"I THINK I'M A GOOD WRITER..."_commission

"I think I can write comics 'coz I've got a lot of followers and people tell me that I'm pretty funny and that I write interesting stuff on my Twitter all the time!"

Uhm... yeah. I heard that ludicrous statement from someone I just met who was trying to convince me that they can write professional comic books. And to me, that makes sense. I mean, of course you've got the writing chops that naturally transfers into a successful comic book writing career because you're *SO* entertaining and articulated on a social service that offers up your grammatical genius in 140 characters or less! So, OF COURSE you can do this comic book sh*t for a living! What're you waiting for? No, seriously. C'mon down and claim your Eisner for writing now, you arrogant prick. It really is that easy to write good comic books.

I mean, there's plenty of times when I thought, "What's the big deal with engineers, all that math, and the space shuttle!? I f*ckin' make spaceships all the gaddamn time with my Legos, and sh*t!"

Oh, and speaking of TWITTER - Jon tells me that I apparently have an account. And if the stats are right, I opened it a long time ago and haven't posted onto it in 100+ weeks. What's even more mind-boggling is that it already had 40 followers built in? AWESOME! Who are you people?! But whatever - now that I have it, get ready; because I am going to write short spurts of something funny and interesting, and soon I can be a rocket scientist too!

We try not to leave any whorish promotional stone unturned here in Casa di Canete. Prepare for banality, Internets.

ELANOR_90 minutes

Ce souvenir je te le rends.

Des souvenirs, tu sais j'en ai tellement.

Puisqu'on reva de jours errants.

Pas la peine de changer trop...

Ce souvenir je te le prends.

Des souvenirs, comme ca j'en ai tout le temps.

Si par erreur la vie nous separe,

J'le sortirai d'mon tiroir.

RA'S & TALIA AL GHUL_commission

Here's one of those commissions that if I didn't tell you who the characters were, then you wouldn't know who the hell I was trying to draw. Thankfully, Lenny (the nice fella' who commissioned the image) didn't hold that against me.

I mean, I started the commission off in the right state of mind. Then I start thinking about that one AMAZING, old school Batman: The Animated Series episode when Talia stuck Ra's in the Lazarus pit and when he came out, he was lookin' all crazy due to the immortality properties of the pool! Then an old, dried up witch lady came out of the pit too! YEAH! Then Batman had to run up the staircase fight everyone! And man I'd love to see that episode again. Then I started to doubt whether or not I've mashed two different episodes together coz I remember that there was another episode with Talia flying around in a bi-plane. I start to get anxious because I can't wait to get home so that I can bust out those DVDs out and I can watch them from Season 1, Episode 1 and how my friends are gonna catch hell if they've borrowed them and didn't return them to me by now and what the hell did I do with that copy of LAST STARFIGHTER... and...

Then I look down an hour or so later, and I realize I missed the point of the whole image.

So... thanks for looking past my inability to concentrate and allow me to tell you that this image is of Ra's and Talia. I'll draw another one for your, Lenny. And the next time that I do, I'll have them wearing name tags just to be sure. Until then, enjoy.

TWEENY SODD_commissions

It's midnight, my internal clock is off, and I can't fall asleep even if I drank a bottle of NyQuil like it was a can of Dr. Pepper. I suspect my insomnia is due to all of the traveling I've done and my body's doing its best to calibrate now that I'm home. So instead of trying to sleep, I'm going to use this time to post another image from last week's C2E2 show. Thank goodness the person who asked for this didn't mind that I can't draw likenesses to save my life.


Speaking medication, I have a little story that I'd like to tell you about.

After coming back from the show in Orlando, I fell victim to a nasty cold and cough. "Convention sludge" as some of my friends in the industry have come to refer to it. Anyway, to combat this flu I decided to turn to ol' reliable - the medicine that tastes like the color on its bottle - NYQUIL. And because I have ludicrous logic, I believed that if 3 teaspoons of the recommended dosage would help me fight this damned virus, then surely 6 tablespoons ought to destroy the hell out of it. Fast forward to a couple of hours after taking said medicine, when I was in an alcoholic haze similar to that of a man who'd drank his weight in bottom shelf vodka, I tasted that my mouth was rank with bacteria and decided to brush my teeth. So I loaded the bristles with toothpaste, cranked up the Sonicare and I start to go about my business.

Did you know NyQuil causes severe drowsiness, inhibits your motor skills and that you shouldn't operate heavy machinery while you're on it? It really does. It even says it on the label someplace. What I wish the damned medicine board would tell me is what they classify as 'heavy machinery'. Because to me, the motorized toothbrush should be on that motherf*ckin' list.

