Friday's links

"The nervousness wore off. Now I feel sheer terror."
Mercury's own Matthew Clark talks to the Pulse


"The reputation of comics has improved so much in recent decades that Maryland is planning a program that would use the books in public schools to help engage reluctant readers."
The Washington Post on comics in the classroom. Bonus: the article cites Dignifying Science.

"When you realize that

Lots of local links

"(Parker) vividly contrasts the desolate and bleak facility with the spirited yet clearly frustrated scientists within."
Comic Book Galaxy reviews FALLOUT published by G.T. Labs


"There's no longer an infrastructure to support more than a tiny number of up-and-coming cartoonists, which is unfortunate, because the talent base out there is enormous."
The Washington Post talks to Portland's Barry "

No, really.

Reason magazine has the story of Disney, Dan O'Neil and the Air Pirates

Max Collins interviewed about his Road to Perdition sequels for a Columbus-area newspaper.


"Holy stocking stuffer! These are perfect!" Via Kevin Melrose, the Boston Herald tells you what to buy. The list, credited to Mark A. Perigard, recommends vital works like The Complete Peanuts, cool stuff like the DC Archives, and,

"I'd probably spent four or five months doing nothing, because I didn't know what to do. And every month I waited, the book would get more props, and more and more people started talking about it." The Porland Mercury covers the soundtrack composed by Tracker for Craig Thompson's Blankets. Thompson and Tracker will be performing live together Friday, Dec 10 at Nocturnal on 1800 E Burnside, here

Art makes a fine gift.

Gotta share this. Drew Johnson was recently celebrating his birthday with an animator friend and received the sketch linked below. (Click on the thumbnail.) It's kind of scary how easy it is to hear the voice...

Tuesdays with Mercury

Drew Johnson, fresh off his very first Spiderman story, is ebaying again. You can see his auctions Here, here,and here.

At Ninth Art, Paul O'Brien has an interesting essay on how the mainstream audience reacts to "real" writers - writers who come to comics from other media. I'd like to see a critic follow up on this. Maybe a look at their comics as part of a larger body of work, or something

In the Woods

We've been wanting to talk about this for a while, and finally, it's out: Pete Woods is the new artist on Catwoman Follow the link for an interview with new writer Will Pfeifer and some spectacular pencils from Pete.

Pete, alas, doesn't get much ink in the interview above. So, why not go to Pete's own blog and read a general-purpose interview he posted there.

And you know, Rebecca Woods has

Tuesday's a linkin' day

Anne Timmons, the artist of GoGirl and a friend of the studio, writes: I'll be at the Borders Express at Vancouver Mall, Dec 19, 2004, 12-4 PM in Vancouver, WA. I will be signing for both the first tradepaperback and the new one that came out in September, "The Time Team."

I guess we've all wondered about this one.The Portland Mercury asks former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach which comic

VAMPI Black and White and Read All Over

Still some time to order VAMPIRELLA: THE BLACK AND WHITE COLLECTION #1 from Harris Comics. You'll want this because it features the story "The Killing Floor" by Steve Lieber, and "Hate Mail" by Jeff Parker. Cover by Parker. Other excellent talents inside too, but they're not in Mercury so we can't remember them right now. Place that order before you go over the river, through woods, etc.

Tuesday at the Newark Public Library.

Hey, it's almost Thanksgiving. That means it's almost time for Mid-Ohio Con. Stop by and ask me how I almost lost my pants at this show.

The good people at Moonstone books have a page up promoting the first issue of
Wyatt Earp, The cover, covered in a blanket of lunatic cross-hatching, is my fault, and it will be colored by Big Ugly Parker.

