Cover, pages and Maia BD

A busy week

Hello from Castrum Lusitania, my fortress in northern Portugal. Welcome to another edition of our weekly newsletter.

It seems that I keep forgetting to warn when there won’t be a newsletter. And then I warn you but there is one nonetheless.

So I’ll tell you this before anything else: it’s pretty likely that two weeks from now (June 15th) there won’t one - unless something forces my hand. I’ll be off to an exhibition of my work (plus two other very nice Portuguese artists - André Caetano and Joana Afonso) on a nearby town.

Work update

At the time of writing this, my second issue for The Sacrificers is nearly done. A few more days next week and it will be a wrap. I’m now inking intensely before adding some digital washes. The issue is very busy (lots of characters doing lots of things), and it’s taking a bit more time to finish that the first one I did (issue 10). The fact that it has three more pages isn’t helping either, but such is the price of good storytelling. Sometimes, you simply need the extra pages. And Rick knew, in his usually brilliance, that there was no fat to be trimmed in what he wrote. And he was right.

See here some shots of the work in progress. I keep going with my explorations with brush and some solid blacks, something which surely will deserve an edition of Castrum Lusitania once my work for this title is done.

New Cover reveal: Void Rivals #10

My fourth cover for Void Rivals was also revealed, this time for issue 10 (colors by Chris O’Halloran). As I mentioned before, my six consecutive covers are a connecting image that will be properly analyzed here once it is revealed in its entirety. See the inks of this one for now:

Maia BD

Finally, the reason why there was no newsletter last week was because I was at Maia BD, an incredible new convention solely devoted to comics. It’s just the second edition, but it’s growing nicely into something unique and very appealing for both creators and readers.

Being completely focused into comics is very refreshing and allows for a great connection between authors and readers. Everyone is there with a purpose.

I signed a bunch of stuff, as usual. I’ll highlight two images I did: one for Man Plus, another for Journey Into Mystery. Both less requested than all the Phenomenas and Righteous Thirst Collections, therefore might be a bit more interesting for you:

But the real star of the convention was a fantastic exhibition with dozens of pieces from some of the biggest names in American comics. The connecting theme was not-superhero work. Just as a taste, it had people like Mignola, Miller and Darrow.

The craziest thing? It belonged to a sole collector. Lucky guy!

Two recs

Before leaving, two quick recommendations from a nice Youtube channel I found this week.

First video is about On The Silver Globe. This is one of the most incredible movies I’ve ever seen. It is unwatchable and mesmerizing at the same time, in a manner I only experienced once. Visually, it’s stunning. Beautiful beyond words, it’s poetry in motion. But the plot? Impossible to understand or follow - hence why it’s hard to watch. But it’s worth investing some time into it, it’s an unfinished masterpiece with a fascinating story of its own. The video below delves into it rather well:

The second video is about reappraisals. And it goes on specifically about two Michael Man movies I love but that were not well received at the time: Miami Vice and Blackhat. I understand that these are not on the same level of Heat (nothing is, really), but if you enjoyed the 1995 masterpiece, you’re bound to at least like these. Check this video and give them a chance if you’re a Mann fan. I know I am.

See you soon!

André