John Carter of Mars

I originally drew this for something else that is no longer occurring so, since it ain't, I figured I'd share it here. John carter getting all jack-rabbity on a Thark.

Signing at McNally Jackson! First Second's 5th anniversary!

First Second, publisher of Journey into Mohawk Country, Ball-Peen Hammer, The First Second Nursery Rhyme Book, and the Olympians series is turning 5 years old! Join me in raising a glass to the wonderful people who, for some reason, keep seeing fit to publish me this Tuesday, November 15th at McNally Jackson Bookstore in Soho! I'll be joined by other such First Second luminaries as Dave Roman, Mike Cavallaro, MK Reed, Mark Siegel, Molly Crabapple, Danica Novgorodoff, John Leavitt, Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan, Carla Jablonski, Matt Madden, and  Joe Infurnari!

The fun begins at 7 Pm, see you there!

Live Comix Reading at Book Court!

Join me this Wednesday at Book Court in Brooklyn for a live Comics reading from Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory. I'll be joined by Jennifer "Underwire" Hayden and Leslie "Eye of the Majestic Creature" Stein who will also be performing their comics live. Basically, it's going to more live comics reading than you can shake a stick at, yo.

Fun begins at 7! Be there!

Appearance! Tomorrow! Brooklyn Public Library! The big one!

As part of their "Teen Week" celebration, I'll be appearing tomorrow,  Thursday, October 20th at the Brooklyn Central Library located at Grand Army Plaza between Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway. My program will start at 10:00 am in the Dweck Center auditorium, which I honestly don't much about , but I will remark is a cool-sounding name. I'll be giving a slideshow, talking about Olympians, and sharing some sneak peeks of Hades: Lord of the Dead and Poseidon: The Yet to Be Subtitled. Hope to see you there!

New Interview at the Comics Journal!

Check out this interview with me at The Comics Journal! It's a huge honor for me to be featured in such a prestigious institution, and it's probably the most in-depth interview I've ever given. Please, everyone, give it a read!

Steve Jobs

I was unexpectedly touched by the passing of Apple guru Steve Jobs, and not just because I'm typing this out on my Macbook Air right now. Like all people, I'm sure Jobs had feet of clay, but he sure managed to live life to the fullest. That's something we can all certainly admire.

In addition to all his work shaping technology as we know it, Jobs founded Pixar, who, for my money, has been the most consistently excellent movie studio since the early days of Disney animation. I always particularly associated Jobs with the masterpiece Wall-E, and its far-off future of highly evolved Apple-derived robots. I drew the titular character himself, whom I have no doubt has, somewhere in his collection of 21st century memorabilia, a black mock turtleneck sweater.

RIP, Steve Jobs.

Lookee! I'ma on the tee-vee!

While up in Maine over the weekend I was interviewed on the local news magazine show 207 about Olympians. You can watch the clip below, or give a click through here to see the video of my more-or-less coherent interview on their site

Hey Look! I'm in SLJ's Photo of the Week!

Not to brag or nothing, but I was rockin' the Statue of Liberty crown pretty darn hard at my recent appearance at the NY State booth during the National Book festival in DC. Just sayin'.

Signing at Casablanca Comics!

The wonderful folks at Casablanca comics in Portland, Maine are hosting a signing with me this Saturday, October 1st. I'll be signing copies of Zeus, Athena and  Hera, doing drawings and sharing sneak peeks of upcoming volumes of Olympians. The fun begins at 11:00 AM and goes to 2:00 PM. If you find yourself in the neighborhood you should, like totally, stop by.

Casablanca Comics is at 151 Middle Street, in Portland, ME 04101. Click here for directions, or give them a a call at (207) 780-1676. See you there!

My Interview in the Washington City Paper

I was on the road when this posted, so I'm only telling you about this now, but you can read this interview with me that appeared in the Washington City Paper heralding my recent appearance at the National Book Festival.

My cat

Been awhile since I've posted some sketches here! In a blatant and shameless bit of topic baiting, Tim Hamilton sent the word around this morning that today's topic was "Birdie the Cat". Blatant and shameless because Birdie is my cat.

My girlfriend and I adopted "Stray # 3" from the Seventh Ave Cat Clinic about two and a half years ago. We named her Birdie because of the trilling noises she makes, and because we thought it might be funny to name her after something she might like to eat. Like "Carrots" the rabbit, or "Birdseed" the parakeet, or "Steaming Load of its Own Feces" the dog. Birdie the Cat.

