ON THE COUCH with…

ON THE COUCH with Ty Templeton was an idea I came up with last year as a promotional event for Ty, and for The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery. Inspired by The Green Room with Paul Provenza, a great series that reminded me of going out to dinner after a comic con, with Ty and other comic pros trading war stories. And given that Ty is known for his Bun Toons which have, on occasion, triggered a pretty raucous conversation all on their own, ON THE COUCH almost created itself. As The Lounge’s logo is a couch (sofa, davenport, chesterfield…pick your noun!), the name followed just as quickly.

There have been three so far…  The first was for Free Comic Book Day 2012, and featured guests Scott Chantler, Will Pascoe, Ken Lashley and Mark Askwith. Max Douglas (aka Salgood Sam) was in town for TCAF and attended so Ty called him up to the couch, to get a Montreal perspective on working as a Canadian comics creator. Although the show was recorded (thanks to the wondrous Joseph O’Brien who took time out from editing his first movie as director/screenwriter to do so), our editor ended up so booked, he wasn’t able to do it.

Ken Lashley, Mark Askwith, Will Pascoe, Scott Chantler on the couch, Ty Templeton on a very tall stool.

Max Douglas actually did record ON THE COUCH for his own interest (not knowing he’d end up on it!) and posted an edited-down version in his report on TCAF 2012. It begins at the 6:40 mark.

The second ON THE COUCH was done as an event at FanExpo 2012 and had Dan Slott, Jimmy Palmiotti, Darwyn Cooke, Ramón Pérez and Lar deSouza. Ramon was there to give the indie artist’s point of view–his gig on Wolverine and the X-Men wasn’t announced until the next day! This too was recorded, by the amazingJeff Brown, co-founder of Dork Shelf and The Nerd Mafia. Jeff put in some hard work editing the first portion of it, but for various reasons we didn’t get around to putting it up online (Short version–TOTALLY our fault.)

Darwyn Cooke, Jimmy Palmiotti, Lar deSouza, Ramôn Pérez, Dan Slott and Ty Templeton at FAN EXPO 2012 (photo from MTV Geek)

MTV Geek’s Alex Zalbin wrote a report on the panel, FanExpo Canada: Darwyn Cooke, Dan Slott, Jimmy Palmiotti And More On The Economics Of Comics

But! Third time has proven to be the charm…  Done as an event for the First Year Anniversary of The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery, with guests Jim Zubkavich, Richard Pace and Rob Walton discussing “Collaboration vs. Control”, Alice Quinn of Tdot Comix/QCX  organised the recording and editing. Major thanks to Tyrone McCarthy for the recording.

Jim Zubkavich, Richard Pace, Rob Walton

Alice has posted the video on QCX’s YouTube Channel for all to see:

ON THE COUCH with Ty Templeton #3

Keiren

 

Oh, the Shameless Plug

Because this sort of thing matters to the Super-Skrull

The next issue of Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures is (choke, sob) the last of the ALL-NEW issues until further notice, Friendly Neighbourhood Fans…But we’re heading out with a bang!  And a few zaps and some punching and fun.

Besides fighting off squee-cute Martians with Death Rays, our webslinger battles a mad scientist, a mouthy Nova, and a snarling Super-Skrull, all in 22 pages of Joe Caramanga-Ty Templeton Ultimate Spidey Romping on our way out the door….

So pick it up when it hits the stands, either this week or next (I never know the release dates of these things), and make Joe and Ty and the editor happy, if no one else.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your BONUS Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures stuff:

HAH!  The comic book isn’t being cancelled, folks, it’s just switching formats,  with interiors generated from screengrabs of the actual animated episodes in future issues.  And delightful editor Elizabeth Pyle is keeping your humble Bun Tooner around to provide a cover or two as we move forward.  So I ain’t leaving the Friendly Neighbourhood quite YET!

In fact, my favourite piece of Spider-Man art I’ve ever done is my cover coming up for issue #16 (I think…).  You’ll see it in a couple of months!

Sketch Cover Commissions!

Ty has been asked a few times about doing commissions, and generally says no. But after posting some of the sketch covers he’s done recently, he was asked if he’d make it possible for out-of-town fans to get one…  As he was giving it some thought, he got to do a bunch for a one-day Toronto comic convention and enjoyed it enough that he decided–yes. Yes, he will!

Okay, this is NOT a sketch cover. But it could have been!

Email Ty at tybunny AT gmail DOT com, if you would like a sketch cover. Please list your name, mailing address, and which blank sketch cover you would like. We have access to Batman, Deadpool, Thor, Uncanny Avengers, All New Xmen, and Fantastic Four (to the best of my knowledge). You can request characters, situation, etc. and Ty will let you know if he’s able to accommodate you.

**NEW**–I’ve checked and we also have access to The Hulk, Daredevil, The Defenders, Scarlet Spider, and Wolverine blank sketch covers.

