Luncheon on the Grass, Olympians style

I was pretty happy with this panel from the upcoming Apollo: The Brilliant God so I thought I'd share. If it looks familiar, its composition is based on the famous painting Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, by Edouard Manet, who in turn lifted the composition from a drawing by Raphael (not the turtle).

warm up- The Apple of Discord

My first thought upon learning today's topic was "The  Big Apple". My second thought was "Naw, I ain't gonna draw that". So here's my third thought, the Golden Apple of Eris.

 As you all of course know, Eris was the goddess of Discord, who, miffed at not being invited to a wedding, showed up anyway and threw her golden apple to the ground, shouting " To the fairest". Now this was a pretty fancy wedding, so many of the Olympians were present. I chose to depict the exact awkward moment when Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, each believing themselves to be the fairest of them all, all simultaneously reached for the Golden Apple of Discord. One thing leads to another, and this little incident eventually lead to the Trojan War and the more-or-less complete destruction of the race of Heroes.

Classics and Comics cover tryout

A few months back I was approached by the editors of a new book coming out from Oxford University Press called Classics and Comics about doing the cover. Classics and Comics will be an exploration of the influences, both subtle and less subtle, that classical literature and myth have had on comics, something that is pretty much the whole point of a series like Olympians.

We talked about a few cover design ideas, and one of the ideas I came up with was this piece, which references the myth of Athena being born from the head of Zeus (not to mention my self-portrait from the back inside cover of each volume of Olympians)



Ultimately, we went with another idea, of paying homage to some classic comic book cover designs, but replacing the modern superheroes with their Olympian forebears. Please click here to see a gallery of super-hero cover designs on my Olympiansrule blog.

Zeus and Athena Reviewed at Aint It Cool News

Its been a while since I've posted a review of one of my books here, but when one crops up on a site I'm a regular reader of, well, I just have to. Venerable movie news site Aint It Cool News runs a weekly + comic section, and in the latest installment, way down toward the bottom in the Indie Jones subsection (y'know, where the cool comics get their due) is a double shot review of both Zeus and Athena. Please give it a look!

Giant Athena/Zeus Release Party!

So what are you doing May 1st? WRONG! You're going to come to the gigantic book release party we're having at the best comics shop in the known universe, Bergen Street Comics! In addition to me and my own books, Zeus: King of the Gods and Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess, I will be joined by Mike (Foiled) Cavallaro, Pascal (City of Spies) Dizin, and Leland (Resistance Book 1) Purvis.

Our release party starts at 7, and there will be refreshments and stuff, but kids and kids-at-heart should join us earlier at 5 for games (like, Make Mike Cavallaro Cry, What's Pascal Eating Now, and Pin The Tail on The Purvis) and a general celebration of Free Comic Book day (our books will NOT be free, but we will have free materials that are way cool). Plus-- anyone who buys one of our book will be entered into a drawing to win the original black and white artwork for the jam piece above, by all 4 creators! Snap!

Athena is out today! Run! Now!

So if you're the sort of person who enjoys making their comics purchases in a bookstore or online, today is the day that Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess is released! Woot!

If you're more of a comics shop traditionalist, you will be able to find Athena tomorrow at all finer comics shops with the normal Wednesday comics shipment.

A comparison and contrast between Clash of the Titans and Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess

J. Caleb Mozzocco, of Newsarama fame, recently ran a very interesting comparison/ review of the new Clash of the Titans (opened last weekend, number one film)and the Perseus segment of my own Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess, due out next week. I'm a huge fan of the original film, though there are certain inaccuracies in it that drive the mythophile in me crazy (I'm looking at you, Kraken), but I haven't seen the new version yet, mainly due to the "meh" reviews it's been getting. Give it a click to read what Caleb has to say!

Of special note: he gives a shout out to my old Marvel Namor tryout pages, featured on this very site, which contain the first appearances of my design for Cetus, the monster (not Kraken! He's Norse!) that terrorizes the beautiful princess Andromeda.

New Title for The Glory of Hera!

