Terry Moore

Francine and Katchoo cosplay as Wonder Woman and Zatanna on the new Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide this summer. There are actually several covers for the book. The SiP girls are featured on the Hero Initiative Edition hardcover, which will have a print run of 500 copies. Price will be $35. They will begin selling at San Diego Comic Con at the Hero Initiative booth. I can’t wait to get my copy!

Many thanks to the good people at DC for giving us permission to use their iconic costumes.  It’s all for a good cause, because the Hero Initiative does important work behind the scenes to provide aid and support to industry professionals who need it.

And kudos to digital color master and SiP girl veteran Brian Miller for the color. Brian colored most all the SiP material over its long run. He is the master. If the SiP girls were Beatles, Brian would be their George Martin. They love visiting Brian’s studio.

More details here on Scoop.

First look!

Here’s a SiP screen for your computer at 2560 X 1440 pixels. Click on it once or twice to get to the full size version. I have it faded a bit to provide better contrast for things you have on top of it. Looks great on my computer!

Look what came to the studio today: the SiP Omnibus! All I have to do now is draw in all the pages… :)-

We get this dummy book from the printer to check the bookmaking details before they dive and print a ton of them. You don’t want to print a jillion copies then go back to them and say, “Oh, we wanted it different.”

So what you see is the Omnibus before printing. These are the books and slipcase made from my specs. The only thing missing is the printing.

I am very pleased with the book(s). As you can see, the first thing we do is check the binding and spine. We look for strength, durability and how it lays open. This book is perfect in every category. The spine is very strong and won’t split. The pages are never going to pull out. The paper is thick and opaque so they feel substantial and that minimizes images bleeding through from the other side.

The books slide into the box perfectly. They don’t have to be stuffed yet there is no extra room. I love it when things are precise.

The dummy book gets two thumbs up from Robyn and me. We are giving them to green light to print your copy. You did order one, right?

Update: Strangers In Paradise Omnibus softcover edition

Two days ago I turned in the files for this monster collection of everything SiP. The book is being printed in China, so everything is done via computer and ftp. Once a pdf proof is approved, they will print like mad and send it back to us on, you guessed it, a slow boat from China. That’s why we’re scrambling now in order to get the book here for San Diego in July. The last time we did this, with the hardcover edition in 2009, the boat was held at the dock in China because of a SARS outbreak and we had to FedEx 100 copies via air to us in SDCC in order to make good on pre-paid deliveries. So we lost about a million dollars on each of those copies. Let’s hope that this year China can stay healthy until the boat sets sail.

So, the book is in production! It’s not too late for you to pre-order your copy and get the exclusive print shipping with each one. Once the books arrive, the pre-order offer is over, meaning no more prints. So, decades from now when your daughter takes the family copy to Antiques Roadshow, they will tell her that her copy would have been worth millions more if it had the exclusive print, because only a small number shipped with it… and of course after the creator was convicted on charges of selling the moon and sent there to live out his days, prices on his SiP Omnibus with print soared. Which, unfortunately, your daughter doesn’t have because you didn’t pre-order when you had the chance. Now, I ask you… can you live with that? I didn’t think so.

Pre-order your SiP Omnibus here.

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Attorney Ryan Davidson examines the alleged homicide of Echo’s Annie Trotter here. It’s fascinating to hold fictional mischief up to a real light and see the laundry list of infractions. Who will get away with it? Who won’t? And, in case you’re wondering, that explosion in the sky (above)… that was Annie.

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Marvel and Audi have teamed up to give comic fans and artists a chance to do something cool. Here is the PR statement:

To celebrate the upcoming release of Iron Man 3, Audi and Marvel are working together to give consumers an interactive experience with the Iron Man “Steer The Story” comic book contest. The crowd-sourced digital comic book will give Iron Man 3 fans the opportunity to become a co-creator of the final panel of the comic book, as well as direct Iron Man’s fate and help decide the outcome of his adventure. The final US-based submission will have the opportunity to win an original art board signed by Marvel artists and a trip to Comic Con for an art review by a top Marvel editor. Additionally, everyone who submits a final panel will be acknowledged in the final page.

