Miracleman #7 Variant cover

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Supreme honor. When George Beliard of Marvel asked me to do a cover for the re-issue of Miracleman I couldn't believe my luck. I had to find a way to read those early issues and it took some hunting. I picked this issue when Miracledog shows up. I know, it's a chance to draw that monster but more than that it was the most compelling issue of them all. The most dramatic stakes--in movie terms it's your end of the second act when all is lost. Love it. If you haven't read Miracleman I strongly suggest you pick up this new, amazing re-issue. Before this there was no way you could get your hands on this continuity other than plunking hundreds of dollars for its original American run.

I thought of James Bama's covers for the Doc Savage paperbacks as inspiration. Those were powerful images. Miracleman does not have busting-at-the-seams muscles. He's more like a slender Paul Newman "Cool Hand Luke" build. Behind him I can place Miracledog who is mucho sinewy and lethal looking. Did many thumbnails but the quiet pose of an unstoppable god in front of a demon dog felt right for the story. After a pencil rough was approved I did several value and color studies. One digital and one with the actual gouache paints. Cutting the guesswork when I get to final is such a gift.



But even with all that prep I ran into some problems. My full-sized pencil when transferred to illustration board lost just enough fidelity that his face looked funny. And I only noticed that after I've already done a base color wash on him. I had to do some fixing. Maybe a lot of fixing. If his face is not right then the whole thing is a do over. In the end I felt that I needed to finish the whole thing in Photoshop--sparkles and value adjustments. It was not the smoothest of projects but overall I had a lot of fun making it. Hope you like it.

Making a Marvel Comic Book cover part 3

The final variant Wolverine/Patch cover image! Click on for a larger one.

Time to execute. After a couple of bouts doubting, hesitating and some redo's I arrived at a finished pencil. I hope I had done enough leg work for the variables that lay ahead--barring accidents and the odd thing I didn't plan on. My thumbnail had the foliage behind Logan in a light green but in the final I decided to keep all the elements in a yellow gold. A color mock-up of the composition helped me relax about applying the final colors.



The first thing on was a light watercolor wash over the shapes. After that was dry I started on flesh tones and then Logan's face. If you mess this part up then you can pack it up and start over. I had not done what the veterans would do to eliminate a complete redo. They'd pencil it in, ink it and seal it all under varnish or matte medium. That way if you falter you can scrub all the paint back to the drawing underneath. Thankfully with all the limbering up and re-draws I got the Logan face I wanted. With that clinched I went on to the other crucial face and skin tones for Jessan.



Next I had to key in the darkest values of Logan's head. I didn't want to use actual black, even for his pants and shoes. It also helps to keep the other elements from stealing focus from ol' Wolvie. I even muted the contrast of Jessan's face and dress so our hero stands out. After that the only big-ish challenge is the shawl pattern. I like intricate design but I din't want the fabric to be angry with detail. Then all that's left was defining the tux, his claws, the plant leaves and pot.

I sent an image of the cover to Marvel and they were very happy with it. To be honest, I was very happy with it myself. It was something I wanted to try out and see how I'd do and the result was not too bad. I hope I get to do this again so I get better at it. Thanks for reading this far. I hope you get a chance to find this variant cover. I should order this myself: Uncanny X-Men #7. Cheers!

Making a Marvel Comic book Cover

Wolverine Costume Variant cover for Marvel. A few months back Marvel asked me if I was interested in doing another variant cover for them. I did an Iron Man one before and I was looking for another shot at a cover. What's that you say? It would feature Wolverine? WOULD I?!

They were planning on doing a set of covers to feature the life and times of our favorite adamantium enhanced mutant. I immediately zeroed in on the Patch persona. Why? I had not read those stories that was set in Madripoor so I had no attachment to it. What did it was the look. I am a big fan of the paperback covers of Robert McGinnis and Mitchell Hooks. This was a chance to try my hand at it.

A quick round of thumbnails first. I find that I solve big design problems right off that way. Once I had the ideas narrowed down I test it again in color. These thumbnails are about an inch wide. It keeps me from noodling. I did two versions though I thought I liked the first one already. I just had to make sure that I'd be happy to do either version regardless. Marvel liked the one I wanted. Yeah! That starts another round of prep and solving design problems. That's for the next post.


I mocked up the image against a Wolverine banner just to see what clearance I needed for the banner, whatever book the cover might appear in. Marvel didn't know at the time. Now we know It's for Uncanny X-men #7. Lucky! Love that book.

Wild West Iron Man: A variant cover

I snapped an iPhone pic of the work in progress on my cintiq. Pencil illustration finished off in Photoshop.

Outlaw Metal. Joe Quesada and I almost worked on an feature a long time ago but it was not meant to be. Flash forward to Marvel being part of Disney and I get the call from Joe asking if I would be interested in doing an Iron Man cover. How fast could I say, "YES!"without tripping over myself? I mean, ol' Shell-head was THE very first super hero I ever drew as a kid (hey, no human features to stumble over like eyes, ears and such). And I am still a huge Iron Man fan (though don't ask me what happened to Tony in the last decade or so. Love the Gene Colan and Don Heck illustrated ones). So, not only, yeah, but HECK YEAH!

Those of you who are old enough can see the homage right away. Yup, "Wild Wild West" was a TV show I grew up with and loved the characters. Sure, it's silly but the opening titles looked awesome. Like an animated comic book page. They did their titles right back then.

I wanted to show the mask as it might be fashioned with the tools of the time, rivets and screws, so I needed the head to be big. It made for a more movie poster approach for the design.



If you like to see more check out Bill Presing's WWII Iron Man. It is a study in grace and metal. Check out his post in Daily Peril, his blog. My cover will be a variant for Invincible Iron Man #27, goes on sale June 9. Bill Presing's variant for Iron Man: Legacy #3 hits stores on June 23.

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