“you’re soul is alive but they want it for ransom..”

I’ll get to why I think that quote is so appropriate for creative individuals in a minute here.

So I woke up this morning, and noticed on my Twitterific widget that I installed on my desktop yesterday (a GREAT little app by the way) a whole bunch of interesting things going on out there in the world. None quite as interesting to me personally however, as the announcement by Platinum Studios that there is a Hero By Night live-action TV series in the works now.

My first instinct was to call up my good buddy DJ, who just happens to be the creator of said Hero By Night, and talk to him about this. I won’t get into what we talked about, where the conversation went, or any of that. Suffice to say, it was definitely a surprise I think. Especially for a creative team that was responsible for putting together that property, who were pretty much forced the hand they had to play by stopping production on the series earlier in the year and leaving a lot of fans and readers wondering what happened (and what happens next). NOW would be the perfect time for everyone involved in this entire mess to bury the hatchets, to maybe pay some money UPFRONT and get the ball rolling on continuing something like the Hero By Night universe. Get back to making the property RELEVANT in an online setting, and get that marketing and promotion engine running the way it should, and create something for TV land to get excited about. Generating even more material and mythos for them to work with. If that is even possible at this point. There IS a lot of bad blood. It has been dragged through the internet mud a lot in the last 6 months or so. Mostly because of the situation that surrounded the premature ending of the series. I STILL feel bad for bailing first on the thing, because it put DJ in a bad situation. But at the end of the day, I couldn’t justify to MY family or myself, continuing to invest so much time an effort into something that was taking time away from jobs that were actually bringing in money and helping us pay our bills each month.

Which sort of leads into what I’m thinking this morning. Artists in general, are some of the most under appreciated and maligned creatures on the planet. We are blessed with this strange ability to channel emotional and spiritual energies, whether they be our own or those that we are receiving from the Universe or from divine intervention, and portray them in a way that allows other people to transcend the limits of their imaginations. We can make people see and feel things they otherwise may not have thought of. We can move people in ways emotionally and psychologically that people who aren’t artists just cannot. In short we can share our dreams with others, and inspire dreams in other people.

In many ways, this same blessing is also our biggest curse. We often times spend nights lying awake in bed, after utterly exhausting days, unable to shut our minds down and sleep because our minds are in fact communing with some higher power. We have no other choice but to try and find the perfect form to create the vision, dream or idea that we have in our heads. Whether you want to call it a sickness or a responsibility, either one would probably be a correct categorization.

Where the real problem lies is when we as artists, decide to try to find a way to convey our artwork in such a way that it still is able to give us that sense that we are creating and realizing dreams, and yet are able to do that all the time, every day, and actually be paid for it. Nothing is a greater sense of accomplishment for an artist, than to be able to CREATE every day, and make a living doing it. We all strive at some level for acceptance. Not just artists, but everyone. We want to feel like what we do matters. That our actions make in a difference in our lives; that the choices we make matter.

So with all of that said, as an artist…our souls really are ALIVE and there is almost always a ransom involved. Whether it is a ransom to ourselves, in the form of sacrifices we make in our lives to realize our dreams, or whether it is a ransom to someone else where we trade our talents and abilities to bring other peoples dreams to life in exchange for the money which gives us the means to create and use our talents on a daily basis. Where we really put ourselves as artists into a bad position, is when our talents and abilities aren’t able to be compensated for. There are often a variety of reasons that lead people to not be able to pay an artist for their services. At the end of the day though, none of those reasons matter. We put not only our talents and abilities at the disposal of someone who hires us to create for them, but we also put our lives at their feet as well. We are by and large a group of people that rely on companies and clients to pay for our services. Unless you belong to a studio, work for a development company in film or video games, the chances are great that you are a freelancing artist. When you are a freelancer, you can only create so much work in a given time. You are not a studio, you are an individual. Your time is thus much more valuable, because the time you spend working on a project is time that you can’t get back. If you work for a month, turning down other jobs in that time, and you aren’t paid at the end of the month for your work, or you have to wait for money for weeks or months on end, then the entire time you spent working on that project is lost to you. The opportunities for other work have been lost to you as well. You don’t go and get your car fixed and then think that you can’t pay the mechanic or body shop for a month, or two or three. You don’t go into work every day, working 50 hours a week or more, and then NOT get paid every 2 weeks. 99.9% of people would walk away from a job that wasn’t paying them.

