LAZARUS: Nineteen

Lazarus issue 19 by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark is out today! Part three of the POISON arc, bad turning to worse behind enemy lines with the Anvils. Not only is it a really excellent issue but it includes a preview of the upcoming Rucka/Scott Image series Black Magick. And it includes my covers for Lazarus 19 and 20. Whew.

Above are a bit of the process for the cover for 19. Early thumbnails for a more action heavy direction, then we got into specifics and the events of the battlefield. A few versions later we arrived at a slightly wider overhead shot with the snowy ground and fallen gear. The final illustration was drawn on Bristol board with brush and ink, refined and painted digitally. The original inks and other cover inks are available to buy at Splashpage Art.

LAZARUS: Number Sixteen

Lazarus #16 is on stands now. This issue is a bold vignette in the eye of the narrative hurricane by Rucka & Lark, and expands its format to include a wealth of journalistic design work by Eric Trautmann as well as a few interstitial illustrations by me.

Above are some of the process steps from early thumbnails, sketches and an alternate for the third act piece with a more digital fragmenting effect that was a fun experiment. Massive credit due to Eric for tying all the pages together so well, and thanks again to Greg and Michael and the team for the invitation to be part of the issue.

In related news, the original inks for this issue's cover (and others) are now available through Splash Page Comic Art. It's incredibly nice to be in such good company there as well.

Lazarus: Fourteen

Lazarus issue Fourteen arrives on stands this week and, with it, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark bring us further into the Conclave arc and the ever tightening situation on Triton One. For a glimpse at the excellent sequential work by Lark, Boss & Arcas, Comicosity has a preview of the issue.

Below are some of the development sketches that went into the cover. The inky night ocean scenes slowly shifted further underwater, hinting at some darker discoveries below the surface for the final cover illustration.

Lazarus: Number Eleven

Lazarus 11 hits stands today from Image Comics and with it the "Conclave" arc begins with the emergence of another Lazarus from the family Bittner and growing shadows of doubt haunting Forever's past, present and future. Written by Greg Rucka, art by Michael Lark with Tyler Boss, colors by Santi Arcas, lettering by Jodi Wynne, Designed by Eric Trautmann and edited by David Brothers; I couldn't ask for a more dedicated team to work with.

I've included a small process animation to the left layering steps from brush and ink drawing through Photoshop, as well as cover sketches for different approaches to Bitter and Carlyle's icy introduction below. A preview of Michael's epic opening pages for the issue is available here.

Lazarus: Vol. 2

I am excited to share my first illustration as cover artist for Greg Rucka and Michael Lark's Image book Lazarus. The second collected volume arrives in comic shops today, and follows Forever, the Lazarus of the Family Carlyle, as destabilizing plots unfold within and around the ruling families in a dystopian near-future.

The solidity of the world and characters Michael and Greg have developed provided a wealth of visual options, so I was able to run with one I particularly loved which was the "Lift" propaganda poster Michael designed for chapter eight. We narrowed into an idea of Forever surveying the world from a decaying billboard with the deconstructed "Lift" graphic behind her, which I explored in the sketches below.

While we have only done a few covers so far, this has already been one of the most fun and satisfying collaborations of my career. Thanks to Michael Lark, Greg Rucka and everyone on the team and at Image for inviting me to be a part of this excellent project.

Photo courtesy of Jared of OK Comics