WHO HAS TWO THUMBS AND IS INKING CONAN?...

By Crom, it's your old Uncle Jolty!

For 12 whole issues, I'll be slinging ink over funny-book phenom Mike Hawthorn.  The book is called Conan: Road of Kings.

It's a dream come true for both Mike and myself.  We both grew up giant nerds for Conan and all things Howard.  So, keep your peepers peeled for the skull-splitting fun.  We're gonna do it up right.

Here's a sample of what's in store...

Scarlet Scarab Chapter 7

The adventure continues.  Come see the fruits of your Uncle Jolty's twenty-something labors, a tip of the hat to years gone by.  Pulp it up, ya'll.

GET TO SEE ME!

This weekend at SCIFI EXPO in Richardson TX (For the sake of clarity, we’ll call it Dallas).  Come rub sticky elbows with geeks and freaks and costumed fetishists.  I’ll be hocking my wares for pennies on the pound.
http://www.scifiexpo.com/DCC/scifiexpo.html
I’ll be the one sitting in silent judgment.

Scarlet Scarab Chapter 6

And the hits just keep on coming…

WHO THE HECK IS TOM DIXON?!

Why, he’s just the ding-dangest designer of  doo-dads and deeliwoppers you’ll ever see or hear of.  All manner of lights and chairs and other common household items become anything but common, when they come exploding out of his brain-pan.  If that wasn’t enough to ensure his enshrinement in the Hall of High-brow Heavyweights, Mr. Dixon had the good sense to pick little old me to draw a series of strips detailing his ever so awesome life as creator of all things keen.

This very day said strip makes it’s debut in Milan.  Crap on toast!  Did I just type Milan?!  You bet your sweet bippy I typed Milan.  As you read this oily European designer types are oggling your Unlce Jolty’s inky 2-D stylings- while drinking cappuccinos and smoking cigarettes, no doubt.

But don’t you fear you bright-eyed readers of rag-stock, your old pal, Joltin’ Johnny, isn’t about to go all continental on you.  Don’t expect to see me eating garden pests and pommes frites.  It’s burgers and fries til the day I dies- from congestive heart failure, no doubt.
So sit back and let your little peepers drink in the life of Tom Dixon, as drawn by yours truly.  Colors by John Rauch.  Letters by Greg Thompson.

For more information on Big Tom Dixon, see the links to the right of what you’re reading.  I’ll be celebrating my Americanism by eating while not hungry.

Scarlet Scarab Chapter 5

Welcome back, Junior Jolters, to the next thrilling SCARLET SCARAB adventure!  Empty your bladder and take the phone off the hook!  Danger awaits!!

 

ANGEL AND THE APE

Recently, yer old Uncle Jolty was commissioned to draw a little known, but well loved, funny book team.  Angel and the Ape was a short lived comic produced by two funny-book masters, Bob Oksner and Wally Wood, two personal favorites of mine.
I could wax poetic on the subject of the two ink-stained giants- I am a silver-tongues devil-, but I could never do them justice.  Use your google.  That’s what it’s there for.
“Angel and the Ape” was the story of a comic book artist gorilla and his foxy female friend, and all the crime-solving they could handle.  Now, while that might seem like a well-worn scenario, Oksner and Wood elevated it to a level that would cause the literary masters of old to blush.
It was with the same cosmic injustice, that has Mozart rotting in a paupers grave, that landed  “A&A” on the cancellation list.  I only hope my little tribute to the gorilla gum-shoe and his gal pal friday does them proud.

Scarlet Scarab Chapter 4

Hold on to your heart pills, Junior Jolters!  The adventure continues!

 Good news on the Scarab front.  Friend and former studio mate “Jazzy” John Cassaday was straightening his work space the other day.  What did he find, shuffled into a stack of art, but all the originals to my old strips.   This means, among other things, you’ll be subjected to other embryonic blasts from Joltin’ Johnny’s past.   Great goooey goodness!

JOLTIN' JOHNNY CAN'T SELL IT...

But Joltin’ Johnny can give it away.  Copy and bind at your convenience.

COME SEE ME! FREE COMIC BOOK DAY IN AUSTIN, TX.

Come spank my pretty behind, Saturday May 1, at Dragon’s Lair.  It’s a funny book shop in the heart of Austin Tx.  I’ll be signing sketching and selling all manner of goodies.   Get your sweet patootie down there, or pay the psychic price.