Click here to work on Iron Man with Marvel and Audi!

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In the Coming Soon Dept:

Grimm Fairy Tales #85, from Zenoscope will have a variant cover sponsored by my LCS, Bedrock City in Houston. They asked me to draw the cover, based on a well-known classic golden age comic Strange Tales #5. With color by the invulnerable Brian Miller, I think it came out very nice. You’ll have to track this one down, but you shouldn’t have any trouble  if you go to the source, Bedrock City.

Okay, back to the drawing board!

Drew this last night for my friend Gary.

My Spotlight panel on Friday was recorded on video. You can watch the entire panel here.  Imagine the smell of napalm in the morning and it’s almost like being there.

Sunday was my panel with Jeff Smith. Jeff and I have been friends since I started working in comics, which makes him really, really old. But I helped him up on stage and had a great time talking about our days in self-publishing and what we both see for the future. Comic Book Resources was there and captured the highlights in a lengthy article that you can read here. I think the big moment was when Jeff announced his next project, TUKI. Trust me, the Jeffmeister will have the comics world at his fingertips when he begins making this new series, it’s going to be fantastic and you heard it here first.

I took a short list of sketch requests at Wondercon. The only record I have of them are these cruddy iPhone photos, but they should give you and idea of the drawing at least. The customer request is in quotes.

“Sexy Veronica”

“Francine and Katchoo as Spider-Man and Mary Jane in the famous kiss scene”

“Wonder Girl, with bare feet”

“Willow, with a cat.”

“Gwen Stacy”

“Katchoo, in hockey gear”

My favorite thing about comic cons is seeing the clever things people come up with. I’ll leave you with three of my favorite moments.

There was geriatric Superman, lighting a cigarette by the trash can. Dig the flask, daddio.

When the top popped up, I discovered why we all find R2D2 so cute…

And walking back to the hotel at the end of the show, I passed this family, just standing there. I asked permission to take their picture and they silently nodded. I took the picture then said thank you. They silently nodded. It was eerie cool. I’m telling you, there’s no folk like comic con folk.

Wondercon was a blast. The people were great, the show was well run and the facility was first class. Highlights for me were the panels. My spotlight panel on Friday went well, nobody pummeled me with fruit or called the police. I dished the dirt on the upcoming Strangers In Paradise Omnibus and the audience asked a lot of questions about Hollywood, as in why my books aren’t on a screen somewhere. Afterwards, a producer from a big studio handed me his card, so my L.A. experience was complete.

Saturday I joined Jim Lee, Frank Cho and Philip Tan for the CBLDF Art Jam. Those guys are incredibly talented and funny to boot, so this was fun for all. Below, left to right: Charles Brownstein (CBLDF), Frank Cho, Jim Lee. Check out the Catwoman Jim is drawing.

Below, Frank Cho working on his piece for the auction.

The finished art…

The very talented Philip Tan was also up there with us. I snapped this photo of his piece before it auctioned off for big bucks.

The room was packed to watch Jim, Frank and Philip make their magic. Here they watch the big screen monitor showing Frank draw while they giggle at all the politically incorrect things he said. Very funny guy but not recommended for uptight people.

Here is Jim Lee’s finished Catwoman. She sold for $1600:

And his quick version of Superman. This set the high mark of the day, selling for $1800. It was like auctioning off Stradivariuses, the room was electric.

I don’t have a good photo of my 2 pieces for you, all my iPhone pics are turning out blurry these days, but I’ll post what I have. Wonder Woman on her day off (the buyer asked me to add Twinkies, so I did, after this photo was taken)…

I did two sketches during the art jam. The 2nd, Supergirl…

I’ll post my con sketches and tell you about my panel with the one and only Jeff Smith tomorrow.

Booth 1101 (Abstract Studio)

Friday 4:30-5:30: Spotlight Panel, room 208AB

Saturday 12:30-1:45: CBLDF Art Jam

Sunday 12:30-1:30 : Terry & Jeff Smith Panel, room 208

I will take a limited number of sketches each day. Sketch is pencil on 9 X 12 paper, one character $100 I will sign any and all books you bring, no charge

Omnibus hardcover owners, you get a free sketch in Book One.

