Well, that wraps the “OVER”Art Auction! And I’m going to call it a success. 8 of 10 pieces sold, with the range of winning bids going from just a 1 penny to $43. In all, 5 different bidders won the art, some where regular commenters here, while others were new (online faces.) The bidding really heated up in the final hours of the auction. (The last piece went from 1 penny to $43 in the final 7 hours.)

Once again, thanks for participating in the auction.  Funds raised will go toward a larger initial print run of the graphic novel.

Speaking of which, I’m working hard on finishing up the GN for print.  The graphic novel will have all new cover art, which I’m currently working on.  I’ll share some Work-In-Progress stuff here in the blog next week.

If you still haven’t pre-ordered your copy of “OVER” here’s all you need to know:

The 180 page graphic novel is now available for Pre-Order! Containing the entire OVER tale, along with an additional 10 pages of content never shared online!

Everyone who pre-orders OVER will receive:

• A SIGNED copy of “OVER”
• FREE SHIPPING
• ARTIST’S EDITION Upgrade- That’s right, all pre-ordered copies will include a one-of-a-kind sketch on a blank page inside the book.

The cost for pre-ordering is just $20, and yes, that includes shipping.

OVER is expected to go to print in September, with Pre-Ordered books expected to ship in October.

Why is Pre-Order So Important to Indy Creators?

Pre-order is a way for small-press and indy creators to judge demand for our products before putting in our print orders. It is also a way to raise capital to help cover the substantial cost of printing our books. Pre-ordering products from indy creators is one of the most powerful ways you, the reader, can support you favorite creators.

Hey everybody!  As promised, this week I’ll be auctioning off 10 pieces of original art from the OVER graphic novel.  Each day this week, a two new auction listings will be posted.

FINAL UPDATE! Friday’s Auction

ITEM 9 – The Warrior Gwen and Felix Mural Picture (First appears on page 158)

It’s all romance today!  Now up for bid is the original drawing that comprised the mural picture that Felix put on the Blam! Comics wall in a bid to get Gwen back.  This is the only auction piece that features a grey toned prismacolor wash.

You can view this pieces debut in the comic here:

This piece is done in pencil and ink, with a grey toned prismacolor wash, on 8 x 10 in. cardstock paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #9- Felix & Gwen Mural Picture Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-17-10 05:08:55 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

ITEM 10 – “OVER” Page 160- The Felix and Gwen Make Up Kiss

This is the LAST of ten selections of comic art from “OVER” available for auction!  And some would say I saved the best one for last.   Up for bid is the final splash page featured in “OVER.”  Gwen forgives Felix, and they  have their big romantic moment.  (Yay for happy endings!)  This one will be tough to part with!

You can view the finished colored and letter page you are bidding on here.

This piece is done in pencil and ink on 8.25 x 10.75 in. manga sized bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #10- Make-Up Kiss (Page 160) Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-17-10 05:13:49 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

Thursday’s Auction

ITEM 7 – Warrior Gwen Splash Page (Page 111)

Today’s items, I suspect, are what some of you have been waiting for.  Up first, is the artist’s favorite page in the whole dang book.  This is a splash page single image of Gwen making her move, as she comes over to Felix’s place to help him work on his script dressed as the heroine from his fantasy comic.  Ballsy move, but it paid off for her.  A gorgeous piece of original comic art.

You can view the beautiful finished colored and letter page you are bidding on here.

This piece is done in pencil and ink on 8.25 x 10.75 in. manga sized bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #7 – Warrior Gwen Splash Page Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-16-10 04:19:41 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid On this item

ITEM 8 – Felix & Gwen Get It On! (Page 116)

Today’s second piece of sequential art is a page that is a key turning point in the book.  This is the (ahem) climax of one of the fan favorite scenes of the graphic novel, where Felix finally mans up and kisses Gwen for the first time.  This quickly leads to costumes falling off, and into the bedroom they go.

You can view the steamy finished colored and letter page you are bidding on here.

