New years! A year in review

Oh 2009, what a strange year. I spent slightly more than half the year unemployed working on my 120 page book Jim and Jenn, which remains sitting on my desk in unpublished limbo. I then spent the rest of the year working on comedy networks upcoming show Ugly americans. Its going to be pretty good, thats for sure. There were three comic conventions, TCAF, Hobbystar and SPX. All good. Less concerts than last year, more CD's, more hockey and always comics.

This years comic highlight for me was discovering Nokia Ursawa, Monster, Pluto and 20th century boys were all really inspiring works. The year began with scott pilgrim volume 5 which was heart breaking and beautiful. Lot to cover in 6 but O'malley so far has only delivered. I'm sure that will be on my 2010 best of list. Invincible is still my favorite monthly floppie. In 09 I all but stopped buying marvel and dc books. The exceptions being when Quietly and Morrison put out anything together. DC and Marvel, you guys gotta quit the events, I've never cared less. In webcomics, Scary go round ended to make way for the promising bad machinary. That is a chenge that I'm enjoying so far for sure.

In music the yeah yeah yeahs, Tegan and sara, Okervil river, Joel Plaskett, Yo la tengo and the replacements were the big sonic winners in my apt.

In a bad year for movies the popcorn flicks won the day, all the usual suspects were also rans, that made room for star trek, avatar and Up to be my top three this year.

In 2010 I promise to finally finish don river, my 20 to 30 page river spirit comic. I promise to start on my next book, either, a scifi space epic, a 21st century fantasy comic or a giant robot book. I also promise to continue brushing my teeth and making updates on you my favorite blog at least once a month.

The Bride!

Kill Bill's, The Bride!
I bought both movies tonight. I'm very excited to watch em again. Its gonna be a good time!

FATO

This is a piece I did for the forthcoming "IAMWIZARD" zine. It was initially being put together my friend Michal Majewski, who passed away this summer. The zine is still being put together as a tribute to him. I was having a hard time thinking what to put into the zine, then at a tribute concert for Mike, Leigh, the drummer in FATO showed up with a shirt that I drew for fato in 2000. This is a sequal of sorts to that shirt. Jewski is the one slapping the bass at the front.

You can check out FATO's music here,

and definitly check out Mike's Posters here,

he was a great friend, artist and musician and is definitly missed.

SPX

So
So, I got a new job. Its taking up a lot of my time, hence the lack of posts. I'm sorry blog, I 'll try and do better! On a bright note, its prolly the coolest cartoon I've ever worked on.
Last month, I went to SPX, in Bathesda, Maryland along side Julie of Promises Promies fame. It was totally badass. Very inspiring, and I met and hung out with a lot of the people I was most excited to meet. Its neat, the event takes place in a hotel in the middle of terrible box store sprawls, so theres no where to go. You end up partying in everyones rooms, which is an amazing way to get to meet everyone. Most other conventions, everyone goes to random bars after the shows. But its not really an option in Bathesda. Anyways, loved it, looking forward to next year. Heres an interview Julie and I did at the end of day 2.. My usual convention sketches and party pics can be found on my flickr.. If you want to see me hobnobbing with some of comics finest, check it out. This is a anniversary card I did for my bro and his wife for thier first anniversary. Its based of a Hayden song, Clara liked. Hope you all like it.
A couple weeks ago, I did the 24 hour comic challenge in Oshawa. It was a blast. I finished 8 pages. I'm currently working on finishing that, it should be about 20 pages when its done. So look for that soon. Even sooner, I will be showing off my contribution to the "I am wizard" zine shortly. Its a super sized wonder. See you soon blog!

Link

Link by commision. Ink on bristol.

SPX has come and gone. It was a blast. I cant wait for next year. I will have an indepth blog post about my adventures in the US shortly. Keep your peepers peeled!

RIP Scary go round!

One of my very favorite webcomics, Scary go round, ended yesterday. I suggest everyone check it out, its crazy good. John Allison, its creator has a new strip starting shortly though to fill the void, so thats exciting. Still though, Shelly, Amy, Ryan and all the rest, have a special place in my heart. I couldnt resist using this as an excuse to draw a pinup of these great characters.

