Out with the old~

With 2009 coming to an end, I want to thank everyone who's been stopping by and following the blog~ and of course to all the great artists who tried their hand at the Marquis and kept the weekend Diableries going!

2010 will bring more fan art, updates and peeks at the new Marquis and the Midwife book, but to finish off the old year I found the original "Midwife" cover I did back in 1997 . When the series was first at Caliber Press, the Midwife story was part of the proposed "Danse Macabre" mini-series (this was going to be the second issue cover), but when I reworked the Danse storyline years later it didn't fit in with the new pacing and was left out.

I liked the basis of the "Midwife" idea and over the years fleshed it out to the new full book that I'm working on now for Dark Horse Comics. Along the way the design of the Midwife also changed a lot (I think for the better), but above is how she was going to look back in '97.

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Jason Shawn Alexander (Abe Sapien: The Drowning) is one of those artists whose work grows from leaps and bounds with every new piece I see~ and he started out already running! He did this pinup of the Marquis for me back in 2000, but more of his current work including his amazing paintings can be found at his website!

Jason Shawn Alexander

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Jordan R. Boos sent me this great color shot of the Marquis losing his footing to an unseen devil over the rooftops of Venisalle!

Clockwork Virus

Merry Christmas Diableries!

Happy Holidays with a midweek Diableries from Dark Horse editors Rachel Edidin (who edits the Marquis books) and Shawna Gore (in charge of all things Creepy and Eerie!) They sent me this wonderful card drawing of the Marquis (by Rachel) and his cohort Hazel, my fiancee's pet rabbit (by Shawna). Which just goes to show either the Marquis has a soft spot for cute animals, or that rabbit isn't as innocent as he seems!

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I stumbled upon this cool Marquis animation on YouTube and learned that the crazy talented Matt Marblo did it for a match cut exercise in his animation class. The Marquis makes short work of that pesky bookworm devil from chapter 4 of "Danse Macabre"! More of Matt's art and cartoons can be found on his blog!

Matt Marblo

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Ben Nicholas sent me these cool 3D interpretations of a ghostly Marquis and his predecessor, the Misere! He also did another detailed shot of the Misere from different angles that I'll show off in a future Diableries.

Ben Nicholas

Midwife Sketchbook 1

A late night sketch for some Piranesi inspired architecture from the upcoming Marquis and the Midwife graphic novel. Reference done for the back cover to the book and chapter 3, where Vol de Galle searches deeper for the Midwife and her children.

With all the design sketches on the book, I draw it out first straight with pen (no pencilling since it usually slows me down and I'll start rethinking any train of thought) and then work it up with digital greys to bring out some details and mood.

Happy Holidays!

It's snowing in Michigan and I'm working on the new Marquis and the Midwife story~ I couldn't ask for a better way to round out the year as 2010 looms. And what about the holidays in Venisalle?~ I'm sure it involves some sort of self-flagellation or horse skull orgy... probably a little of both! I did this drawing a few years ago as a holiday card and the only time you'll see a smile across that mask!

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In the early days of the Marquis, Bjarne Hansen sent me this wonderful and moody scene of the Marquis finding something devilish afoot! Bjarne is not only a great colorist but an amazing artist all around, unfortunately not a lot of people in the states have gotten a chance to see his own comic work (or at least not as many that should have!) But you can see more of his work at his link below!

Bjarne Hansen Illustrator

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Sorry about the lack of updates during the week, I've been pencilling away on the Marquis and the Midwife book and will have some more peeks to the upcoming story soon! But in the meantime, Pedro Lourenco sent me this wonderful portrait of the Marquis that he drew after reading the Inferno tpb!

Pedro Lourenço's Ink and Paper

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Writer/ artist Ray Fawkes is constantly producing lots of cool drawings in a variety of medias~ he sent me this wonderful Marquis portrait he whipped up in his sketchbook!

Ray Fawkes

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Nate Higley gave me this cool portrait of the Marquis back in 2004~ and now both him and the art are a few years older since his birthday was Friday. Happy Birthday Nate!

Nate Higley

The Marquis and the Coachman in print!

The new short Marquis story I did for MySpace Dark Horse Presents is being reprinted in the fourth volume of the online comics anthology this week (on sale Dec 2). The Marquis and the Coachman is an 8 page introduction to the world of Venisalle and the Marquis that originally ran online in Dark Horse Presents #22 but didn't make it into the Marquis: Inferno tpb (which was being printed before I did this short story). More info on the collection at the Dark Horse website~

MDHP Volume 4