Countdown to San Diego II: My Contribution to the CCI Souvenir Program

Below is my contribution to the souvenir program for this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. Click here to see it in fuller detail.

Each year, contributors are given a variety of themes to choose from, and it was a no-brainer for me to focus, of course, on the centenary of Milton Caniff's birth. (Caniff, of course, is the creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon, and one of my idols who inspired Rob Hanes Adventures.)

Caniff is pictured seated at the table, and surrounding him from Terry and the Pirates are Pat Ryan, Terry Lee, and Burma from Terry and the Pirates; Steve Canyon (from his namesake strip); pining away in the foreground at far right is the iconic Dragon Lady.

I also usually try to somehow work my own characters into the theme. So at bottom left, you'll see my character, Rob Hanes, and his partner, Abner McKenna, commenting on the proceedings.

Also included in the drawing are various Caniff characters, all from Terry: Captain Judas (visible behind Rob and Abner); Anthony Sandhurst and his put-upon wife, Normandie Drake (Sandhurst is the direct inspiration for my own character, Antony Cromwell); Chopstick Charlie, Raven Sherman and Dude Hennick (the first two are partially obscured by the Terry logo); and at the rear of the club on the balcony are Terry's companions, Connie and Big Stoop.

I should note that I also thought about contributing a drawing celebrating the centenary of the birth of Herge, the Belgian creator of Tintin. My plan was to draw my character putting gel in his hair to emulate Tintin's famous spiked forelock, just as Tintin walks in on him. But I just didn't have the time to complete the drawing.

(At right is a personal favorite Comic-Con drawing from 2005, honoring Will Eisner, which you can see full size here).