This piece is done in pencil and ink on 8.25 x 10.75 in. manga sized bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #8 – Felix & Gwen Get It On (p116) Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-16-10 04:26:54 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

Wednesday’s Auction

ITEM 5 – “OVER” Happy Holidays Piece

Up for bid is on THE ONLY piece of art containing the full cast of OVER adults!  This piece of original art was drawn as the cover for the 2009 Tyler James Comics Holiday Card.  It features Felix and Gwen under the mistletoe, Tony in a hideous Christmas sweater two sizes too small, Stan Lee with reindeer antlers, Skate at the drawing table, Jinx enjoying some holiday hooch, and Faith and Blake out in the cold.  It’s a festive piece and was a lot of fun to draw.

View the full color version of the piece here:

This piece is done in pencil and ink on 8.25 x 10.75 in. manga sized bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #5 – “OVER” Happy Holidays Art Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-15-10 03:51:25 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

ITEM 6- The Boys, Skate, and Jinx Concept Art

Also now available are  THE FIRST EVER concept art drawings of the Boys (Matt, Troy, and Sootch), Skate, and everyone’s favorite dirty old bum, Jinx!  These THREE pieces are done in pencil and ink on 9 x 12 in. bristol board paper.  Each piece is signed by the creator.  They will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #6 – Boys, Skate & Jinx Concept Art Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-15-10 04:00:10 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

Tuesday’s Auction

ITEM 3 – “OVER” Page 50 Strip Club Scene Original Art

Tuesday’s auction starts with a page that was a whole lot of fun to draw (shocker.) This page of original comic art featuring Felix drowning his sorrows in the local strip club.  Insulting the stripper gets him booted out the door.

You can view the hilarious finished colored and letter pages you are bidding on here.

This piece is done in pencil and ink on 8.25 x 10.75 in. manga sized bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #3 – Strip Club Scene Original Art Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-14-10 03:33:18 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

ITEM 4 – “OVER” Concept Art: The First Ever Drawings of Felix and Gwen

Also up for auction are THE FIRST EVER concept art drawings of Felix Hughes and Gwen Digby, done in the pre-planning stages of “OVER”.  You’ll notice Gwen’s overall design changed very little, whereas Felix’s hairstyle changed slightly from initial concept.

Click HERE for a larger preview of these two pieces.

These TWO pieces are done in pencil and ink on 9 x 12 in. bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #4 – Felix & Gwen Concept Art Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-14-10 03:43:09 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

Monday’s Auction

ITEM 1 – “OVER” Page 1 Original Art

First things first…Page 1!  Yup, up for bid is the VERY FIRST page of the graphic novel, the first of 162 comic pages drawn.  This page features Faith delivering the break-up speech to a sullen Felix, who doesn’t take it very well.

View the full colored and lettered version here.

This piece is done in pencil and ink on 8.25 x 10.75 in. manga sized bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the author. It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

UPDATE: This Item now qualifies for a complementary signed copy of OVER #1 included!

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction Item #1 – Page 1 Original Art Current price: $10.01 End time: Sep-12-10 21:46:31 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

ITEM 2- “OVER” Page 30-31 The Boys vs. Brutus Scene

The next selection is a personal favorite of mine and one that will be tough to part with.  This piece is actually TWO pages of original comic art that make up the “Boys vs. Brutus” scene from Chapter 1.  After losing their football into the neighbors yard, Sootch comes up with the short end of the stick and is tasked with recovering the ball.  But to do so, he’ll have to avoid the fearsome Brutus.

You can view the hilarious finished colored and letter pages you are bidding on here.

These pieces are done in pencil and ink on 8.25 x 10.75 in. manga sized bristol board paper.  The piece is signed by the creator.  It will be shipped in a plastic sleeve and a cardboard protective mailer.

Bidding starts at just a penny!

“OVER” Auction #2 – The Boys vs. Brutus Original Art Current price: $0.01 End time: Sep-12-10 21:59:42 PDT Add to watch list | See similar items

Bid on this item

A special note to all of you who bid…

All Fire Sale Auction items come with a few bonus extras and goodies selected by author.

All Fire Sale Auction items that sell for $10 or more will ship with a signed copy of the print version of the first chapter of  “OVER” absolutely free.

I think it’s a solid interview.  We touch on my comics creating “origin story” and bring it up to present day, with the things I’m working on now and have coming up.  We talk a bit about OVER and how I came to tackle this project, and I share some of my plans for EPIC at Baltimore Comic Con next week.

