More from 'Flag Me Down: The Story of Wildwood's Tramcar' - Pencil layouts!

For my second batch of preliminary penciled pages, I wanted to share my focus more on some of the entertainers (Cozy Morley and Al Alberts) in their own page spreads. These pages are a lead-up to their eventual tramcar race that happened in the late 1990's/early 2000's for three years.

I'm excited to share not only the many situations and people involved with the tramcars that perhaps the majority of fans and well, riders for that matter, don't know are associated to their beloved tram. 

With these two gentlemen though, it's also the songs I want to make a reminder of. ...A tram car song you say?... Al Alberts cut that one too!

The majority of the people I'm highlighting in the graphic novel, play crucial roles into the real history or are in a placement of fiction to depict in some cases, a degree of human nature.

 As the tramcars were first accepting male drivers in early 1980's Wildwood New Jersey to a long-standing, all-female fleet... I wanted to depict an animosity with anonymous characters... therefore, the drivers herein on page twelve are entirely of my own creation to depict a changing tradition that was probably not too easy to accept... and certainly didn't warrant my depiction of such to a tramcar driver living or dead. 

The curves and turns of the limitations involved with creating non-fiction works is ever fascinating. 

More to come!... and thanks for checking these out.

-MJ

Penciled page previews from 'Flag Me Down: The Story of Wildwood's Tramcar'

 Here's some pencil preview pages I wanted to share/capture here on the blog!...

The funny thing about a pencil version of a comic page, is that today, there are so many ways to go about finishing it. You can of course, scan the pencils to then digitally ink the lines, making them that much closer to a digital coloring or further reproduction experience. Another way would be to make a copy of the penciled page and only ink the photostat... Of course, there's also the placement of vellum paper that can be used as a reproduction option. Where, only scanning the vellum actually preserves the penciled page, as the photostat does... 

Call me raw, but I like to ink right directly on the top of my penciled comic page. I guess what's running through my mind: knowing that there's only one that you're ever going to draw... giving myself one shot to make every line as purposeful as possible with the ink. Whereas a pencil page doesn't necessarily compare... there's an honesty here in every line I've forgotten and every line I plan to re-work in my ink process... making the penciled page a mere glimpse into what will become of a page and its hopeful lasting effect. 

I've been writing and drawing this feature simultaneously... as its creation is very much a living organism of an experience... hopefully, an immersive one for my audience... 

Here's pages 2, 3 and 9 for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Returning to the George F. Boyer Museum in Wildwood this Summer!...

 Join us, as we return to the George F. Boyer museum in Wildwood, NJ for yet another, two-day signing event from 10-3pm on Wednesday, August 9th and Friday, August 11th!... I'll have a limited supply of books available and will limit the sale of one book per person.

I'll be announcing my last Wildwood-themed book at this event - so, stay tuned!

Breaks & Dinner: A chapter break page from Castle Dracula & Dungeon: The Employee Handbook Illustrated

 Hey friends,

Here's a chapter break splash page from the up-coming Castle Dracula & Dungeon: The Employee Handbook Illustrated, which, will be my final Wildwood New Jersey-inspired project for at least the foreseeing future. 

This splash page depicts Harry's Corner, a still popular eatery on the boardwalk in Wildwood, at Cedar and the boardwalk. I gained information that this was indeed a popular spot for Castle Dracula & Dungeon cast members/employees and imagined this situation - As the cast members were told not to change (other than their robe) out of wardrobe/makeup while on their breaks... therefore, moments of hilarity insured. The cast members were just a little more vulnerable, but not quite enough.

More from this fun feature soon. Here's the half pencils, half inks (barely) page of said splash:

Castle Dracula & Dungeon: Employee Handbook Illustrated - Promo Poster - Available in Wildwood NJ 2022!

