Finally have our table assignment for GalaxyCon in Richmond! We’ll be at N10 (right by the food court.)
I couldn’t be more excited to get back into the convention circuit, especially with the comic crew. I’m so excited I made a little video showing off my Con Goodies that arrived on my doorstep today!
Subject: Crowley from the Prime Series Good Omens (also the novel by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman)
Subject: The Stalk
First Appearance: SAGA #2 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Medium: Pencil, Ink, Gouache
Process:
Nothing takes me back to my early 20’s like a good ol’ Silent Hill game (to be fair they’ve all fallen off since the 3rd installment…) Even the first movie from ’06 was a pretty decent adaptation of the franchise. I’ll admit, the one thing that really spooked me to the bone was the ominous unnamed butcher with the rusted metal frame adorning his head and shoulders, referred to simply as “Pyramid Head.”
That lumbering gait, dragging that enormous cast iron meat sword behind him, slowly chasing you through unlit, labyrinthine buildings and alleyways is still the stuff of nightmares all these years later. Enjoy!
Now that Southtown has a mild social media presence of its own (go follow the Facebook page in addition to his site for content and updates) the game of non-spoiler marketing has begun!
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the team and I will be at this year’s GalaxyCon convention in Richmond, VA at the end of March and one of the big projects we’ll have ready to go is a 5 page ashcan preview comic to get the ball rolling. It’s a small snippet from issue #1 to introduce a small handful of the prominent characters in the series.
Additionally, below are a few character sketches and studies to tide everyone over until the next info-drop 😉
The Spider Verse is strong. The main timeline for the Marvel universe (cinematic and print) is the 616 universe. Into the Spiderverse and (to a degree) Far From Home and No Way Home opened up the Marvel Multiverse to the general public.
One of my absolute favorite multiverse variants is Spider-Gwen. The universe in which Gwen Stacey received the spider bite instead of Peter Parker. She’s a punk rocker and a bad ass web-slinging hero to boot. She’s got her own graphic novels which I endorse excitedly in advance of the next 2 Spider Verse films on the way. Viva la Gwen!
Another favorite character from The Expanse series, both on paper and the tv screen, Amos Burton is a definitive bad ass.
As of this posting, I have yet to finish both the final season of the show and the final book in the series. It’s been quite the journey from when I started the books in 2015. Amos always stood out in the core cast with his staggering loyalty to Naomi and absolute “fuckall” attitude toward any authority but himself. It would’ve been fun to see the completion of his character arc onscreen (as the Prime series only finished out the 6th book) but perhaps there could be room for another miniseries or movie to wrap everything up proper.
Today’s addition to the Friday series is none other than Luna Lovegood. Easily one of my favorite characters in the entire Harry Potter franchise (despite being introduced so late in the series.) I’ll admit she was a bit hard to put together in the books. On the page she just seemed weird for the sake of being weird, even by wizard standards. Though the subdued quirkiness that Evanna Lynch brought to the films made her one of the more compelling characters.
It’s official for realz! I’ll have a table in the Artist Alley at this year’s GalaxyCon in Richmond, VA March 24-26! This year I’ll have some friends joining me as well, my writer and colorist for the comic book we’ve been working on the better part of a year. Josh is the brainchild behind Southtown, feeding me scripts and insights on the world he’s built, and Ally is a fellow artist, Twitch streamer, and acting colorist for the project.
In addition to our glowing presence, we’ll have original pages to skim over, sketch books, sticker packs, and hopefully a 5 page AshCan preview.
My own Fan Art Friday originals, prints, and previous years’ Inktober projects will also be available.
Next up! We’ve officially launched the SouthTown comic Facebook Page! We’ll be updating it with character sketches, finished pages, panels, and previews, release timeline news, and eventually the crowdfunding campaign to get these printed and distributed!
Around fall 2015 Amazon started targeting me with Leviathan Wakes, the first book in a series called “The Expanse.” I’ve been a longtime fan of sci-fi, specifically the “deep space” variety (2001: A Space Odyssey, Moon, the 2000’s Battlestar Galactica reboot, etc.) and naturally I can’t resist something with cover art as intricate and compelling as this…
Not long after I’d cracked the first book I discovered it had been adapted into a series for SyFy. Both the books and the show became an addiction very quickly (though I have yet to read the 9th and final book, appropriately titled “Leviathan Falls.”) Naomi Nagata is easily one of my favorite characters in the series and Dominque Tipper did an excellent job with all of her layers and complexities for the 6 season run of the show. Spoiler alert: I will be posting another Expanse character here in the near future.
Wil Smith Illustration 