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mnsketchbook_cover

CRAZY ABOUT COMICS Sketchbook

Jul 21st

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

1 comment

A 48 page b/w sketchbook with color cover is in production for the Detroit Fanfare convention I’m attending on October 30-31. It’ll include many of the online sketches I’ve done since 2005, along with some commissioned artwork and various other art. Here’s the cover.

Detroit Fanfare Convention
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FBCC Sketch | Kid Colt Outlaw

Jul 16th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Kid Colt Outlaw

Snapshots from The Adventures of Unemployed Man

Jul 14th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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GRAND Flash Album Gallery

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Unemployed Man
Artist and the Bat

Commission | Batman at Arkham Assylum

Jul 14th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

1 comment

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Batman, Commissioned Art
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FBCC Sketch | Delirium of Neil Gaiman’s Endless

Jul 14th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

2 comments

Delirium, Endless, Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Neil Gaiman
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Commission | Zatana and Starfire

Jul 14th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

1 comment

Click image for larger

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Commissioned Art, Starfire, Zatana
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FBCC Sketch | X-Men’s Rogue

Jul 14th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Rogue, X-Men
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FBCC Sketch | Golden Age Wonder Woman

Jul 9th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

2 comments

Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Wonder Woman
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Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet Annual #1 Snapshots

Jul 8th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

2 comments

Green Hornet
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FBCC Sketches | Martian Manhunter

Jul 8th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Martian Manhunter
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Comics for All

Jun 25th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

2 comments

Comics for All is an Israeli association of comics creators contributing to inspire creativity in disadvantaged children. Established by Yuval Sharon, Danny Amiti and Elite Avni-Sharon, founders of Israeli comic book store chain Comics N’ Vegetables, the group includes Uri Fink, Dorit Maya Gur, Eren Aviani, Ehud Bar-El and Erez Tzadok. I’ve also started participating in its activities and have produced the cover for its first publication, a workbook and art compilation for free distribution to the children.

Comics for All is widening its activities to enlist more local creators, produce a website and raise interest in the international creators community for establishing branches in other countries.

More news and updates to come. Below is the cover of our first publication.

comics for All
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Dave Cockrum’s Futurians Return

Jun 9th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

No comments

Last month Clifford Meth announced the return of Dave Cockrum’s Futurians by comics creator and publisher David Miller. More on this project was reported at Comic Book Resource’s Robot 6 blog.

David Miller, a true lover of Dave Cockrum’s creation, purchased the rights for this series and is producing it almost single-handedly.

In a video address for a fundraising drive at KICKSTARTER, his passion and sacrifice for the project dominate the plea to comics fandom for reviving what is perhaps the most prolific work of the late great Dave Cockrum, With nearly 6 weeks to go, the drive is way short of its announced goal. Visitors are urged to watch David Miller’s video address and get a feeling for the scope of the undertaking.

Everyone who contributes towards the success of the drive will be contributing to keeping alive the marvelous legacy of the legendary and dearly loved comics creator whom Dave Cockrum was.

For now, issue #2 of Dave Cockrum’s Futurians appears in the June solicitation of Diamond Previews, page 285. It was a special privilege for me to work with David Miller on producing the cover for this book and it hasn’t been easy to refrain from posting it here.

Everyone is urged to support this project in any way possible, whether by purchasing the book or by making a pledge at KICKSTARTER to help ensure its continued production.

Clifford Meth, Dave Cockrum, Futurians Avatar
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Commission | Batman

Jun 9th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

3 comments

22.7″ X 15.2″. Click images to enlarge.

Batman, Commissioned Art
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Uri Fink on the Gaza Flotilla

Jun 8th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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Uri Fink is one of Israel’s leading comics artists, producer of the longest running Israeli cartoon series Zbeng! and creator of Israel’s first superhero, Sabraman. Not known for conservative or right-wing sentiment, and more generally identified with the peace activist camp, he nonetheless recently produced this cartoon in response to international condemnation of Israel over the Gaza flotilla raid.

Sabraman, Uri Fink, Zbeng!

Neighborhood Videos

Jun 8th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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Via Clifford Meth: Gene Colan can’t return to his home because he is too good of a man. Going home means his wife will have to leave. So Gene continues to reside in a hospital/recovery facility in NY City despite the fact that he’s recovered from his injuries. But Erik Colan, Gene’s son, visits every day and takes Gene out and about. And now Erik has begun a series of video interviews with his dad, who turns 84 soon. This first video brings Gene to the streets he grew up on.

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Also via Clifford. Flotilla Choir presents: We Con the World

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Korean Math. Following a frustrating “massage incident,” author Hank Magitz calls Charles Windsor-Smith, his publisher, to complain… Featuring music by The Good Rats, “Korean Math” is adapted from the new Hank Magitz book THE WHOREHOUSE MADRIGALS (Aardwolf Publishing) which features an introduction by Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba (of the legendary proto-punk band The Dictators), cover art by award-winning fantasy artist Kelly Freas (his last ever), and illustrations by Mike Henderson, Christian Krank, and Dave “X-Men” Cockrum.

