Countdown to San Diego 2009/Part 2

Visit WCG Comics at the San Diego Comic-Con 2009Booth S14 in the Small Press Pavilion
(off of Aisle 1400, Exhibition Hall B1/B2)
Below is a press release about my upcoming appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con:

Randy Reynaldo, writer-artist of the long-running indie small press title, Rob Hanes Adventures, will make his 12th appearance at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, scheduled this year from July 23-26. Randy and the WCG Comics crew will again be in BOOTH S14 in the Small Press Pavilion of the main exhibitor's hall (row S against the wall on the west side of the building, off of aisle 1400). This year marks Randy’s 12th appearance at the show as an exhibitor.

Randy will have the newest issue of his action-adventure series (#14) available at Comic-Con. In the issue, Justice International agent Rob Hanes is hired to extradite a beautiful felon back to the U.S., and becomes stranded with her on a desert island in the Pacific after their plane goes down. Cover by guest artist Benton Jew. Preview pages from the issue are available at https://photos.app.goo.gl/dmzMZ8cDEN9qMTiEA.

In addition, Randy will have FREE sample issues of the series available at the show. Pick up one of the promotional cards at the show or simply visit the booth to pick up the issue and check out back issues.

Launched in the early 1990s, Rob Hanes Adventures is one of the longest running independent titles still being published. Following the exploits of a modern-day soldier of fortune and spy-for-hire who works for worldwide Justice International, the series takes a serio-comic and modern-day approach to the classic high adventure strip genre, reinventing and making it fresh for modern audiences. Fans of classic comics like Terry and the Pirates and the Spirit, or of current spy fare like Danger Girl, will enjoy Rob Hanes Adventures. Every story is self-contained in each issue. For more information about WCG Comics, visit the company's website at http://wcgcomics.com.

Pictured above: Front image of the promotional postcard that will be distributed at the San Diego Comic-Con.

NOW IN SOLICITATION: Rob Hanes Adventures #12

The following announcement was recently distributed to my e-newsletter list:

The 12th issue of the long-running, critically acclaimed action-adventure series, Rob Hanes Adventures, is now in solicitation from Haven Distributors and scheduled for release to retail comic-book stores in July! (Haven item #ROHAWCG012.)

Purchase the issue at your local comic-book store by asking your retailer to order Rob Hanes Adventures #12 through Haven Distributors. (Note: To encourage readers to order the issue through their local retailer, the issue's availability online at the WCG Comics website and other sources will be delayed by at least a month.)

In the self-contained full-length issue, Justice International agent Rob Hanes is hired to extradite a beautiful female felon back to the U.S. and becomes stranded with her on a desert island after their plane goes down in the Pacific. High adventure is alive and well in the 21st century—complete story every issue! Cover by guest artist Benton Jew.

The issue features a full-color cover, 24 black-and-white pages, and a $2.99 cover price.

For a preview of the issue, click here.

As always, thanks for your support! There is plenty of exciting new developments slated for the series coming soon that will be announced shortly after San Diego Comic-Con, where WCG Comics will again be making an appearance.

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ABOUT ROB HANES ADVENTURES:

Rob Hanes Adventures is an all-ages comic-book series about a modern-day globetrotting troubleshooter and soldier of fortune. Under the auspices of worldwide Justice International—a worldwide private investigations and security agency—Rob travels the world on assignment, facing adventure, intrigue and romance at every turn! Every adventure is complete and self-contained every issue which allows readers to jump in with any issue!

Inspired by the pioneering adventure work of Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates and Will Eisner’s Spirit, Rob Hanes Adventures brings a fresh, modern-day spin to the classic adventure serial strip genre. Comics veteran Kurt Busiek, a fan of the series from the beginning, says, “Randy has done a great job of keeping alive the legacy of sophisticated high adventure that artists like Milton Caniff and Alex Toth created and perfected in comics. And he’s managed to do it by developing his own style and voice, and by keeping it fresh and modern, without making it feel or look old fashioned or out of touch.”

Series writer-artist-creator Randy Reynaldo is a Xeric Foundation grant recipient and a Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer nominee. The series debuted as Adventure Strip Digest in 1994, running for four issues until being re-booted in 2000 as Rob Hanes Adventures. A Xeric Award supported trade paperback, the Rob Hanes Archives, compiled the series' original run as a small press zine in 1996.

Rob Hanes Adventures #12 Scheduled for July 2009 Release!

Rob Hanes Adventures #12 is close to completion and now scheduled for release in July 2009!

To see newly completed pages from the story, visit my preview page for the issue here.

In the issue, Rob is hired to extradite a beautiful felon back to the United States from Japan, but becomes stranded alone with her on a desert island after their plane goes down over the Pacific. In addition, for the first time ever, the cover features a guest artist: storyboard and comic-book artist Benton Jew.

I'm also pleased to announce that retail comic-book stores can now order the series through Haven Distributors.

To show your support for the series, we hope readers will consider asking their stores to order issue 12 of Rob Hanes Adventures from Haven.

