SWEET TOOTH and 2011 Wrap-up


Here's a SWEET TOOTH commission. For Jeff Lemire, no less. I was very flattered that Jeff asked for a piece of one of his characters by little old me.

This will be my final post of the year. And what a year it's been. Career highlights included my Crossbones one-shot came out and looked beau-ti-ful thanks to Matt Wilson. I got to draw T-bolts during the big Fear Itself event. I got to actually draw the X-Men in a Marvel comic; that was amazing. Drew the T-Bolts in Ireland, and Spidey in the same issue too! Drew an arc on Northlanders (one of my favourite books) for Vertigo.... it really was the year where I got to fulfil all my childhood aspirations.

So, thanks 2011. Hopefully in 2012 I'll get to do bigger, better and bolder things. My goal for 2012 is to do a comic project with Jordie. She's got great projects at Marvel right now, and I'm getting more and more frustrated that none of them are with me. Let's see if we can make it happen next year.

Thanks to everyone for their support in the last year. It's very much appreciated. Extra special thanks to Jeff Parker, Brian Wood, Matt Wilson, Frank Martin, Dave McCaig, Tom Brennan at Marvel, Mark Doyle at Vertigo ...and all the Irish crowd.

Best,

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #167 OUT TODAY


Man, this one took me by surprise. T-BOLTS 167, the second part of 'The Ripper Tour' story, is out today in all good comic shops. Above is a b+w page. See a coloured preview by the wonderful Frank Martin here.

Dec.

BETRAYAL OF THE PLANET OF THE APES #3 COVER



Here's the variant cover the Jordie and I did for Betrayal #3. Reeeaaallly happy with this one. I love design-heavy posters with limited colour palettes, but it can be tough to actually get those types of covers approved. Make sure you pick up the issue in a few weeks!

Dec.

SWEENEY TODD COVER



Got word from Classical Comics last week; Sweeney Todd is now fully coloured! All the book needed was a cover, so here it is.

Glad I waited 'til the end to do this cover; parts of the book are 3(!?!) years old so I'm glad that I could present the finished book with the most recent work possible.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS 166 OUT THIS WEEK




Yep, my latest issue of THUNDERBOLTS is out this Wednesday; do pick it up! It's the next arc of the current time-traveling epic that is happening in the book right now, where the T-Bolts end up in Victorian London on the trail of Jack the Ripper! As ever, Jeff Parker wrote a great and crazy adventure for the team. Also, I think the colour-work Frank Martin did in this arc has resulted in our best collaboration to date.

See the colour preview here.

Dec.

THOUGHT BUBBLE THIS WEEKEND!


Hey all, I'll be at THOUGHT BUBBLE; The Leeds Comic Art festival this weekend. I've heard wonderful things about the show for years but this is the first year I've been able to attend. There is a fantastic guest list this year including Adam Hughes, Jeff Lemire, David Aja and even fellow THUNDERBOLTS artist Kev Walker! I'll be at table 14 in the Royal Armouries Hall (see below) with Jordie where I'll be taking sketch commissions, selling sketchbooks and prints.

See more about the show here.


Dec.

NORTHLANDERS #46



Northlanders #46 is out tomorrow. Again, absolutely delighted with how this issue came out. Dave McCaig did a stunning job on colours. I hope ye all pick up a copy.

The above images are scans from the actual comic, so colours aren't 100% accurate.

Dec.

LILLE COMICS FESTIVAL

This weekend I'll be a guest at the Lille Comics Festival along with guys like Dustin Ngyen, Mike Allred, Rufus Dayglo and R.M Guera. Very much looking forward to it. Haven't been to France since I was quite young. I'll be drawing free sketches for anyone who wants them. I'll have some prints and sketchbooks for sale too. If you see me there, feel free to say hello.



Dec.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!



[Pumpkins carved by myself, Jordie and Stephen Thompson/Lisa Jackson]

Dec.

BETRAYAL OF THE PLANET OF THE APES



Next week #1 of BETRAYAL OF THE PLANET OF THE APES comes out from BOOM! Studios. It's written by Corinna Sara Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, illustrated by Gabe, with colours by (blog regular) Jordie Bellaire. I've seen Jordie work on all the pages and can honestly say it looks fantastic. Can't wait for everyone to see it. Make sure you get a copy!

Also, I'm doing the alternate covers for issues 2-4. The above image is the variant cover for #2, by myself and Jordie.

Dec.