This image has nothing to do with the signing.  Ain’t it pretty, though?

Scarlet Scarab Chapter 3

Back in the golden nineties, your Joltin’ host was a member of the Austin Tx comics scene.  It was more fun than you can imagine, but, like most things in Austin, entirely too full of it’s own shit.  Austin was and always will be a town teaming with insufferable hipsters.
Many was the party kitchen gathering when I’d describe what I was up to, and some pseudo-intellectual sweet dude would respond, “So , you’re going to deconstruct the pulp hero archetype and blahdy-fart mouth I’m not listening any more?”
To which I would respond,” No.   It’s a straight adventure story.  Pulps are fun.”
The eyes of the Sebadoh t-shirt wearing micro-brewer would glaze over, his insect hipster brain unable to comprehend fun for fun’s sake.
I hope you enjoy this week’s chapter.

Scarlet Scarab Chapter 2

Buckle in loyal readers.  The Joltin’ Johnny time machine is headed back to decade past.  Come git some.

If you take a gander at the top right corner of the strip’s title, you’ll see the words “MILES-O-LUCAS”.   This was not, as some suggested at the time, a humorous reference to yours truly’s power tool, but a poorly designed credit.  Paul Miles wrote this here epic before I drew it.

Come dear readers...

to the Golden Age of Adventure.  The year is 1996, and yours truly is but a sliver of his current self, but adventure fairly leaped from my fingertips, in the form of “THE SCARLET SCARAB”.  Thrill to his adventures, and know what it was to be a reader of The Austin American Statesman, back before  print was dead.
CHAPTER; THE FIRST…

1 OUT OF 5 BACKSTREET BOYS AGREE

JOLTIN’ JOHNNY LUCAS comics are good comics.

I don’t know any of the facts, but I can say with absolute certainty reading comics produced by yours truly led to the break-up of said boy band.

I am even more certain the intellectual/philosophical awakening that followed the reading of the afore-mentioned JOLTIN’ JOHNNY GEMS led to the above B.S. boy’s decision to forgo the reunion tour perpetrated upon the innocent and undeserving public just these past years.
So, the question is, should you all crash down upon your local comic shop, like a cash bearing wave, for the purpose of buying multiple copies of JOLTIN’ JOHNNY MASTERWORKS, to send to the Jessica Simpsons and the John Mayers of the world?  Should we stop there, or should you buy copies for the Sandra Bullocks and the Tom Cruises- the Oprah Winfreys and the Jay Lenos?  Might we bring about a harmonic convergence that would certainly sweep away the dreck that poisons our airwaves and our minds?
Need you even ask?
If only George W Bush could read, we might have entered into a golden age.  Does anyone know the mailing address of Sarah Palin?  Mitt Romney?  There is still hope for us all!

SO YOU CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT....

I’ll answer the questions that keep you tossing and turning, on your tear-soaked pillow.   What is Joltin’ Johnny working on? Is he fat with cash, or on the path to the debtors prison?
Don’t fret, my little angels.  Yer Uncle Jolt is just fine.  My nimble fingers are busy slinging ink, not digging through garbage for a primo refrigerator box.  No, my chillins, wind and rain won’t be matting my lovely locks any time soon.
Here’s what’s on the drafting table…
MANHUNTER in BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM

Recently, the kind folks at D.C. comics gave me the thumbs-up to work with my good buddy Jeremy Haun.  Jeremy’s a fine lad and deadly with the ol’ No.2.   Inking his work is pure joy.
You see, there are artists out there who believe their scribblings are gooder than gold.  Their hats are a couple sizes too small, get me?  You cannot count Jeremy among that class.  He’s a damn fine drawer, and he puts all his fightin’ tackle into it, but he’s not too precious about it.   He understands I’m a bird who needs to spread his wings a bit, and he’s more than fine with it.  Not only does he not mind when I noodle around and add the odd texture, or spot the odd black,  He encourages it.  When I send him pages, he’s quick with the compliments, and I’m a dog who loves a little sunshine on his ass.   Call me Sunny Bird-Dog, if you like, because I’m a contented pup.
Work with Jeremy, on MANHUNTER,  has led to me putting my inky prints on a few more of his books.  I lent a hand on ARKHAM REBORN, also from D.C., and BERSERKER from Top Cow.
FEAR AGENT from DARKHORSE.

