Right-o, I'll keep this short.
We're back safe and sound from Ohio and the 2010 SPACE Con. A big old thank you to everyone out there that came out and supported us at this year's event, and a big old mega thank you to Bob Corby for hosting and organizing my favorite show of the year. We had a real good time, met some cool people, and probably ate a little too much junk food.
I've got a TON of things to do now that SPACE has wrapped up, and a TON of things to announce, but for now I've gotta get to work.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
SPACE Time
Bro and I will be at the 11th Annual Small Press Alternative Comics Expo (or SPACE) all weekend long. Info can be found at http://www.backporchcomics.com/space.htm. I've got a ton of comics to sell, and as always, I'll be giving out free sketches with purchase. Later.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
On Deadline
I have a very, very tight deadline to finish the seventh issue of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club. My deadline is Saturday, April 17, which is ten days from today, or a week from Saturday. I'm not even halfway through the issue yet, which means I'm going to have to complete over 12 pages in about ten days.
Woof. That would be a workload even if I wasn't working full time in a sawmill.
My problem is that I have a very demanding Editor-in-Chief. This guy is a no nonsense hard ass who sets improbable goals and then expects his peon underlings to live up to them.
Of course, as most of you know, I'm also the Editor-in-Chief of TORC Press.
That's part of the deal when you're your own boss. You gotta keep yourself moving forward. I intend on publishing a TON of comics over the next ten years and to do that I have to be like a shark, just perpetually swimming forward.
So, anyway, that's what I'm up to for the next couple of weeks. Drawing like a madman. Ta.
Woof. That would be a workload even if I wasn't working full time in a sawmill.
My problem is that I have a very demanding Editor-in-Chief. This guy is a no nonsense hard ass who sets improbable goals and then expects his peon underlings to live up to them.
Of course, as most of you know, I'm also the Editor-in-Chief of TORC Press.
That's part of the deal when you're your own boss. You gotta keep yourself moving forward. I intend on publishing a TON of comics over the next ten years and to do that I have to be like a shark, just perpetually swimming forward.
So, anyway, that's what I'm up to for the next couple of weeks. Drawing like a madman. Ta.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Levitone
The new demon that appears in The Horror story arc in "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" issues 5 and 6 is not a new creation. I came up with the character back when I was in High School. In fact, it's one of a handful of my characters that predates Cactus Joe the Clown.
I created a lot of Demons when I was in High School. I was a horror film fanatic, and I was reading Todd McFarlane's "Spawn" on a regular basis. Throw in the fact that I had always had a mild obsession with the supernatural, and you end up with a kid that spends far too much time doodling monsters in his notebook. In retrospect, I'm surprised my parents weren't more worried about me than they were. Anyway, I drew a lot of monsters and demons. Around the same time, I was also obsessed with anything Clive Barker related. Which is where the concept of "The Leviathan" came from. Now, of course, traditionally, a Leviathan is a mythical sea creature that plagued sailors, and also could be used as a nickname for larger whales. But in Barker's worlds, the name took on a new significance. In "Hellraiser II" the Lord of Hell is revealed to be Leviathan, a rotating, diamond shaped, tower that shown of a horrifying black light across the endless labrynths of Hell. Whoa. I don't know why, but the combination of that name with that visual image haunted me. Then I read "The Great and Secret Show" and "Everville". In those books, there were these creatures that, I'm not sure if they had a name or not, but they were referred to as Leviathans at one point. And they were these gigantic, menacing creatures from another dimension that, if I remember correctly, their skin was constantly peeling away, revealing the rotten organs underneath, only for the skin to grow back. They were portrayed as being so humongous that the very idea of trying to combat them physically seemed futile. Again, the idea sent a visual spark right through my mind.
So, I found myself thinking about Hell Leviathans. Around this same time, I was also obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft, so I was also drawing Squid-type creatures a lot. So, I kinda crammed a lot of these ideas together, and what I ended up with was this gigantic, albino squid demon with cold, black eyes. I immediately knew that this monstrosity ate souls, and as such I designed his mouth to look like a cage, and you could see peoples souls trying futilely to escape. In the original drawings, this creature was so humongous that I never actually drew his entire body. I called this strange creation Levitone, which was a slight modification on Leviathan.