Our lives, the majority of the lives of those in this country right now, are lived paycheck to paycheck. Bills are due every 2 weeks. If you’re 2 months late paying your electric bill, they shut off your lights. If you’re 2 months late paying an artist, why wouldn’t they stop working on your project. It’s not a slam at anyone. It’s a FACT OF LIFE. Artists live paycheck to paycheck, by and large. We rely on money coming in the door. We can’t pay our mortgage if we don’t get paid for our work. Thus when we are faced with a situation where we can no longer wait for money to come in, we HAVE TO TAKE ON OTHER WORK THAT WILL PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE. It should not be frowned upon, it should not be looked down on, it should be actually a very simple concept to understand. If I can’t buy groceries because I haven’t been paid, I need to move on. If I was stocking shelves at the local Walmart, and my paycheck wasn’t there when I went to pick it up after 2 weeks, I’d be looking for a new job. It’s exactly the same with being a freelancer.

I’ve had companies not pay me on time this year. That is no secret. It’s happened on more than one occasion, it’s happened with more than one client. It’s become somewhat of a scary pattern. I AM paranoid of doing business with ANYONE and ANY company at this point, and I’m not alone. It seems that a LOT of artists, designers, painters, colorists and creators I know are feeling the same way. It’s become a sort of DISEASE it seems that is permeating a LOT of industries right now.

Creative talent is being taken for granted as it always has, but it seems that this problem is skyrocketing in direct correlation with the problems that we are facing as an economy. We have lived in a society of instant gratification for so long that now we are being forced to change that lifestyle. People have been consuming products, buying, spending and throwing money they don’t REALLY have around for years. Now more than ever, it’s become important for us to PAY for what we WANT and NEED only if we can afford it. If you can’t afford something, then you need to save your money and wait until you can. It’s one thing to buy a new TV on credit, and make small monthly payments or don’t pay for a year and then pay it all off. But you can’t have that mindset when you are dealing with freelance artists, and PEOPLE. We can’t willingly ransom our talents, abilities and dreams and give you 0% financing for 12 months. If you can’t pay an artist for their work, then just WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN.

So yeah, that might not be the most coherent rant in the world, but it’s honest. If anyone has had to put up with as much CRAP the last year as MY family has here, I’d love to hear YOUR story as well. I know of quite a few people out there that have had to deal with the same sorts of things as me already. All I can say is, we as artists and creators DO deserve better. However I also am beginning to think that we need to maybe find a way to circumvent traditional ways of creating art, and learn to make a living for ourselves. I’ve had to stop and do a few things around here this morning, one of which hasn’t been breakfast however, so if you bothered to read this far thanks. NOW I need to get around and get to work on a painting which is a xmas gift for the boyfriend of a very wonderful client who has been absolutely bubbly and actually paid 50% upfront

I can’t say much more, .79 cents for the full color, 32 page, issue 4 of Hero By Night from Platinum Studios Comics. You can’t find a superhero comic ANYWHERE that cheap. It’s 32 pages of high quality, (beautifully colored if I may be so bold) compellingly written, superhero GENIUS for less than a dollar. the best part, FREE shipping. If you’re like me, you’re spending over $5 just to drive to and from your local comic shop. why not get FREE shipping and get yourself a little extra each month. Heavyink.com now offers 20% off of EVERY single book or trade collection at their site, and free shipping on ALL orders. You can start a subscription to all of your favorite titles (like Hero By Night for instance) it’s easy to sign up, and it’s where I’m buying all my books from now on as well. Check it out, and order your copy of Hero By Night for less than a dollar!!!!

