Interview at The Comics Journal

Andrew Farago interviewed Greg Rucka in the latest issue of The Comics Journal- #287, and included a side interview with me. There are excerpts of both at the Tcj site.

More from the ersatz 19th century illustrator.

Here's my faux-engraving drawn for the second issue of DC Comics' Crime Bible.

Ohio's greatest export.

While Sara and I are in the undisclosed location here in Ohio, she's been poking around in the closets and basements. Today she found some old scrapbooks that her father had kept. This one is from 1947.Along with various local stories clipped from the paper, and meticulously kept baseball statistics worked out in ballpoint, there was this page of Walt Ditzen's sports themed comic strip "Three

Mid-Ohio Con today.

And here I am in the middle of Ohio, Columbus to be exact. As noted below, Sara and I will be in artists alley. Among other business there, I'll be delivering this commission:After I drew that "trois-crayon" Wonder Woman for the WWday auction, I had a request for a Green Lantern drawing done in the same manner. Much fun to work this way, and I think I'm going to start incorporating it into my

Party Mountain Mountain Party

Portland animator/cartoonist Carolyn Main became a year older and celebrated the occasion at her home on Mount Tabor. Paul Guinan, Periscope's own Jimmy Olsen,took snaps and posted them on his site. He shot Colleen's wedding, now a birthday. I'm sure there's a bar mitzvah coming soon.Sara Ryan and I are going to be guests at the Mid-Ohio Con this coming weekend, November 24-25th. This was the

New Rom antics

It sucks to follow Jonathan Case's awesome watercolor below, but here's my shot at a piece for the ROM art show to benefit Bill Mantlo. It helped a lot when, of all people, ROM himself showed up for one of our lifedrawing sessions. Everyone was impressed that he could hold a tough pose like that for so long.

My first comic book.

My mother threw out most of my comics when I went off to college, but a few years ago when my dad died, I found a brown paper bag in his basement containing a few comics I'd left at his place at some point in my early teens. Among them was this, this first comic I ever owned.5 year old me seems to have carefully outlined most of the Namor figures throughout the comic in ballpoint, which would

Rich does Fables.

A collector recently commissioned Rich Ellis to do a Fables piece. Here's what he got:If you're interested in commissioning an Ellis piece for yourself, write Rich at fendygit4(at)gmail.comOver at the Pulse, Sara Ryan and I were interviewed by Chris Beckett about Sara's and my first comics story together "Me and Edith Head." Sara's also got a seriously snazzy new web-design up at her site. (

Eddie on the zip

Eddie Campbell is blogging about screen tones. I've had a love/hate relationship with the stuff for years. While the traditional Wally Wood approach to zip never seemed a good match for my line, I've always adored what Eddie has done with those little dots. Guy Davis's "Baker Street" and Doug Wildey's work were inspirational too. When I started Whiteout, screen tones enabled me to get, as Eddie

Hello PW subscribers!

"'It's possible here because we're in Portland, which is the most cartoonist-rich environment anywhere in the English-speaking world. It's the last affordable city on the West Coast, it's an incredibly literate city, it's got crappy weather that keeps people inside and great coffee to keep them motivated—people come to a place like Portland and they do stuff.' "Publishers Weekly visits Periscope.

New York Times! PWTV!

Several friends called and emailed to tell me about this in the New York Times."These kinds of intimate, face-to-face, sometimes face-to-Darth Vader-mask moments seem crucial to the Comic-Con experience, part of the close bonds that comic books encourage between creators and readers. In the area called Artists’ Alley fans lined up with sketchbooks in which they collect drawings from favorite

Wolk, Parker and Lieber at Powell's tonight!

Sorry, I don't have part two of the con report yet. From the calendar at Powell's Books:The first serious, readable, provocative, canon-smashing book of comics criticism by the leading critic in the field, Douglas Wolk's Reading Comics (Da Capo Press) illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics — from Alan Moore and Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim and Chris Ware — and introduces a critical

A little peek at the Whiteout movie.

Extra TV made a visit to the Whiteout set and shot this interview with Kate Beckinsale. Turn down the sound on your computer so you don't have to hear the creepy-ass voice-over guy. This was actually filmed one of the days I was there. And hey, as long as Warner Bros is showing a bit of the look of the film, I guess I might as well put up a few of my sketchbook doodles from the set:Kate

Father's day.

Art Buchwald had a Thanksgiving column that he used to rerun every year. I think I'm going to approach Father's Day the same way. This was originally published in Portland Monthly magazine. (click to enlarge)$209 Round Trip.

Getting squirrely.

Steve here. I'm still in Ohio. There was a bit of excitement today when I sprinted across a lawn to put myself between a reckless toddler and a hot barbeque. As a reward for my heroism, an albino squirrel was revealed unto me.I'm in Ohio. I'll take what I can get.Speaking of squirrels, I just made my very first post to Scans Daily, and it's, well, sort of squirrel-centric. My god, two

More good press for Wire Mothers

"This nonfiction graphic novel retelling psychologist Harry Harlow's famous experiments is as disturbing as it is excellent."Jim Ottaviani and Dylan Meconis' Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love has landed another great review. This one's at Publisher's Weekly.And hey, Comics Worth Reading likes it, too.Also, re:the Bookslut review linked below, I'm told that Dylan Meconis is a "she

What, exactly, does big imply?

I went to something-Orchid, a hair salon in Portland's inadequate Chinatown that Colleen Coover recommended. The owner stopped right in the middle of someone else's style-job, leaving her sitting in the chair with strange things in her hair while I got my quick buzzcut. She made conversation, as all barbers will, and asked me if Sara and I had any kids. I said no. She seemed a little put off,

Steve's off to Wondercon.

I'll be at the con all three days, sitting in artist's alley, table AA78. Stop by and mention you saw this on the Mercury Studio blog and time permitting, I'll doodle out a free quick sketch.Hm. I guess I might as well start my con diary. I haven't done one in a while, so let's see if I still have anything to say.Thursday,March 1st. Sara and I got home late Wednesday night after an evening at the

Third Whiteout series.

In 1998, novelist Greg Rucka debuted on the comics scene with the four issue mini-series “Whiteout” from Oni Press. With artist Steve Lieber handling the visuals, the series which followed U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko investigating a murder at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, was an instant hit, garnering four Eisner Nominations. Not content to rest on their laurels, the duo revisited the life

Today, I'll play "bury the lede."

Doritos and FeetSo, we've had this vexing question that's annoyed and puzzled us for years. Yesterday, we decided to take action and see if there's an answer. We wrote a letter to the customer service manager of Alvin & Company.Hi. First, I should note that I realize this might sound like a prank question, but honestly, it isn't.I'm part of a studio of comic book artists and we all use Alvin