Luke Cage! POWER MAN!!

Last week I saw the Essential Power Man at the comic shop. Flipping through it I learned that Frank Robbins drew a few issues of Luke Cage in the mid 70's. I'm a big fan of Robbins inks especially his Johnny Hazard strips. Instead of buying the Essential which is full of other artists' work (some not so hot) I dug through the back issue bins and found the one issue that had the coolest splash page (see below, after my drawing).
I'd never really looked at Luke Cage comics before because I never liked the art. Now seeing him drawn by Frank Robbins I am in love. How could I have missed this costume? I was actually planning on doing a drawing of Iron Fist, who teamed up with Power Man for a well known run. That drawing will have to wait but in the meantime here is my two-fisted take on Luke Cage, Power Man!
This is the splash page that caught my eye. I love how much information Frank was able to compress into the drawing. And, of course, I love the open shirt! This and the image below are from issue #34 of LUKE CAGE, POWER MAN by Marvel comics.
Check out Luke's butt in this panel. Isn't that a lovely butt!? Oh, the things Frank Robbins could do with a simple brush and ink.

I encourage you to check out more of Frank's artwork. I don't have a checklist but I know he did some great stuff on the Shadow, Batman and Johnny Hazard!

best,
j.

A show of Flesh!

If there's one thing I love more than a bit of beefcake it's Beefcake in Space! Here's another concept I worked on for a while before procrastination and paying work had me put it aside. I'm pretty sure I had just seen the low budget Flesh Gordon on tv which led to me coming up with a totally gay approach to the character. The movie Flesh Gordon is pretty crummy (Emporor Wang's face make-up is abso-fugly hideous) but there is some neat stop motion (penis shaped aliens) and the quickest shot of gay sex (look for it in the sequence with the tree-men). Worth it if you can catch it on late night tv as long as they don't cut out too much of the naughty business.

The more I worked on it the more I wanted to change the name...Flesh Hardon is just soooo obvious! Too obvious to actually be funny. I think I also abandoned the idea because I'd created Roger Rodgers and he turned out to be a better, and more original character than Flesh G. would have been.

Enjoy, guys. I should have some new work up soon. In the meantime I highly recommend checking out Britdoodz . They've put up some sequential art and it's really beautiful, sexy stuff. You may have to e-mail them to access the gallery, I don't know if that's still how you get in but it's totally worth doing. Also check out DrawFellas for some lovely, and lovingly, pencil rendered men.

Best,

j.

Blowing leaves!

True story! I did my best to remember this guy and draw him as accurately as I could. While out walking my dog one day I passed this guy doing yard work. I did all I could to slow down as I passed in order to properly etch his image in my brain! I'm pretty sure I made up most of his face because, honestly, I wasn't really looking there. Another innacuracy is the leaf blower...he wasn't using one but it's so much more phallic than a rake! :)

He got something out of his yellow pick-up and, in my deductive genius, I realized that he didn't live at the house to whose yard he was attending. "Crap," I thought. "I'll never see this guy again." Well, it just so happened that the very next morning I was looking out my front window and he drove past in his very big, yellow truck! Perhaps I may see Yard Man again...tending to someone's unkempt lawn!

On another note, this drawing is almost part two of a previous post celebrating the outdoor workman! Part one was this roofing guy and I can assure you there will be more. Just yesterday I rode past a guy checking the wiring in one of thos outdoor electrical box thingies...I saw London and France and more than just his underpants!

cheers,
j.

Roger Rodgers!

Before there was Jett Vector there was -- ROGER RODGERS!

Back in, oh, 1999, I created a comic book called Solar Stella (for which I was nominated for an Eisner, I'll have you know :) It was all pin-up girl art and cheesy fun. The middle of the book was all activities pages and a paper doll of Stella.

