Here's a brand-new comic I've just finished today, on Thanksgiving. A 4 page color comic that's actually a prequel to one of my recent comic books, DEAD DINOSAURIO.
DEAD DINOSAURIO featured the story of a T-Rex that was awakened at the height of the Conquest of Mexico by a young Aztec boy, Eztli. Together they fight back against the Spanish Conquistadores, but ultimately they don't survive. They are however resurrected as Dead Dinosaurio and Eztli, the First Calaca...
Well, I always was keen on showing some adventures of my cobalt-colored tyrannosaurus back in his heyday (some 65 million years ago, give or take an epoch or two!), DAWN OF THE DINOSAURIO does exactly that. I have more tales of Dinosaurio to tell one day, as well as a series of 4 pagers featuring all-new characters and ideas I'd like to produce as well. Four pages are relatively quick to produce, and they work in a printed format as a double-sided color print folded in half... Viola, a 4 page comic!
After my series of a dozen one-page comics (Poster Comics), I've gotten real interested in creating short, tightly compressed stories. For now, I'd like to move onto these 4 Pagers, which will allow me to continue to explore a new batch of characters, and be able to do so in color.
By the way, the Poster Comics are collected in a printed comic book called COMICS!, and are also available to read online here. DEAD DINOSAURIO is now out of print, but it's available in my trade-paperback collection, THE LOS COMEX CODEX.
For now, please enjoy this first comic, the inaugural Los Comex 4 PAGER!
I'm currently taking Pre-Orders for my new book, the LOS COMEX CODEX!
The CODEX is a 138 page collection of 5 of my out-of-print comics. Measuring 8.5" x 11", this hefty volume reprints Weapon Tex-Mex vs El Muerto, The Coma, Man-Swamp, Dead Dinosaurio and "A Day at the Beach" from MANGA MUERTO Vol 1. The covers are in color, the interior pages are b&w (some stories are toned in gray, one is drawn entirely in pencil).
The book will debut at the upcoming LATINO COMICS EXPO LA, being held August 17 & 18 at the Musuem of Latin American Art in Long Beach, CA.
But, if you're not a local, or just can't wait, you can now order a copy of LOS COMEX CODEX, which will include a full-color marker sketch on the title page. Here's one with The Coma:
The drawings will be signed, and if you'd like, I can personalize it to you or someone else if you're in a gift-giving mood!
Here are some pages from the book:
Pre-Order price is $20.00, which includes Priority Mail via USPS. Visit my Webshop to place your order.
I also put together some Archive Editions, featuring a page of original comic book art. The pages are the actual ones I drew to create the original comic books. Most of these are 8.5"x11", but the Weapon Tex-Mex/El Muerto page is 11"x14" and the cover artwork to the COMEX CODEX is 11"x17".
Check out my Pre-Order section over at my Los Comex Webshop for prices and the complete selection of Archive Editions. By the way, the reason I don't have any Dead Dinosaurio pages available is that most of the pages sold when I had that comic on Pre-Order last year.
And the Manga Muerto pages? Well, that one's tougher to explain. A few years ago, I had my car stolen, and inside were the original pages to this particular story. I was sharing them with my students at one of my comic book classes the day before, and unfortunately didn't remove them from the car the following day. At least I had already scanned the pages!
Pre-Orders help me to get the book printed, so I appreciate anyone who buys a copy. All orders will begin shipping by August 22, so everyone who bought a copy will get them by the end of August. It's possible I might start shipping a few days earlier, I'll notify folks via email once the books are mailed off.
Pre-Orders for the LOS COMEX CODEX will end on Wednesday, July 31. Order through the Los Comex Webshop.
I'm currently in production on my first trade-paperback collection:
('Codex' is the name of the ancient manuscripts composed of sheets of hand-written content. The Aztecs and Mayans were known for their folded codices, one large continuous paper featuring their hand-drawn & colored stories and histories).
THE LOS COMEX CODEX is going to be a hefty book, at 8.5" x 11" some 130 pages or so. I'm collecting several of my titles in this volume, some of which will soon be out-of-print in their current comic book format. The stories being collected are: Weapon Tex-Mex vs El Muerto, Man-Swamp, Manga Muerto in "A Day at the Beach" (from MANGA MUERTO Vol 1), The Coma and Dead Dinosaurio.
The Codex will not only function as a collection of my work, but also marks the 15th Anniversary of Los Comex, my imprint from which I've been publishing all my comics work since I started in 1998. I'm writing a foreward to the book, featuring some recollections of the comics that inspired me as a kid, what drove me to draw and my motivations to create my own comics. Plus there'll be a brief introduction to each story, sharing some insight into the making of that particular comic.