SIN/CROSSBONES

Jordie and I are attending the Lille Comics Festival in a few weeks (Nov 5th/6th). As such, we were asked to contribute artwork to be made into a lithograph print that will raise money for charity. The theme was 'villains'. This is what we came up with: a Crossbones/Sin piece. The Red Skull raised his ugly head too.

Dec.

NORTHLANDERS #45 PREVIEW

Got comps of my first Northlanders issue in the mail today. I could post my black and white pages but I LOVED Dave McCaig's colours so much, I just scanned the pages from the comic.

Hope ye all like it. It's out this coming Wednesday, Oct 12th.







Dec.

DARK KNIGHT DETECTIVE


I drew a 'dream DC project' piece over on Comic Twart today. Got a really good reaction on Twitter, so Jordie made it into a destop image, if anyone wants it.

Dec.

T-BOLTS 163.1 and FORBIDDEN PLANET SIGNING



Greetings all!

This coming wednesday sees the release of THUNDERBOLTS 163.1. Really happy with this issue; I got to draw the Original T-Bolts, The original Masters of Evil and even one of the biggest Marvel superheroes. Also; the T-Bolts go to Ireland!!! I really hope ye check it out. There's a spiffy preview here.

Also, if you're in the Dublin area on wednesday, come by Forbidden Planet, where I'll be signing T-Bolts 163.1 and copies of my new sketchbook ART DECO.


Dec.

PIGS #1 VARIANT COVER


Hey there. PIGS #1 written by old friend Ben McCool and complete stranger Nate Cosby is out this week. The art is by Breno Tamura with colour by Chris Sotomayor. I've read the first issue and it's really, really good.

Myself and Jordie collaborated on this exclusive variant cover for it's first issue. We're really happy with it. Great job on the cover dress to by the way, whoever did it.

Dec.

NORTHLANDERS


It's true!

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #166!


Solicitations for November were released this weeks, showing that I'm drawing Thunderbolts #166. It's actually a 2 part story, taking up #167 too. Here's the info...

Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by DECLAN SHALVEY
Cover by MICHAEL DEL MUNDO
Issue #166 Marvel Comics Anniversary Variant by PAUL RENAUD

Issue #166 - ARE THE THUNDERBOLTS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GRISLIEST MURDERS
IN HISTORY? Great Britain, 1888: London is gripped in fear, afraid to go
out at night as Jack the Ripper's body count goes higher. But one
witness claims she saw an enormous man by a murder scene a man named
HYDE! The Bolts' chase through time continues as Declan Shalvey returns!

Been a great/busy week; that X-Force piece that was being auctioned for charity ended up raising a lot of money and I did a variant cover for the new Planet of the Apes series (by Gabriel Hardman (Hulk) that's being coloured by Jordie).

Also, I've agreed to do draw some issues for one of my favourite books. Can't wait til I can say what it is. Really excited about it.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #163.1 PREVIEW




Up on the Marvel website, there's an interview with Jeff Parker about the new direction T-Bolts is taking post-Fear Itself. Check it out here! It included the above preview pages from the Point One issue. As you can see, I got to draw the Masters Of Evil and the original T-Bolts! Got to draw a lot more cool things too. Can't wait for it to come out.

Dec.

SIGNING AT ASYLUM BOOKS AND GAMES THIS SATURDAY


Hey there; I'll be doing a signing in ASYLUM BOOKS and GAMES this Saturday. It'll be great to go back to the store; I had a studio space below it for a year and a bit; while drawing Freak Show, and Frankenstein. Good times.

Anyway, hope folk can make it along. I'll be sketching and signing all day.

Dec.

X-FORCE PIECE AUCTIONED FOR CHARITY




Gah! Thought I had already blogged about this. There is ONE (and a bit) day left to bid for the above UNCANNY X-FORCE piece. Please do so; 100% of the proceeds goes to benefit a widowed mother in need.

GO BID FOR IT HERE

Dec.

LEAGUE OF VOLUNTEERS #1 VARIANT COVER --COLOURS


Jordie did a fantastic job colouring the League cover . I think it looks great.

Dec.

LEAGUE OF VOLUNTEERS #1 VARIANT COVER


Here's a cover I just finished for Rob Curley and Barry Keegan's League Of Volunteers. Issue 2 just came out but the book has been selling so well, they have to do another printing of the first issue. It's a lovely looking book, and it's great to see Rob expand the line of his Atomic Diner publishing line with this series, his Rósín Dubh series, and the upcoming Jennifer Wilde.

I think the last work I did for Rob was the cover to one of my Freak Show volumes. I'd like to think I've come on a bit since then.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #160 OUT TODAY!