Well, it will be almost a year until the book hits stores (not like Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess, out next week, but the book formerly known as The Glory of Hera will now officially be known as Hera: The Goddess and her Glory. The folks in sales thought it was important that we continue the naming style we had established so far with Zeus: King of the Gods and Athena: Grey Eyed Goddess, with the god or goddess's name first, followed by subtitle. Certainly when all twelve volumes are completed, it will look nicer this way, and help people to find the separate volumes easier.

I'm still hard at work coloring Hera: The Goddess and her Glory but let me tell you-- so far it's my favorite of the series. In addition to telling the story of the courtship and wedding of Zeus and Hera, you also get to see the story of Io, the Twelve Labors of Heracles, meet Jason and the Argonauts and see what happens on that mysterious day every year when Hera abandons her position as the wife of Zeus and Queen of the Gods. Cool stuff, if I may say so myself.

Now one of these days I'm going to go through this blog and change the three million references to Zeus: Father of the Gods to Zeus: King of the Gods. Titles!

Olympians Book 2: Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess out soon!

On or around April 13th, I believe, you'll be able to get your very own copy of Athena: Grey Eyed Goddess at your favorite bookstore, comic shop or etailer. In honor of this momentous occasion, and also as a nod to the new Clash of the Titans movie that just came out, here is a preview of one of my favorite pages from Athena, a wordless section depicting Perseus and Medusa. Enjoy!

This Is Why it Pays to Have a Good Editor, part the second

A while ago I did a post about why great editors are a good thing to have, and here's another reason-- They do interviews that thousands of people will read and say nice things about you. Click here, pleasely, to read an interview at Comic Book Resources with First Second editorial Team Supreme Mark Siegel and Calista Brill.

In addition to saying nice things about Olympians, they also give some shouts out to the new books by my studio neighbors Leland Purvis and Mike Cavallaro. Please give it a read!

Book Club Discussion of Zeus at Good Comics 4 Kids!

Six different bloggers weigh in on Zeus: King of the Gods at the Good Comics for Kids website over at SLJ. It's a pretty cool piece, with discussions on the randiness of Zeus, speculation on Hera and Athena, and Greek myth baseball cards. One line to sum it up? "For the most part, this book club meeting has been a love-fest." Well, gawrsh. Please check it out.

Olympians interview on Comic Book Resources

Please click here to read a rawther extensive interview with yours truly over at Comic Book Resources about Olympians and other exciting things.

Olympians Rule preview

Just a little preview of an image I created for the soon-to-be launched Olympiansrule.com website. Enjoy!

Perseus and Medusa

Just so it's not all about zombies and Beatles this morning, here's a colored page of the mostly wordless Perseus and Medusa section of Athena: Grey Eyed Goddess. Devotees of Journey into Mohawk Country will note that I seem to have a predilection for wordless sequences amongst tall vertical objects. Don't believe me? Check pages 123-130 of your handy Mohawk Country reference copy, doubtless at your side as you read this. I think this may be my thing.

Olympians Rule!

So as part of the promotion for the upcoming series Olympians (first book in January! Second book in April!) First Second and I am working on a website, olympiansrule.com. Here's a preview of an image I created especially for the site.

Moment of truth

Preview page from Athena:Grey-Eyed Goddess. Athena getting all borned and stuff.

Another Athena page

It's not all beautiful gods and horrible monsters. This is one of my favorite pages in the story, a recreation of an ancient Greek marketplace. I can draw gods and monsters until the cows come home, but the little scenes like this, when I pull them off, give me a lot of satisfaction.

Please note, in panel 2, above Perseus's head, the pickpocket at work.

Athena pinup

I think I may have posted a black and white version of this image earlier, but here is the fully colorized version. From the back of Athena: Grey Eyed Goddess.

Gigantomachy in Color

I just got some printouts of Athena from First Second this morning and am very excited by what I see so far. To celebrate, here's my colorized version of a page I previously posted, the march of the Gigantes on Mount Olympus.

Another page of Athena

Like the title says, another page of Athena: Grey Eyed Goddess.
This scene is part of the gigantomachy, the battle of the gigantes. Much Olympian butt-kicking ensues. Hope you all like.