So, I'm back east for a few days and cleaning up my old shit. I've widdled my crap down to about half of what it was but I'm finding it difficult to shrink it any further. There are some things that I know I'll never use again but can't find the heart to chuck. i.e. my grade school lunch box, toys I used to play with, old drawings from high school, etc. I guess I have a sentimental personality. It's been both interesting and embarassing going through old pages I've drawn and seeing how awful they are. What the fuck was I thinking?? There were a few gems though with little things I could recycle for future projects but, man, was I shite back then. lol.

As promised, I dug up a bunch more BoyGenius Tom strips and will post them once I'm back in Vancouver. I don't have access to photoshop here. Anyway, here's one for the road. Sorry for the crappy scan. Will upload a cleaner version once I'm home home.

Oh, and what's up with this humidity!!!???

TAK

TAK

It's been a good 4 days since getting back from the circus called San Diego and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. At least I have confirmation that others are in the same boat and it ain't just me. I've got a bunch of e-mails to reply to still so I gotta do that before I polish off some MJ pages tonight. Oh, it's, like, party time in Vancouver right now. There's this annual fireworks display that goes on for 2 weeks and it's starting tonight. There's a huge crowd of people on the beach outside my window and I'm stuck here workin'. Damn deadlines to hell.

Anyway, on to more important news. I gave Marvel a call a coupla days ago about me leaving the MJ book. I thought long and hard about trying to maintain a monthly while trying to find work in Japan but I figure I'm moving for a reason and that I shouldn't half ass it. I've asked whether I could stay on covers to keep some sort of income coming in and I'm hoping that they allow it. So, as it looks right now, I'll be on till November or issue 15 and they will find a replacement for me after that. I called Sean (the writer) and told him about my decision and he was very understanding about it along with my editor. I'm fortunate that I work with such cool people. There are no guarantees with what I'm doing and it's more likely I'll come groveling back to them but it's something I have to do now or I will probably never do it. I've always felt that life is about risk and change and the more you do of both the more rewards await you.

It's time to own this thing called comix.

TAK

the above image has nothing to do with the con, btw. I just found it funny.

San Diego + 140000 people + every comic imaginable = quite the weekend. My first time at the big shebang and I must admit I had a pretty good time. Shook lots of hands, met a bunch of people and drank a lot of booze. I dug the vibe and excitement for comics. I forget there actually is appreciation for what I do and it's nice to be reinforced with a pat on the back once a year. I arrived on Thursday, already 1.5 days into the con and kinda just stood at the entrance for a few minutes trying to take it all in before finding my shared booth with Kendrix and Laurie of Konsequential Studios and Alberto Ruiz and his daughter Megan. Business throughout the 3 days was okay. I expected more but I think the bigger names and all the video games were diverting attention away. I'm hoping that Chicago will cooperate more with the $$. Not much else to really ramble on about. The after parties were cool but San Diego turned off it's taps at 2 am which left many half-drunk and confused. I did a few sketches which I've uploaded in my sketches gallery under Con Sketches 2. Go check those out. Here's a few pics:


Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll have s'more stuff to talk about later but I gotta get some work done. I'm kinda screwed due to having to fly home at the end of the week and then to Chicago right after. Frig.

TAK

A quick post while I pack for San Diego. Picked up my sketchbooks and posters today which both turned out fantastic. For those of you attending, I will be sharing a booth at table 5433.

That's here:

It seems it's right next to an entrance. I dunno if that's a good or bad thing but at least there's a bathroom right close. lol

I'll be taking sketch requests at a first come first served basis so come early if you want one. I'll also be pimping out my merchandise so check those out as well.

Hope to see ya there!

TAK

Eye booger? Eye crud? I don't think I've ever heard a proper name to call it. I've heard the term "sleeper's sand" as well. Anyway, just something I was thinking about today.