One of my favorite cartoonists, mini-comics genius

We Bay

Our boys are sellin' like Carnegie Mellon (which means they've been uploadin' like Charles Grodin). Parker's got a color Batgirl up on eBay, and Drew Johnson is selling one of his original pages from Wonder Woman. Go get in on some of that Free Market action, and make some bidders sweat.
--Steve Lieber, somewhere in Ohio. Yes, that state.--

Face It, Tiger

First off: I'm a doof. Paul Guinan finally answered pleas from Lieber and me to start posting news here, and I immediately destroyed his first post. Don't ask. Especially bad since he was putting up nice pictures of my first day in the studio, and a new cool current roster picture of Mercury Studio, though with not as much Karl Kesel as we'd like. Terry Dodson too, for that matter. The coolest

The Devin Grayson interview

Over at Comicgate, a German comics site, there's an interesting Devin Grayson interview, in which she turns the tables and offers a slate of questions she'd like to ask men in the industry regarding "men in comics."

Well, okay.

Do you find it difficult to write female characters convincingly?

Oh, Christ. I find it difficult to write anyone convincingly. Men, women, housepets, insects that do

Saturday night linkblogging

I missed this somehow: Fourth Rail recently posted a review of Family Reunion, a mini comic written by Sean Stewart and drawn by me. YAnd now, thanks to the magic of "jpegs," you can read it online for free. It's all here. (For you print junkies, you can buy a hard copy there, too. I think they're asking cost one dollar, so check under the couch cushions and see if you can afford it.)

Speaking

"the book looks so pro, it’s hard to believe there wasn’t a grant involved."

Enter The Interman, the next evolution in international espionage. By adding an element of science fiction to this most classic storytelling device, creator Jeff Parker is both advancing the genre and returning it to its beloved roots.
Sarah Young at Exclaim Magazine interviews Jeff Parker and reviews The Interman.


Others may have capitulated, but The Batman still thinks the election numbers

Some Mercury solicitations

DC's got new solicitations up for books shipping in January, and Mercury members are well represented.

Ron Randall's Constantine adaptation.


Drew Johnson's Wonder Woman trade paperback. (cover by J.G. Jones)


Matthew Clark's Adventures of Superman tpb. (Cover by Gene Ha.)

Party Johnson

Lessee if I can put up a picture without Lieber bumping it down for ten minutes... today's addition comes from Harris Comics editor Maureen McTigue who scored this sketch from our star of the Wonder Woman monthly, Drew Johnson. I don't know what Wildcat has to do with the Legion, nor why they're kids and have to party to that damn song that played everywhere in the 90's, but we don't question

Attention actresses: You and Edith Head.

I guess this is "comics-to-film" news. Mike Pignataro of Whisperdog Productions is directing an adaptation of "Me and Edith Head" as part of his work at the Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking -- and the auditions for the part of Katrina will take place very soon.

Check out the preproduction information on the Whisperdog website -- if you're anywhere near Chandler, Arizona, and you

Sketchmen

Thanks to local comics supporter Rob Casteel for sending over a couple of pieces from his famous Sandman sketchbook-- he got a Destiny from David Hahn and a Dream from Matthew Clark. See our talented boys, we love them so much, such boys...


If you have something cool one of our studio did for you, scan it up and send it over. It's always funny to watch one of us see a drawing we don't remember

Change of plans

There's a brief interview with me up at Comicreaders.com talking about the spx book.

And an even briefer review of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating Graphic Novels over at http://www.comicsworthreading.com/previews/0410.html">Johanna's Previews rundown.

Blogging will probably be sparce for a while, unless someone else at the studio decided to pick up the slack. It appears that, contrary to

Convening

David Hahn, Matthew Clark, Drew Johnson, Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack and many other creators will be guests of the Portland Comicon. there's no webpage available, but it's on Sunday, October 10th, at the Rose Quarter.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Jeff Parker will be a guest at Fallcon. Details at his blog.

I'll be in Spain, at the Gijon Comics Festival. Therefore, I win.

Posted by Steve

More links.

From Johanna, here's a review of Drew Johnson's latest issue of Wonder Woman.

Here, for you art collectors, are a couple of cool ebay auctions from Jeff Parker.

