Pencils - Allen Adams III Inks - Terry Wagner Colors - Walter Jimenez II/Terry Wagner

Well guys I am catching up on a lot of belated work.  I wouldn't say neglected but the conventions tend to draw effort from the current projects.  Ok, what current projects?  Fusion 3 inks are complete and the test color is ready to send off to the colorist. 

Here's a sample without backgrounds added.

Artistic side is getting the reformat treatment as well as preliminary edits.  The first NASA Toons is getting a re-edit with the stories behind the drawings added.  Gods of Thunder is well on its way and is looking fantastic. 

On the reprint front we have Season of Storms(aka Demon Seed) already available on kindle and the reprint is out for print.

Speaking of Kindle, Fusion 1 and 2 are up on kindle now.  For those who own the comic you will notice that the comic contains both stories in one book.  Also if you check the copyright info it is listed as Fusion 1.2.

The Corpse is getting a reprint also.  New cover colors by Garrett Gainey and Spandex Avenger is getting a page reformat and a new cover.

For those that have the original Demon Seed and Corpse covers, both those runs were limited to 75 copies and the reprint will be noted in the copyright on the next print run. (Just a note to collectors)

I will be posting an archive on the website to keep track of what was printed and what the run was on each title.  I too am a collector and the more detailed information on a particular title the better. 

Well Comicpalooza is done.  Can't say it was a successful show for the mental diversions team but you can't win all of them.  Comparing to Dallas, the Houston show was bad.  Sorry I was there last year scoping this out and they made vast improvements over last year.  And when I say vast I am talking lightyears.  In the same breath I can also say they screwed up a bunch also.  I guess I shouldn't hammer them too hard.  I was a little miffed because they dropped me from the database by accident.  So I spent valuable time chasing badges all week when I should have been prepping more.  The layout in the artist's alley and the dealer's area was a maze.  I think they are going to change that up next year.  Also the artists were too separated from the dealers.  I don't know how this was thought to be a good idea but to me its a symbiotic relationship and we should have been closer together.

Now about some of the things the convention people had no control over.  To the guy who kept sending his kid over to take our customer's hands and lead them over to your table across the way.  You suck.  Also had I known that was happening at the time I would have petitioned the convention staff to have you removed.

To another studio which shall remained unnamed...if you are going to pander to my team you better pay them very well as opposed to offering a percentage of a book you had not produced yet.  By the way, I will support all other studios but you are running a shady show. 

What did I do wrong?

Well our display could have been better.  I should have brought another table. And lastly, next time I will not have another studio's book on my table. 

Maurice I don't mind helping you out but when I can walk the floor and see that book at another table at the same show...you can take up half of theirs not half of mine.  Allen could barely put his stuff on the table.  Pretty much I am disappointed and displeased.  I sent you an email about the deadline on the project you are three months behind on.  If I am not on the top of your list to get work done then move on and go work for someone else. 

Overall the show was a bust for me.  But then I wasn't the only one suffering.  We can all blame this on the economy but that's just an excuse.  In truth what I lost in income I gained in experience.  A business is a dynamic thing.  If I fail to adapt to the market then shame on me.  But be aware Mental Diversions is here to stay. 

Well Dallas Comic Con is down and out of the way.  We met some tremendous fans!  Houston is this weekend and it really looks like its going to be a big blow out.  This is our home town show so this is going to be an amazing time.   Come check us out at Comicpalooza.  We have the prequel to Paradise Lost, DEMON SEED by Allen Adams III and Damon Jackson.  We also have the flip comic The Corpse and Spandex Avenger.  And also Fusion 1.2 by Terry Wagner!!!  I'll just leave you with a little Boba.

 

Sorry for not warning you guys.  It came up in Dallas and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to attend.  Be sure to go to mental diversions facebook page and check out the pictures from the con.  Other things that happened this weekend at the con was I recieved some commissioned artwork from Mike Champion and Walter Jimenez.  The artwork is pin-ups for the upcoming Impalers story by Damon Jackson.

Currently at the printers....

Demon Seed by Allen Adams III

The Corpse by Garrett Gainey

Next to go, Fusion #3 and Mentally Challeneged Magazine featuring work from all the team members and some guest artists.

 

The Mental Diversions team will be heading to the Dallas Comic Con.  In preparation I have given Titan Comics 25 copies of Fusion 1.2 and Mental Diversions Presents featuring Garrett Gainey to hand out to their loyal customers. 

Here's the deal

Get the a copy of each at Titan, b ring it to our table at the Dallas Comic Con and have them personalized by the artists.

One each per person please. 

http://www.mentaldiversions.com/offer.asp

http://www.titancomics.com/

http://www.scifiexpo.com/DCC/dcc.html

 

I haven't posted alot recently because I have been very busy running a business.  What started out as an outlet for my creative side has turned into something more.  Now I have a team of talented people depending on me to steer this beast in the right direction.  When you are flying solo you can skip deadlines and fudge the time a little.  But when people are depending on you it's a whole other story.  With that I am pumped about the New Orleans show next weekend.  It came up quick!  I am expecting shipment of the exclusive for the convention this week.  Yeah I am cutting it close.   In other news Fusion is having a little makeover to better integrate the new artist on the project, Allen Adams III.  I should be sending number 3 out for print the first week in Feb.  Check out the new slightly modified armor.