SO…I got in last night around 2:30 in the morning here. Wide awake, and not the slightest bit tired. Took a long, HOT shower for the first time in like 4 days, and was able to relax enough to get to bed by 3:30 or so. Didn’t wake up until noon today, which sort of put a crimp on me getting to work at 8am, but I’ve unpacked my bags, got things put in their places here, answered my emails, picked up my son from school, and am going to get most of my thoughts out here so I can get to work. 5 more pages to finish by tomorrow night, but I’m thinking of going all out juggernaut in a bit and wrapping them all up today then just sleeping in tomorrow again.

Thursday- The flight out was great, after having to drive over and park in the overflow lot at the airport, wait on the shuttle to get me to my terminal, get through security and just BARELY catching my flight it seemed like. Gioy De Marco from Platinum picked me up at the airport, and got me over to where they were filming the Comic Book Challenge 2008 commercial in good time (and she’s NOT quite as maniacal a driver as everyone was telling me either) Or I’m JUST as crazy a driver and just didn’t notice it ) So once we were on location, the MIGHTY Dave Collins got me a sandwich while picking up some props (cuz man, was I starving by then) and the guys filming the commercial got down to bizness. Those guys did such a great job, it was really cool watching them work, the director Dave was awesome. And I sympathized with him, cuz he had a headache that kept getting worse throughout the night just like I did. I got to play this crossing guard, who dressed up as a crazy character called Crossing Justice, cape and all. I had fun with that once I got to wear the cape, doing all kinds of crazy Batman and vampire type stuff with the cape. It was a good time.

The funniest thing was, that while I was standing out there in the street with the stop sign and big construction worker gloves on, people thought I was ACTUALLY directing traffic (in the middle of a 4 way stop intersection) it was kind of funny. Until the cop car pulled up, did a U-turn in the middle of the intersection and parked across the street. I went to tell Dave, “dude, if I get arrested, guess who’s bailing me out of jail!?” Turns out he was just visiting another house of some buddies or something. The UPS truck DID get kind of close to me as it raced by, and there was this whacked out lady driving around in an Expedition that regardless of the fact that I was standing with stop sign in the middle of the street, there was camera equipment set up all over, and I was directing her to just swerve slightly AROUND me into the next lane, looked like she had no intent of moving her car over and would be perfectly happy to just run me the hell over with her big gas guzzling BEAST of an SUV. She did end up going around at the last second, but that was funny. I mean, I had a CAPE on for crying out loud. What? She thought she could run over Crossing Justice? That vehicle would have BUCKLED and crumpled like aluminum foil if it had tried to run me over (at least that’s how I was seeing it in my mind)

We then went back to the Platinum offices, met some more people up there and got to see them hard at work at 8 pm in their offices. I mean, half the office was still there at 8 at night, really busting ass on things, and making magic. It was so cool to see how passionate they all are, and to see how much they all LOVE their jobs. That’s how I am, and I really respect the hell out of people that work that hard at something because they love what they’re doing. A funny moment we had was when DJ and I went into their big board room, and sat at the head of their tables, and were just watching the film crew set everything up and watching everyone interact in the lobby together. DJ and I were in there, just talking comics, talking about plans we’ve got in motion, and just thinking it was a real cool place to have meetings (toys, video games, movie posters, statues all over the place) So we’re sitting there talking, probably looking like we were deep in conversation and Scott Rosenberg walks in with his pal Gareb Shamus (the dude who owns Wizard) Scott introduced us again, I’m pretty sure that I met Gareb last year in LA, and it was funny to hear him say that was actually the first time he had BEEN in the offices since WAY BACK when he was in there with Scott before they signed their lease. Those guys are really cool, because you can tell they’re just average guys like everyone else that LOVE what they do. So hopefully Scott didn’t think DJ and I were plotting a coup or anything