Over at B. Clay Moore's board, we have the cover of Four Letter Worlds, an anthology from Image that'll feature new work from Joe Casey, Andi Watson, Robert Kirkman, Jay Faerber, Mike Hawthorne, Phil Hester, Mike Huddleston, Chyna

Linkblogging: interviews and awards

My teacher, my hero, and a man who projects the personal authority of an Easter Island statue:Joe Kubert,interviewed at Newsarama.

Over at his message board, Jeff Mason has listed the winners of the 2004 Ignatz Awards. Looks like Craig Thompson was the big winner of the night, taking home bricks for both Outstanding Artist and Outstanding GN or Collection.

Speaking of Craig, here's an article

Idjits in previews. Hulk in jammies.

Ah, yes: Superhero costumes for infants and children. You've gotta love the superman bunting, but none of them can possibly compare to this.

The CIG to Creating Graphic Novels is listed in the October Previews, on page 390. (That's in the "Books" section, subcategory "How-To".) I'm told that retailers ordering it then will receive them in December and possibly even late November depending on

Lieber's Tyranny Over, Tank Kills Dondi

Ha! Finally the Revolution has come, and other non-Steve members of Mercury Studio can post on this blog! We can speak for ourselves, give news not seen through Steve's glasses! So the first thing I'll talk about with my new power is Steve.

Many people assume Steve will be at the Small Press Expo this weekend, but they would be wrong. Too bad too, because it's a great show and our pal Steve

What we're up to.

Going round the room:
David Hahn is ridiculously busy these days. After wrapping up Bite Club, David illustrated a mass-market Batman handbook, and is currently illustrating an Escapist story for Howard Chaykin and a Fables story for Bill Willingham.

Ron Randall recently finished adapting the CONSTANTINE movie for Vertigo. Ron, of course, was among the first artists to ever draw the character,

Remember that art battle?

Parker and I are both too busy to ever write anything about it, so here, to suppliment the press coverage are some photos we took.


Ezra Claytan Daniels eating tater tots, a food once described by Comics Journal editor Tom Spurgeon as "the crack cocaine of midwestern gluttony." Ezra has since moved to Chicago. Make of that what you will.


Bite Club's David Hahn, drawing...


...and accepting

Mercury on the road

Jeff Parker and I will be at the Baltimore Comicon this weekend, September 11-12. Johanna Draper has posted a programming schedule. Should be fun.
Matthew Clark will be also be appearing this weekend at the Vancouver Comicon in British Columbia. See him and get a sketch.

October 12-16, I'll be a guest at the Salon Internacional del comic principado de Asturias in Gijon, Spain. I'm

No respect.

Just received this in my inbox:

COLD CUT FEATURE: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel

New from Alpha Books, part of the "Complete Idiots Guide" series comes an all-new How-To Book by Nat Gertler and Steve Lieber! From story concept to artwork, from promotion to distribution, this 300+ page guide will tell you everything you need to know to create your very own graphic novel

Hello Librarians.

It looks like about 95% of my hits today are coming from Jessamyn's place, which means I should probably take a moment to introduce myself.

I'm Steve Lieber, a comic book artist in Portland, Oregon. I'm part of Mercury Studios, which is a big room in a downtown office building that houses a bunch of other comic book artists and illustrators. They're all listed over on the left, except for our

The closest I can get to Chicago/ Wizard World 2004 news.

I passed on Chicago this year, as did the rest of Mercury Studios, so I don't have much, or anything really, in the way of incidents or anecdotes to report. But here are a bunch of direct links to some swanky contributions to the Dave Cockrum benefit auction. Have fun browsing: Neal Adams | Sergio Aragones | Terry Austin | Mark Bagley | John Bogdanove | Steve Buccelleto | John Cassaday |

No clever title today

The big Dave Cockrum benefit auction takes place this weekend at Wizard World. They're taking online bids before things start in person, and you can track some of the preliminary action here and here. I don't know if they're all being auctioned for Dave, but the ones that feature his characters definitely are. This one is my contribution. And some good news: Dave is back at the drawing board.

The elevens are breeding.

Trash Heap
Broken Kode
Spatula Forum
Jenn Manley Lee
Kip Manley Kip also has a fine idea for an anthology.
Lea Hernandez

And, as mentioned in the comments section below, Tangognat has begun compiling the lists into a master list.

