An artist reached out to me about sending their comic portfolio. I don't have time for in-depth critique, but was willing to see what they were capable of.

The work was okay, but there were also a lot of common mistakes, so let me signal boost some general advice- About 1/3 of the portfolio was unfinished work - roughs for illustrations or incomplete pages.

If the best work you have to show right now, the work that represents your skills, is not complete, you are not ready to present that portfolio - full stop.

Short version: Submitted my grades. My teaching sabbatical starts TODAY.

Long version: In 2018, I was co-writing Avengers, writing Champions and Dungeons & Dragons, and wrapping up Wayward.

Quite a few industry friends told me I should quit my full-time gig at the college... I was writing Avengers as the Infinity War movie hit theaters. There were project opportunities and conventions aplenty.

And yet, I couldn't help but keep going with the pragmatic approach that got me to that point.

Another perspective drawing lesson:
How to quickly check scale and proportion without a grid!

After critiquing a student's rough room construction I asked if they were okay with me using it as a demonstration since the error they made is a common one. Once you establish scale with a standing figure, you can quickly compare relative size to everything nearby.

How tall should the object/feature be compared to the height of the figure's ankles, knees, waist, torso, shoulders, chin, or top of the head?

Quick to build and check.

There's a tendency for students using perspective to start a drawing with vanishing points, randomly putting things in and hoping it works.

In my latest lecture, I stressed the importance of starting with a well-staged focal point first, then finding the perspective to match it. Once you understand how to draw things that look solid and consistent you need to learn where to put those things in your scene to organize visual information for the viewer.

*Guy on the subway sees my Dungeons & Dragons jacket*

G: Heeeey~! D&D!
D&D is the best!

Me: Yeah!

G: I had the craziest D&D thing happen to me...

(I assume we're going to talk about hus current campaign or playing when he was younger.) G: I got in a bar brawl for real.

Me: Like, in real life?

G: Yeah, yeah, YEAH! A for real bar fight and, as it was happening, all I could think was "Aw shit, this is just like D&D!!"

I spoke to Adam Chapman at Comic Shenanigans all about Thunderbolts, Life of Wolverine, and Conan the Barbarian.

We cover a lot of great ground on these projects, talking about development, drama, continuity and more.

Give it a listen!

https://twitter.com/AdamChapman427/status/1539253344170037248

Oh yeah, and Avengers Tech-On too!
We cover the influences and fun that @theCHAMBA and I had on that mini-series as well.

I've been teaching Layout + Design and Animation History at Seneca College since 2004. I've taught a bunch of other courses, but those two have been constant.

Today is my last Animation History lecture and that feels so strange. Seneca's Animation program is undergoing a major curriculum overhaul in September.

The new streams look amazing and will keep our grads on top of the changing industry but within that new structure Animation History as its own course is being phased out.

senecacollege.ca/programs/fullt…

I'm not a mainstay in the TTRPG streaming space and am not associated with Satine Phoenix, but I've gamed with her on several charity and promotional streams.

To be 100% clear here - that won't be happening in the future.

I can't condone her treatment of collaborators.

https://twitter.com/JimZub/status/1536326631689797634

Have I witnessed similar behavior from Satine?

No, but I believe everyone who has come forward.

I have no doubt she would act very different in a public situation surrounded by streaming peers/celebrities and being recorded than in behind the scenes business interactions.

Life of Wolverine Part 3 is out today!

This chapter covers some material never shown on panel in the comics before.

Logan arrived in Madripoor before World War I, but the earliest we've seen him there is the 1930's in a flashback from Wolverine Origins Annual #1 (2007).

https://twitter.com/JimZub/status/1486785306535804939

Seraph sends Logan on a variety of missions and one of those is the first time he meets Victor Creed (the man known as Sabretooth), as shown in flashback in Wolverine vol. 3 #52.

Victor hates Logan after he killed his brother Saul (as shown in the Origin II mini-series).

Some recent chatter about portfolios, submissions + 'breaking in'-

It's easy to think only in terms of what _you_ want - the work, the credit, the level up in terms of visibility.

Instead, think about what a publisher wants or needs and the process is clearer.
#ComicsSchool Quality
Is the work you're showing as good or better than the top third of what a publisher is putting out?

They have established people getting stuff done at a base level. Can you raise the bar enough to be worth the effort to bring aboard?

Am I excited about #SpiderManNoWayHome?
Well, this particular Spider-Man Annual from back in the day is burrowed into my brain.

