Yep, that's right - as of tomorrow we're headed off to see our great friends, the amazing Chris and Jennifer, then to see some of Comfort's family, and then to the wonderful world of Chicago once more for Anime Central! A show we've grown to love in oh so many ways! As you can see above, we'll once more be in Artist Alley at tables 213-214 right at the front of the show. We'll literally be one of the first things you see!
We also will be running our three day Creating Your Comic from Concept to Publication panels. Friday will be Writing and Marketing. Saturday will be Character Design and Page Layout. And Sunday will be Color and Lettering! It's been a while since we've been able to rock out all three and are super psyched to do it again!
Lastly, as with every year at Acen, we did artwork for them. This year we did the three day badge, the back of the book poster for 2014, and the CTA bus ads which you can see below!
We hope to see you at the show! And for those of you going to Motor City this weekend - so sorry we couldn't be there...but we will be at Detroit Fanfare, Youmacon, and Jafax. So if you'll have more ways to catch us on the Michigan Con scene.
As we work hard to finish Rainbow in the Dark #9 and do our book for Random House, we can't help but look out our window and see the amazing things happening in our own backyard. For all of you how are still hibernating in their homes, it's springtime out there people - and it's beautiful! Below are just a few of the pictures of our adventures outside during our oh to brief breaks from out work...
If you can't tell, Comfort is particularly excited by Spring. Recently we went over to For-Mar Nature preserve here in Flint - and let us tell you - it was fantastic! Everything smelled great and was blooming...and Comfort, against Adam's eye-rolls, had to check out and smell all of it!
Not only were there lots of flowers and trees in full bloom, but there were also tons of tadpoles swimming around. Something (much to Comfort's shock) Adam had never seen in person before D:
At home, this is our backyard. It is gorgeous! Do we live in Flint? Yes. But do we still live in beautiful Michigan - yes we do!
We also have a screened in back porch where we go to draw and listen to NPR from time to time. As you can see, it's a pretty nice view from Obi's perspective.
Speaking of our kitty Obi Wan (Jedi Knight) as most of you may know, we take him for walks on a leash. At this time of the year though, he likes to be lifted into the flowering trees so he can sniff and chomp (as is his way) the blossoms.
Check out this tree - freaking breath-taking!!!
Now, you may be asking yourself, 'How the hell do Comfort and Adam live in Flint, MI - known for it's murder rate and scenic abandon buildings, and have a house this nice?!?!' Well, it's all due to Adam's parents (Adam's mom Lee you can see here pulling weeds in the background with Obi and May the dog) who keep this place looking amazing! We rent out a third of their tri-plex, it's a small apartment, but really all we need. Most importantly of all though, we get to live in this fantastic place with great people. Who could ask for anything more?
Can our lives be tough - YES! The stress and exhaustion of everything can really eat at the both of us from time to time. But when you've got this great world right outside your back door - somehow it's not so bad :)
All for today fair readers. More on Rainbow in the Dark #9 and Anime Central (which is this weekend) in our next post!
C2E2, you were amazing - but you exhausted us - as you may be able to tell by Comfort's face here. Photos captured by our wonderful friend Jennifer!
The Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) has come and gone. In many ways, it was just the show we needed after what happened at the CGS Super Show. Which is to say, we made lots of money. But as you all know by now, that is far from our only priority at any convention. This one was a success by any measure. Read on to find out more…
Thanos vs. Silver Surfer by Adam
Doctor Who and some new Companions by Comfort
A very super family by Adam & Comfort
Cloak & Dagger by Comfort & Adam (HUGE! The original was done on two pieces of 11" x 17" paper!)
We started off early, extending our road trip by a day so that we could head from Flint to Chicago by way of Grand Rapids. We lived in G-Rap for the better part of a decade and some good friends are still there. We added an evening to our journey so we could spend the night with two of our best friends at their lovely abode. Casa de Chris & Jennifer is a neat little cyber paradise where everything from the lightbulbs to the mailbox is hooked to their network. With a tap of their tablets they can set the lights a-strobin’. It’s amazing. It’s almost like living in a quaint, homey spaceship – including the Star Trek door swoosh noise when you walk downstairs to the TV room and study.
