Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, 2022

If asked, I'd have to say that one of my favorite things is being contacted out of the blue with a job offer. Even if I have to decline the offer, it's always affirming to get some proof that I haven't been forgotten. Getting that proof was even sweeter in Covid world when daily human contact shrank to the size of a Zoom window. And that's how I ended up working on two episodes of Samurai Rabbit.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: TV Cartoons

Manga Mania Fantasy Worlds, 2003

This was my third assignment from Chris Hart, author of how-to-draw book for artists-in-training to draw in "Japanese manga style." Chris asked me to cover one chapter with 11 environmental drawings of a fantasy castle, which ended up being quite detailed and satisfying.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Mystery Grab-bag

Star Wars: Aquilae, 1981-82

The story of how I found my people in the world of SF fandom AND found a way to finally get my Star Wars comics to an audience, both of which happened on the same day in the same place! (Plus a complete comic story as a lucky special bonus.)

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Kids Comics

Pirate Queen Emeraldas, 1990-91

I've had the honor of transforming some of my favorite anime into comic books for American readers, including the Captain Harlock series created by the great Leiji Matsumoto. My entry point into that world was this 4-issue miniseries from Eternity Comics about the mysterious pirate queen who wanders the infinite eternity of space...

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Pro Comics

Freedom Union, 1991

This looks like a comic book, and it is, but it was also a game from Dark Tower Enterprises, an Illinois-based company that wanted to fuse comics and games into a single experience. 1991 was my first full year as an inker and this was my first opportunity apply those skills to a superhero project. The results: not great.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Game Days

Avengers Assemble season 2, 2014-15

It's hard to describe what a rush it was to make this series during the ascendency of the MCU. I've worked on plenty of shows that were tied to well-known IP, but nothing compared to this. This was the season of the Squadron Supreme, Thanos, the infinity stones, AND Ultron, in addition to other villains destined for the big screen, not to mention a complete shift in digital storyboarding techniques, so we had a LOT to chew on.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: TV Cartoons

Manga Mania Villains, 2003

This was my second project for "how-to-draw" author Christopher Hart. It was a chance to peel off the surface stuff and look underneath. I'd been drawing comics for over ten years, and it gave me a rare peek under my own hood. Always a healthy exercise for an artist.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Mystery Grab-bag

Star Wars: unfinished tales, 1980-81

If you've even glanced through the "kid comics" section of ArtValt, you may have been impressed by the number of projects I carried all the way to the finish line as a youngster. To balance the scales, this collection rounds up five separate homemade Star Wars comics that didn't reach their respective finales for one reason or another.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Kids Comics

Chaser Platoon 5 & 6, 1991

The finale of my six-issue series! For the mech-pilots of Chaser Platoon, galactic war was a way of life…until one mission changed them forever. When the speartips of two armies meet above the bleeding scar of a secret planet, strategies collapse and everything shifts in the blink of an eye. One way or another, the mission ends here!

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Pro Comics

TORG: When Axioms Collide, 1992

Though the majority of my illustration work for West End Games was in their Star Wars RPG line, they occasionally threw other assignments my way. This was one of them. Before I knew it, I was drawing zombies and swashbucklers and haunted houses for the first time and actually doing pretty well at it. It's kinda nice when you can feel the gap closing between what you aspire to do and what you can actually accomplish.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Game Days

Jackie Chan Adventures, 2003

Here's the story of my brief tenure on the Jackie Chan animated series, including a complete copy of my one and only storyboard, AND the story of my even briefer encounter with Jackie Chan himself at the start of it all.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: TV Cartoons

Mecha Mania, 2002 (Part 2)

In Part 1, I described how I got the assignment to draw robot designs for the first segment Chris Hart's Mecha Mania book. As I explained therein, I was not 100% thrilled with Chris' presentation choices. Shown here is my work for two subsequent segments, which I also took issue with for...reasons.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Mystery Grab-bag

Star Wars: Ringworld, 1981

Pursued by a sadistic Imperial admiral, Luke, Leia, and the droids take shelter on a neutral planet where they both find old acquaintances on opposite sides of the conflict. But the empire is ready to bring this refuge down on all of them! I took a LOT of creative steps forward with my third Star Wars graphic novel, created in the summer of 1981 when I was 16.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Kids Comics

Chaser Platoon 3 & 4, 1991

The middle issues of my 6-issue series were all about expanding the story and building tension. In the same way the plot-heavy issue 1 set the table for the action-heavy issue 2, 3 and 4 both set the table for 5 and 6. They also used up all the previous material I'd written for my Votoms fanfic, so after I crossed that line it was all fresh territory for me, too.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Pro Comics

Combat, 1992

I'm at a real loss to say anything substantial about this project because, well, I don't know if it ever actually got published. All I can do is step aside and share the work itself. If anyone out there recognizes it or knows something that can help me sleuth out the details, I'd be ever so grateful.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Game Days

Avengers Assemble season 1, 2012-13

Avengers Assemble was hands down the toughest show I ever worked on. Not only was I tasked with matching MCU production quality, I was given a team of untested artists to direct over long distance with the tightest deadlines I'd ever seen. Surprisingly, it was a challenge I was ready for and thrived on. Here is the story of how I ate that thing for LUNCH.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: TV Cartoons

Mecha Mania, 2002 (Part 1)

One day in 2001, artist/writer Christopher Hart invited me to contribute to his next proejct, a how-to-draw book on Japanese-style mecha design. The timing was good, and mecha design is close to my heart, so I relished the chance to turn it into a learning opportunity. But I have to report some mixed feelings about the end product...

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Mystery Grab-bag

Star Wars: Mission of Doom, 1981

This tale was inspired by a couple different sources: the original Battlestar Galactica (specifically the Fire in Space episode) and a summary for a sci-fi story (I think) in which a spaceship had to maintain a specific weight to reach a destination at a specific time. Any idea that would spark another Star Wars comic was fine by me.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Kids Comics

Chaser Platoon 1 & 2, 1991

For the men of Chaser Platoon, galactic war was a way of life...until one mission changed their lives forever. In our enlightened times, stories and rumors abound in the popular culture about corporate greed and indifference. This is a story of accountability. Here you'll find the first two issues of my 6-issue SF mecha action series, originally published by Aircel Comics.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Pro Comics

Dream Park, 1992

Someone at R. Talsorian games decided this novel by Larry Niven was a good basis for a role-playing game, so they published one in 1992 and hired me to contribute some illustrations. Looking at them now, I can tell it was an assignment that came and went while I was still figuring out how to ink with a brush. Getting better, but there was still some distance to travel.

Continue Reading >

Posted in: Game Days