Saturday, October 13, 2012

THE MARQUIS: INFERNO goes back to print!!

After selling out of it's second printing, I've just been told by my editor Rachel Edidin that Dark Horse Comics will indeed be going back for a 3rd printing of The Marquis: Inferno in the next month or so! Thank you for the support and interest that keeps the book in print ~the new printing of the Marquis: Inferno will be available early 2013! Exact shipping dates to be announced soon.
The Marquis Inferno

Monday, October 1, 2012

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The incredible Will Tempest drew this amazing and surreal image of the Marquis blossoming with the writhing devils of Hell! You can see more of Will's wonderful comics and artwork on his tumblr too!
Will Tempest

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It moves!! The amazing animator and designer, Typette created this wonderful animated shot of the Marquis, smoking pistol and cloak billowing in the icy Venisalle air! Be sure to check out the link below for more of her incredible art and design work!
Typette

Saturday, September 8, 2012

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Through the space-age science of Google translator, we find the Marquis squaring off against an angry (and appropriately immodest) devil in the Baroque halls of Venisalle in this great drawing by incredible Swedish illustrator Mattias Haggstrom! Check out his gallery of comic art, drawings and doodles to see more of his wonderful artwork!

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I always get a kick out of the sketchbook drawings of the Marquis, where he pops up from an artist who just had an urge to draw the character. Case in point this wonderful sketch of the Marquis by the talented Dana Black, with pistol and sword at the ready to break through the ghostly confines of the ruled paper! Be sure to check out Dana's FaceBook group to see more of his cool energetic art!
Dana Black

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Home Renovation at the Ministry!


A look at some more sketches for the upcoming "Marquis and the Midwife"~ the Ministry of Inquisition goes under construction and gets a face-lift, surrounding the main tower with more spires in hopes of warding off the crimes and sin of Venisalle. Top is the rough sketchbook drawings of the initial re-design with a warm up drawing at the bottom showing the Marquis overlooking the city as the Ministry looms in the distance!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

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I was thrilled to learn that last week, the Marquis was chosen as the subject for Ten Ton Studios weekly sketch challenge~ where different artists draw their rendition of the character before voting on a winner in their forums! And the winner of the Marquis challenge was this amazing drawing by Matt Horak of the Marquis fighting a mass of devils that drive him towards Hell! Along with more of Matt's cool work on his blog, be sure to check out the link to Ten Ton Studios below to see the rest of the incredible Marquis artwork from everyone who participated in the challenge!
Matt Horak
Ten Ton Studios

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The wonderful Eve-the-Strange is back with another great Marquis piece, as a huge tentacled devil lays fallen before the Marquis' bloodied sword! Eve's got more wonderful Marquis art up her sleeve (that will be showing up on the Diableries as soon as I catch up)~ but in the meantime you can see them and lots more cool art on her DeviantArt page!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

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The Marquis peers into the darkness of Hell as the tentacles of the damned coil around in this wonderful illo by incredible painter and concept artist, Stephen Schirle! I got to work with Stephen on the upcoming Pacific Rim film and it was amazing to watch him work in person! Be sure to check out his website to see more of his awesome paintings~ and since he's also another year older this weekend, let's wish him a Happy Birthday too!
Stephen Schirle

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Animation student and wonderful cartoonist, Miklós Felvidéki brings us this great drawing of the Marquis radiating the tentacles of Hell (with some old timey Marquis approved shading film too!) Be sure to check out Miklós blog for lots more cool comics and a variety of his drawings!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

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The Marquis readies to strike at the flaming heart of sin, as an amazing Court of Devils look on in horror in this awesome drawing by Juan Calle! For more of his cool illustrations, concept art and comics~ including the b/w version of his Marquis piece, check out his DeviantArt page below!
Juan Calle

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Rob Reilly (artist/co-creator of A.K.A) sent me this great drawing of the Marquis opening hellfire on a huge charging devil in the snowy streets of Venisalle! Be sure to check out Rob's blog for more of his cool comic art and convention sketches!
Rob Reilly

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The MARQUIS: INFERNO 2nd printing sells out!

Just learned that Dark Horse Comics wonderful collected edition of THE MARQUIS: INFERNO has sold out of it's second edition! We're looking into options for a third printing and hope to have it back in print soon~

I've also had people noticing that the upcoming "MARQUIS and the MIDWIFE" graphic novel has already been listed on a few places as coming out this month, unfortunately that's a mistake (not sure why or how those dates were posted). I'm currently still working on the content and there's been no solicitations for the new book yet~ but check back for updates, as soon as it's done and ready for print you'll hear it here first!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

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More amazing Marquis cosplay, this time the artist Marquis Celia Cheung (The Winterkings) was found hunting through the convention floors of the 2012 Calgary Expo for any lurking devils! Celia's wonderful Marquis robes and clothing were created by professional jouster and costumer Alison Mercer (you can see more of her amazing period costuming at the link) and her mask by sculptor Jesse Sinclair! The pistols and sword were also custom made and will be featured in an upcoming Diableries for a closer look!

I originally came across this cool photo of Celia and Alison in costume from the comicon online, and after I contacted them, they not only sent more photos of Celia as the Marquis but even found a corner of Venisalle as a backdrop!

