The anthology was just discussed on the Monsters & Metal podcast, which you should definitely listen to here.

You can also hear Creators/Editors Brian Evinou and Phil McClorey discuss the book on Fred’s Fredcast! here.

I really want to see it happen because there’s so much I love about this book! For starters, the cover by the unreal talent of James Edward Clark is insanely cool.

Secondly, we here at Big Sexy Comics are contributors to its content. Fred wrote a story titled Princess Patty that’s illustrated by my fellow Undertow artist, Gibson Quarter.

What I’m most excited about however is the contribution I made to the book and campaign yesterday. I collaborated with friend and fellow artist Michael Walsh (Comeback, The X-Files) on a giant monster pin-up!

It was the first time I ever shared a canvas with another artist and it worked out incredibly well. Logistically speaking it was a joy. Michael and I each designed our monsters, agreed on a composition and took it from there. We spent the afternoon together drawing in the booth of a coffee house in Hamilton. It was romantic.

The original piece of art is up for bid on Monstrosity’s campaign for a meager $250! OR you can purchase a B+W print for only $35 (includes a hard copy of the book and digitial download)–but that’s not all! I’m told the piece will soon be full coloured, so if you have purchased a black and white print off the campaign you’ll be upgraded to a full colour print. One more time: Print!

I live-tweeted the drawing session yesterday. Below is a gallery of our rough sketches and progress. Below that is a link where you can donate!

Adam is actually drawing RIGHT NOW! While you read this he’s muttering curses against my name and asking various God’s to cast down fire against me, maybe lightning bolts and such too …

I’m working on my short stories. I just published a big update to my latest short story Braccus: The Whore Son. I have even taken a few stabs at creating a solid map. It’s amazing how useful a good map can be. I’ve done a lot of work on it actually.

Roads, rivers, marshes and mountains, even political boundaries of the various clans and their towns and villages. It’s been a fair bit of work, but I’m really finding it useful for keeping track of things … even if I probably look a bit weird gazing at some stupid fictitious map when riding on the GoTrain.

When I’m not tinkering with that, I’ve been watching a lot of movies and brainstorm while I do it. I can’t tell you what is entailed in these notes, they’re for my pitches next fall with Adam.

BUT I will tell you what I’ve been watching …

The Seven Samurai

Once Upon a Time in the West

Spartacus: War of the Damned

Batman: The Animated Series

American Gangster

Star Trek: The Next Generation

AND What I’ve been reading …

Vimy

The Goon

XO Manowar

Flashpoint

Black Church

See if you can put the pieces together. Because for now that’s all you get.

Fred and I are thrilled by the line up of artists contributing work for our third and final volume. They’re all so awesome they may as well draw the book, in my own humble opinion, but I’m stuck with the chore of drawing the story. Ho-hum!

Here’s a small sampling of all the awesome to come…

This first piece comes from illustrator Andy Stanleigh, illustrator of TITAN: An Alternate History and the upcoming Hobson’s Gate. Andy’s dark and gritty style plays well with the tone of Teuton and its characters, specifically Ziburnis.

In his piece, Andy depicts Ziburnis’ glowing furnace-like mask reflected in Andrus’ helm. It’s energetic and hints perfectly at the big action to be found in Teuton Vol.3 has in store.

You can check out more of Andy’s work at his site, AH Comics Inc.

This second illustration is by D.A. Bishop, writer/illustrator of Stranger and the recently much talked about Squirrels. David and I hit it off at a Wizard World show a few years back and he’s been keen to contribute for quite some time.

Taken from the pages of Teuton Vol.2, Bishop shows Jadvyga facing off against a horde of trolls–a sequence I look back on with a desire to do it differently if I’m being honest.

But here he does it right! The kind bastard even gave me the original, a gesture I was so humbled by I couldn’t function. Thanks, David! You killed it on this one!

Thirdly we have Keith Grachow offering up a really cool interpretation of the Komtur’s siege of Constantine’s Crossing. The battle is a major sequence in Volume 3 and I think Keith captures the essence of what’s going down quite well.

Keith is a wonderful illustrator and does great work over at Mirror Comics. Be sure to check out Sunset Coast, illustrated by Grachow and written by Kristopher Waddell.

As such I haven’t been writing as much as I would like. It’s weird. I used to think I was a busy guy. I wasn’t married, had no kids, worked only one job, wasn’t really writing anything—no prose or OR comics. Yet, if you’d have asked me, I would have told you I was busy.

