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Since this is Halloween Week, I thought how better to celebrate than exploring the intricately detailed work of Cursed Pirate Girl creator Jeremy Bastian! A graduate of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Bastian spent his years studying the works of the great engraving art masters and old time book illustrators. One of the inspirations for Cursed Pirate Girl was a children’s book called The Ship’s Cat, featuring illustrations by Alan Aldridge. It takes about a week for Jeremy Bastian to draw one page of Cursed Pirate Girl. Each page is meticulously packed with the smallest details; it’s fun to just stare at a page and let your eyes wander. You can read about Jeremy’s art process on this blog post here.

Cursed Pirate Girl follows the title character’s search for her Pirate Captain father on the mythical Omerta Seas, encountering many strange and wondrous creatures along the way. The first 3 issues were published by Olympian Publishing and are now highly sought after collector’s items. Much bigger publisher Archaia/BOOM has taken over on Cursed Pirate Girl and if you’re quick enough, you might still be able to find a copy of Cursed Pirate Girl 2015 Annual(52 pages), which hit stands this month. The plan is to do 2 more yearly specials to complete the 6 part story, but there could be more material set in the Cursed Pirate Girl world after that.

If you want to get the latest news on Jeremy Bastian & Cursed Pirate Girl, fell free to follow him on Twitter here!

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

The story goes that legendary Uncanny X-Men scribe Chris Claremont discovered Malaysian-born artist Sonny Liew at a comics convention and got him his first big break into comics, landing Liew a gig illustrating Iron Man for Marvel. It was a small gig, just one illustration, but it set the stage for Liew’s bright future in comics! In 2004, Sonny Liew won the Xeric Award(an award for excellence in self-published comics) in 2004 for Malinky Robot. Later, he would go on to illustrate such titles as Slave Labor & Disney’s Wonderland series, Marvel’s Sense and Sensibility adaptation, and collaborate with artist/inker Mark Hempel on DC/Vertigo’s My Faith in Frankie.

Before studying illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, Liew attended college in Singapore(where he currently resides) and in the UK. His work has been featured in the critically acclaimed anthology Flight and he’s served as editor of the Southeast Asian comics anthology Liquid City.

Liew has been a celebrated artist at home, winning Singapore’s Young Artist Award in 2010, but recently he’s found himself in a bit of controversy over his latest book, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye. The grant that supported the making of that book was withdrawn by the National Arts Council for containing sensitive topics. You can hear more about this story from the man himself at this book sharing session.

Right now is a great time to become a Sonny Liew fan, because he’s making some of the best comics art of his career on the newly relaunched Doctor Fate series with famed DC writer/editor/former-president Paul Levitz! I see that more people are catching onto this series, now that it’s up to issue 5, so hopefully that will continue to happen and we’ll get a nice, long Doctor Fate run out of Liew!

If you’d like to see more art and learn more about Sonny Liew, check out his blog here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

It was a rare “event week” for me at the comics shop with the much anticipated release of the new comics anthology Island! Brandon Graham, the creator, editor, and cover artist for Island is our subject this week. Graham’s work is inspired by classic European and Japanese(manga)comics. He started off drawing comics for Antarctic Press & Radio Comix, some being pornographic(see Milk! #7, etc.).

Graham would go on to work with the infamous Meathaus collective and to creating his own independent titles: Multiple Warheads and King City. I was fortunate to meet the super-friendly Mr. Graham back in 2012 during his Multiple Warheads: Alphabet Tour and he was kind enough to contribute to my convention sketchbook!

Brandon Graham is part of a new age of Image Comics, which has overtaken the “Big 2″(Marvel/DC) in the original content department. Recently, Graham, along with artist Simon Roy, “re-imagined” Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld’s Prophet to much critical acclaim.

Island #1 is an over-sized comic magazine published by Image Comics and features work by Brandon Graham, Marian Churchland, Emma Rios, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Ludroe. You can check out a preview here. The series will be released on a monthly basis.