Hanging at Chris & Jennifer's, photo by Jennifer the Pic Ninja
After a fine time and nice sleep, we continued on to the home of Comfort’s aunts Rebecca and Tamera who live just outside of Chicago. Due to the truly redonk parking costs at the hotel, we dropped our car off there and our splendid aunts drove us into the city. We said our goodbyes until Monday, popped up to our hotel room and promptly took a nap. We were pooped! Later in the early afternoon, roommate Bryan J.L. Glass arrived and the three of us went to the convention center to set up and see the show floor. A lite bite later, and we were joined by the rest of our crew for the weekend – Chandra Free, Andrew Gaska, and Katie Delz. The laughter of that night was just the first of much merriment to come.
She-Hulk by Comfort Batman loves Wonder Woman by Adam Zatanna and a Kitty Named Zatanna by Comfort Hawkeye sketch card by Adam; Katara sketch cards by Comfort
The show opened on Friday, and the crowd was buzzing. We had a number of regulars come by, ordering some pretty big commissions. We always get a great reception in Chicago – we’ve been doing cons there since 2003, so it’s practically our home show. They didn’t disappoint.
We did, though. This was supposed to be the debut of Rainbow in the Dark #9 and the 3rd trade paperback. However, due to the vastly expanded page count of the issue (now up to 58 pages from the original 38) as well as a number of outside factors converging at inopportune moments over the winter, it just wasn’t possible. With as many people as we had asking about the book, we could well have sold out of our run at this show if we’d had it done. So sorry to let you down, Chicago – we promise it’ll be worth the wait when the book releases!
We also got to run our "Let's Make a Character!" panel again, and this time Chandra Free & Drew Gaska made guest appearances. It was fun as always, and the crowd really got into it. The character we and the audience created together was a tall, willowy, bitter old villain from a desert planet, though we all agreed he was a tortured soul trying to liberate an enslaved race of people. One of the fun things about this panel is that every time it's completely different, because every time we make a completely new character on the spot. You just never know what you're going to get.
Friday night, we took over a circle of couches in the hotel lobby (best hang-out lobby of all the cons we attend) with some friends, including our dear college buddy and Uniques/Rainbow editor Teshika Silver. We ordered sammiches, drew some pictures, and laughed way too loud at jokes nobody else understood. It was a fun trip back to our college days, remembering people we knew and the nicknames they had (and why they had them).
Saturday was huge. Our spot in the alley had a bit of a clearing so the traffic never backed up too badly. We were seated at a corner booth, and beside us around that corner there was frequently a line backed up for signatures from Rick Remender. It kept eyes on our stuff, and kept us looking popular, so thanks Rick! Nice guy, that one. Read Fear Agent if you haven’t already. It’s one of our favorites. We got to see Comfort’s cousin Zach in his Scout Trooper costume. Good guy, Zach; he’s a new father, and his boy Isaac is just adorable.
Hawkeye by Adam Hellboy mini-sketches! Abe Sapien by Comfort; Liz Sherman by Adam Chun-Li by Adam
We were disappointed at the number of commissions, thought. We’d managed to actually finish all of our massive requests from Friday, and left Saturday with only one small piece each. Which meant that we were able to clear out our workload for the night pretty quickly. That almost never happens! We were back in the lobby, kicking our feet up and enjoying a pizza party with Chris & Jennifer, Teshika (who left early for the nerd prom C2E2 was holding), and a clique of our Chicago pals; all just enjoying ourselves and chatting about this and that. It was nice and relaxing. We even thought we might get to bed earlyish and have a good night’s sleep.
But, as these things tend to do at conventions, we just kept bumping into friends passing by our couches, drawing them in to talk for a while. Before long, it had gotten quite late. Then we got upstairs, met with our roomies, and proceeded to stay up even later. It was crazy. There were bad puns, goofy voices, and madness afoot. And those were just Adam’s contributions! There’s a reason we love sharing rooms with these wonderful people.
Sunday saw a sudden surge in commission requests. It was awesome, but seriously gang – if you want us to do some work for you at a show, please sign up earlier than the last day! It can get stressful trying to get it all done in the shortest length of time we have all weekend. Not that we’re complaining, because we aren’t. We’re just asking on behalf of our poor drawing hands.
