Here, There and Everywhere

It’s another busy week for Ty…  He’s  teaching (yesterday Writing for Comics Part One, tonight Drawing the Human Figure from Your Head), drawing for Marvel Comics’ all-ages Spidey book (Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures), and working on some other can’t-yet-be-mentioned projects, (and yeah yeah there’s that parenting/husbanding stuff).

TODAY he will be at The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery for their UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 Launch Party. Sez The Lounge,

“[Uncanny Avengers #1 is] the first of the Marvel Now! titles being released. Uncanny Avengers 1 is written by Rick Remender, with artwork by John Cassaday.

The first customers who purchase the book will receive a limited edition print and other goodies, and there will be other surprises and bonuses for those who try out the new book.”

To celebrate and promote, the store is running a mini Artists Alley. Ty will be there as well as Shane Kirshenblatt, Marco Rudy, Christopher Yao, Rachael Wells, David Cutler,  Selena Goulding, and more!

The artists will be available to do sketches, sign books or do sketches on the large collection of sketchcovers that The Lounge has in stock. Some will have their own prints available for sale as well.

Batman #0 sketch cover by Ty Templeton. There are blank sketch covers available for sale at The Lounge today.

The event is running 12-9pm, so stop by! (If you have any questions about upcoming classes at Comic Book Bootcamp, Ty can answer ’em, and will have fliers available.)

Keiren

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FREE COMIC BOOK DAY and…

Saturday May 5 is Free Comic Book Day ! It’s like Christmas with less nog!

Christmas is RUINED. If only there was something to read with Batman in it, some time in May...

But just in case FREE COMICS aren’t enough for you ravenous T-Dot funny book fans–it’s also the weekend of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, where the best of the indy creators gather together and just commit art all over the joint. Bring splash guards for all the flyin’ ink and paint.

You want MORE?  Free Comics and a great comics convention isn’t enough?   How greedy are you guys?  Okay, just to calm down the insatiable maw I sense out there, The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery ( conveniently located at the same address as the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop) will be crawling with lots of great comics creators including Stuart Immonen, Kathryn Immonen, Gibson Quarter, Marco Rudy, Raffaele Ienco, Mike Del Mundo, David J. Cutler, Karly Macdonald and this long eared Ty-Bunny, signing autographs, doin’ sketches, and making FREE COMIC BOOK DAY the magical adventure that it is.

According to the plans I’ve heard, there will be face painting for the kids, a mini artists alley, and obviously–free comics!! And word has it that Toronto Batman might make an appearance.

There, I hope that satisfies you folks for a day of comics fun.   After that exhausting day is over, I’m going to put my feet up on the couch at the Comic Book Lounge…and…

WAIT!  THERE’S MORE?!?!?

After the Free Comic Book Day events are over,  starting at 8pm, I will be sitting talking with my guests about Canadians and the comics industry exploring the idea of “As Canadian as possible under the circumstances.” in a LIVE talk show.

The first person I thought of to be my first guest ever was Mark Askwith. I’ve known Mark for thirty years now? Wow–long enough that I’ve lost track. I met Mark back when he was manager of The Silver Snail comic shop. When Mark created the much-beloved and much-missed Prisoners of Gravity for TVO, I did the art for the opening sequence, and guested on it frequently. These days, Mark is a producer at Space:  The Imagination Station, producing Inner Space. That’s only some of his comics cred–there’s so much more!

And we’ve got Will Pascoe, director of an upcoming documentary about the Golden Age of Canadian comics superheroes. And we’ve got Scott Chantler, the award winning creator of Two Generals and Towers of Treasure! Not enough for you? We’ve also got Ken Lashley–as he says in his bio “[he’s] worked for them all, Lucasfilm, lucas arts, Hasbro, Mattel, Dc comics, Marvel comics, Fox sports..etc..” In the midst of his many projects, he’s doing covers for DC Comics at the moment.

We’re planning for roughly an hour–but if we’re having too good a time, we might go longer. And the audience isn’t allowed to be shy, as we will be taking questions! (But keep your questions relevant to the conversation.  No one gets to bring up our Mayor’s weight problems or the price of gas.).