I am bringing a portfolio of original art for sale from all three series. For the first time, I’m also bringing all 20 pages from FABLES #107 to sell as a set. Price $4,000.

See ya there!

After a run of long days and nights I finished Rachel Rising #16 this morning as the sun came up and promptly sent it off to the printer via ftp. A couple of hours—literally—later the proof was up online and BAM! it’s done, Rachel Rising 17 is now in the hands of a vast network of American workers who pass it from one hand to the next until it’s in yours. Mark your calendars, the scheduled release date is April 24.

This news might cause you to wonder where is Rachel Rising #15? It’s scheduled to release everywhere this Wednesday, although I have heard a few reports of some readers finding it here and there. This is the first time I’ve ever finished an issue BEFORE the previous one hit the stands. Usually, when an issue hits the stands, I try to be 8 pages into the next one, meaning I have 8 pages drawn and inked.  So, this is odd for me. It’s like I am one episode of Dr Who ahead of you.

Which brings me to Wondercon, something I could not even imagine until I made this rabid deadline for Rachel 16. Now that I have, I look up and there it is, just 3 days in front of me. Good, I’m ready to get out of the house!

We have a great booth location, Booth #1101, just inside the front door. Here’s my panel schedule:

My SPOTLIGHT Panel: Friday 4:30-5:30   Room 208AB (Just me and a microphone… and gifts to bribe you. I usually reveal what we’re up to this year and then you can ask me anything. If you stump the band you get a free dinner at the vending machine.)

Terry & Jeff Smith Panel: Sunday 12:30-1:30  Room 208 (Me and my buddy Jeff. If you’ve never met him before, you’re in for a treat, he’s a funny guy.)

Robyn and I will be there at the booth with the new Strangers In Paradise 20th Anniversary print and t-shirts. I’ll have the Rachel Rising TPBs, the Echo Omnibus, How To Draw TPB, and the SiP Pocket Edition series, plus assorted fun chachkies.

For art lovers, I will bring a portfolio of original art with pages from all Rachel Rising, Echo and SiP. And… something is telling me to bring the art for Fables 107, too. I have the whole story, all 20 pages, intact. It would be quite a nice purchase for the right Fables fan. Maybe there is a Fables fan in California.

More later as we get closer to the weekend.

In the category of you can’t handle the truth comes this behind-the-scenes report. It’s a survivor’s journey, a tale of loss and resurrection in the life of a comic book series.

This is the cover of Echo 30.

Almost immediately after I finished making this book, the final issue of Echo, my computer hard drive died and took the Photoshop cover file with it. Please, no backup comments—you had to be there. I remember sirens and screaming, the sun in my eyes and dogs eating my cables, and before I could reach the keyboard a bolt of lightning shot out of my nose and the screen went gray. I’m not saying that’s what happened, I’m just saying that’s how I remember it.

Anyway, that cover was made from this panel in issue 28:

Yes, I cheated. Who wants to draw a Large Hadron Collider more than once?

Anyway, to accomplish this, I removed the lettering (it was hand lettered on removable labels) rescanned the page, cropped down to the middle panel and turned it -90 degrees to get as much vertical as possible. Then I did my Photoshop color thing on it and BAM!  I had my cover of the Large Hadron Collider without having to redraw the LHC.  Yay me. I turned the book in and CRASH!

Act Two, sad aftermath: In the months and years after, I moved on and used other Echo images when I needed something, but our foreign language publishers always want the generic version of every cover in a series, so they can add the graphics in their own language, of course. As you can see, the Echo 30 cover situation was always a problem.

Act Three, enter the hero: Recently my Italian publisher BAO took matters into their own hands and carefully remade the cover themselves using the same process. They sent me this pic of their in-house graphics wizard at work on the art, extending the artwork to fill the new ratio.

And here’s a peek at the nearly finished result. Nice! And now I’ll have a generic for the future, thanks to the talented folks at BAO.

Epilogue: I’m so happy. And I’m backing all this up, tomorrow.