Visions 🇺🇸

I started thinking about this commission as soon as I received the list of requests, but let it marinate in my mind. It was a color request, so I needed the extra time to adjust my creative thinking to color instead of my standard black and white mindset.

When I think of how many artists making commissions do a lot of drawings of Batman (and I did my share of Dark Knights), and consider him to be the most requested character from collectors, I look back at my personal list of pieces and, at least for me, the most requested character is Hellboy. Having drawn comics inside the Hellboy universe (including a short story of Hellboy in Mexico) definitely opened the doors (and the collectors’ eyes) of Mike Mignola’s world to be seen through my style, and it makes sense for people to ask me for something they’ve seen from me just as naturally as they ask for Casanova and Brás.

As you can see in the sketches, initially I had broken down the commission in two panels, with a close up of the characters and then the reveal of the apocalyptic vision they were seeing, but I didn’t really wanted to have both characters with their backs to the audience in the big panel (one reason I had the first close up panel to compensate it in the first place) and ended up changing the composition. I think everybody ended up in a more dynamic pose, and the final composition was more dynamic as a result. It’s funny how commissions work different than comic book pages. If this was a page, I would probably draw them with their backs to us, because the story is more important than the characters, but here the characters are the main appeal, so the have to be featured accordingly.

Write this up!

Scott Morse had this idea for SDCC this year. Instead of doing his usual commissions at the show, he is doing one page stories that writers can send him to draw, doing it mostly AT THE SHOW FLOOR. If you are a writer (established or beginner) and want to see a one page story drawn by him, or if you’re a curious soul who wants to see him drawing and inking pages in front of everybody (seeing people drawing live is magical, let me tell you), don’t miss this opportunity. It’s the kind of thing that makes me miss not going to San Diego this year even more. Clicking on the link above, you’ll have all the detail, as well as two great one pagers as examples (one written by Morse himself, and the other written by Steve Niles).

Little time left

I’m closing my commission list this Wednesday. So far there’s one commission left to do, but I also have to finish the first two classes (three hours each) of this comics workshop I’m curating here in São Paulo, aside from continuing working on the new story (I have a meeting with the editor this week) and getting ready to travel in the beginning of August, so if anybody wants a commission by me, order it in the next two days. At the San Jose Galaxy Con, I’ll probably do the quicker, smaller commissions, but those will probably be exclusive to attendees (no online orders). Gotta help give a reason for people to actually go to the convention, right?

San Francisco question: who would like to have books signed? I’m planning to stop by the Isotope comic book lounge on Wednesday, August 14th, on my way to San Jose. Maybe we’ll meet up there? Otherwise, I’ll be at the convention all days over the following weekend.

Back to work.

Be safe. Be kind. Be curious.
Pa-ZOW!

Fábio Moon
Moon Base, São Paulo
July 15th, 2024