When On the Couch’s inaugural episode is over, there will be an announcement of the Joe Shuster Award nominations. Then–

–an Industry Night Party to celebrate comics, Canadians, the Shuster Awards and anything else we can think of.  We will make you ACHE with fun.

Come join us for some of, or all of the day–and the night! We’re excited about everything we have planned for Free Comic Book Day and for On the Couch with Ty Templeton. (This will be the  first of hopefully many On the Couch episodes–unless there’s a death in the audience, or an armed rebellion, we’re coming back).

Ty the Guy OUT!!

Here now, your BONUS FREE COMIC BOOK MOMENT:

Isn't this cool? And it didn't cost you a dime.

Nepotism Friday! Keiren Smith edition!

I always talk about how busy I am around here, creating fine comic book based entertainment for the masses with all those crazy knucklehead characters I get to write and draw….

Like my wildly hysterical script for Avenging Spider-Man #8, (cover by Shane Davis, interiors by Matt Clark), due in stores in just eleven weeks! Silver Sable and Doc Strange Guest Star! Order yours today!

…but my wife has been doing so much colouring work around the funnybook biz lately that this month, she’s got more to read out there than I do.

So, because you should love her as much as I, I’m showing off some pages from her most recent work, with links to where you can read it online.  Who says my home in Toronto isn’t the House of Ideas?  Oh, this Cease and Desist order from Marvel  does.    Well, OTHER than this legal restraint?  Who?  Who?

First up:  A few teaser pages from a HEROES OF THE NORTH story about their characters Nordik and Eightball, available as an online comic book before the print edition comes out later (from Ardden Entertainment; the first omnibus collection sold out, so grab the second one as soon as you see it!-kts).  Read it while it’s free, fans, it just went online a few days ago.

I LOVE the blues she chose.  The pencil and ink artwork is by my friend David J. Cutler, who did the fun-but-hard-to-find-a-copy-of Johnny Canuck and the Northern Guard comic book with me last year.  I just can’t seem to quit David J., but one look at these pages and you can see why I’m a fan.

The lesson of this tale seems to be:  Ladies, dress warmly for cold weather.  Either that or it’s a thrilling murder mystery with cool action sequences and gunfights and stuff, like a good comic book should be.   All in glorious colour for LESS than a dime!  Beat that!

I dig the first panel on this page!

So click on over and read this story and show our Canadian comic book creators a little love.  It’s even better with the word balloons, though it covers up the pretty drawings and the pretty colours.

Keiren also just finished colouring a project called “Taking Flight” for writer Stephen Sutherland and artist Garry McLaughlin, who hail from Glasgow, a town with even more foreboding weather than Toronto.

If you're getting a "Frank Quitely" vibe, you're not alone.

This is the just the first three pages.  It’s available for pre-order at Laser Age Comics, but it won’t be printed up until April 9, so you’ll have to pace and bite at your nails until then.  I really like the colour work my one-and-only did on these pages.  The sense of quiet and peace as this character learns what it’s like to fly is really brought across by the palette she chose.

Here’s a page from a YMCA comic book project Keiren finished a few weeks ago…

The Adventures of Y Guy, written by another Holmes Inc. alumnus Kathleen Gallagher

Pencil art by Christopher Yao this time around…an alumnus of the Holmes Incorporated comic books I put out every year with the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop.  You can read the story here, and pick up the comics at local YMCAs in the Toronto area.

Just so you don’t think I’m a completely lazy sod, I have an issue or two of Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures coming up that I’ve done script and art chores for a story, as well as an issue of the Simpsons I wrote and drew, due in stores any time.  And my OWN Heroes of the North 12 pager in the pipeline for early summer.  Oh, and don’t forget tasty, tasty BACON!! (more on this as it crisps and develops).

But you guys get enough of me around here.

Check out the work of my own personal comic book colourist (her deviantART site), and let her know she’s pretty good at this gig.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your Keiren Templeton-Smith Bun Toon Bonus Moment:

One of Keiren's first appearances as a bunny in a Bun Toon from the early 90s!