A year or two later I started the second Solar Stella book where I introduced another pin-up space girl, Ta'Li Ho, and her beefy sidekick, Roger Rodgers. I never finished book two. But in the course of working on it I really fell in love with Roger and Ta'Li. Especially Roger. He was my loveable lunk headed character whom I could throw into situations where he might accidently become undressed...in a book that was mainly pin-up girly art!
Even more years later I actually drew a thirteen page adventure with Ta'Li and Roger...which has yet to see print. Along the way I've drawn a bunch of pin-ups with the characters and today I'm sharing just a few of them. I know there are more but searching all of my back up discs takes time.
This last one maybe needs a little explanation. I'd just found the pastel brush tool in Photoshop and had to try it out all artsy-fartsy like. I may have referenced a photo for the drawing and from the look of the pose it was a picture of a woman! But there's still something nice and innocent about Roger that I really like in this.

Daily work has been keeping me from producing newer stuff but I've still got disc-loads of older drawings to share. And, as usual, check the links to the right for great art and pictures.

best,
j.

Life Drawing! part 2

Today is life drawing day! My day to day work has kept me from producing any pin-up material so I'll share some more of my life drawings...which, once again, contain nudity. I remember really liking this guy's face for all of its nooks and crannies. I don't think I was particularly flattering with my caricature of him in the last image but I always feel there is no harm done if the model never sees the drawing.

For the curious among you I'll tell you that I draw with PITT brand markers by Faber Castell. I like doing life drawing with the sepia and slightly lighter flesh coloured pens. No under drawing or anything in pencil (you can see in the second image how much "searching" I did before finding the right lines). All are drawn in an 8.5 x 11" coil bound sketch book. It's just so much easier to manage than big ol' life drawing pads!

I feel bad not showing you something more substantial today so I'll close by suggesting that you check out MeatCute for the interview with Luc LaTulipe! I think Luc's art is just plain terrific (especially the image of the two guys making out...you'll have to follow the link to see the one I mean;) There's tons of other great stuff at MeatCute as well.

I bid thee all adieu, and hope you're all having as great a summer as I am!

best,
j.

Phat! Vivisector! X-Statix!

Boy, I realize now just how safe I played this one! :) Voltaire anticipated something "naughty under the covers" and then drew up this cool, and sexy take on our favourite super-duo! I hope, Voltaire, that you don't mind me linking to your drawing but I think it's swell! (And, oddly enough, I was going to do a shower scene with the guys but opted insted for the classic "standing around" pose). I'll have to do another drawing to redeem myself.

I couldn't resist having Phat fat-up at least a little of his body, especially with Myles in wolf mode. It's too bad the X-Statix had to end...on the other hand it was nice that they went out on a high note. I always hate when my favourite characters get taken over by another writer and/or artist and I don't like the new approach. Cheers to Mike Allred and Peter Milligan for creating Phat and Vivisector!

Francois, I hope it was worth the wait! Trust me, there'll be more drawings of these two! And if I ever find it I'll post the photo of me dressed as Myles posing with a girl I met at a convention who was dressed as Dead Girl.

Also, I was reading Patrick Fillion's Boytoons blog yesterday and saw that he'd listed me among his top Five Blogs of Note! Thanks Patrick! Check out Boytoons! It's a great way to find new man-art on the net! For those of you used to my tameness be warned that there is nudity! ;)

hugs,

j.

Vacation!

I'm going away for a week's vacation! Before I go I thought I'd give you a little sneak peak at Phat and the Vivisector! You'll just have to wait 'till I get back to see the whole thing!
Are you in suspense?

See you in a week!
Cheers,
j.

Monster Beach IV

It's SUMMER!! I've already been to Toronto's beach a few times (I think I got a little sunstroked)!

I really wanted to do a joke with the Invisible Man because 1. he's one of my favourite Universal film characters and b. I could full frontal nudity and not be embarrassed!!! There you go! The other Monster Beaches can be found here, here and here. I hope you guys are having a great summer!

Oh yeah, I actually really wanted to put up a drawing of Superman because he's the big hero of the week! I saw the movie and really quite liked it. If they do a sequel (and there's talk) I'd love to see them do Bizarro! Even if it's a subplot I think a Superfight with Bizarro would be awesome! And Bryan Singer must continue to direct.

best,
j.