Give it a listen here and let me know what you think!

Tyler James Comics has partnered with brand spanking new mobile comics publisher Oxicomics to distribute a selection of books in a format tailor made for the iPhone, and sold through the App Store.

Tears of the Dragon #1 is now available for purchase, one of the inaugural handful of comics released during Oxicomics soft-launch kick-off.  (In fact, Oxicomics has been using Tears images in the promotional images of their new app…which is fine by me!)

TOTD #1 is on sale for just $0.99 at the app store, and can be found easily by searching either “Tears of the Dragon” or “Oxicomics” or simply by following THIS LINK.

Also available FOR FREE is Tyler James Comics Presents…Vol. 1.  Yup, that’s right.  FREE!  So, please, download and let me know what you think!

In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be adding new titles to the Oxicomics Catalogue, including Tears of the Dragon #2 and the complete OVER series, with all new, mobile-only covers.

One of my biggest goals of this year was to get my comics on the iPhone and iPad.  Partnering with Oxicomics, a new kid on the block whose comics reader rivals the best apps out there, made a lot of sense, and it will hopefully be a win-win for both of us.  Though I’ve been drooling over the iPhone for a long time, I refused to allow myself to purchase one until I was selling comics through it.

Well, looks like I’ll be hitting the Apple store, soon!

AVAILABLE NOW AT OXICOMICS

No, not the OVER graphic novel, unfortunately.  You know I’m still plugging away at the last set of pages.  (Just two scenes left to draw!  Crazy!)  The books delivered are for EPIC #0, my new superteen book I’m doing with artist Matt Zolman and color artist Ty Tyner.

Always nervous when new books arrive.  Will they print right?  Am I gonna want to die if/when I find a typo?  Are all the pages in order?  And so on…

Luckily, the fine folks at Ka-Blam always do a great job, and I’m really pleased with how the book came out. If you’re planning on attending the Baltimore Comic Con, you can be among the first to get your hands on EPIC!  (I’ll have issues of OVER available for you as well, of course.) And if you can’t make the show, I’ll let you know how you can purchase copies online in the months to come.

Oh, and by the way…I’d love to draw you a free sketch card at the show!

Felix slams two bottles of liquor on the counter with a wad of bills.

EXT. LIQUOR STORE – NIGHT

Felix opens one of the bottles and takes a swig right there in the street.

Jinx comes rolling down the sidewalk.

ON JINX’S SIGN
“Gooks didn’t take my third leg.
Dollar to touch it.”

JINX
Spare a dollar, bud- oh, never
mind.

Jinx covers up his jar and rolls past Felix.

FELIX
Hey!

Jinx stops, and Felix puts the second bottle in his lap. Felix
takes another pull of his own bottle and walks away.

JINX
Hey, Mr. Funnybooks! I don’t like
to drink alone no more. Don’t want
to wake up in a field with my arms
missing, too.

EXT. BEACH – NIGHT
Felix sits on the beach next to a burning fire. He takes a
heavy swig from a bottle, then passes it to Jinx, sitting next
to him. Jinx takes the bottle, while reading “Over.”

FELIX
What do you think?

JINX
Hmph. Got any “Archies?”

Felix laughs.

FELIX
It’s really fucking bad.

JINX
Ahh, the beginning was alright.
People always want happy endings.
Shit…Endings are never happy.
But beginnings…

Jinx takes a pull from the bottle and smiles.

JINX
The first time she smiles at ya.
That first kiss. First time she
buries her tongue in the crack of
your ass…

Felix looks at him, repulsed. Jinx tosses the novel back to Felix.

JINX
Beginnings are all I’ve ever been
good at.

Felix opens “Over” to the first page.

ON PAGE
An inked establishing shot of a convention center. A sign on the drawing reads, “NEW ENGLAND COMIC CON.”

ANIMATED FLASHBACK

INT. COMIC CON – BLAM! COMICS TABLE
Skate sketches at a table covered with “Fire of the Pendragon”
comics and prints.

ON SKETCH
A heroic shot of Batman, Superman, and the Green Lantern.

SKATE (OS)
All set. Looks just like you guys.

