well, THAT'S a first...

In the (very) crowded DC booth at the (very) crowded San Diego Comic Con:

A fella taps me on the shoulder with a gun..."Mr. Chiarello?"

I turn around and the Vigilante says "Remember that cover you did?"

I'm sure Mignola gets people dressed as Hellboy coming up to him all the time, but this was the first time a painting of mine came to life and said hello.

and speaking of MONSTEROUS books...

if you haven't picked up your copy of COVER RUN: THE DC ART OF ADAM HUGHES, well than I'm just ashamed of you. ashamed.

It's without a doubt the best, most jam-packed book EVER published on a comics creator. Sketches, designs, full-page color reproductions, all with Adam's hilarous commentary to keep you warm at night.

remember: ashamed.

attack of the 50-foot comic book!

towering over the competition...it's WEDNESDAY COMICS: the collection!

We made it to Barnes & Noble, ma!

billie holiday...finally...well, not really.

I keep putting off the third jazz painting that I've planned. It's of my favorite female vocalist ever, Billie Holiday. I'll start it soon, I swear. At least I did a tiny color sketch for it this afternoon.

That's a start!

the Empire decides not to strike back...

I was recently invited to be a guest artist at the upcoming Star Wars Celebration 5 con in Orlando.  I attended it a few years back and had a great time producing a limited edition Stormtrooper print (see my earlier post).

I've decided to skip this year's con, even though I did a sketch for a new print.  On top of all of the hoops that Lucasfilm makes their artists jump through (don't ask!), I just ultimately wasn't 'feeling' the sketch.  I thought it was a neat idea and would make for a cool visual, but the sketch just leaves me 'blah.'  Oh, and I couldn't figure out where to put R2.

File this sketch in the sad 'unused ideas' folder.

It happens.

the great american (comic book) novel?

I FINALLY just finished reading every issue of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's epic and brilliant "100 BULLETS." all I can say is wow.

I had been meaning to sit down with the entire 100 issue run, and finally did so. wow. ok, I already said that.

Also, a monumental tip of the hat to cover artist extraordinaire Dave Johnson. I turned down this gig years and years ago and regretted the decision for a long time. Eventually I realized the only thing to regret is that Dave did twice as good a job as I ever would have!

Well, at least I was sorta part of the team, as I did a pin-up of cool character Cole Burns for issue #26...or was it issue #25? My memory aint what it used to be.

sneak peek...

i'm having a blast illustrating a kid's book called "Tyger lilly", written by good friend Lisa Trusiani. It's absolutely the most beautifully written children's book I've read in a long, long time.