Spiking those pages....

Just finished doing the first issue of the Spike Mini for IDW.
It's called SPIKE:FAMILY FEUD.
A four issue jammy.

Seeing that Chris Ryall has already posted pages of the first ish on his site,
i guess they have no qualms about me doing the same. So i'll post the three inked pages of what I and Marc Deering completed. It requires a lot of background drawing, but
i'm sure that people will like what they see.

Felix Seranno will be coloring the whole shebang, which is great because we've known each other almost twenty years and only worked together twice. That had to come to and end. He's been around. His gig on the PITT mini and a TOP COW Darkness:FLAMES AND SHADOWS one-shot was some of his best stuff. He also colored a gig that Marc himself inked that will see the light of day finally called the Further Adventures of Miranda Mercury.

God knows if i got that title right.

So here's some completed pencils and inks of the first issue.
Go out and buy it when it comes out!!!

Next time, i'll use the virtual comic flipper thingy to show you the rest.

and as usually, hit the lavender. These other guys need play too. :D

Gettin' SPIKEY!!!!

SO, i'm doing a miniseries for IDW called SPIKE.
You know who Spike is.... and if you don't, you spent a great deal of the
'90's in your closet. SPIKE of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.
I never thought i would be working on this character, nor
did i think that i would be working with IDW.
SO it goes to show that you should always keep your eyes open down the road because
you never know which street you may frequent. :D

So i figure that it would be great to post some sketch headshots that Myself and Marc Deering did... just to see how we would gel... and it's pretty cool.




I have to check to see when it's coming out. I'm usually in my "cave" so i don't check on those things. Usually busy just making deadlines. But as soon as i know i'll post.

By the by, if the letters are in Lavender, click on it. :D

Um... CLOTHING DRIVE

I 've heard of people giving the clothes off their back to help people in need, but COME ON! You soon realize that the vision of what you think people look like with their clothes off is not the reality one would readliy enjoy. And all for beer.

MARVELOUS COLOR HAPPY TIME!!!!

During late January, i was asked to do a Storm piece(as you can see above) for an art show for old Marvel charactere, specifically characters of color. I had a night to do it, like any other deadline... and i got it to Edgardo Miranda, the man in charge of the MARVELOUS COLOR exhibit in upper Manhattan at the Carribean Arts center otherwise known as SOMOS ARTE.
The exhibit went off without a hitch, and Edgardo and his beautiful wife outdid themselves in the limited amount of time they had to get the show together. Here's the billing...



and there were a ton of people there, including Joe Quesada, who is Editor-in-chief of Marvel..
and Eric Battle, who did TimeStorm for Marvel and Aquaman back in the days...
Shawn Martinbrough, who did his latest LUKE CAGE:NOIR....
and the man called Dennis Calero, just to name a few....

There was a video done that opened the forum as to how myself and Eric and others donated pieces for the exhibit.




The exhibit closes on February 26th, so be sure to go and check it out!!!
Just in case the video doesn't buffer the way it should supposed to, here's the link on YouTube.... \

AND as usual, all links are embedded in the highlighted names in lavender. So click to give detail to your dreams. Dude.

The ChrisCrosser: Hi-ro-GLYPHics!!!

The ChrisCrosser: Hi-ro-GLYPHics!!!

Hi-ro-GLYPHics!!!

Well, well, WELL!!! It seems that all the pain of working on DANCE hasn't gone unnoticed!! I got an email on facebook from Bill Williams, the writer of the SPIKE miniseries i'm doing for IDW presently... that i was on a list of artists that were nominated for a GLYPH award. Now... anytime i'm nominated for ANYTHING good, i'm glad just to be noticed. IF I WIN, that's even better. It'll be the first such award that i've ever won during my tenure as a comic illustrator. So i'll take what i can get.

But my boy Shawn Martinbrough is on the list, so if he gets it, i'll be happy for him also.

In the meantime, you can see it here when you click on the lavender GLYPH....

I'll be posting a ton more stuff here to be perused.

