2015 and forward

We've been working on many amazing comics, and have almost abandoned this blog. Also, because of the easy interactivity with instagram, twitter and facebook, we have been posting stuff more frequently on our tumblr page – YES, we have a tumblr page – and I'm debating if I should cease to write stuff here and just migrate there altogether. One of the surprises 2015 will bring, I guess.
Be safe, be happy, and dream.
Let's continue making dreams come to life next year.

the cars that drives us.

I drew this car on the first page of my story for the cyan issue of the CMYK Vertigo Quarterly anthology.
Two weeks ago, I saw a car just like this parked on a street near my house.
"A reminder", I thought.
The car I drew is calling me back.

Dark Horse Presents #200

Dark Horse Comics will publish the milestone 200th issue of its Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book anthology DARK HORSE PRESENTS in February 2015, and Bá did this awesome HELLBOY cover.
His story inside, also featuring HELLBOY, was written by Mike Mignola himself, and it's a direct sequel to THE COFFIN MAN (the story I drew and Mignola wrote).
Also on this issue, Gustavo Duarte tells a story about mermaids, and Sergio Aragonés draws GROO. What else could you ask for?
For more info, click here.

The candle lit cover

As the solicitations for all Image comics coming out in January 2015 went online, some people noticed (and helped spread the word) that Casanova is coming back with the first issue of our forth volume, Acedia. I'm again handling the art, trying to out crazy my brother's pages from Avaritia while at the same being time haunted by his presence as he'll also contribute to each issue drawing the back stories (written by Michael Chabon). Things will be crazy, and they'll get crazier, and here's the cover of issue 1.



CASANOVA: ACEDIA #1
STORY: MATT FRACTION & MICHAEL CHABON
ART / COVER: FÁBIO MOON & GABRIEL BÁ
JANUARY 7 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
Marooned in Los Angeles with no memory of his past, Casanova Quinn takes on the mystery of his criminal benefactor’s tangled and bloody history—as strange occult forces from the future conspire to… do stuff? To him? To Los Angeles? To you? YES.
Featuring the first in a series of backup stories by Pulitzer Prize winner MICHAEL CHABON and CASANOVA co-creator GABRIEL BÁ.

Bright yellows and oranges, and a lot of greys. That's what you can expect on the inside.
The funny thing about this cover is the fact that I drew it during a blackout. I was hard at work on issue 2, but the cover deadline was looming on me, and I ended up leaving it for the last minute (as most of us do), so I was drawing it one night and my entire block went dark.
I waited for a little bit, no sign of the lights coming back, and I started to worry.
The lights didn't come back, so I had to improvise. Luckily, I had some candles at home.



Not ideal, but I made do. Later, Matt wrote me and said:
"jeez, you should work in the dark all the time."

Two Brothers' "suit day"

We've began this tradition in 2005, when Fábio finished Smoke and Guns. On the day he drew the last pages of the story, he came wearing a suit, as a way of remembering that day, making it special. He did it again in 2006 on the last day drawing The Alienist. Again in 2008, when he finished Casanova: GULA. Every new big story he finished, he'd have a suit day on the last day of the work. Our last suit day was July 19th, 2010, in London, when he drew the last page of Daytripper.

Today is another memorable day, as we finished our new book, Two Brothers. Both of us dressed accordingly. It's a very special day.

San Diego Comic Con 2014 Schedule

 Another year, another San Diego Comic Con. The convention keeps taking over the town, so there's stuff going on everywhere around the Gaslamp quarter. If you want to catch up with me and get somes books signed, this is my schedule for this year.

Wednesday July 23 is Preview Night! Show Hours 5:00pm-9:00pm
Before preview night actually starts, I think the action happens at the Hilton Bayfront, where there'll be an Image Expo presentation starting at 2pm. Image has been releasing so many great new books by some awesome creators, that I'm really looking forward to what they might announce this time.
After that, I'll probably hit the Con floor for preview night and, as I leave the original art we made for the CBLDF at the CBLDF booth, I'll get the Casanova and Spaceboy prints and leave them, along with the original art we have, at the Beguiling booth (#1629)

Thursday July 24 Show Hours 9:00am-7:00pm
- Signing 2:30-3:30pm – DCE Booth #1915
I'll be signing all the books you can bring at the Vertigo signing table, so don't be shy.
- Art Demo 3:30-4:00pm – DCE Booth #1915
You know those art demonstrations they have at the DC booth, where they interview an artist while he/she's drawing, right then and there, and they shoot the drawing being made and project it live on a big screen? So, those. With me.
At night, probably around 8pm, there's the traditional CBLDF party at the terrace of the Westgate hotel. Many artists will attend and it's a great chance to meet and talk to them, and to look at a lot of the great original art  that will be available at the CBLDF auction over the weekend.

Friday July 25 Show Hours 9:00am-7:00pm
I don't have any signings or panels, so I'll be free to actually see some stuff at the convention. I plan on catching up with some friends and seeing some panels.
At night, I'll go to the Eisner Awards ceremony, which starts at 8pm at the Hilton Bayfront. I have a bunch of friends nominated and I'll be rooting for them while we all join in the celebration of our medium.
Whatever happens, afterwards we'll party!