In other news, at the end of this month I will be America bound for SPX. I've never been to this show before and I'm very excited about it. To tie it all together as well Mister John Allison will be in attendance!

Anyways, hope you all like these, I know the design is pretty similair to my inside back cover for Jim and Jenn, but what can you do. Those Lost dvd designs, they stick with ya.

Harley Quinn commision.

Fan Expo 09

Fan expo has come and gone. It was a fun show. I drew, I sold I smiled! Thanks to everyone who came out, especially if you bought a book! Thanks to Zub for hosting a wicked party on friday! Thanks to Julie for being a swell table partner and thanks to our nieghbors, the boys over at Possum press and Shane for keeping us company too!

On a personal note, I had a great time showing off the dummy copies of my new book to everyone who would look. I lined up some excellent artists for pinups for the finished version once it comes out..{prolly not till december, at the earliest.} and I met a lot of great new people. All in all a good time. Now heres some of my famous free sketches for all ya'll.

Kid flash!

Scott Pilgrim!

Scott and Kim!

and Chun Li

Now if you want to see the rest of my sketches and some exceptional cosplay you should head over to my flickr account. Theyre all there! Till next time, make mine Marvney!

Jim and Jenn preview Pt 1

Well folks, here comes a 7 page preview of Jim and Jenn. Straight at your faces! Drink it up!

Anyways, last reminder before Fanexpo! Please come on out. I will have all my usual stuff for sale and I will have a dummy copy of Jim and Jenn available for you all too get a complete look at the book..might be your last chance to see it for a while. This puppy wont be seeing print for a bit, so..hope to see you there!

Jim and Jenn preview Pt 2

Jim and Jenn is done.

Jim and Jenn is done. Here is the inks of the cover with no color or any of the other finalized banners.

Finally.

All art, revisions, and other editing I had to do is done completly. I can explain the delay Mom, I mean Ben. It turns out I'm ocd and needed to have it just so.

The final tally is 119 pages. 1 page away from 50% larger than what I initially imagined. Jim and Jenn was only supposed to be in my life for 24 hours. Three years later its finally done. Its wild to look back at those initial 8 pages which led me to here. Including the 35 pages of the previous iteration of Jim and Jenn and demoed pages from this version, Jim and Jenn is over 160 pages total.. the progress from day one to now, I like to think is pretty big.

I'm really excited to get it all together for you all and let you all have a read. I think it turned out well, hopefully the hours and time put into it come across in the reading.

Tomorrow I start scanning all the pages and putting the book together in photoshop. Later this weekend I will post the first six pages. I plan on having a handful of dummy copies next weekend at fanexpo for people to peruse. The actual release date for the book is foggy. Please though, stop by and take a look at the last year of my life. I will be doing free sketches all weekend, have copies of Lucy Legacy and Noway Jose for sale. My booth is located in artists alley alongside my compatriots Julie Faulkner of Promises promises fame and Blair Kitchen he of the possum press!

Now, what shall I do next.

Almost missed July...almost.

Its summer in Toronto! Have you been watching all the pretty girls? Lucky you! This is what I imagine a pretty girl looks like. Its hard to know for sure. Ive not left my room in weeks. And why you ask....
...to finish a certain book! This here was {its no longer in the book} the first page of the current incarnation of Jim and Jenn that I did.

I've proclaimed Jim and Jenn finished in other places already. I will hold off on that proclamation here on my favorite blog though, untill it is 100% complete on the production end. Im still tweaking here and there, have a cover to draw and 100+ pages to letter. I anticipate though that sometime next week I will be posting the cover and the official proclamation along with maybe a five page preview for you my favorite blog readers! The end is so tantalizingly close, Im excited.

100 Posts!

100 posts blogger! We did it! Lets celebrate with a art dump!

Probable inside back cover for Jim and Jenn.. Complete cast pic..kinda looks like a Lost dvd cover..

Yamcha from Dragon Ball. Viz has been putting out these great over sized volumes of the original series. I may or may not have been picking em up...

At TCAF I did a big fail and didnt have enough time to finish a pic for a kid. This was the payback pic I made for him to make up for it, by request. Im a nintendo guy, so, Im sorry mario.

Up next blog post 101! Only 100 more to 200.