She's a funny little tabby, this Birdie, and I captured a few little doodles of her this morning as she stared out the window, wondering after her namesake, no doubt.

I wonder if she'd be flattered by all this attention. As a rule, the Bird doesn't seem to like anyone but my girlfriend and me, but I think she's been nice to Tim Hamilton on occasion when he's looked in on her when we're both out of town. Enough to make an impression, at least.

Signing at Books of Wonder!

Sorry for the short notice (been on the road with limited internet action) but I have a signing tomorrow at New York City's famous Books of Wonder children's bookstore. I'll be appearing alongside such children's comics luminaries as Carla "Resistance" Jablonski, MK "Americus" Reed, Dave "Astronaut Academy" Roman, Ryan " Zoe and Robot" Sias, Sara "Bake Sale" Varon, and Neil "Joey McFly & the Big Hairy Drama" Numberman.  I'll be signing copies of Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory, and anything else you put in front of me.

The festivities begin at 1PM, at 18 West 18th Street in NYC. Hope to see you there!

Big City Dare to Draw!

The Big City Dare to Draw is a periodic gathering in Manhattan where like-minded artists, from pro to novice and all points in-between, meet to network, draw and have a drink or two. There is a suggested donation that goes to help fund struggling artists, and a couple of pros will hold some short demos where they share some tips or ideas.

The next meetup is on Wednesday, September 21st, from 6-9 PM, at Jack Demsey’s Pub (36 W 33rd St, New York, NY-- right across from the Empire State Building!). The guest pros in question will be myself and my studiomate Reilly Brown-- I hope to see you there!

For your perusal, here are some sketches made by yours truly at a previous Dare to Draw, with some sweet Copic markers I borrowed from Simon Fraser:

New Interview on Diamond Bookshelf

Head on over to Diamond's website (y'know, the people who supply everything you find in your local neighborhood comic shop) to check out this interview with yours truly, where I discuss the character of Hera, the upcoming Hades: Lord of the Dead, and how I hope my art can be considered "real good".

Where all the magic happens

I'm trying something a little new here: specifically, a little video action. We're working on a major renovation of the greater Olympiansrule website, with the video component scheduled to play a big part in the revised site. Consider this little treat, a short virtual tour of my drawing desk, to be a kind of teaser for some video goodness to come. I act a little silly, and show off some artwork for the upcoming Olympians Book 5, Poseidon: The Yet to be Subtitled, amongst other things.

Special thanks to my pal Natalie Kim for putting this together, She's one half of the Supertwins, a new comedic web series premiering this October.

Amazing Hera review at SLJ's Fuse#8 blog

The amazing uber-Librarian Elizabeth "up in the sky, is it a" Bird posted up a really blush-worthy review of my latest, Hera: the Goddess and Her Glory at the Fuse#8 blog on the School Library Journal website. Please give it a read here. It made my morning!

See you in Baltimore!

If you find yourself in Maryland this weekend, I'll be at the Baltimore Comic Con signing copies of my books, drawing pretty pictures and just generally having a good time. I'll be at booth # 1707, as a guest of the immensely talented Dean Haspiel. There will be a whole posse of us Brooklynites down there at the same table-- also signing will be Michel Fiffe, Kat Roberts, Natalie Kim, and that Chris Miskiewicz fellow that all the kids are talking about. Also, my studiomate Rip-Roarin' Reilly Brown is going to be around somewhere as well, hopefully at our table. It's basically going to be the best thing since sliced bread-- you can even read a press release about it here.

Hope to see you there!

In Case You Were Wondering...

The fine folks at Robot 6 recently asked me to participate in their "What Are You Reading" feature. If that's the sort of thing you ask you might be interested in knowing, why not click HERE and see for yourself?

New event at WORD Bookstore! Making Comics with kids!

For awhile now I've been hearing these wondrous tales about this great new bookstore in Brooklyn called WORD. So when my publisher called, asking if I'd like to do a comics workshop there, I jumped at the chance. This Saturday, July 30th, at 1:30 I will be at WORD presenting a comic making workshop for kids (in case you attended last week's event at Bergen Street Comics, this will be a completely different workshop). All supplies will be provided, click HERE for more info. afterwords, I'll be signing and sketching what ever you stick in front of me.

The party that was at Bergen Street Comics

So this past Saturday, July 23rd, was the official book release party for Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory at the world's greatest comics store, Bergen Street Comics.