I'll let readers know in the next edition of this email newsletter when issue 12 is available from Haven for retailers to order for their stores and customers!

SHOP TALK: My New Graphics Tablet!

As mentioned in a previous post, I recently upgraded my home computer system from a 10-year-old Win98 PC to a new 20" iMac. The transition has been amazingly easy, especially when one considers that I have Windows XP running within the Mac operating system so that I could continue using some old Windows software and hardware on the new computer that either don't exist for the Mac or would be a waste of money to re-purchase a Mac version.

The only piece of equipment I had to replace as a result of this transition was a graphics tablet—replacing a 4"x5" Aiptek HyperPen 5000 drawing tablet that I've also had for about 10 years but which featured an obsolete PC serial connection. Being the model of thrift I am, I initially had planned to purchase a small Wacom Bamboo drawing tablet, priced under $100 (Wacom is the gold standard for computer graphics tablets).

Fortunately, before I made the purchase, after doing a little research and scrutinizing more closely the tablet's specs, I realized the tablet, while within my price range (under $100) was, with its 5.8"x3.7" active drawing space, smaller than even my old tablet and probably way too small for my needs, especially given the fact that I now have a wider-screen monitor. I then looked at the medium-sized Wacom Bamboo, which with a 8.5"x5.3" live area seemed a bit more suitable. But priced at $199, I must admit it was a bit steep.

I conducted additional research (thank goodness for Google!), and began to focus on the Genius G-Pen F610 tablet. Not only did the tablet feature a much roomier 6"x10" live drawing area, it was also priced just under $100 on Amazon! There were some negative user reviews of the tablet, but fortunately I've learned to sometimes take such comments with a grain of salt, especially when taken as a whole with other comments and reviews. What also finally drove my decision was the realization that the Wacom tablet that actually was more comparable to the F610 wasn't the medium-sized Wacom Bamboo, but the Wacom Intuos3, which sold for $299! Given this, I thought it worth it to take the risk with the G-Pen.

I've been delighted by the results—the tablet works perfectly with both my Mac and Windows graphics programs. Admittedly, I've never needed to use a drawing tablet to its fullest capability. I primarily have used the tablet for coloring, which does not require the kind of finesse that drawing does. (For a good example of what can be accomplished with a drawing pad, check out the work of Benton Jew, who did the cover of issue 12 of Rob Hanes Adventures. Benton now works exclusively on a tablet, no more pen and ink for him!)

However, now that I'm using it, I cancertainly see that the larger tablet is much more conducive to drawing. Up until now, I primarily limited my tablet "drawing" with minor digital touch ups on my art after it had been scanned in. With the larger, roomier drawing space, I can project myself using the drawing function a little more, though at this point not exclusively.

Initially, when I first connected the tablet, I did experience a "lag" with the pen, which some user reviews had complained about. In fact, the pen dragged quite significantly, usually causing a very ragged line very different than what I had drawn. The instruction manual also was very minimal and useless, which others had noted. You can imagine I was aghast at this development.

Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to do some research and though the company that makes the tablet surprisingly doesn't have the most visible website, I eventually tracked down a version of the tablet's driver that was more recent than what shipped with the tablet, and that immediately solved the problem! (I ended up posting a review of the product at the Amazon website, partly to let Mac users know about the newer driver.)

So my new system is now fully decked out for me to do post work on my comics pages!

Cover to Rob Hanes Adventures #12

UPDATED 12/11/08: Since posting the image below of the cover to the next issue of Rob Hanes Adventures, I've since learned that the guest artist who drew the cover, Benton Jew, has recently had an 8-page story published in a Hulk Family one-shot, and has another story in the pipeline scheduled for Marvel's new wave of online comics! For details, visit Benton's Blog! And, of course, click on the image below to see his cover in detail!


To mix things up a bit, for the first time ever I have invited a guest artist to provide the cover to the next issue (#12) of Rob Hanes Adventures! (Click on the image to see it full size.)

The cover above is by professional illustrator/storyboard artist/comic-book artist Benton Jew. More examples of this outstanding artist's work can be found at his blog.

Benton is a professional acquaintance from way back, dating back to when he worked at George Lucas' visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic before going freelance. He is one of the finest artists I know.

As noted in an earlier blog entry, in issue 12, Rob is stranded on a desert isle with a beautiful female felon he has been hired to extradite back to the United States from Japan after his plane goes down in the Pacific. Preview pages from the story may be found here.

All in 24 Hours!

The art at right is from a "24-hour comic" by fellow cartoonist Benton Jew (i.e., a complete comic-book story done in a 24 hour period). The quality of the work he produced here in 24 hours is more than what many cartoonists can achieve working months on!

Benton--a professional storyboard artist and outstanding cartoonist and draftsman--is a longtime acquaintance who is one of the finest artists I've ever met. He also has a great respect and love for the history of cartooning and illustration.

To see more of the story and other samples of his amazing work, visit his blog (or click on the image). Be sure to scroll down to see his Superman and Batman pieces!