HIM!

HIM/Adam Warlock was a request by HardCactus (such odd names parents give their kids these days...makes one long for the simpler times when names like Jebediah and Gaylord were more the fashion). I didn't know that much about the character but when I found out he was created by Kirby I had to, once again, draw two versions. The first is my take on the birth of HIM...who first appeared in the Fantastic Four #66 and #67 for all of two panels. I don't have colour copies of those issues but was told that HIM was basically nude. I've also seen HIM coloured with red briefs but I opted to go for the slightly-lighter than skin tone variant.

Incidentally, one of the scientists who created HIM is a totally hot bearded guy in a tight t-shirt! God Bless Jack Kirby! He knew how to draw MEN!
The second version is the Jim Starlin re-design which I know almost nothing about. I had a couple of issues of Infinity Watch (?) with lovely art by Tom Raney...but I don't know what happened to the character to make him Adam Warlock. What I liked about this guy was the red and gold in his costume. Anyone who wants to complain about the near nudity and impossible costumes of female superheroes need look no further than Adam Warlock to see that the same rules apply to the men! Honestly, who would think to match a collared cape with a tunic and short-shorts!?! Richard Simmons maybe?

I also want to wish a Happy Pride to everyone! I went out last night and Church street (here in Toronto) was packed to the gills! I'll be keeping an eye out for the perfect Jett Vector model and if I'm brave enough I'll snap a picture or four!

Special note to Francois - I haven't forgotten about Myles and Phat! HIM was just so cool looking and I knew exactly what I wanted to draw that I just had to work on HIM first.

best,
j.bone

The Straight Scoop!

Yup, I've resorted to using the same image again just to fill out a Blog!

Ha! Just kidding. I used that image because it's a nice two man pic to illustrate the news that MEATCUTE interviewed little ol' me! MEATCUTE is a great site for finding new and old Homoerotic artists! He who goes by the "name" Klahd kindly honoured me with this months "On The Grill". Check it out!

Also, I'm posting something new! To me it doesn't really qualify as Beefcake because it wasn't drawn to be sexy...but it is a guy, and a usually handsome one, too. Poor Tony Stark.

The story behind this drawing is this: It's a recreation of a drawing I saw by Bob Layton. Bob was the artist on Iron Man when they made the character an alcoholic. Never having read Iron man I have no nostalgia for this particular era...I just thought the image of Tony Stark staggering around in his Iron Man outfit was really funny!

j.

Captain Britain!

Man, Alan Davis draws some sexy men. His Captain Britain was a drunken lout who sat around shirtless alot. Davis was the only artist I knew of at the time who wasn't afraid to draw his male heroes as sexy as his female's.

As I said in my previous post I had a little trouble with this drawing. My first attempt had really bad anatomy...I think it was worth the redraw and this version (although it still has problems) is a gajillion times better than the first (which you will never see). This one's for Matt over at DudeTube! And just for fun I took the exact same pose and drew Cap in his green sweats as seen in issue #47 of Excalibur. The Captain Britain costume is hot but, c'mon, it's always nice to see some flesh! If I knew how to work Flash I'd have done a cross dissolve or hot-button version of these two images...in costume...out of costume...in costume...out of costume...that'd be cool...

best,

j.

Life Drawing!

Today's post contains some nudity! I know, I know...you don't expect that from me and normally I don't draw it. Well, I wanted to post some life drawing today and it's pretty hard not to have nudity. Erasing or covering it up would just be silly and, honestly, I'm sure I'd hear from you guys if I did!

These are from two years ago, which is kind of embarassing. I really should get to a life drawing class again and refresh my skills. Especially considering the trouble I'm having on some of my Jett Vector pages. When I draw characters with more realistic anatomy I sometimes forget exactly how the body should move and what muscles overlap the others. My digital camera has saved me a few times (posing myself and using the timer setting to get the shot) and I search online for reference. But sometimes you just can't find the pose you need. It's on days like that I wish I had a life model handy. Sadly, paying someone to hang around until I need them for a photo shoot would just be too darned costly...and maybe a little too distracting...