A few years ago, I was earning my keep on a D.C./Vertigo title called EXTERMINTORS.   My main chore was inking or finishing the breakdowns of WALKING DEAD artist, Tony Moore.  When that book got the kibosh, Tony pulled me to his creator-owned book FEAR AGENT. It was business as usual.
For a while.
As time went on, Tony’s travels took him elsewhere.  So, FEAR AGENT co-creator, Rick Remender, brought in funny-book bad-ass, Mike Hawthorne.    In order to maintain a consistent look on the title, an odd arrangement was made.  Mike would do break-downs ( that’s loose pencils ), Tony would draw the main characters’ faces, and I, a long time Tony collaborator, would finish everything else in ink.
I know you’re wondering where all the heads are on the above pages.  Don’t scratch a whole in your head, or grind your teeth to nubs, worrying that yer ol’ pal, Joltin’ Johnny, has pebbles rattlin’ around in his brain-pan.  We switched the routine around for Tony’s convenience.  He, now, draws the faces last.
There are even more things in the works I can’t talk about, lest I bring the freelancer jinx down on my noggin.  So, rest easy little ones.  Dream you dreams of chasing rabbits, safe in the knowledge that more Joltin’ Johnny goodness is on its way.   When the day comes, I’ll hop on my roost and Cock-A-Doodle-Doo.

Oklahoma is OK!

Without a doubt, the lamest slogan ever spoken, printed on a shirt, or stamped on a license plate.  I challenge you to find any slogan anywhere that’s worse.
I forgive them, and extend my hand in friendship.  I will extend my entire person June 4-6 at SOONERCON.  Can anyone dispute my sense of charity and love for humanity?
Go here, now. 
http://soonercon.com/
Then, go there then.

YOU WANT MORE?!

Of course, you do.  It’s fascinating.   Now you’ve scratched the surface, you have to have more.  Well, put on the breaks, hot-rod.  You’re gonna blow your engine, and we’re still at the starting gate.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.
Besides, this is heavy-duty mojo you’re dealing with.  Too much understanding could blast you into a pillar of salt.  For your benefit, and the safety of the whole community, we’re going to step out of the high performance machine you seem keen to ride to your oblivion, and take a walking tour of the  great landscape that is the fertile imagination of yours truly.
Now, you’re got your comfy shoes on…
Why comics, you ask?  Why not put these hands to work painting chapel ceilings, or carving divinity from stone?  Great questions, sport.  I can tell you’ve got a lot on the ball.  The answer is simple.  Conan.

That’s right.  Don’t swallow it.  Swish it around, a bit.
Conan.
I didn’t read comics as a kid.  I was far too busy playing sports, waging b.b. gun wars and riding my bike for miles.  But when I was  about 12, I discovered Conan.
Like the explorers of old, my ship had come ashore on a strange new land, with nothing before me, but adventure, scantily clad women and bludgeoning, bludgeoning, bludgeoning.  Conan’s creator, Robert E. Howard, wrote with a style that was like a punch to the face.  You can argue, and I will, buddy-boy, Howard was the first modern action writer.  He stripped away all but the essential.  It was all action all the time, and if it didn’t thrill or move the story along, it had no place.  What more could my young fevered brain ask for?

John Carter, Warlord of Mars.  That’s what.
The Mars series had the action, adventure and half-naked broads of Conan, plus ray guns, flying ships and monsters with multiple appendages.  Crap on toast!  Is this heaven?!  Edgar Rice Burroughs is better known for creating Tarzan.  But if you ask any serious fan of far-flung adventure, they’ll tell you Tarzan is a light weight in a tenth grade world next to J.C.
If Howard is the first modern adventure writer, Burroughs is the last great Victorian adventure writer ( you wanna fight about it?!).  His style  is florid and graceful, if somewhat stiff and corny.   And while his ideas on science and biology are often silly and just plain wrong, they’re born of the same brilliant imagination that created some of the greatest adventure stories on, or in, the nine planets.
Making all these stories even greater, were the illustrations.  They showcased the work of modern masters of paint and pen- Roy Krenkel, Esteban Maroto, and most importantly Frank Frazetta ( known by myself and most other adventure artists as GOD ALMIGHTY).
Then, why didn’t I become a book illustrator?  Well, good God junior,  who illustrates books, any more?!  Nobody.  Well, a few publishers do, but not enough to pay the bills.  Sure, there are children’s books, and I have nothing against them.  I’d love to take a crack at it.  By how long do you think your Uncle Joltin’ Johnny could illustrate cutesy kiddie stories, for dull-witted yuppie kids, whose parents don’t believe in spanking, much less real violence.  I’d split in two!
Luckily, it wasn’t long before I stumbled upon John Severin’s and Mike Ploog’s Kull comics ( another character created by Howard ) and Savage Sword of Conan magazine, as drawn by “Big” John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala.  They’re some of the most beautiful comics you’ll ever see.
So, that’s why comics.  Satisfied?    Well, how could you be?   This is all just so damn intoxicating.  I fear you’ll develop a taste for it…