Covers will be done in pencil, ink, archival quality markers, Prismacolours…more or less whatever Ty has to hand. They’ll be black and white, with some greytones and occasionally with red marker/ink.

Ty is charging $45/Cdn for these covers (that will include the cost of the book which we purchase from our LCS). That’s for a maximum of two characters–if you ask for something complicated or with lots of characters, he may quote you a higher price. Ask for a quote for a full cover wrap.

Shipping will be  $4/Cdn shipping and handling to addresses in Canada; $5/Cdn shipping and handling to addresses in the USA.  (Anywhere else, email and we’ll figure it out and get back to you!) When Ty has confirmed with you that he’ll do the sketch cover, we’ll send you a PayPal Invoice. Books will be shipped in a comic bag between two backing boards, in a bubble-wrap envelope.

**NEW**  (AND…if you want to have your cover submitted to CGC, we actually have the ability to do that through a recognised representative. Let us know when you email, please. We would find out through the rep what extra costs and time that would add on to the commission)

Keiren

<—completely accurate

portrait of me by Ty.

Too Busy to Even Think of a Title for This

It’s Monday morning and we’re starting one of the busiest weeks we’ll be having this year!

Monday September 10 (TODAY!!), Ty is appearing on CHCH TV’s Morning Live show. Starting at 9am, he’ll be on for the whole hour drawing away and answering questions (although not on camera the whole time!). Channel 11, I believe.

Later this afternoon, Ty and I will head downtown to The Comics Embassy which houses COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP to set up the tables, put the white board up, and generally make sure that everything is good to go for…

Tuesday September 11, when Ty teaches the first class ever in his brand new space at 392 Spadina Avenue, in downtown Toronto–WRITING FOR COMICS (Part One). There is one spot left, if you want to email us for a last-minute registration (comicbookbootcamp AT gmail DOT com). Class starts at 7pm, and Ty is soooooo looking forward to this!!

Wednesday September 12, Ty will be teaching DRAWING THE HUMAN FIGURE FROM YOUR HEAD, 7-10pm. We have two spaces still open, if you’d like to register.

Thursday September 13, our youngest son turns 13! Sean has an awkward birthday as it’s just after the start of school each year, and the day before we leave for a weekend. But 13! He’s turning 13 on the 13th! He’s been counting down to this for months! We’ll have the family over for a birthday dinner and there will be cake!

My youngest son

Friday September 14, crack of dawn, me, Ty and two or three of our kids will pile into the car (might send one of the kids with their older brother and my daughter-in-law) and drive to Montreal where Ty will be appearing at the MONTREAL COMIC CON all weekend.

Our oldest son will be working (informally) at the show (my daughter-in-law and teenaged son will be there over the weekend, volunteering). And we’re looking forward to seeing our friends from HEROES OF THE NORTH again. They’ll be there all weekend, with different cast members of their webseries making appearances each day. (Ty wrote a 12 pge story for them recently–the artist, Daniel Wong, will be at the con all weekend as a member of the SPENT PENCILS STUDIO.)

Friday, the con runs 4-9pm. After we’ll be at a barbecue with other comics creators–Ty is looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting creators we haven’t met before.

Saturday September 15, Ty will be at the MONTREAL COMIC CON 10am-7pm. After the show will be THE JOE SHUSTER AWARDS, AT 7:30PM. I always love to go to the show and watch Canadian creators get some well-deserved love, but I have a vested interest this year–Ty has been nominated in the WEBCOMICS CREATOR category for BUN TOONS.

After, we’ll be off to the post-awards party to celebrate all the winners, and to get a chance to talk to everyone.

Sunday September 16 will be the last day of the MONTREAL COMIC CON,  10am-5pm. Last chance for sketches, signatures and for Ty to tell stories! Then, it’ll be back to our sister-in-law’s home for a chance to have a family dinner with her, our youngest kids and our nephew and nieces.

Monday September 17, we’ll all pile back in the car for an early-morning drive back to Toronto. (Probably with me driving–Ty will probably still be asleep).

And, through all of this–Ty is working on Marvel Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures! Pencilling and inking and plotting!

Keiren

FAN EXPO CANADA 2012: Thursday

And…it’s here!

Starting at 4pm today, it’s Fan Expo. I’ll be there the whole weekend, today Thursday August 23 to Sunday August 26. Today will be a quiet day–I’ll be sketching, signing and telling stories. I’ll have a couple sketchbooks, some Bigg Times, and some copies of Bill the Boy Wonder:  The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.  And I’ll have a stack of my original art to sell as well.

 AND don’t forget–if you’re interested in taking any of my classes at COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP, you can ask me or Keiren Smith about them, at P30A/B. Come by and pick up a flyer.

Ty the Guy OUT!!