Oh, my other reason for posting life drawings was that I haven't had much time to draw some real beefcake. I actually have a drawing of Captain Britain done but his legs are really bad...his proportions are almost gorilla-like. More reason to go to life drawing. So, I'm working on another.
I can't wait for my work to wrap up so I can draw Myles/Vivisector, Phat, and that Warlock guy.
Best.

Jett Vector: The Pencils!

Zipping through the cosmos to a planet near you comes Jett Vector, SpaceCop! I thought I'd share a couple of images from the Jett Vector pages I'm currently working on. I'm still working on how realistic I want my "realistic" anatomy...right now it's a cross between my attempt at John Buscema while keeping the Kirby influenced chunky inks and my own cartooniness! I'm trying to just plow through a bunch of pages and work out the kinks as I go.

In the opening pages of Jett's first adventure he's chasing a fishman who has stolen something of value to the royal family on some far-out planet. I teased a writer once about the lack of imagination in futuristic stories and how wheeled transport becomes "hover" transport. Hover-scooters, hover-boards, hover-cars...there must be more creative ways to get around.

And then what do I do with my first issue of Jett Vector? I put him on a hover-board, just like the Silver Surfer. *sigh* I tried different means of transportation but none worked with what I needed to happen in the story. And the planet he's on is mostly water so a hover-surfboard made the most sense.

Anyway, hope you guys like the art. I've got to get back to work!

j.

p.s. I noticed that my links and profile business are all the way down at the bottom of the page. I don't know whay that is. I considered changing the template but I don't know if that will delete comments or posts...if anyone knows a solution feel free to post and let me know. Thanks.

Portrait of an Artist as a Steel Man.

After toying around with Colossus hurling cars, pressing danger room weights and various variations on similar strength themes I opted to draw Colossus the quiet, sensitive artist.

I've been reading the Essential X-Men vol. II because, well, I bought it and never read it. I'm a big fan of John Byrne's Fantastic Four and She Hulk but just never got into the X-Men! Mostly, and I know this is sacrilege, but I just didn't like Terry Austin's inking.

HOWEVER...now that I've really looked at it (in black and white) I appreciate what he did. There's one particular issue in Vol. I which is inked by someone else and it is hideous. Clearly the inker did not know what to do with John's pencils. That showed me really how strong Austin was at the time.

j.
p.s. Andrew - Hope you dig the drawing.
p.s.s Just in case you can't click on it http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5305/1601/1600/Colossus_tree_sml.0.jpg

More Jett Vector!

...and here's the rest of the silent Jett Vector story! That's right...silent. I didn't write any dialogue for this. It was merely an exercise in putting my character in action. I sorta think I got TOO busy with the backgrounds...enjoy...

Jett Vector!

Not much jibber-jabber from me today...instead I'll show you some comic pages done for fun, of a character I really, really want to get back to. I've got a loose plot figured out (courtesy of my writing pal, Clay Moore) , I just haven't had the time away from paying gigs to draw it.

Romance Redone!

I swiped the composition for this from a romance comic panel. Some of those old romance comics had terrific art in them...John Buscema inked by John Romita, Jack Kirby well inked by Vinnie Colletta (the same team is not so grand in Marvel's early Thor stories), and also a bunch of artists who's names don't so readily come to mind.

There's a terrific book called Truer Than True Romance. It's a collection of old romance stories with new dialogue by Jeanne Martinet. Too Dumb for Love is absolutely hilarious!

One of these days I want to do a gay romance comic that's just as cornball as most of the old romance stories and just as lovingly rendered!

peace,
j.

The Amazing Colossal Man!