Years passed, and I waited for my chance to bring this demon into the TORCverse. Levitone's first actual appearance is in "Truth or Consequences Monthly" #4 page 12, when his demonic spirit is summoned to the Earth Plane (along with a bunch of other demons). You can see him on Panel 3, right in front of Old One Eye. He is openly identified by Toldos and Rakor on page 21, who claim that he is the strongest of all of the demons that have been summoned. Levitone would resurface on the last page of the Cactus Joe story in "SDF: Crumpled Planet". There is a scene where a group of men are at a hotel in Faunatown, IL. All of these men are well dressed, and one casts an ominous shadow. Levitone is the one on the far left. (Funfact: The demons in that scene, from left to right are: Levitone, Old One Eye, Luther Dirge, Toldos, Rakor, and Zarathon) Levitone would bide his time, consuming souls and becoming stronger, waiting for his chance to kill the Clown. That chance has now come.
Issues 5&6 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" are now available from TORC Press. They are $2.50 plus a $1.50 S&H each, and can acquired by sending a check or money order to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824. Or you can Paypal me at: cactusfnjoe@hotmail.com. Demon Fight!
I created a lot of Demons when I was in High School. I was a horror film fanatic, and I was reading Todd McFarlane's "Spawn" on a regular basis. Throw in the fact that I had always had a mild obsession with the supernatural, and you end up with a kid that spends far too much time doodling monsters in his notebook. In retrospect, I'm surprised my parents weren't more worried about me than they were. Anyway, I drew a lot of monsters and demons. Around the same time, I was also obsessed with anything Clive Barker related. Which is where the concept of "The Leviathan" came from. Now, of course, traditionally, a Leviathan is a mythical sea creature that plagued sailors, and also could be used as a nickname for larger whales. But in Barker's worlds, the name took on a new significance. In "Hellraiser II" the Lord of Hell is revealed to be Leviathan, a rotating, diamond shaped, tower that shown of a horrifying black light across the endless labrynths of Hell. Whoa. I don't know why, but the combination of that name with that visual image haunted me. Then I read "The Great and Secret Show" and "Everville". In those books, there were these creatures that, I'm not sure if they had a name or not, but they were referred to as Leviathans at one point. And they were these gigantic, menacing creatures from another dimension that, if I remember correctly, their skin was constantly peeling away, revealing the rotten organs underneath, only for the skin to grow back. They were portrayed as being so humongous that the very idea of trying to combat them physically seemed futile. Again, the idea sent a visual spark right through my mind.
So, I found myself thinking about Hell Leviathans. Around this same time, I was also obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft, so I was also drawing Squid-type creatures a lot. So, I kinda crammed a lot of these ideas together, and what I ended up with was this gigantic, albino squid demon with cold, black eyes. I immediately knew that this monstrosity ate souls, and as such I designed his mouth to look like a cage, and you could see peoples souls trying futilely to escape. In the original drawings, this creature was so humongous that I never actually drew his entire body. I called this strange creation Levitone, which was a slight modification on Leviathan.
Years passed, and I waited for my chance to bring this demon into the TORCverse. Levitone's first actual appearance is in "Truth or Consequences Monthly" #4 page 12, when his demonic spirit is summoned to the Earth Plane (along with a bunch of other demons). You can see him on Panel 3, right in front of Old One Eye. He is openly identified by Toldos and Rakor on page 21, who claim that he is the strongest of all of the demons that have been summoned. Levitone would resurface on the last page of the Cactus Joe story in "SDF: Crumpled Planet". There is a scene where a group of men are at a hotel in Faunatown, IL. All of these men are well dressed, and one casts an ominous shadow. Levitone is the one on the far left. (Funfact: The demons in that scene, from left to right are: Levitone, Old One Eye, Luther Dirge, Toldos, Rakor, and Zarathon) Levitone would bide his time, consuming souls and becoming stronger, waiting for his chance to kill the Clown. That chance has now come.
Issues 5&6 of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club" are now available from TORC Press. They are $2.50 plus a $1.50 S&H each, and can acquired by sending a check or money order to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824. Or you can Paypal me at: cactusfnjoe@hotmail.com. Demon Fight!
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