The Way of the MANGA MUERTO pt. 2

For the next couple of months, I'll be sharing the progress on the production of the upcoming MANGA MUERTO VOL. 1 comic book. Check out the previous post for the history of this Japanese influenced offshoot of my comic book character, El Muerto.

The first of the four guest pin-ups for the new book is in!



This was sent to me recently by Krishna Sadasivam, a cartoonist who's been publishing online for over 10 years. Krishna's main strip, PC WEENIES, is updated three times a week. His latest strip, UNCUBED, is a comic about 'an Indian guy named Krishna'. It's my favorite autobiographic comic of recent memory.
Krishna is now taking pre-orders for his first-ever collection of PC WEENIES strips. Check his site for ordering info and support a great artist.

Krishna has another website where you can commission him to draw a customized robot. I thought he'd be a perfect artist to ask to contribute a Manga Muerto pin-up and was delighted when he agreed to do one. Krishna had previously sent me a drawing he had done of El Muerto. So now he's a two-time Muerto contributor.

First thing I did when I opened his file in Photoshop was laugh with delight at that great look on Muerto's face. He's so smug showing off his robot!

I've got three other mystery artist's line up, but I'm waiting to receive those. This will truly be an ocean-spanning effort, as far as some of the artist's are concerned.

Another bit of behind-the-scenes process I can share with you comes via a podcast I recently did on THE IDIOT ENGINE, hosted by fellow cartoonist (and Manga Muerto collaborator) TED SEKO. Ted had me on his most recent episode where we talked about going back and revisiting old material. In my case I talked about taking the earliest Manga Muerto story and doing some re-lettering on the dialogue. Check out the episode as Ted and I discuss how we handle re-publishing our older comics. Click here to hear the podcast (it's Episode 10). A word to those with limited time: The first 35 minutes we discuss Ted's 'warm-up' topic, so if you want to jump right into the main topic just scroll your iTunes marker to the 35 minute point. (Just subscribe via iTunes first).



This page is from the second Manga Muerto story, published as a mini-comic in 2001. Ted and I worked on this comic together, teaming up his character Skyman with Manga Muerto. We came up with the plot, I handled the pencils, dialouge & lettering, and Ted provided the finished art as well as his bold inking. This story will also be reprinted in the upcoming MANGA MUERTO VOL. 1. (You can also check out the first Manga Muerto story I did in collaboration with Rafael Navarro at my page on WebComics Nation!)

MANGA MUERTO for me represents great collaboration with other artists, which helps produce a nice, rich package. More updates to come...

EL MUERTO by cartoonist Krishna Sadasivam

A friend of mine just sent me this....


After picking myself off the floor, I knew I had to share this. A really lovely interpretation of my signature character, El Muerto.

Krishna Sadasivam, the artist responsible for the piece, is a web cartoonist who I 'met' last year via a couple of podcasts I listen to frequently, THE SEQUENTIAL ARTIST'S PUB and ART & STORY ALIVE! Krishna currently works on two weekly strips, PC WEENIES and UNCUBED THE COMIC (a heartfelt autiobiographical comic told through the eyes of 'an Indian guy called Krishna').

In the time I've got to know Krishna, I've been inspired by his high level of craftmanship, his creative output, and the professional and decent way he conducts himself as a creator and a person.

We had a long and thoughtful phone call earlier in the afternoon, trading stories on our plans and thoughts for our respective futures. He made the pin-up as an act of friendship, not to seek anything for it. But I not only wanted to share this pic with readers of this blog, but also wanted to let everyone know to check out his strips.

Thanks Krishha, I really enjoyed your El Muerto!