettering, with my friend Joshua Crawley of Wisconsin (a comic shop manager by day) taking on that task. As I suspected though, it took a lot of hands on from me to work with someone else on that. Nothing against Josh, he was awesome, I'm just not used to structuring things so that the lettering can be cleanly handed off... I can only imagine how much time and effort it would have took without him, and together we came up with some great stuff!

Setting up an artist jam section, collaborating with letterers, lining up pinups, it all helps make this new book something really special (no pun intended). Hopefully making for a great read for any fan of the book, or genre movies. The script is really a fun romp through elements of some of the most beloved movies and themes of recent generations. Kind of like taking the Epic/Scary Movie franchise approach, where a cast winds through countless familiar film scenarios, but taking an action slant instead of parody (not that there isn't comedy gold to be mined along the way), with the added bonus of sampling some amazing artistic talent, most of which no ones had a chance to see before! I'm very proud of this book, and all the many contributors and the amazing work they put in for this little project of mine.

And that's not the end of it either, I've also got the great folks at Ape Entertainment managing the printing of the book, and going to a lot of extra effort, mostly to help support other small press creators. Even with them trying to turn the book around in two weeks (well under there normal lead time), the books most likely won't hit Diamond and comic shop shelves until early December. I will keep the schedule updated here and at the website as things fall into place though.

In the meantime, I'll continue to share artwork from the book. Today, in celebration of the books completion, here's the artwork from the last page...

The bottom third of the page is left open because that's where the end credits go, movie style, to wrap things up.

Thanks again to everyone who's ordered and waiting for the book, and especially all my friends I've been honored enough to work with on the project!

STAY TUNED,
jason

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 11 - Jason Martin / PART 2

Getting the book ready for the printer, unfortunately a bit behind schedule, but I haven't shared any artwork in a bit, so here's another page from my section...

As you can see, my section is inspired by a classic blockbuster that's set to return next year...

Look for an update on the schedule soon, but have no fear, the book will be hitting shops soon!

Stay tuned for more updates!

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 10 - Josh Howard / PART 2

Since Josh was kind enough to put a link here from his blog, I thought I'd go ahead and share some more of his artwork from the upcoming book, SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY SPECIAL.

For those of you new to the game, Super Real follows five reality show participants signed to million dollar contracts to get genetically enhanced, there have been four issues so far, and this is the second special, where I write and collaborate with other artists, this time, placing our cast in lethal situations from blockbuster films!

I've been sharing behind-the-scenes-artwork from the four guest artists, as we lead up to the book's release in comic shops this November.

Here's another page from Josh's 7 page section, featuring participants 4 and 5, in what looks like a graveyard with some undead inhabitants... starting with Josh's inked linework, then to my color treatment, and finally the lettering (for the first time handled by someone besides me, Joshua Crawley)...


What's really afoot in this scene?
What's to become of our cast members?
What kind of cool stuff will Josh get to draw?!?

Tune into the book to find out!! :D
Diamond Order Code SEP073951

Josh isn't the only cool guest artist playing with the Super Real characters and the nutty movie inspired scenarios, there are several more incredible comic creators contributing as well, and there's plenty more behind-the-scenes-artwork in the blog, and much more info on the book at it's website.

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 9 - Jerry Gaylord / PART 3

Time for more art from the new book (November's almost here!!)...

This time we're going back to my man Jerry Gaylord, and looking at some of his great lines filled in with colors, by me :)
This is the opening two page spread from his section, and he nailed the layout here, getting all the elements to keep the eyes moving across every inch. Of course, the script called for a lot of details and easter eggs (hidden goodies amongst the background etc), making the coloring here very intense...
I'd considered finding another colorist to help out here, but in the end couldn't resist coloring the pages myself.
I really like how it all turned out, now that all the hard work is over with...

Stay tuned for more!

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 8 - Josh Howard / PART 1

Some of you may have heard of this Josh Howard kid, he's done a few Dead@17 mini series for Viper Comics, to big success, a series for Devils Due, and even a book for DC/Minx among other things.

While cranking out his own stellar creations, and taking big time gigs, Josh was kind enough to help out some random dude he met at San Diego Comic-Con a few years back (that's me) with cover art, a couple times over, for Super Real, and being that I don't know when to say when, I even pestered the man into doing some interior pages for the book. Those pages are part of the new/upcoming Super Real Special - SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY, due out in comic shops this November.

You may recall in these weeks of behind-the-scenes art previews, that the new special, is double-sized, full color, and wholly written by me, and featuring a slew of amazing artists? Good. Well, if you've been following along, you'll have noticed that we've previewed all 5 of the featured artists (myself included... it's really all about me, me, me isn't it), except, one Mr. Josh Howard, the featured creator of the featured... the big gun as it were.

