Trying for more updates!

Well, Loyal Legionnaires, I am trying to post more updates....well you know more often is what I mean. Not that I want to bog you down with tons of stuff.  So we have a couple of pieces. 

This first piece is kind of an experiment.  I wanted to try and use more solid blacks on a figure and a bit less feathering and shading. I think is kind of ok..... I am not to comfortable using it yet, but will try some more ways to shade.  This one is kind of from a really rough sketch I did ages ago. I always liked the Tarzan figure so thought I would give it a workover.  Kind of practice for a secret project that I will let everyone in on when I can.  ha. 

This second piece is yet another illustration for the KiGor 'War of the Beast Men' that I am working on.  There will be ten illos in all. I think this is number six or seven, I forget. Anyway it is showing Helene's fighting skills.  I always felt she was one of the toughest pulp heroines around, and I really have fun drawing her.  There should be a pulp story cross over between Helene and Nita Van Sloan from the Spider novels.....now I would read that one right off the rack! 

Well Legionnaires, I do hope you have a great new year!!!! and hope you had a great holiday!  Let's clink our glasses to a great New Year!!! and thanks for looking in. 

tom

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Well Merry Christmas to all out there in Lighting Legion land!  Again what can I say, except sorry for the lack of updates.  I do apologize again for not updating more often, but with my very very slow production rate anymore it just seems like I never get around to the blog. Sometimes I pop things up on Facebook, which is really starting to annoy me, but it seems to spread the work and the word you have to try to take advantage of all the media stuff you can.  I will try to make this the first spot I update in this coming NEW YEAR.    

Just a simple pin up shot of 'jack' Ms. Jacqueline O'Brien for the christmas season, it does have a bow in the picture! ha. 

I am also endeavoring to finish the reformatting of the KiGor story written a couple of years ago. It seems to have been dusted off and might be published by Moonstone sometime in the future. Here are the first four of ten final pieces for the story 'War of the Beast Men' written by Martin Powell.  

Again I want to wish all my Loyal Legionnaires out there a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a very happy NEW YEAR!   I hope this year brings you better fortune and luck than the last! We could all use a good bit of that.... I know I can with my health issues and age problems.  I do promise I am working on Captain Spectre, when my health permits, and I do hope to have that first issue done sometime this coming year.....i hope.   Til next time Legionnaires!  thanks. 

tom

Iowa....here i come!

 First off some art to look at.

Page 2 inks for the 'touch and go' story

cover concept for the first Captain Spectre print comic

I know it has been a long time since the last update.  I do apologize for the time going by so fast.  Again it seems the older you get the faster time slides by.   And thank the gods that election is almost over with.  Oh sure the winners will shout it out, and the losers will gripe and yell about how evil the winner is, and all that.  Probably a good bit of voting problems too.... computers not counting right, and all that sort of hanging chad type of stuff.   Man i am just plain sick of it all.  Almost 99 percent of it all is name calling and laughing at the other side.   Again i will never talk politics on this blog, as what i believe is what i believe and it is private..... and just something i am not truly interested in talking about.  Anyway most of the posts on facebook and the like just make me sick, no matter which side people are on.  If people talked or posted like that about other races, or sexual orientation they might be arrested.  I just don't understand it all.  I will shut up about all that now.

Ok on to the comics and Captain Spectre.   I have posted some new art.  I want any feedback you Legionnaires feel like giving.....as these are your books and stories too.  I wanted that cover to reflect the 'mystery man' kind of thing......maybe that is Captain Spectre and maybe not on the cover.  Also it will make a bit more sense when you read the whole story. ha.

Also I need some advice...... i am of course trying to take this series of books back to the good old days, so in that i am bringing back the thought ballon.  I have read articles about what non comic readers don't get when they read new comics.  One of the things is the thought block, you know the yellow block with inner voices in them.  People in these articles didn't know who was talking or thinking.  So the thought ballon will clear that up.... i want these books to be as accessible to everyone as possible, long time comic readers as well as new comic readers.   People also griped about not really knowing who the characters were....they were just showing up without any explanation at all.  So of course with that this is sort of an origin story as to who Chris Manes / Captain Spectre is.

But also i have been thinking about sound effects too..... in the on line strip i haven't used sound effects that most comic readers are used too.  I was going for more of the Alex Raymond/Flash Gordon or Foster's Prince Valiant thing with the on line strips.    So what do you loyal legionnaires think????? Sound effects or not????? So sound off and let me know. ok.

Anyway i do hope you Legionnaires enjoy this little story when i finally get it done.  I am keeping it fairly short and done in one so again it is accessible to all readers.  But even though it is 'done in one' it does set up alot of ideas and more story to come.

I will also be appearing at the ICON in Des Moines Iowa this coming weekend.  So if you are in the area... pop in and chat awhile.

thanks......

the carnival is coming to town...

Well Loyal Legionnaires, once again i am late with a post. Where does the time go.

Anyway progress is being made on the first Captain Spectre print story. I know, I know you have heard all this before. But honestly the die is cast, the outline is in place, and production has started on the story. As before it is an intro story, short and sweet. Done in one, and all that other stuff.  I hope to get alot done on this story over the next few months. I hope.

Anyway without apologizing anymore for my lack of updates....here are some working pieces from this weekend.  This opening page was kind like the last one i put up, but the story location has changed and it has changed for the better.  Thanks to a Loyal Legionnaire for a brilliant idea about the carnival for the opening scene.  And she knows who she is, so i want to thank her outright for such a great idea that she is letting me steal. ha.   Also with the carnival, i needed some back story, as i really love carnivals or did when i actually went places.  So of course the fortune teller is part of the story, but then i had fun figuring out the freaks in the freak show.  Like JoJoe the monkey boy. And i also needed to know who the bosses were that ran the carnival.  So enjoy and hope you like these sketches and pencils.

thanks loyal legionnaires.....