Spidey + Supernatural = WIN-WIN-WIN
MARVEL MAGIC is my jam, people. Ditko this s**t into my f***ing VEINS!
#SpiderManNoWayHomeTrailer

A comic script communicates key aspects of story + dialogue to the rest of the creative team.

In this thread @CianTormey masterfully goes through the process of planning a 'quiet' page from one of my scripts.

This is solid gold comic theory for artists + writers.
#ComicsSchool

https://twitter.com/CianTormey/status/1425304982706864132

A bit of context-
Writing Uncanny Avengers was a thrill, but intimidating as well.

@GerryDuggan did a great job but had a very full plate, so I was asked to come in and sunset the series before Avengers: No Surrender.

I had to fit into the existing structure but make it my own.

A new #ComicsSchool video is up!

Talking about juggling freelance projects with a day job and the amount of time it took for me to get momentum as a comic writer. These creative careers are a marathon, not a sprint.

Watch and share:
Crucial parts of my career, whether I realized it at the time or not, came about thanks to amazing people around me.

People like @OmarDogan1976 @madnug @GailSimone @erikmona @scottmccloud @BillRosemann

Friends and mentors who taught me a lot and encouraged me at key moments.

Going to BBQ this afternoon, so I'm pulling together fresh potato salad this morning. So much better than pre-made and really easy.

- Boil a batch of potatoes for 20 min.

Waxy/harder potatoes like red ones work better than russets or others you'd use for baked/mashed potatoes. - Include an egg or two with the potatoes and boil them at the same time, but take the eggs out after the first 10 min.

- Cut the potatoes into chunks to cool, adding a bit of salt, pepper and other spices to season them. If you have malt vinegar, a dash or three here is great.

I want to pitch a new #DnD comic series called REAL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS-

Issue #1: Five completely disparate characters with elaborate back stories that are never referenced again.

The party takes 17 pages to leave the town they start in.

TPK from a random encounter. Issue #2: 5 new characters arrive. They are all twins of the characters killed in issue 1.

An encounter with an unimportant NPC gets the party 100% focused on a non-existant plotline.

A bad Athletics check kills two party members.

The others find a cache of gold and retire.

A quick drawing lesson for artists who struggle with street scenes/buildings-

I was giving feedback on a student layout and realized the advice here could help other people too.

Here's the construction build.
The perspective is consistent, which is a great first step. The perspective is working, but there's a common proportion problem.

To check and adjust, we need to find the eye line used to build the scene. Follow back the perspective lines and there it is. Straight forward.

My 'career' in TTRPGs has been strange and I came into it sideways via illustration and comics.

https://twitter.com/_MikeKimmel/status/1375929960464977926

While working in animation I started doing some freelance illustration for indy RPGs.

Soon after, I joined the Udon studio and started doing illustrations for Dungeon Magazine (when it was at Paizo), Exalted and a bunch of other RPG books.

SURPRISE, I have a digital release today from @DCComics!!

LET THEM LIVE: Unpublished Tales From The DC Vault #1 finally unveils a SUICIDE SQUAD done-in-one issue I wrote back in 2011!

Line Art Tradd Moore
Colors @therealsobreiro
Letters @blambot

comicsbeat.com/dc-universe-in… Huge thanks to @katiekubert and @mariejavins for helping Ambush Bug steal this story from the vaults so everyone can finally read it.

It's my first DC Comics release in 7 years, and I hope there's more to come in the months ahead. :)

In the same vein as @BizzareComics DC 10 Title challenge, if I had to pare down the Marvel publishing line to only 10 series per month, here are the iconics- 1) SPIDER-MAN - with back-up stories of Spidey-related characters

2) THE AVENGERS - big cast and big threats

3) FANTASTIC FOUR - with cosmic-related back-up stories

4) X-MEN - includes a Wolverine back-up and one other back-up story each issue

1) ACTION COMICS - Superman, with rotating back-up stories of related characters.

2) DETECTIVE COMICS - Batman, with rotating back-up stories of related characters.

3) SENSATION COMICS - Wonder Woman, with rotating back-up stories of related characters.

https://twitter.com/BizzareComics/status/1354509348911853571

4) JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED - Big cast, epic stakes

5) THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS. - Cosmic adventures

6) TEEN TITANS - Teen heroes

All words to the Evangelion opening theme replaced by cat meow in official remake by Yoko Takahashi, the original singer... Here's the official youtube link: