This was a pen and ink commission I did a while back (not sure what year).

My printer just notified me that the pallet of HEARTBURST AND OTHER PLEASURES was delivered to Diamond’s warehouse on Thursday, May 8th. What that means is that retailers should be receiving their orders in the next two weeks. It also means that Amazon.com’s incredible preorder discount will be disappearing very soon. If you want to snag a copy for less than $11, you’ll need to act fast.

This is a portrait of one of my personal heroes, Neil Young, done for BOOK OF CHANGES; a collection of interviews by Kristine McKenna published by Fantagraphics. This scan’s a little muddy since I no longer have the original art and had to take it from the printed book. Pen and ink, 2001.

I get a lot of questions about whether or not MARVELMAN will ever be reprinted. Prices for back issues and original art from the series are stratospheric, reflecting continued fascination with what many say is the first and best modern superhero comic ever done.

I don’t have a clue what’s going on with the business end of things. The few gleanings I get are from the internet and most of those indicate that the contract situation is hopelessly complicated. But when folks ask about reprinting the material I have to point to one of the issues I was lucky enough to pencil and wonder if it COULD be reprinted by a major company in today’s market.

I’m talking about MIRACLEMAN #9, “Scenes Of The Nativity”, with it’s unflinchingly graphic birth scene as presented above in tribute to all mothers everywhere. Script by Alan Moore, pencils by Rick Veitch, inks Rick Bryant, lettering Wayne Truman and color by Rick Courtney.

Previously unpublished pen and ink; originally intended for the Indigo Sunset newspaper comic page in the back of GREYSHIRT: INDIGO SUNSET. Lettered by Todd Klein. As with almost all my books, PanelToPanel.net has it in stock.

Marker in sketchbook, 2004.

Hey, I’m quoted in a CNN article on violence in comics.

My ink and gouche, done in 1992 as an ad for BRAT PACK T-shirts, has been accepted in the Southern Vermont Arts Center 79th Annual Members’ Exhibit. It’s on display, and for sale, through June 10. Comic book art collectors might think it a little pricey at $1,680, but I’ve found that offering my very best pieces in gallery settings brings those kinds of prices. Anyone interested can call the Arts Center at (802) 362-1405 and ask about “Belushi” by Rick Veitch.

Yesterday I received the latest issue of my favorite magazine, THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR. This one’s a special double sized 50th issue titled “KIRBY FIVE-O”. The nice folks at Two Morrows have kept me on the comp list since they launched so I’d like to give them a shout out and my highest recommendation.

I’m interviewed in the new issue as one of the “50 ARTISTS MOST INFLUENCED BY JACK KIRBY” with mention being made of NEW JACK CITY from SUPREME #6. That particular story was a tribute to Jack written by Alan Moore, lettered by Todd Klein with the art supposed to be a collaboration between myself, doing the Kirbyesque stuff and Chris Sprouse, doing the SUPREME figures. Like pretty much everything associated with Awesome Comics, it turned into a cluster-fuck, with Rob Liefeld inking my lightly laid out SUPREME figures then murdering the final two pages. I never got my originals back for this job either, so if anyone out there sees them for sale please let me know immediately.

As I mentioned earlier on this blog, I can’t honestly recommend the CHECKER collections of Alan’s SUPREME run. The work is amazing but the CHECKER reproduction is unbelievably bad and Alan’s story is left unfinished. None of the creators, except presumably Liefeld, have received any royalties from these editions.

The best way to read Alan’s SUPREME is to pick it up on the back issue market. Check out the quarter boxes when you’re down at the comic book store buying THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #50!

Marker in sketchbook. 1996.

What’s that you say? You love BRAT PACK, THE ONE, MAXIMORTAL, CAN’T GET NO and ARMY@LOVE but you’ve never read GREYSHIRT: INDIGO SUNSET?

All signs point to PanelToPanel.net where you can easily pick up a copy.