I confess that I was never a big X-Men fan as a kid. I had a bunch of Classic X-Men which reprinted old stories...but those I bought because the covers were drawn by Art Adams and Todd McFarlane (I was a big fan of Todd and I won't apologize for that). But, and I'm sure the reasons are obvious, I was a big fan of Colossus.
In the comments section here me and some of the guys were discussing Colossus at his best. I think it was agreed that a certain issue of Uncanny X-Men drawn by Rick Leonardi brought to us the hottest Colossus in his best costume to date!
This drawing of Colossus I did because of that issue...Andrew, it's not the drawing I've got for you. A proper pin-up should have the character facing you, at the very least. So another one is in the works.

For more Colossus reading check out Marvel Comics Presents numbers 10 through 17 which has a story drawn by Rick Leonardi. In '97 Marvel put out a one shot starring Colossus and Meggan, of Excalibur, which was drawn by Bryan Hitch. And the issue of Uncanny X-Men is #231!

stay metal.
j.

Last week I had the pleasure of showing some art in a Comic Book themed art exhibit. I didn't want to just put up pages of work I'd done so I picked a few superhero images I'd drawn and put them on t-shirts (with iron-on transfer paper available at any computer or offic supply store :) The Owl has appeared here before half out of his costume (you are the lucky few to ever see his "true" identity).
This is the image I really wanted to have on a shirt for myself. It's meant to look a little like a shirt print from the 70's...like the Superfriends or Blue Falcon where the characters were often standing on top of their own logo. I love that kind of stuff. It could have only turned out better if I had made a border of glitter! But we can't have everything, can we...

This is another one I put on a shirt. I always liked those deep shots of Superman flying out at you and thought it would look cool to have the Owl do the same.

And then for more of your enjoyment here's the Owl as he first appeared here. Complete with a little device for you to make your own inaction figure. Cut carefully around his outline and the triangular thingy beside him. Fold along the dotted line and glue or tape the support vertically up the backside of the Owl. The support works just like a picture frame, in case you're having trouble. Place him upright at your workstation, on top of your computer or wherever your line of sight falls when daydreaming at your desk. I've got mine standing on my bookshelf.

Smurfcake!

Good morning friends! Time to wipe the sleepy dust from your eyes! Man's Adventure proudly begins your broadcast day...
I never thought I'd be smurfing a smurf as smurfcake! But here it is...this drawing is in response to some incredibly lovely drawings by artist Chris Wahl over at a site I frequent. It's a (mostly) nice community of artists posting old and new art and getting feedback from other artists. I posted Handy Smurf in this thread. Check it all out! There's some beautiful art by a gal named Jess who posts under the name Little Egypt. I love the quality of her linework and colours. Her men remind me a little of the guys drawn by Maurice Vellekoop, which is a good thing.

j.
p.s. Just as a side note, I've got requests for a Collossus and a Captain Britain. Andrew and Matt, I didn't want you guys thinking I'd forgotten!

Hairy King and Hawkman!

This fella is part of a larger drawing...a king-type appraising a slave. It's a little bit based on a Frank Frazetta picture but the king in his drawing quite a LARGE man. Big of tummy, is he. Once again I feel bad for posting a pencil drawing. I'm not sure why I dislike posting sketches...I'd much rather show this when it's a finished picture but this week has been awfully busy with other work. I promise that when he's inked you will see the picture in its entirety!



While you wait for me to get my work done :) might I suggest checking out the artwork here. The creators of this site have a gallery of comics' hunkiest men! This particular painting was the cover to an issue of Hawkman. I actually posted on the Hawkman message board in an attempt to find out if the artist, John Watson, was willing to sell the original! He replied in the negative. Too bad for me.

cheers,
j.

Such Cheek!

Oh, that summer were here already! I do dislike the cold and dampness of Canadian spring. Not only is it uncomfortably chilly but everyone is all a-bundle in semi-winter attire. If only it were hot, that man might free himself to bask uncovered in summer's sunshiney glow!

