A poem for The Coma ( from COMA CON )

COMA CON was held this past weekend at GEEKS Comics in Whittier, and it was far from comatose...

This was the release/signing event for my comic book THE COMA. I also debuted THE ART OF THE COMA & THE COMA COLLECTOR BOX  
featuring both books, a button and a Coma sketch doll! (Order your copies of THE COMA and/or my other comics from my webshop or stop by GEEKS Comics)


Among the friends and fans who attended where my two sisters with one of my nephews and two nieces. There were even a few students from my Comic Book Workshops who showed up. The event went off great, and I was happily surprised to see some of the people who came. I slipped up and only took two photographs, but they're enough for this blog post, because I want to use the space to present a very special extra. 


My friend Christopher Luke Trevilla attended as well and enlightened us all with the first-ever reading of his poem...THE COMA! I've had one comic turned into a movie, and now my new one has inspired a poem. (Still waiting for the MAN-SWAMP breakfast cereal!). Chris is a very active & imaginative poet/performer in the Los Angeles area, so it was truly a pleasure to be able to receive this from him. He also gave me his hand-written first draft of the poem, complete with a series of sketches he drew alongside the words. I'm reprinting his poem and sketches here, and I hope you enjoy what he wrote. He really captured various elements of my story in his piece, and intermingled with his particular inner voice, created a whole new experience.

The Coma(Inspired by the eponymous comic by Javier Hernandez, and the track "Peace of Mind/The Candle Burns" contestedly attributed to the Beatles)

 

Open eyes into absent skies,
my vision dulled with void
Inside burns
a flame to meet me here-

I leave
the cold shell there
emotions peeled away,
no laughter no tears,
I manage not a smile.

The world
around me
takes shape at will,
molecules, shadows, and worlds between
unfolding

Suddenly
there’s fear- a kind of ripping pain
Surely this
is not eternal – is it?

This world or whatever it may be
is only held inside
Repressed and now free
alive and changing
perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

 
Can it be...
World and Time
have ended at long last?
Or am I?
still
silent
nothing
dead
No, I must be in my head.
Feels too real to be over now
Don't keep me
from begin.

I need
to find
a cause, meaning, purpose
can’t just float freely..

 
Inner ear
spoken to
by ancient man and serpent
at war,
at odds,
or one in the same?

I say
I want to hear, see, and be
in the world I knew before

I scream
into the void

Ancient man
looks into me
telling me to retreat further inside
Ancient serpent
slithers into me
telling me to give up hope, I was 
meant to stay.

 
In the void
I listen
to sounds that say

All you want
ought be to fly all day
be led
into a free world newly borne
to build things
never built before
to do things
never before done
And just before
it’s over
it’s really
just begun.

Silent I run.
No pause, no coma, no doubt.
Silent I run.

CLT

New interview on LOS ANGELES EASTSIDE SCENE

I was interviewed for a local website called EASTSIDE SCENE, which covers events and culture in East Los Angeles and the surrounding neighborhoods. The upcoming COMA CON (this Saturday at GEEKS Comics in Whittier) is talked about in the interview. 

 Give it a read, as there are a good round of questions (and hopefully, answers!).

THE COMA finally available to order online!

THE COMA has landed, folks!

 

Yesterday afternoon I received my shipments of THE COMA and THE ART OF THE COMA. These books will be available this coming Saturday, Nov. 19 at GEEKS Comics during COMA CON, my big release/signing party. But, I figure since many of you won't be able to fly out to California for the event, I'm putting them for sale in my webshop today. You can order your copies by going to the LOS COMEX Webshop now!.

  Just to make sure we don't break our 'street date' of Nov. 19, I'll ship the books around the middle of this week, depending on where you live. Hopefully you'll get them by Saturday, but I would imagine Monday at the latest. 

Oh, and for the folks who pre-ordered the now-out-of-print digest sized edition of THE COMA, (Thanks!) I will offer you a special deal. If you order the full-size magazine edition of THE COMA, (which features a brand-new 2 page prologue to the story, along with the new cover), I'll give you a rebate of $1.50. Just my way of trying to lessen the feeling of 'double-dipping'! I know it's not the way most greedy comic publishers do business, but what the heck, we do things a little different here around Los Comex! Just order the comic online, pay through the checkout, and I'll refund you the $1.50 through Paypal. And yes, I have the records of who bought the pre-orders, so everyone play nice!

If you do live in the Los Angeles area, I'd be great to have you come out to GEEKS for COMA CON. Nothing like meeting in person, ya know. Plus there will be food and lots of other stuff to buy like some original Coma comic book pages, other artwork of mine, a special GEEKS exclusive Coma print, etc.  