2012 Convention Schedule and more…

Ty promised himself that he was going to be posting more on the blog this year and was getting frustrated that he hasn’t had the time–until I pointed out that it’s that he has so much work to do, all of which he’s excited to be doing.  But I did promise that I’d pop in to mention a few things, so here ya go…

The official start to Ty Templeton’s 2012 Convention Season is next-next weekend. Usually, Ty only does the Toronto shows but after doing the wildly-successful wildly-enjoyable Montreal Comiccon last year, he’s agreed to do more for 2012.  There might be a few additions to the list later in the year but for now, this is it:

Formerly known as Fan Appreciation and now Toronto ComiCon as presented by Fan Expo. And expanded to two days– Saturday March 10-Sunday March 11.

Toronto Cartoonists Workshop will be there, sharing a booth with The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery. (You might be able to register for the upcoming workshops at the show…but classes will begin the Monday after the show, so best to not take any chances and sign up now for WRITING FOR COMICS LEVEL TWO and Ty Templeton’s COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP PART ONE.) If you’re not able to get to the show, but need to get some comics, make sure you check out The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery in it’s permanent space (shared with TCW) at 587A College Street West. Our oldest son will be holding down the fort.

Been waiting for Calgary Expo to announce this–now, we can confirm that Ty will be attending, for the first time, the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. The show runs Friday April 27-Sunday April 29, and features an amazing list of guests.

Our buddies, Heroes of the North will be there as well, showing off all their books, posters, figurines and some of the actors! Artist Gibson Quarter (Holmes Incorporated, Undertow #2) has finished pencilling a new 8-Ball story for HoTN and will be there, too. (Ty just finished a script for HoTN, to be pencilled by Richard Pace. Like Ty, Richard divides his time between teaching and drawing comics. He’s an instructor at Durham College, and is currently hard at work on Ashes written by Alex de Campi. AND he just announced that he’s drawing a 3-part adaptation of a Robert E. Howard story for Dark Horse’s SAVAGE SWORD (#5-7), written by Ian Edginton.)

In June, Ty will be off to Austin, Texas…but that hasn’t been “officially” announced yet, so I’ll wait to put up all the info.

In August, it will be The Big One–the biggest comic convention in Canada, that is. Fan Expo Canada runs Thursday August 23-Sunday August 26 this year. It was wildly busy last year–slightly overwhelming by the last day, butgreat to spend time with so many other creators and to talk to so many fans.

Toronto Cartoonists Workshop and The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery will both be at the show as well. Heroes of the North will put in an appearance as well. Their second omnibus collection will be published by then. And the HoTN comic story drawn by David J. Cutler (artist for The Northern Guard) will be out by then as well.

Montreal Comiccon is the little comic book convention that didn’t so much grow as EXPLODE!! It was such an enormous, unexpected success that they’ve moved to a bigger location this year, Friday September 14-Sunday September 16. Ty and I really really enjoyed the show last year…had a very brief twenty minutes when we thought it was going to be quiet, when we first arrived at Ty’s table. That was the last twenty minutes of peace for the entire weekend! Got to meet Dan Parent, have dinner with Dan, Gibson Quarter and the Heroes of the North crew.

That is currently the extent of Ty’s convention schedule…

At the same time that all this fun is going on, and as Ty is busy working, he will be continuing to teach at Toronto Cartoonists Workshop.

WRITING FOR COMICS LEVEL TWO begins Monday March 12, 7-10pm. Completion of Level One is a requirement.  Wednesday March 14, Ty starts COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP Part One 7-10pm.

Rob Walton will be teaching CREATING YOUR OWN GRAPHIC NOVEL starting Thursday March 15, and Walter Dickinson will be teaching CARTOONING RODEO for kids 8-12 years of age Saturday mornings April 14-June 16.

                                                                                              Keiren

Northern Guard #2 is out, OFFICIALLY this time.

In the fifteenth quatrain of the eighty-ninth stanza of the Complete Prophesies of Nostradamus,  the great seer wrote:  “and shall the beaver, after long delay/find distribution through the patterns of diamond/unto the shops therein/the second week of March”.

