The Latest for December

Well it has been pretty fun so far this month. Four of the five scratchboard images that I had developed for the BIG 100 art show up here was a huge success for the kid this month.
As well as two more scripts completed. One for the impending crossover of Corvis the Seeker and Ben Perkin’s Heavy Horse character.
The anthromorphic character is called War Ram. His first appearance is in the cross over but his origin is much different than the Ram he is now.

Just a New update

Just wanted to update with a new image before really locking myself into pages and all. But this kind of exercise helps me relax and get into the mood of the story I need to be working on. No different than when I put on a movie with a sci fi theme on in the background from the 50's or 60's.
Just lots of fun.

Well Gallery work Completed

Hey there sports fans, Al here with the latest:


THE GALLERY WORK COMPLETED!






YES that is true that the gallery work that I was contracted for is now completed! Nothing more than this artist brainy ideas spilling out onto the sketchbook and cranking out five pieces of scratchboard all falling into the size of an 8”X8”.
This was a big thing for me as I crank out the work for something other than a comic book.
each one of these works will be shown at the Po’Boy Art Gallery and Framing here in Portland Oregon.
These will go along with the previous piece of “Sting of Passion”.

JOHNNY VEGA #4 UPDATE:


But with the art of the Gallery out of the way it’s back to Vega and get this book done! Currently re penciling page 17 out 24.
I will say that that the penciling and inking that is going on is looking very nice and I am very pleased with the effect.

CORPSE COP “CORPSECILE” STILL ON HOLD!

With limited resources this fully illustrated scratchboard comic is still on hold until a large amount of money can be brought to the foreground before anything else can be done. Like so many other small comic book companies I am looking at the option of a Kickstarter to help defer the cost of the printing.

Gallery Work- Scratchboard Awaits

Hey there sports fans Al here with the latest:
Well Gallery work has been thrust upon us here at the Box and with the favorable response from the Curator of Po’Boy Art Gallery and Framing it looks like that the scratchboard you have been seeing me post up will finally get it’s chance to be seen as is it is intended.
In a show.
This does not mean that the comics will stop but it does mean that if the images of scratchboard do sell (and I know they will) it will help supply the funding for comics. That is to say that the art will support the art and hopefully me as well.
Some of the images I have made of recent times I can’t show because of the nature of the piece but if you go to this redirect you’ll see what I am talking about.
http://johnnyvega13.deviantart.com/#/d3253xb
Thanks
Alan

HALLOWEEN GREETINGS!

Blogger Boo!

Well sports fans Al here with the latest:

JOHNNY VEGA #4



is still moving forward with pencils and ink right at the moment.  It is looking fantastic!  I am very happy with the way it is turning out currently.  Before you know it color will be added and it will be done.

NEXT ON THE LIST:  CORRAX THE SEEKER

As you have already read an except from the second story with him the art for the CtS books featuring the "Cosmic Confrontation" series continues to keep moving forward with standard pencils and digital color.  Learning new techniques in Photoshop always makes me happy!

CORPSE COP ON HOLD!

As this was a book slated for a Halloween release  and now it being the 31,  it's apparent to everyone that this is not going to happen today on a Sunday.  Sorry is the only thing I can say as money has had to be used for other personal matters.  Unless you like talking to a creator with massive holes in his teeth!  Yuk!
Anyway Black Box Comix is looking at a few new optional ways of funding the printing by either a private party donation or a Kickstarter account.  Both are doable but since Vega #4 is going ahead full steam I don't think I'll be ready to approach this until I an done with the book.

OTHER CORRAX THE SEEKER NEWS!
This is and has been the year of crossovers and it seems like it ain't stopping.  A friend of mine named Ben Perkins who works as he penciler for Neo Trash Comix on Professor Ozark's Medicine Show has his own comic character called Heavy Horse. 
Liking this character I suggested that we do a crossover with Corvis Corrax.  As if I didn't already have enough on my plate.  Another suggestion was that I add Corpse Cop into the work.  And I have found a good way of introducing him in.
The tentative title is "Do Sheep Sleep?"  I'll let you think about that for a while.
And I am outta here.

A small excerpt for Corrax: The Seeker

With all the talk about Corrax: The Seeker going on it only made sense that I would post something of the script (though extremely rough) along with two images from the 2nd installment of that character.
To put this in context of what is going on you have to understand that Corrax and Shedel have been sent out on a mission to investigate a mysterious group of deaths. But traveling to this place is frought with several things and people that aren't what they seem. The Pit Chief is one such person:
Shedel " So you like setting up your fellow Rangers for a fall?  Nice.   I hope you sleep well at night with that in your mind."
Chief "Don't tell me how to feel missy.    I went into this with my eyes wide open and sleep very well thank you."
Corrax thinking That's when things got a little crazy.  I don't remember if it was me thinking it or the ax but it literally flew out of my hand and hit the chief square in the chest.

And there you go a small bit for a feather covered hero!
It was fun working on something like this so far down the road but every once in a while you just gotta go for it.

Another Drop in for Vega!

Hey there sports fans, Al here with the latest:


JOHNNY VEGA MAKING A COMEBACK!