Pray for me!!! (:-)3

TAINTED ENOUGH TO SHOW OUT part 4 FINAL

This was the final story that was supposed to be six issues. Apparently not hiring better writing and playing the line when it came to accommodating me with writing talent that would have significantly made this series at the least palatable was too much for the owner of the now defunct BIG CITY COMICS. And in the end, all the posturing and the promises resulted in sore feelings and over eighty pages of unpublished work. So even though you get paid for a thing, you still feel slightly empty when you're trying something new in your work and NO ONE gets to see it.
But at least the LIGHTS are on, eh?

TAINTED ENOUGH TO SHOW OUT part 3

It took me awhile to finally post these. Been through alot in the last couple of months, but i have a lot planned for the duration and i'll be posting here more regularly now. This is the pencils and full colors for the ill-fated Tainted series that never was. I'll get it all out. Promise. Now as with all the others i've posted before and ever thereafter, if you want to see these as fullscreen modules you can see and peruse, just click directly on the turning books and another tab will open so that you can see all the gory details. Cool, huh?
Enjoy.

Yeah, BABY!!!

Yankees win the Pennant!!! Enuff said!!!

Much to say about DANCING.....

Jennifer Contino hit me up by email and wanted to ask a ton of questions since i had been out of the industry for awhile. It's been awhile since i've done any interviews... mostly because when i do them, i get my dialogue altered. Usually comes out making me look like a dork.

So... i figured the best way to start getting my image out there again is to let others know i have something to say, right?

And you wanna see it, right?

Well... you don't have to ask.

Here you are!!!


http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=549236#Post549236

There will be more.

OH MY GOD. THE ULTIMATE GIRLFRIEND.

I was watching this amusing episode of Dr.Phil.

Yeah.

I watch Dr.Phil. So what?

And he created this topic called "What's wrong with Men?"
Of course, these ridiculous women lined up around the freaking block for this show.
Juuuuust waiting for the moment they can stand up on tv and tell all the people of the
world about the dumb choices they made in men and why they're the victims.

Cuz women nevuh do anything wrooooong.

There was this blonde on the show who really irritated me.

All she could say was her code words, 'disgusting' and ' pathetic'.
Some men are. And the ones on that show were more humorous than pathetic.
SHE WAS ANNOYING.

So much so that i think she needs to watch this commercial.
It's the handbook on a happy relationship with men.
No Nagging.
No complaining.
No spazzing.
Just Jim Beaming.

So blond girl on the Dr.Phil show, ....
Watch this and shut the hell up.
JIM BEAM COMMERCIAL "THE GIRLFRIEND"



and when you're done, Watch AMANI doing her thang.
and do whateeeeevuh you want. I mean...
i don't care.

TEEHEE.

I love when she says that. :D
RALPH TV

TALK ABOUT TRYING YOUR LUCK... THRILLBILLY STYLE!!

i wish i had the balls to do this myself.

These guys are something else.

TAINTED ENOUGH TO SHOW OUT--PART TWO OF FIVE.

Get your own - Open publication

Get your own - Open publication

Okay....

what we have here is a second chance to communicate.

Just in case you didn't get to read the first installment, i'm going through the motions
of putting this second installment of TAINTED for your perusal.

I know..

it sounded very Twilight Zone.

What you're getting here is probably more artwork than most other comic artists usually put
in their blogs in one sitting. It shows that i truly want to entertain you.

That and i wanted to make sure that people get to see what James Brown can really do when he gets an artist "that truly inspires me to want to get to the computer."

Hey, we can all use inspiration.

Every time i set up a color page in photoshop for him to base certain hue choices to push the art and take him out of his comfort zone,....

well, the way he came through was truly an inspiration.

We both had fun vibing with each other's talent.

It's kinda like we took turns singing country music with our classic Noble acoustic guitars.

James is no joke.

SO have fun looking through this next batch.
and as always, click on the lavender words to hit James Brown's portfolio.

It's bombdiggity.

So what?

I can say that.

It's my blog and i can cheese if i wanna.

And click on the page turning readers so you can see them at full size.

Bub.

And as always, click on the lavender.

It goes straight to James' site.

Just a hint in case you think i'm ordering you around.

TAINTED ENOUGH TO SHOW OUT--PART ONE OF FIVE

Get your own - Open publication

Get your own - Open publication

Hey....
YOU.
Look at that.
Right above me.

