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.

Holmes Incorporated: The Shameless Plugging Begins

As many regular readers of the blog know, I have been teaching comic book scripting and illustration at the  TORONTO CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP and after some months of being up and running, we’re putting out our first comic book, created entirely by the workshop gang.

It’s called…

…which is an idea that I’ve had kicking around for a few years, and I’m tickled to see it make it into print.

The stories feature the descendants of the Holmes family,  in the year 2010.  In the many decades since the Master Detective died, back in 1935, the great-grandchildren of Sherlock, Mycroft and Watson, have managed to keep their family together for generations, serving King, Queen and country for nearly a century, as the agents of HOLMES INC.

Some GORGEOUS Sherlock Holmes character studies by contributor Alex Greychuck

The first issue, a HUGE 52 page extravaganza (just like in the Golden Age) will be heading for the printers quite soon, so I’m getting the final pages from the contributors quite regularly now.  And I’m going to give you guys a sneak peek over the next few days of everyone’s work.  You’ll have to come to the FANEXPO Canada ( in Toronto) to buy a pre-release copy of the book, then it will be available online for the world to get their grubby hands on it.  Until then, you lucky ART LANDERS get the first reveal in human history of these soon-t0-be classic stories.  And it happens RIGHT NOW!!

Sneak Peek #1: A couple of preview pages by Christopher Yao (artist) and Greg Dunford (writer) from the first story in the book.

Promise yourself you’ll remember this day as the day you first laid eyes on the work of tomorrow’s superstars!  Now for a lovely page two.

What the…?  He’s breaking in…?  You’ll have to get the issue to see the rest of the story.    And there are EIGHT (8) big stories in this first issue, each SEVEN (7) pages long, so the A-quality entertainment simply won’t stop coming.  Neither will these previews – you’ll be getting another tomorrow.   And if you look closely at the preview coming up in a day or so, you might notice a certain bunny doing the inking chores.

TY THE GUY OUT!

Here now, your COMIC BOOK moment of ZEN

Ty Templeton’s Comic Book Bootcamp

It’s summer here (more or less) and the kids will soon be out of school, which means it’s time for their dad to go off and teach others. Ty Templeton’s Comic Book Bootcamp Part Two will be starting up on Monday, June 28, as part of the offerings of the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop. If you have ever, at any point, taken Part One you are able to enrol in Part Two.

Students come out of Ty’s Bootcamps revved up and ready to go…(check out the work of the stalwart members of the original incarnation of Bootcamp Comics. Or Greg Dunford’s Hard Drive, or Gibson Quarter’s work on Judge Dredd, Wasted and FutureQuake #15, or Eden Bachelder’s work or…heck, there’s a lot of his students out there!) If you’re interested in being one, contact Walter Dickinson at Toronto Cartoonists Workshop. (And for those who graduate both parts of bootcamp, there’s a new, by invitation only, “Fit to Print” class, where you work closely with Ty and a bunch of your fellow graduates to put together an all-new all original comic book to be distributed at Toronto conventions…especially those with editors in attendance!)

And, just to let you know…Ty will be teaching Part One in the fall, so he won’t be teaching Part Two again until next February (at which point, there will be two classes of Part One-ers looking to sign up).

Keiren

Appreciating the fans…

and acknowledging the pros:

Tomorrow is the Fan Appreciation Event in Toronto, Canada. Cheap admission (if you buy product at local comic stores you can get free admission on Sunday. If you pay for admission on Sunday, you get a ten dollar voucher for local comic stores!), lots of pros, lots of product, lots of workshops, talks, etc. If you’re in the area, come check out Ty at…actually, I have no idea where he’ll be sitting. He’ll just wander around the building until he finds his name somewhere–so, heck, you can do the same!

While you’re wandering, there are many others to check out including some of Ty’s students and colleagues (David Cutler, artist of the upcoming not-completely-named Canadian Whites project Ty is writing); Gibson Quarter, artist for Wasted’s War on Drugs with Alan Grant,  FutureQuake’s Extinction Hunter; Greg Dunford, writer/creator of Cyberpunk Comics’ Hard Drive and Richard Pace, artist for The Pitt and so much more).

Then, on Saturday night, come out and join the crowd for The Joe Shuster Comic Book Creator Awards (Ty’s up for best writer). As it says on the site,

“The 6th Annual Awards Ceremony starts at 8pm on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at the Innis Town Hall (University of Toronto, 2 Sussex Avenue) with returning Master of Ceremonies Jonathan Llyr”

Keiren