Psylocke by Adam
Doctor Who Saying Goodbye (f. Rory & Amy) by Comfort 10th Doctor by Adam Jakeem Thunder and Sand by Comfort & Adam Rainbow in the Dark's Jackson by Adam
It was a good day to end on. Lots of sales, most of the drawings finished on time for everyone (just two take-homes to mail off in the following days), and some last goodbyes to people who’d been stopping in to see us. We tallied out at the end of the day to find we’d come in just shy of what we’d made last year. Last year having been absolutely bananas, coming in just under bananas isn’t anything to scoff at. We felt good as we packed it in and dumped our luggage at the hotel room.
Our initial dinner plans fell through, but we were swept up with Bryan and the fantastically talented colorist of his Mice Templar comic, Serena Guerra. We’d crossed paths with Serena many times, but this was the first night we got to spend really conversing with her and her man Jeff. They have pet rabbits. They don’t think aliens built the pyramids. They’re good people.
It wound up being a very long night. Much longer than we intended, but it was so much fun we couldn’t stop. We got to hang out with Sean E. Williams, drink a beer intended for J. Scott Campbell, share some talks on capitalism used for communal good with Richard the Copic Marker Man, and then descend into total giggle-fits with Drew, Chan, Katie, and Bryan. At one point in the night, we crowded together for pictures. This pretty much says it all, we think:
It’s rare that a photo can so completely encapsulate how it feels to be in a place at a time with a set of people, but this does it. We are blessed to be able to share such company, and further blessed that they haven’t yet gotten sick of us and kicked us to the curb. Not that we’d blame them – Adam’s puns could make a young boy into a groan man (and that wasn’t even among his worst). Anyway, we were just so happy that night. And we remain so a week later, so it’s that good kind of happiness that lasts.
Baby Storm by Adam, with apologies to Skottie Young Earth 2 Superman & Wonder Woman mourn Batman by Adam
We’re nearing the end of production on Rainbow in the Dark, the series about to wrap forever, and our Random House project is ramping up. There are many more projects in the pipeline, including our long-anticipated return to The Uniques. And we’re gearing up to return to Chicago in a week for Anime Central. It’s a busy time to be Comfort and Adam, but it’s a very exciting time, too. We’ll keep you updated, and can’t wait to see you Chicago fans again in less than two weeks!
Greetings and salutations fair readers! We're in a most excellent mood because it's time for on of our favorite shows of the year - C2E2! Not only because it's a great show run by some really wonderful people, but we are also going to be seeing a ton of friends there and we cannot wait!!!
And this year, not only are we in Artist Alley (Table R-9), not only are we guests of the shows (so fancy), but we're also running our 'Let's Make a Character' panel on Friday night at 5:15-6:15pm!
We are super crazy, ridiculous, insane excited - and hope you are too!
Well, we're about to head out for C2E2 and thought we'd give you all and update as to where we are on Rainbow #9. We are getting close, but sadly had to take a little time out to work on our project for Random House.
Here's where we're at...
Cover - Unfinished
56 of 58 pages roughed out
52 of 58 pages final pencils complete
48 of 58 have the flats finished
40 of 58 have the full foreground tone done
15 of 58 have all artwork totally finished
43 of 58 have the layout lettering finished
0 of 58 have full lettering finished
And so preview pages for all of you...
Rainbow in the Dark #9 page 37 finished flats
Rainbow in the Dark #9 page 23 finished flats
Rainbow in the Dark #9 page 46 final lineart
So as you can see, we are indeed close. This will get done, fingers crossed for Anime Central!
Us working on comic pages a con sketches for ACen at Super Show 2013. Photo by way of Don Smith's camera phone
Just in time for us to leave to another con (next weekend’s Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo, or C2E2 to the masses - which we're featured guests at - woooooo!), here we are with a quick recap of what had in previous years been among our very favorite conventions ever: The Comic Geek Speak Super Show! This little con with big heart, put on by the crew of the CGS Podcast, had grown to be something far more than just a place to check out comics and comic creators. They had a hiatus last year, merging with the Wild Pig show in New Jersey, but returned again mere weeks ago to bless beautiful Reading, Pennsylvania with their majesty. Would the show hold on to its reputation and dear place in our hearts? Read on for the tale.
Aya and Razer by Adam
Alas, poor Super Show! We knew him, Readers: a convention of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath born us on his back three times; and now, how abhorred in our imagination it is! Our gorge rims at it. Here hung those art jam pieces that we have drawn upon we know not how oft (three times). Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? (Okay, there was still a song – and it was really good!) Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?