Friday- A fun day to start the show really. Got to see everyone in action at the Platinum booth, moving their product. What a difference a year makes too. Last year at this time, they really had only 3 or 4 titles out, this year, there are tables worth of product, the HBN hard cover trades, singles from the original 4 issue mini-series of HBN, and the first 2 issues of the ongoing book, the GUNPLAY preview edition (which went over AMAZINGLY well with the crowd), The Weapon mini-series by Scott Koblish, Fred Van Lente, and Paul Mounts (probably my FAVORITE thing they’ve done outside of HBN in the last year) and just lots of cool energy flowing around the place. The guys at Mac Hollywood had some Wacom Cintiq’s set up there for us to play around on and demonstrate things, and I got to do some really cool painting stuff on there. Just quick little 15-20 minutes paintings of stuff like Batman and Spiderman, a quick little environmental concept painting, but it’s cool to have people that know how to use stuff like that just jamming things out as the crowd walks by, it makes the STOP and watch what’s going on, which is what it’s all about at conventions really. DJ and I had a Hero By Night signing at 1 that day, and we did a cool interview with The Weekend Gamer I think as well. Hopefully some of my comments don’t come across as me bashing on other BIG publishers of superheroes, because that’s NOT what I was trying to get at. The interviewer just asked me what I thought was the best thing about HBN (or something like that) and I told her, it’s the fact that he’s not an angst ridden hero with lots of complicated issues, he’s a regular guy that kids and adults can both relate to. I was getting more at the fact that he’s the sort of hero ANYONE can get into. HBN IS the number 1, yeah #1, superhero comic on the internet for a reason.

Friday we spent relaxing at the bar of the hotel outside. Chatted about some interesting things, had a really drunk girl come up to the table out of nowhere, sit down and start talking to everyone. It was humorous. Learned a lot about everyone really on a personal level, and getting to interact with people like that and learn what their ambitions are in life, is really probably the COOLEST thing of all. It was great to sit next to Dan the man Forcey for instance, and listen to him talk about things like where he wants to be in 5 years, and get to know people like that on a personal level. Because really, in the end, what we DO for a living is nowhere near as interesting as learning about who we ARE as people. Maybe my wife and I will end up living in the same town as him and his woman in Argentina in 20 years and we’ll wind up meeting in a marketplace or something, laughing about how we both remember talking about stuff like that at a bar in LA 20 years beforehand. The way this Universe works you never know.

Saturday- fun day all around. more playing on the Cintiqs. I had a signing with Tone Rodriguez, Nei Ruffino and THE Adam Black at noon for KISS related stuff. I worked on the KISS 4K KISSmas one-shot with Tone and Nei, and Adam is now doing all of the chores on the KISS 4K regular series which is being released completely online (with plans to collect all that content in trade form in the future I believe) That was a fun time, I hadn’t actually ever met Tone before, he seemed REAL cool. I’ve met Nei before in passing really, but talked shop about coloring comics and stuff for a while and she seems like a real cool person. I’ve known Adam for a while now, and I’ve been helping him with his coloring for a few months now. That dude is so talented, that once I think he realizes his potential, he’s going to blow up.

At 1pm, right after that KISS signing, DJ and I had an HBN signing. I love seeing the KIDS come up to the booth with their HBN books, or come up to the booth for the first time, pick up an issue of HBN and just watch their eyes light up. I had a conversation with one little boy, must have been a bit younger than my son, maybe 6 or 7 years old. He picked up the first issue of the ongoing series, and was just so EXCITED by that opening fight scene between HBN and Elemento in the volcano with all the lava everywhere. I told him, “isn’t that awesome!? It’s just like at home when you’re hopping across the furniture to see if you can make it from one end of the room to the other so that your feet don’t touch the lava” He looks up at me and says, “YEAH!!!! I love doing that” His dad looks at me and says, he does that kind of thing all the time, that IS really cool. They bought like a whole SET of books and the trade. Not because I was pitching them a sale, or trying to pimp the superhero, but because they can RELATE to what’s IN the book. I used to do the SAME jumping from chair to chair to couch, to sometimes coffee table, when I was that age, pretending the carpet was this big vat of lava or something and if I fell off the chair or didn’t make that last jump, I’d fall into the lava or something. I’m betting that kids DAD did the same thing, and that is what I’m talking about with Hero By Night. It wows the KIDS, and it makes the grown ups who read it FEEL like a kid again, and REMEMBER what it was like when they were kids. It’s just such a cool thing to actually CONNECT with people like that at these shows. Because I know that there are people out there reading the book, or reading the online stories and material that’s put online, and feeling the SAME way.