Well, I'm here with your first glimpse at the awesome pages from Mr. Howard, from the horror inspired section of the book naturally (hey, you don't want to type cast someone, but you gotta admit Josh has made his bread and butter with dark gothic cartoon gals - however, to my recollection, just by him taking this gig, it's his first superpowered work in the industry too... outside of pinups etc).

So anyway, time to show the goods, here's a page from Josh's section...
and it's colored by your truly! (see, I warned you it's all about me)
Yep, I offered to color his pages, and Josh was kind enough to turn over the inked files and let me have at them. Truly an honor! As was working on and assembling this book. I've hesitated to say it was the best thing I've done to date, not wanting to slight the creators who pitched in on the last special, but after adding them to this new books lineup (yes, there's another sixth, as-of-yet-unmentioned section that features most the talent from the last special), and having some very cool pinups added to the mix as well, I'm quite confident, and proud to say, this is the best book ever!! Or at least the best book I've done ;)

So, stay tuned, as we close in on November and the pending release of the book, there's still a boat-load of cool artwork to share!!!

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 7 - Dennis Budd / PART 3

Ooops, I've been MIA for a while, so it's well past time for some more sneak peeks at artwork from the upcoming SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY SPECIAL...

This time we've got a pencilled page from Dennis Budd's section...With Holly (participant number 1) kicking some gimp ass, only to be confronted by...

You'll have to tune into the book to find out who, or what, she's facing off with here folks!

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!

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!

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!!

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

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 2 - Dennis Budd / PART 2

Yesterday we started our behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming November releasing SUPER REAL VS THE MOVIE INDUSTRY SPECIAL with a look at the first of our four guest artists, Dennis Budd, and his character design sheets for his section (Holly vs a Tarantino-themed mob).

Today, we'll pick up right where we left off, with the rest of Dennis' designs, this time for the villains.

If you think Tarantino films, no shortage of iconic villains and characters spring to mind... from Samuel L's career launching turn as Jules in Pulp fiction and it's "gimp", or Ving Rhames' Marsellus Wallace, to Kill Bill's Kato inspired Crazy 88's, and Go Go Yabari the mace wielding Japanese school girl, Tarantino knows how to dream up crazy cool bad guys and not so good guys. Mr. Pink anyone? So, it seemed natural to lineup a mob of such goons, all inspired by QT's big screen misfits, and pit them against our number one girl Holly. I won't say any more, but it's going to be a fun ride!

First up we have Dennis' take on our S&M monster, that he calls simply "Pat the gimp".
Next are the made-for-reality-TV versions of the Crazy 88's, the Loco 22's... I thought, hey luchador mask wearing Mexican themed get-ups would make for a great stand-in here, and Dennis ran with it (plus, 88 goons is a lot to ask someone to draw, hell 22 goons is a lot to ask someone to draw!!)...
Next up we have Dennis' stab at some likenesses that might bounce around the scene... recognize anyone?
As you can see, BONUS!, Dennis is proficient with capturing likenesses!!!

And finally, we have the show stopper... My take on Go Go, re-imagined as a cross between Go Go Yabari, and Stuntman Mike... A small Asian girl, but sporting a big facial scar and some old-school skates... that Dennis dubbed, KAGO BAAI (Basket Case), how appropriate!!!
Dennis played around a bit here, trying to work with me to find the right mix...
So there you have it!
Look like fun?!? :)
Well, that's just a small taste of what's to come, in just one section of this massive tale! There's still 4 more artists covering Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Zombie/horror, and much much more!!!!

I'm sure having seen these teases, many questions spring to mind, such as...
Will Holly take out these QT-fueled miscreants?
Will they take out a piece of her first?
Will Dennis be able to juggle so many whacked-out characters?!?

Stay tuned dear reader, for much more behind-the-scenes fun!
jason

SUPER REAL SPECIAL: VS The Movie Industry / PREVIEW 1 - Dennis Budd / PART 1

After coming up with the idea for the first special, Super Real VS The Comic Book Industry, I quickly knew there was a great opportunity to repeat it's formula. Taking the cast of Super Real and putting them in situations from the theme, different mediums of entertainment, and writing the stories for short sequences to be handled by a lineup of guest artists. Not only do you get fertile ground for action packed stories, but you get to work with, and showcase, a variety of artistic talent that the mainstream may not be aware of (and even work with some bonafide comic book stars; Jim Mahfood, Josh Howard)!!

