MEMORY LANE #1
A behind the scene look of Elektra, Punisher, Captain America, New Mutants, X-Men Legacy & Reptil
REPTIL #1
Release Date: May 26, 2021
It’s always nice when song lyrics help to tell a story perfectly. A nod to the famous @nas “Half Man, Half Amazing” quotable, but flipped a bit to go with the Jurassic theme of the book. 🦕 🦖 🦴 Actually, looking back at thumbnails I would’ve been fine doing either option. It’s cool seeing what change in the sketch vs the final piece. I honestly don’t remember why I changed the color and look of the left hand and I believe I was going for a hands on the headphones pose but I’m guessing I changed the pose to add focus to the main idea which was the phrase. I also remember doing research on what archeologists used as excavation tools so whatever you see on the cover are legit dino diggers. Research is definitely a huge part of the process.
X-Men Legacy #6
Release Date: February 27, 2013
This was a fun one, I think spent more time looking for quotes and Easter eggs than the actual artwork. For those who don’t know, the character in this book is Legion, the son of Charles Xavier. He has thousands of mutants living inside his head and he’s able to absorb their powers to use them at his will. But having that many people living inside your head would probably give you a major Tetsuo-Type migraine. I tried to channel that with the immense amounts of word balloons, some wrapping its tail around him like the bubbles are alive. I wanted it to feel claustrophobic to really make the reader feel what dudes feeling. The different colors of the words and different fonts were deliberate to give each bubble a personality which in turn made the cover more interesting. Revisiting the thumbnails, I actually had an option where I literally made the word bubbles the faces of the mutants. That option would’ve looked cool too. I love revisiting these ideas as I’ve forgotten them and I can look at them like it’s not me but a different artist. I enjoy them more that way. Can you guess all the quotes?
NEW MUTANTS #10
Date: June 10, 2020
Still one of my favorite covers to date, I love when crazy ideas like this get the editorial thumbs up to go forward. Sometimes my favorite ideas are the ones that don’t make the final cover so I try to sell it a bit more but I’m not the greatest at words so I add little more visual love, a little more rendering, maybe some color. It worked with this one 🙏🏽
Guidebook to Captain America: Winter Soldier MCU Cover
Release Date: May 25, 2016
Still one of my favorite covers I’ve worked on. When I come up with one of those eureka ideas during the sketch phase, I tend to get anxious on how I’m going to execute it in the final. This one worked out nicely as most do but the anxiety is real when you want it to be THAT ONE. A I said before, I enjoy looking through these thumbnails more now as I’ve forgotten a lot of them and see them with fresh eyes like, “I came up with that”?
Untold Tales of The Punisher Max #5
Release Date: October 17 2012
I believe that this was the cover that really got Marvels attention, that lead to more work. I remember when I handed this in and immediately getting emails about the cover and how it was making the rounds in the office. From then on, I feel like I got the editors trust to let my brain run wild. This actually lead to getting my X-Men Legacy run which I can say was a pinnacle moment in my cover career. Also, written by one of my favorite guys the legendary @skottieyoung so this was huge for me back then. I wish I can revisit some of these ideas again, maybe for a later book that deals with adolescence. These ideas are still gold to me.
Elektra #6
When I think of covers, I break it down into elements. In Elektra, we have her flashbacking to her career in ballet. How do you combine performance art and fighting ninjas? She is taking a bow, as in she is done her performance and all the ninjas have been dealt with. Then the idea of her in the spotlight came, but what would the spotlight come from? A truck or a helicopter. You start sketching out the ideas and it starts coming together because of all the elements that are put on the table. Then you can add more meaning and symbols; the roses placed on the ninjas are symbols of death but they can also be a celebration of her performance where people throw flowers on the stage.
Thank you for joining us on this look back. If you have any questions, post them in the comments and we’ll hit you back. Hope you enjoyed the first issue, if you like it please let us know. We’ll be back next week with more.
I love that whole run of Elektra. Great writing, but superior art. Those Punisher covers, though … I can’t imagine trying to choose. They’re all so smart!
I really dug this. I actually think this would be the perfect art book, if you decide to do one in the future. I would be down to sacrifice a few pages of art to accommodate your thought process or things you remember when you were creating the cover or page. AND tying in what you were listening too (like Nas for Raptil) would also be dope. Just my thoughts. PEACE!