Lots of other great things happened on Saturday, that debut of Gunplay by written byJorge Vega, drawn by Dominic Vivona, and colored by Nei Ruffino, was absolutely HUGE. That book looks absolutely wonderful. Donald Faison from Scrubs, who was a judge for last years CBC, was there to sign books, and they gave all the proceeds to charity, which in my mind was a truly wonderful thing to do, it raised some good money and people seemed really jazzed about it. Talked with Alex Sinclair for a bit, I idolize that guy, but I try and keep it in check so he doesn’t think I’m some sort of stalker. He’s helped me out so much over the last couple of years, both directly and indirectly. Talked with Alp Altiner for a while as well, about his upcoming stuff at Top Cow, about matte painting, concept art, and what sort of things I should be working on to get into that sort of work. It was cool to hear him say that I had talent, so I know I’m not a two bit hack ENTIRELY now, and that made me feel really good. DJ and I had a conversation with Marc Robinson who we were familiar with from the digital webbing forums. Marc was a real nice guy, and it’s cool to see him starting to land some nice gigs now as well. He had some Spiderman pages from an upcoming book he’s doing at Marvel there to show off and they were off the HOOK. More importantly though, he’s been there, struggling like everyone, and he’s fought through it all and kept producing work. He’s got some MAD talent, and I really like to see nice people like that succeed. I wish him the absolute BEST.

Scott took us to dinner that night, we had a good time talking all things comics and movies, but I also really dig talking about everyday things like family and stuff too. We both have daughters that are in middle school, have cell phones, boyfriends, all that stuff, so it’s cool to relate to people on those levels that you share a lot of things in common with, even when you work in entirely different industries and capacities really. It’s all creative work though in the end.

Sunday-traveled. Airport, plane, car, home. Couldn’t get on standby, so caught the later flight after all.

Today is catch up, with the family, with email, and with work later most likely once the kids are in bed here. It was a good time, but now I’ve got a LOT of work related catching up to do. I didn’t take any pictures the whole trip for once, so I may have to borrow of few from others as they get them up on the net and I get time. Whew!

After 1 day, the original Hero By Night mini-series from 2007 published by Platinum Studios has made it into the WOWIO top 10 most downloaded comic books!

not much in a writing mood this morning, however here’s a little peek at the Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel coming out in March from Platinum Studios. Written by Fred Van Lente (Marvel Adventures, Wolverine: First Class, The Incredible Hercules), with pencils by Billy Penn and colors and stuff by yours truly. enjoy!

so yesterday I had a REAL sore back, still sore today, but I realized it was likely a combination of having slept on it wrong the previous night, and also the height at which I was working with my new Cintiq. So after getting some things done, I HAD to rearrange my entire studio so I could work on the Cintiq in a more comfortable way. Pretty much 90% of my work day is spent coloring or painting digitally now, and I would be in for some serious health problems if I hadn’t gotten this Cintiq and been able to get it set up so that it’s as close as possible to working traditionally. Having it on my drawing table is a great idea of my wife’s, and I have to say, so far so good. It’s like I’m working on a regular piece of paper almost it’s so comfortable. Also, finally got around to stealing my buddy DJ’s idea of wallpapering his wall with artwork. Mine is mostly fantasy oil paintings and LOTS of color too. So without further ado, here’s an impromptu studio tour.

