Secrets of a Super-Hero Sketch Artist: More Publications from a Parallel Dimension

From the “Did I Not See This Somewhere Before?” department:  Most followers on this blog and Brian Cronin’s “The Line It Is Drawn” feature know that I am a long-time fan of the DC Comics character Green Lantern, and probably know that I believe the most brilliant media adaption of the concept is the wonderful-yet-no-longer-produced “Green Lantern: The Animated Series”(GLTAS) that aired on Cartoon Network from November of 2011 to March of 2013.

A little over a year ago, and with a little help, I have compiled a number of GLTAS fanart pieces to create a mock DVD cover of a speculated Season Two, Part One, which I had arranged to have delivered to a few cast and crew members who attended the WonderCon 2014 as a “thank you” gift for making such an outstanding programme. One of the few positive comments I had received asked if I planned to create a sequel to finish up the speculated second season…  The answer was yes, and I had managed to complete it a few months ago. Attached is a fairly decent picture for those interested (click to enlarge).

On a related note, one can find a mock "TV Guide" article on the "final episode" of this collection that I created as filler for a “The Line It Is Drawn” entry here. I suppose this as about as close (or is it far?) to fan fiction as I ever plan to get.

Enjoy. And please note that just because there is a picture, it did not necessarily happen…  yet.

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number eight in what is now a very irregular series.

A tease of a little side project I have been working on for a while...

Secrets of a Super-Hero Sketch Artist: Cartoon Crisis

On this week's The Line It Is Drawn, I had the pleasure of revisiting a topic I had done five months ago, this time spotlighting 16 DC Comics cartoons (spanning six decades) that are no longer being produced. Can you name them all?

See the full wraparound cover version (as well as the fantastic pieces my compatriots have created) here. 


(Based on the cover of  "Crisis on Infinite Earths #1" by George Pérez. Done with respect to him and all of the talent behind these fantastic programmes.)

Secrets of a Super-Hero Sketch Artist: Publications from a Parallel Dimension

As a fan of the wonderful-yet-no-longer-produced “Green Lantern: The Animated Series”(GLTAS), I immensely enjoy the opportunity to draw characters from that programme in a number of submissions to “The Line It Is Drawn” (responding to Twitter suggestions from whom must be other fans of the series). This led to a number of GLTAS-related art commission requests from other fans of the programme (some of which have been featured in my “Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]” series on this blog).

This piece pictured is a compilation of some of those works (with a little additional art for the front cover). Ever since parts of this piece was posted by Josh Keaton on his blog a few weeks ago, I have received a number of questions (and some hate mail) about it. The intent was to create a facsimile of the next DVD release if the series had continued for another season, but not as a hoax to make people believe the show was being renewed (and my sincerest apologies to those who were inadvertently deceived). It was essentially a “thank you” gift for certain GLTAS cast and crew members that were scheduled to attend the recent WonderCon event in Anaheim, California -- with the message being along the lines of “hopefully one day you’ll be able to share the stories you currently do not have the chance to tell.”

Right now this is the closest I can show of the complete piece, as I do not have the actual label art file at this time. While I did create all of the artwork and indicia here in Japan, the label layout was put together and printed by a friend of mine in the States (who also delivered the gifts and provided the above photo). 

Enjoy. And please note that these labels are not real and these cases are empty -- for now.

Secrets of a Super-Hero Sketch Artist: Spotlight on… the Background

My submission to this week’s The Line It Is Drawn sketch challenge was both a comic book cover homage (to John Byrne and Terry Austin’s classic Uncanny X-Men #141) and a love letter to the numerous no-longer-produced comic-book related cartoons I have enjoyed over the years, from the Superfriends to Green Lantern and Young Justice.

Many of these shows were represented in a “wanted poster” in the background, with taped “updates” containing an overgeneralized reason why these shows are no longer being produced (and for the sake of accuracy, there is really no single factor that ends the production of an animated television show, so these simplified explanations are not to be taken as hard fact).

The 16 characters on the poster were obscured either by these taped updates or the figures of the animated Hal Jordan (from Green Lantern) and Artemis (from Young Justice) in the foreground. So as a “DVD extra” (and to demonstrate that I can be irrationally obsessive with detail), I am showing the full poster unblocked. Enjoy.

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number seven in a series.

[Scene from "Father Figure", the seventeenth episode of the non-existent second season of the wonderful "Green Lantern: The Animated Series"]

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number six in a series.

(It started with this, and then exploded into...)

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number four in a series.

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number three in a series.

(Inspired by Giancarlo Volpe's "Green Lantern the Animated Series: The Musical," A.K.A. "Drop-kicking You in the Feels.")

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number two in a series.