Counter Monkey Comics... THE LOGO!

Another step closer to Baltimore happened today with the finalizing of the Counter Monkey Comics official logo! Jesse and I are planning to have some t-shirts made with the logo and we already have requests, so if anyone out there is in the mood to go bananas feel free to let us know! In the coming weeks we'll have more stuff in the pipeline but for now it's just good to have the logo finished and ready. Also, Jesse and I will be working on the new home for Counter Monkey Comics at, amazingly, countermonkeycomics.com where you will get updates on our Baltimore plans!

Another Baltimore Comic Con try...

So a few years ago I wanted to make a go of hitting Baltimore Comic Con and exhibit work in Artist Alley. For many reasons (including a rejection letter from DC Comics which I still look at as a "cool, I tried and here's proof" email) I couldn't get my act together well enough to hit the con as anything but a fan like years before. This year I'm hoping to change that once again.

With the incredibly enthusiastic and motivated Jesse Arnold, we hope to hit Baltimore Comic Con in the form of something we'd like to call Counter Monkey Comics (thanks once again to Mr. Bill Wahl, owner of Comix Connection, for giving his blessing to use his beloved title to all of his employees as our moniker). Jesse has a list of things he hopes to have ready for the convention and I'm sure will definitely be worth anyone's hard earned money once they see what he's accomplished. On my side of things, I'm going for a modest first showing, both due to time constraints and due to not wanting to rush prematurely into revealing a story that I hope to share with everyone before it's given some well needed love and attention. So my contribution will be some prints as well as representing for Randy Broadwater and our Authentic Productions Entertainment venture by having copies of each of the books we've produced so far.

In that vein, I kicked around some ideas for a branding/marketing idea using the word Authentic to promote Authentic Productions Entertainment. My first print attempt is part of that branding idea and will be available at the Baltimore Comic Con (as long as Jesse and I do make it down there!). I decided I'd post a glimpse of it on here. Please, check it out and feel free to make any comments/critique.

Also, keep a weathered eye to the horizon. Jesse and I will have more and more news to share as things move forward, including a website/blog to update anyone interested in our progress to get to Baltimore as well as glimpses into our offerings for the con!

Just Super cover

"There is something very different and very special about Keith Green - he has “super powers.” Keith Green also has only six months to live because those powers are slowly killing him. This is the story that reporter Sam Daylin is hired to chronicle, as Keith spends the last six months of his life trying to use his powers to help people and change the world as the its first “superhero”. However, the more that his illness begins to affect him, the more erratic Keith begins to act. The world’s first superhero could become the world’s greatest threat, and Sam Daylin may be the only person who is in a position to stop him."

Randy's got another book offering just in time for spring! We hope you'll take a chance and try out Keith Green and Sam Daylin's tale. You can purchase the book here. Try out the first chapter for free here. And don't forget to check out the Authentic Productions Entertainment website here.

Argo F#CK Yourself!

I got to finally sit down and watch Argo last weekend through the wonder of Blu-ray. I have to admit that I wasn't excited to see the movie and went into it with very low expectations of what I was about to view. After all, I am an escapist movie viewer and very few movies about real life situations really make me need to see them, save a very small handful.

I'm pleased to say Argo made the list. I was blown away by the direction, the story was compelling, and the acting was incredibly well done to the point I didn't want to take my eyes off the screen. Affleck is very underrated in my eyes after seeing his portrayal of Tony Mendez. It's one of those movies where everything was firing on all cylinders to create a great piece of film.

One of the moments I took away from the movie was Alan Arkin's character constantly saying "Argo fuck yourself!" constantly, so instead of bearded Affleck to depict this one, you get a wry Arkin with his unforgettable catchphrase.

Cue John Williams theme...

Just a fast, down and dirty bit of afternoon fun. When I think of Star Wars this is one of the first images that comes to mind. I also think I did this because lately I've been feeling a bit like Luke did at this moment of the movie.

A few weeks back a coworker decided we should do a draw off on a slower afternoon. He IMed me with his take on Obi Wan Kenobi. Since I didn't have my Wacom at work that day, I still tried to rise to the challenge and attempt my own version. Here's how that turned out...

By the power of...

I've had a lot of pent up frustration over the last decade. Some of it is personal stuff that I've needed or need to sort out and come to terms with. Some of it is professional. But I've discovered that some of it is also about identity, as in I'm frustrated because I feel like I've been lacking in who I am because I don't channel enough of that into any outlet. Sounds silly when I read what I just wrote, but it's true. As an artist, if you don't give yourself that hour or so a day to tap into some sort of a creative outlet not only is your talent wasting away but a little bit of your soul also starts to fade.