Another half-dozen elevens.

The list-of-eleven thingie seems to be spreading. Here are six more:

Comicgate (in German, but the titles are obvious.)
Mae Mai
Sean Collins
Bill Sherman
Rich Watson
Jim Ottaviani's list

In his posting, Bill notes that "...if someone compiled and collected all the lists on display today, we'd have a kick-ass set of comic art shelves that'd do any American public library proud." Bill, I think,

These go to eleven.

Looks like the list of eleven idea is getting around, and I'm glad to see the interesting picks that people are bringing up. Keep 'em coming, folks.
Milo George
Tangonat
Laura Gjovaag
Peiratikos
Rick Geerling

Paul's Pause pics

Mercury member Paul Guinan has put up a page of photos of the Pause Gallery reception for Matthew Clark and Drew Johnson. Portland's art scene turned out in droves, packing the place well beyong legal capacity to inspect the duo's spectacular orginal art from Wonder Woman and Adventures of Superman. The show will be up at Pause for the next month.

Lieber's Eleven

I was cruising for reactions to the children's comics controversy, and noticed that over at the Byrne forum, someone has asked for a list of library recommendations.

The list below is what I posted. Call it Lieber's Eleven. I'd like to challenge other bloggers to come up with their own list of eleven titles that libraries should shelve. No rules, but participants are encouraged to cite a variety

This and that.

As a reminder, that big gorgeous con report is still awaiting your perusal. Here are a couple of photos that didn't make it in. (If I did this right they'll open in new windows):


Congratulations to Howard Cruise on his Marriage to Eddie Sedarbaum. (And let's hear it for the great state of Massachusets, too!) Link via Kevin Moore.

Congratulations to Mercury Blog reader John Aegard for his

The import thing is that he beat us by two hours

Kip Manley has posted his San Diego report. It's on his blog. I highly recommend it as a glimpse into the experience of those who cast their eye upon the medium's gleaming future, rather than wallow in the caseous discharge and filthy detritus of its past.

The balloon's gone up, boys

The report has gone live. See what really happened in the trenches of artists alley.

Unwritten, no more.

Over in the con report, Parker and I have decided to follow up last years advice for people visiting artists alley with a list of the unwritten rules for the exhibitors therein. Now that these rules are no longer unwritten, you lame bastards no longer have any excuse. Shape up, already. This list, we realize, is a work in progress, and we'd like to hear what you have to say on the subject. Use

No report yet.

Not from us, at least, but Paul Guinan has some great photos on his site.

Here's something cool Matthew Clark and Drew Johnson will be exhibiting their original art at Portland's Pause Gallery. Their show is called "Creamy Cheesecake." I'm not sure what that indicates, but I've got a few suspicions. The opening reception will be part of First Thursday, August 5th, from 6:00-9:30 pm. Pause

Pedantic? Me?

There's a discussion going on over at the Bendis Board about draftsmanship. taking a break from the Con Report, I added my two cents. I thought people here might like to read what I had to say.
...
This isn't really a discussion you can have until you lay down some definitions. Good draftsmanship is all about the ability to communicate the maximum amount of useful information through minimal

Before San Diego

Pete and Rebecca Woods have gone live with Velvet Tikki. It's the sort of website that sets the pulse to racing. Your eyes narrow, ready for anything. Little beads of sweat gather on your upper lip. You click, and things are never, ever the same.I'm going to be in San Diego, as will every single other Mercury member except for Drew Johnson, who claims he has to be "best man" at his brother's "

Links a-plenty

Looks like the reviews for Ottaviani and Purvis' Suspended in Language are starting to trickle in. Here's the first.Another first review: Steven Grant gives a thumbs up to Family Reunion. And Millarworld is liking it, too. If you want a copy, visit my table at a con or paypal me a dollar. Or for two dollars, you can get Family Reunion and Me and Edith Head. I hadn't seen this before:">the

"...he never rested in his self-appointed task of making the world a better, safer, and more understandable place"

I missed this, too. Looks like I need to get out less often. Anyhow, here's Jim Ottaviani at The Pulse talking about Suspended in Language, which just arrived in stores.