 

I am still tweaking issue 3 to make the changes but it should be interesting.

Here's a sample of the new look from Allen.

 

With the completion of many half finished projects it has spurred me into overdrive.  Well not just that but actually having a focus.  Before when I was with Space City Comics the direction was not of my choosing.  Often times I would be left hanging to do clean up work like letters.  You know the tedious stuff no one likes to do.  I must say it was a little embarrassing going to conventions to support the studio and having a fanboy ask, "What do you do?"  But it did give me insight on how to work the conventions. 

Of the more recent conventions I have been to recently I must say that the best organized layout was comicpalooza in Houston.  The Sci Fi expo coming in a close second.  The only reason I didn't put the Scit Fi Expo (Richardson Center) first was the size of the venue and the way the space was arranged due to the building's construction.  The worst with the most potential was Texas Comic Con in San Antonio.  They had a huge, open space to work with.  Yet everything was hap-hazard. 

The featured artists were difficult to find and not well represented.  In other words you had to know who to be looking for to find them.  In fact kudos to the small press guys for putting up displays and having a good marketing eye for the convention.   

The mechandise booths were too closely spaced and really didn't benefit from the convention traffic.  The guest were stationed in the back as always and I understand why from a markeing perspective.  But overall the layout was done poorly.  On the good side they had a fairly good showing on comic talent and celebrity talent.  I really feel for the vendors there because there was so much untapped potential.

Ok off my soap box and my back seat convention managing, how about a recently inked/colored panel from Fusion #3. 

 

Since I just posted Fusion #1 online I thought I would give you a little history on the story and how the comic came about.  Back in the day I kept reading articles and tutorials in order to improve my writing and artistry skills.  Fusion was actually taken from a suggestion I had read in a magazine.  The author said and I am paraphrasing, "Take a current popular character and take the idea and write it as if you were doing it from scratch."  Basically taking a character and throwing out all the years of history and applying your take on origin and story.  I was knee-deep in armor wars(1987-1988) at the time and so I chose Ironman as my pet project.  What happened I didn't expect; the story and character took on a life of its own.  Sure you can see the similarities to Ironman but the character came out completely different. 

Now some of you are looking at this going hey he stole that from Stargate(1994), you know the movie and TV series.  Not true, Fusion was written years before Stargate ever hit the theaters.  I drew inspiration from the book 'Chariots of the Gods'(1968) I would assume that the people that wrote Stargate did the same.  It was a book I read back in high school.  It presents the case that in ancient times we were visited by aliens.  It supports its case by showing a carving on Aztec temples resembling spacemen, the true inspiration for Fusion, and the other artifacts like the Nazca lines.  Proof of this is actually in the artwork of the main character himself.  The armor was drawn to look like an Aztec carving, hence the huge collar. 

Issue #1 was presented to Space City Comics editors and was later given a new cover by the late Gary Wheeler. 

I beleive the run was 250 copies, if that.  Shortly thereafter I left Space City taking Fusion with me for personal reasons.  At the time Issue #2 was complete and Issue #3 was penciled but not inked.  Life began to take over and I could not dedicate the time to continue to work in comics. 

Flash forward to now; I have the time and resources to return to comics.  Re-launching Fusion was a first step, then dusting off stacks of old stories and art.  The funny thing is Fusion wasn't the first comic story I had ever written or drawn.  It was the first to actually see a printing press.

Here is a hero shot of the Fusion armor.  Note the collar.  The color scheme of the armor is silver and gold.

 Note: This was edit to add the dates of reference material and the original Space City cover by Gary Wheeler.

Well I just finished my workout and just awaiting the time to leave to go to the Sci Fi Expo.  While I am waiting I thought I would share what I like to refer to as a 'Difference of Opinion'.  Back when I was working with Allen Adams III at Space City Comics my duties were relegated to lettering mostly.  It's because the studio had plenty of writers and artists.  But tenacity pays off.  Keep plugging away people, eventually you will get noticed.  In my case the other artists and writers save a few were not very forth coming with material.  Either they didn't have any or were clutching it tightly to their breasts as to not lose control of their baby. 

So I never stopped writing or drawing. And that is how I got one of the artists to draw out one of my stories.  The story was one that came from real incidents in the neighborhood I was living in where gang bangers were speeding up and down a residential street.  A street where I and other parents had young children.  I often wondered how long it would take before they killed someone, but that is another story.  So on with the story, I wrote a character that was werewolf like but it was never meant to be a werewolf.  Andy Amato took his creative license with the character after seeing my concept art and reading the story.  Check out the differences.  Dramatic isn't it.  

 

To me it didn't fit the character but we were looking for a short to fill the back pages of 'Cutting Edge Presents' at the time so it made it in.  The more I look at Andy's contribution I must say he went a little extreme but that was his style.  I presume the real character is somewhere inbetween my concept and Andy's vision.  My plan is to revitalize the story with new art because it was really a good short and it gives me a vehicle to launch this character.  I have three stories completed for this character and about five more in scribbled notes and doodles.

See you all at the Sci Fi Expo.  I'll be wearing my Bernie Wrightston shirt.  My Mental Diversion golf shirts are in the mail.