 I'll be once again, spending my August summer month with a week in my favorite shore town, of Wildwood, New Jersey. Soon I'll be announcing what will be the Castle Dracula Memorial Day, where I'll be releasing 'Castle Dracula & Dungeon: Employee Handbook Illustrated' alongside of John Nickels the builder and owner of the long-remembered Wildwood "dark ride", Castle Dracula!.. 

This promo poster for the new Bombshell Comics release will be available and signed (Limited to 25!) at the event, come August 2022.

Date, place and time will be announced soon!

The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop are coming..

 

A wild (and important) time it is!!.. (and more from 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop')

A wild time it truly is.. 

Sometimes I question the relevancy of my work, well.. scratch that, a lot of the times I do.. because I spend so much time on it.. Projects are time killers and you hope, that when you're done with it, the world will be ready.. Focusing on a town like Wildwood, New Jersey, progressive for it's civil understandings, is/was a town of diversity, even back when a lot of towns in America were not..



Wildwood, a resort town once built of a fisherman's haven, has of course, gone through its stages of history - it's most important, were the impact of traveling music groups.. groups that even, would travel from the mid-west, where, conditions from which they were coming from, were probably substantially worse than Wildwood, New Jersey. A town of complete cultural acceptance, escape and reflection in the 1950's and 60's.. So much so, I find stories about prominent vocal music groups of the day refusing to leave the resort town in southern New Jersey.. and boy, the Motels are a living cartoon.. and so much fun to draw.


What's beautiful, is that the motels of Wildwood share a coined name for the music style that those artists expressed - and the same motels of Doo Wop housed many of those acts and patrons who were there to support the Doo Wop vocal groups in various clubs and venues in Wildwood, while on their vacation.

Nearly 1,000 photo references and two years in the making (so far).. 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' is coming.. and I couldn't be happier to complete it with everything I have, for every reader to come.

More half and half pages from 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop'!..

2020 brings in my second year working on 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' which, explores both sides of the genre - the music and the motels. At nearly 70 pages in length, and more than a dozen to go, I'm shooting for a release this summer, 2020.. but I'm being realistic with myself - it may just be that it's released in summer 2021.. We'll see..

Either way, here's more half and half from the 'Wildwood Days of Doo Wop'!..

Even more half pencils/half inks from 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' !..

One from 67' and one from 68' are both on my plate!..

Check out these two works in progress - as half pencils and half inks can only do justice!..

I'm normally drawing two to three comic pages at once for this next graphic novel feature and at this point, I've drawn over 100 motels.. and I'm not done yet!..

There really were so many of these motels (seems to be well over 300 at one point) in Wildwood,New Jersey when I was young, that I can't remember them all.. So, to discover new ones that no longer exist has been the most thrilling.

A dream project it is, with being a joy to produce and research this personally felt historic subject for nearly two years, I'm also planning on having a very special component to it (finger's crossed and more on that later). For now, enjoy these two pages as you are taken back to a special time and place via ink and pencil!.. More soon.. stay tuned and a happy new year to you!..

More previews from 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' graphic novel!..

The fun hasn't stopped with creating this venture, as I'm enjoying so much of the research with the reading I've done on the movement, and Wildwood's beautiful significance to Doo Wop vocal groups and the early artists (and architects) of rock n' roll. I'm very lucky to be creating this in 2018/19/20, as there's enough enjoyable and credible material to cite from. Plus, the architecture.. is such a fun thing to draw!..

Enjoy these previews of what's becoming a 70+ full-color monster of fun!.. 

Promo from 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' graphic novel!..

Here's a promotional piece I'm designing in conjunction with a few others, for the 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' graphic novel. It's been a pleasure to learn about the various acts that made Wildwood such a diverse town for music. One of them, was of course, Philly born Bobby Rydell.

 I've had a blast going through his body of work and you can definitely tell he loved Wildwood, New Jersey in his music. He just recently, and in his seventies, performed in Wildwood again this September.