So, having put together a great book the first time, it didn't take long to start hatching plans for a sequel - Super Real VS The Movie Industry. This time though, everything is bigger, with a story of over 40 pages, all in full color this time out (just like the regular series), and while I'm again working with 4 guest artists (in addition to once more pencilling a section of my own), there's also going to be an artist jam section, and pinup collection. It's going to be spectacular!!

Since my climax was running too long for what the awesome featured artist, Josh Howard (Dead@17, Lost Books of Eve), was gracious enough to sign up for, I've decided to have some special friends help out with the finale - a sequence of splash pages to wrap up the issue, artist jam style (you know, like what Bendis did with the last issue, or was it an annual, on Ultimate Team-up?)!! There were no shortage of talented creators and friends to sign up for pages and pinups this time out, so it's really become a matter of fitting them all in, and getting them material to have fun with (so you the readers and fans can have a blast too). I think we've succeeded, and over the next few weeks, I'll be giving you a peek at this metric ton of crazy cool artwork. Starting now!

I've decided to take the artists, one at a time, and give each of them a week of behind-the-scenes features, showcasing character studies, page layouts/roughs, pencils, and more! (That's the idea anyway, can't promise I won't bend those rules as we go)
First up? Dennis Budd.
Dennis is the co-creator of MODEL OPERANDI, an awesome OGN (that's original graphic novel) released last year from After Hours Press. You might recall I talked the book up here, and featured it as an indy spotlight in the print version of TSL. Dennis is the main artistic force behind the concept, a modeling agency with action-packed extra-curricular activities, along with his co-creator Joe Caramagna (who's also a letterer for just about every-other Marvel comic you might read... no really, check the credits on any Marvel book, and you'll see what I mean). Anyway, Dennis has a really clean animated style, and the book blended sexy girls with comedic action, in a fun tasteful way. If you STILL haven't dug up a copy, check it out!!

Dennis can currently be seen gracing the pages of Platinum Studios' CONSUMED, where he's again joined by Joe, for some of the art chores on a tale that's penned by someone else. A work for hire gig. The book has been a fun read so far, with some great writing from a scribe I've not seen before, Asa Shumskas-Tait. Check it out, you can't miss the Joe Lisner covers!

So anyway, what about his artwork for Super Real?!?
Well, I'm getting to that :)
Dennis stepped in to take on a showcase section of the book, featuring participant number 1 (Holly Hood, our main character) facing off against a never ending mob of Quentin Tarantino inspired goons!! Dennis, being a true pro (he went to the Kubert school kids) started cranking out character designs once I got him the script. And well, since he offered up a character sheet for Holly, I went ahead and made some suggestions, to keep our main gal looking the part. So today I'm sharing those two sheets he created for her.

The first character sheet was his initial take, and the second was with some of my suggestions.
Basically, Holly has a pretty big build for her height (broad shoulders, long legs, etc), and I thought the first one's made her look a little too small, so I suggested he pattern her more after his character Gracie from MO (as she's pretty much a twin of Holly, even also wearing a pink and black shirt). Also, since we were doing this exercise, I could suggest little things like changing the shapes of her eyes, and how he drew the hair. That's pretty cool for an 8 page stint on one book!

Gracie and Holly, seperated at birth?
Tomorrow we'll check back with Dennis, and take a look at the really cool stuff... his character designs for all of the Tarantino inspired bad guys!!!! They're a LOT of fun!

So, be sure and tune in tomorrow!
jason

SUPER REAL NOTES - STOP! Pinup time!

Received a couple pinups from San Diego, and another that's been in the works since Pittsburgh, so thought I'd share...

First up we have this digitally painted (and rather risque) piece from Super Real issue 3 variant artist, Hector Sevilla (Lullaby, upcoming Leviticus Cross from Dabel Brothers)...


Next is a sketch that I received from artist Charles Holbert Jr. at the con. Charles had stopped by the table with a friend the day before to check out the book, and dropped this off to me a day or so later, which was really cool...
He had a great portfolio, and you can check out his DeviantArt gallery HERE

This great action shot is from Penelope Rivera whom I met at the recent Pittsburgh Comicon... Pene is engaged to Jerry Gaylord, an artist I'd met the year before at Wizard World Philly, who has done a section of pages in the upcoming Super Real Special (and he actually colored this piece too)...

Pene (or Peng Peng) and Jerry are both great artists, and really cool people, with quite a talented crew of creators working for the their Identity Comics collective... check more out from them HERE


I actually have a few more pinups that came in this week from Dan Mendoza, but I'm holding those back till I showcase what he's been working up as one of the contributing guest artists for the next Special...
So, tune in next week for that!