I still have some free copies of Family Reunion for the bloggy people. Just write and tell me where to mail them.

Bad comic book covers.

Get 'em Here.
Via Jesse Walker.

Get yours.

Since the give-aways on Comicon and Millarworld, a lot of people have been asking about getting a copy of Family Reunion. Those of you who blog about the comics should email me at slieber234(at)yahoo(dot)com. Don't be shy.

The 30th, the 30th, and the 3rd.

This comes out today, Wednesday June 30th:

Suspended in Language by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis with Jay Hosler, Linda Medley, Roger Langridge and Jeff Parker. 320 pages of cool comics about one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century, Niels Bohr.

This next book comes out today too, and with a logo in the big blank space!

On the Road to Perdition, Book 3: Detour. Written by Max

More on the Stumptown fest.

Via Kevin, here's The Freaky Bob report about the Stumptown show. I particularly liked the picture of Leland Purvis. It's not out-of-focus, Bob. That's just Lee.

Tempest in a teapot continues!

Wow: The Stumptown comics fest got even more ink in the Portland Mercury. That makes three weeks in a row, now. This reply to Heather Lockamy's angry letter appears in the latest edition:SCENESTERS LOVE COMICS, TOO

TO THE EDITOR: This is for "Ms. Real Geek" Heather Lockamy ["Letters," June 10, in which the author bemoans "hip" people starting a comics convention]. Hey Heather, we went to high

"Ringo reports

Over at his Comic Book Resources message forum, Mike Weringo has a report from the 2004 Heroes Con.

"The pipe organ is pretty much a visual definition of boss."

Kip replies to the unhappy comic book reader. Big geek hug!

(Editted to add) And Erika provides the pics

A comic book reader is unhappy.

This letter appears in the June 10th issue of The Portland Mercury. (No relation to this studio.)
THE REAL GEEK

TO THE EDITOR: This is for "Mr. Hip" Erik Henriksen. Nice of you to feature something comics-oriented, but you forgot something very obvious--the true comics community is made up of geeks [Destination Fun, Stumptown Comics Fest, June 3]. Now I know "geek" is extremely hip right now,

News about others.

Jenn Manley Lee has an encouraging report about the Stumptown Comics Fest. For those of you who didn't know about it, some Portland indy cartoonists decided that since Portland is absolutely crawling with comic talent, it ought to have a small press show of its own. Looks like they got off to a good start.

Speaking of local talent, there's a new cartoonist in town, Bill Mudron. Bill is funny and

Publisher's Weekly Article.

As some of you might know, I recently illustrated a comics story for Sean Stewart that ties in with his latest novel. This past weekend, his publisher brought me to Chicago to attend the Book Expo America to present the comic.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time a prose author has done this with a comic- created a comics story to be given away to raise awareness of his novel.

The June 7th

"The ear thing... it's pretty twisted, I think."

Over at Barbelith they're discussing Bite Club. Go see the discussion of a David Hahn image mistakenly attributed to Frank Quitely.
Meanwhile, in his column at Broken Frontier, Matt Maxwell has correctly attributed his praise for Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze and Jeff Parker's The Interman (There's no permalink, yet, but if the column is gone, check the archives for May 13, 2004, or

My latest news writes its own punchline.

Nat Gertler and I have been working on something interesing... Read the interview with Nat at Comic Book Resources. The book is due out in July.

In other news about me, here's the cover to the next Perdition book, wonderfully colored by Dave McCaig:

"Working in a room with others helps me avoid the self-mutilating, cabin-fever lunacy for which I'm becoming increasingly well-known."

The Mighty Mercury Interview just went up at the pulse.

"No problem at all with human sacrifice."