Times have changed, and Super Show hath changed with it. While we will speak no excess ill of the show, for we had fun with friends and colleagues alike, we must carry to you the truth of our experience. And ‘twas a two-sided experience thus. As had been written so many long years prior, and we could not say better ourselves: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Hinata and Kankuro - an adorable ship from the land of Naruto by Comfort
We set up our table on Friday, talking briefly but happily with Jamie D, Shane, and Murd. The show floor looked good, there were a lot of great creators set to be on-hand, and a lot of old friends of ours. That night, we met up at the Third & Spruce Café for the pre-show party. There was no Art Jam Piece this year, so we didn’t have any major drawing to do. Instead, we went ahead and finished the last bits of work on the two pre-show commissions we had. It was a nice evening, though more sparsely attended than previous years. Consequently, we were able to knock off early and get some sleep.
Us at 3rd and Spruce, doing what we do best - drawling our little hands off!Photo by Ian Levenstein
Roomies for the weekend were Bryan J.L. Glass and his ever-adored wife Judy, Drew Gaska, Chandra Free, and their lovely assistant Katie. We had two adjoining rooms, though we didn’t have one of those great “party doors” to open up between us. Instead, we patted on the walls back and forth in something that was either elaborate Morse code or really bad freestyle Stomp. Chun-Li by Comfort
Saturday was day 1 of 2, and here’s where things dipped. Super Show is a con put on by a tremendously popular online podcast about comics and comic culture. It has always been a gathering place where fans from around the world (literally – people have travelled far and wide to be there) get together in fellowship and community for a blast of a weekend. But this year, due to a number of factors out of anyone’s control, that core audience didn’t show up. Most of those who did were actually the pros behind the tables.
The result was a very low attendance primarily made up of newcomers who didn’t know much about comics, knew less about the podcast, and were just looking for something to do on a weekend. While it’s great to get yourself in front of new people, it isn’t a great way to make sales. Consequently, we made less at this show than any con since maybe 2006. Less than a third of the sales we made at the last Super Show in 2011. That wasn’t anybody’s fault directly, it was more a terrible confluence of a lot of outside dynamics coming into play at once. We don’t blame CGS, but it did hurt, and we feel the obligation to always shoot straight with you, fair and true readers.
That isn’t to say there wasn’t some fun to be had. Comfort sat on a great panel about Web Comics, which you can listen to here. Photo by our good friend Ian!
The attendees that did come were delightful. A guy was walking around, pulling his daughters in a big wagon. A girl had Batman and Robin socks with little capes on them. There were a lot of families with young children, which is always nice to see at a comic show. Gotta get that next generation into the medium! Hook ‘em young, we say.
But again, their newness to comics meant a wild shift in what we were selling. Where previously the show had such a hardcore majority audience, we sold a lot of comics, a lot of prints of X-Men, Green Lantern, Justice League, Avengers and the like, and a lot of commissions. With an audience who doesn’t know much about comics or cons also didn’t know about getting commissions (so we sold almost none) and didn’t know about our books, or comics in general, and weren’t sure about spending money on them (so we sold almost no comics). The prints we did sell were primarily anime and manga related – stuff you see on Cartoon Network like Bleach and Naruto, or our Doctor Who and Star Wars prints.
Good crowd, but they didn’t know what they were coming for and so weren’t ready to spend much money. And there weren’t enough of them to make up for that lack. But what was almost enough to make up for it was the surprise appearance of our good friend Marvin! He hadn’t told us he was coming, so we were delighted by his sudden arrival.
Black Cat Sketchcard and a Scout (for our good friend Marvin) both by Adam
That night we went out with all our roomies and Marvin and had a really fun meal. Well… the meal was okay; it was the conversation and the friends who made it fun. Just to be clear and all. There was a lot of talk about the last Twilight movie, Animorphs, the pointlessness of starfish, pedophiles, pedophile bears, pedophile bear salon chairs, and Kids These Days.
Sunday was even drier. We used the time to work on pages for the juggernaut-sized Rainbow in the Dark #9. Adam was on a Quick-Sketch panel which was a TON of fun. We wish we could do those at every show. We finally got a chance to talk with some of the CGS guys who had been too busy to get around much prior to the end of the show, which was nice. And that was pretty much it.
