Coincidence...?

I keep tabs on some of the comic/animation news web-sites and I happened to come across a photo of Jean Grey/Phoenix from X3 and it reminded me of when Boyd and I were doing research for the HarperCollins X3 books. We had to go downtown to Marvel's offices and make sketches from their set and publicity photographs. We weren't allowed to make copies or take photos so we had to sit around for hours sketching and making notes. I guess they were afraid we'd post something on the interent - though it wasn't long before Fox was posting the same images (and better) all over the internet themselves. But not in time for us to incoporate into our books accurately, of course.
Oh well, but that's all beside the point. What caught my attention immediately was their costume for Phoenix. I thought it was an interesting take on her and then I realized it looked kind of familiar. I pointed it out to Boyd and that was the last time I thought of it. Even while watching the movie in the theater.
Until I saw this photo on a web-site. I guess it was the torn pants that reminded me of my initial reaction. It's not a very good photo, but I think you'll get the point.

I included images of Wanda as she appeared throughout X-M:E and in the last episode as an adult...I guess I should be flattered that someone working on X3 was a fan.

Also I hope you've also noticed that I moved the link for my SketchBook to the bottom of the web-site and included a little image of the cover to help remind you of what the PayPal button is for.

Bad News...

Well, after months of calling and getting told they're working on it and they were just trying to figure it all out and missed self-imposed deadline after self-imposed deadline I finally got an answer and found out that the table I was counting on would not be available. Apparently, even though we applied before the deadline, I was told that only those that applied by mid-January would get tables - and it sounds like some that even applied over a year ago didn't get what they asked for.
Oh, well, I'll just have to try earlier next year. In theory.
This year I'll explore other options, but for now I think I can assume I won't be selling books at SDCC. So if you want one the best way to get it is to go through this web-site. Sorry. Maybe next year...?

Brisk sales...

Wow! I'm so jazzed that there's been such a big response to my little sketchbook - and very surprised. Thanks everyone!
It's a good thing that I have some free time right now so I can spend a little extra time adding a sketch to the back page.
Several people asked about shipping to Canada and I responded to them individually, but I thought it might be a good idea to post the info here as well.
Just add $2 more to the purchase price. But you won't be able to use the quick-click button I set up (I'm only so computer literate), but just go to PayPal directly and e-mail the payment to my e-mail stevegordon@adelphia.net
Here's another little tease for all of you...

...and thanks again, everyone.

On Sale now!!

I just received my shipment of sketchbooks from the printer and they turned out great! They did a great job and I think everyone should be happy with them. They're 10 x 6.5 and have 70 pages in them.
I'm adding a PayPal link to this blog for any that won't be able to make it to the SDCC - or for those that can and don't want to be bothered. Of course, I'm not even sure if I'll have a table there yet, but I'm crossing my fingers...

If you do want to order from here all you have to do is click that PayPal button on the right side of the screen (below the Amazon ads) and I'll get one out to you ASAP. I will number and sign each books and include a little sketch, so if there's someone in particular you'd like feel free to include a note.

If you live outside the US contact me and we can discuss shipping for you.

BTW I should have the posters available soon also.

Some news...

Okay, I'm finally able to slow down a little bit because my stint at IDT/FilmRoman is almost at an end. I'm definitely on the downhill side of post-production on The Condor - all that remains is working with Music, Sound FX, a few more ADR and Walla recording sessions and final mix. I just finished color correction (TeleCine) and the film looks 100% better. I've always rolled my eyes whenever anyone uses the dreaded phrase "we'll fix it in post", but in this case it was very true. When you're working on a small budget sometimes you have no choice - but what really helped is that we had the time to make it better.
So, now, I'm looking for my next job/project. I've got a couple of irons in the fire, but nothing concrete yet. Anyone know of anything interesting feel free to pass on my name...;)
Don't worry...that wasn't the news I was referring to in the title of this post. I just received the proof of my book "Expressions and Attitudes" and it looks great. I should be receiving all 500 of them sometime next week and then I'll start selling them on-line. I'll see if I can set up a 'store' on my web-site, but you'll definitely be able to order it via this blog by e-mailing me at steve@stevenegordon.com
I also have seen the HarperCollins X3 books show up and bookstores. They turned out really nice and I think fans should enjoy them.
The other big news is that I think I've decided on a poster...here's a lo-res version of it.


