My Christmas Gifts

This Christmas, I got some very cool presents; The new Godzilla boxed set, the Devil Dinosaur Omnibus and something that just threw me for a loop...

In my e-mail, I got the cover for Robot 13 from Jeff Slemons.

It's amazing, and I can't wait to let you see it.

Don't worry, though. It's worth the wait...

Stories To Tell

The more creative projects that I find myself becoming involved with, the more I am discovering about what drives people to be creative in the first place.

Many people who get involved with art, do so to simply tell a story; Somewhere within them, there is an idea they need co communicate that can't be spelled out into cut and dry sentences. They might turn to drawing or sculpture or music or poetry... but they know that there is something narrative within them that needs to be told in order to get this idea out.

Other people fall in love with the methods and the processes of creation; They enjoy the act of putting a pen to paper or the feel of clay under their fingers or the tactile aspects of playing an instrument. To these people, the moment of turning nothing into something, and the vehicles they use to accomplish it, is almost the end unto itself.

Still others look mainly to the value of the finished work to drive them; These people create for the same reason a plumber installs a sink or a lineman connects a house... someone is willing to pay for the end result of a skill they don't posess themselves.

As for me, I can't really say what drives my creativity other than to say it is somewhat of a compultion. I have tried, mostly unsucessfully, to take a "break" from creativity for whatever reason, and I always end up writing something. As impractial as creativity often can be, it oozes out of me if I try to hold it back, and I always find I have more ideas than I'll ever end up using.

Honestly, I wish it was different. That I could take it or leave it. That I could treat it as a job. That I could even simply enjoy the creative act for what it is in the moment.

But that's not me.

I'm the guy that would write a poem on a piece of driftwood while I was being digested in the belly of a whale.

That being said, I have things to write...

"...Paint It Black..."

Providence has handed me a "tough" situation- I am too blessed when it comes to having tallented friends. Everywhere I turn, I meet someone who blows my mind with their creativity and somehow we become friends. I can't stress how much it doesn't suck to know people who make such amazing art- not only is it inspiring, but it means that I get to collaborate with people I genuinely care about. That doesn't mean people will do things for free for me, but it does make it that much easier to work with someone when they are all but looking for a reason to do something together.

One such friend is Jeff Slemons; Not only did he do the stunning cover for Mecha Manga Bible Heroes (which you can see here) but he is doing the cover for the upcoming book Robot 13 that Daniel and I hope to debut at this year's Arizona Cactus Con. If you can read between the cryptic lines above, you'll have a glimmer of how hot this cover is going to be...

"It's a ...festival!"

I spent my day at NY Anime Festival in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC. At the JMG Studios booth, we gave away Amazing posters of the cover image by Jeff Slemons and ashcan versions of Mecha Manga Bible Heroes. Honestly, it was some of the most fun I have had doing a show in a while. The fan response has been good, and we are looking forward to going back tomorrow.

If you want to check out more about the book, Feel free to stop by the convention center tomorrow.

If you can't make it, however, feel free to see our website http://www.mmbibleheroes.com or our Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/mechamangabibleheroes.