Four Artists Portray Zed

Here are four different portrayals of Rogue Agent Zed.

First up, Scott Arnold, my collaborator on Lightning Girl Loves Rocket Boy and Spiders and Stardust: A David Bowie Tribute Anthology:


Next, Marco D. Carrillo takes a shot at illustrating Zed.
Marco and I worked together on Battle Team Omega and Astro Crusader:



Then we have Zed's original artist, Jeremiah Goldson.
Jeremiah and I have worked on a handful of projects together including Rogue Agent Zed and Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer:



And finally, here's my interpretation of Zed:

Anatomy of a Cover: Jeremiah Goldson on Rogue Agent Zed

Jeremiah Goldson and I have been working on Rogue Agent Zed for the last five years.  That's a lot time, dedication, and commitment.  As we head down the home stretch, let's take a look as we put the proverbial icing on the cake.  This is one of the finishing touches to the project -- and maybe one of the most important ones -- the cover.

Jeremiah starts out with the light pencil sketch, beginning the inking process on the primary focus of the piece, Rogue Agent Zed standing in the foreground:

The process continues as the two lead characters get inked and the piece starts to come together.

Having finished up the special ops agents, the background starts getting Jeremiah's trademark level of detail.

And here's the piece with the pencils and inks done.  We're talking about one seriously awesome illustration!

 

My first choice of colorists, Paul Little, mentioned he had a small window on his schedule to work on some new pieces.  I immediately jumped at the opportunity to secure his talents.

I asked for some minor adjustments (lighten up the levels, change the hair color, mute the intensity on a couple of the costume elements) and we slapped some text and logos on.  Voila!

I have to say, watching this cover come together was a real thrill.  I love the finished product, and I think that it's a fitting cover for a project that's been five years in the making.  Looking at this, I can't help but think: it's been worth the wait!

Progress Report: The Lunar Colony Auditions

Some random panels from The Lunar Colony Auditions, my third collaborative project with Jeremiah Goldson (after Rogue Agent Zed and Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer.)

Scenes from early in the story:

(Note: The script called for scenes where The Hulk and The Thing have a slugfest underwater, so I have no idea why Jeremiah is drawing images of a punk rock gig at a small club.  Weird.  Which one of these characters is going to yell "It's Clobberin' Time" or "Hulk Smash?")

I'm not sure why I insist on working with this Goldson character on a repeated basis.  It's pretty obvious that he doesn't have a lick of artistic talent at all.  Hmmm.  I guess maybe I'm just a total sadist.

If you happen to be the sort of charitable, altruistic individual who likes to humor no-talent hacks as they draw comic books with their toes, check out Jeremiah's work in the Hypersmash titles Rogue Agent Zed, Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer, and The Lunar Colony Auditions.

But don't blame me if you hate the art.  I tried to warn you.

Ten Page Preview of Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer #1

A look at the first ten pages of Jeremiah Goldson's creation, Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer. Art by Jeremiah, colors by Paul Little, letters by Michael David Thomas, script by yours truly.

Design Workshop: Jeremiah Goldson on The Lunar Colony Auditions

Jeremiah Goldson and I have worked together on a couple of different comics, Rogue Agent Zed and Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer.  It's been a very rewarding partnership, so we both decided it might be fun to take a shot at a third project.  It's our most ambitious title to date, a 90-page graphic novel titled, The Lunar Colony Auditions.

Here's Jeremiah's first sketches of the characters that populate the book.  Enjoy!

Anatomy of a Cover: Jeremiah Goldson on Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer #1

Let's take a quick look at Jeremiah putting together the cover for his creation,  Monica Furious: SuperDestroyer #1.

Here's the pencil rough (with a couple of interior sequentials peeking over the side.)  The basic idea is already there, and now Jeremiah just needs to follow through and execute.

After a couple of minor revisions and improvements, here are the final pencils and inks.

And then we bring our secret weapon on board -- Colorist Extraordinaire, Paul Little!  Paul works his magic and here are the gorgeous results:

Wow wow wow.  That's a seriously dangerous cover!  Unbelievable!

Progress Report: Rogue Agent Zed

A lot of folks have indicated their great anticipation for the release of Rogue Agent Zed. I’m in the same boat! All of Jeremiah's preview art is breathtaking. I just want to reassure everyone that he continues to work hard on the book, and we are closing in on the finish line. I've seen some of his later pages and they look great. I would love to share all of them with you -- but they contain some blatant plot spoilers, and I can't figure out a way to post them without ruining parts of the ending! Hmmm. Here, let me show you a couple of works that don’t seem to compromise the integrity of the story. These are some more recent panels from Jeremiah, showing some unfinished pencils and offering a little insight on his work process.

We have been working on this book for four years now, and believe me when I tell you -- the project has truly been a labor of love for the both of us. Hope you enjoyed the quick snapshot, and let’s hope it will help sustain us all until the final product hits the stands soon!

Ten Page Preview of Rogue Agent Zed #1

(Content warning: Contains adult language and themes. Reader discretion advised.) 

Click to enlarge the pages!

Rogue Agent Zed sequentials

A few posts back, I offered a tantalizingly brief preview of Jeremiah Goldson's interior art for Rogue Agent Zed. If your reactions were similar to mine, I suspect you were blown away by what you saw -- but also a little bit frustrated that there were only two panels to look at. Well, after a recent burst of discussions by the members of the creative team, I'm here to try and correct that imbalance.

And so, without further delay, please enjoy a selection of sequential artwork from the original Hypersmash project, Rogue Agent Zed. (And let me strongly encourage you to click on the images to enlarge them.)


I know I've said it over and over again, but Jeremiah's attention to backgrounds and details is really stunning. I love the grit and the texture in the panels above.

There's also a very deft display of cinematic lighting. The use of high contrast shadows creates a wonderful sense of mood and drama.


Jeremiah is not restricted to drawing slow, contemplative scenes of people standing around. He can also crank up the volume when the story calls for some action! (For example, a futuristic military unit unleashing their full complement of hi-tech weapons.)


Whether it's smoke drifting lazily from a cigarette, a fire blazing unchecked in the background, or raindrops splattering a car window, everything Jeremiah draws looks convincing and pretty damn cool.


The script basically asked for a random crowd scene without much direction on my part, and Jeremiah took the premise and ran with it. He really upped the ante, as every character depicted in the panels above has a distinctive look and is positively brimming with personality.

Looking at a comic drawn by Jeremiah Goldson is a rich visual experience that rewards attentive reading. As the writer and publisher of Rogue Agent Zed, I have to say that everything I've seen looks great so far and I can't wait to see what he's going to come up with next.