Things for Johnny Vega #4 are on the move. After a very long time of talking to other people and convincing myself the only way Vega can be done is to head back to the beginning for this character. that means that I have gone back to pen and ink to finish the story. The whole digital color issue was defeating the purpose and the fun of doing the story.
Comics should be fun not a choir that you begrudgingly have to do like work cleaning up after people like I have had to do for so many years.
Anyway, The first five pages of that story have been redrawn and inked and have been scanned in with the original lettering over lay. So if you see similar pages from previous posts, don’t be surprised. But because of all the things that are happening with Vega i am looking at the end of the road for him as well. Not because I want to but because I have to.
Other characters that have come up recently for me such as Johnny’s sidekick Corvis Corrax and the latest zombie character called Corpse Cop have jumped into the light I can only see this as a good thing for Johnny.

CORRAX: THE SEEKER NEWS

With the change coming up in the cosmic storyline of Vega there has to be somebody I can hand off the story to and there is nobody better to deal with that than Corvis Corrax!
Though I think that books of Corrax: the Seeker (other wise know as CtS) will be self contained stories unless I have some reason to produce a TBP. And that is always possible.

So sorry about the wait in between posts but I have been busting my ass to get Vega back on board as soon as possible because I refocus my attention to his very first adventure and introduction to the Galactic Rangers.

Another long time

One of the things that has always been a fascination with comics is how do you illustrate something that you can't really see?
Its been a problem with Johnny Vega Man of the Future.  And Corrax: the Seeker isn't any different.  Its always a problem but in this case with the world or rather the universe of Man of the Future.  And with so many baddies out there with mind control and force of will I needed a character that could deal with them and show off at the same time.
Corvis was the perfect choice with this.  The huge back log of information from Vega and his eventual end, Corrax had to fill the void.  There has always been a great amount of interest in Corvis so after his initial psionic awaking because of Vega partially I had to follow up with something after his dealing with the Albino.
I will say that Corvis is a much more colorful character than Vega.  He always has been. That's why I decided to go with him instead of back pedaling with Vega coming back into the public view.  When you start bringing a character starts elevating to near demi god status you need to drop it down to something a little more manageable.

What's New for the Box 8/22

It has been a strange year here for the Box and it shows no sign of letting up either. As you have been reading up, Johnny Vega has been on a indefinite hold for several months. this was never my intention but life and other smaller projects took on a life of their own that I wasn’t ready for when I came up with them. This means Corpse Cop.
I’m sure that people are wanting to know why if any new books are EVER going to be printed with Black Box’s predominate space hero?
Well the answer is yes.
After talking to my new editors it has been made clear to really show Johnny from the beginning of his career.
This means his birth to his entry to the Rangers as a cadet. And how he has to fight his way working to the top student hierarchy before getting tapped to be trained by the legendary Captain Ix Triskelion.
Most heroes always have humble beginnings (at least in my opinion they do) and Vega is no different.
This character means a lot to me and has been around for ten years. That's a long time to be working on one character but it does one thing that I like, it makes things constant through out the run of Vega. The other is that it makes working on him fresh and that is a major thing for an artist and creator.

OTHER NEWS: CORPSE COP
the 16 page scratchboard epic is nearly complete at this time meaning that a new mini is under development and a October show is in the works for a small few places here in the Portland area.

Good stuff!

News Flash for the next week

Al here with the latest:
NEWFLASH next weekend Black Box Comix along with Neo trash comics and Darkslinger Comics will all be traveling up to the Emerald City ComiCon.  In the Emerald City known as Seattle.
A two day event that should be fun and marking a return for the box back to that city after a two year hiatus from '08 show. 
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the economy is little more forgiving with buyers this time around.
But this show will also be the unveiling of the newest Black Box Comix mini comic "Corpse Cop". I am hoping that that love of zombies will illicit more interest in the comic company this time round showing that Black Box Comix is not strictly a sci-fi centric comic book company.
I will be looking to see peoples reaction to this little guy until the release of the Ghost Assassin Johnny Vega cross over later this year that I have been working on for the last couple of months.
I am sure that Adam of Darkslinger Comics will be happy about that.
By July, I am hoping to have the forth issue of Vega and the conclusion of “The Rock Apes of Xandar” done and off to the printer.
So begins the year of shows.
Where's my big top.

Updates -Finally

I apologize for not getting back here with the amount of things that cropped up at the end of 2009 and Christmas and all that which comes with that. But as I have learned that is no excuse.
So here I am with some new stuff so you all could see for the crossover with Darkslinger creator and owner Adam Watson. He had asked many months about if I ever had any problems with working with any body else.
No I have worked fine with most people in the past ever since I was associated with the Eugene Comics Guild and the comic known as Guilded Edges and most recently Pandora's Garage.
so here you are a few images of those pages.





On the other side of the fence, so not to become bogged down by doing a piece like this I have also been keeping a practiced hand doing illustration in scratchboard and getting paid for those small projects and also planning out my game for doing scratchboard illustration in the comic book medium as well.





So I haven't been doing nothing in these last couple of months but have been extremely busy as you can see.