The Hero Business

A few weeks back, I received a commission request from the fine folks at the Aquaman Shrine, a blog dedicated to all things Aquaman. In honor of Aquaman’s 70th birthday in print, they wanted a birthday celebration with aquafriends and aquafamily from various eras and incarnations….

Here’s the rough pencils, and I KNEW I wanted a cake….

… So I decided to throw in Tusky the Walrus for free, as a salute to the Aquaman Filmation cartoon of the late 60s.

So here’s the final:

(top, left to right): Silver Age Aquagirl, Tempest, Modern Era Aquagirl and “Young Justice” Aqualad; (bottom, left to right): “Batman: Brave & The Bold” Arthur Jr., Modern Era Aquaman, Modern Era Mera and from Filmation’s animated “Aquaman” it’s Tusky the Walrus.

Now blow out those electric eels and make a wish!

There’s talk of making this into a print for the New York Comic-Con at the Aquaman Shrine. I’ll keep you posted on that front!

“I contacted a plethora of very talented – and very different – cartoonists with a simple challenge: If DC approached you and offered you any DC property – past or present – of your choice to be your own new ongoing part of the DC Universe, what would the cover to the first issue look like?

Fifty-two artists (and then some) responded, and that brings us here – DC FIFTY-TOO, The New DC Universe as imagined by fifty-two independent cartoonists. Starting on August 15th and running up through August 31st – the day the New DC Universe launches – this blog will unveil four new covers every weekday for DC Comics that never were but probably ought to have been!”

That’s the “DC Fifty Too”, an amazing project curated by Washington-based cartoonist Jon Morris.

Last week, my “Dial H For Hero” entry debuted!

I started sketching out Chris King and Vicki Grant…. thinking about their mysterious origins…

Chris I had a clear vision. Vicki… less so… what to do with her hair?

I finally figured it out, and tightened up the scene…

Check out the finalized version here!