Just signin’ some Beta Testing The Apocalypse. Get your own signed copy (with a free Skyway Sleepless!) here.
Archive for the 'Comics' Category
Ho ho ho! I recently released a new mini-comic: Skyway Sleepless. It originally appeared in Twin Cities Noir. You can buy it on the Uncivilized Books site… OR if you’ve always wanted a signed copy of Beta Testing The Apocalypse but couldn’t get one, I’m offering them now for a limited time here. All copies will come with a free copy of Skyway Sleepless! Order now!
I’ll be manning the Uncivilized Books table (table i8) at SPX all weekend! I’ll be there with Kevin Huizenga, Dan Zettwoch, Zak Sally & Peter Wartman. Stop by to say hi!
Meanwhile, look what I got in the mail!
The French version of Beta Testing the Apocalypse is a reality! The book is in stores in France now!
The French book is a bit larger than the Fantagraphics version.
It wouldn’t be French without French flaps! I had to extend the cover drawing by more than 50%! More on that in a future post!
The table of contents.
French title card.
Sample pages in French. Thanks to Dalton Webb for creating a great font from my hand writing!
The French edition has an afterword written by novelist & journalist Christophe Tison. I’ll have a translation of it in a future post.
The back cover! I’ll have copies in both languages at SPX. See you there!
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be a guest at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 22nd. I’ll be on the The Real: Comics Nonfiction panel. Here’s a description:
3:00 P.M. The Real: Comics Nonfiction. Three artists represent the diverse spectrum of topics taken on by nonfiction comics-Ed Piskor’sHip-Hop Family Tree offers an encyclopedic comics history of the formative years of hip hop; Lucy Knisley’sRelish: My Life in the Kitchen is a loving memoir of growing up gourmet and Tom Kaczynski‘s Trans-Terra: Towards a Cartoon Philosophy is a mutant memoir that melds comics, politics, and philosophy. Moderated by ProfessorJonathan W. Gray, John Jay College. Featuring screen projection. [ at BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY AUDITORIUM (128 Pierrepont Street) ]
Check out the rest of the comics programming. It’s looking great!
I’ll also be running the Uncivilized Books table all day. Stop by and say hello!
Unused & unfinished page from ‘Music For Neanderthals’ (collected in Beta Testing the Apocalypse).
This is how final front/back cover (pictured, click to see full-size) to Beta Testing the Apocalypse came to be (see parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of this series).
It was one of the most complicated drawings I’d drawn. It was done! Or was it… ?
More soon!
So, I’m continuing the cover process for the Beta Testing the Apocalypse cover. Previous parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. In the last post, I was showing the evolution of the color. This time I’m focusing on the type design.
This was the first iteration. I wanted to typographically mirror the ‘beta testing’ concept by having some kind of wireframe version of the type present… it was a little too much.
I still wanted they type to be somehow active… but not quite as hyperactive as here.
This is pretty close to what I settled on. The drawing had so much going on in it, that I decided the type needed to be more subtle and clean… so the two elements won’t compete with each other.
The next task was color. I started out by blocking out areas that were closer to the viewer… more in focus.
I ended up subdividing the line art into three ‘layers’ apparent below. Initially I wanted a limited 2-3 color palette… but it quickly became obvious that the detail demanded something else…
I eventually settled on this general color palette… but it still needed more.
This is how the final color scheme ended up.
If you’re just joining us, check out parts 1, 2, 3.
It took me a while to work up the nerve to ink this thing. Normally I would’ve inked most of the building with rules & rapidographs. But I decided against it… Since everything was so rigidly planned out, I wanted to have a more organic line in the finishing process. Click on the image to super-size.
Beta Testing the Apocalypse
Structures 1-11
Trans Terra
Twin Cities Noir