Because I’m not nearly busy enough…

I thought, “Hey, why don’t I open a school of my own and start teaching there?”

I’ve been teaching for many years now–but it’s always been in someone else’s school, and it’s been as much a learning experience for me as the students. Now, I know what I want out of my classes, what I want for my students, and I know where we’re going to be storing the crayons, darn it –and that’s what I’m doing with Ty Templeton’s Comic Book BOOTCAMP!!

And So You Shall!

And I’m opening it in the most welcoming location in the city of Toronto.  A collective space called the Comic Book Embassy, located at 392 Spadina Avenue (Second Floor) in Toronto (Chinatown and on the edge of Kensington Market! Two great neighbourhoods!). I will be sharing the address with several freelance creators; the school will be in the front room overlooking Spadina. It’s an amazing location–two streets south of  College on Spadina. The Spadina streetcar has a stop almost directly in front of us. Easy access by TTC, and for those of you who drive, there is a large (and cheap!!) parking garage on the first street south of us (on Baldwin Avenue). AND…we’re only minutes away from The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery, which will make those Wednesday afternoon treks for our new books easy peasy lemon squeezy. I’ve been told it’s only a ten minute bike ride for those bizarrely intent on remaining healthy.  Not a bad walk, either, says my wife who has done it many times. (and remember that Guerilla Printing is in the same space as The Lounge, for those of you who need comic books or prints done after you’ve finished taking one of the classes!)

Learn stuff, like how to do THIS.

I’m still figuring out tables and chairs –but I already know what classes I’ll be teaching in September. For a new school, I figure it’s best to start at the beginning with the  basics, some writin’ and some drawin’.

This is called “branding” when I push it in your face like this…

Head over to the site for my new school, Ty Templeton’s COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP and read all about ‘em there!

(www.comicbookbootcamp.com)

And don’t worry, there’ll be a schoolwarming party as soon as we get the expensive stuff nailed down.  I’ll keep you posted.

Ty the Guy.  Teaching Canadians to cartoon, one day at a time!

Here now, your BONUS Boot Camp Comic Book Moment:

This was the logo designed by former Bootcamper Jason Laudadio, many moons ago, when this meshuga first started up.

www.comicbookbootcamp.com

 

Plug, Plug, Plug. Baby needs new size twelve shoes.

Plug.

Plug.

Spider-Man Plug.

On Sale Tomorrow.  I wrote it (Dan Slott helped).  Matt Clark drew it.  Marvel printed it.  You’re going to love it, I promise.  MOST. FUN. MARVEL. STORY. I’VE. EVER. WRITTEN.

Plug.

Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures #3.  Coming next week.  I drew one of this issue’s interior stories.   Two Spider-Man Comics in two weeks!  Plus:  Spider-Man in the movies, yo!  Spider-Man on the comics’ stands! I’m at pop culture ground zero, fellow babies.

Batman plug.

Plug.

On sale in July.  I drew this one.  The true story of Batman’s creation, finally giving due to BILL FINGER, the REAL creator of Batman.

Plug.

Some pages from Bill  The Boy Wonder.  This scene recreates the moment Bob Kane “created” Batman.

Plug.

Another scene from Bill  The Boy Wonder.  This the moment that Bill Finger explains to Bob Kane how to fix that first version of the character so that people will actually read it.

plug.

On Sale in July.  The Bat-Fan in you needs this book.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here, now your Bonus Plug:

naughty Halloween revellers ruin it for the rest of us.

FIGURE DRAWING FOR THE COMIC BOOK ARTIST

Ty really wanted to put together a blog post about his new class FIGURE DRAWING FOR THE COMIC BOOK ARTIST but he’s been too busy teaching his other classes (Writing for Comics Level One, Inking for Comics) writing a script, sketching, sleeping, and occasionally talking to his children. So, I’m here pinch-hitting…

Figure Drawing for the Comic Book Artist is a brand new class which starts tomorrow, Wednesday January 25, at TCW. The school has had Studio Life Drawing classes with Geordie Miller, and recently ran some Open Session Drop-In Life Drawing Classes. But Figure Drawing is being taught by a comic book artist with a focus on learning what other comic book artists need to know. Before this, Ty has taught Drawing the Human Figure from Memory–this obviously helps put those lessons to use! With a model in front of the class, students now have the ability to clearly see what Ty is teaching and the muscles and bones he’s trying to get them to pay attention to and learn.

As he was packing up for his Inking class tonight, I asked Ty to quickly tell me why he thought this was a good and worthwhile class. He said, “Most comic book artists learn anatomy, learn the human figure by imitating other comic book artists. While not a bad thing, it does mean that you end up making figures that look like Neal Adams drew them, or Ty Templeton or whomever you imitate. (Sometimes, depending on the artist, that means you learn to draw their mistakes!) What you need to learn is to draw from life, to draw the human figure as you see it in front of you. It helps you to know the figure, to be able to draw it out of your head, and to have your own style, your own way of drawing.”