Aardwolf Publishing, Clifford Meth, Gene Colan

Commission | LSH Based on X-Men 141 Cover

Jun 7th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

3 comments

Original cover by John Byrne and Terry Austin.

John Byrne, Legion of Super-Heroes, Terry Austin, X-Men

Facebook Comic Con Summer Gala

Jun 4th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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Facebook Comic Con is in the throws of a Gala Summer Celebration, coordinated by Ken Johnson, comics activist and creator of Velica. Ken recruited actor William Katt, best known for his lead role in The Greatest American Hero TV show of the 1980′s, to deliver the keynote address that launched the festivities.

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Last year’s Gala Premiere Keynote Address can now also be viewed here for non-Facebookers, with the original music from ELP/Works/Pirates (changed in the YouTube version.)

Emerson Lake & Palmer, Facebook Comic Con, Ken Johnson, The Greatest American Hero, William Katt
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MARY MARVEL | Facebook Comic Con Sketches

Jun 4th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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21st sketch in the 1,000 Facebook Comic Con Sketches series. Complete album here.

Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Mary Marvel
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LADY DEATH | Facebook Comic Con Sketches

Jun 3rd

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

1 comment

20th sketch in the 1,000 Facebook Comic Con Sketches series. Complete album here.

Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Lady Death

Howard the Duck | Facebook Comic Con Sketches

Jun 1st

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

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19th in the 1,000 Facebook Comic Con Sketches series. View complete album here.

Facebook Comic Con Sketches, Howard the Duck
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Cover Story

May 27th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

2 comments

Green Hornet Annual #1 – August 2010

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A new solicitation for Dynamite Entertainment’s August comics at Rick Offenberger’s First Comics News includes a cover I finished about a month ago for Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet Annual #1, for which I’m also scheduled to draw a story within the book. It’s a little difficult for me to keep such art under wraps until the publisher announces it. With a somewhat sparse career in comics that’s beginning to return to life now, the story of this cover was something I’ve wanted to tell here since the day I finished it.

Joe Rubinstein and I were asked to produce this cover in black and white line art, my pencils and Joe’s inks. As preliminary discussions about it began with Dynamite chief Nick Barrucci, it was suggested that this should be a classic “boy kneeling at his father’s grave, exuding anguish, rage and promise of revenge. Nick even suggested the Neal Adams Batman/Ra’s Al Ghul cover with a deceased Robin as inspiration.

My first instinct was to look for a new angle from which to approach such a story situation. Such covers have been seen often, which makes the task of getting a fresh result a little more difficult. It was important to find a way that would distinguish it from the classic graveside scenes. Within a few days of sketching on the computer (the entire job was done digitally), I came up with this first attempt where I used the close-up instead of the kneeling figure, intending that the expression and attitude would tell the story without needing to rely on the familiar kneeling figure, and allow the background to do the rest. I then sent the image to Nick for response.

Nick was swift in replying he’d rather go with the classic look of the kneeling figure at a grave site. He didn’t want the allusion of the Hornet hat, that young Britt Reid would himself become a New Green Hornet, because in the story, Britt Jr. had not yet made such a decision at the time. He also pointed out that Britt is much younger, college age, both things which I wasn’t quite aware of at the time. Nick also sent me a couple of known comics covers with a similar subject to use as an idea template.

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I don’t know about other artists, but such situations can become a formidable challenge for me. One problem being that these types of images have been done so much that it’s difficult to arrive at something that looks new. The other problem is a mounting expectation that the cover should look like these samples, which compounded the difficulty in achieving a special result.

So I hit the digital software again and came up with the following sketch (left) and sent it to Nick in its rough form, explaining why such a cover is going to automatically give the feeling that it’s been seen before.

Fortunately, upon seeing this, Nick agreed. But he was still pressing to emulate, or seek inspiration from, a familiar comics image of a similar story scene. So he sent along the Neal Adams/Ra’s Al Ghul cover (right) for more guidance.

This posed an even a greater dilemma for me. While I didn’t want this cover to be so much like the previous graveside covers, I wanted even less that it would be identified with Neal’s Ra’s Al Ghul cover. As great as Neal’s art has always been, there is a difference between having a style strongly influenced by him and doing a cover that looks like a shadow of something he’d done.

Still, I struggled with the idea as much as possible, but could only produce the following rough sketch (right), which I didn’t even send to Nick for a response. Instead I sent an email explaining the difficulty I’m having with the entire direction.

Nick caught on to the problem and made an effort to more precisely define the differences between the situation that Britt Jr. is in, and the classic anguish/revenge reactions in the previous samples. Nick’s familiarity with the story, which I was somewhat lacking of, was exactly the information I needed to move forward. The big reveal for me was that Britt Jr. was more of a shattered young man in this instance at his father’s grave. Not at all the vengeful would-be hero that we’ve seen in previous situations. He had not yet developed an understanding of the scope of events that would later push him into donning his father’s mantle. In that sense, the previous samples of heroic rage and promise of revenge at the grave were not necessarily indicative of what this cover should be about.

So, I returned to the computer and set out to re-think the approach. Britt Jr. would get a more subdued and broken treatment. The mood would be more sullen. A moment of mourning instead of fire and brimstone rage. This would also allow for introducing both Kato and his daughter into the scene as standing by the shattered youth to help him pick up the pieces. Soon enough, I sent Nick the following proposal.

