The Sparrow; Looks Good While Kicking Your Ass.

I hope you’ll forgive me, but the internet has been boring me to tears this week. The two or three forums that I post to are dead. Or in the case of the Bendis Boards –packed with inane silliness that I’d like to comment on, but then my email will be bombarded by a bajillion other people replying as well, and it takes days to figure out if anyone is responding to something you might have posted.

So to scratch that interweb nerd itch I’m writing a second blog this week. On Monday I posted some Robo art that I picked up at the Boston ComiCon. I also met a bunch of really talented young artists. I’m still rummaging through the con debris so I don’t have everyone here but - Cathy Leamy has some really fun, creative work (though I can’t get her website to load). Braden Lamb gave me a great little sketchbook and he’s certainly on his way to being a great sequential artists. But of all the great new people I met Shelli Paroline’s work stood head and shoulders above the crowd. If you only look at one of the sites I’ve linked here, make sure it’s hers. Also, if I’m not messing up names and faced (which I constantly do) she also gave me a really boffo pen-brush. Here’s something from her gallery:

I also scanned some of the Atomic Robo art I got in Florida at MegaCon. I’m missing one spectacular piece, but I know its here somewhere since I was showing it to Dorinda last weekend.

Here’s a fun piece by Scott Gallatin.

And this beauty comes from Justin Adcock. (Drool)

Hey go see our Issue #6 review from Comics And . . .Other Imaginary Tales. These folks have been really kind to us and I’m really happy that they are looking forward to Robo Vol.2.

It looks like we get to sneak in one last article over on Newsarama before the long dark silence between Robo mini-series. Atomic Robo and the Art of Monthly Singles.

You may have seen the interview with Team Robo over on Heavy Ink. Now you can see what our boss, Paul Ens, has to say in his very own interview.

I think I FINALLY worked out the final design for The Sparrow –our WWII British super-spy, for Robo Vol.2. The revision came to me suddenly the other day and I thought I would sketch it out and be back to work in about 20 minutes.

3 hours and a dozen botched sketches and THEN I was done. And frustrated. And exhausted. But I like her now. I think.

Something that I find helpful is having a program that is mentally stimulating playing on my computer while I work. Oh sure, I have tried to work with junk like Predator or Indiana Jones on -but that stuff is just eye candy, so I spend more time watching than working. So thank God for James Burke! If you Google Mr. Burke you can watch all his old PBS programs on YouTube. I also highly recommend his books. And definitely check out The Knowledge Web. I promise you with thank me. Unless your are a mindless twit. In which case you will just think I’m messing with you.

Okay, last thing and then I am off to work. I kept returning to this picture that was take at Mike Oeming’s birthday party a few weeks ago of me and Dorinda. Like I’d seen it somewhere before. All very Deja-vu etc.

Its not exactly what you’d call a “good” picture. I’m sporting my my old (hated!) glasses, and Dorinda looks like she had little olives for eyes and is pulling her chin in like she’s mid-belch.

But anyway, we were doing some totally random clean the other day and I was saying, “Hey remember that old pictures from when we first started dating? We were at that party? I was drunk, you were stoned. . .man that was fun. What happened to that? I thought it was in this frame. ” <points to empty picture frame, found while cleaning>

And then I find it.

This is almost ten years ago now. How you like my giant pimple?

And then I figure out why we couldn’t find it. Yay arts & crafts.

Speaking of random cute shit that that Widget does. . .

She collects Ugly Dolls. And as a rabbit hater of Barbie, American Girls, Brattz, or any other mayonaize & white bread crap that’s out there to give girls self-esteem issues, I love the Uglies. I try to bring one home for the Widget every time I go to a Con. I thought it was awesome that she dressed one up in American Doll clothes!

I took this around midnight the other day. I like to make sure she’s all tucked in before I go to bed. The fact that Cinco there is sharing bed space with “Yellow Bear” is a sign of how much she loves her Uglies.

Sorry its all fuzzy. But its dark in there and I’m using my phone.

Here’s the whole crew. She’s also got a plush Fuchikomo and a giant squid that squeeks -it was made by a friend of ours. Before we knew what the Widget would be (boy or girl) we just called her “The Squid”.

RANDOM SPLENDOR

-Monty Python: Village Idiots.