(photo by Geordie Millar)

A couple weeks ago, Ty ran a Sneak Peek workshop for Figure Drawing for the Comic Book Artist. Every one who attended came out raving about it.

Ty Templeton teaches his Sneak Peek Workshop FIGURE DRAWING FOR THE COMIC BOOK ARTIST (photo by Geordie Millar)

Artist/animator Karly MacDonald was nice enough to send me scans of some of her drawings from the night. Ty was particularly impressed with the model, Rubie Laframboise, as she actually is eight heads high–although that’s always touted as the standard to follow in figure drawing, it’s unusual to see someone who actually fits that perfectly.

There’s still a couple of spots left in the class if you’re interested…check out the information on the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop site and reserve a space. This workshop probably won’t be offered again for several sessions after this.

(photo by Geordie Millar)

 

Keiren

Holmes Inc. Pin Up

woo hoo. Really. woo hoo.

Ty asked me to post this–because he forgot that I’m crazy, artistic and singularly unable to do a thorough tooting of my own horn. So, I’m posting this sheepishly, with an “aw shucks” and an urge to point out every single thing that I think is wrong with this. Except–LOOK AT THAT ART!

That, my friends, is Mr. Daniel Wong, and he is but one of the many talented Fit-to-Printers taking part in Holmes Incorporated #2. This is his pinup contribution to the Holmes Inc. website…and it’s a doozy. Lovely fun to colour over.

So, check out the site and click around to see more…(some of the creators have links; there are more to come. But click through and see more of what these guys are capable of!).

And keep your eyes on this spot to find out when this collection of talent and creativity hits the newstands and digital universe.

Keiren

Hoverboy and Hitler Cigarettes!

Today I’m skull-explodingly excited to talk to you about a lost piece of Hoverboy TV that hasn’t been seen in nearly sixty years.   Episodes of Hoverboy’s “Gay Cavalcade” puppet show from the fifties ( often misspelled as “Gay Cavelcade”) have been found by a former puppeteer for the series, named Ross Gurch.   Gurch was recently featured on an episode of the A&E show “Hoarders”, and kinescopes of  Gay Cavalcade episodes were found buried in Gurch’s house amongst jars of his urine.

Ross Gurch at the height of his career, holding his famous alter ego.

Marcus Moore, curator of the Hoverboy Museum online, is paying out-of-pocket to get the episodes digitized and put online.   This Hover-fan is giddy.

Of the the three Hoverboy puppet shows,  Gay Cavalcade was certainly in the top two.  It featured host “Uncle Orval”, a Hoverboy puppet, and a fairly racist portrait of a Native American puppet named “Chief”.  These three would get into crazy misadventures that usually taught Hoverboy a lesson about being a good citizen or whether or not it’s okay to play-wrestle with your cousin if she’s wearing a sweater.  The shows were broadcast primarily in the American Southwest with stations carrying the show in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Hawaii.  Mildly popular for a while, the Cavalcade even put out a Christmas Album in 1954 – which I actually own a copy of:

“REPENT SINNERS, LEST YE BE DAMNED” is a surprisingly catchy Christmas ditty.

The BEST (and shortest) clip in the kinescopes that Gurch found in his house is an ad for Tareyton Cigarettes done by the Cavalcade cast during a broadcast.

Back in the Fifties, you were allowed to advertise cigarettes to children.

People might remember Tareyton Cigarettes as the brand that went bankrupt due to an urban legend back in the 60′s.  A  rumor convinced people that the Tareyton company was a front for Adolph Hitler, who was living in Argentina and running a tobacco empire to finance an army to re-take Europe.   The only evidence for this was the unfortunate design of  their company mascot, “Wagner” seen on the cigarette packs themselves, but it was enough to destroy sales when the gossip got around.

Admittedly, the design choices are unfortunate.

Before the company coughed up its last lung in 1962, it was one of the main sponsors of Hoverboy’s Gay Cavalcade, and the cast dutifully did commercials for the product, just as other shows did at the same time.

This was a KID'S SHOW! Seriously!

The Flintstones did it.  Everybody did it.  It was a different era.

Go here to see this bizarre moment of children’s advertising from the fifties:  Hoverboy shilling cigarettes to kids.  Stunning, just stunning.

 

Of just press the image above to launch the video at youtube...I can't embed video on this blog, yet.

And we all thought Joe Camel was evil.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your Hoverboy Cigarettes Comic Book Moment:

The smoking zombie in the lower right of this cover caused a Senate sub-committee to label Hoverboy #3 as "subversive" and "leading to juvenile delinquency" in 1953, but the TV version of Hoverboy was ADVERTISING cigarette products without complaint at the same time. It's a crazy world, huh?