JOLTIN' JOHNNY HAS T-SHIRTS

How lucky are you?  At long last, you can greet the day, covered in the drippings of my brain-pan.

Gloriosky, but you’re gonna look swell!

To order, contact me at...
MONSTERHANDSLUCAS@YAHOO.COM

GET TO KNOW ME!

If you’re not buying the whole popcorn and Caro syrup bio, posted to the right, I’ll throw you a bone.  Here’s an interview I did a while back.  Are you sick of my self-promotion, yet.  Brother, I sure am.
The interview was conducted, via email, by Kevin Warzecha.   Despite saying some very nice things about me, at interview’s end, he seems a reasonable right-minded person.  I wrote the bio starting at “Lucas has been around a long time”.  I suppose he added the bit at the beginning, to make me seem less of a nut.
John Lucas:
Biography: John Lucas is an American comic book inker and penciller, whose style has been compared with that of Russ Heath and Jack Kirby. A prolific freelance contributor to both DC and Marvel Comics, Lucas has also produced a great deal of small press work, as well as ‘Valkyries’ (with Steve Moore) for 2000 AD. Lucas has been around for a long time.  His first work came just as the Black and White boom was going bust, with art for Caliber Press and Mojo Press.  This led to work on Starman 80pg giant and Will Eisner’s Spirit Adventures. He has since had a smattering of work at most of the major publishers. He has drawn Superman, Wolverine and a bunch of other stuff no one will ever hear of.  The last few years, John has been making his bones as an inker, with work Civil War: Frontline, Exterminators, Fear Agent, Wolverine Xmas Special and, most recently, Deadpool. Lucas currently lives in Ft. Worth, TX.
Interview Q & A:
#1: Did you wake up one day, and decide you wanted to be a comic book inker, just like someone wants to be a fireman, or a policeman, or Superman – or did the opportunity present itself to become part of the industry and you used it as an in to begin showing your work?
Actually, I never imagined being an inker.  It just kind of happened.   I had been knocking around comics as a penciller, for a while- picking up the odd job.   In fact I’d been pushing to ink my own stuff, but wasn’t allowed to.  A combination of my inks not being up to snuff and the assembly line demanding the work be pushed through.  Finally, I was given a back-up in detective comics- a thing called The Barker about circus freaks solving the murder of one of their own.  Since it was just a back-up, they let me do full art chores.  When I started turning in pages, Michael Wright, the assistant editor on the book, commented on my inks.  He said I could teach a tutorial.  Since my penciling career wasn’t, exactly, setting the world on fire, I started hunting inking gigs.  I really didn’t want to have to go back to working a day job. With the help of an agent buddy, I landed Generation M over at Marvel.
#2: Was there ever a project that you were in the running for, that you did not get but felt would have been the perfect forum to showcase your abilities? What was it and what most appealed to you about it?
Dan Didio talked to me about drawing Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew.  I would have murdered that.  Paul Levitz wanted the artist on the original book to do it, though.  So…
I love drawing cartoon animals.  My taste in comics runs strongly toward Golden and Silver Aged books.  Most of my artistic heroes are taking dirt naps.  So, even though Capt Carrot is a super hero comic, it takes place in an animal world.  It would have been an opportunity to work in one of the dead genres I love.  I’m a cartoonist at heart.  I love drawing broad expressive characters.
#3: If you were trapped on a desert island with one book only to translate into comic book form, but an unlimited supply of paper, pencils, pens, brushes and ink, what would your Magnum Opus be? 
My first impulse was Burroughs’ Mars books.  Along with Conan it was my first exposure to adventure fiction.  I love Conan, but John Carter has all the alien landscapes and creatures.  It would, probably, present a wider variety of things to draw.
Upon deeper reflection, Alice in Wonderland came to mind.  I’ve never read it, but the images are so deeply imbedded in our imaginations.   The fantastic characters, some of them animals, and the mean spirited humor would be a blast to draw.  The fact I’d be reading it for the first time adds to the appeal, too.  I’ll make sure to take it on all my travels.  Fingers crossed.
#4: What music would be playing while you crafted your masterpiece?
I’m so bad at desert island discs.  I worked at an indie record store in Austin TX for eight years and consider myself a recovering music nerd.  But even in my heavy duty record hound days, I’d freeze at this question.  Maybe Physical Graffiti.  It’s great and it’s long.
#5: If the phone rang right now and a major publisher told you they loved your work and wanted to bring you onboard on your choice of titles, which would you prefer?
Captain Marvel.  NO contest.  I love the Big Red Cheese.  It combines all the elements I love in comics.  Action/adventure-Humor- Animals walking around in clothes acting like people. A distant second, Angel and the Ape.
#6: The concept of inker is still so very often misinterpreted outside the industry. In one sentence, what is your personal definition of an inker?
