Olympians Boxed Set-- Countdown! Megapost Number 3- HERA: THE GODDESS AND HER GLORY

On October 7th, the new boxed set of the first 6 Olympians books is officially released.
That's six volumes, and a poster, so for each day leading up to the 7th I'll release a post detailing sketches, anecdotes, alternate drawings-- whatever I can find, really, for one of the books in the series. Today, I'll be covering the third book in the series,  Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory.

Today's installment is a little bit leaner than the rest-- I'm not sure why, but I just don't have as much material for Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory as I do the other books. It's no reflection on the book itself-- in fact, Hera is my favorite volume of Olympians. Maybe because I like it so much I was able to dive in with less prep work/mis-steps.

Above is some cover concepts, harking back to my early idea that each volume would be a close-up headshot of the titular god. I posted some Athena variants on this idea yesterday.

But after we decided on the final cover for Zeus we had a template for the series. Here's the thumbnail for Hera's cover. Note the title: I intended this book to be called The Glory of HERA, both as a reference to the goddess herself and a translation of the name of her foil Heracles. Editorial felt strongly that the first word of the book title had to be Hera, to match Zeus: King of the Gods and Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess. After much back and forth we arrived on Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory which said pretty much the same thing.

Inks for the final cover, one of my favorite in the series. The first 

Some thumbnails for Hera, including the sequence with Zeus and Io, his lover-turned-cow. This sequence was unusual for me in that usually I work both pictures and words simultaneously, bit by bit, until I get a finished comic. With the Io sequence, wherein Hera ruthlessly verbally outwits her outmatched husband, I wrote it as a full script and thumbnailed the accompanying pictures after. 

His head is so tiny. If he stood up straight he'd look like a giraffe.

Early design idea for Heracles. I was trying to capture some of his fun-loving attitude.

He's pretty calm considering that huge snake head.

But I quickly learned don't mess with a classic. Heracles's appearance and attributes are so well-defined in ancient art all I really had to do was draw him in my style. Instantly recognizable.

I've shared this a zillion times before, but this is like my all-time favorite drawing of Hera. While designing the appearances of the characters for the series she arrived immediately, fully-formed.

For a time, some studiomates and I had a daily sketchblog called Drawbridge together. I had missed a few days, so Tim Hamilton came up with the topic "Hera in a space suit" to lure me back. This is what I drew.

Another Drawbridge sketch, Zeus and Hera in a happier moment.

If you have this postcard now, let's say it's worth, oh, 5 billion dollars.

The postcard for the Hera release party at Bergen Street Comics. I love this drawing, if I may so so myself.

Run, Captain Starnipples! Run!

Around this time I was contacted to draw the cover for a book by Oxford University Press called Classics and Comics. I drew Heracles in the role of Superman from Action Comics #1.

And that's that for Hera. Check back tomorrow for Hades: Lord of the Dead.

Olympians Boxed Set!

Just returned home to a strange envelope in my breezeway. Opened it up and, lo and behold, my very own copy of the new Olympians boxed set! Volumes 1-6, plus the poster, in one awesome slipcase.  Very exciting!

Live Comix Reading at Book Court!

Join me this Wednesday at Book Court in Brooklyn for a live Comics reading from Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory. I'll be joined by Jennifer "Underwire" Hayden and Leslie "Eye of the Majestic Creature" Stein who will also be performing their comics live. Basically, it's going to more live comics reading than you can shake a stick at, yo.

Fun begins at 7! Be there!

Signing at Casablanca Comics!

The wonderful folks at Casablanca comics in Portland, Maine are hosting a signing with me this Saturday, October 1st. I'll be signing copies of Zeus, Athena and  Hera, doing drawings and sharing sneak peeks of upcoming volumes of Olympians. The fun begins at 11:00 AM and goes to 2:00 PM. If you find yourself in the neighborhood you should, like totally, stop by.

Casablanca Comics is at 151 Middle Street, in Portland, ME 04101. Click here for directions, or give them a a call at (207) 780-1676. See you there!

Interview on Diamond Bookshelf

Head on over to Diamond's website (y'know, the people who supply everything you find in your local neighborhood comic shop) to check out this interview with yours truly, where I discuss the character of Hera, the upcoming Hades: Lord of the Dead, and how I hope my art can be considered "real good".

Amazing Hera review at SLJ's Fuse#8 blog

The amazing uber-Librarian Elizabeth "up in the sky, is it a" Bird posted up a really blush-worthy review of my latest, Hera: the Goddess and Her Glory at the Fuse#8 blog on the School Library Journal website. Please give it a read here. It made my morning!

New event at WORD Bookstore! Making Comics with kids!