So, just a few more days until San Diego. I'm pretty much set and ready. Just waiting to pick a few things up and make price tags for them. I've been invited to a few get togethers which will be cool. I have yet to meet my past Marvel editor and colourist (that's you CeeCee!) so I'm really looking forward to putting names to faces. I have to keep reminding myself I'm going for work and not play, although, playing will be a good part of after hour activities. I'm not really sure what to expect from this weekend. Meeting fans is standard but making useful contacts and lining up some work would be nice too even though I've never gone to a convention aiming to do so. Well, except for the Toronto con 3 years ago. lol. I suppose the ideal situation would be to come outta San Diego with expenses covered with a little extra and a handful of business cards and handshakes. Whatever happens I'm sure it'll be a good experience. I'm staying positive.

TAK

I was down at the printer's today looking over proofs of my sketchbook and poster. Holy friggin' crap it's gonna be sweet. Very crisp and high quality. None of that photocopied bullshit. I hopefully get to pick them up on Monday/Tuesdayish. Here are samples from the interior:

The posters looked unbelievable as well. There's something about seeing your stuff in print that is so fulfilling.

San Diego in t-minus 7 days...

TAK

Gotta shoot some stuff off to the printers. Here's that finished Cloak & Dagger piece.


TAK

I got utterly destroyed at a house party on Friday night and spent all weekend recovering. I think I'm off alcohol for the next little while. Until San Diego, anyway... Speaking of San Diego, I managed to drag myself outta bed last night and banged out layouts and pages for my sketchbook. Here's the cover:


It's a letter-sized wrap around to make printing and shipping easier. I also think it's the standard size all other artist's make their sketchbooks. So, yeah. I'm getting some semi-nice binding for the spine so it's costin' me a bit more than I wanted but, whatever. It'll look good. As of now, it'll be a 64 page booklet with a colour cover and B&W interior. Pretty cool, eh? I'm excited. Gotta get the final files to the printers for tomorrow. Another looooong night awaits.

As an aside.. pourqoui Zidane? Pourqoui??

TAK

Blogger tells me this is post #101. To commemorate, I will do nothing.

I just finished Spider-man Loves Mary Jane #9 last night and I'm working on digitally inking the pages right now. There was a beautiful scene in this issue which turned out really sexay. I love it when panels just materialize effortlessly. McKeever seriously rocks it in this one so keep an eye out, folks. #9!!!

I tried so hard to get it done ahead of time so I can make room for San Diego prep but, alas, it came down to the wire AGAIN. Fookiiiiin' hell.

Anyway...

Thanks to Kandrix' suggestion I will have a pullout/prop-up banner for the show. It will look something like this:


My dad suggested I include my name in kanji as well so that any J-fans/editors could take note. If anyone was curious the kanji broken down means: "shrine by the stream & historic warrior". So, that's me. A warrior of history.

For this site, I've been typing up a FAQ and intend to add a BFX banner on it somewhere. I've been thinking of redesigning it again, too. I'm kinda bored with the colours. (Tu. Will need your help again, dude)

On with the show!

TAK

This past week felt like 2. Hosting my dad, goin' fishin' and trying to work in between has been pretty rough but worth it. The weather totally cooperated and we didn't see a drop of rain. This is why I love Vancouver so much.

I haven't seen Superman yet. The longer I wait the less likely I'll probably see it. I've been reading mixed reviews and add the fact that I've never been a big fan of the franchise makes for hangin' at the beach more desirable. Ironically, I saw Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift last week. lol. Although it was strewn with horribly spoken Japanese I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was despite it being pretty predictable.

Here's the final Boy Genius strip. In hindsight, there were a wealth of inventions and storylines I coulda kept going with but I vaguely remember going into my 4th year of uni and deciding to concentrate on my studies. I was paying a lot of money to be there afterall. It's good to leave on a high as well. I think, if I ever finish BFX, I will come back to this as my next web project. It's less intensive and time consuming so makes perfect sense. Oh, also, I'm missing a handful of strips which I think are lying around in my closet back in Toronto so when I go back for the summer I'll try and dig them up and post them here.

Anyway, here she is:

TAK