Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from Instant/ Idiot Press!

James 2099 Updated

Did a bit of updating on the James 2099 characters. I also did a panel featuring each of the characters that were from the very short comic book. I thought the updated versions came out pretty nice. Makes me want to work on this seriously.

James 2099

I have to say first off that as I was sitting here drawing, I felt like revisiting a cover I was working on some years ago. I pulled out the old 2099 pages and looked at the original cover and noticed that I did it in November.

That said, I just wanted to share the short lived, James 2099 story. A favorite of mine even though I only drew it once. Thinking of it now this could be very fun to do. Incorporating an idea that Matt Wendt pitched for Dorks, I thought it would be better suited for James. This idea was of an alternate world where anything goes. Impossible characters appear. Where one of the dorks would be a hero type character. Instead I think it would work with James ala Calvin & Hobbes. While James steals lunches ('ey Boo boo) he could be dreaming of escaping from the bad guys and much more. Enjoy the short lived James: 2099.

James Comics

James Comics came from the real life stories of James Silva, a kid my mother used to babysit when I was in high school. He was the younger brother of Joseph, who has made appearances in James comic as well. He had one spin off comic that mostly featured James.


The strips were very simple. They really were based on situations that would happen with him. James and his brother Joseph were pretty much very violent with each other. If James did anything to upset Joseph, Joseph would hit him. James was very notorious for stealing his food.

James Comics #3 was the most bizarre strip of them all. It was the only one that broke away from the norm. I don't really know where the idea came from or even why a geek was eating James. Apparently there was a fourth panel but I have no clue what was to follow.

I had done an updated version of James Comics #3. I kept it to three panels cause I thought it was funnier that way, not to mention I couldn't figure out what could possibly follow James being eaten by a geek.

I had attempted to make a full comic of James but I think that his stories are tailored for short funny strips. That's the formula that I'll stick with once I do another James comic.

Fallcon 2010

Instant Press would like to thank all those that came out to see us and picked up the latest books. Bride of the Wolfman continues to sell very well and if you missed it at Fallcon, Dave announced the next book to be out in May of 2011.



Here are some shots and highlights from the show.

The Fighter Guest Artist Part 3

Here's one I forgot about but it's one of my favs. When I asked Chris Giarrusso to do this pic I paid him for it. I then decided I wanted another drawing done by him and once he was done I was so excited that I walked away without paying for the second one. As soon as I realized it I ran back and gave him the money. I asked him why he didn't stop me and he was like, I dunno. True story I swear.
This one is fresh and just in from Manuel Preitano. Here's his note on it: Sketch I did eperimenting with http://www.brushesapp.com/

I love the look to it and the whole noir feel to it.

D-ORKS

Wizard World weekend has come and gone. A great time was had and I owe it to some of the most generous people that wouldn't let me stay home and sulk. David Gruba, Matt Wendt and Becky Grutzik were very kind to invite me to the show and hang out with them. A big thanks to them to and of course to my fiancee who wanted to do everything she could so I could have a good time but I'm glad that bills come first.

At the show I got to meet a very nice guy named Mike White. He was sitting next to Matt and Becky and he does one of the funniest books I've read in ages. Amity Blamity. I advise all to read it and buy his books. Not only does he have a great comic book but he's also a very funny guy in person. You couldn't ask for a better con neighbor at a show. He was nice enough to give me tips on inking, while letting me record him work and he did a great Dorks pinup as well. This piece below was all done in one sitting and he was just engaged in it. He kept asking me "should I do this" and so on and I just wanted to say you've drawn enough as it is but he really just kept going. Thanks again Mike. You were awesome and I hope to meet you again.

P.S. He's also friends with Greg Hyland of Lethargic Lad fame. I couldn't believe that. As if that wasn't amazing enough, he was the one that did the Lil Lethargic Lad strips that were featured in the books. Wow.

The Fighter Issue 1

At one point things looked a bit bleak with Instant Press Comics and it's projects. There was a bit of internal turmoil going on and it's a period that is not really reflected on when we get together. One thing that happened though was that artist Dann Phillips was free at the moment since there was a hiatus on the White Knife project. His talent and art was so great and eye catching to me that it hit me like nothing I've felt before. This could be the guy that could bring The Fighter to life.
I proposed the idea to Dann Phillips and if anybody knows Dann, you know he gets excited about working on something new. He's always up for a challenge and puts his all into the project. He did prelims on the Fighter and after much nitpicking on my part I was finally satisfied and the ball got rolling.
As my usual self, I was lazy on supplying the drawings for The Masked Avenger and The Perfect Gentleman when it came time to do the story. To my surprise though, Dann pretty much did the designs in the style that I had sketched out, only good. When I saw page 5 I knew I was working with the right person. The action sequence there was just jaw dropping. considering that the script called for, "Big action sequence" Dann did a great job of putting two and two together. I left it all up to him and he delivered.
Things didn't progress much after issue one due to me. I once again got too caught up in how I wanted to tell the story and how long it would be until The Fighter came on to the scene. I do hope to return to this project one day and I hope that Dann will be available to do the artwork again. It was a thrill to work with such a skilled artist.

The Fighter Action Figure

For Christmas one year Stan Tanaka surprised me with a really sweet home made Fighter action figure. The coat was from a Gambit action figure and the mask is hand sculpted. I forget the other components but all in all, it's a great representation of The Fighter.

Here's an update from Stan on the different parts of this figure:

body: Silver Surfer action figure
coat: Gambit action figure
staff: Gambit action figure
mask: TMNT Casey Jones action figure
hat: Mr. Fixit (Grey Hulk) action figure
brick wall diorama base: Punisher action figure
blood, sweat, and tears: Stan Tanaka

And Stan's awesome recollection of that glorious nite:

I remember Christmas night when I drove over to your house with this Fighter action figure.
You were smashed drunk when you answered the door, and barely recognized what the figure was.
I brought it over in a shoebox, and you probably thought I bought you a pair of Nikes.
True story, dude.
You were plastered that night.