Only a fool would argue with Nostradamus.  So it’s OFFICIALLY OUT ON WEDNESDAY! Northern Guard #2 (featuring Golden Age Canadian Superheroes JOHNNY CANUCK and FREELANCE) is hitting the stands, it’s kicking the stands, and it’s slapping the fans around a bit, too.  Don’t just take my word for it, check these  sample pages with art by David J. Cutler and K.T. Smith to whet the appetite of the most discerning reader and wet the beds of the most scardy-cat ones.

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How can Moonstone Books cram that much action into one comic?  It must include science and wizardry.  I know I’m running out to buy a copy just to find out how they did it!

The excitement is overwhelming me, I have to sit down.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now,  your shameless Plug Moment:

Northern Guard #2 is headed for the stores!

…with another LOVELY Jason Edmiston cover.  It’s due out this Wednesday, so far as I can tell, but I’m never in the loop on these things.  The issue has made it’s way into the hands of a few reviewers already. They have their say here and here.  (Go ahead and click, they’re good reviews or I wouldn’t have linked to ’em.)

If #2 is not in your comic stores this week, holler and shout and cause a ruckus, without doing any bodily harm, and get them to order an issue #2 (and back issues of #1 while you’re making the fuss).     Our little hockey-playing band of super-heroes could use the extra noise, and the artwork by David J. Cutler (as well as the colouring by K.T. Smith!) is thrice worth getting before it’s all turned into a common trade paperback and EVERYONE has one.  You DO want to be first on your block to discover Cutler and Smith before they become the standard bearers of 21st comic art, don’t you?

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, you Canadian Comic Book Moment of the Day:

Little known fact: Northern Guard is not, in fact, the first super-hero comic book set in Canada.

SHAMELESS PLUG BLOG NOVEMBER 2010.

Every now and then, comics I wrote or drew get published, and I get to ask you to buy them.  I often forget to do this, but this week, I’ve got enough coming out in a row to pester you.

I present the SHAMELESS PLUG BLOG

Shameless Plugging you with the Jason Edmiston Cover A

First up:  I’m fairly sure that Johnny Canuck’s big return to comics in the NORTHERN GUARD is this Wednesday or next Wednesday, if your local doesn’t get it tomorrow.  There’s some chewy good fun in this comic – a revival of some terrific Canadian Golden Age characters, and the first published work of a couple of good Canadian pals of mine.  (I just called my wife a “pal”.  I’m a dead man.)

 

Shameless Plugging you with the less-often-seen David J. Cutler's alt cover B

Speaking of the lovely Keiren, it’s fun to see her credit on the Harvey Pekar meets the Thing story that’s coming out NEXT week.   She’s lettered a couple of the stories I did with Harvey Pekar, and keeping with the tradition, she gets her first Marvel credit.  And she did a terrific job!  I’m allowed to show off the first page, now that Marvel’s put it into promotion rotation.  This one’s in the stores in a week, I’m told.

If you have any fondness for Pekar, you’re going to love his take on the Thing.  This is, by far, my favorite Pekar story I ever got to do, sad as the events surrounding it were, and I’m going to blog about why it was so wonderful and bittersweet, right after it comes out next week…no spoilers here.

The cover looks like this, so you’ll know to get it when it’s out…

 

this series is so cool, you should be buying it, regardless.

And just to top off the sudden flood of Templeton product on the market in one fortnight, this came out in England last week –  check it-

 

Issue #14 of Murky Depths.

It’s a horror/sf writer’s magazine, with both prose and comics contained within.  Not a bad little offering and you can find much more about this publisher at   http://www.murkydepths.com  But you probably figured that out on your own.  I’ll bet you can order copies there.

For my part, I did thumbnail layouts and original edits on a terrific horror/adult story about a man who finds out the world is going to end, and wants to go out – ehem…with a bang.  It was written by Greg Dunford, and illustrated by Gibson Quarter and Eden Bachelder –  a group of friends who are all merry members of the Toronto Cartoonist Workshop usual suspects.

All right…the shameless plugging is done for today. Though it may come up again when my issue of Mad Magazine comes out next month, or my upcoming issues of the Simpsons.   Or…

Ty the Guy OUT!

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Here now, your Shameless Plug Comic Book moment of zen:

 

Look at that outfit. The man is clearly shameless.

