Savagery

Back in the late 1960s, cartoonist Gil Kane created the international spy thriller His Name is . . . Savage! A few years ago I was approached to do a cover for a new His Name is . . . Savage! series. The project didn't have a publisher at the time, but eventually, over a year ago, Paper Movies released it.

Although I was told that the project found a publisher, no one told me when it came out. And I've never actually seen it. I did the cover I was contracted for, and was pretty proud of it (below right). But now that I'm trying to catch up on posts detailing recent (and not-so-recent) projects, I thought I ought to mention this Savage project.

I found it for sale online, but it looks as if it was published only in the graphic novel format, not as a comics book series. You can see the published cover to the left. Unfortunately, the book doesn't include my cover. So I've included it here, on the right.

This recent iteration of Kane's His Name is . . . Savage! boasts a script by Steven Grant and art by Jesus Antonio Hernandez Portaveritas. I read the whole project as background for creating my cover, and I really liked it. I've long admired Steven Grant's comics stories. This one thrills as much as his work has ever done. So I'm disappointed the book doesn't even print my cover in a gallery of covers in the back of the book. I mean, they paid me for it AND the book has a blank page at the end.

Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.

Classic Comedy Teams

Which classic movie comedy team do you like better? Laurel and Hardy? Or the Three Stooges?

Well, you don't have to choose in Laurel and Hardy Meet the Three Stooges #1 from American Mythology. I drew the cover for this mash-up of these screwballs.

That's not the only cover I've drawn for either of these comedy teams. How about Laurel and Hardy's Christmas Follies #1? And then there's The Three Stooges Thru the Ages #1.

Cover art has never been my strong point. I think I'm far better at panel-to-panel story-telling than I am at creating splashy single images. But I've had fun drawing these. On the whole I like the way they turned out, particularly the first two. The stylization the colorist introduced into the Christmas image was a pleasant surprise.

The Stooges covers don't end here. I've drawn several more since these issues were published. They've got a couple special twists to them. One twist is that they're all parodies of well-know super-hero comic book covers. I'll show them to you when they're published.

Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.

 

Amateur Status

I haven't posted any news in a while. Stuff has been piling up to announce. Within the next several weeks or so, I plan to post about a backlog of projects and announce upcoming projects, too.

I drew a few jobs for Shelly Bond when she was an editor at DC under that publisher's Vertigo imprint. More recently Shelly became an editor at IDW. Hey, Amateur! is the result of her idea for a wide range of cartoonists, who happen to also be experts in a variety of disciplines, to pass on their specialized knowledge in a collection of single-page comics stories.

Shelly asked me to contribute. I wracked my brain to come up with something to communicate that seemed visual (it would be a comics story, after all) and that I could write about with some modicum of authority. Most of my life has been dedicated to writing and drawing. I don't think I'm particularly limited in my experiences outside of those creative efforts, but I wasn't sure I could speak with as an expert about much.

One panel from my story.

I threw a few ideas at Shelly. She picked "How to Perform an En Dehors Pirouette."

I'm no dance expert, but it's one of my hobbies. So that was it. My story for Hey, Amateur! explains in detail the pirouette "to the outside."

The book also explains how to accomplish approximately twelve dozen other tasks, such as decorating a cake, keeping a band together forever, making a proper cup of tea, and surviving in the woods with a knife and a rabbit. All these concepts are detailed and drawn by "your favorite" cartoonists, including Michael Allred, Gene Ha, Peter Bagge, Paul Pope, Simon Bisley--the list goes on.

Hey, Amateur! is published by Black Crown and distributed by IDW and Penguin Random House.

Copyright © 2021 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.

Draw Drink'n Podcast - Round Two

So fun the first time, we're doing it again!

Join Jamie Jones and me, with our host Alex Morrissey for a second round on Draw Drink'n Podcast. Mark your calendar now for Tuesday, September 29, 9 PM EST (that's 6 PM on the west coast of North America).

We plan to discuss Age of Bronze and the techniques of making comics. But who knows where else we'll go?

Watch the episode live on Youtube in the comfort of your own home--or watch later at your convenience. Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmtaRwbGDW2PWW702K24i1w

Festival of Books on Saturday

 

Attend the Festival of Books on Saturday, August 29, 2020. The event is online. Authors from around the world are participating in a variety of ways.

I did two recorded video interviews for the festival. Both will be available for your listening and viewing pleasure.

Follow the link to register: sdfestivalofbooks.com

See you there!

Guest on Draw Drink'n Podcast

I'll be a guest of the Draw Drink'n Podcast on Tuesday, August 4th, at 9 pm Eastern (6 pm Pacific).

Alex Morrissey hosts as everyone drinks, draws, and laughs. I don't have any idea yet what I'll be trying to draw as everyone watches, so you'll be as surprised as I am to see what happens. It's sure to be a fun time.

The podcast streams on Youtube and Facebook. You can watch and join in the chat here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wMrticUZo4

San Diego Festival of Books

On Thursday, July 9, Alonso Nunez will conduct an online interview of both me and Sam Maggs as part of the 2020 San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. Tune in on Facebook to watch. I expect to mainly be discussing my Age of Bronze work.