Isn't that the coolest reader you've ever seen for a blog?

I thought it would be a great showcase to show some work that i feel a year and a half of mismanagement from some that have no idea how to pimp their mistresses may mess up if no one ever gets to see it.

And that's me...ever the spoiler.

This is Tainted.

Or what was supposed to be the mega mini that was supposed to come out through Big City Comics.

No longer in existence.

Oh..

I could go on and on about how mad i was enough to spit......
Tainted enough with the president and owner of that company to make me wanna show out.

But i'm a different man now.
With loftier goals.
Why spend all my finger strength smacking keys on a keyboard talking about
people who don't ever get it when i can just show you the work that no one will ever see.

and the best work that that owner will EVER get.

EVER.

.....anyway.....

I discovered that instead of telling people about the work i did for the "small guy", i thought it would be better if i just showed you. James Brown is the colorist on this mini.. and he did such a great job, it's just an injustice that no one would see it.

Not even one.

So i'm putting out the whole thing.


All of the black and white pages.
all of the colors.

No dialogue.

Trust me...

You don't want to read anything that Jeff Kaufman wrote.

I'm doing you a favor.

It was enough for me trying to draw it.

You shouldn't need to be brained with a sock full of pennies.

Just click onto the reader and another page will open full sized.
and you can see the details.

Just like i did when i had to work with Kaufman.

If you look hard enough, The Devil is there.

Holy Cow!!! HE'S BACK??

YEAH...

I know. I've been a cad.

It's been awhile since i've kept up with my own blog.

But it's a new year and new things are happening.

Like working on my own IP's.
That's a great thing.
I can finally start putting my imagination to work for me for myself.
Sometimes i can't sleep nights with all of the creating that goes on in my head.

But last year a lot happened.

Had money woes.
People don't like to talk about it, but i don't mind.

With the economy the way it is, a lot of people had financial problems.

My grandfather passed.

That took a lot out of me.

But i didn't have time to sit down and grieve about it.

Still don't have time.

But for some reason, my grandmother appears more free, happy and at peace that she has
ever in life.
A great thing.

More stress than good happened last year.

Glad to see 2008 gone.

In the coming entries this year, i'll be talking about a lot of stuff....
moreso, showing alot of work here that never got seen in the public.

I owe it to myself to post it.

One part of the happiness of an artist is getting paid for the work.
The completion of that happiness is to show that work.
What's the use of working on something that should be seen if you can't see it?

I did a ton of work for Big City Comics... now defunct....
and some work for what was supposed to be the breakout party for me doing mainstream work in the states.
Top Cow messed that up.

More on that in the future.

But for now, i'll be more active in posting work here for peeps to see.

I mean what's the use of working on something that should be seen if you can't see it?

Right?

A figment of your imagination....

The JabbaWockeez.

These guys are making a big splash in the dance market.

They started on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew.

I'm sorry to say that my fiance has slightly gotten me hooked on 'em.

Yeah.

I'm man enough to say it.

They happened to be the headliner along with Melissa Reyes for a benefit for sick children in St.Peter's College in Jersey City.

You don't realize the amount of work, energy and athletics involved in dance until you see it up close and personal.
So i used the video option on my Kodak to record the performance because taking pics wouldn't do them justice.

I took pics of Melissa Reyes because she's cute, but has no stage presence.
Girl needs to work on that.

But you wanna see JabbaWockeez.

SO look at them.

Don't mind the camera footage.

I was right on the floor with 'em and apparently they're really well liked.

and some girls' big heads were in the way.

And there's so much bass that the Kodak couldn't handle the overload.


Besides, what do you want for free anyway?

WORKING ON MY VELOCITY....

I gotta admit.

I'm having fun with this.

It's been awhile since i've posted anything and there's so much to talk about.

But first.. i'm sure you've heard so far that i'm going to be working with Top Cow on Velocity.

I had never even heard of the character until someone told me that she was a part of Cyber-Force.

I know!!

Where have i been?

So when i was approached by Rob Levin at Top Cow and was told I would be paired with Joe Casey...

...yup....

you feelin' me...!