I'm having a great time designing the book, as it allows me play around with a lot of creative choices in terms of presentation and graphic design. That's one of the things I love about self-publishing, having the freedom to make creative decisions on the look of the whole book. The entire publication becomes a reflection of one's artistic voice, in addition to creating the story and characters.
As a kid growing up in the 70s, some of my favorite books were a series of paperbacks written by Stan Lee, writer and co-creator of the original Marvel Comics superstars like Spider-Man and Fantastic Four. I first saw ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS advertised in the comics themselves, then one day at a local store, BOOKLAND, I saw the entire series up on their wall behind the cash register. Well, with my allowance money (and extra pestering of Mom and Dad), I eventually completed my run of all four books in the series.
Each book featured Stan's recollections on the creation and development of each title. As a kid, it was fascinating to read such behind-the-scenes revelations, and I'm sure it sparked in me the idea of creating my own actual stories.
So, with the upcoming LOS COMEX CODEX, it'll be a nice nod to those early books, but also a way to introduce new readers to my work. If you already have copies of some of my floppy comics, perhaps you'd still like to have something a little heftier to put on your bookshelf alongside your Shakespeare and Stephen King novels!
Well, at least a small sample of the artwork I've produced this year.
If you follow my blog regularly, or we're connected via a social network or two, you may have seen some of these. But I thought it'd be nice to share the variety of work I did, and the various reasons for creating them.
Some of these are commissions, either sketch cards or larger pieces. There are several fliers I created this past year for various events, as well as a random sample of sketches and doodles. The rest were created for other purposes, sometimes on a whim, sometimes for publication or an art show.
Regardless the reason, what I see in the work is a desire to express something, an idea or a memory or a feeling....
I'm already looking ahead and trying to coordinate the various print projects I want to produce, balancing that with my increased teaching schedule and other events on the horizon for 2013.
Thanks for following along with me this past year. To those of you who supported through purchasing my work, I very much appreciate that. And to my fellow artists, your enthusiasm, encouragement and inspiration has been a tremendous help, thanks!
I'm currently running a THANKSGIVING WEEKEND SALE over at my LOS COMEX WEBSHOP, with comics discounted between 25%-50%. And lower shipping rates for the duration of the sale.
Adding to that sale, I'm now offering 9 DEAD DINOSAURIO Sketch Covers in the DINO MART. And until the end of Cyber Monday (November 26), they're available with FREE SHIPPING!
As you can see, some of these feature other characters from movies, animation, toys, etc. Basically an assortment of my favorite things! King Ghidorah from the Godzilla series, Biotron from the Micronauts toy line, even an early inspiration for Dead Dinosaurio: Devil Dinosaur (from the Marvel Comic book by Jack Kirby!).
Check out the DINO MART for the full set. And remember, the FREE SHIPPING runs until the end of Cyber Monday.
(Due to the check-out system, I have to charge a minimum of 1¢, so I'm pricing the books at either $14.99 or $19.99, depending on the piece). FYI: These images wrap around the front and back covers. The line in the middle of some of the images is where the covers fold.
These books are the exact same content as the regular edition of DEAD DINOSAURIO: 28 pages, b&w interiors. Only the cover is different. In this case featuring a hand-drawn color sketches, signed.
If your looking to get someone you know a unique gift, or perhaps you'd like to collect one of these yourself, take advantage of this special now...before it's extinct!
I'm running a THANKSGIVING WEEKEND SALE in my LOS COMEX WEBSHOP! All books are at least $1 off, with a couple discounted even more (25%-50% off the cover prices).
Thinking of getting someone you know a few of my comics that you've enjoyed? Want to give unique gifts this Holiday Season? Maybe you've been meaning to pick up some of my books? Well, take advantage of this great sale!
Besides lowering prices on all my books, I've also discounted my postage rates a bit, especially if you buy multiple items.
I'm including a sketch card with every order shipped during the sale. A hand-drawn, color sketch featuring one of my many characters. My thanks to you for your support!
Besides being a sales event, this will also work as an inventory reduction sale. With the recent amount of events I've had this last couple of months, most of my books have almost sold out. Some of the titles in the sale are down to low single digit numbers, so please get your orders in quick to make sure you get the books you want! By the end of the year, I anticipate being out-of-stock of about half my titles, and with 2013 coming around the corner, I'll be deciding which titles to re-order and which to keep out of print (at least one, maybe a few more).
I'll be adding some of the DEAD DINOSAURIO Sketch Cover Editions to the sale in the next day or so. But in the meantime, there's plenty of cool comics to gobble up!
Thanks in advance for picking up some of my comics, and thanks if you've ordered in the past. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Now make your pilgrimage over to the LOS COMEX WEBSHOP!
