The Surprisingly Awesome Comics History of 'Masters Of The Universe'

I have a new article up at Comics Alliance about the surprisingly great old Masters of the Universe comics. The books are light on plot, but featured some premier artists like Alfredo Alcala, Curt Swan, and Bruce Timm.  I also break down my favorite comic of all time in which Superman is transported to Eternia:

"Growing up, this comic lumbered through the realm of myth and folklore like a popculture Sasquatch, balancing precariously between "too good to be true" and "too awesome to not exist". In second grade, a friend told me his older brother's best friend had a comic where He-Man fought Superman, but he might as well have told me Indiana Jones once battled Darth Vader or Marty McFly had joined the Ghostbusters, the prospect was just too fantastical to believe."

Screamland TPB and Art Sale!

You never realize just how much stuff you have until you move.  It's one of those cliches that is absolutely true. We're in the process of moving right now, and the boxes of Screamland books and stacks of original art are starting to get sideways glances from the more attractive members of our household.  So it's time to go.  I poured hours of lead and ink into each one of these pages and can remember what album or movie was on in the background when I drew each one, but it's time for me to set them free.

If you'd like a page of original art for a really nice price I'm doing one of those package deals where you get a book and page of original art.  It's only $40, and to be honest it's money my family could really use as we make this transition (who could have foreseen how expensive creaky old farmhouses are?).

The sale lasts until the end of the month, because October is the official month of Screamland (and after that I'll be way too busy fixing this damn house.)

BUY HERE!

Boudicca

A little while ago a very well known, and well respected writer let it be known that he was looking for an artist to illustrate a graphic novel about Celts, Romans and Druids staring a very strong warrior woman.  It doesn't take a detective to realize he's referring to Boudicca, who organized a successful (and then unsuccessful) revolt against Roman rule in Britannia.
I sent this image along with a very passionate note about my interest in the subject to the writer but never heard back.
Nevertheless, it was good to change up my approach and work in a less animated style than I typically do.  I attempted to be authentic as possible in depicting everything except the tattoos.  The blue tribal tattoos so often associated with the Celts was really used only by a small group of people in the Scottish Highlands known as the Picts (or "Painted-People").  Boudicca was Queen of the Icini tribe, much further south than the pics, but it's a striking visual.  I can see why so many artists and costume designers use it for other generic Celts as well.

Happy Friday the 13th!

To celebrate Friday the 13th I present some of our most Jason skewering pages from SCREAMLAND: Death of the Party in (never-before-seen!!!) black-and-white.  Our "Slasher" was obviously inspired by 70's and 80's horror flicks, but the crack in his skull mask is a straight-up Masters of the Universe nod.  The bit about Slasher's wife cracking his skull is easily the bit of plotting I'm most proud of having contributed to the story.

From SCREAMLAND: Death of the Party #3

From SCREAMLAND: Death of the Party #2

From SCREAMLAND: Death of the Party #3

RiGBY Chapter 3 Preview

Thanks to the very nice folks at Comics Alliance, you can now preview the first five pages of RiGBY: Chapter 3.  There's also a very nice review from Lauren Davis that made me blush repeatedly.
These 5 pages are the first pages of RiGBY to have been completed after my work on SCREAMLAND, and hopefully it shows the artistic and thematic direction I'm trying to take the comic.  Please check them out, and don't forget to regularly look in on RiGBYtheBarbarian.com for updates every week.

Dino-Sketches

You've been reading RiGBY every week, right?  The updates have been coming regularly, and include some of my favorite pages. Below, are a couple twitter sketches featuring everyone's favorite RiGBY characters: the dinos!

RiGBY Preview

Colors by Kevin Gritzke

I posted this inked image sometime earlier via instagram, but I couldn't resist sharing the fully colored version that Kevin Gritzke just dropped in my inbox.  For the record, this is the first panel of Chapter 3, and I think it teases that we'll be starting this chapter off in a pretty big way.

But first we must finish Chapter 2, so check back on Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the month of March to catch up.

RiGBY Returns!

The RiGBY Archives are alive once again!  At least, most of them.  I've posted all of the first chapter, and the first 3 pages of Chapter 2 (plus a brand new cover).  The rest of the pages will begin posting twice a week starting Monday.  I've chosen to go back and re-post Chapter 2 for two reasons-- Firstly, it's like when a television program shows a marathon of last season right before the start of the new season.  It's been a long while since anyone was regularly reading RiGBY, and I want to make sure everyone catches up.  Secondly, I've made some small changes to Chapter 2 (both in art and text) and I want to make sure people who think they know the story revisit the pages.
See you next week!

One Week

In case you were curious, RiGBY will be alive with newish content beginning next week.  I'll be posting slightly altered pages from Chapter 2 twice a week in lead up to all new material starting in Chapter 3.  Hope to see you there.

The first panel of the first page of Chapter 3.

RiGBY Update

When last we spoke about RiGBY,  I said you would see new content beginning in February, and that still looks to be the case.  There are a couple things with the website to get done, but hopefully Chapter 1 will be back online in a matter of weeks with a (now completed) Chapter 2 shortly following.  Chapter 3, which I'm currently waist deep in, will probably drop at the end of March.  I'm very excited for Rigby and where she's headed.
But I still need some help from you, the readers.  As we put together the new site, what would you like to see?  Do you want to be able to purchase physical copies of Chapters 1 and 2?  Did you like the Rigby's Journal mini-features, or would you rather I spend my time on the actual comic?  Do you want t-shirts, wallpapers or anything else?  Please let us know in the comments and thanks for reading!