Matthew Clark informs me that the people at the Superman Homepage have posted an interview with Matt and his collaborator on Adventures of Superman, Greg Rucka. It's a good interview, offering a look at the personalities behind the work. I'd really like to show you some of Matthew's Superman pencils. Maybe if I promise to knock it off with the links, he'll send me some scans.

There's a thread

"What happens at a con stays at the con"

"(David Hahn is) better than some but worse than others: while he's no Nascar driver, I'd pit him against a driver barely able to see, seatbelt flapping, blinker still on, driving 20 in a 35, cell phone talking driver. David" Boogaloo" Hahn now taking 3 to 1 odds. "

Andrea Speed of Comixtreme has interviewed Matthew Clark. Click now before she realizes what she's done.

Here's an update on

Big interview with Jim O.

The Pulse has posted a terrific interview with Jim Ottaviani about Suspended in Language, his forthcoming graphic novel about the life and work of Niels Bohr. The interview is salted with some very cool panels by one of the artists Leland Purvis, who illustrated most of the book.

I had a great time illustrating a Bohr story for Jim, years ago in Two-Fisted Science. Bohr is an fascinating

Back in Portland...

...and boy did my cat shit the place up. Unbelievable. Let's take care of some updates and ignore the weird gurgling sound that overheating steam cleaner is making in the background.

I just heard from Drew Johnson that that, by editorial demand, he will be attending Wondercon. This is great news for Wonder Woman fans, because that means the entire creative team will be there: Greg Rucka, Drew,

On the recent calls for activism

There's been a lot of talk online recently about getting active to rescue (or prevent the need to rescue) titles like Wildcats and Stormwatch. What I have to say runs contrary to the current push, but now is as good a time as any to present it.

Those of you who are interested in activism will get a lot more bang for your buck if you put your energy into supporting small press and self published

Being Jeff Parkervich

Charlie Chu, maximum leader of the Grammarporn motorcycle club has done the unthinkable: He's crawled inside Jeff Parker's head to understand how the guy's demented brain operates.

In this post on the Grammarporn weblog, Charlie has carefully broken down and analyzed the choreography of an action scene from Parker's Eisner-nominated graphic novel The Interman. It's a readable and well

Picture my head popping up out of the ground like a prairie dog.

Parker and I have finally put together that con report we'd promised. What's in it? An interesting bit of news about my next project, some goofy pictures of comic book professionals, some embarrassing anecdotes, the Last Galactus Story, and best of all, an adorable tyke we like to call "The Little Porn Boy." Read all about it.

I'll be back in the real world in a few days. With any luck, I'll

Here's what's up.

The Mercury Studios weblog be slow on the updates for a couple of weeks. This isn't a personal site, so I'll just say that I'm back east dealing with some family stuff. For those of you who know what I'm talking about, things started out rough but seem to be improving now.

Because of these difficulties, It doesn't look like I'll be able to attend the Pittsburgh Comicon this year. I'm

Is synesthesiac even a word?

Over at Fanboy Rampage I posted a long weird message that eventually touched on the criteria by which one should judge a comic book illustrator. In response to one of my exhortations, "Look at the rhythms of panel progression. Are they appropriate for the tone of a scene?" James Smith asked:

"How does this work? I mean, how do you figure out how to break this down?"

I posted this answer:

I

Johnny Bacardi: A winner is you!

I just conducted my "stick everyone who linked to Mercury Studios' weblog in a hat and pick out one name to see who wins" contest, and the winner is Johnny Bacardi!

Johnny has a choice of prizes, as I outlined when I initially plugged the contest:

The first option is the safe one: a 3 by 5 inch postcard with a original sketch of any character I've worked on. The sketch will be executed in pen

Paul Guinan's Dad.

Paul Guinan recently returned from Chicago where he was celebrating his father's 70th birthday. Paul's father is Robert Guinan, a famous painter with clients ranging from Johnny Depp to Francois Mitterand. Dozens of international gallery shows, articles, giant coffee-table art books, etc., have been devoted to his works. Here's the text of a newspaper interview & overview of his career. And

Berganza on Clark. Knight on tour.