Anyway, I start my toothbrushing routine (starting with the upper row of teeth), when all of a sudden my medicated mind starts to slip into slumberland and my head bobs forward like I'm a sleep deprived big-rig truck driver on his way to Fresno. It was at this point that my muscles and modern technology betray me as I could neither control nor prevent the toothbrush from slipping out of my mouth, over the top of my upper lip, then the length of my nose, and finally resting on my forehead where it continues its 5 bazillion strokes/second.

I woke up a few moments later after the toothbrush's timer beeps and I caught a glimpse of myself in my bathroom mirror. I looked INCREDIBLE; I had a red mark the size of a coined dollar in the middle of my brow. I had toothpaste splatterings on my face, on the mirror in front of me and on my clothes. And the pièce de résistance? I had my pajamas around my ankles and I was in a 4x4' prison cell in Shanghai.


See? Don't you miss these late night talks we have when I'm hopped up on no sleep and lying through my teeth?

Yeah... I miss you guys too.

VIXEN_commission

I'm home. Finally. I think I'm going to be tired for a little while as my travels are starting to catch up to me. I think I will try and get some sleep now.

But before I go, I'd like to give thanks to those of you who have kept coming back during my absence, thank you to those who have consistently left comments and have said such wonderful things. And most of all, I'd like to thank Jon and Val for holding down the fort while I was away. They have done an outstanding job in making sure the updates were entertaining and seamless and I don't know how this blog could have maintained without their diligence. You guys are my heroes.

I think I'm going to be here for a pretty decent tenure (maybe a month or so?), so there should be some pretty consistent updates. But please don't hold me to that - there's still work-work that needs to be done now that I'm back.

That said, here's a commission I did at last weekend's C2E2 in Chicago of DC Comics' PETA rep, Vixen. And I know she's not very Vixen-y without her trademark claw necklace. So... maybe she's not Vixen and instead she's just some random lady who has animals growing out of her back? Yes. Let's say that instead.

Thanks again, everyone. It's nice to see that you're all still here.

NICK FURY_commission

C2E2 went well from my understanding. There was a hiccup regarding the Avengers print, but it all worked out in the end. The above image was one of the commissions Eric did at the show.

He would like to thank all of you who dropped by the table and said hello. His words via text:

"It was a hoot. There was a bath/sink/shower show at the same convention center and it made me think I got into the wrong business. People don't always need comics. They needs them their toilets. Slight hitch in the Avengers print but Jason and I smiled and went on with business. BTW, we gotta invest in a new pair of shoes for him... his shit is RANK!

The turn out was great. SO many cool people dropping by the table... Pros and fans. Humbling. Gotta thank all of them on the blog, yeah? Also, gotta show you this OG dinosaur illo I got from Sara Richard... Richards? S? No S? Anyway it looks foliage (*?)  phenomenal! If it arrives not torn to shit in my luggage, I'll put it up in the guest room. Be home soon. Charlotte's in a month. How's the new script?"

So there you go. As per the man's request, a big "THANK YOU!" to everyone who showed their support. Also, I think that 'foliage' part is iPhone's way of either auto-correcting or keeping things kids safe. I mean, I've never heard of anyone's art work being akin to leaves, vines and shrubbery before. But who knows - Eric's a kook.

Have a good week everyone.


-Jon Tsuei

OFFICE TOUR 2010_update

Let's explore and invade Eric's personal space by taking a tour of his office. Hehe. I'm kidding of course. This photo was taken for a French magazine who interviewed Eric and wrote a little article about his work, his daily schedule and environment and blah, blah, blah. They asked him to take a small photo of his work space and because he's an over achiever, Ece took multiple pictures.

BTW, you're on your own in trying to find the printed article. I provide links, NOT magazines, dammit. This isn't even my blog. Anyway, here's the photo and what he wrote for the collaged photograph.