I don’t have a definition, just an approach.  Being a cartoonist, and having been the recipient of some less that stellar ink jobs, I try to imagine what the penciller would do if they had the opportunity to ink themselves.  I try to find influences within the art I’m looking at, that I can relate to, and apply that.  So far, most of the guys I’ve worked with have been happy.
Let me make clear, I haven’t hated all the inks I’ve been subjected to, but the ones that were truly awful leave marks that last forever.  And if you’re a guy who has it in mind to ink himself, even the best intentioned inker is going to have a tough time matching what you have in mind.
#7: Who are your artistic heroes from past and present, as far as artists in the comic field are concerned?
Another desert island? Thank god I’m sitting next to my bookshelf as I type this, or I’d be lost at sea.  Frazetta, Wood, Eisner, Toth, Kirby, Beck, Hughes, Nowlan, Golden and John Severin are probably the biggies. There are other guys I love, Russell, Hampson, Bellamy, Bernet, Corben, Stevens.  The list goes on forever, but the first list of guys is who I always go back to.
#8: If you had to name the one most influential artist, regardless of medium or time period that has most inspired you artistically – who would it be?
I work in comics.  So, it has to be KIRBY.  Eisner is a close second, though.
#9: If there someone outside the artistic professions, regardless of that they do, or have done – that you bring their personal philosophy into your own work?
Probably Kurt Vonnegut.  He was the first guy I read who made me think, “Oh.  You can tell stories like that.”
#10: If tomorrow you could never draw or paint again, but had a choice what you wanted to do with the rest of your life, what job would be number one on your list?
If this involves my being imbued with youth and ability, I’m going to have to go with center field for the Yankees.  Without being bitten by the radioactive ghost of Mickey Mantle coming into play, I’d, maybe, go with late night disc jockey.  Owning a pub?  A soul food restaurant?
#11: Pen or brush, if you could only use one – which would it be?
Brush.
#12: If you were not limited to a budget, what brand of paper & ink would your preferred type be?
Strathmore, I suppose.  It’s not terribly expensive.  I, recently, switched to Koh-I-Noor ink.  Again, not terribly expensive, as art supplies go.
What about if you were on a shoestring budget?
I have, from time to time worked on cheap crap paper.  It takes some getting used to, but I’ve been able to adjust.  It mostly, just slows me down a bit.  I’ve done work on the cardstock you get from Kinko’s.  It reproduced fine.  The publisher was happy.
#13: In your opinion, what is the most common mistake that new inkers make when they begin working on a page?
I really have no idea.  All I can suggest is that you draw.  The few guys I knew who were trying to be inkers- this is back in olden times when I was just a scruffy teen/twenty-something with a dream, didn’t draw very well.  So, if they were faced with something that was a little loose or was suggested, they were lost.  With no foundation, they had no idea how to fill in the gap.  As an inker, you’re sometimes asked to tighten and finish.  A couple of times I’ve had to do this over guys whose art couldn’t be more different than mine, but I had to make it fit.   Could I have done that if I didn’t feel comfortable drawing?
#14: After you have set up your workstation for the day, where do you begin when inking a page?
There’s no rhyme or reason to it.  I guess, sometime if there’s a giant head, I’ll start there.  I must be the worst interview ever.  I don’t usually give much thought to what I’m doing.  Every now an then, my brain kicks in to solve a problem.  For the most part, it’s all pretty automatic.  I’ll look a page over.  If there’s a spot that needs special attention- tightening up or added textures, I’ll spot it before pen/brush touches paper.  If I don’t think of the solution when I spot it, it’ll, usually, come to me while I’m working.
#15: Do you work on more than one page at a time?
Early on, I’d skip around, but it was too hard to track progress.  I knock ‘em out one page at a time.
#16: Do you find that you work better early in the morning or later at night?
I used to work at night.  When I moved in with my wife, I slowly came around to waking up with her.  Now, I work a pretty normal work day.  If deadline demands it, I pull longer days.  I, almost, never work past 9:30.
#17: In your opinion, is it more productive to block off a solid piece of time every day and require yourself to work, or do you return to the inking periodically throughout the day amid other tasks?
Probably, the routine works best.  Life gets in the way, though.  Normally, I’d be working, but I had to run to the bank and the post office today.  Since I was already doing errands today, I decided to piggy-back this interview.
#18: When you are in the groove, how long does it take you to ink a moderately detailed page? What was the longest it took you to complete a standard sized but highly detailed page?
Maybe 3-4 hours.  It depends on the penciller and the project, though.  Obviously, a super graphic guy isn’t going to take as long.
#19: Without giving away too many details, what was your greatest marathon session to complete a deadline?
When I was young and single, it wasn’t unusual to work for 20+.  I think the longest was around two days with no sleep.  I have all kinds of stomach problems now.  I’m pretty sure no sleep, stress and bad diet have a lot to do with that.
#20: What was the earliest example of sequential art you can remember creating, and does it still exist today?
