Yo, Joe x 4

I'm in New York right now and limited in time and ability to show too much new artwork, but it's been a while since I ran any G.I. JOE art here. So until full December solicits are released next week, how about the covers for four JOE books shipping in December.

First up is G.I. JOE: ORIGINS #10 by Tom Feister:


Lee Ferguson's G.I. JOE: SNAKE EYES #3 cover:


The ongoing G.I. JOE title goes bi-weekly in December, first with Howard Chaykin's cover for issue #12:


And then issue #13 sees the return of Robert Atkins to the title:

Pins and needles

One thing I've been liking to do more and more is include pinups in books I'm working on. I love seeing different artistic interpretations of characters. I got some great contributions in each issue of GROOM LAKE, and all are being collected along with the story (and Whitley Strieber's introduction). The TPB is due on October 14, and it'll also include one additional pin-up that got to me after it was too late for inclusion in the issue itself. It's from Klaus Scherwinski, who's also doing a couple upcoming G.I. JOE SPOTLIGHT issues (Beach Head and another one):


And I just got this new ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS pin-up from artist Mark Torres. Speaking of ZvR, I realize it's been far too long since there's been any word on the book. So I'll rectify that soon, and with some art. For now, let's just say the ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS AVENTURE series is being retooled, some new artists are joining Ash and I, and issue 1 is already fully drawn and done. But for now, I'll leave it with the Torres pin-up:

Locke & Key Honours

This was a good weekend for LOCKE & KEY, which received a couple unique honors. First up is a special honor for artist Gabriel Rodriguez.

Gabriel was told that the Chilean-North American Cultural Institute, which is the "cultural department" of the U.S. Embassy in Chile, is giving him the 2009 Walt Whitman Award, their annual literary award, for his work in the graphic novel field and for helping to create a stronger cultural relationship between Chile and the United States. This is the first time they've given this literary award to a comic book artist.

Other than Ashley Wood, Gabriel has been working for IDW longer than any other artist. And he and I have been working together steadily for the past five years. It's been especially gratifying to see Gabriel go from CSI to a Romero zombie project to the Herculean task of working with me on adapting Clive Barker's THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW over 12 issues and then doing the same with BEOWULF, all before his real masterpiece (so far), LOCKE & KEY (and, as you'll see in a few weeks, CLIVE BARKER'S SEDUTH). Gabriel's long been one of the most talented artists I've ever worked with, but he's also among the most diligent people I know, and one of the nicest, too. Which is a combination that just doesn't happen often. So I'm glad to see that his work is gaining this sort of special recognition outside of just the comics field.

I knew the guy was special but I had no idea he was actually helping foster better relations between the U.S. and Chile (take that, all of you who think comics are just a lark). So my congratulations to Gabriel for this unique and special honor. And for those of you who speak better Spanish than me, you can see the letter itself that announced the award:

Also this weekend, the British Fantasy Society awarded the winners for its annual British Fantasy Awards, and LOCKE & KEY won for Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel. So congrats to Joe and Gabriel for that really nice honor as well.

Update: Here's Joe Hill's take on the award for Gabe, too.

IDW's new releases for September 23

I really can't recommend enough that whether you're a G.I. JOE fan or not that you give the G.I. JOE: COBRA SPECIAL a look this week. Not only does it spin out of the acclaimed COBRA miniseries by Gage, Costa and Fuso, but it also tells the story in such a unique way that the only other time I can remember something like this having been done so successfully is when a gent named Alan Moore did it. This one really is something special and will really benefit from multiple reads, where you can fully appreciate what was done with both the story and the art.

American McGee's Grimm #5
Doctor Who: Black Death, White Life
G.I. Joe: Cobra Special #1
Star trek: Spock: Reflections #3

Bloom phone

Up now at the iTunes App store is a *free* downloadable BLOOM COUNTY LIBRARY sampler app, which gives you a nice collection of strips that can be read in either the full strip on one screen or one panel at a time. And we're drawing ever closer to the debut of the first book, too. Only a couple weeks away now.

Berkeley breathed

I'm up in Berkeley, CA on an overnight trip. And fortuitously enough, I stayed in a hotel just a block away from Comic Relief, one of the best comics shops in the nation. Comic Relief is a real testament to the decades that Rory Root, the late, great Rory Root, the store's proprietor who passed away earlier this year, spent promoting comics. The store really is amazing in the breadth of books they offer. Nothing makes me feel better than to walk into a shop that looks and feels like this one, and especially this one, since it's nice to see how well Paul, the store's manager, and everyone else there has carried on what Rory built.

The comic presence up here seems pretty strong, as evidenced even by this street character:

Look Who's Talking

The great Paul Grist's cover art for DOCTOR WHO #7. Colors by Phil Elliott.

5 Qs, 5As, and 4 girls

Alan David Doane, who runs Comic Book Galaxy (a place where I used to do weekly columns, way back when), is expanding the site with a new area called Trouble With Comics, and did 5 Questions with me. Amidst the five questions is one photo of my recent jaunt to the Playboy Mansion (safe for work; the bodypaint photos didn't get posted).

The Qs and As can be found here.

Bloomin' Berkeley

Berkeley Breathed did a new interview with ICv2.com to talk about the upcoming BLOOM COUNTY LIBRARY (an advance copy of Volume 1 is seen sitting on the table in my office). The interview is here.

Clive on Seduth

MTV Splashpage talked to creator Clive Barker about his upcoming 3-D one-shot, SEDUTH (out in mid-October). In the ad-free issue that comes which 3-D glasses, in addition to the 24-page story, it features 10 pages of Clive's sketches and initial notes about the story, one of which is shown below. The art above is by Gabriel Rodriguez on lead guitar, Jay Fotos on bass and Ray Zone on 3-D drums.

Barker also made it clear that "Seduth" wouldn't be a one-off, but rather the first of what he plans to be number of comic projects, recognizing now more than ever how passionate he's remained about the medium.

The full piece is here.