Kickstarter! Comic Book Diner Graphic Novel Project!

Hey everyone. I've been so focused on outside stuff this month, that I just realized I haven't mentioned this here yet. We of the Comic Book Diner podcast, John Gallagher, Jamar Nicholas, and I are putting together a new all ages graphic novel project! We're collecting our recent Buzzboy and Roboy Red work, along with Jamar's Leon: Protector of the Playground, into one slipcased edition! This special edition will feature copies of all three graphic novels!

To do this, we've decided to go through Kickstarter.com to fund the books via preorders. Kickstarter is a way to get backing (funding) by the people who will ultimately buy our books anyway, and we're offering all kinds of cool incentives!

So, if you're looking for a great set to help build a library of kid friendly comics for the kids (and adults!) in your life, please check out the link to the right, or click below to see a video of what we're hoping to accomplish, and all of the details of this exciting new project! Thanks!



I'll be back very soon with more art! Stay tuned!

Free Comic Book Day 2011!

Saturday, May 7, is Free Comic Book Day. As usual, I'll be at my buddy Joe Murray's comic shop, Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark, DE. I'll be signing and sketching alongside my Comic Book Diner buddies, John Gallagher and Jamar Nicholas, along with a bunch of other great artists! We'll also have some of our own comics and t-shirts for sale, so if you're in the area, please come out to say hello, get some free comics, and have a lot of fun! I hope to see you there!

Kids' Comic Con- Saturday, April 16th!

 Hey everyone, just a quick blast to let you know that Comic Book Diner is going on the road!

John, Jamar and I will be exhibiting at Alex Simmons' wonderful Kids' Comic Con in the Bronx, NY, Saturday, April 16th. If you're in the area, and especially if you have kids, please stop by and see us!

See YOU at Baltimore Comic-Con!

Hey everyone! This weekend is the always spectacular Baltimore Comic-Con. I'll be there along with my Comic Book Diner Tri-Hosts, Jamar Nicholas and John Gallagher. Appropriately enough, we will be at the Comic Book Diner All Ages Pavilion (I believe the program book lists us as "Kids Love Comics"), Booth 2401-2402. Please come by and see us there!

Additionally, I have a few pieces of VERY exciting news: First, John and I will be debuting our very first ROBOY RED GRAPHIC NOVEL!

Roboy Red: Nuts and Bolts collects all of the short stories we've done, as well as an all new sketchbook section, plus art tutorials and other fun stuff! We are very proud to be premiering this at what John and I consider our home convention. This Comic-Con Special Edition is an exclusive, with a very limited printing, so please don't delay! Come to Baltimore, and get it this weekend! This is the culmination of 8 years of hard work, and is just the beginning of big plans for our little boy robot! I hope you'll stop by our booth and check it out! We'll be easy to find. Look for Roboy Red (you might recognize the art) on the Comic Book Diner Pavilion banner:

If that wasn't enough, we'll also have another all new graphic novel at the show-- Buzzboy: Sidekicks Rule!

John and I are very pleased to have this collection of the fun and funny three issue mini-series available as well. So, TWO brand new graphic novels by us at one show! How cool is that?!?

The other bit of exciting news is that we of the Comic Book Diner will be joined by our good friend Todd Dezago (Tellos, Perhapanauts, Sensational Spider-Man) as the hosts of the Baltimore Comic-Con's Annual Art Auction! So, if you're interested in seeing if we're capable of being as entertaining in person as we are on the podcasts (your mileage may vary), or if we fall right off the stage, here's your chance! It's all happening on Sunday. Check out the con website for more details, and show your support!

That's it for now, and as the sign says, I'll see you in Baltimore!

New Comic Book Diner - Roboy Red!

Ok, so I've been VERY busy over the past few weeks. I'll have some news about that over the next few days, but for now, I just wanted to remind everyone about the Comic Book Diner, the podcast on the art and business of comics, that I "tri-host" with my pals Jamar Nicholas and John Gallagher. We've already done 8 shows! You can find us on iTunes, and at our own website, www.comicbookdiner.com. The latest episode is up, and it's one that we're particularly proud of! It features Jamar interviewing John and me about our process in creating Roboy Red, which ties in very nicely with...

Well, actually, I'm going to wait on that, as it's part of my news later this week. But, if you listen to the latest episode of CBD, you'll have a pretty good idea of what the news is. So, I hope you'll get over there and have a listen! Oh, and while you're at it, if you would be so kind as to rate the podcast on iTunes, and/or write a review and post it on iTunes for us, that would be great! We'd love to hear your feedback!

Thanks for reading... and for listening!

I'll be back in a day or so with more.

Best,
Rich

It's Gallagher!

So, as promised in my last post, I've done another portrait, this time of my pal and yours, John Gallagher:

I used basically the same technique as I did for the portrait of Jamar, but I still think it looks slightly different stylistically. I think the portrait of Jamar is a bit harder edged, maybe with more of a watercolor feel, while this one seems more like gouache to me. Perhaps because it seems a bit softer; I can't quite put my finger on why. Of course, both are "painted" digitally over my pencil sketches. I'd like to someday get back to exploring this sort of work in actual real world paint, but for now, I'm happy to play around on the computer. The next portrait I do will be that much-needed updated self-portrait. I'll keep you posted.

