2011 in review

Me at SPX

So 2011 was an awesome year in comics for me! I went to three new shows-- SPACE, Baltimore Comicon, and the DC Zinefest--and drew two new issues of Gay Kid and of Suggestion Box. I also spoke at the Radical Book Pavilion at the Baltimore Book Fest, which was a lot of fun. In the future I'm going to try and hit up more zinefests; the atmosphere is really laid back and friendly, there's a lot of alternative and queer stuff out there, and it's a different market than comic book people. I doubt I'll go to SPACE again, as it was a lot of travel for not a big show. I'm glad I went to the Bmore Comicon, but don't feel any huge need to go back; it wasn't a great place for a real small-press, indie cartoonist. I wanted to go to PIX again, but didn't have that weekend free. 2012, though, I want to go back!

Goodbye!

My weekly at TheNewGay, Office Bitch, stopped right before the site shut down. I was getting a little tired of the other work coming out of the site and they were in a death-spiral anyways, so I still feel like that was the right decision to make. Working on the 30 Characters in 30 Days challenge was a great inspiration to me, and I'm going to start a weekly comic based off of the New Masada/Rebel States characters. If it seems like I've been quiet on the blog front for a while, some of that is due to the brainstorming going into this comic. I don't want to just jump into it willy-nilly, and I've never done any fiction writing before, so it may be that I'm being especially cautious about it. Who knows. But stay tuned; that comic should be up and running come February!

Chloe, a character from the 30 days challenge, and the upcoming New Masada storyline

Also, in February, I'll have an entry in the next issue of Magic Bullet (wow, check out this super out of date site!), the free comic newspaper put out by the DC Conspiracy. I've never done anything with them before, and am looking forward to this opportunity to get my work out there!

So, that about does it. It was a super year, and I hope 2012 is even better! Does anyone have any advice for shows I should hit up?

30 Character Challenge: Day 28, 29 and 30

Name: Antoine Omar
Age: 19
Height: 6'1
Weight: 165 lbs
Location: Paris
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Antoine's family moved to Paris from Algeria when he was four years old. He never quite fit in as a child, but when the underground house genre called Tecktonic hit the clubs, Antoine broke out of his shell and busted some serious moves. He is now a famous club promoter from Miami to Ibiza, but still calls Paris home and lives with his parents. Thankfully, he was able to buy an upgrade from their one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town and get a four-bedroom condo overlooking Notre Dame cathedral.

Name: Sasha Montegna
Title: Sargent in the NMPD (New Masada Police Department)
Age: 26
Height: 5'10
Weight: 160 lbs
Location: New Masada
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Sasha was recruited to the New Masada police force straight out of high school. She has always been a very patriotic person and is honored to serve her country in this capacity. After the Uprising of 2013, she was moved out of the Capitol, Canaan, to Bethsade, the town where the insurrection began. Her dedication to the Administration and ruthless enforcement of it's laws make her a prime target of the Rebel States.

Name: Tanya Grandstaff
Title: one of the leaders of the Uprising of 2013
Age: 49 at time of death
Height: 5'6
Weight: 145 lbs
Location: was in New Masada
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Tanya is the mother to Chloe, the Assassin, and Xavier, Garrison of New Masada. She was one of the leaders of the Uprising of 2013, leading the rebels in many battles with the Administration. One day when she came home, her husband was waiting for her. He was with two other Garrisons, who escorted her out of the house and into the awaiting police van. She was brought to the Defense Building, where she had a hasty show trial and was executed. Her battle, and that of the other rebels, lives on. They are banding back together and growing a grassroots movement called the Rebel States. Tanya would be very proud of her daughter Chloe, who has taken up the flag of the Rebel States and is working to make her mother's dream a reality.

*          *          *

Oh my God, can you believe it? We're at the end! The final curtain, the last hurrah! I've had a lot of fun working on these characters. I would love to work on a storyline for some of them, especially the ones from New Masada. This has been a great creative experience and a really worthwhile venture. Thanks for reading these posts!

30 Character Challenge: Day 26 and 27

Name: Distractinator
Age: Created sometime in the past 15 years
Height: 6'8
Weight: 320 lbs
Location: Your house, your office, your cell phone, wherever
Hair: N/A
Eyes: Pink and Blue

Bio: The Distractination sneaks up on you when you least expect it, and also when you expect it. Trying to check your email? BOOM he's there, showing you videos of otters holding hands. Reading the news? BAM why not watch a cat on a roomba? Trying to do a mail merge? WOWZA try again after 15 minutes spent watching Rihanna music videos. The only machine that can vanquish the Distractinator is WorkEthicasaurus, or a power outage.

Name: Super Pig

Age: 12
Height: 6'1 standing upright
Weight: 520 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Red to  dusty pink
Eyes: Grey

Bio: Super Pig used to not be that super. An ordinary farm hog, Super Pig was treated with a chemically tainted growth hormone that contained traces of human DNA. He is now a barnyard superhero, fending off evil farmers with the stick they once used to herd him around.