The festivities were divided into two portions. First, at 4pm, was the Make Your Own Olympian workshop. A lot of time has passed since the original Olympians came on the scene, and a lot of new things have popped up in the world since then. After some quick drawing exercises, the kids in attendance hunkered down to create their own new gods/goddesses/heroes/monsters. Some of my faves included a goddess of Nutella Sandwiches, a goddess of birds, and an elephant-like Republican Monster (this from a young boy with a Che Guevara shirt on).

Yes, I am wearing a golden wreath. Everyone got one. Aren't you jealous?

I'm drawin' a picture.

This and the above photographs courtesy the lovely and talented Natalie Kim. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really were glowing like that.

Following the kid's workshop, we took a brief break and reconvened for the adult portion of the evening, or as I preferred to call it, the Bacchanalia. I left my orderly, Apollonian wreath aside for this part, and opted instead for a more appropriate, Dionysian set of goat horns.

This  photograph courtesy the lovely and talented Chris Sinderson. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really were glowing like that, too.

Notice I'm not the only set of horns in this picture.

Some of the wonderful folks who turned out for this, braving the 100 degree heat.

The end of the night. If you don't know insanely talented Foiled cartoonist Mike Cavallaro personally, you will never understand how funny this photo is. Oh, This and the above photographs courtesy the lovely and talented Arta. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really stopped glowing like that. I was tired.

Extra-super special thanks to Tom, Amy, Tucker and the whole crew at Bergen Street Comics fro having me, and for making the best darn comics shop in all of creation.
Thanks again to everyone who showed, I was immensely touched at the crowds that came out, ESPECIALLY considering how unbelievably gross it was outside. As I admitted to my GF after the event, I wouldn't have come out for me, if that makes sense.

New interview!

There's interviews, and then there's interviews. Click here to read a great interview that goes a little bit deeper than my usual fare. Deb Nam-Krane, the woman who runs the Written by Deb blog, asked me some hardcore mythological questions. Please give 'em a read!

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!

Book 3 of Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is officially released today! Whoo-hoo!

 Keep watching this space as I'll be unveiling lots of new cool things regrading Hera, including appearances and such. If you're going to be in Brooklyn Saturday, July 23rd, you ought to come down to the official Hera Release Party!

New interview up at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast

If you're so inclined, please go check out this interview I gave at the wonderful book blog, 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Hear me ramble on about all kinds of stuff, and also get to see a bunch of artwork, including some sneak peeks of Hera and Hades.

RELEASE PARTY FOR HERA: THE GODDESS AND HER GLORY!!!

It's almost here!! Join me Saturday, July 23rd at the amazing Bergen Street Comics, in the great borough of Brooklyn, for the official Release Party of the third book in Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory!! Whoo-hoo!

It's going to be an (almost) all-day affair. At 4:00, I will be hosting a comics creating workshop for kids  and the young-at-heart, where we will create our own latter-day Olympians, Monsters and Heroes for an art-show that will be hung on the walls of Bergen Street Comics. Then, we'll reconvene at 8 for a Bacchanalia of Epic proportions. All ages are welcome, but Nectar and Ambrosia will only be served to those of age; togas are encouraged but not mandatory. Throughout the day I'll be signing, drawing and talkin' mythological matters with anyone who comes by. Maybe we'll have a visitor or two from Olympus itself?

For more info, click here. Hope to see you all!

An Intro to Greek Mythology in 10 Panels

I was recently asked to do a short comic for the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog: An  Intro to Greek Mythology in 10 Panels. Click here to  check it out!

Woofman

Had so much fun drawing Frankenstein's Monster yesterday that I requested we draw a wolfman (pronounced woofman. Always pronounced woofman) today. It's also fun.

Mini Hera Review in Paste Magazine

If you've been following my Olympians blog (and if you haven't, why the heck not?) You know I've been counting down to the July 19th release of Book 3 of Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory. Well, we're less than a month away, and the reviews are finally starting to roll in. Head on over to Paste Magazine to read a mini review that calls Hera the strongest Olympians volume so far.

Frankenstein's Monster, or the Modern Prometheus

Drew this on the train over to the studio today, but didn't have a chance to post it until just now. This was fun-- we need more topics like this.

The Savage Dragon!