The Fighter Guest Artist Part 2

There isn't too many guest artist pin ups of The Fighter to share. This second batch is pretty much it. I guess though that there are more of him there is of Imp or the Rulers of Razura. Maybe this Wizard World trip I'll fix that. Or maybe just get more Dorks pinups. :P

Art Baltazar - Artist on the popular title Tiny Titans. Here's a fun Fighter drawing done in Art's trademarked crayon coloring way.

Nino Messerina - The man who brought you Unbelievable Laundry Detergent Man comes this retro, Ditko looking pic. I always enjoyed this one. It was a nice action shot and just all around nice feel to it.

Kevin Girard - This one is a homage to a Batman pic and it came out rather nicely. Like, questioning the mask or rather who's behind it.

Ivan Flores - A simple pic Ivan did while working on Unit 1. Just striking a pose.

Lance "Doc" Boucher - A fun pinup with Fighter teasing Wolff Hunter. I wonder who would win in that fight.

--- Moy - I'm not sure which Moy did this but I like it alot. He did a fantastic job on him.

The Fighter Guest Artist Part 1

Here are just a few of the many pin up's I've collected over the years of The Fighter. Enjoy.

Kevin - I forget his last name and I forget what projects he's worked on. I just know I got this drawing as a trade with the artist. I gotta say I got a killer deal on this one. It was so much fun sitting next to him and he had me laughing the entire convention.

Stan Tanaka - This is part of a bigger picture that Stan did. It featured several Instant Press characters (You can see White Knife in the foreground) battling it out with Devil's Due character, mainly G.I. Joe. This part featuring The Fighter was such a great action shot. I loved the ninja stars sticking on his staff as he lunges forward in battle. This picture is colored by Outlaw.

Nick - I forget his last name as well. Boy I should really remember to write these down. This was done at a Chicago show as well. He did such a great job in such a nice style.

Puck - This was an interesting one. Puck did this in one sitting, while sitting on the floor. I loved the colors on it not to mention the feel.

Matt Wendt - A good friend who did an awesome job on this. He sat down that nite to do a donation piece for Fallcon and after he did a killer G.I. Joe pic he whipped this one out.

Last but not least (For this posting) is a drawing by David Gruba. That's rite. He doesn't just write comics. He draws too. Don't let him fool you. He's hiding his art skills and once in a while he'll let it out.

The Fighter - Part 2

The Fighter started off as a Casey Jones inspired character. Thus he was to fight crime on the streets and clean up the city. Somehow, he turned into a character out in space. It lead me to create two alternate versions of Fighter to explain how he was an Earth hero and a Intergalactic riff raff. As Mr Kill's right hand man, he was to go out and take care of any and every task. This made him a real jerk and heartless.Often times even though The Fighter never had his own comic he appeared in others. Rebels: Rulers of Razura was his second appearance. He was a big part of the Imp comic book (no copies available).

Later on it was decided that The Fighter would be Earth bound and a true blue crime fighter in every respect.

The Fighter - Part 1

With news of the movie, The Fighter coming closer and closer I keep being reminded that I should have done something with my book alot sooner. The Fighter has a rich history in my head and I've always wanted to get his own book off the ground. Due to my indecisiveness on how to tell the story I've never been able to get the book going. The most I've accomplished was a first issue that was never released. The first issue was drawn by Dann Phillips (Kreetor, Starbomb). I'm thinking of getting something done once I've finished the latest issue of Dorks. Here's a look at the original drawing of The Fighter from 1992: The longest running joke at Instant Press is that when Dave Gruba was publishing, he asked me to do Dorks for his anthology zine. At the last minute I changed my mind and decided to give him something else. The Fighter was the first thought but sadly, I was unable to draw humans. How could I draw an action comic when I could barley draw people? Thus Rebels: Rulers of Razura was given to him. Imp was the first original character I had created and with him being an alien it was easier to draw. At the end of the second installment, there was an appearance from The Fighter. He was the right hand man to Mr. Kill:With the cancellation of the third Grubbmaster Pieces The Fighter never made it as a full appearance. The ending of our running joke is that Dave was unable to steal The Fighter from me because he was never mentioned by name. Guess it's only funny to us.

After things started falling apart at Instant Press with several of our projects I was feeling a bit down. As I was thinking about what to do about the situation I started thinking about my own projects. I got the idea almost right away to ask Dann Phillips to work on The Fighter. The idea excited me to no extent and once I saw Dann's drawings on him it exceeded all expectations.



One day I hope to get this back on track. I hope to have the same artist work on the project as well. Until that happens, I'll have to deal with a movie coming out by the same name.

Dorks Issue 5

Announcing the release of Dorks issue 5.

I know that that sounds weird considering that there is already an issue 5 but let me explain. In trying to jump start the new series I got wrapped up in redoing the original series. Once I got started on it I started loving the way the old stuff was coming to life. When I was redoing the fifth issue that's when it hit me. There was a way to redo the original series and incorporate the new stuff at the same time. Issue five will be altered mildly but in a big way. Once issue six hits it'll take a small break in the story to tie together the old with the new. It's pretty exciting to me and I hope it'll be to old and new readers alike. You'll be able to read the old books and still be able to follow the new story.

Here's just a look at one of the things I'm proud of in terms of my skills having come a long way.
Dorks Issue 5 will be available for Fallcon in October. Mark my words.

P.S. I've enlisted some artist to help me out for a couple pages. For those that have read the original version will have an idea on what was done.