Adam showing off his Wonder Woman holding a kitten piece at the Quick Sketch on Sunday. Another image that comes to us by way of our good friend Ian!
So what can you say about a con that was once among your favorite experiences all year? Is it a matter of unfair expectations? Possibly. After all, the show has gone through a lot of changes and a pretty rough year, and they’re still picking up the pieces and plotting their future to some degree. That the show worked as well as it did is a testament to their determination.
Adam cleaning up our table space at the end of Super Show
For all the fun we did have, and for all the good people who were there, we can’t pretend that it was the same show it had been. Hopefully they can get that spark back. Hopefully the strength and majesty can return, if not in the way it was before then in some new package. We hope to see it happen. Until then, we still hold the dream of Super Shows past close to our hearts.
Hello once again all. We just got back from Comic Geek Super Show. It was a good time, but we're sad to announce that because of that time it took we will not be able to get Rainbow in the Dark #9 done for C2E2. It kills us to admit this, but there's just no way to finish it and get it to the printer on time.
We're so sorry that this is taking so long, we hope it'll be worth it in the end.
Here's where we're at...
Cover - Unfinished
52 of 58 pages roughed out
45 of 58 pages final pencils complete
41 of 58 have the flats finished
37 of 58 have the full foreground tone done
15 of 58 have all artwork totally finished
10 of 58 have the layout lettering finished
0 of 58 have full lettering finished
And so preview pages for all of you...
Rainbow in the Dark #9 page 14 color finished with the exception of the gun blast effects!
Rainbow in the Dark #9 page 7 color almost finished!
Rainbow in the Dark #9 page 37 final lineart
Alright, back to work. Thanks for reading everyone!
Greetings and salutations everyone! We're here today to tell you that we're on our way to one of the most delightful shows all year -CGS Super Show! It's run by Comic Geek Speak (who are some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet) and it's a blast!
So if you're in the area, make sure to stop by, see the show, and say hi!
Hey again you crazy kids you! Today, unlike just about every other day ever, we're taking a little time off (kinda) to do our one special thing we do for us. Our fantasy RPG.
Now, for those of you who don't know, from time to time we play a fantasy RPG (no particular system, just a world we came up with and Adam wrote the rules to) with our friends Todd, Andrew, Mark, and when we're lucky our friend Randy and Comfort's little sister Sunny and her husband Andy. It is, to say the least, our joy of joys. If we didn't have this to look forward to, we fear we would go insane. Believe us, we love our work - but like all real human beings - we need a break every now and again.
So today, as Adam runs the game and Comfort plays (and works on more color for Rainbow in the Dark #9) we wanted to bring you into just a little bit of our world though the player characters who inhabit the game with some sketches and marker sketches Comfort has done of the characters over the past couple of years.
Above is Comfort's character, Princess Metra (or Mimi for short). She's a fun, smart, and adorable Arabian princess without a kingdom. She's a Nobel/Battle Mage. And she's AWESOME!
Tristan is the boyish Elvin character who our good friend Todd plays. He's a Ranger and his character is married to an adorable dwarf named Dalla - and they have an orkish baby together. Needless to say, it's a long story.
Simon played in the most delightful way by our friend, Mark. Simon is the kind of knight you wish all knights could be...just a little on the slow side. But as with all the best knights, his heart is always in the right place. His battle cry (if you couldn't guess) is JUSTICE!
Nocht is a half human, half drow character played by our friend Andrew. Think a bookish Jeff Goldblum - but with epic ice magic powers!
Endo is friend (who's sadly seldom with us for games now since he's got a baby at home) Randy 's character. He is a blood bathing bad-ass. We guess what we're trying to say is he kills a lot of people. No worries though, they're all bad guys ;)
Lastly we have Betty and Sharnold played by Comfort's little sister Sunny and her delightful husband Andy. Betty is a possum girl (may be the last of her kind) who can play dead and beat your ass with kung-fu. And Sharnold is a bard who throws exploding darts and can call the animals of the wilderness to his aid for any task. They get to play with us least, but it's especially special for Comfort whenever they can!
And now, it is time for us to get our last things together and start our fun for the day.
comfort_adam
Previous