Saturday July 26 Show Hours 9:00am-7:00pm
- Signing 10:30-11:30am – DCE Booth #1915
Hangover signing! I'll be signing all the books you can bring at the Vertigo signing table, so don't be shy. I'll be shy for the both of us, okay? Also, this is my last signing this year, so don't leave anything for Sunday.
Sunday July 27 Show Hours 9:00am-5:00pm

Another day without signings or panels for me, so I hope you enjoy the last day of the convention. I know I will. And I'll definitely do an "art hunt" on Sunday for those who stick until the end.

At the end of today I looked at my desk

Bá and I work on many projects at the same time. Part as a result of being a freelancer and thinking we have to accept every offer we get ( dreading not having any after we finish the current book), and part just because there are projects, invitations and people who want to collaborate with us that we can't simply say no – they're too good to pass –, we end up working on many things, some big, some small, some writing for ourselves to draw, and some drawing what others have written.
So, from time to time, when we finish something and have a little time to step back and look at what we're doing... well, to look at our drawing board, then we get so see some of these many facets of the delicate crystal we work on.
Tonight, I finished the first draft of a new script and sent it over to the editor.  That's the high point of my week – the awful game on tuesday being the low – so I stepped back and tried to look at my drawing board.

My sketchbook has a figure drawing of a woman from last year's class I gave (I have something I can't show yet on another page, so I flipped it to that page to take this picture).
On the top left, I have some bookplates left for the BPRD: Vampire TPB that we did for Gosh.
I started to sort out original art to take with me to San Diego for Comic Con, and that's why the Killjoys variant cover I did is there, looking right at us.
The bottom left is what's left of color studies and preparation for coloring my story for the Magenta issue of the CMYK Vertigo Quarterly anthology.
On the right, the script and the layouts of Casanova 4.2, which I'm working on and am afraid I'm a little late.

Boom!
Pa-Zow!
Back to work. It doesn't really matter if you work on one project, or on many. If you believe in what you're doing, it's all worth it, and you should give it everything you have.

Explorers

At the end of next week, once again we'll go exploring.

Casanova step-by-step

This week, both Bá and I did new original drawings for the annual CBLDF auction that takes place in San Diego during Comic Con. We took some time from our crazy-busy schedules (made even crazier by the fact that World Cup is going on just outside our studio window) and created two new images with characters we have created. TFAW, who always helps coordinate this, will make prints of the images that the artists will be able to keep and sell, so I decided to make a full color image that would make a great 10 x 17 print.

My first idea was to do a Sugarshock image. Everybody seems to really love those characters, and you could say that right now Joss Whedon, writer of Sugarshock and nowadays writer and director of the Avengers movies, has never been as popular. I sketched the characters on my notebook and started working on the final image, but something wasn't clicking and I wasn't happy with where I was going with the drawing. I decided to call it a day and get back to it the next morning, and I'm glad I did.
Next morning, I went looking for inspiration at one of my sources: Pinterest. I used to keep thousands of images in folders on my computer, but nowadays it's much easier to keep everything I think might inspire an illustration or a story on my Pinterest page. If you go check it out, you'll find elements of my recent CMKY stories for Vertigo, as well as research for the short Hellboy story, and many other images from across the internet that I keep in handy to mix up in my head when I'm at the drawing board.
The new wave of inspirational images made me decide to change characters, and the drawing became a Casanova image. It's easier to imagine Casanova in any situation, anywhere, with anyone. Much more pleased with this second sketch, I showed it to Bá:
"It's great", he said, "but lose the cheetah and the boat". I agreed and started working on the final piece.

I took pictures of the process to post on twitter, and it's a great way to see the way I was thinking visually, how I left many decisions for the inking stage, how I helped to make the characters pop by using cool darker colors on the background, how the red elements united the characters, how dripping and large expressive brushstrokes help give it a "drawing" look, a "hand-made" look.

After it was done, dry and ready, I scanned it, adjusted the colors on photoshop and sent it over by email. The original will be going with me to San Diego, where I shall say farewell to this painting, hoping it will find a great new home on the collection of some lucky fan.

Fábio's Usagi auction to help Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo.
Ink and watercolor, 2014
The original is being auctioned to help Usagi's creator, Stan Sakai. 9 days to bid on it and take the piece home and help out on a great cause at the same time.
Details of the auction here.
This artwork will be published in the upcoming Dark Horse Comics special book, "THE SAKAI PROJECT; Celebrating 30 Years of Usagi Yojimbo", Being release in July, 2014 (at San Diego Comic-Con) with all proceeds also going to Stan & Sharon Sakai.

DELUXE

At last, the Daytripper Deluxe Edition HC is here! We're very proud of it and we know how much the readers have asked for a premium version of our beloved book.




You can see a step-by-step of the new wraparound cover image here and Comics Alliance has a preview of the Sketchbook section here.