Skate smiles up at three thirty-something comic geeks in costume, a BALD SUPERMAN, FAT BATMAN and ACNE-RIDDEN GREEN LANTERN.

BALD SUPERMAN
Awesome!

FAT BATMAN
We’ll take three prints, too.

Fat Batman hands cash to Tony, who is next to Skate, manning the booth. Tony hands them three Pendragon prints.

TONY
Tell your local comic shop about
“Fire of the Pendragon.” We ship
bi-monthly.

When the geeks are out of earshot-

SKATE
The Justice League has seen better
days.

INT. COMIC CON – VENDORS SECTION

Felix walks down the comic book-filled aisle with Gwen. Both carry bags of comic books.

FELIX
Sorry Digby, but you don’t know
what you’re talking about. Gwen
Stacy was Peter Parker’s true love.

GWEN
Oh, pah-lese. Mary Jane, all the
way. She’s the total package.

FELIX
Stan the Man himself said MJ was
only created to provide Gwen a
little competition.

GWEN
But the readers liked the red-head.

FELIX
So? Gwen loved Peter for Peter, not
because he was Spider-man.

GWEN
Gwen never knew he was Spider-man!
How can you say she truly loved him
if she didn’t know his biggest
secret. MJ knew everything. And
she still married him.

FELIX
Yeah, the third time he proposed!
If Gwen was just some girl, and not
Spidey’s true love, they would have
brought her back by now. She’s
stayed dead. That means something
in comics.

GWEN
Felix, Gwen Stacy’s death was just
a vehicle to get Peter and MJ
together.

FELIX
Wrong! They killed Gwen off because
if they didn’t, she and Peter would
have lived happily ever after. And
happy doesn’t make for good
stories.

GWEN
“Face it, Tiger…You just hit the
jackpot.” Every comic fan knows
that MJ line. Can you name one
memorable Gwen Stacy line?

They reach the Blam! Comics table and find Skate sketching. Felix stammers.

GWEN
Rest my case.

FELIX
Skate, settle this. MJ or Gwen
Stacy?

SKATE
Neither. Black Cat. Love me a bad
girl.

FELIX
Where’s Tony?

SKATE
He went to go tell that Hollywood
guy, the executive producer on
Hancock, that he should be shot.
Hey, we’re running low on prints.

GWEN
I could drive back to the office
and-

FELIX
There’s a Copy-Hut across the
street. I’ll go.

Convention Season In Full Swing

• 2010 has already been my most successful convention season to date. With big days at the Boston Comic Con, ComiCONN and a Free Comic Book Day event at Larry’s Wonderful World of Comics, along with a few other smaller shows, I’m really pleased with how this year is shaping up con wise.
• That said, this month I’ve had a number of minor set-backs. Unfortunately, I did not get artist alley table space at this year’s New York Comic Con, so it looks like I’ll be skipping that show. And I just found out that the organizer of July’s New England Small Press Assembly is canceling the show due to personal reasons. Major bummer, as I was really looking forward to doing a small-press centered show.
• Despite those setbacks, I’m focused on making this year’s Baltimore Comic Con my biggest and best show ever! Once again, I’m doing FREE Sketches for attendees who contact me ahead of time. (Click to get on my list.) This year, I’ll be moving out of artist’s alley and into a booth on the main floor, tabling with Matt Zolman and Ty Tyner, aka the EPIC creative team. We’ve got some killer product we’ll be selling at the booth, including the debut of EPIC. More on what I have in store for B’more in a later post.
• I’m looking at adding a few more cons to my 2010 schedule, and will hopefully have news to that effect soon. I’m really hoping to get an invite to Meredith Gran’s New England Webcomics Weekend. I’m also considering the Wizard World New England Comic Con as a replacement show for NYCC, and even inquiring about doing a show in my home town of Albany, NY later this year. So stay tuned for that!