The most fun about making an architectural comic book, is finding the thematic cultural connection between the time period and the structure. Though this promo is more on the fictional end, the elements are still bound in the non-fiction - as the Cardinal Motel once had a rainbow in it's sign design (today it's more modern), Bobby Rydell's lyrics match it just right. Most certainly a Wildwood night bird, singing in the night as a cardinal bird might!..

Half pencils/half inks from 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop'!.. // Seattle's Pinball Zine, Skill Shot Reviews 'Destroy Centaur'

Seattle's Pinball Zine, Skill shot (Issue #54 - June 2019) - http://www.skill-shot.com/ has given it's review of the latest Bombshell Comics release, 'Destroy Centaur' and overall, it's a nice review, calling it "a pleasantly strange comic book.." and that, "..if you're a fan of the pin, you will love Destroy Centaur!.." 

Pages from the Wildwood Days of Doo Wop continue to be produced.. I'm somewhere in the 40 pages range right now, and plan to go in to the 70's in page length and era of Doo Wop Architecture from Wildwood. The period of Doo Wop architecture doesn't really get going until 1956, but the movement goes strong all through the 1960's and Wildwood becomes filled with hundreds of these unique resort Motels that I cannot wait to share through my storytelling. 

Hotel Seipp eventually becomes The Tides Inn..

The book thus far, has been a journey of discovery and investigation. The research needed to fulfill the drawings AND the factual information worthy of being published can be tricky, and certainly, time consuming.. but I am having so much fun. Summer 2020 is my goal for a release date.. with more surprises to come.  Keep checking back when you can!..

The Flame Inn and The Binns Motor Inn were/are pre-Doo Wop architecture.

M.W.F. # 9 // The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop // Going back to Nebraska!..

It's a been a little bit since a posting.. Big surprise.. Anyway.. I'm working away on some projects, and wanted to give a little preview behind them!..

As Misfit Wrestling Federation #7 is submitted to comixology.. I'm continuing working on issue #9, which is coming along steadily. This issue will juggle all sides of the plot that I've had going with the story, so I'm excited as it will be pretty well-rounded and will also contain a unique flashback motif for the Bald-Headed Freak that I'm really excited about.

 My next full-colored feature, as I've previewed in previous posts, is 'The Wildwood Days of Doowop'. An over-sized, historically based book on one of the birthplaces of Rock N' Roll and a place I vacationed at as a youngster with my family - Wildwood, NJ.

This feature has really brought about some great challenges for me in terms of drawing architecture and environment - The most unique shapes make up these buildings and finding new perspectives beyond my postcard references have been a challenge I've really enjoyed. I have quite a bit to go on it (I'm on page 29), as there are (or were) so many Doowop motels and hotels in Wildwood, it's astounding.. I'm not looking to draw them all, but I'm willing to draw all the worthy ones.. which, are quite a lot. So far, most of them are fitting 2-up per page and are assembled according to their release date, chronologically.. and it wouldn't be a Doowop comic book without the music, so there's a good amount of that that's also contained.

The last bit of news I'm willing to share here is that I'm going to be returning to Nebraska to re-release 'December 3rd, 1967: An Alien Encounter' alongside of another special object dedicated to Herbert Schirmer's U.F.O. encounter. More on that and the date, soon!..

'Destroy Centaur' is OUT NOW !! // Half & Half from up-coming works!..

My 18th comic book release in 12 years is finally here, 'Destroy Centaur' follows two bio-engineered pinball characters from the 1981 Bally Pinball machine, 'Centaur' that return to Earth from the future on a last ride to play their pinball game. Here, Centaur and Fly Girl meet their original audience - a cast of physically-altered curmudgeon humanoids who have them asking, is legacy worth sacrifice?..

This latest release is 44 pages in partial color. Get it here: www.bombshell-comics.com 

 As for what's coming... Here's a half & half (half pencil, half ink(sorta) pages for you to preview what's coming!.. One from 'Misfit Wrestling Federation' #9 and the other, from 'The Wildwood Days of Doo Wop' - a full color feature that's coming to be and will hopefully, be released in 2019!.. Happy new years and holidays!..