And a little video of the book.




We couldn't be happier. This really push us to keep telling our stories. We love comics.
And a big thank you to all our readers. They made this possible. This book is for all of you.

Daytripper in the University

I love surprises. They fuel my creativity and challenge my work. I love when things I could have never imagine happening do happen. Daytripper keeps surprising us.

University of Tennessee has chosen Daytripper for the 2014 Life of Mind program, a program to help first year students transition successfully into college. All freshman students – around 4500 – will get the book in August, then be asked to present a little essay about it and then participate on small group discussions about the book and its themes.

Daytripper is the first graphic novel ever to be selected for the Life of Mind program.

The official announcement has been done last monday, April 7th.

I love surprises.

How did we get to India?

Here's a video with our full presentation at Comic Con India, in New Delhi, last February. We talked about all the choices we've made throughout our careers that led us to this point.



Even though we have now a very successful international career (quite unbelievable, really), the core of what we do remains very much the same from where we started almost 20 years ago.

We had a great time at the convention and we learned a lot with everyone we've met there. We can't wait to go back.

We're going to India

We're going to India.
As guests of the 4th Annual Indian Comic Con, we'll be in New Delhi from February 6th till February 9th, and we'll be at the festival at various times all three days. Come say hi, bring your copy of our favourite book, or find us at the festival to buy from us some of the exclusive stuff we'll bring along with us. It's an incredible opportunity to cross the world and discover a new culture. We figured Daytripper and Umbrella Academy, being our most popular books, are more well known, so we'll be bringing with us a few copies of our independent comic Atelier, along with a few copies of our books Ursula and De:TALES. We'll have a few copies of our favourite posters to sell as well: Daytripper, Umbrella Academy, Killjoys and Weapon X.
On Saturday, February 8th at 4PM, we'll have a panel to talk to the fans, tell a little bit about our journey, our passion for comics, how we ended up doing the books we did, and to answer questions from the audience.
Time Out Delhi interviewed us last week. You can also read our answers in the image below.

After the festival, we'll dive into the heart of India for a week before getting back to work.
See you in a bit, I hope.

2014 after a long day and a bottle of wine.

I will be done with the artwork of the Hellboy story I’m drawing this week. Today was a long day in order to finish inking two pages from it. I planned on finishing this pages much earlier, but life got in the way – in a good way, at least – and I had to pull a late night shift in order to keep up with my self-imposed schedule.
After I finished inking the first page, I made myself dinner. I opened a bottle of wine to relax a bit, and the fact that the bottle had “Aragonez” written in it struck me as a good sign. Not quite Aragonés, but close enough. I wondered if drinking would help or ruin the inking of the second page. It didn’t do any of the above, I guess, but I did relax as I worked well after midnight.

I’ve been working, on and off, at this Hellboy story since the beginning of the year, but the very first page of art I made this year was for something completely different. If you follow the news or attended the Image Expo convention that happened in San Francisco on January 9th, or if you follow this blog, you already know.



I got the following email from Matt on December 28th, already at the beach house:

“With the Image Expo coming up, Image is wondering if we (you) can generate a promo image they can reveal. Even if we just end up showing the logo and everyone’s name and a date that works but, y’know, art is always preferred.”

The page above was the result of the email exchange that followed, talking about the plot and the visual influences Matt wanted for the new arc. Even in the middle of my vacation, I decided to put in the extra effort and make this page. It was worth it, and it was a good reflex of one of my new year’s resolution:

-This year, I want to produce more.

If I focus, I know I can do more than what I’ve been doing. I know answering emails is part of the job, and making decisions and signing contracts and going to festivals around the world where I meet wonderful people and have incredible experiences, but I know I can produce more if I put my heart into it. An I plan to do it this year. The Hellboy story is part of it, as is the new Casanova arc. As is a short story for a Vertigo anthology, a one page Little Nemo homage piece, and some other secret projects we can’t talk about it yet.
We can do more stuff outside the “comics” realm: an music album cover, more live drawings, a tour poster, and whatever feeds our muse.

A recent email I received fed my muse in ways it haven’t been fed in a very long time, and it helped everything make sense.

As I finished the last inking page I set to myself for today (tonight), I went back to the bottle of wine and started thinking about my upcoming trip to India. I’m sure many stories are waiting to be discovered there, and Bá and I are counting the days.

We’re counting the days, and we’re making plans, and we’re dreaming of stores yet untold.

Monsters and Other stories

I've known Gustavo Duarte for a long time. We're good friends. I admire his work a great deal and try to support it every chance I get. It's original and it's funny. We've shared booths and tables in several conventions and festival around the world, always a great experience, and it's wonderful to see this collection of his work be published by Dark Horse.
This book will be out tomorrow in the US, UK and Canada. Go out and get it, and start laughing.

New Casanova back at Image

Casanova volume 4, called ACEDIA, was announced today at ImageEXPO. Matt and I will work on the main story, with backup stories by Michael Chabon and Bá.
It feels good to be back at Image with this book.
Well, back to work.
Happy new year.