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I haven't gotten to many comic conventions since last year, but the Marquis has been recently spotted haunting the convention floor! I met the Marquis Chris Dimoff in his amazing costume at the 2011 Emerald City Convention and even though I missed this years show, the Marquis returned!

These wonderful photos of Chris in costume were taken at the 2012 Emerald City Comic Con, the top portrait by Seattle photographer Daniel Berman (be sure to check out his link for more great shots of the show!) And the Marquis below, with his pistol locked on an approaching devilish convention goer (and whoever designed those curtains) taken by Trevor Dykstra!

Also Congratulations to Chris on winning the Silver medal for his Marquis costume at the Emerald City costume contest! Be sure to check out Chris' website to see more photos of his amazing costume updates along with it's creation~ and keep a look out (and camera ready) at the comic cons, the Marquis might still be lurking about!
Chris Dimoff
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~it may not show on his face, but the Marquis is very honored and happy to have won the Silver!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Marquis About Town

Some more quick sketches done for the upcoming "Marquis and the Midwife" graphic novel showing a few background settings to the streets of Venisalle. I've always thought that the setting of a story is as important as the characters themselves, and I've tried to make the streets that the Marquis haunts as much of a character as any in the book. For these sketches, the focus was more on mood and composition with the surface details of the baroque architecture tightened up and filled in when redrawn for the finished page.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

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Incredible concept artist Bradley Wright returns to the Diableries with this stunning and haunting illustration of the Marquis surrounded by the tentacles of a devil siren! Bradley recently created a series of amazing Marquis speed paints that were featured in an earlier Diableries (link below)~ and be sure to check out more of his incredible work over at his blog too!
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Bradley Wright

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Kelly Williams brings us this great drawing of the Marquis, robes billowing with the tentacles of Hell! You can see Kelly's original sketch and the different stages that went into creating this piece on his blog along with more cool art to his upcoming horror project, The Cabinet over at Kickstarter!
Kelly Williams TreeBeard
The Cabinet

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

THE MARQUIS: Midwife Sketchbook 3



It's been awhile since I've showed any peeks to the upcoming "Marquis and the Midwife", so here's a few warm up sketches from last year~ a couple quick studies of Vol de Galle and Herzoge along with a roaming Marquis done just to play with mood and shadow.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

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Incredible concept artist and illustrator, Henrik Sahlstrom drew this amazing and haunting image of the Marquis watching from the spires of Hell as shadowy devils lurk and writhe in the distance! Be sure to check out the link below to see some other Marquis sketches Henrik did leading up to this illo~ and of course more amazing artwork throughout his entire blog!
Henrik Sahlstrom

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The guest art Diableries continue as the Marquis is taunted by the devils of Hell (and Shakespeare) in this great sketchbook drawing by the amazing Christine Larsen! You can see more of her wonderful comics and artwork at her blog via the link below!
Christine Larsen

Sunday, June 17, 2012

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The SINDIECATE hits the Marquis! I was surprised and flattered to find a slew of awesome Marquis art over at the SINDIECATE art blog~ where an incredible group of artists draw different indie comic characters (and of course all the drawings turn out AMAZING, as you can see from James Harrens' wonderful Marquis piece above!) But instead of showing off all their artwork on the Diableries, be sure to follow the links below to the other incredible Marquis drawings~ and also check out more of their amazing past tributes too!

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Back to catching up on some long overdue Diableries this weekend, starting off with this great, light hearted look at an armed and suspicious Marquis by animator and concept artist Devin Roth (The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack)!  Be sure to check out more of Devin's awesome artwork and character designs at the link below!
Devin Roth

Monday, April 30, 2012

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Raúl Monge (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy 2) is another of those concept artists and storyboarders who can do it all~ and do it all incredible! I was lucky to work with him too during PACIFIC RIM and like Francisco, he’s an inspiring, drawing powerhouse who always finds time to do something more!
Not content with sending me a couple of awesome Marquis sketches (with no complaints from me, they’re great!)~ he also sent me this beautiful full color illo of the Marquis surrounded by the city of Venisalle! Raúl describes his thoughts on the piece as~ 
“That city full of white stone, domes, shrines, bridges etc.. is for me a character itself (as is the Church in reality). That's why from the beginning I have a clear idea of representing the Marquis with his dark clothes on the bright background of the city. When I put this graphic concept with the metaphor concept of the city/character I got the idea that, as well as the demons are capable of take possession of the bodies of people, they could take possession of the buildings and streets of the city too, transforming and twisting to kill your character. That is why in my illustration the laws of physics disappear creating a vertiginous space where the Marquis can´t be supported and frock coat waiting for the opportunity to act.”

Sunday, April 29, 2012

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Francisco Ruiz Velasco is one of those renaissance types who can do it all! Aside from being an incredible illustrator and concept artist~ (which I got to witness first hand while working with him on Guillermo del Toro's upcoming PACIFIC RIM film and THQ videogame, InSANE), he's pretty much a one man production house! Just check out his own short film, "ABANDONED" to see what he does in his spare time (not that he ever has any, but somehow he's always finding time to work on something more!) 

Case in point, these awesome Marquis drawings! Francisco originally drew the pen and ink version of the Marquis at the brink of Hell~ only to top it with another finished drawing of the Marquis being dragged back into Hell itself, which Francisco calls “ANIMA ABONIMABLE”! Be sure to check out his blog at the link below to see tons more of his incredible art and designs!