Me right now wants to go and slap me a few years ago. I would give anything to have that much free time. I’ve got two full time jobs, a kid, a wife (who I enjoy spending time with) and I’m writing more than I ever have. I actually stress myself out about it. Kind of silly actually, but I do. I get stressed out when I don’t feel I’ve written enough.

But for the sake of sorting out my mind  let’s take a look at what I’m trying to write at the moment …

1) The Sci Fi Project with Conor McCreery

We’ve actually been working on thing pretty steady for the past few months. I can’t say too much about it cause we’re pitching. But I can say that we both had our minds blown when the trailer for Ender’s Game was released today …

2) Braccus: The Whore Son

My second short story/novella about Braccus the Gothran. This story is such a bull to wrestle with. I posted ablog a few days ago about my strategy of focussing more on characters development. I actually shut it down for a few days to really hammer out solid character back stories and bios.

Then as soon as I did I went back through everything I’d written, which was only about ten or so pages, but given my limited time it took a good week to really give things the amount of polish I wanted. Frustratingly the day after I finished we had some visitors arrive.

In all honesty the guy who showed up is one of my all time best friends so I shouldn’t complain. It was great seeing him, we even played some Pathfinder. That was a laugh. I crafted a pretty sweet quest if I do say so myself. Although I didn’t tweak the monsters bonuses properly and it came off as a bit too easy if you ask me.

Still, I got myself stressed out thinking how much I could’ve written. That’s what I do when I lay awake in bed. I worry about all the things I haven’t done … like edit the version that’s on here. 

Well the bright side is I’ve actually pounded away on it quite a bit over the past three days. I’m excited to really sink my teeth into it again!

3) Teuton Volume 3

Yes. Adam is currently hammering away with the precision of a dwarven smith on the last few pages of Teuton Volume 3. And while those pages come in our wonderful friend Chris letters them, and then I go over them once more to make sure the dialogue I’ve written isn’t too awful.

Regardless it’s just something else I need to work on.

The really cool thing is that a bunch of our pin ups are trickling in, there are some really fracking cool ones too. Here’s one from Andy Stanleigh:

Andy works on a VERY cool comic called Titan: An Alternative History. I suggest you read it.

4) Comixology Nonsense

Well everyone has been going on about getting Teuton on Comixology and how important it is. So I submitted Teuton for online publication. But they rejected us. The reasons were all technical so it’s kind of a relief that they didn’t think the story was bad.

But the fact remains I need to go back over the specs and tweak them. That’s only annoying cause I can admit I get easily confused by the techy stuff. Tis my not very secret shame

5) Remnant … ohhhhhh the waiting ….

This comic has beena real work of love for me. I have a feeling there are some people who just won’t like it, but I don’t care. I love sword and sorcery stuff. And this one is just packed full of violence and magic. I am really excited to see it in print.

The cover is gonna look unreal and when it’s all done. I’m just waiting on the letters and the notes from my editor over at Frozen Beach, and yes I get stressed waiting for notes.

You sensing a motif?

I’m very excited about this. I’ve never before attended TCAF, either as or creator or a casual visitor. I’m eager to discover what I’ve been missing out on all these years.

Joining me on the Saturday is Brian Evinou. He’ll be (presumably) selling copies of his awesome books Sassy Mavericks, Fight Song and the awesome anthology Horror In The West.

Fred will be come down for the Sunday and flex his muscles for all the boys and girls. He’s so dreamy!

Of course we’ll be slinging copies of Teuton Volumes 1 & 2, but I warn ye, our supplies are getting low! I’ll also have on hand copies of Undertow #3, Book Of Methuselah #4 and pretty much anything else I’ve done work on.

I’m also seeing if I can whip up something entirely new for the event. I am thinking  sketchbook. Any suggestions?

Anyway, here’s a bunch of terrible snapshots from I took of my sketches from the day. Enjoy!

Adam is very adamant (see what I did there?) that C2E2 was more about just getting work into a broader audience than actually selling hard copies. I mean let’s be honest, if even half the people who took our card actually come to this site and read what we’ve done then we’ll have begun reaching an incredibly broad audience on both sides of the border.

So … if you grabbed our card and are now reading this, thank you!

There were some very cool things that happened:

1) Meeting Ben McCool and keeping myself from gushing non stop about how much I loved Nevsky.

2) Hearing one of the filthiest jokes ever from Jimmy Palmiotti, and then getting a free signed copy of his book Sex and Violence–made even cooler when he remembered who I was.