If you haven't seen the Coma micro-documentary "IT'S ALL IN MY HEAD", check it out here.

EL MUERTO artwork on display at UCLA

I have some artwork in a collection currently on display at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library.

The CHICAN@S COLLECT show features work collected by Mary and Armando Duron. The Duron Collection numbers about 500 pieces, collected over a period of almost 30 years. The exhibition began on September 22 and runs until December 9, 2011.


The exhibit catalog states that the collection "is comprised of books and catalogs that have a bearing on Chicano art, whether the subject is Mexican, Mexican folk, Spanish, Latin American, or North American art." I recently received copies of the catalog, in which both of my pieces in the exhibit are reproduced. One of the items is a copy of my comic book EL MUERTO. Judging by the date under my signature, they bought this at the Self Help Graphics festival on the Day of the Dead in 2002:

 

The screenprint above was produced back in 2006, when I had a week-long residency in East LA's historic gallery/art studio, SELF HELP GRAPHICS. Creating the screenprint, and contributing to SHG's art collection, is definitely one of the accomplishments I'm most proud of as an artist. And #51 of the series made it to the Duron Collection. 

While looking through the catalog, my sister actually noticed the El Muerto image in the top right corner of this magazine, which is also part of the exhibit:

LA GENTE (The people) is the UCLA Latino students magazine about pop culture, news and events. Upon re-reading the article, I remembered when they originally contacted me. For some reason, I don't believe I ever received a copy of the magazine, but you can read it online here. 

So basically, in the 12 page catalog for the exhibit, El MUERTO is represented on some 3 pages! But I'm glad that art collectors like the Durons and many others make these exhibits possible, allowing so many artists a platform to keep their work visible and made available to new audiences over the years.

I'd like to thank the Duron Family and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library for their continued work, and for letting me be a small part of this exhibit. I often tell folks that there is more to life than comics, and mind you, I love creating comics and enjoying the entire span of the culture of comics. But being able to reach audiences outside the comics medium has always been one of my goals, and also to celebrate and add, in my own way, to the Mexican-American experience.

COMA CON at GEEKS Comics NOV 19

 

GEEKS Comics in Whittier, CA will be hosting COMA CON, my release & signing party for my new comic book, THE COMA and the companion art book, THE ART OF THE COMA! 

 

For those who missed getting a copy of the sold-out Limited Edition version of THE COMA (originally printed up in a special digest-sized edition), the new release of THE COMA features an all-new 2 page prologue, and is published in an eye-popping 8" x 10.5" magazine format!

Featuring an all-new cover illustration penciled by me, inked by Michael Neno and colored by Mort Todd, this 40 pg, b&w comic book takes you on mind-bending head trip into the mind of Damian Arkadian....The Coma!

THE ART OF THE COMA is a full-color 32 page portfolio featuring tons of sketches, production art and other rarities detailing the origin of my new comic book character. There's also a Guest Artist Pin-Up Gallery featuring unique takes on The Coma by an eclectic group of artists: Mary Bellamy, Crystal Gonzalez, Celina Hernandez, Blair Kitchen, Rafael Navarro and Mort Todd!

Come out to GEEKS on November 19th and get your own copies. I'll have lots of other stuff there as well, including the original pages from The Coma, a special print created exclusively for GEEKS and lots of other products from Los Comex, my publishing imprint! Get your Holiday shopping done early and get yourself, or a friend , some cool comic swag!

GEEKS is located at:

6747 Greenleaf Ave, Ste A, Whittier, CA 90601

Steve Ditko, comic artist legend, turns 84 today

A very Happy Birthday to Steve Ditko, the great comic book creator who's creations/co-creations include Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, The Creeper, Hawk & Dove and Mr. A., among many others.

Here's some artwork I did that was featured recently on the back cover of DITKOMANIA #85, the fanzine dedicated to the work of Steve Ditko. That issue featured stories on Ditko's work for black & white magazines, and one of the stories he did for EERIE Magazine that I wanted to pay homage to was one called 'The Fly':

Ditko's career began in 1953, and almost 60 years later, the man is still producing new work! Published under the Robin Snyder/Steve Ditko banner, his latest book was just released:

 

This is his 14th new comic book released in the last 3 years, so Steve Ditko still has some stories to tell. This one features another chapter in the saga of Miss Eerie, and also introduces The Distorter, a character who never once appears in the actual story (unless you count a trail of energy an appearance!) but you still see the results of his/her/it's crime fighting abilities.

