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!..

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!..

A little sneak peak without too much sneaking around...

Hey everyone, Here's a little sneak peak (and some proof) that I am indeed working on the next Bombshell Comics production ^_^

Sometimes I "fall off the planet", it happens. Especially working on large scoped books... and storyboarding the night away... Both I love no doubt -- but the "work" involved... the "work" involved... : )

 The page below is only page 28 of what might be 200+ pages from my next one..

I'm excited to share more from this one, but it's just not that far enough along yet - too.

I will tell you, the beach seen here is Wildwood, New Jersey.

More to come!..

Stay tooned! 0_o