3) Meeting Dave Marshall from Dark Horse and talking with him about the upcoming stories from Conan. Let me just say, I am more confident than ever that Tim Truman’s adaptation of The Hour of the Dragon is gonna be amazing.

4) Saying hello to Tony Moore and his lovely wife and discussing the awful nature of teething. Uggh teething it is the worst.

5) Finally getting to have some face time with Eric Powell, and telling him that THIS …

These pages are the property of Dark Horse Comics and Eric Powell

… made me laugh harder than anything I’ve ever read in a comic. Yeah I’m a total Goon fan-boy, sue me … please don’t sue me. I am so poor I wrote this blog using dial up.

6) Ramon Perez reminding me the time had come to start dressing like an adult. Yes. I have an aversion to shirts with buttons.

7) There’s also the numerous good times I had with Adam, Phil, Brian, Michael, Ed, Conor, and Andy.

So all in all it was actually a pretty good time. I was just a bit down about the lack of sales, but as far as a trip goes it was fun time.

Now, last time I posted on here I was gonna talk about writing. See, I have a new system in terms of creating content. Basically I write comics and then while I wait for the art to come in I write prose. Not all of it winds up here on the site (because they’re not all winners) but if you’ve read The Veiled Blade here on the site, you’ll know I have a thing for sword and sorcery.

See, I wrote that story in January and I started with just a basic idea of this warrior named Braccus on an escort mission protecting a young noble women who played a key role on an archeological dig. The dig goes wrong–as they always do–and he has to fight to keep her safe.

As I wrote it I would get frustrated, the story seemed to meander and I would start mapping things out as I went–to the point of minutiae. To be honest, when I finished I was very relieved because for a good portion of it I was struggling. See, I’ve read a lot of books about story telling and there are a few different approaches. One of them is called The Writer’s Journey.

It was pretty useful and has a twelve point system for story telling based on mythic story structure. And The Veiled Blade actually follows that structure pretty well, but there was still something missing. I realized I’d just focussed on plot rather than story telling. So I opted to try something different with the next Braccus story–The Whore Son. This time I’m focussing on character.

Maybe I’ll still find myself frustrated, but so far it’s been a pretty interesting process.

I read a book called 45 Master Characters …

… and right away I stumbled upon a very cool writing exercise. It gives you a list of 26 questions to answer about your characters. If you can’t answer the questions, you really don’t know them well enough to write about them properly.

Character Questions:

1) Face – Is it full or narrow? Why? What can we learn about them by their age, history, occupation by their face? Are their eyes perpetually sad looking or Harsh?

2) Skin – How dark is it? Is it the soft skin of a pampered man or the rough skin of a blue collared man?

3) Hair – Is it long, short, curly, or stringy? Most mothers cut their hair short due to lack of grooming time in the mornings–unless they can afford a nanny.

4) Age – What is the best age to convey the struggle of this character? If your character is a divorced mother who has given up her livelihood to raise a family, then it would be much more dramatic for her to be starting over at forty years of age than at twenty.

5) Body Type – Are they a full figured? A woman with the hips of a mother who has bore five children? Are they lean and muscular like an accomplished athlete?

6) Style – Is he trendy or twenty years behind? Does he dress to old for his age?

7) Your Impression – Do you like this character? Why? Find out why you want to spend the next year writing about this character. It will help you to persuade the reader to like them too.

8) Is she introverted or extroverted?

9) Does he solve problems using instincts, logical thinking or emotions?

10) Does she want to change the world?

11) Where does he live?Describe the bedroom, its the most secretive and private room in the house.

12) How does she feel about her appearance?

13) How does he feel about his family and children?

14) What does she think of men and marriage?

15) What are her hobbies?

16) What type of friends does he have?

17) What does he consider to be fun?

18) How does she feel about her sexuality?

19) Does he have control of his environment?

20) What do others have to say about him when he leaves the room?

21) Does he take life seriously, or act like a child most of the time?

22) Where would he spend a sunday afternoon? By herself in a bookstore? At a luncheon with some friends? Looking over files for work?

23) What do they care about?

24) What do they fear?

25) What motivates your character?

- Survival – The basic need to survive.

- Safety and Security – Once basic needs are taken care of, we need to feel safe, secure and protected.

- Love and Belonging – Once we have a home, we desire a sense of family or community or connection. Unconditional love and acceptance.