I decide to not go with characters from X-M:E or the Ultimates. I figure there was enough of them on my web-site and in my book, so I thought I'd try an old favorite of mine - John Carter of mars. I call this 'Thark Attack'.
What do you think?


Of course, I don't have a table yet at SDCC...the people in charge at SDCC are still trying to figure out where to put everyone and I'm crossing my fingers they'll have room for me. My intent is to share a table with my friend, Francesco Francavilla, who besides being the guy who set up my web-site and my book is also a great artist. You can check out his art and also buy some of the great books he's created.

X-23

Over at the Drawing Board they're having another character jam and this time it's for X-23. She was created specifically for X-Men:Evolution by one of the show's producers Craig Kyle. The character seems to have really taken in off in the MU.
Since I was the guy who first drew her I thought I should contribute something. Instead of drawing her as she appeared in X-M:E I decided to go for an older version - a little closer to what I did for the 'flash foward' in the season finale for X-M:E. I guess I can't get away completely from that show - can I?

They're here...

I've been so busy lately with post-production on The Condor and starting editing and calling retakes for Mosaic that I've hardly had a moment to breathe. Quite a difference from when I had plenty of free time to sit around and was able to do some of these drawings that I posted earlier. Actually I still have a few sketches I made during that down time that I think I might get around to posting sometime soon...or maybe I'll save them for next year's sketchbook.

Anyway the reason for this post is yesterday when I arrived home for work there was a big box filled with the X3 books I illustrated from HarperCollins. It's great to see these things in print - especially right before I start on the next set of books based on Spider-man 3. I can see now that what I thought was almost too bright wasn't and I need to go a lot brighter than I ever would've guessed. I should also be a lot clearer for the inker on the coloring/activity books ...or at least, check his work afterwards. HarperCollins seemed happy and so did my son, who colored them, since this was the first thing he could show his friends that he had printed.

Here's a couple of choice pages (sans text) that I thought might whett your appetites...feel free to click on the links to the right if you want to show your appreciation and purchase these fine examples of my art (and show your appreciation for this blog)...if not, I'll understand

A little Vamping...

A couple of weeks ago I actually had some time to do some misc drawings and I did this and a couple of others (I'll try to get around to scanning them and posting 'em later).
You can tell I was really bored cuz I inked it...
I guess I was inspired because of the release of The Notorious Bettie Page film. I've always assumed that she was based on Bettie - maybe I'm wrong, but I defintiely decided to base mine on miss Page.

Anyhow this is something I played with for fun. I've never tried drawing her before so I got inspired...maybe this'll be in next year's Sketchbook?

Avengers Assembled

Over at Drawingboard.org they have monthly jams in the various sections and in this month's Superheroes section it's The Avengers. So, since I had a little more time on my hands than usual - as I wait for a greenlight on models for the next set of children's books I'm slated to do - I though I'd challenge myself to do something a little more ambitious than usual. It would've been very easy to just post some of my models from The Ultimate Avengers, but I thought I'd try to play it straight for a change and draw some Avengers in their official uniforms. Or, at least, as close as I could handle. As I'm sure many will note I still made some changes...

In Livng Color...

Well, Euan Mactavish (aka em...) did get a chance to put some color down and he did an outstanding job.



Now if only i could afford for these guys to work for me full time.

The Deal is INKED...

A friend of mine (and also the web-master of my web-site), Francesco Francavilla, saw the Supey drawing I drew and liked it so much he decided to ink it up. He also added a bit of his own whimsy to it and I think it turned out great. We ought to collaborate more often!