The Black Bastard vs the Malcolm X-men

The Black Bastard vs The Malcolm Xmen PT2

So yes, here is the six pager I did along with Aaron Broverman for the upcoming Black Bastard anthology. I've never worked with a writer before and it was a pleasure. Aaron's a class act! This was a fun project and a nice break from Jim and Jenn. I worked on full sized comic boards for the first time, I feel like it made a big difference.  Anyways, it was a blast, thanks to Matthew Mohammed for trusting us with his  creation. Keep on drawing kids!

The problem with appreciating Wolverine

The problem with having a wolverine appreciating month is that after that month is done, I still wanna appreciate. 

   I recently did a six page Black Bastard comic. It has a spoof of the Xmen in it, so Ive been drawing a knock off wolverine for a bit now. I guess it kind of inspired me to get going with the real deal. So heres some canucklehead action.

  Check back later this week. I will be putting those six  Black Bastard pages up prolly Thursday or Friday.

Set Blog to sleek and sexy!

Why hello blogger, arent you looking sleek and sexy!  Yes, yes you are. With your fancy new header, links that work and listed from most recently updated to least..A brave new world!

  Anyways, to celebrate this new sleek and sexy era, it seems fitting that I post this Spock and Kirk pinup from the recently released sleek and sexy reboot of Star Trek! This movie is the bomb! I hope you've all seen it...its...so....good.

Into the dust fanart and TCAF roundup!

Hello blognation! So once upon a time I went to show called the paradise comic con. It was my first con and I met a fella who sat beside me named Jesse Rubenfeld, he does a comic called into the dust. Its a reimagining of the Wizard of Oz, its pretty toight. Anyways..we did a one sided pin up trade. My half of the deal never really surfaced..untill now ten months later!! Hope you likes and check out Jesse's site.. http://www.jesserubenfeld.net/
So TCAF has come and gone. It was a blast. Incredibly well run and insanely well attended. I would like to give a shout out to Chris Butcher for doing a hell of a job on putting together my fav show, the volenteers and all the people who came with big fat open wallets. Heres some pics,me at my table at the very end of the show, to my left, your right, super talented Salgood Sam http://www.salgoodsam.com/And then I met Rick Mercer at the end of the first day. Thats my buddy Mike to your right, my left.Noway Jose's almost cover. I hated it, so we went B&WThe glamorous world of assembling your own mini's. Pro tip, buy a long armed stapler. Oh the hijinks that ensued.
Theres more pics from TCAF to be found on my Flickr, here.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/33194886@N08/
See you sooner than later. Im hard at work on a Black Bastard six pager which is coming together pretty well, along with a bunch of other nice stuff I wanna show you all.

Noway Jose HD remix!! Cover image and sample.

Here is the cover image to Noway Jose HD Remix. This image rocking you in the face at 80 mph pretty much tells you all you need to know about this guy. He rides with the Raptors and gets chased around by Trex's. This is because he runs the show. I hopes you likes. This should have color on it as long as I dont blow the coloring..in which case it will stay B&W.The sweet back cover and front cover though isnt all you get in the new Noway Jose HD remix. You also get reinked interiors. Since October when I initially did this bad boy I've learned a trick or two. Heres an example of the changes your going to be seeing inside the book. If you wanna see more your going to have to come to TCAF and buy the mini. HAZAH!
More news! The Toronto Comics Arts Festival is this weekend! I want you to come and visit me. Heres all the info you need. http://www.torontocomics.com/tcaf/
Even more news! In the build up to TCAF, I had a Q&A run in the Globe and Mail! Learn more about me here.. http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/afterword/archive/tags/Brian+Evinou/default.aspx
Also, somehow someone thought it would be a good idea to give me a forum to speak my mind with more respected and talented artists than myself! If you want to see me heave and bluster come by and watch the Animators in comics panel on Sunday at 2.30 to 3 in Learning room 1 @ TCAF! Faith Erin Hicks is on the panel with me!! Heres a full list of the events... http://comics212.net/2009/05/06/tcaf-programming-schedule/#more-2606

Hopefully I will get one more post on here before the big event. But if not please do come by! I will have Jim and Jenn's pages on me to show off as well Noway Jose minis and Lucy Legacy books and stickers to pawn off. I know theres more shows in the summer. But from the bottom of my heart this is my fav show. You dont want to miss it.

