India Ink and Paint

2009 Harveys Awarded! Best Single Issue or Story

Y: THE LAST MAN #60, Vertigo Comics

The Harvey Awards

The Harvey Awards are one of the comic book industry’s oldest and most respected awards. The Harveys recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories, ranging from Best Artist to the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. They are the only industry awards both nominated by and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. http://www.harveyawards.org/history.html

Congratulations to Brian, Pia, Clem, Lee, Will, Casey and everyone involved in the success of our series!

Written by Matthew Sturges; Art by Luca Rossi, Jose Marzan Jr, and Antonio Fuso; Cover by Esao Andrews

Part 4 of “The Beauty of Decay.” Death rules the City in the Space Between, and as the body count rises, mad ghosts learn to do more than haunt. Will Fig and Peter find a way out? And to make matters even worse, the House of Mystery’s previous owner has returned to reclaim what’s his. Plus, in the short story “House and Home,” illustrated by Antonio Fuso (Fear Agent, GI Joe), we learn exactly what Cain has been up to for the past seven years.

• Vertigo
• 32pg.
• Color
• $2.99 US

On Sale November 4, 2009

JACK OF FABLES VOL. 6: THE BIG BOOK OF WAR

Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges; Art by Tony Akins and Jose Marzan, Jr. ; Cover by Brian Bolland

When Bookburner’s army attacks Revise’s compound, Jack returns not as a prisoner but as Commander-in-Chief. In this new title collecting issues #28-32 of Jack’s monthly series, secrets are revealed, including the strange relationships between Jack and the Page sisters.

Vertigo 128pg. Color Softcover $14.99 US Mature Readers
On Sale October 7, 2009

I’ve been playing around with different iPhone drawing/painting apps such as Brushes, Layers and Sketchbook (all available in the iTunes app store for a few dollars). I lean toward Layers as my favorite. For my tastes it has the most brush versatility and an easy to use interface. Sketchbook’s interface is to fancy and mysterious for it’s own good. I just want to paint. I don’t need to be wowed by mystery interfaces. Brushes is a good app, but I can’t get it to do what I can with Layers.

Tomorrow will mark one week that I haven’t been able to log into Facebook. Now, it’s not the end of the world. I continue to work, and do things that don’t involve Facebook. However, sometimes it feels like  my information, photos, and  people I need to contact for one thing or another are being held hostage. Ok. I know it’s not that way. I know it’s a technical problem. Facebook’s lack of customer service, and admission to it’s membership, or the press that anything’s wrong is what burns my butt the most. My understanding is that when Google’s Gmail went down, Google keep updating its users and posting periodic updates on the situation. Nothing of the sort from Facebook. Well, anyway… I still can’t log in (just tried it),and I know that writing to Facebok is pretty much useless, and I’m tired and need to go to bed.  I’ve had to much work this past week that maybe Facebook did this on purpose so I could spend time at the drawing board…

If you want to read more about the Facebook blackout, Caroline McCarthy at cnet.com and  Scott Klienberg at chicagonow.com have been covering the news.

Not sure how old this drawing is. 6 years? 10 years? I found it while doing some cleaning in the studio and thought I’d post it. I did some playing with it in Photoshop. Did it just to play and the drawing had faded some and I needed to bring out some of the linework. Have to get out and do more life drawing… But when to find the time…?

Irving Penn, Fashion Photographer, Is Dead at 92

My Facebook account is still down. I did get one new “friend” notification email a day or so ago, but that’s it. Hard to believe no one else has commented on any of the stuff I posted or commented on… Wrote to Facebook, but other than the automated reply, noting has happened yet… Don’t think that any of the Wordpress blog posts are getting through to Facebook either. Well, there’s always Google’s Wave coming soon…

JACK OF FABLES #39

Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges; Art by Russ Braun, Jose Marzan Jr., and Andrew Pepoy; Cover by Brian Bolland

“The New Adventures of Jack and Jack” Part 3! Jack Horner keeps getting fatter, bigger and uglier. It’s pretty clear some sort of strong magic is at work, but is it a diabolical attack – or a final comeuppance at long last for Jack’s many sins? In the meantime, his son Jack Frost has thoroughly taken over his dad’s old book. Along with his new companion McDuff, Jack Frost has entered the itinerant hero trade, but so far with decidedly mixed results. Will he get better at his new chosen profession and become the modern Jack of Fables?

• Vertigo
• 32pg.
• Color
• $2.99 US
• Mature Readers

On Sale October 28, 2009

HOUSE OF MYSTERY HALLOWEEN ANNUAL

Written by Matthew Sturges, Peter Milligan, Matt Wagner, Bill Willingham and Chris Roberson; Art by Luca Rossi, Jose Marzan Jr., Giuseppe Camuncoli, Amy Reeder Hadley, Mark Buckingham and Kevin Nowlan, Mike Allred and others; Cover by Esao Andrews

It’s Halloween at The House of Mystery, and that can only mean one thing: the bash of a lifetime! But when Fig discovers a strange mask in the attic, she begins having visions of everywhere the mask has been, and she quickly becomes the life and death of the party. This special 48-page annual contains a framing story by the regular HOUSE OF MYSTERY creative team of writer Matthew Sturges and artists Luca Rossi and Jose Marzan Jr. Also included is a series of short stories from a few regular Vertigo titles including HELLBLAZER by Peter Milligan, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini and MADAME XANADU by Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder Hadley and Richard Friend as well as a special MERV PUMPKINHEAD tale (the first in over 8 years!)by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham and Kevin Nowlan! In addition, you’ll be treated to a yarn spotlighting the upcoming new monthly series I, ZOMBIE by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred! 