We at the studio have had the pleasure of watching page after astounding Superman page come rolling off of Matthew Clark's drawing board, and we've been waiting for the rest of the world to see it, too. Here's a start. This Eddie Berganza interview at Comic Book Resources mentions Matt and notes just one of the many reasons why his Superman work is so terrific.

There are bigger names on the

Quick update

I'd like to think that it was some property of physics that sent two cartoonists to replace me in Portland while I was out in L.A., but really it was just Portland Arts and Lectures. Lynda Barry and Matt Groening. Johnathan Nicholas at the Oregonian gives his opinion of how it went here. Jeff Baker spoke to Groening for the O last week. And to honor their arrival in town, the Willamette Week

Skull, dead

As I mentioned earlier, I'll be signing at the booth. Here's the schedule: 7-8 pm on Friday, 10-11 AM Saturday and Sunday. I'm told we'll be sitting in the shadow of an enormous skull, courtesy of the Punisher film.

As I write this, the rest of Mercury is in Portland, getting ready to make a pilgrimage to see Day of the Dead. We've been talking zombies all week. Ron Randal we learned, is new

Off, off to L.A.

I've got a lot of stuff to get done before I'm off, so this'll have to do until I get back on Monday. Here's hoping this doesn't kill the great momentum we've been enjoying.Paul Guinan has some updates on the growing fame of his Boilerplate site. If you haven't heard of Boilerplate before, start here to learn more. Paul has done us all a great service with his thorough and extensive research into

Prose novelists meet panel fiction

The New York Times has an article about prose novelists writing comics, with quotes from Michael Chabon, Brad Meltzer and Greg Rucka. Nothing new there for the people likely to be reading this, but the article does mention no less than four comics containing work by Mercury members, and it's nice to get the ink. I'd love to see a more in-depth article on the subject of crossing media from prose

Like being paid to go to art school.

I'm working on the third On the Road to Perdition novella right now. I pencilled and inked the second one last year. On this one I'm just inking, and I'm having the time of my life, because the pencils are by one of the best artists in the business: Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

For those that are curious about such things, the thumbnails below link to a pair of pages in both pencils and inks.

Sandstorm

The update page at Sandman.tv is crawling with scans of new convention sketches by Mercury members. Looks like they've got stuff from Pete, Rebecca, David, Ron, me, me, Pete and me.

There are also great sketches from artists like Alex Maleev, Phil Noto, Dave Johnson and Jason Pearson, and a handsome pair of paintings from my old Kubert school classmate Felipe Echevaria. It's an

"...I’ll give my superiors a better report on him"

Here's an odd interview with David Hahn, from a site called In too Far. David is doing top notch work on Bite Club, the first issue of which ships real soon now.

I begged and you came through

I've had a number of responses to my pathetic give-away for links to this site. http://bpwerks.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_bpwerks_archive.html#107938082379829558">Use Once and Destroy , Gus Dahlberg , Safe as Milk , Charlie Chu , and the Reverend Dan Evans were all kind enough to oblige, as was my wife which isn't all that impressive, but if a comic book guy can't be a completist, who can?

Actual content.

We've posted some black and white art from Lieber's story in the first issue of The Escapist. Readers have been snatching up copies for weeks, and the book has been a big success. Click this link and you'll see that Lieber had nothing to do with it.

Recent Reviews

Pete Woods draws Batman monthly in Detective Comics. The latest issue is #792, and Silver Bullet has a review up.

Steve Lieber's all over the place this week, thanks to his story in the first issue of Michael Chabon Presents...The Amazing Adventures of The Escapist. Read all about it: Newsweek | MediaSharx | Breakdowns | Fourth Rail | The Trades | Silver Bullet. Fourth Rail also

An apology. An appearance.

Many, perhaps even most of the first few posts here will be about Steve Lieber. This is unfortunate, but there's a good reason. Steve's doing this on his own initiative and hasn't even mentioned this blog's existence to his studio mates.

We at Mercury know how soul-crushingly awful an excess of Lieber can be. Why not tell Steve how disappointed you are in person? He'll be a guest at Wizard