Finished?  It was an unpublished self-published book I did at 18, called Darkwing.  A buddy from High School wrote it and another friend inked it.  The writer is a guy named Mark Finn.  He’s written a bit of fiction.  You can find it if you look.  Mark has written essays for Darkhorse’s Conan comics.  He had a couple of lightning press books.  I read one and loved it, Year of the Hair.  He has a boxing character that needs to be published.  I’d draw it as a comic in a heartbeat.  He was involved in an online writing project with Bill Willingham, Matt Sturgess, and Chris Roberson called clockworkstorybook.com.  I have no idea if it’s still active.  Bill, Matt and Chris all write for DC and Chris publishes books under the name of Monkey Brain.
#21: Do you have a favorite contemporary comic book title that you are not involved with?
I haven’t been to a comic shop in about two years.  I moved from New York and got married.  I haven’t had the time or money.  I was getting the DC comp box for a while, but chucked most of it.  I was enjoying the superman titles, but they drove me away with yet another crossover.  There was a magician book coming out from windstorm I really enjoyed, but the name escapes me.  Mostly, I buy collections of old stuff.
Now I’ve had a chance to think about it.  I love Invincible.   It’s the perfect mix of everything I love about Spiderman and Superman.  By that I mean Romita Spidey and golden/sliver age Supes.  I haven’t read it in ages, but I look forward to catching up.
#22: Do you have a favorite contemporary comic strip that you are not involved with?
Prince Valiant.  The rest is rubbish.
#23: What is your best inking secret that you are willing to reveal?
I think it’s, probably, pretty clear from my previous answers I have no secrets to reveal.  It’s a job for me.  I just want to save up some dough, so I can one day do my own work.
#24: Which book of yours slated for release in the next year should we add to our required reading list?
There are a few I’m looking forward to seeing.  One I’m really looking forward to is a horror anthology called Bella Lugosi’s Tales from the Grave.  Kerry Gammill is putting it together.  It’s a book in the tradition of Creepy and Eerie and the E.C. horror titles, and he’s secured the rights to Lugosi’s likeness.  Lugosi will serve as the Crypt Keeper.  The guy who painted those old Famous Monsters of Film Land covers is painting the covers for the first two issues, John Cassidy is doing an alternate cover and story and I’m going to scratch an itch I’ve had since I grew up reading all the  above mentioned magazines and draw an eight pager for it.  I can’t wait.  It’s supposed to come out late this year early next.
I’ve, also, been doing some work for a company that packages young readers’ comics for the book market.  It’s been a lot of fun drawing things for a market other than the male power fantasy dominated mainstream.  The three I’ve done so far are: Making Waves, a story about how a young girl and step-mother learn to work together and love one another, Now You See Me, a story for very young readers about animals and insects who use camouflage, and Final Voyage, the story of the finale voyage of 15^th century explorer John Cabot. Sometime soon I’ll also be drawing an adaptation of Joe Lansdale’s Bubbahotep.
Since this is an issue dedicated to inkers I should mention I’m currently inking a couple of issues of Deadpool.
#25: Is there a question not included in the last 25, that you were eager to answer or thought of during the process of responding to the others – that you want to ask and then respond to yourself?
I always feel that, when discussing inking, I come across as crass.  So, I suppose, the question would be “do you really care and think so little about inking?”  I do, actually, care about what I do.  I won’t go so far as to say inking is a passion, but I do care.  I do my best as a point of pride and out of a sense of responsibility to the penciller.  I know the pain of having work I’ve slaved over come back to me looking as though the guys down the line just didn’t get what I was going for.  I don’t want a penciller I’ve worked with to ever feel bad or mad about a job I’ve assisted on.  The penciller has taken a blank page and filled it in with all the setting and characters-up to a point.  I try to take it that last little bit, with them in mind.
For more John online: Check out the Podcast interview with John Lucas at http://www.cindycenter.com/cindycenter.rss   * eBay auctions: knuckleduster3000 * Website Details: http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=25265
A few thoughts on John: I like John. He’s a damn hard worker, and a general all-around good guy who really wants to break through and be able to do his own thing for a while. Frequently I meet people in the industry with giant ballooning bobble-heads who could easily suffer whiplash from overdeveloped egos, but John isn’t one of them. All of my business I’ve conducted with him has been quick and detail oriented. As well, he makes really nice, really wacky sketchbooks and I’m hoping some of them fall into the hands of some rich Fortune 500 types with nothing but money and nothing to spend it on. John also has a well-deserved reputation for going above and beyond on his commissions and his CAF has some excellent examples. If he has time on his roster to get yours done, be prepared for high expectations being easily met. Oh, and for Exterminators fans, John draws ridiculously cool bugs!