Preview the first seven pages of 'Destroy Centaur' comic book - Out later this year!!..

Hi friends!.. Been awhile since an update, but it's only because there's new content coming and it's from all directions!..

The seven pages below represent a lot for me in terms of my building of acquaintance with living in Los Angeles. Pinball was introduced to me by a special Los Angeles friend in my beginning years of living here. Along with dedicating and thanking the original pinball creators of 'Centaur' as you'll see in this intro splash page, I'll be thanking her in this work as well; because if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have grown a love I have for the art and craft of pinball and I wouldn't have met 'Centaur' the pinball machine, so soon in my life. Which, I find amazing that I did, as I've had the time (and energy) since 2011 or so to conjure this psychedelic story of legacy with the very characters of the Centaur pinball machine questioning their own.

I hope this stirs your excitement in getting the entire feature once it's ready!..

This is the first seven pages (of forty!), including the intro/dedication splash page.

Cover for 'Destroy Centaur' later to come!..

Enjoy,
-MJ

A night of Northern Soul & Pinball // M.W.F. Issue #8 cover // Other stuff

Hey everyone, sorry, it's been awhile. I'm alive and still kicking.. 

I've been in to a little momentum, yep - yet another thing.. as I continue to host my Night of Northern Soul and Pinball at Pins and Needles. It's a pinball parlor inside the recording studio, Bedrock Studios. I love these two businesses and believe they should be supported in that they allow artists to be creative with lock-out spaces and rehearsal rooms to having a place for some downtime with your friends. Did I mention three decades of pinball machines?.. 

Definitely check them out if you're in the Los Angeles area. 

Approaching these nights thematically, i'm inspired by one Northern Soul song, which is defined as a pre-Motown and underground sound that almost twenty years later, became famous in Great Britain's dance club scene. Why?.. Because these songs you can most definitely dance to.

The music is most enjoyable but it's out of circumstance that the labels at the time didn't get the air time they deserved in order to gain national or international success.. Leaving us with delightful one hit wonders of the underground you've never heard of at an extremely rounded and tasteful analog sound quality. The singers sing at their heart's desire on most of the songs. Brenda Holloway (Even though the recording is Motown) had just this 1964 re-release which is considered Northern Soul, that inspired me to create this Saturday's poster and night theme:

What fantastic lyrics: "Lord, take me through this change - Tears alone could never explain - about this lonely world of despair.."

Our first night, I used Lainie Hill's Time Marches On:

Lastly, I can share the cover I've drawn to M.W.F. #8:

The 10th Anniversary website will be up soon, replacing my long-lasting "living room" design.. It's been a good run and I've had nice complements regarding it's design and funky-ness. So happy to bring my art there for you all. Stay tuned for more!..

Bombshell Comics is turning TEN!.. || 33 pages of M.W.F. #7 are YOURS (Read the entire comic here) || Thank you for your patience!

Hey Everyone,

Apologize for the long pause in my social activity.

 I've come back, out from my cave to share with you what I could: An un-edited entirety of Misfit Wrestling Federation #7!..

33 pages of story and art that I'm proud to bring you. Coming in to this at the seventh issue, you might not know exactly what's going here, but at-least you'll get a good idea ^_^ Maybe even enough to start from the very beginning!..

The beauty of underground, independent comics is: NO ADS! ^_^

Misfit Wrestling Federation on Comixology: For your phone or any mobile device (I'm really happy with Comixology's guided view, they do a great job on my sometimes, complex layouts)
and the issue will soon be available in print thru my new 10th Anniversary Website (up soon): www.bombshell-comics.com

I've drawn another two comics books in 2015, but they're a part of a larger project I'm still deciding on how or when, to release. Stay tuned!..