Plus, a Q&A with the creative teams to uncover their scariest Halloween costumes, memories and other sordid tricks and treats as we salute the holiday that has made Vertigo world famous for all things dark and frightening!

• Vertigo
• 48pg.
• Color
• $4.99 US
• Mature Readers

On Sale October 14, 2009

House of Mystery 18

Written by Matthew Sturges ; Art by Werther Dell’Edera, Jose Marzan Jr. and Jeff Lemire ; Cover by Esao Andrews

“The Beauty of Decay” Part 3! Fig, Peter and Jordan venture out into the city of ghosts to visit the long-abandoned Pathfinder’s Academy where the most desperate specters wail and gnash. But the Pathfinder’s Academy holds more than ghosts – it also contains ancient dark secrets that will change Fig’s life forever. Featuring guest art by Werther Dell’Edera (LOVELESS) and a special tale of Fig Keele: “Teen Detective” by SWEET TOOTH creator and Xeric, Alex and Shuster Award-winner Jeff Lemire (THE NOBODY, The Essex County Trilogy).

• Vertigo
• 32pg.
• Color
• $2.99 US

On Sale October 7, 2009

My Facebook iPhone app crashed on me this morning and wouldn’t let me log back in. Then neither would my wife’s laptop or my iMac. All day the same “Your account is temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance. It should be available again within a few hours. We apologize for the inconvenience.” 12 hours and it’s still not up and running for me. How long does server maintenance take? Don’t recall such long outages on my Roadrunner, Google, bank or other stuff… Not that Facebook is that important, but one gets worried about hacked accounts and stuff… So if anyone out there in Facebook land can hear me, drop me a line…not through Facebook  though…that won’t work (can’t access my account and don’t seem to get Facebook emails either). Find my email on my profile. Good night ladies and gentlemen in Facebook land. Where ever you are…

Forgot that Ken Burns’ THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA was on tonight. Guess it’ll be repeated sooner or later.

Monsters inked. Pages erased. Oh, they need tweaking and scanning… tomorrow. Tired, and now it’s time for CSPAN and chocolate milk. DVRing Mad Men (3 weeks to catch up on

I will be at the Orlando Mini Megacon August 22 – 234rd, 2009! I’ll be selling original art from Jack of Fables and House of Mystery and other series I’ve worked on!

Mini MegaCon August 2009

August 22nd-23rd, 2009
Orange County Convention Center Hall E1
9899 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

Showroom Hours:
Saturday – 10am-7pm
Sunday – 10am-5pm

HOUSE OF MYSTERY #16

Written by Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham; Art by Luca Rossi and Richard Corben; Cover by Esao Andrews

A new storyline begins here, but the solicitation text for this issue has been stolen, and the following note left in its place: “Dear Constance, I’ve been having bad dreams. I am in a House, and there is a man summoning me…come quickly.” The meaning of the note is unknown. The only certainty is that this issue’s short story features the eerie art of Richard Corben (HELLBLAZER).
Vertigo 32pg. Color $2.99 US Mature Readers
On Sale August 5, 2009

JACK OF FABLES #37

Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges; Art by Russ Braun and Andrew Pepoy; Cover by Brian Bolland

Jack’s back out on his own, but after his grave insult to the artist who’s drawing this story, what will become of Jack? Will the artist seek vengeance and have Jack go bald? Get fat? Grow a tail? Will he be covered in scabs and lesions? Or will the artist simply ignore the script and have Jack brutally murdered on the first page and bring in a replacement? Who knows? Anything is possible…
Vertigo 32pg. Color $2.99 US Mature Readers
On Sale August 19, 2009

I helped Tony Akins ink 6 pages on this issue.

Written by Chris Roberson; Art by Tony Akins; Cover by Brian Bolland

Featuring an untold tale of Jack’s past drawn by guest artist Tony Akins and written by guest-scripter and novelist Chris Roberson (HOUSE OF MYSTERY #13)! “Jack ‘n’ Apes” is the exciting true story of the time our hero found himself in equatorial Africa in nothing but his underpants, was taken prisoner by a bunch of talking apes, and in no time had set himself up as their king. That’s right, monkey fans, Jack was the real king of the jungle, so accept no substitutes. Kreegah!
Vertigo 32pg. Color $2.99 US Mature Readers
On Sale July 22, 2009

Written by Matthew Sturges; Art by Luca Rossi and David Hahn; Cover by Esao Andrews

Harry’s true identity, Fig’s heritage, Rina’s heartbreak, a dragon’s unrequited love and the Thinking Man’s Army all converge in a very small space in this shattering conclusion to “The Space Between”. And somewhere in there we manage to squeeze in “Jordan’s Movie Idea with the Gorillas and Sh*t,” illustrated by David Hahn (BITE CLUB, FABLES).
Vertigo 32pg. Color $2.99 US Mature Readers
On Sale July 8, 2009

Written by Brian K. Vaughan; Art by Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr.; Cover by JG Jones

With the wildy popular “AFTER WATCHMEN, WHAT’S NEXT?” program under way, DC Comics unveils a second wave of reprints of key DCU, Vertigo and WildStorm titles priced at just $1.00!

After a worldwide plague devastates billions, amateur magician Yorick Brown discovers he’s the last man on Earth.
Vertigo 40pg. Color $1.00 US Mature Readers
On Sale July 1, 2009