- Esteem and Self Respect – Is earned love and respect for what you’ve done in your life, to be looked up to and to be recognized.

- The Need to Know and Understand – The search for knowledge. We have a natural curious desire to know how things work and how things fit together.

- The Aesthetic – The need for balance, a sense of order in life, a sense of being connected to something greater than ourselves. Can be spiritual.

- Self Actualization – To express ourselves; to communicate who we are; to actualize our talents, skills and abilities whether or not we are publicly recognized.

26) How do other characters view your character?

More importantly if you don’t know your subject well enough, you’re just writing about stereotypes instead of actual character. So I used those 26 questions for two or three players I was using in The Whore Son, but as I began writing I once again found myself in the classic situation of writing about stereotypes rather than actual character. I was annoyed, because in a story there is so much going on that once you begin using a generic place holder to move the story along it just keeps compounding the farther you go.

It was a very frustrating realization. So the stuff I posted on here last week with The Whore Son is as much as I’ve written. I stopped working on it entirely and began going over EVERY character that appears in the story, even the ones who are only involved briefly. It was a really interesting bit of work, because I began thinking about WHY each person is doing what they’re doing during the course of the story: the backdrop, the motivations, all of it.

And it seemed to make each player jump off the page, so after doing all that you know what I’m doing now? I’m re-reading and re-working everything I’ve written thus far. Expect some changes, but they’ll be for the better.

Until next week my friends, may the force be with you.

Last year a bunch of talented indie comic creators banded together for the kick ass comic anthology Horror In The West.

Well if one things for sure it’s that there ain’t no rest for the wicked, because Phil McClorey and Brian Evinou are back with a comic anthology that’s so big, so fearsome, so utterly badass that it could not be called anything but MONSTROSITY!

The gruesome two-some have brought much of the same talent as the last book and are also being joined by some raddest names in Toronto comics I know: Ricky Lima! Fred Kennedy! J. Bone! James Edward Clark! Jason Loo! Marvin Law! Sam Agro! And holy hell it keeps going!

Their Indiegogo campaign is live and deserves your support! Run and donate here!

I’ll be appearing at Stadium Comics alongside many top notch artists like Marcus To, Ty Templeton, Agnes Garbowska, Ken Lashley, and on and on… and on. Actually, the list of appearances is so impressive I may show up just to gush rather than participate.

Get all the dirty details about the event here. I’ll be selling sketches, copies of Teuton and Undertow, and possibly some new prints. Anyone got suggestions for what a great new print might be???

I returned home from Chicago at 3am on Monday morning. My ride rumbled off into the night as I jerked stubbornly on a locked deadbolt and realized I didn’t have my keys. Around the perimeter of my house I slunk in darkness over sodden grass, muck sucking at my footfalls, and crept through the side door into my home where it was darker still. Hobbling, I tore off my filthy shoes and walked blindly across a hardwood floor booby trapped with toys. I set myself on the edge of a coffee table and hunkered elbows on knees, feeling the energy of the weekend bleed.

I wrestled with writing a play-by-play report on what all went down, but giving one side to what was truly a collective experience feels prosaic. The highlights replay in my mind’s eye and I’m left wondering how it is I’ve come to know and interact with such incredible people: Fred, who is too hard on himself and needs a hug (buy a book, folks. Let’s get him smiling.); Phil McClorey, a sharp writer whose favourite road game is breaking my balls; Michael Walsh, who’s sweeter than the all the sour patch kids I ate combined; Brian Evinou, who entertained my dreadful joke pitches and paranoid ramblings. All four of these fine gentlemen deserve Nobel Peace Prizes for not breaking my neck or leaving me at the side of the road for my exhausted-drunk aggravations. Love, love, love!

It feels good to have broken ground in America with my art and our comics. While sales were not ideal, it was a terrific weekend for me personally. I was more or less a high-functioning alcoholic for 3 days and be a brat. Fun!

I’d also like to acknowledge and thank a bunch of folks for spending time with me and making my first con outside of Toronto super fun and memorable: Rob & Kevin, Ed, Paul, Sheilah, Geore & Nicole, Andy, Connor, Kurtis, Kara, Tiz, our wise cab driver, everyone who bought a book, print, or sketch. As well, everyone back home who tweeted and wrote their support for us. Photo credits go to Adriana Alvarez for supplying the fun pics from the show.

A very special thanks to my good friends Laura, Lindsay, and Nick for welcoming me to Chicago and showing me a great time.

- ADAM