Like a cold frozen Watermelon smoothie on a hot day.

Satisfying.

So as i'm nearing the end of my run with BIG CITY, i'll be jumping on TOP COW.

Sounds like a code from my handler.

But as you can see, i've already started dreaming up a little bit of an upgrade for our fast heroine.

That's the woman and not the drug.

Although i can only hope you'll be addicted with what Joe and I create.

All colorwork on the character studies are being done by Snakebite...colorist whose won many awards for his work on The Red Star.

Yup. THAT ONE.

So enjoy the work i've put up so far. I 've made great strides with this character already and I'll be ready for more. It seems i'm getting ready to do a ton of work back in the States again.

and as usual... click in the lavenduh, baby.

THE FLASH OF MICHAEL TURNER

I've gotten to a point in my life where i need to start recording people, places and things... because you just never know when the good times or great things will end.

You see this picture?
I thought this was the coolest depiction of the Flash that i had ever seen to date. Why?
It's a simple piece, it's RED... can't beat that. And can't MISS that. I was looking for a FF comic and this cover pulled me right to it. I didn't buy that Flash comic, but i did notice it. Which is what one would go for when paired up against tons of other comics vying for your attention.

And it worked.

I think, i'm my personal opinion, that this piece is the best in Michael Turner's career. The composition, and the concept of it all just says..."FLASH!"

You can hear the music from the Flash tv series rippling in your head.

da-dada-DAAAAAAAH-da!


Definitely made me wanna create.

You know earlier when i said that i've gotten to the point in my life where i feel i need to record things?

I remember when Michael Jordan was playing basketball and a reporter asked Magic Johnson about how he felt about MJ as a player. And Magic said," You'd better get your VCR's recording, because he's only here for a limited time and then he's going to retire. And after that, all you're going to have are memories of arguably the best basketball player that ever lived. He's going to retire and that's it. No more basketball. Just slow motion video feeds of what he used to do."

I paraphrase of course. But what he said was true. All too soon, the best of what happens in a particular culture of life can be taken away from us. What you have left is the great works on which to pontificate, study and enjoy.

Michael Turner passed away from his battle with cancer at age 37.

37.

I just had my 40th birthday party and someone asked me, "How does it feel to be the big 4-o?"

And i said, "Blessed that i lived to see it!!"

I come back from the best party i ever threw for myself this weekend to find emails that yet another of our number has passed before 45.

All these young cats leaving before we want them to.

I wanna say "before their time", but really... who am i to say that?

It just really drives home that biblical tenet that tomorrow is never promised to us and we have a limited time on this world and we have to make our mark....hopefull one that won't be erased...
and affect people's lives with our spirits while we have the time.

I'm sure as i write this, Michael has done this in his own way. In the eyes of his family, in the imaginations of his fans and in the eyes of God.

It makes no sense why young people have to die of such an evil, debilitating disease.

Why it has to take away the best of us.

But God has His time, and we had Michael for a time.

I pray his family finds the peace they need during this time.

I have never had the chance to meet Michael, but like all secret languages, an artist can look at another's work and know him or her as if they've met on the street and had coffee and an omelette croissant and told each other their stories.

Regrettably, Michael's story was shortened by an unfortunate ending.

And his brilliance was .... well.. a flash.

God bless the Turner clan.

WOULDN'T YOU JUST LOVE TO DO THIS TO A ROTTEN KID?

DOWN WITH THE CAUSE.... IN PHILLY

This weekend starts the East Coast Black Age of Comicon '08 in Philly this weekend. A lot of cool people are going to be there... you can just look below and get a gander at who, for starters.




I've been asked to come there to speak on a panel of other African-American artist and writers to talk to people about the state of affairs in modern comics and field questions from anyone who wants to know how to break in and what it takes to be an artist.
I've done that before, so it's old hat.

SO.. if you have time, you should go check it out!! Maybe i'll see you there. I'll only be there on Saturday. Here's the link to ECBACC....just click the lavender. All the information is there and other sites where ECBACC is located.

A lot will be going on this month, so i'll be posting as soon as it happens.

Maybe i'll even have time to get me a famous cheesesteak or two..!!!