Yep, issue 160 of T-Bolts is out today and is definitely by best issue to date. It's essentially the T-Bolts versus the Juggernaut, with some very destructive (and interesting) results.

This was so much fun to draw. Big, epic action and at one point, a sequence which was genuinely the most imaginative and challenging sequence I've ever had to draw. Really hope ye all pick it up.

Written by Jeff Parker, art my myself, and colours by Frank Martin. You can see a colour preview of the issue here.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #159 OUT TODAY


I double-sized Thunderbolts extravaganza! Today, Thunderbolts #159 is out, with a main story by Jeff parker and myself and more stories by Jen Van Meter/ Eric Canete, Joe Caramanga/ Valentine De Landro and Frank Tieri/ Matthew Southworth. You can see a preview here. Make sure you pick it up!

Dec.

T-BOLTS POINT ONE!

Hey folks, solicits for September came out and with it news that I'm drawing the 'Point One' issue of Thunderbolts; being #163.1. I just read the script and it's bloody great. Can't wait to start drawing it.

Also, it has a fantastic cover by Roberto DeLaTorre!



THUNDERBOLTS #163.1
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by DECLAN SHALVEY
Cover by ROBERTO DE LA TORRE
JUSTICE – LIKE LIGHTNING! As Songbird readies the hunt for the escaped Thunderbolts, she must present their history to the mysterious forces that guide the raft – but those forces have more devious plans for these former Masters of Evil!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

Dec.

SPIRIT OF HOPE


A couple of months ago I posted this page I drew from a 3-page story written by Rob Williams, coloured by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Brandon DeStefano. It is part of a charity project; an anthology called SPIRIT OF HOPE, a book featuring work by almost 100 comic creators in aid of survivors of the Tsunami and earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand which happened earlier this year, published by Comic Book Alliance.

The anthology features 50 pieces of donated art from 92 top international creators in the comic book industry.

Edited by Alan Cowsill and Tim Pilcher, Spirit of Hope is being offered in two alternate covers - one by Jimmy Broxton (above), the other by Mike Allred (left). Creators involved include Natalie Abadzis, Nick Abadzis, Adrian Bamforth, Jasper Bark, Donna Barr, Jordie Bellaire, Paul H Birch, Bolt-01, Dan Boultwood, Mark Buckingham, Jim Campbell, Richmond Clements, Jason Cobley, Simon Coleby, Mike Collins, Martin Conaghan, Gary Crutchley, Glenn Dakin, Al Davison, Brandon DeStefano, Benjamin Dickson, Martin Eden, Mats Engesten, Gary Erskine, Al Ewing, Glenn B Flemming, Emma Flint, Henry Flint, Leigh Gallagher, Matt Gibbs, Gary Gilbert, Alan Grant, Jon Haward, Peter Hogan, Kev Hopgood, Graeme Howard, Inko, Rich Johnston, Ant Jones, GM Jordan, Jessica Kemp, David Leach, Tony Lee, Nigel Lowrey, Ciaran Lucas, Paul McLaren, Gary Spencer Millidge, Michiru Morikawa, Alex Moore, Leonie O’Moore, Michiru Morkawa, Eva Perkins, Grant Perkins, Martyn Pick, Maria Pickering, David Pugh, James Reekie, Regan, Neil Roberts, Darick Roberston, John Robbins, John Ross, Declan Shalvey, Liam Sharp, Akiko Shimojima, Si Spencer, Vicky Stonebridge, Lew Stringer, Steve Tanner, Archie Templar, S Thompson, Geoffrey D. Wessel, Chris Western, Andrew Wildman, WJC, Ant Williams, Rob Williams, Sean Michael Wilson and Yel Zamor.

The collection comes in two editions – one with a beautiful Jimmy Broxton cover (pictured) and a second with a cool Michael Allred cover. All profit from the title will go to help disaster victims via Second Harvest and the New Zealand Red Cross.

Copies of the book can be ordered and are £14.99 + £3.00 p&p. Anyone ordering should state their preference of cover, both can be seen on the Comic Book Alliance website where you can also place your order online.

This is a great book for a great cause. Give it your support if you can.

Dec.

HEROES CONVENTION 2011


I'll be at this year's HEROES convention in Charolette. I had a wonderful time at last year and I'm delighted to get to go again. This year, I will have a proper table with colourist extraordinaire Jordie Bellaire. I'll be at table AA-117.