Canadian Superheroes cont’d

Ty did a post on Johnny Canuck and Heroes of the North yesterday, focussed on little ol’ me, because we were talking about the work I’d done on the weekend. But there are quite a few other people involved in these projects, so I’m going to post ’em here so you can take a look at their work:

Northern Guard/Moonstone Books

David Cutler, artist

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Jason Edmiston, cover artist

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8

Heroes of the North

Marcus MASman Smith/artist

(Check out MAS’s colouring–there are other examples on his site. I have to turn from lettering to colouring some pages and I’m having some serious artistic insecurities after working on MAS’s pages)

(not a relative btw–I didn’t get the lettering gig through nepotism! At least I don’t think he is, hard to tell with us Smiths)

Will add more links as I find them…

Keiren

Ty tells me that I’m not supposed to post anything without adding a Comic Book Moment of Zen. I’ve got nothing “comic book” that fits so I’m going to post Keiren’s Moment of Zen…a Canadian Superhero! (he’s Canadian, and he’s a superhero–it fits)

FAN EXPO CANADA 2010–Sunday August 29

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. oh boy.

Ty and I took the kids on Sunday. Luckily, they’re of an age we can let them run loose without much supervision. Unfortunately, they were so overwhelmed by the crowds that it took some time before they felt comfortable running around. ‘Cept our youngest son who promptly took off looking for a video game (found one, too. Both boys report that they can not wait for Halo Reach to be released next month).

The Kids

Jason Edmiston, Cobra Wants You. My son scored this and LOVES it. Check Jason's site for other prints

While the kids were settling in, Ty actually wandered off and didn’t return for an hour so I watched his space and chatted people up. With it being the last day, everyone knew that it was their last chance to talk to editors, buy that poster they really wanted, etc. so it wasn’t just watching Ty’s space…when David Cutler

David Cutler, "Bucky and Dead Eye"--the is the print I bought for my son. Check David's blog for others...

would go off, Jason Edmiston’s wife would watch his stuff. If she was busy, I would happily jump in to sell his stuff. The partners of the various artists would wander back and forth between spaces making sure all was well!

Gibson Quarter had his daughter there for some of the day, helping

Gibson Quarter's Wolverine vs. Venom print, check his site for others

to sell his stuff. When she left, my daughter was willing to jump in and see what she could do (although she’s a bit shy so, in fact, her brother sold some stuff for Gib, while Kate stood by–but she’s learning!). All in all, nice to have a little community spirit going!

Lots of people came by to talk to Ty, including one of his oldest friends in the world, which he quite enjoyed (we especially enjoyed seeing the teenaged son in his Arthur costume, with towel over one shoulder).

So, all in all, a busy, productive con…

Venom

(the kids liked this costume)

and this one…

Music Meister

And this is the print I got from Jason last year–one of my favourite things on my walls!

Jason Edmiston, Hibernation

Keiren

More Exciting New Comics …by the Guy

I’ll get back to promoting HOLMES INC. a little later, but right now, I’ll promote some of my other, why-I-am-always-busy releases.

…Wednesday, August 18 look for Marvel’s Age of Heroes #4, with the last of the one-pagers I drew over a Dan Slott script.  It’s not the first time I’ve ever drawn Steve Rogers (my favorite Marvel Character) but it’s the first time I’ve drawn him in the new Spiffy Super Soldier outfit, which they DON’T use on the cover…sigh.

So, run out to your local and buy fifty copies, and Marvel will assume the sales jump is because of my one-pager and promote me to E.I.C.

Wait!  There’s more!   Moonstone has put online the cover for Northern Guard (starring Johnny Canuck) number #2, drawn by Jason Edmiston.  Interiors by tomorrow’s superstar, David J. Cutler, and scripted by your humble correspondent.  (Also lettered and coloured by your humble correspondent’s main squeeze girl!)   The cover is so pretty, I burst into tears when I first saw it, so get out your hankies, ’cause here it comes!

Ain’t Jason the Find of the Century?  Well, the century is fairly young yet, but he’s in the running! (and just to remind you of the goodness that is Jason, here’s the cover for Northern Guard #1).

I’ll be showing off the cover and another story from HOLMES INC. tomorrow…who says this isn’t the Templeton Age of Comics?

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your Comic Book Moment of Zen