Cleopatra in Spaaace!

Less than three days until Cleo begins! Are you as excited as she is?

If I’m ever in a meeting I’m usually doodling. And today I was in a meeting. So here are some Cleo sketches for this Friday afternoon!

I figure I’ll probably post Cleo related sketches here every so often- hence the numbering after the subject title.

Just a quick sketch today. Drawing these is starting to make me look forward to meetings!

With all the heavy action taking place in the comic right now, I thought it’d be nice to depict Cleo a little more relaxed; sans space outfit and awesome guns.

This month marks the third anniversary of the super rad everything blog, Super Punch. To celebrate, a bunch of different artists were asked to contribute to a tarot card deck that I was fortunate enough to nab “The Star” for. Fortunate because it gave me permission to illustrate a little preview of an upcoming Cleo story.

(click for a larger image)

And by “upcoming” I mean a few years from now (I have stories lined up for Cleo to last me the rest of my life). But there are some elements to this piece that come into play as early as chapter 2.

Check out this AMAZING Cleo fan art I just got from good buddy and annual Megacon table neighbor, Joshua Smeaton.

Click for a larger image.

Seriously. That space background is the best thing ever. Great take on Khensu too! Josh’s first graphic novel, Haunted, just hit stores a couple of weeks ago. I’d track it down and buy it I were you. It’s good stuff. He updates Haunted online every week as well!

My favorite convention of the year, HeroesCon, is fast approaching. And for the first time ever I’ll be a guest there this year situated somewhere in the coolness of Indy Island.  I’m pretty excited, which lead to me drawing up this promo artwork for the show:

Now here’s the rad news: There will be a signed & numbered limited edition print run of this artwork (printed on a high quality watercolor stock- different from the usual gloss stock for my regular prints) of 15 at the show! 14 will be for sale at my table. The first numbered one along with the original b&w artwork will be  donated to Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find’s annual art auction, which helps fund the show and maintain it’s awesomeness.

Also, for those wondering, yes- I will have some Cleo books with me as along with my usual table full of stuff. I really hope to see a lot of you there! All signs are pointing towards this being the best year ever. June 4-6, Charlotte Convention Center.

Chapter 2 begins next Monday! Here’s a quick little promo sketch to give you an idea of what to expect.

I thought it’d be nice to share with you the cover for the Cleopatra in Spaaace! book all that guest art I’ve been posting for the past month is for.

Still waiting for the final product to arrive at my door, but the books will be 48 pgs and contain all of chapter 1, some extra stuff like sketches and processes, and of course a giant guest art gallery. It’ll debut at the San Diego Comic-Con (where I’ll be hiding behind table N-05 in the Small Press section). I’m pretty excited!

I also made this little process flash animation of the cover. You can view it HERE.

Sorry for the lack of posts on here! Here’s a little Cleo illustration I drew this morning to hopefully make up for it.

Some updates:

• Yes, my son was born (a little over three weeks ago). Oliver Prime Maihack was born on October 13th at 7 lbs, 10z, 20″ and he’s pretty much the best baby ever. But those of you following me elsewhere know this already since there’s been a gazillion pics of him online already (mostly posted by my wife).
• The plan is still to continue Cleopatra in Space in January. Although my pace on the comic has slowed down a bit (see above bullet point).
• I have plans to give a you a bit of a bonus comic before then. More details later!
• There’s also some uh… other Cleopatra in Space stuff going on. Maybe more on that later, maybe not. We’ll see what happens. Regardless, I’m staying busy!

I really appreciate everyone’s patience while I figure out this new life schedule I’m on and work ahead to make sure chapter 3 is updated regularly. Seriously can’t wait to start sharing  this comic with everyone again!