In addition to his singularly imaginative artwork and storytelling, what's specifically appealed to me, as a self-published comics creator, about Ditko's work is his reliance for the last 20 years or so on creating his work for himself, without the editorial oversight or worse, marketing input, of any third parties. He's creating pure art at this point, and he leaves it up to others to decide the merits of that choice. His desire is to create personal work and release it to the marketplace, no other considerations come into play. I'm not saying I have the exact same mindset, but his example is one that inspires me tremendously often keeps me going in this crazy comics business.

Ordering info for Ditko's new books is available at the DitkoComics Blog. To order DITKOMANIA, visit the Ditko-Fever site. Bleeding Cool.Com, a comics news site, has a nice gallery of original Ditko comic book pages you might be interested in checking out.

2nd ANNUAL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EL MONTE

This Saturday you can find me at the Day of The Dead event in El Monte, CA.

This event is put on by the Nuvein Foundation, of which I've been on the Board of Directors for the last several years. Last years event was a surprise hit, so this year should be even bigger and better! Fun for the whole family, and it's free! 

Event will be held at the Valley Mall:

10933 Valley Mall, El Monte, 10933.

Michael Lapinsky COMA artwork/Javier Hernandez FEEDING GROUND artwork

Michael Lapinski, freelance illustrator and designer, is also the co-creator and artist of FEEDING GROUND, published by Archaia Comics. Earlier this year, Michael asked me if I could contribute a pin-up to the FEEDING GROUND series, which I was more than happy to oblige.

FEEDING GROUND is a story about border crossings across the Mexican/U.S. border, with the twist being that the story involves werewolves! But beyond that, it really highlights the very real drama in human trafficking, geopolitics, and the truly perilous trip across the land, both natural and supernatural. An innovative approach to a very modern and relevant political issue.

Flash forward a few months later, as I'm prepping my premier edition of THE COMA. I only had room to include one pin-up in the book, but it was a natural decision to ask Michael to contribute. I really liked his expressive artwork in FEEDING GROUND, and thought that he made a very imaginative use of color in the book as well. I had actually mentioned to Michael that just as Ennio Morricone's scores greatly enhanced the onscreen drama of Sergio Leone's 'spaghetti westerns',  so too did his evocative coloring bring out so much of the story of FEEDING GROUND.


Here's Michael's Coma pin-up:

If you follow this link to Michael's blog, you can see his original sketches he came up with before finishing the final piece. And here's a brief, informative interview with him over at sketchmaven.com. 


As of this writing, there's exactly one more copy left of THE COMA Premiere Package, featuring the limited edition, digest-sized copy of THE COMA and some additional extras. Available via my blog while supply lasts!)

Coma Premiere Package at APE this weekend!

 

The Alternative Press Expo is coming this weekend, October 1 & 2, in San Francisco. Which means I'll be there debuting my newest creation, THE COMA! I'll have THE COMA PREMIERE PACKAGE, which includes the special, limited, digest-sized edition of THE COMA, an 8.5" x 11" color print made exclusively for this edition, and 1 of 25 hand-drawn & colored cards (5" x 5" Bristol paper squares), featuring the Coma.

For the folks who pre-ordered these sets, I'll have them shipped out between October 3-5. A few of the pre-orders will be picked up by their owners at the convention. And of course I will have a limited number of copies of the Package, or just the comic, available there as well. If I have any available after the show, I'll put them on my website for purchase.

I'll be at table #109, alongside Michael Aushenker of CARTOON FLOPHOUSE notoriety. Drop by and fall into...THE COMA!!

THE COMA PREMIERE PACKAGE!

Thanks to those of you who pre-ordered THE COMA PREMIERE PACKAGE last week. I'll have these available for purchase at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco the weekend of October 1 & 2. If you pre-ordered, and you're going to be at APE, visit me at Table #109 (I'll be partnered up with Cartoon Flophouse, cartoonist Michael Aushenker's imprint). Otherwise, all orders will be mailed out by October 7.

THE COMA micro-documentary plus art by me and Jim Lujan

Today's Coma color art, done as a warm-up drawing for the long, productive day ahead:

 

When I first created the Coma, I didn't actually have his name figured out (his "secret identity"). I knew what he looked like, but his name I just let percolate in my head while I worked on the comic. About halfway through the story, I settled on a name I liked, Damian Arkadian. I had told a friend that I was originally torn between 'David' and 'Damian', and he voted for 'Damian' and, well, here we are. For a variety of reasons, I wanted to give the character a Greek/Roma background. I'll share more on that later, but speaking of that friend of mine.....

Jim Lujan, the creator of numerous animated films via his Ghettomation brand, was kind enough to create this short film about my creation of the Coma......

Jim shot the footage and put together the whole package in an evening, all together he probably spent about an hour or so working on it! The guy's amazingly talented and intuitive with his art. And better than that, he's a great friend. Also, he gives art away like it was peanuts. I asked him if he could do his own Coma doodle on a sheet of 5.5" x 5.5" Bristol paper I use. Here's the spiffy piece he came up with:

Check out Jim's music video he created for MOONWALK, a new song by the band KOUNTERCLOCKWISE!

THE COMA production art

In a previous post, I shared with you the news that I was working on an all-new comic book, THE COMA. For the last month, I have been feverishly working on it, getting it ready to print and debut at the Alternative Press Expo this October 1 & 2.


Well, I'm finishing up the art on the book, so I haven't had time to post more on my progress. I have however been posting small updates via my Twitter, Facebook and DeviantArt pages. Usually I'll post some of what I call 'color doodles' (drawings on 5.5" x 5.5" sheets of Bristol paper, drawn with non-photo blue pencil and Pentel brush pen, colored with Tombow markers). I do these as warm-up drawings before starting a page of THE COMA, or sometimes as production art to get a feeling for a character.


So, for the readers of this blog who haven't seen these images via my other social networks, here are the various color drawings I've done of the Coma and related characters...

I'll be back soon with my previously promised post about the origins of the Coma. Until then, enjoy these pieces and keep sending me positive vibes until I get my book sent to the printers!!


The Coma & all related characters are © & ™ Javier Hernandez 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Cartoonista's SKETCH-A-PALOOZA event at GEEKS Comics

A video shot/edited/produced from filmmaker Jim Lujan featuring the event held yesterday at GEEKS Comics in Whittier.....






SKETCH-A-PALOOZA! A day for free sketches for kids from the Cartoonistas. This was a great event with lots and lots of families showing up for free drawings. I had about 5 of my students from my comic book workshop show up as well. (As if they don't get enough free drawings from me in the class!).


Thanks to GEEKS for hosting us. This is truly a match made in heaven between the Cartoonistas and GEEKS. And thanks to all the wonderful artists who showed up to make the event happen. And of course thanks to all the kids and parents and grandparents who stopped by to visit!

Last night's comic book release parties for FOREVER FRESHMAN and USMZ

So last night I attended two release parties for two, new different comic books.

"USMZ" by Roman Montes de Oca.

 

"Forever Freshman", Issue #1, by Ray Mendivil & Neil Segura. 

Roman's event was held in the Art District in Downtown Pomona, a lively neighborhood featuring many art studios and galleries. The release party was held at the Foggy Windowz Gallery, and Roman's artwork was on display, as well as his brand new comic book.

 

Roman's book deals with a Marine squadron pulling back into port after months overseas and landing right in the middle of a zombie infestation! Roman's story has that air of authenticity about it due to his tenure as a Marine years previously. The zombie stuff....well, we'll have to ask him what his experiences are there!

I visited his home studio some time ago and he showed me the progress of his book. He also gave me a mechanical pencil, the kind you can use with replaceable leads. Since then, I bought another one and use them with non-photo blue leads for drawing my layouts as well as using graphite leads for drawing with. He got me hooked on mechanical pencils and now my Ticonderoga #2 HB pencils sit unused in a cup by my desk......

It was very cool to see Roman debuting his book there amongst the many art galleries that were open that evening. The great thing about comics is that they don't have to only be confined to comic book stores and conventions. They're art, so anywhere were art is displayed and sold is a potential market for a book. I got there at about 6, but when I eventually left the area the streets were streaming with people walking from gallery to gallery. Roman got the word out, as he had plenty of people stopping by to pick up the book.

I left the Pomona area around 8pm and headed back to Whittier, as there was another comic book release party going on with another friend of mine.

GEEKS Comics was packed with people when I arrived. Everyone was there for the release of FOREVER FRESHMAN. 

Good ol' Neil Segura. He and his friend Ray Medivil created this comic as a way to relive, and greatly embellish, many of their High School antics they had together. 

Ray and Neil had actually debuted the comic at San Diego Comic Con a month prior, but this was a chance for all their local fans, friends and family to pick up a copy of the book. They put on a really good show, with raffles, food, artwork and general fun being had by all.

If you read my blog on Friday, you'll remember that both Roman and Neil had taken my DIY COMICS CRASH COURSE right there in GEEKS itself exactly one year and one day ago! So it was nice to come back to the scene of the crime, where it all began....

Congrats to all three of these creators, Ray, Neil and Roman, for completing their books. We all have a myriad of different reasons for creating our stories and self-publishing our work. But that evening was real fun to experience. Comics, like most art, takes a lot of work. So it's great to see people spending the time, making the sacrifices necessary, to make their dreams a reality.