First up the Nap Room (or movie room, depending on the time of day) The couch for power naps and thinking, and the chair for sketching and writing and stuff.

The entryway to the studio,

Computer area, complete with notepad for writing down ideas and stuff of course, art ref books, graphic novels, and my Imagine FX magazines.

The new Cintiq setup, much more comfortable, the beginning of the wall of art as wallpaper, some traditional tools, a Pantone flip book for color scheming, various supplies, comics and books, and of course my Cintiq.

Talking to Bob a few weeks ago about our mutual obsession with Batman, so these pics are for him. I had to split up the mini-shrine when I rearranged things, so first, the batman shelf, limited edition metal sculpture, 42 of 1200, various action figures, including the limited edition Rise of Sin Ztu videogame Batman (or however you spell that name),

Limited edition, gold trimmed collector plates, my 3 legged lucky frog, picture of my beautiful wife, my son dressed up as Batman for Halloween when he was 2, etc……

Hero By Night hardcover trade, limited edition with silver foil flames instead of blue, signed by CEO of Platinum Studios Scott Rosenberg (thanks for mailing that out to me Scott ) Displayed in a wonderful silver framed shadow box with glass case my wife got me for Xmas (thanks honey)

The ever growing wall of HBN comics. From right to left, the original HBN mini-series, including all issue 1 variants, issue 1 of the new ongoing series (soon to be joined by issue 2 once Fed Ex comes today or tomorrow), a Tiki-God clock which I refuse to set at the proper time of day, because I really could care less about what time it is and I doubt those Tiki-Gods care either, a few toys and HBN trades.

hope you enjoyed this short little visual tour. I’m off to get more coffee and get to coloring now!

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Now playing: Pete Yorn - On Your Side
via FoxyTunes

I’ve been lucky enough to be get some advance looks at some of the artwork for last years Comic Book Challenge winning comic, Gunplay from creator Jorge Vega recently. I have to say, from what I’ve seen the book is coming along beautifully, and is creating it’s own unique look to go along with such a great story concept as well. I really enjoy Nei Ruffino’s coloring work as well, and now that she is onboard to help bring the artwork to life I think it’s going to turn out being an absolutely gorgeous product when it goes to print soon. Jorge and the gang will also be in LA with DJ Coffman and myself doing signings at the Platinum Studios Booth in March at Wizard World. Pretty sure we’ll be hanging around the booth chatting and sketching and whatnot all weekend as well, so make it a point to stop out and say hi. You can still preorder Gunplay from your local comic shop, or online right now as well.

The internet’s #1 Superhero webcomic continues his adventures in his own ongoing print series as well with issue #3 available to pre-order right now. This swanky collage cover features over 75 images taken directly from the original HBN diaries that ran daily for over 21 weeks prior to the launch of the first HBN mini-series in 2007. The comic continues to gain steam, garnering glowing reviews from all over as we build a modern day ICONIC superhero for ALL AGES. So get your local comic shop to order the book for you, or preorder the book online NOW by clicking on the cover below. But don’t take our word for it,

“”The current comic book story manages to prove that superhero tales do not have to be filled with angst-ridden, morally conflicted “heroes” to be good.” - Tanya Crawford, Broken Frontier

“I suggest that fanboys cut the fat they’ve been choking down out of their comic budgets (*cough* Spider-Man *cough-cough* Superman) and add in some nutrition in the form of Hero by Night.” -The Pullbox

“Coffman’s artwork is fantastic. I love his style because it creates an “animated series” kind of feel to this series that I think is vastly appropriate. I really do dig his style and there’s not much negative I can say about it because it just flat-out works for this story. Coffman’s work is only enhanced by the vibrant and brilliant colors that Jason Embury brings to the page as well and the artwork in this book becomes the complete package.” -Kevin Powers, Comics Bulletin