For awhile now I've been hearing these wondrous tales about this great new bookstore in Brooklyn called WORD. So when my publisher called, asking if I'd like to do a comics workshop there, I jumped at the chance. This Saturday, July 30th, at 1:30 I will be at WORD presenting a comic making workshop for kids (in case you attended last week's event at Bergen Street Comics, this will be a completely different workshop). All supplies will be provided, click HERE for more info. afterwords, I'll be signing and sketching what ever you stick in front of me.

The Party That Was, at Bergen Street Comics

So this past Saturday, July 23rd, was the official book release party for Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory at the world's greatest comics store, Bergen Street Comics.

The festivities were divided into two portions. First, at 4pm, was the Make Your Own Olympian workshop. A lot of time has passed since the original Olympians came on the scene, and a lot of new things have popped up in the world since then. After some quick drawing exercises, the kids in attendance hunkered down to create their own new gods/goddesses/heroes/monsters. Some of my faves included a goddess of Nutella Sandwiches, a goddess of birds, and an elephant-like Republican Monster (this from a young boy with a Che Guevara shirt on).

Yes, I am wearing a golden wreath. Everyone got one. Aren't you jealous?

I'm drawin' a picture.

This and the above photographs courtesy the lovely and talented Natalie Kim. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really were glowing like that.

Following the kid's workshop, we took a brief break and reconvened for the adult portion of the evening, or as I preferred to call it, the Bacchanalia. I left my orderly, Apollonian wreath aside for this part, and opted instead for a more appropriate, Dionysian set of goat horns.

This  photograph courtesy the lovely and talented Chris Sinderson. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really were glowing like that, too.

Notice I'm not the only set of horns in this picture.

Some of the wonderful folks who turned out for this, braving the 100 degree heat.

The end of the night. If you don't know insanely talented Foiled cartoonist Mike Cavallaro personally, you will never understand how funny this photo is. Oh, This and the above photographs courtesy the lovely and talented Arta. And, before you ask, yes, my eyes really stopped glowing like that. I was tired.

Extra-super special thanks to Tom, Amy, Tucker and the whole crew at Bergen Street Comics fro having me, and for making the best darn comics shop in all of creation.
Thanks again to everyone who showed, I was immensely touched at the crowds that came out, ESPECIALLY considering how unbelievably gross it was outside. As I admitted to my GF after the event, I wouldn't have come out for me, if that makes sense.

REMINDER! HERA: THE GODDESS AND HER GLORY RELEASE PARTY IS TOMORROW!!!

ARE YOU READY?! Join me TOMORROW, Saturday, July 23rd at the amazing Bergen Street Comics, in the great borough of Brooklyn, for the official Release Party of the third book in Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory!! Whoo-hoo!

It's going to be an (almost) all-day affair. At 4:00, I will be hosting a comics creating workshop for kids  and the young-at-heart, where we will create our own latter-day Olympians, Monsters and Heroes for an art-show that will be hung on the walls of Bergen Street Comics. Then, we'll reconvene at 8 for a Bacchanalia of Epic proportions. All ages are welcome, but Nectar and Ambrosia will only be served to those of age; togas are encouraged but not mandatory. Throughout the day I'll be signing, drawing and talkin' mythological matters with anyone who comes by. Maybe we'll have a visitor or two from Olympus itself?

For more info, click here. Hope to see you all!

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!

Book 3 of Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is officially released today! Whoo-hoo!

 Keep watching this space as I'll be unveiling lots of new cool things regrading Hera, including appearances and such. If you're going to be in Brooklyn Saturday, July 23rd, you ought to come down to the official Hera Release Party!

New interview up at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast

If you're so inclined, please go check out this interview I gave at the wonderful book blog, 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Hear me ramble on about all kinds of stuff, and also get to see a bunch of artwork, including some sneak peeks of Hera and Hades.

RELEASE PARTY FOR HERA: THE GODDESS AND HER GLORY!!!

It's almost here!! Join me Saturday, July 23rd at the amazing Bergen Street Comics, in the great borough of Brooklyn, for the official Release Party of the third book in Olympians, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory!! Whoo-hoo!

It's going to be an (almost) all-day affair. At 4:00, I will be hosting a comics creating workshop for kids  and the young-at-heart, where we will create our own latter-day Olympians, Monsters and Heroes for an art-show that will be hung on the walls of Bergen Street Comics. Then, we'll reconvene at 8 for a Bacchanalia of Epic proportions. All ages are welcome, but Nectar and Ambrosia will only be served to those of age; togas are encouraged but not mandatory. Throughout the day I'll be signing, drawing and talkin' mythological matters with anyone who comes by. Maybe we'll have a visitor or two from Olympus itself?

For more info, click here. Hope to see you all!

A-Sketch-a-Day-Until-Hera #68

Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is finally coming out July 19th. To commemorate this momentous occasion I will be posting a drawing from my enormous cache of sketchbooks every day until Hera hits the shelves. I'll be going through them chronologically, with today's piece coming from a sketchbook from February of 2007.