DOODLES OF DIMWITS

I have been told the great appeal of these blogs is not so much the finished articles that make their way on, but the odd scraps.  Well, Junior Jolters ( I will trademark that.  So, mitts off!), I am a man to satisfy that demand.  Behold, with astonished eyes, a treasure trove of twaddle.

Nothing thrills me more than to thrill you with so little.  From my very own sketchbook, oodles of doodles of huckabucks and nimrods.  All for your pleasure (and mine) and absolutely free!
Dig in and feast your eyes on characters that may or may not have made their way into a background of a panel from a story that may or may not have seen print.  Truth to tell, I have no idea.  What I can tell you is, I often enjoy drawing these slack-jawed, foot-dragging background dwellers, more than the four-color leading lads and lasses we plop down our hard earned paper and coin to read about.

After all,  who among you prances through life, clad in spandex and silver boots?  Unless you’re a professional wrassler or go by the name of Brett Michaels, I’d say none.
So, look, but not too long.  For the face you see staring back just might be your Aunt Martha.

THE BRIDE (cont.)...

The same can be said of Saturday Morning Cartoons…

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Can you name a movie that wouldn’t be better as a gangster film?  No,  you cannot.   Gone with the Wind?  You’ve Got Mail?  The Muppets Take Manhattan?
“How’s that”, you ask?  My answer is, where are the car chases?  The smokey back-room deals?  The lead-pipe justice?  Did America’s sweetheart, Meg Ryan, learn the high price of challenging the syndicates?  Was Kermit’s shot at the big time bought for the cost of very his soul?
Yes, these films may be considered Hollywood masterpieces.  But without a Mugsy or Marlowe, they are but shadows of what they might have been.

BRILLIANCE ON DEMAND! BRILLIANCE ON DISPLAY!!

This delightful series of flickering images was sent to me by a videotaping fan.  And you know what?  I wasn’t at all creeped out.  BULLY to anyone dedicated to preserving my brilliance and beauty.






Sadly, I was unable to attend the show in 2009.  I fear it is my burden, to leave broken hearts in my wake.

Did you see the beautiful woman sitting beside me?  That is my wife,  Mindy.  She is so lovely she hurt your eyes.  Visine won’t ease your pain.
 

HELLO WORLD!

My name is John Lucas.  This is my amazing blog, inspired by my hero, the wind beneath my wings, Ivan Brandon.  Here is a commissioned drawing of Batwoman.  It was drawn on paper with some manner of drawing implement.  Do you love it?  I hope that you do.
I will post more pictures, as time allows.  You must return, or regret will dog your path.