Today's Phantom -- Nomad takes a dive!

Today's Phantom Sunday strip -- from rough to inks to final colored strip.  Pencils and inks done digitally in Manga Studio.  The blue pencil rough is a small screen capture -- sorry I don't have a bigger image for that.  Click on the other pics to see them bigger.

Previous Phantom Sunday artist, the late Eduardo Barreto, figured out a new template for the Sunday strip that allows for the taller vertical panels you see here -- particularly appropriate for the jumping off the cliff sequence.  This would not have been half as effective in the standard horizontal panel format. 

The Phantom - inks to color - 2-19-12

 The Phantom for today, 2-19-12 -- inks to color.  This is still a completely digital production -- Manga Studio and Photoshop.  Come back next week for more!!!

Today's Phantom -- work in progress pics.

My first few Phantom Sunday strips were drawn digitally, using Manga Studio and Photoshop.  For this page, I took a few screen shots of a selected panel as I worked, so I could share a "behind the scenes" look at the process.  Using the pencil tool, I sketch out the scene in blue.

The inking tools in Manga Studio are amazing -- and look and feel like the real thing -- but without the chance of spilling the ink bottle!  Of course I inked the Phantom first!

Background now inked -- penciled loose -- so much of the drawing done in the inks.  I changed the gun from the pencil stage, so he's not just reaching for it, but has it in hand.

 Finished panel, with blue pencil layer dropped out.

The whole Sunday page partially inked.  Some of the pencils still unfinished/rough here.

 And the published version -- inks done -- lettering done in Photoshop (ComicCraft fonts) -- and color by Tom Smith.  The next several pages were all done this way.  Eventually, I switched to printing the blue pencils on bristol board and inking by hand, so there is a piece of original art, rather than just a computer file -- but the digital process allowed me to hit the ground running and get the strip (which had fallen behind) back on schedule.

Phantom Sunday #2 -- B&W and color

My second Phantom Sunday is in print worldwide today.  And just so you can see how much colorist Tom Smith brings to the table, I'm showing you the black and white "ink" art as well.  I put quotes around ink, since the first few of these were drawn digitally in Manga Studio -- no real ink involved at all! 

Lara Irena Beatty -- new adventure!

The new member of the Beatty family -- Lara Irena -- born 12:54PM on 2/3/12. 7lbs 10oz., 19 inches.  Mom and baby doing fine.  Dad happy as can be.

The Adventure begins!

My first Phantom Sunday strip -- published 1-29-12.  

Click on the image to enlarge.

New Adventure!

Okay, I'll admit it -- I've not paid as much attention to this blog as I should have lately.  But I do have a rather snazzy announcement to make.  As of January 29, the art on the Sunday episodes of The Phantom newspaper strip will be by me!  Paul Ryan will continue to draw the daily strip (as he has for a good many years now) -- but the Sundays are mine. 

As a long-time fan of Lee Falk's  "Ghost Who Walks," this is a dream assignment for me and I'm thrilled to join writer Tony DePaul and colorist Tom Smith in continuing this classic feature.  I'll post links where you can see the strips once they start appearing.

I can't show you any of the Sunday strips yet -- but I can show you this quickly knocked out sample drawing I did, which caught the attention of King Features.  I'm drawing the strip a little "grittier" than this -- and while that's a good looking wolf -- I must admit it doesn't quite look like Devil -- but I'll make sure he looks right when he next shows up in the strip.

My original Batman Adventure samples weren't quite on model, either -- but that didn't keep me from getting it right once I was on the books -- and I stuck with that for eleven years.  I wonder how long I will draw The Phantom...?

In other news, I'm illustrating the next book in Max Allan Collins' "Jack and Maggie Starr" series for Hard Case Crime.  Glenn Orbik has painted the cover -- but I'll be doing the same comic-style panel chapter headings as the previous series entries.  More on that when we get close to publication.

Max and I are also hammering out the details of the Ms. Tree reprint series and new graphic novel slated to come from the new First Comics.  This has been a long time coming and we want to make sure we do it right.

In personal news, we are a few weeks away from adding a new member to our family -- and you can be sure I'll announce the details here when baby arrives.

For now -- see you in the funny papers!