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:

Battle Team Omega # 1 now on sale!!!

Awesome news, everyone!  Battle Team Omega is now available for purchase!

Click HERE to get yourself a copy (special offer, 25% off the cover price.)  Yay!!!

Let's take a look at the listing...

Writer: Roel Torres
Artist: Marco D. Carrillo
Letterer: Michael David Thomas

Standard Comic
Black & White
Page Count: 52
POD

IN THIS ISSUE: Zoe is a fifteen year-old high school sophomore living in a trailer home in rural New Hampshire. She's not pretty. She's not popular. And she's no genius. But when a galactic warrior gives her some magical jewelry at a local flea market, Zoe Jane Laufenberg suddenly becomes the single most dangerous threat in the universe! Can Battle Team Omega help her work through her insecurities before she accidentally blows up the planet? Will Zoe ever talk to the cute boy in her second period drama class? And what's the deal with that alien invasion? Find out in this epic first issue!

SERIES SUMMARY: Can the world's most powerful superheroes raise a teenage girl? Mainstream superheroics mixed with melodramatic teenage absurdity (imagine the Justice League crossed with “The Breakfast Club”), Battle Team Omega serves as a reminder that no matter how powerful you are, raising a child might be the hardest job in the world.

And while we're here -- check out some preview pages:

What do you think?  Not bad, right?  Marco's art and Michael's letters look superb -- they really did a fantastic job!  It's truly a joy to collaborate with them.  Man, this book looks like gangbusters.  Woo!

Okay, folks.  Pick up a copy and let me know what you think.  And as always, thanks for all the support!

Anatomy of a Cover: Marco D. Carrillo on Astro Crusader #1

Let's take a quick look at process of coming up with a cover for Astro Crusader #1.

First, original artist Fabio Nahon sketched out his idea.  I loved the linework, but worried that our hero looked a little too thick and blocky around the midsection.  I wanted him to be more sleek, and less muscular.

Then Marco D. Carrillo stepped up and came up with a cool composition.  I thought it was very dynamic, but I decided it might be better to show a little more of the character's costume.

This was the basic composition Marco and I finally agreed on.

Here are the finished pencils and inks:

Marco takes a first pass on the colors.  I thought the cloud effects were a little distracting, and I asked him to turn down the intensity on both the power beams and the reflected light on Astro Crusader's costume.

And here's the finished product:

Bright, clean, and pop-infused!  Nice work, Marco!  I love it!

Interviews with ComicBookInterviews.com!

Not surprisingly, it's been a long time since I've been interviewed.  Back in 2008, baseball historian Scott Simkus contacted me about a dozen essays I had written for Bill James.  Scott and I ended up having a great conversation, and he ended up posting our chat on his blog.   It was a very cool experience, but not exactly one I planned on repeating.  (In general, it seems a lot more natural when I'm the one asking the questions and doing the interviewing.)

But recently, John Michael Helmer of ComicBookInterviews.com contacted me to see if I would answer some questions about my experiences as a comic book creator.  Of course, I told him, "Yes!"  I was more than happy to chat with him.

For those of you who aren't familiar with ComicBookInterviews.com, it's a great site that features a ton of conversations with comic creators like Freddie Williams II (Captain Atom, Robin), Steve Rude (Nexus), Ron Fortier (Terminator: Burning Earth, Green Hornet), Steve Keates (Hawk and Dove, The Spectre), and Walter Koenig (Chekov from Star Trek)

John asked a lot of thought-provoking questions, and I tried to answer them to the best of my ability.  Hopefully the end results aren't too much of a disaster.  Many thanks to John for his time and efforts in promoting my comics, and also the work of so many other deserving indie comic creators out there.

Click here to read my interview.  Enjoy!

(Oh, and at the end of the interview, John mentioned that he wanted an opportunity to talk to the artists who work on the Hypersmash books -- Scott, Jeremiah, and Marco.  So maybe we'll see interviews with some of those guys as well!)







UPDATE! --
Speak of the devil, here's the interview with Scott Arnold, artist for Lightning Girl Loves Rocket Boy!  Nice job, Scott!

AND ANOTHER UPDATE! --
But wait -- there's more!  Here's the interview with Marco, artist for Battle Team Omega and Astro Crusader!   Well done, Marco!

I think one thing that comes through clearly in these three separate discussions is the deep love everyone shares for making comics, and the comic book medium in general.

Wow -- with three different interviews on the site, Hypersmash is pretty well-represented, right?  Thanks again, John!

Five Page Preview of Astro Crusader #1

Ten Page Preview of Battle Team Omega #1

Anatomy of a Cover: Marco D. Carrillo on Battle Team Omega #1

Let's take a look at how Marco puts a cover together. First, we get the loose sketch:

Then he does a more detailed rendering and inks it:

And here's the final product with colors and logos:

Looks great!  Thanks for the awesome cover, Marco!