I've been there, done that, for more than a decade now. My biggest setback was in middle school/high school (I don't exactly remember the precise time but it was around freshman year of high school I'd bet) when I was trying to learn how to draw women. I wasn't horrible at drawing a Jim Lee ripoff take on a woman, but I didn't get how certain shapes transferred from how to work a male that I finally gave up and didn't try to come back to the drawing board much in my twenties. I've tried to fill the creative hole with many things to distract me, from comics to movies, from tv to video games, to anything that took me away from me being me. In the process there's been much self loathing and self esteem bashing to the point where it's hard for me to figure out what I hope to do with my life because I'm not working hard on accomplishing anything due to my personal belly button gazing.

So in the last few weeks I've decided to take a cue from many professional artists that I'm influenced by and just work on some art in my very, very limited spare time. The point isn't to do amazing art, though I hope that's a byproduct of this. The point is to regain some of that creativity and lack of self awareness that I had when I was a kid having a blast playing with toys, drawing or playing with friends. And since that's where my mind went with it, I figured what better place to start than with characters that I absolutely loved back then (and still do today).

My first attempt is He-Man. While known as the most powerful man in the universe, He-Man also happens to be one of the very first action figures aimed at bigger kids that my mom let me have when I was 3 or 4. I marveled at the mini books that were packaged with the figures, the first ones being drawn beautifully by Alfredo Alcala, and Alcala's take on the Masters of the Universe is one that still sticks with me today. In those days He-Man was a member of a barbarian tribe who was called upon to fight against Skeletor and his minions using a magical arsenal provided by the Sorceress.

Enter the Filmation cartoon and all of the goodness and goofiness it brings. The first day it aired I remember running home as fast as I could from kindergarten so I wouldn't miss a second. The moment when Prince Adam "held aloft his sword and said 'By the power of Grayskull...'" I was instantly hooked. The music, the visuals, the primal scream of He-Man yelling "I... HAVE... THE... POWERRRRRR!!!" sold it so easily that it's become part of my DNA. It literally imprinted itself into my DNA that afternoon in 1983.

I've been a fan of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ever since, enjoying both the original cartoons as well as the reboot in 2002 which ended all too soon. So, as a fan and as an artist, I chose to depict that very moment that blew me away as a child. What character might be next? I have no idea... I'm tempted to do more Masters characters as I can, but I'm also trying to make a list of all the other shows and characters I've loved as a child, so you might get to see Transformers, Ghostbusters, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Super Powers, Star Wars, Star Trek and more.

This one's for Mark - CHOSEN is released!

Over the last couple years now I've posted from time to time about my friend Mark who passed away all too early at the age of 25. Many of those posts were in my hope to let anyone who might bother to stop by my blog know about this talented, creative yet humble person who I called one of my best friends. Finally, this post is to celebrate Mark in a whole new way, to announce the publishing and release of his decade in the making book that he co-wrote with his and now my friend Randy: CHOSEN.

Mark talked about working on this project for as long as I knew him, and even when he was more than happy to give me time to pitch ideas for projects that I hope to eventually put out for public consumption/scrutiny soon, CHOSEN was his baby. Just the idea of being able to hold a copy of what he created with Randy I'm sure is almost on par with the joy I had earlier this year when I held my baby daughter for the first time. And December 1, 2012 was the day that Randy and I followed through with our promise to get Mark's work out there in honor of his memory.

It's always going to be a bittersweet victory that we made this happen. But that's how life works out sometimes. That doesn't make it right or wrong. It just is. I know from my personal experience over the last year or two that most things in my life right now are bittersweet moments because there are people missing from my life who I'll never see again. My grandma. My dad. Mark. There's been so many times I'd love to sit down with each of them and get advice like only they could give. I would have loved for each of them to meet my fiance and our beautiful daughter and let them become a part of each other's lives like they have mine.

But I've also learned that that's why the memories are so important. That's why telling people who have never met the ones you've loved and lost is the best way for them to keep living on and touching the lives of more and more people. In the case of Mark, though, his gifts and talents have helped him live on in such a way that it will hopefully grow farther than any shouting from the mountain tops that Randy or I could do to help spread awareness for CHOSEN.

So, if you'd like to be let in on my friends' creativity, their passion and their decade long epic tale of good verses evil as only they could tell it, please visit our website and purchase any or both versions of CHOSEN. Not only will you be able to read a great tale, but you'll be able to spend a few hours with my friend. And I'll bet you anything that after you put in that time with him, you'll feel better for it. I know I do every day.