Noway Jose back cover!!

man,
This drawing was a blast. THe idea of the drawing is that you learn a lot about Jose just from this pic. Like now we know he has hung out with robots in the past, encountered the Empire. Its all there. I love world builder pics. For a comic thin on dialouge like Noway, I hope it adds some layers and richness to his story
This drawing will be the back cover, prolly stay in b&w, maybe tonals, I will have the cover for you sometime before the big event!
Hopes you all likes, remember TCAF is just around the corner, be there! http://www.torontocomics.com/tcaf/index.html

Destroyer!!

I went into the comic shop and bought my first marvel title in months. It was Destroyer, by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker. The premise of the book is that Destroyer's career has been on going since the forties and we're seeing him at the end of his days and how he wraps it all up. Its exciting for me to get Kirkman and Walker together again, the original team on my fav superhero book Invincible. More than that though the book is a super violent hoot, and beautifully executed. Even with the brain matter splattering the page every where it still retains the fun feel that Kirkman and Walker first showed us with Invincible, I recomend it!
here is a 7 page preview http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=2307&disp=table
I went a lil over board with the ink splotches but it felt a lil bare before so what can you do!

Draw pictures everyday kids!

Wolverine Appreciation Month.

I heard ya Tommy Guns. Heres my contribution.

So as I've mentioned on here before, The uncanney X-Men was my comic growing up. I started during the Fall of the Mutants, round issue 220. My favorite X-man like every other snot nosed kid was the Old Canucklehead, Wolverine, Logan, Weapon mutha F#$king X.
Anyways, when working on Jim and Jenn, I always start the day with little warmup doodles. This week I drew the colored wolverine on Monday, then my friend Tom on the ol Facebook called this month Wolverine appreciation month and I decided to follow his lead. So I did the bottom one yesterday and the sewer one today. I tell ya, that sewer one was not turning out. Theres a whole lower body under that water that looks like ass. Hence the sewer! Spooky setting for Wolverine? NO! Convienent way to cover up short comings in art! YES!
Time for bad news. I failed at Jim and Jenn. Its going to be done for TCAF, sadly it wont be printed. Financial coupled with scheduling problems have led me to push it back. Fear not though. I will be having a release party for when I have it printed early summer and it will definitly be available at The Hobbystar con in August SPX in Sept and Excellent comic stores around Toronto. I'm Sorry to have to report this, no one is more disapointed than me. The bright side though is that Im now planning on having tonals in the book and I will get to rejig the begining a bit to jazz up the book even more. For the TCAF attendees, I will have a very special small print run of Noway Jose available with an exciting amazing cover. So hopefully that will help you forgive me untill Jim and Jenn's explosive release! Sexy..

Hope you all like these drawings!

John Locke

This ones for you Benner
So this is one of my favorite characters from Lost, the popular television program, you might of heard of it. John Locke!!! I dont know what took me so long to get on board with this show. It is pretty rad. Im going to watch the finale of season 2 tonight and I cant wait. I'll definitly be up to date in time for the last season. Can it fill the hole BSG is going to leave in my heart in two weeks? We'll find out.
Also, I saw Watchmen yesterday afternoon. My capsule review, pretty good. Its definitly a much better translation than I thought possible. Theres a lot of layers of the book missing and the sense of parody and reconstruction of the comics genre. But the crux of the storys there and it was fun to see a lot of the big moments on screen. So cup slightly over half full. Im very relieved its not terrible though. I was expectiing 300 the sequal.

NiteOwl

Theres a movie coming out on friday! Get this outta the way right off. Im pretty sure its going to stink. I hope it doesnt. This is a feeling I have though. Be aware.
Watchmen is definitly one of my fav books. Im doing a homage to it actually in Jim and Jenn using the 9 panel format that Dave Gibbons rocked in those pages. I saw Gibbons speak in Dec at a book store here in Toronto. It was really inspiring and got me thinking a lot about preperation and design. Anyways. I had already started Jim and Jenn at this point but in the future theres a few things I gleaned from his talk that I hope to use in future projects.
Hope you all like the drawing. Jim and Jenn is still on pace. I missed the sign up for Mocca. I suck. If anyone wants to share thier table with me I would be pleased to pay!!