It Won't Pay for Her College

This  is easily the longest time I've gone without drawing a new "Epic Tales..." strip since I it began, although    it's sister comic, "RECORD HEAT", is still pluggin' along regularly. It's almost as if the thing that I get paid to do takes priority, huh?

BTW, "Epic Tales..." is gonna be black and white again for the foreseeable future. I think it helps distinguish it from "Record Heat" (sorta), and makes it easier and more cost effective for printing.

Here are some of the sketchcards I did for Phoenix Comicon, which I tabled at last weekend:

 Kamandi, probably my favorite Jack

Kirby work that I've read, so far.

 Finn, from the cartoon "Adventure Time"

 Jake, also from the cartoon "Adventure

Time"

 Tom Scioli's American Barbarian

 Einstein, the punk rock panda.

And finally, my weird, sorta collagie (sic) final project for my photoshop class. BTW, the robot figure is partially swiped from this pic by Jack Kirby;

Alrighty, then!

The Power of Love

 Normally, I'd complain about being too busy with school, job, parenting, blah, blah, blah to keep up with the strip, but instead, I'm just gonna post some sketches (in various states of completion) that I made in class recently ( rather than doing the actual assignments ), all having to do with upcoming comic projects ( non-school related, of course).

Stay tuned; As soon as the semester is over, updates will be back to normal. And if you miss me, go read Record Heat.

INTERLUDE: Panda vs. Robot, and other stuff

Well, school has started once again, which means I'll be attempting to post one strip a week during my hectic schedule. But, until next week's installment, here's some random stuff I drew in the lull that is the first week of the semester.

Prefatory Panic

I'm sure I've made other strips that are similar to this about how much stress I feel during the course of the semester, but it's no less true now.

I recently printed 50 copies of "Epic Tales..."#8 at a print shop (it's the first time I haven't done it all by myself, at Kinko's), in a slightly larger format; 7x8.5 (legal size, folded), with bristol covers. I'm not putting it up in the store because I need 'em to sell at various shows in the near future.
Here's a sketchcard I recently drew of Vaughn and Mark Bode's "Cobalt 60". I discovered this series in a friend's brother's collection of "Heavy Metal" magazines when I was in 7th grade (around the same time I found the original Ninja Turtle comics), and it's been stuck in my mind ever since.

And finally, here's a pic from my sketchbook of Crimson Cloak punching a Punk Rock Panda in the face... I've been working on a lot of autobio stuff recently, and I don't often get the opportunity to draw fisticuffs in those comics, so I thought I'd take a little break.

INTERLUDE: "... Punk Rock Pandas" update!

Here's the newly completed cover artwork for the "Genetically Modified Punk rock Pandas" minicomic, sans title.

BTW, I've decided that whenever I make a post that doesn't include an "Epic Tales..." strip, the title of said post will say "INTERLUDE", just because I'm that anal retentive.

Stuffs 'n stuff

I haven't drawn an "Epic Tales..." strip today because I'm posting this before I go to work, and I was planning on drawing a new one on my morning commute. But, I did want to share another page from the "Genetically Modified Punk Rock Pandas" minicomic I've been working on recently: BTW, a week or so ago I had an entry on the 'Repaneled blog' in which I redrew a panel from TMNT (my head is very much stuck in the world of mutant animals right now, I guess!)... You can see it here.

CONAN, the Accountant

I'm not sure why I chose to color the dude in the suit like he was from the 70's, but I like how it worked out.

Here's the first finished page of "Genetically Modified Punk Rock Pandas", an 8-page TMNT parody/homage minicomic I'm working on. It's a riff on the first issue of the original, black and white "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Google the first page of that comic if you wanna compare this to the source material.