Today's sketch is a sea of Zeus faces, with a early appearance by Heracles right in the middle. It was interesting to me to note that Heracles apparently emerged fully-formed out of the ether-- this is the earliest sketchbook appearance by him I could find, and he looks pretty much exactly as he will in Hera: The Goddess and her Glory.

A-Sketch-a-Day-Until-Hera #44

Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is finally coming out July 19th. To commemorate this momentous occasion I will be posting a drawing from my enormous cache of sketchbooks each weekday until Hera hits the shelves. I'll be going through them chronologically, with today's piece coming from a sketchbook from January of 2007.

Continuing from yesterday, here's a bunch more Hera cover ideas. I do love to draw me some Hera.

A-Sketch-a-Day-Until-Hera #43

Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is finally coming out July 19th. To commemorate this momentous occasion I will be posting a drawing from my enormous cache of sketchbooks each weekday until Hera hits the shelves. I'll be going through them chronologically, with today's piece coming from a sketchbook from January of 2007.

Continuing my theme from the past few days of self-rejected portrait covers from Olympians, here's a batch of Hera portraits. Looking at them now, I wish I had included those few loose curls in her final design.

Carousel!

Tomorrow morning, from 11 to 12, I'll be performing a slide-show reading of comics from Zeus: King of the Gods, as well as a sneak preview scene from Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory as part of the NYPL's centennial celebration. Not only that, but if you come you'll be able to see and hear other great cartoonists like Nick Bertozzi, Bob Sikoryak, Dave Roman and Susan Kim! Info above, I hope to see my NY peeps there.

warm up sketch: Heracles vs the Lernaean Hydra

I do a daily warm-up drawing with the members of my studio in Brooklyn. Occasionally, the topic turns to a matter mythological, and I'll post the result here. Today's topic was "The Lernaean Hydra"

In the swamps of Lerna, during the age of heroes, there lived a great and poisonous serpent, a monstrous offspring of the union of Typhon and Echidna. The destruction of this beast, called the Lernaen Hydra,  became the second Labor of the greatest of all Greek Heroes, Heracles. Every time the Glory of Hera knocked off a head of this creature, two more grew to take its place. It was not until his nephew, Iolaus, had the idea to cauterize the stumps that the son of Zeus was able to vanquish his foe.

Believe it or not, today's topic was not chosen by me, but rather by the lovely Natalie Kim, whose drawing can be found here. For this piece, I recycled my own designs for both the Hydra and Heracles from my upcoming book Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory (coming out in July!) but the drawing is all new-- took me about a half hour, from pencils to scan. Consider it a preview.

A-Sketch-a-Day-Until-Hera #8

Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is finally coming out July 19th. To commemorate this momentous occasion I will be posting a drawing from my enormous cache of sketchbooks each weekday until Hera hits the shelves. I'll be going through them chronologically, with today's piece coming from a sketchbook from September of 2006.

Today's piece is another drawing of the Queen of the Gods herself. I'm still playing around with that peacock collar idea at this point. I quite like the expression on her face here. I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but Hera's my favorite goddess.

A-Sketch-a-Day-Until-Hera #4

Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is finally coming out July 19th. To commemorate this momentous occasion I will be posting a drawing from my enormous cache of sketchbooks each weekday until Hera hits the shelves. I'll be going through them chronologically, and today's piece is from a sketchbook dated August 2006.

Today's piece is of the Divine Twins, Artemis and Apollo. Both of them are looking quite similar to their eventual appearances in the Olympians books, but it seems that since I drew this they've both visited the hairdresser. Artemis has two, count 'em, two moon pieces going on in her hair (the published version retains only the one in the back) whereas Apollo looks as if he actually lit his hair on fire. In keeping with the ancient Greeks' view of Apollo mainly as the god of the arts and a protector of young men, and not as the embodiment of the sun (a view that comes much later in antiquity) I've shifted that flaming 'do to Helios, the Titan who quite literally is the sun. I also dig the little bow on the front of Artemis's dress. What was I thinking with that?

A-Sketch-a-Day-Until-Hera #2

Olympians Book 3, Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory is finally coming out July 19th. To commemorate this momentous occasion I will be posting a drawing from my enormous cache of sketchbooks each weekday until Hera hits the shelves. I'll be going through them chronologically, and today's piece is from a sketchbook dated August 2006.

Today's drawing is an early sketch of Hera herself, as well as her sister Demeter, goddess of the harvest (one of the stars of Hades: Lord of the Dead, coming in January!). As I've mentioned before, at this stage of the project I still hadn't even decided on the style I would be drawing Olympians in. These two are a bit more elongated and cartoony than the way they would eventually appear in print, but otherwise they're both pretty recognizable. One difference is Hera's peacock themed collar, which would have been rendered in color only, with no black lines. Ultimately, it looked too confusing as to what it was, exactly, so I dropped it. Also, that would have been a nightmare to color throughout a whole book, let alone a series.