Magazine Illustrations

This month's issues of  The New Era and Liahona magazines include two illustrations drawn by myself and colored by Travis Walton.
Both magazines are published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The New Era is a monthly magazine for youth, and is published in English only.
The Liahona is published in 51 different languages from one to twelve times per year, depending on the language. The Liahona consists of articles for children, youth and adults, all of which are published concurrently in the church's Ensign, New Era, and Friend magazines.
Both magazines can be viewed (in PDF format) for free, on-line.
Click here to read The New Era. (In English only)
Click here to read Liahona . (Choose among 17 languages)
Again, my illustrations can be found in the September 2009 issues.

Batman: Knightquest in Italian

This week, issues 5 and 6 of my old series Justice League Task Force (published by DC Comics, in 1993) have been reprinted in Italy by Planeta DeAgostini Comics, as part of Batman: La Leggenda n.58 -  Alla ricerca del crociato. Included in this collection are also Detective Comics 675 and Shadow of the Bat 21-23, 28. The volume is priced at € 9,80 and can be purchased online, here.

The Phantom Cancelled in Italy

Italian website Comicus has just announced the imminent cancellation of the brand new monthly series "The Phantom: L'Uomo Mascherato,"published by Eura Editoriale.
The decision to cancel the series was apparently the result of low sales.
Issue #6 (on sale October 25, 2009) should be the last of this series.
I'd like to read some of your comments on these sad news. I will add mine, afterwards.

Preview: Fantomen 25-26/09

Here's my prototype for the cover of Fantomen 25-26/ 2009.
The illustration depicts a symbolic image of the Celtic gladiator Cernwulf .
Keep following this blog for more sneak previews and announcements of sales before the art is auctioned on eBay.

Friends of the Phantom

Well folks, it's official: I have been formally accepted into The Ancient and Mysterious Order of The Friends of the Phantom Society and I have the certificate to prove it! J

The certificate was just mailed to me by collector extraordinaire and Friends of the Phantom co-founder "Pistol" Pete Klaus. Together with Phantom historian and co-founder Ed Rhoades, Pistol Pete has been responsible for preserving the legacy of The Ghost Who Walks among fans for a long, long time.
Through the years, the Friends of the Phantom Society (FOTP) has sponsored numerous charitable initiatives along with a traditional annual luncheon at Sardi's Restaurant in New York City. Among the special guests of this luncheon there have been several fans as well as big names of The Phantom' s worldwide creative community, including the great Lee Falk himself and legendary artist Sy Barry.
You can see some of the luncheon's photos on Ed Rhoades' website.
In a future post, I will show and tell you a little more about a special initiative the FOTP took to celebrate Sy Barry's 80th birthday.

Remembering September 11, 2001

Comic book universes are populated by colorful characters that possess fantastic powers.
But on September 11th, 2001, an untold number of real men and women amazed the world with their phenomenal acts of bravery. When others ran away, they charged forward. When others reached out for safety, they offered a helping hand. When others cried out, they responded with a soothing voice. And, tragically, many of them died... but in doing so taught us all how to live.
They can't stick to walls. They can't summon thunder. They can't fly. They're just HEROES.
(From "Heroes: The World's Greatest Superhero Creators Honor The World's Greatest Heroes - 9/11/2001"

Today, I would like to share with you an illustration I did (along with inker Bob Almond and colorist Chris Dickey), eight years ago, to honor the Heroes of September 11.
I was working for Marvel Comics at that time, and was privileged to be one of the contributors to "HEROES: The World's Greatest Superhero Creators Honor The World's Greatest Heroes - 9/11/2001."
Heroes was a magazine published, by Marvel, as a benefit for the Twin Towers Fund, providing financial aid to the families of firefighters, police officers and other uniformed personnel who died during the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.
After publication, several original illustrations from the interior pages were auctioned off to raise more funds. My illustration was purchased by Nanci Quesada (Wife of Marvel's EIC Joe Quesada) and subsequently donated to the family of a fallen firefighter.
The sacrifice of all the people who gave their lives at a time of such great crisis, should not be forgotten.

Benefit Fundraiser - Spread the Word!

On Saturday, September 12, 2009 I will participate to a benefit fundraiser, to be held from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Dragon's Keep, a comics and games shop located on 260 North University Avenue, Provo, Utah‎ - (801) 373-3482.
Along with several other comic book professionals I'll be drawing sketches, selling original art and signing autographs to benefit Jake Black, a fellow professional (writer of Smallville, Ben 10: Alien Force, Chaotic, Legion of Super-heroes, TMNT and more) in his battle against Hodgkin’s Disease.
100 % of the money from my sketches and original art sold at the store, on Saturday September 12, will go to this fundraiser. I will also donate 50 % of the money from the first ten sketches I will be commissioned, via e-mail and internet, between September 5 and September 11 2009.
For more information on the event, please click here.
For more information on my commission rates, please click here.

Jungle Drums From Italy

Just a few days ago, I was contacted by Giovanni P. Timpano, a fellow comic book artist from Rosignano, Italy. Giovanni is currently working on the eleventh issue of "The Phantom: Generations" for Moonstone Books. With his permission, I am posting below a sneak preview of pages 7 and 13 from that upcoming issue."The Phantom: Generations" # 11 will be on sale in January 2010.
Please, visit Gio's Corner for the latest news on all of Giovanni P. Timpano's current and upcoming projects.
P.S.: You might be interested in reading the follow-up comment to this post. In it, Mr. Timpano tells us a little more about the issue he's currently working on, and how he felt when he was asked to draw The Phantom.