52 pages of Pencils, Inks, and Grayscales are all completed! Plus, we have an awesome Letterer!

I am happy to report that my good friend Marco D. Carrillo has sent me all 52 pages of Battle Team Omega -- pencilled, inked, and grayscaled! He has wrapped up the standard cover for the book (posted above), and is now working on the wraparound variant cover. Looking at the art from start to finish, I can't believe how incredible it looks! Holy smokes! He really went above and beyond to make this a beautiful, beautiful comic. I am completely blown away. Marco really knocked this one out of the park!

Adding his contributions to the project is the talented letterer, Brant W. Fowler. Brant has an exceptional portfolio full of published work, including a couple of comics that he lettered for Image. I've admired his work for awhile, and I was thrilled when he offered to join our creative team. It's great putting a project in Brant's hands, because you know he will bring out the best in the story. Man, what a great addition! It's a total blast working with such unbelievably talented individuals!

Once Brant gets things lettered, we'll post some preview pages on this blog, and we'll send the pages over to the printer. Second published comic, here we come!

Design Workshop: Marco D. Carillo works his magic on Battle Team Omega

When Marco signed up to work on Battle Team Omega, he asked whether he could re-design the look and costumes of all the main characters. I immediately gave him full approval without hesitation because I knew from looking at his portfolio that he had a prolific and stylish design sense. Let’s check out a few of the highlights:

Velocity Hawk:

Korrgar Rex:

Silverbolt:Danger Ace:

Devil of Destruction:

I am completely knocked out by the designs. I really love the Danger Ace costume, in particular. (Somehow, it looks both retro and modern at the same time.) And it's great that Marco also happens to be a talented colorist -- because it's nice to see them in color!

In addition to his excellent design sense, Marco is also the fastest artist I have worked with, and that is truly an invaluable skill. The book is speeding towards completion (note to self: remember to find a letterer to put words into comic), and I'll keep everyone posted on the news as it approaches publication. Stay tuned.

Sample Sequentials: Marco D. Carillo

I hope some of our previous posts have helped you develop an appreciation for the work of Hypersmash artists, Scott Arnold and Jeremiah Goldson. Now I wanted to introduce you to the wonderfully talented individual in charge of Battle Team Omega, Marco D. Carillo!

I have been unbelievably lucky in my choice of artists and collaborators. Not only are Scott, Jeremiah, and Marco all tremendously creative, skilled, and enthusiastic but they’re also really good people – very pleasant guys who are easy to work with. (Oh -- and I am also happy to report that Scott Arnold has moved on to big things since we published our book together, contributing to "L'il Depressed Boy" from Image Comics! Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!)

Battle Team Omega has been a project that has run into multiple developmental setbacks. Jason Hoagland, Fabio Nahon, and Nel Angeiras all produced some excellent art before they each chose to step away from the project for varying reasons. But I feel confident that Marco is the man to help this comic see the light of day! His character designs and layouts look great, and I’m excited at the amount of progress he’s made so far!

Over the next few months, I hope to share some of the work he's been cranking out on Battle Team Omega. But to satisfy everyone’s curiosity and to provide a quick blast of instant gratification, here are a couple of pieces from his portfolio just to give you a taste of his awesome style.

For a full overview of Marco’s work, please check out his sites:

http://mdavidct.com/page1.aspx

http://mdavidct.deviantart.com/

To start things off, here are some character studies (click on the pics to make them bigger):

I'm sure you guys recognize a couple of familiar faces, right?

I think it's great that the characters in these studies aren't stuck in the typical, boring action poses, flexing their muscles. The sketches are very expressive, and the characters carry a lot of personality. Very, very cool.
Okay, let's check out some examples of Marco’s sequentials! First, a two-page story written by Craig McCutcheon called "Date Night?":


Man, I seriously love those pages! A lot of artists enjoy doing pin-ups and sketches, but the ability to tell a story is critical when you are trying to create a comic book. You can see from the sequentials in this post that Marco definitely has the chops to get the job done!

Here is an excerpt from a story called "Kill That!!"



(You know, I feel bad for those cowboys every time I read those pages...)

And finally, here's one of Marco's coolest original creations in action, Niebla Roja!



Niebla Roja is a seriously rockin' character -- I really need to see if I can talk Marco into letting me write a Niebla Roja story for him someday! (And there is plenty more Niebla Roja supplementary material on Marco's sites, so remember to click and check them out!)
One of the things I am always looking for when I recruit an artist to work on my books is their sense of total control. They can draw action scenes, but can they do quiet scenes? Facial expressions? Civilians? Backgrounds? A lot of artists try to work around their limitations in order to hide their weaknesses. But Marco (like Scott and Jeremiah) has a complete set of skills. Impressive.

It's a pleasure working with Marco, and I can't wait to see the pages he puts together for our comic! Make sure to stay tuned!