Another friend has hinted that he'd like to put some color on it - I'll post that when it happens...

A question...

Since I'm going to be sitting around at SDCC with my sketchbook for sale a couple of friends suggested I also print up some inexpensive posters to sell as well and sign.

Now my question for all of you is (and it's a three-parter):
1.) Does this sound like something that might sell - would you buy it?
2.) What price should this sell for?
3.) Is there a particular image from the web-site I should use or should I create a new one? Any suggestions?

In the meantime here's another quick sketch I made while sitting around...

A Little 'Batty'

I've been pretty busy lately with post production on The Condor (still and probably for at least another month) and working on the designs for the new books for HarperCollins so I haven't had too much time. Or anything really new to report. I saw the pdf file for the sketchbook and I'm sure anyone who buys it will be pretty happy.
I scribbled this while on a couple of phone calls and thought it turned out kinda nice.

Coming to a convention near you...

I thought I'd give everyone a little preview of the cover for my sketchbook. It should be ready just in time for SDCC. Francesco Francavilla is putting it together for me. He's the genius that put together my web-site and now he also has his own web-site where you can check out some of his great artwork. Its address is: http://www.francescofrancavilla.com/ and is well worth a look.
Hopefully you've noticed that I'm also being a whore and advertising for the Ultimate Avengers DTV and the two HarperCollins X-Men 3 books I worked on. These links will take you to Amazon and if you're going to buy them then use these links and yours truly gets some kick back...

No need for the ransom...

...I'm home!!

Actually I've been home since the 14th and this is just the real first day I've had long enough to breath and blog something. So there's no need to put together a ransom to pay the kidnappers. I know it's an old joke, but I've always kinda like it....

What I'm referring to up above is the trip to Japan and China I took to check out the studio that is working on the animation for "Stan Lee presents: The Condor". It was a long ten days, but I think ultimately helpful. It's always good to meet eye to eye and be able to point to things on a screen when discussing things - with other artists especially.
The trip was great, but ten days away from home and all alone in a foreign country - lost in translation - is tooooo long. I'll probably go into more detail later.


And ever since I've been back things have been running at full tilt. We're quickly approaching our final deadlines for The Condor. I also had a lot of interviews to do for on-line magazines concerning the release of The Ultimate Avengers Direct-to-DVD. You can use the link to pick-up your copy from Amazon or go to Costco or anywhere else. I haven't been able to find many of the interviews anywhere, but let me know if you have.
I'm also putting together some artwork for a Sketchbook to sell at this year's San Diego ComicCon - it'll also be available later from my web-site. I'm going to feature a lot of art that not too many have seen before. Hopefully I'll get that together in time....
...And on top of all this I had Jury Duty yesterday.

One more thing before I forget...a new X-Men: Evoltuion web-site just started that any of the fans should check out. It's put together bt the great guys over at Toonzone and it's pretty damn good. if you want to see it go to X-Men:Evolution at Marvel Age

Which Cap is best?

There's kind of a fun little debate going on over at The Marvel Forum discussing which of my two Captain America designs is better. The more traditional one I created for X-Men: Evolution or the one based on Brian Hitch's design for The Ultimate Avengers direct-to-video DVD. Buy it here.
What is also kind of interesting (at least to me) is that the design I did for X-M:E, while being discussed as the traditional Captain America was originally planned to be closer in thought to Hitch's in the Ultimate's comic. Keep in mind that the Ultimates hadn't hit the comic stores at this point. My original plan was to design Cap in a somewhat more realistic fashion and less like a comic super-hero. In my original roughs I had removed the wings from his head and even the "A" from his forehead and added a Sam-Brown type of gunbelt and removed the rollover from his boots. My producer, Boyd Kirkland, thought this was too big of a departure for the audience (and for him too) and I ended up keeping the wings, the "A" and the typical Cap boots. The only real modifications that I made was to give him the belt (minus the gun, of course) and change his sleeves to be more reminiscent of Wolverine's. I did this last change to give a visual continuity to the Weapon X program. In no way am I suggesting I went as realistic as Hitch ultimately did, but I definitely was thinking in that direction. I guess that's one of the reasons the Ultimates comic really caught my attention when it came out. You can buy the comic here.