EPIC

• Three versions of EPIC #0 are currently at the printers, with an early August delivery date. These books will be making their debut at the Baltimore Comic Con, and given the strong reaction to the digital ashcan, we’re very optimistic it will be one of the “hit” books at the show.
• Matt Zolman contributed an EPIC pin-up to the Master Digital Color/ Hi-Fi Color Annual contest hosted at the HueDoo forums. (One of the better entries posted so far is shared here.) To see all the entries, head on over to HueDoo.com.
• Eric White, HueDoo moderator and contributor to the Master Digital Color site did a comprehensive interview with the entire EPIC creative team. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, definitely check it out.
• More EPIC action is being worked on as we speak. Before we launch into the EPIC ongoing saga, we’re first doing a short 8 page EPIC crossover with the flagship character of another indy creator. Announcement coming soon, but it’s going to be more fun than a comic book has any right to be. Stay tuned for that!
• The EPIC Facebook page is the best place to keep tabs on the latest with our book. If you haven’t gone over there and given us a “LIKE” yet, please do! You won’t regret it!

Tears of the Dragon

• The TOTD Webcomic is currently a little more than halfway through Chapter 2. Right now, we’re on a bit of a hiatus, as artist Koko Amboro gets caught on pages.
• I’m pleased to report, TOTD has been quite the hit at conventions so far. I’ve been busy cranking out a ton of Artist’s Edition dragon sketch covers. There are plenty still available, so snag ‘em up before they’re gone.

Podcasts

I’ve had a number of performances on some great podcasts over the past couple months. Give them a listen and let me know what you think. My three most recent include:

• Zone 4 with Brant Fowler. This is one of the more interesting discussions I’ve been a part of. In this special Zone 4, I joined Victor Dandridge, Mason Easley and Chad Strohl in a discussion about paying creators, conventions, webcomics, indies and mainstream, and much more!
• Why I Love Comics Podcast with Eric Ratcliffe. Eric relaunched his popular podcast with a new creator-interview focused format, and I was his first guest. (Considering his more recent guests include Mike Carey, Joe Eisma, and Christos Gage, it’s definitely an honor to be included in that company.) In this interview, we chatted about my work, and also covered my reaction to the news of changes at Zuda.
• The Lightbox Podcast with Matt Stout and Chris Flick. This episode has received a lot of praise from creators, as we get into a discussion about “the dip” creators go through, and ways to get through the tough part of creating to eventually get to the rewards.

Columns

I’ve continued to pluck away with columns over at Comic Related. If you haven’t been keeping up, here are the latest:

32: Going All In
33: The Dip and Being the Best in the World
34: Patience Pep Talk
35: Tools You Should Be Using: Viddler
36: Zuda Says No More Competitions
37: Business Mailbag
38: 30 Characters Challenge Post-Script

Zombie Bomb

• I’m working on a short ~6 page story for the Zombie Bomb! comic anthology project. I’ve run into Zombie Bomber Adam Miller a number of times over the past several months, and have been extremely impressed with the book he’s editing. So I figured what the hell, I’ll submit something. For this, I’m teaming up with illustrator Greg Marathas, a guy I’ve met a few times at Boston conventions. Greg’s got some chops and is looking to break into the industry. I saw this as a good opportunity to work together on a small projects that could be a lot of fun.
• The story I’m working on is called Side Splitters. Check out some of Greg’s concept art for it here!

Other Stuff

• I have some commissions in the queue that I’m excited to get started working on. I need to keep the pedal to the metal to get OVER complete on time, but will be working on some cool original art pieces around the edges.
• I’m very close to inking a deal to get my comics on the iPhone (and eventually iPad) with at least one distributor. I’m cautiously optimistic about the game changing power for mobile digital distribution. I think the current “app culture” may greatly benefit creators who are smart about the technology. And as a bonus, I promised myself I could purchase an iPhone only after I had comics being sold on one…so iPhone 4, I’m coming for you!

I know it’s a poor substitute for no new OVER page today, but I hope this update helps you understand that it’s due to slacking!

“Two aliens, disguised as dogs, here to study human life…”

That’s Dawn Griffin‘s strip, Zorphbert and Fred in a nutshell, but what you have here is an consistently well done webcomic by a super talented illustrator. I met Dawn last year at Baltimore Comic Con (what is it about that show?) and have enjoyed her comic ever since.  Dawn is also the illustrator of a children’s book series, so if you’ve got little ones at home, check out her stuff!

She’s shared these three strips with me, specifically because they deal with relationship troubles (but I’m pretty sure things work out…)

Continue reading this storyline over at Dawn’s site.