===========================================================
Speaking of John and Jamar, my fellow trihosts of the Comic Book Diner, I just want to make sure everyone out there is aware that we've been podcasting weekly. We are up to Episode 5, and just recorded the sixth show last night, so if you haven't checked us out yet, you have some catching up to do! Please be sure to check out what we're doing. We're having a great time, and talking a lot about the business side of working in comics. We get a little goofy at times, but we're also trying to be as informative as possible. All in all, it's both educational and entertaining. Or at least it is to us! Please go to www.comicbookdiner.com or you can find us on iTunes here, so please have a listen! The fries are on us!

I'll be back soon with more!

Best,
Rich

It's Jamar!

Or rather, a sketch I did of him.

I rarely draw just for the fun of it these days. I find most of my time is taken with drawing for work, or I wind up spending my work time doing things for my various websites. Yesterday, I was proofing some comic book stuff, in my capacity as editor for John Gallagher's Buzzboy, and I went to the web to check to make sure one of the visuals was correct. When I found what I was looking for, one of the other things that came up in the image search was a picture of me with one of my trihosts from Comic Book Diner, Jamar Nicholas. I liked the angle of the shot (the photo was taken by your friend and mine, Mike Manley, so no surprise that it was well composed), so I decided to do a little sketch of it. I thought it turned out ok, so I took a photo of it with my phone camera, and imported it into Photoshop to clean it up a little (that, by the way, is a little tech tip. If you're on the go with your art, and don't have access to a scanner, but need to upload it somewhere, you can take a picture of it, and clean it up in Photoshop later. I actually do this quite a bit now).

Well, I got kind of carried away, added color, and an hour and a half after I began, I wound up with a completed color sketch. What's funny, is that generally, I do a finished drawing, maybe ink it, and THEN add color digitally. and even then, I use my tablet to color, fairly precisely. This time, I used a mouse, on my dining room table. I don't normally work this way, so this was a little rougher than my usual finished work, but it was also liberating. It kind of felt like working with watercolors, and I think the finished drawing sort of looks like a watercolor piece. Anyway, here's the sketch:



I'm going to attempt to do a few more like this, beginning with a much-needed new self-portrait, and one of Gallagher as well, as I'm thinking we might be able to use them for the podcast website. I'm sure I can do one like this of me, but I have a feeling John will be a challenge. Ironic, since he and I have been friends and colleagues for over eight years, and I sit right next to him at every show I do. We'll see if that translates into an accurate portrait. I'll keep you posted!

I'll be back soon, so stay tuned!

Best,
Rich

Podcast! Comic Book Diner

So, I have a new endeavor, and it's related to my art, but it's a bit of a step sideways in my career. While I've been an illustrator for over 17 years, a little over 24 years ago, I was a DJ on my college radio station. I was only at this particular college for one semester, and therefore did not have enough time to really explore that avenue of expression, but the experience has always stuck with me.

A couple of years ago, my good pal, Charlie LaGreca, a fellow illustrator, and an alumnus of the DC Comics trenches, interviewed my collaborative partner, John Gallagher, and me at HeroesCon, in Charlotte, NC, for his Indie Spinner Rack comics podcast, which spotlights independent comics and their creators. John and I loved the experience, and we've had an idea brewing since then. It's not something we actively talked about a lot, but over the past couple of months, John has had a real desire to do a podcast of our own. Early on in the discussions, I mentioned that our good friend Jamar Nicholas would be a fantastic partner on this project, as he has a natural charm and wit, and has plenty of experience behind a microphone himself, as the emcee of the Glyph Awards, a ceremony at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention. We immediately contacted Jamar, and he was on board!

About two weeks ago, we all got on the phone together and came up with a plan for what we wanted to do, and so, The Comic Book Diner was born!



Basically, John, Jamar, and I are the (as Jamar coined it) tri-hosts of the show, in which we discuss, round table style, the art and business of comics, both web and print, and the future of each format, as well as whatever related (and unrelated) topics come and go with the flow of the conversation. We each have a different take on things, as each one of us comes from a slightly different perspective in our careers. It makes for interesting listening. We're all pretty decent conversationalists, and we tend to amuse one another, and we're told, others as well, so I hope you'll stop by our virtual hangout and have a listen. Our first show is right here, so please click that link, and then drop us a line to let us know what you think. Our contact info is right on the CBD home page, or you can always drop a line here, or from my website. I hope to hear from you soon!

We'll be doing shows on a regular basis, so check back here for more scheduling info. I'll be sure to post whenever a new podcast is up, and when we establish what our schedule will be, I'll be posting that here as well. In the meantime, be well, and I'll be back soon!

Best,
Rich

PS: the awesome logos you see here were created by John Gallagher, our Designer-in-residence!