GOING UNDERGROUND

Let's talk other people's comics, shall we?

Fellow Portland comic book folks Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber have a new comic coming out starting this September. Published by Image, it's going to be a five-issue color series called Underground, which if I am correct, has its origins in a story Steve did for Four-Letter Worlds all those years ago. Still one of my favorite anthologies, and the story I did in it is still one of my favorites of my own work.

Jeff and Steve are pretty much a creative match made in heaven. Their work separately on comics like The Interman, Whiteout, and Agents of Atlas have shown they both have a special knack for giving a modern angle to classic-style adventure comics of various stripes. Jeff's clear and clever writing funneled through Steve's journeyman approach to page layout and his remarkable skills as a draftsman just sounds like perfect comic book chemistry to me. Add Ron Chan on colors, and it's win-win-win.

Check out the Underground blog for more info and to read a sneak preview of the first issue.

Oni Press is doing their talent contest at the conventions again this summer. Read all about it here.

If you're an artist trying to get a leg up in this industry, this is something you definitely want to look into. This is no joke, no mere publicity gimmick. Several people working for Oni and other publishers right now got their earliest gigs by participating in previous talent searches.

This is your chance to show you can do the work in a timely fashion and delivery on the quality. Pass it up at your own peril.

Freckle-nosed Natalie Nourigat has some great new art on her blog, as well as some links to some of her very talented friends that I had not seen before. Check out the work of Emi Lenox and Angie Wang.

Cranky princess Andi Watson has also been posting a lot of pictures as of late. Check his Flickr.

Current Soundtrack: shuffle up some Arctic Monkeys, Cardigans, Camera Obscura, Velvet Underground, McAlmont & Butler