Nick corroborated that we were finally on the right track. But now that we were heading into this more subdued direction, there was a question about whether there was a need for the his father’s image to be hovering overhead in the background. There was also the issue of color which would be critical to pulling off the mood. Feeling a little encouraged with this result, I produced the following color roughs, mainly as possible guides for the colorist. One with the spirit of the departed father in the background, and one without.

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Jason Ullmeyer, Dynamite graphic designer who was also involved in the process and followed our discussions, then suggested a third possibility of a stronger, more close-up image of the departed Britt Reid in the background. This seemed like the clincher to me as it would anchor the scene with the sweeping element that this cover was basically about. I added this possibility into the array of color roughs and produced finished line, equivalent to pencils, for each of the three options.

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By this point, I’d cultivated such an attachment to this cover that it seemed natural for me to see it through to the finish as a digital painting. This is an area I’ve been pursuing for some time as I’ve been working with a computer for more than 15 years and have become versatile with most aspects of image production. I’ve basically done penciling, inking and coloring of many pieces in the site gallery and this was a good opportunity to produce such a piece for a mainstream publication. So I made the suggestion to Nick that this would give us the best result for the cover. Nick’s answer was one of agreement with a slight reservation about getting Joe Rubinstein’s approval as Joe was slated to ink the cover for a traditional color process. A quick email to Joe settled the issue and I was all set for the final stretch of digitally painting the piece.

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The images above show the turning points in the finished digital painting process. The first image basically brings the piece to a finished rendered state before applying color filters and effects needed focus the eye on the central elements. It had seemed pretty much finished to me at this point but a few things were still bothering me. One was concerning the proportions of young Britt’s head relative to his body, which became an easy fix with the digital tools. Another issue was that even though this is a sullen moment, the piece still needed a stronger color punch as a comic book cover. At this point I sent Joe Rubinstein a copy of it to get his opinion and he corroborated my own apprehension, advising to get a little stronger with the warm orange colors. Joe, though mainly known as an inker, is one of the more talented painters in the comics community and has a very keen eye for color. His advice was enough to make the final changes which included a little more detail on the top surface of young Britt’s head.

What started out as pencils for a familiar scene on a traditional comics cover turned into a unique challenge that’s produced my first mainstream comics digital cover painting. Early reactions to it seem to be enthused. Perhaps it’s the beginning of many more.

Green Hornet, Joe Rubinstein, Kevin Smith, Neal Adams, Nick Barrucci
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Alan Kupperberg | Comics Autobiographer

May 25th

Posted by Michael Netzer in People

No comments

Alan Kupperberg is perhaps on of the more versatile artists to have worked in the medium. His long held infatuation and career in the comics is a testament of an unending search for the beauty of essence that the graphic story narrative strives for. Though he no longer worked at Continuity when I arrived in late 1975, we met often at parties and gatherings of the comics community. While his brother Paul worked his way up the corporate ladder as writer and editor at DC, Alan bounced around through the entire range of publishers and studios operated by the more notable comics legends of our time, and forged a career that’s touched virtually every outlet for comics art in existence.

The best way to get an idea of the scope of Alan’s career is through his own website and also his Wikipedia biography. But more than the countless mainstream Superhero comics that he’s drawn, and the array of comic strips and commercial illustration under his belt, the works which most stand out are his biographical comics, some of which are viewable in the Profusely Illustrated section of his site. It’s here that Alan puts his storytelling and drawing talent to the utmost use in chronicling the life and times of the comics industry, as it touched him throughout his career. Alan doesn’t mince words. He tells the stories as he remembers them and the impression they made on him. His personal experiences and the candor with which he tells them are the fuel. His point of view was not uncommon at all in his circles at the time. The difference between Alan and other colleagues is that he felt the stories of the comics community were worthy to become comics themselves. It is a wonderful chronology of a time in the industry that no one else has put to words and pictures quite as he has.

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We’ve become very good friends over the years since my leaving Continuity in the early 1990′s. In that friendship, I’ve come to know a remarkably humble, witty and delightfully good natured colleague with a great measure of unheralded craftsmanship and talent that doesn’t receive its due regard in the more populist comics media of our time.

Alan Kupperberg - Portraits of the Creators Sketchbook.

Alan Kupperberg, Portraits of the Creators Sketchbook
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Old Martian Manhunter Convention Sketch

May 25th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

1 comment

From 1977. Via Will King, who purchased it on eBay about a year ago.

Martian Manhunter
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Commissions in progress

May 14th

Posted by Michael Netzer in Comics

2 comments

Detail of Wildfire and Dawnstar in Xmen 141 cover reconstruction, after John Byrne. Click to enlarge.

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Detail of figure from Tarzan commission while it was in progress. Click to enlarge

Commissioned Art, Dawnstar, John Byrne, Tarzan, Wildfire

Better Things | Life and Choices of Jeffrey Jones

May 14th

Posted by Michael Netzer in People

1 comment

A film by Maria Cabardo

Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Maria Cabardo
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