As you all know by now, Savage Dragon #171 came out today, with a big jam story written by Joe Keatinge,  illustrated by Erik Larson, Simon Fraser, Mike Cavallaro, Joe Infurnari, Dean Haspiel, Tim Hamilton and myself, and cobbled together by Mr Michel Fiffe. For my portion of the story, I didn't get to draw the familiar version of Mr Dragon doing much but have a conversation with a dead lady (read the story!), but I did get to draw a medieval Savage Dragon in shining armor fighting a fire-breathing Savage Dragon dragon (again,  read the story!). To amend that I did a quickie marker drawing of MR SD, with an even quicker coloring job. It was a lot of fun to get to play, albeit briefly, in Mr Larson's sadnbox, and quite a thrill to see him draw some characters designed by myself and Dean Haspiel (read the story already!)

Carousel!

Tomorrow morning, from 11 to 12, I'll be performing a slide-show reading of comics from Zeus: King of the Gods, as well as a sneak preview scene from Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory as part of the NYPL's centennial celebration. Not only that, but if you come you'll be able to see and hear other great cartoonists like Nick Bertozzi, Bob Sikoryak, Dave Roman and Susan Kim! Info above, I hope to see my NY peeps there.

PNCA's 5th Annual Graphic Novel Intensive!

The Pacific Northwest College of Art  has, for the last five years, been offering a graphic novel intensive program and this year it's scheduled to be conducted by the lovely and talented Ryan Alexander-Tanner and yours truly. As two comics creators with more than a passing interest in the power of comics in education (Ryan is co-author with William Ayers of the amazing To Teach: The Journey, in Comics ), this year's program will differ from previous years' sessions and focus not only on the making of comics, but on how to incorporate comics into the classroom. If you're a librarian or teacher or anyone with a healthy interest in the educational possibilities of comics, this is the intensive for you.

The program will run from June 20th to the 24th in lovely Portland, Oregon (one of the meccas of comics art in the United States, no lie). Click HERE to find out more, or to sign up. If you have any questions, write me at geooco@gmail.com and I will answer you past haste. Hope to see you in Portland!

Old Bones mega post!

Yesterday a bunch of my studiomates ( Simon Fraser, Becky Cloonan, Tim Hamilton and Robin Ha) and I made a trek to the Museum of Natural History to check out their new Sauropod exhibit (along with pretty much every family in NYC with a kid under 8 years old-- gotta remember about spring break next time). The Sauropod exhibit was pretty cool, but it can't hold a candle to the permanent fossil collection, and we all made many cool drawings.

Here's some of my faves:

Because it was so crowded, we spent a lot of time in the less crowded mammal rooms, or as I like to call them, "failasauruses". This is the skull of a mammal-like reptile called Moschops, which is, like, the best name ever. Becky and I kept saying "Moschops!" all day after. Go on, give it  a try: Moschops!

Another mammal-like reptile, the Dimetrodon.  These are the guys with the big fins on their backs.

Another fun one to say: Glyptodont! These were huge armored mammals, like if a beaver and a turtle had a baby. That's armor plating on its skull, not a hair piece.

Becky thought it would be fun if we tried to picture the glyptodont with flesh on it. Mine looks like a lazy sheep. I hope to god she puts up hers because it was disgusting.

A Brontetherium, king of a huge rhino on steroids. I drew this because the skull had compressed strangely during fossilization and it looks like he's going "aduh!". Things that go "aduh!" are awesome.

After seeing the sauropod exhibit I decided to funnel some of new-found appreciation for them into this drawing of the Apatosaurus (the dinosaur formerly known as Brontosaurus). The neck vertebra a re really quite beautiful. I had to finally abandon this drawing because people were walking in front of me and I kept losing count of which vertebra I was on.

Allosaurus may not get the press of T-Rex, but dinosaur connoisseurs know that this is the cooler carnivore. Just look at the cool sweeping lines in its skull. Becky compared it to drawing a sports car, and she was totally right.

My favorite dino, Triceratops. So much so that when everyone else left (or was swept away by a crowd of 6-year old like Tim was) I stayed behind to behind to draw this. If I had a triceratops... you'd all pay.

I also drew this picture of a Styracosaurus, a spikier but smaller cousin of Triceratops.

Finally, because I'm so HARDCORE! I joined Simon at Jack Demseys in Manhattan for the Big City Drink and Draw, where we drank and drew.  I borrowed Simon's marker to draw this picture of our extremely muscular model beating the hell out of a bar chair.

All in all, a rich, full day!