For a bit of fun in your daily routine you might consider printing this chap out on heavy paper stock. Cut carefully around his outline and the triangular thingy beside him. Fold along the dotted line and glue or tape the support vertically up the backside of your man. The support works just like a picture frame, in case you're having trouble. Place him upright at your workstation, on top of your computer or wherever your line of sight falls when daydreaming at your desk. Let his saucy attitude warm you on a chilly, rainy day!

warm hugs,

j.

Big Bad Beowulf!

This one's for Johnny! Johnny Bacardi!
Over on his blog senor Bacardi has been writing about an old DC comic called Beowulf: Dragon Slayer. While I haven't read any of the stuff I did look at all the pictures and decided I wanted to draw Beowulf. He's got a ridiculous corset on which, for all I know, is holding in his guts after a particularly bad run-in with Grendel (or whomsoever is his mortal enemy). What I like about Beowulf is his helmet. It reminds me of the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty and the devil, Chernobog (Chernovog?) from Disney's Night on Bare Mountain sequence in Fantasia.

Since this guy is a barbarian I tried to be a little Buscema in my drawing which is why I'm showing the pencils...well, that and I just haven't had the time to ink it yet. I would never in a billion years deign to compare myself to the great John Buscema but his awesome barbarians were on my mind when I drew this.

Oh, and here is a panel from one of the comics which I yoinked from Johnny's blogspot. It shows off his awesome helmet and his not so awesome corset with mis-matched suspenders. Crud...I just realized I should have added his cool fur cape...in the inking, perhaps.

j.

Fruitbat!

All this Superhero talk reminded me about a comic I drew waaaay, waaaay back in my early days (like, '98...'99). There used to be an anthology book called Love In Tights which was put together by fellow comic pals J.Torres and Clay Moore. I don't remember which issue it was in but I'm almost sure it was the last and I know that it had an Andi Watson cover on it. The original story was in black and white (I coloured this one image a few years ago) and parodied the old "Batman and Robin are gay" cliche. That idea is SOOO boring and wrong headed. It's obvious that it's the villains who are gay, especially the Joker. Sure the Joker has Harley Quinn but she's totally a beard. The old Joker used to tie up the Dynamic Duo and deprive them of their utility belts (in my story, their costumes, see next image).

So I came up with a story wherein the Choker (it's a parody...I didn't say it was clever!) has our heroes in yet another deathtrap but he stops before delivering the final blow (pardon the pun...no wait...don't) and confesses his whole reason for existing is that he has a sort of superhero bondage thing! Yikes!
I really should find the comic and scan in the whole story so's you can read it yourself! Though I'm not sure I want to look at that early awful artwork.

Incidentally, the cover was inspired by Sheldon Moldoff who used to ghost for Bob Kane on the early Batman stories. I met Sheldon at a store signing once and really thought he was a terrific guy. The cover image was me paying homage to him.

Cheers,
j.

Copyright Marvel Entertainment!

As requested by Nick, here is your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man!!

Funny thing about drawing this Spidey...I've drawn him before with less manly proportions (two issues of Tangled Web). In fact my Spidey tends to have a head like a pumpkin. So I consciously tried to beef him up without giving him my standard body type. I think it still has the funny lumpy muscles that I like to draw. I don't know if I succeeded in making him a pin-up in the realm of Beefcake...I'll leave that judgement up to Nick.

Peace out,
j.

From the secret files of the Justice League!

Last week we talked a little about Superheroes and their chest hair. At first I had a picture of the Batman in mind and I even got as far as doing a little sketch. But the more I thought about those wonderful DC heroes the more I wanted to draw a team. So this weeks post is the original Justice League of America (minus Wonder Woman) in the group's locker room. If this were a contest I'd ask you, dear reader, to name the members from left to right...but it's not a contest so I won't.

Please enjoy!

Do I have to mention that all characters are copyright DC comics?

p.s. For some reason the image is not posting so that you can click on it to view it larger...or at least it isn't doing that for me. So here's a link to a larger version: http://www.wire-fu.com/j-bone/JLA_LockerRoom_clr.jpg

j.