Where does all the time go anymore!

Well Loyal Legionnaires, bet you gave up on me.  Well I almost gave up on myself.  I have been working on things, and doing my normal job too.

But since the last post I have just been exhausted.  Blame it on the heat, blame it on the total lack of rain killing crops and yards, but mostly blame it on me.  It seems to happen about this time every year, and I never knew what caused it.  Then one day a friend of mine said, 'hey isn't this the time you went into the service'?  And guess what, my enter day into the US Army was Aug 3rd.  So it seems weeks before that date and a week or so after that date are the toughest times of the year for me.  Like when some people get the holiday blues....I guess I get the 'oh god, i got drafted' blues. heh.

Also I have been trying to increase my writing ability by doing various things.  But never fear Legionnaires, I am actually working on Captain Spectre from time to time.  And you will begin to see the results pretty soon.  I hope.

So in the mean time I am continuing work on the Dark Horse project, Number 13, I have toned the Spider Christmas story that Martin Powell wrote and it appeared in color in a Christmas annual - but now is going to be reprinted in a Spider collection of stories just written by Martin Powell. That will come from Moonstone later this year and I will post more about it so you can pick it up if you like. Also working on a set of illustrations for a prose KiGor story, once again written by Martin Powell and showing up in a series of books called the Return of the Monsters from Moonstone.  And like i said i squeeze Captain Spectre in there too. whew.

So anyway I also did some sketch cards for one of my favorite comic conventions..... and some designs for a nether water creature for the KiGor story that I will let you in on.

So all for now Loyal Legionnaires, and watch the skies because Captain Spectre is coming!!!!!!!

thanks.......

just not having much luck.....

Well it seems I am just not breaking on the good side of Lady Luck lately.  Health, Mental and all other things are closing in on me.  Sorry to whine a bit but, that is about the size of it all.

At least I did finish the inks on this Conan piece. I hope thru all of this stuff it is a good piece.  My production rate is almost at a standstill because of all these things. Sorry.

Memorial Day already?

Wow, the year is racing by.  Of course various things help it along. Like old age.  I used to think older people were crazy when they said 'it goes faster the older you get'.  Well Legionnaires, believe me, it is so true!  I just can't believe how fast a month flies by, then the year follows right after that.

So everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend. And be safe out there.

Also a couple of pieces for you to hopefully enjoy.

Stay tuned Loyal Legionnaires!

rigor mortis has not set in yet!!!

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I posted an update. Again I hate posting just to update unless I have something good to show off.

So I don't have much, I finally finished inking this page from 'number 13' ....and jeez it is only page 2.  But anyway, enjoy it in all its blackline glory before i slop it up with bad coloring.

Also been working on a special piece for someone out there in the Legion.  Won't say much about it yet as i am still playing around with the design some.  But it is a piece that i plan to do my best on.  I think most fans of sword and sorcery will recognize the cliches in the piece.....girl captive, check.....barbarian, check.....a monster or too, check.....a temple setting, check.....anyway it will be fun to finish up.
Here is a rough layout of it....

Also forgive me if I pump the Avengers movie......jeez I felt like a kid again watching that film.  The director/writer hit all the great things about early Marvel comics that I liked about it..... i won't spoil anything here, just go see this movie, get a big bucket of popcorn and maybe a small coke as you don't want to get up to go pee during this movie as there is no dull parts to miss.  Sure there are things i wish had changed....like Cap's suit....man what is with that thing, but i got over it.  But, i actually laughed until i had to wipe my eyes at a couple of funny parts.....and probably only funny to old farts like me that enjoyed the feeling of the early comics.....because these are the characters i grew up with, not the grim brooding grim and gritty characters i don't recognize in the comics anymore. Enjoy the movie, Legionnaires. it is fun!!!!

And now for something completely different...

Here is the pin up for Martin Powell's Halloween Legion characters.  If you like all ages spooky stuff, go find this book.
Halloween Legion

And that is just the first book in a wonderful series coming from Martin.  Soon there will be a graphic novel, and another prose novel.  This is a pin up that might appear on one of those in the future.

Sorry Legionnaires, not much else is new that I can show, or even have to show.  I tend to hate that as much as you Loyal Legionnaires do. But, it just couldn't be helped this week, with work and health issues. Sorry.

I am working on a couple of commissions and some more layouts for Number 13, as well as some Captain Spectre pages, but nothing is good enough to even show yet.....one day soon I will post them all here..... so stay tuned Legionnaires.

A rough week...in more ways than one.

Time flies by so fast now, it seems. Between all I have on the drawing table and just getting thru the day. Some days are of course tough to make it thru, and some days are pretty good days. And by pretty good I mean productive days.  Mostly this past week has been just roughs and layouts and such.  Above is a warm up of one of everybody's favorite sketch icons, Bob Howard's Conan. 

 And here, again in rough stages are a couple of pages from the first part of the Number 13 project. I need to get kicking on these pages, but of course there is the initial layout process.  But any project I work on with Martin Powell is a joy, both in our understanding of how each other works and of course in the Edgar Rice Burroughs subject matter.

This scene takes place at a railway station in 1913, so I will have to pull out the good old web and reference some clothing and decorations from that time frame.

And here are the finished inks of the KiGor and Helene piece I was working on. Really no place for this piece, just felt with the renewed interest in these projects that I should spend a little time getting to know them again.

And also in a Captain Spectre update, no real art, but a major story problem has been solved. Wish I could expose more of it to you Loyal Legionnaires, but then that would ruin the first arc of three issues I have planned.  But more on that later Legionnaires, so stay tuned!