Pigs are my favorite animal, so I had to give them some love in this challenge.

30 Character Challenge: Day 24 and 25

Name: Luis Garcia
Title: Lt. Commander of Galileo
Age: 57
Height: 5'10
Weight: 180 lbs
Location: Galileo, floating city in the Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: Graying brown
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Luis is the right-hand man to Linda DeKamp, Commander of Galileo. He is a great asset to the Administration, making sure that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. He grew up in the Asteroid Belt, and always wanted to live on one of the gas giants (no one was there yet when he was a child). He lived in Galileo for 10 years before becoming the Lt. Commander, giving him a lot of great practical knowledge of the floating city.

Name: Alpero Lex
Title: Sgt. at Galileo, Operations Division
Age: 87
Height: 7'9
Weight: 280 lbs
Location: Galileo, floating city in the Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: N/A
Eyes: Black

Bio: Don't let the age fool you; Alpero grew up on Mars with Linda. Martians have a much longer infancy that humans, in which they physically mature completely, before maturing psychologically. When Linda applied for a position on Galileo, Alpero did so too, just to see what happened. They ended up getting a  position as a Sargent in the Ops Division, which is just a fancy name for a handyman. Alpero loves their job, though, and is enjoying their time on Galileo (martians have always been big partiers).

30 Character Challenge: Day 22 and 23

Name: Linda DeKamp
Title: Commander of the floating city Galileo around Saturn
Age: 35
Height: 6'2
Weight: 170 lbs
Location: Colombo Gap in the rings of Saturn
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Linda DeKamp has been groomed for this position since she was a child. Raised on the colony on Mars, she excelled in math, physics, astro-geology and leadership skills. When the floating city orbiting Saturn, named Galileo, started operation in 2115, Linda's resume and application were on the top of the pile. Her friends tried to damper her excitement; no woman had ever been Commander of a station in the Solar Union. She became the first, and is now running the most productive floating city  in the Gas Giant region.

Name: Piers Gaveston
Position:
Age: 27
Height: 6'1
Weight: 200 lbs, 245 lbs with full armor
Location: England
Hair: Ginger
Eyes: Hazel

Bio: Piers is a fierce fighter in the English military in the early 1300s. He has seen his fair share of war, and has gained notoriety amongst his fellow infantrymen as a man without morals in the battlefield.

But mostly, I just wanted to draw someone in armor.

30 Character Challenge: Day 19, 20 and 21

Name: Chameleon
Real Name: Jason Crane
Title: Sgt. in the US Army
Age: 43
Height: 6'4
Weight: 270 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Sgt. Jason Crane was working for the Army on a new form of camouflage that would adapt to the surroundings of the soldier. He was trying to figure out how to make the clothes react to the environment, and totally failed. However, late one night in a fit of rage, wearing a uniform made in another failed material, it suddenly turned red. Crane realized that he had made a fabric that responded to his emotions and thoughts, changing color with only an abstract idea. He hasn't perfected the fabric (it only responds to him), but it has given him the opportunity to work for the US Army as the Chameleon on special covert assignments that no one else can fulfill.

Name: Star Boy
Real Name: David Storm
Age: 32
Height: 6'3
Weight: 250 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue

Bio: Star Boy was the darling of the nation. Even Superman looked up to him as an idol and pillar of good in this crazy world. He stopped the Cold War single-handedly, eliminated the global mafia, and rescued his share of kittens stuck in trees. Recently, our hero burned out. Star Boy, aka David Storm, had a nervous break under the pressure of being Star Boy. He fell off of the face of the earth after his crack up on the Today Show, and has been staring at the bottom of a bottle ever since. The world is getting to be a more dangerous place since his disappearance. How much longer can earth survive without their celestial savior?

Name: the Red Ninja

Real Name: Xue Chang
Age: 25
Height: 5'6
Weight: 150 lbs
Location: USA
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Bio: Xue always excelled in the Martial Arts, but found her true calling once she found an old set of throwing stars at a run-down pawn shop in a strip mall outside her hometown. When she held them, she felt a surge of power running down her hands into her body, and instantly felt a bond with these deadly weapons. Her training became more serious, and she started stealing away in the night to fight crime with her stars and skills.

30 Character Challenge: Day 18

Name: Damien Jackson
Title: New Masada
Age: 62
Height: 6'0
Weight: 170 lbs
Location: New Masada
Hair: Grey
Eyes: Black

Bio: Damien is kind of a fixture around Bethsade. He's a veteran who's living comfortably enough of a pension from his time in the army. Not one to like being by himself, he usually leaves his apartment early in the morning and wanders around town, chatting up anyone who will listen and helping neighbors out with different odd-jobs. He's a pretty handy guy, and since he never charges for his services, everyone appreciates the help. The only real problem he has is that he's still struggling with his PTSD and sometimes has flashbacks, bringing him back to the old wars New Masada fought when it was just starting to come to power.

He's aware of the Rebel States, but somewhat wary of what they'll bring about. The last thing he wants is to be in the middle of another war.