Not that anyone asked, but if they did, my personal favorite is this one - also based on Hitch's design - of a realistic Cap during WWII.

The secret is out...

For awhile now I've been purposely vague about a freelance job I've been working on, but out of the blue I received an e-mail from Rob Allstetter who runs the Comics Continuum web-site.. He was asking specific questions concerning this freelance project and I suddenly had to review all my past posts, etc to see if I had mentioned the specifics without realizing it. As it turns out I hadn't. I had kept my mouth shut (an unusual feat if you ask anyone who knows me). Apparently he had done some sleuthing on his own and discovered the childrens books I had been working on listed on Amazon. This shocked me as I hadn't even thought about them being listed - especially since they hadn't been completed at that point.
Well now that the cat is out of the bag I might as well admit it - since I can't be the first to announce it. I designed and did the art for three X-Men 3 children's books for HarperCollins (two full color storybooks and one coloring book)and my friend Boyd Kirkland worked on two others. Here is Robb's article about it on his Comics Continuum web-site.

If you're interested in buying them you can go to Amazon.
Beast Chooses SidesMeet the X-MenColoring and Activity Book
I had a friend Topper Helmers do the Background designs for me and my son Eric did all the color. I saw the books in PDF format and they definitely turned out pretty damn nice. And it was a lot of fun - not something I can say about every freelance job I work on.



These are the two covers I designed. One was for one of my books and the other was for one of Boyd's books. There are two different types of books (besides the color and activity book) and they wanted the covers to the similiar formats to be the same.


Robb's pretty good, but the one thing he doesn't know is what the new freelance job I'm working on is. That one shouldn't be listed on Amazon for a little while longer.

Postponed...

I bet everyone's assuming I'm either in Japan right now or I've just returned. Nope...I still haven't left for Japan yet. I was originally scheduled to leave early last Saturday morning until someone asked the all-important question: "Don't you need a Visa to go to Japan and China?" Well, it turns out you don't need a Visa for Japan, but you do need one for China. Apparently to get this important document you have to also have an invitation from someone (in this case it'll come from the animation studio I'll be visiting), an itinerary, photos, your passport and most importantly -- time to apply. We found a web-site that promised a quick turnaround, but unfortunately that would now put my arrival in Japan just in time for Chinese New Year - or so close to it that I would have very limited time to visit both the Japanese and the Chinese studios.
So instead of my rushing around like a headless chicken everyone agreed it was better to postpone the trip until after the holiday in the first week of February. This will probably work out better in the long run anyway because now I'd have had a chance to look at all the take 2s on The Condor before going over there.
I know this wasn't very exciting for anyone except maybe me and my family, but I thought I owed some sort of follow-up to anyone reading.

In the meantime here's a couple of drawings that some of you might find interesting...

Turning Japanese...

Well, I'm off to Japan and China next week to meet with the overseas studios on the Stan Lee Presents.. productions. I'm going there to check how things are going and to see if I can catch any possible problems befre they get too far along. In theory. Either way it'll be an interesting trip sine I've never been to either place before. And I love Sushi!!
In the meantime I thought I'd post a couple of images I did of the Crimson Avenger. He's been described by several sources as DC's first masked super hero. It sounds like he was intitally DC's version of the Green Hornet. I guess he even had an Asian sidekick.


Later they created a more 'superhero' version of him in spandex. I kinda like the older caped version myself.

Black Cat

I haven't had much time recently just to draw for fun, but now that the post production on The Condor has temporarily slowed down a bit and the books I'm working on are being painted by my son I thought this was as good as time as any to do some drawing. I don't know much about this charcater, but the drawings done by Terry Dodson have always intrigued me. So I thought I'd try one of my own.



I'll have to try a few more...