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1. "Project" board - Actually, it's more like, "Hey, remember to finish this sh*t, stupid!" board. Anything I need to work on or currently working on, I put up on this board. I write down story ideas,  I post animation and comic book scripts, possible 90 minute images I might try, Italian lessons flash cards, etc.
2. Badge collection from the conventions I've attended this year.
3. Chocolate flavored Cheerios. AKA - Sugar.
4. Large format scanner/printer/scanner. Essential for scanning artwork.
5. Mighty Mugg collection. I broke my Doc Ock last year and desperately need a new one. Silly toys.
6. "Inspiration" board - The upper left hand corner has a picture of a friend's daughter. Beautiful baby.
7. Random iTunes card. It was a gift I think? I don't know why it's there. Maybe because I buy SO much iTunes content that they should sponsor me.
8. An original Dream and Death illustration by one of my favorite artists, Ming Doyle. Visit her site - http://www.mingdoyle.com/.
9. A gift  from my friend Mindy Lee. She makes things look effortless when she draws and paints. I'm constantly inspired and humbled when I visit her blog - http://mindydoodles.blogspot.com/.
10. Paint brushes and painting materials.
11. Watercolor palettes
12. "Darna" comic book. I got this as a gift from my cousin's husband on a recent trip to the Philippines.
13. Various markers and a Spiderman Mighty Mugg. Again, silly toys.
14. An original page from Avengers: LUKE CAGE #2
15. Monitor so I can look up garbage on the internet.
16. Macross Plus figures. My favorite anime growing up.
17. Webcam, so I can talk to people from the outside world.
18.  Drawing table with latest painting prelim.
19. OTTLights. Favorite way to light my work area. It feels like daytime when I have them on.
20. New pens. I buy foreign art supplies in hopes of finding the magical NEW tool that'll make me draw better. No such luck and my collection continues to grow. I can't bear to throw them away.
21. ARCHES Watercolor Paper, sketchbooks I still need to draw in for different people, and pending commissions I must finish by the summer.
22. Television, so I can have background noise while I work.
23. "Keep This" board. I post up anything of note that I want to hold on to that doesn't fit on the other two boards. The upper left hand corner has a mock-up of a children's book my friend Julia Liu is working on. She's a very talented illustrator. http://julia-liu.com/
24. Olga Kurylenko
25. Iron Man commemorative stamp set - a gift from a friend.
26. A small painting from a former studio-mate, Norm Ryang. He's a brilliant designer. http://normart.blogspot.com/
27. Jordiana Brewster.
28. A print by illustrator/concept artist Kei Acedera.
29. Fiona Apple.
30. More Fiona Apple.
31. Album cover and lyrics to Jay-Z's new album, "The Blueprint III".
32. Cintiq.
33. Hot Toys' Iron Man Mark 3 replica.
34. My personal filing system, AKA trash can.

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So there you have it! And I guess it's not really intruding on his personal space since he's more than willing to give the information to the French. I mean, the least I can do is let you guys see it too, right? Now, let's go take a look at his VHS porn collection. Seriously. VHS. Old school.

-Jon Tsuei

ASSEMBLE... AGAIN!_update

This is a new print made available for next weekend's C2E2 in Chicago. Eric and Stephane Roux will in Artist Alley, Table R4 & R5, so make sure to get yourself a copy.

Also, Next Avengers: LUKE CAGE hit the stands last week and I guess it's being received with pretty positive reviews. Well, "positive" in contrast to the extremely polarized feed back that ASM #611 got bombarded with.

 And because we're weird people, we've read ALL the reviews with the delivery of dramatic Shakespearean theater. And based on his writing, our favorite review to... uhm... Shakespearean-ize belongs to Timothy Callahan of Comic Book Resources! Thanks, Timothy! Eric appreciates all the kind words that you and the rest of the reviewers who have given such continued and argent support of his work.

Have a great week, everyone! We'll see you all at C2E2!

-Jon Tsuei

BAT GIRL_commission

Item #1 - Here's a commission Eric did at last year's Baltimore Comic Con. My favorite part is the "Killing Joke" tribute Joker in the background.

Item#2 - For those interested in his tongue-in-cheekiness, here's a quickie interview Eric did in order to promote Cage #1 being released this week. We'd appreciate your support so please purchase yourself a copy.

Item#3 - WIKIO, a blog tracking website, has informed Eric that his blog is in the top 30 comic book blogs being visited the internets. So for a month we're going to feature WIKIO's list on our sidebar (see sidebar at left) so you can check out the 29 other better blogs that you should visit instead of this one.

See? A blog post that has a short, sweet, and concise journal entry! And some of you guys thought that was impossible for me not to drone on. Shut your mouths! Heh.

Thanks for the visits and enjoy the image.


-Jon Tsuei

CAGE#3_cover

I've got two topics I wanted to cover on this blog that doesn't belong to me. They are: "I am AWESOME this weekend." and "Beware the Monkey-Eric doppleganger."

#1 - Warner Bros Animation director extraordinaire Sam Liu, art handler/major domo Jason Schachter and I are walking around at this year's Wonder Con in San Francisco. It's going to be a great trip and an even better hang-out session for us because it's my birthday and I expect anyone who knows me to buy me everything and anything I ask for. That's more than just a subtle hint, you guys. And if you don't know what I want, just ask me and I'll tell you exactly. It doesn't get any easier than that.

#2 - There may be a guy hanging out with us this weekend who sort of looks like Eric Canete. Be forewarned, it's not really him. It's his stand-in, "Bobo". It's a trained chimpanzee we're using as his substitute because Eric has been missing for a while. We would say we're worried about Eric's long absence, but at this point we've managed to teach the monkey to shake hands and draw comic book pages, so we can probably train him to be exactly like the man. So if you see us, I suggest you don't look the monkey straight in the eyes. He flings poop. Just like Ece.

Anyway, here's the cover to Luke Cage #3. Enjoy your weekend and buy me my presents.

Oh, yeah... VIVA ME!


-Jon Tsuei