I'll be selling copies of my Art Deco sketchbook for $20
I will be doing 9x12'' commissions for $50
Original artwork will be available for sale.
Also, I will have 20 limited edition prints (see below), exclusive to Heroes, coloured by Jordie. It came out great!


Finally, if you're at the show, feel free to check out the Comic Twart panel at 1:00PM on Friday

More here..

FRIDAY, JUNE 3rd, 1:00 PM

Comic Twart
Room 206
Every monday one of the members of Comictwart picks a subject for the group to draw over the course of the week. In the last year and and a half, using that very simple formula, Comictwart.com has become one of comics’ most popular art blogs. Join “twartists” Dan Panosian, Francesco Francavilla, Ron Salas, Tom Fowler, Declan Shalvey, and Dave Johnson, with moderator Chris Sims of Comics Alliance, for an entertaining Q&A while the group sketches a subject taken from you the audience! All sketches to be donated to the HeroesCon Annual Art Auction!

Hope to see some o' ye at Heroes. It's a bloody great show. Can't wait for it :)

Dec.

THE FAUN [PAN'S LABYRINTH]
Just a quick sketch I did today.

Dec.

T-BOLTS #157 OUT TODAY!
MORE T-BOLTS TO COME!
WIZARD WORLD NY!


Yep, THUNDERBOLTS #157 is out today, so be sure to pick it up.

In other news, the August solicitations went up and with 'em, news that I'm drawing not only #160, but also #161 and #162. It's a 3-part Fear Itself tie-in. I've just finished #160 and it's crazy. Can't wait for it to come out.

Be sure to order them all at your local comic shop.

THUNDERBOLTS #161 & #162
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by DECLAN SHALVEY
Covers by J.S. ROSSBACH
FEAR ITSELF TIE-IN
Juggernaut has brought destruction to the American Midwest. His team- the alpha squad of the Thunderbolts – have caught the full fury of Cain Marko joined to the ancient force of The Serpent. It all comes down to this! A stand has to be taken and the worst threats of a lost age will face the worst threats of today- the combined squads of the THUNDERBOLTS! It's a major battle with major upheaval as members are transformed completely and others will reveal secret agendas-- and betray their team.
This explosive finale will change the Thunderbolts in profound ways, and turn old friends into bitter enemies. Don't miss it!
32 PGS. (each)/Rated T+ …$2.99 (each)

Also, I'll be at Wizard World New York this weekend. Come by table 248 and say hi. I'll be doing sketches at the show, but don't have time to take pre-orders this time; so first come, first serve.

Dec.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #157 PREVIEW



A preview for #157 of Tbolts went online last week; it's out this Wedneday. It's actually a shared issue between myself and Kev Walker, so should be interesting to read as one story. Features the proper debut of the Underbolts! Be sure to check it out! Coloured preview of the issue here.

Dec.

FEAR ITSELF; THE WORTHY

Hello there. A four-page Juggernaut story I drew went online this week. Written by Jeff Parker and coloured by Matt Wilson, the 4 pages are part of the online 'The Worthy' series are doing over the next few weeks. It's available for free on the Marvel Comics app, so check it out!

I got a chance to draw some X-Men in this story which was great. Love drawing from Jeff's scripts and was delighted to work with Matt Wilson again, who coloured the Crossbones one-shot I recently worked on.

Inks for the first page below, and Matt's colour below that.


I believe the story will be printed with all the other stories in a collection during the summer.

Dec.

ART DECO, BOSTON COMIC CON, PRE-ORDERS...


Hello all. I've finally made a solo sketchbook. It's called ART DECO. It's 80 pages of material, made up of Eclectic Micks sketches, Comic Twart sketches, layouts, etc. There's actually a good chunk of previously unseen work in there too. I'll be launching it at the Boston Comic Con this weekend. Check out their guest list; it's pretty sweet!

If anyone is interested in pre-orders for sketches at the show; just e-mail me (address is in sidebar on right) and i'll add you to the list. It's $50 dollars for a fully inked A4 sized piece. Thanks.

Dec.

ALBANY COMIC CON

I went to the Albany Comic Con show yesterday and had a great day. Drew a few sketches for those who wanted them, most of which are below....






Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #159 PREVIEW

Jeff Parker was interviewed on CBR yesterday, talking about THUNDERBOLTS and the upcoming Fear Itself crossover. You can read it here. Also in the interview were preview pages I drew from THUNDERBOLTS #159, so I thought i'd show them off here...




You might make out some of the T-Bolts Beta team are in the last page, but I ain't sayin' nuthin'!

Dec.