I Can Finally Announce It! YAY!

I’ve been dropping hints at the last two conventions I attended (at my panels and at my booth) that I’ve been given a once-in-a-lifetime gig, rebooting one of the most important “Golden Age” characters in comics.

Now I can tell you.

It’s arguably the MOST important character in all of comics’ history, the one that started it all.

The Yellow Kid.

Yup.

The first comic strip character in history is finally getting some attention in this land where comics are finally king.  Not only a comic book relaunch from IDW, but a Hollywood relaunch as well, with a major motion picture due out this August.

Back in the waning days of the 19th Century, a cartoonist named R. F. Outcault single-handedly invented the comic strip with a series of continuous stories told in illustrated form.  The series was called “Hogan’s Alley”, and it featured a precocious Asian fellow, charmingly named “The Yellow Kid”, who literally wore his thoughts on his sleeve.

Here the “Kid” is seen hanging around with Outcault’s other major comic strip creation, “Buster Brown”.

The strip ran for years in New York, it even created the first copyright and intellectual property lawsuit about a pop-culture character when competing newspapers used teh character without permission.  It’s where the term “yellow journalism” comes from.

But now he’s coming back as a major Warner Brothers film, a WB animated TV series, and a comic book miniseries from IDW.

I haven’t really started yet, but I’ll be writing and providing covers for the series, with a fairly new artist named Pavel Martin providing the interiors for the first three issues at least.  Pavel’s an ex-bootcamper student of mine I recommended for the project and I’m thrilled to be working with him professionally.  I think he’s really ready.

Some of Pavel’s early sketches.  The skateboard wasn’t our idea, that comes from the TV people, he’s going to have a skateboard on the show…. so you have to forgive us for that.

I’ll post new artwork and the cover for issue #1 as soon as I’ve finished it.  It’s pencilled and inked, but I’m in the middle of colouring it right now.  You’re going to love it.

After a hundred and twenty years, it’s about time!

After working on characters like Batman, The Simpsons and the Avengers, it’s really an honour to be working on the character that literally started it all.

I won’t let you guys, or R. F. Outcault’s legions of fans down.  I promise.

Ty the Guy OUT!

A couple of Yellow Kid appearances from his heyday to whet your appetite!

What an irrepressible scamp he was.  I hope we get to give him a proper name.

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Back to the Future Bun Toons! YAY!

Time machines…the ONLY way to deal with deadlines.

There’s Christmas, Halloween, Birthdays and Anniversaries…holidays that come but once a year.

But THIS week, we’re passing through one those holidays that comes but once in history.

Or twice, if you have a time machine.

I’m the only guy who likes Ghostbusters 2, and Indiana Jones 4, so I can be bought.  But BTTF II still annoys me.

And yes, I know we wouldn’t have heard about hoverboards if no one released Back to the Future II, but parallel worlds are tricky things.  Best not to question them.

Ty the Guy OUT!

If I could go back in time to the early nineties, I would not buy this comic.

Even with a Gil Kane cover!

Speaking of Time Machines and second chances…

Coming Soon: Another kick at the can.

By the way…the Time Variance Authority is an actual thing…or at least an actual fiction thing.  From FF comics of the 90s, I think Walt Simonson came up with ’em.  They don’t dress as well as Agent X-29-J, though…

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For last week’s Bun Toon, click here and travel to another time!!

For the increasingly un-updated Bun Toon archive, click here!

Unseen Star Trek – from the LOSER.

As promised on the weekend, I said I’d do a fun blog about my recent Star Trek graphic novel whether I won or lost the Shuster Award for Best Writer for that very project.

As you can see from the title of the blog, I lost.  The winners of the awards can be found here!  Congrats to all the talented folks who were recognized for the contributions we get to make to canadian, and comic culture.  YAAAY all around.

But here’s the fun blog anyway.

Star Trek:  Mission’s End was illustrated by a wonderfully skilled young Canadian named Stephen Molnar, who worked himself ragged to get the likenesses, the costumes, the backgrounds, the aliens, and the whole “feel” of Star Trek absolutely right.  He’s a big part of the reason people liked the book, if they did.  I’m going to show you guys a couple of Steve’s elegant pages in pencil and inks in a moment.  You’ll have to get the comic, GN or phone app to read it in colour; the final product belongs to Paramount and IDW.

Not mine to give away online, without a spanking.

But here’s where the fun comes in.  A couple of months ago, a fellow named Darrin Egan took one of my Comic Book Bootcamp courses, and was interested to try his hand at a full set of sample pages, based on an existing script that was yet to be published (so he couldn’t be influenced by the published version).   Though the Trek issues had already come out at the time, Darrin hadn’t seen them, and was interested in trying his hand at the pages.    Below are both versions:  First, the terrifically talented Steve Molnar, artist of the published story, in either inks or pencils,  followed by the vivacious version by Darrin Egan, from the same script, but without seeing Steve’s art.

Obviously, I’m a pushy writer, as the basic storytelling is remarkably similar.  So the parts that mirror each other, are the fault of a micromanaging writer…it’s the little ways in which they differ I find fascinating.  At any rate, I thought you guys might enjoy.  They’re both good at likenesses, and storytelling rules.  Each has strengths.  It’s like the Tiger and Princess.

Steve Molnar, pencils and inks

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Darrin Egan - pencil

page two and three was a double page spread.  Click on the images to make them bigger…

Steve Molnar - pencils and inks

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Darrin Egan - pencil

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Next:  The sexy moment, with the ripped shirt and the flirty, sweet GLAVIN!

Steve Molnar - pencil and ink

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Darrin Egan - pencil

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Finally, the two page spread that reveals that we’ve been inside a HUGE space ship, originally piloted by giants, and now long abandoned and overgrown with foliage and giant insects.   I think they both knocked it out of the park, though I do confess, the last panel of  Spock in the Molnar layout, is what made this whole introduction work for me.  The concept of the satanic character in the middle of Eden, interjecting and ruining everyone’s appreciation of the nature.  Darrin did a GREAT job on every panel,  but his Spock is a little too friendly for the “beat” of that moment.

Again, these are double page spreads, so click on ’em to make ’em bigger.

Steve Molnar - just pencil this time

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Darrin Egan - pencil

Wasn’t that fun?  I’d love to hear how much you like Darrin’s pencils…so would Darrin, I imagine, and he deserves a little slap and tickle for these excellent pages (and please, feel free to equally gush about Steve Molnar’s work, but he’s already a comic book superstar, so he’s getting raves from all quarters fairly continuously!).

And one last bit of unseen Trek before we head on over to Ten Forward for the afternoon….When I first found out I had a chance to do some Star Trek comics, a good friend of mine, Richard (Pitt, X-Man)  Pace (here’s his blog, where he’s doing a GORGEOUS painting of a jungle girl at the moment…) jumped up and asked if he could participate.  Schedules and other things precluded his helping out, but the sample sketch he tossed my way was so lovely, I’m including it here at the bottom of this entry.

Richard Pace pencils

I’d love to do a Star Trek comic book with ANY of these individuals in the future, should the fates or the Great Bird of the Galaxy allow.

Ty the Guy

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