You can see the latest news & art updates for Brandon Graham here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

Small Press comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly just released their 25th Anniversary book and since it features the first new material by cartoonist Joe Matt in years, I figured now would be a good time to celebrate his work! Peepshow, Joe Matt’s long running biographical comic, started back in 1987(the last collection was printed in 2007). It would go on to become one of the seminal works of the 90’s alternative comics scene, along with Clowe’s Eightball, Seth’s Palookaville, and Ware’s ACME Novelty Library.

The 15 new pages featured in D & Q’s 25th Anniversary book are intended for Matt’s next book and are a work in progress.

Joe Matt has been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards and both an Ignatz and Doug Wright Award.

You can find him on Instagram (@joepeepshowmatt) now where he sometimes posts new art or you could find him surfing the web at a random Los Angeles, CA library.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

Artist/musician/bartender/comics brew-master Leslie Stein has been making comics since the early 2000’s. She started making her comics by cutting & pasting construction paper into colorful silhouettes. Her work has continued to morph, and evolve over the years. Today, you can see how she’s broken down her characters, and stories into minimal line work, expressive colors, and animated typography!

Leslie Stein began self-publishing her personal anthology Eye of the Majestic Creature in 2004. The series stars her cartoon alter ego Larrybear(along with a colorful cast of characters based off of real life friends), and has transformed over the years from mostly fictional stories to semi-autobiographical stories, today.

Fantagraphics Books has published two collections of Stein’s comics, and is publishing a collection of her Diary Comics in 2015.

You can read new, regularly updated Diary Comics on Leslie’s tumblr site here, and VICE features a weekly comic by her, as well.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Cartoonist Noah Van Sciver has been crafting his own special brand of throwback indy comix since the mid-2000’s. His one man anthology, Blammo, is up to issue #9, and it would fit quite comfortably between classic Eightball’s & Yummyfur’s on the funny book racks! It was with Fantagraphics’ critically acclaimed anthology series, Mome, that Noah started to reach a wider audience, and soon after that his first graphic novel would be published; The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln. Van Sciver was born in New Jersey, but has lived in Denver, CO for most of his adult life, where his oft times publisher Kilgore Books & Comics is located.

AdHouse Books recently published a collection of his comics titled Youth is Wasted, and Fantagraphics has 2 more upcoming projects with Noah in 2015: Saint Cole & Fante Bukowski.

Noah has been nominated multiple times for an Ignatz Award(which is sort of like an Oscar for Small Press comics…), and has had his work featured in the prestigious Best American Comics annual.

You can check out more of Noah Van Sciver’s comics like his day-to-day “Diary Comics”, and other serialized stories on his tumblr site here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Malachi Ward has been building up steam in the small press comics world the last few years. His latest release, Ritual 3: Vile Decay, has been met with critical acclaim, and he continues his strong creative collaboration with writer/artist/friend Matt Sheean on their self-published title, Expansion, and Prophet from Image Comics. His earliest works, Utu & Scout, introduced his distinctive character-driven, surreal, sci-fi stories to readers, and you can find similar themes explored in his paintings, as well.

Malachi Ward was raised in Yucaipa, California, and studied drawing & painting in college. Some of his biggest influences growing up included Calvin and Hobbes, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Spider-man comics. He currently lives in South Pasadena, CA with his wife Keiko.

Malachi will be attending the San Francisco Zine Fest this coming Labor Day weekend, Small Press Expo in North Bethesda, MD on September 13th & 14th, and Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco on October 4th & 5th. His work with Matt Sheean continues in Prophet Strikefile, hitting comics shops in the next few weeks.

You can order a copy of Ritual 3: Vile Decay at the Alternative Comics website.

You can follow Malachi Ward on his tumblr site here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

The post Comics Illustrator of the Week :: Malachi Ward appeared first on Illustration Friday.

It was great news when it was announced that Stray Bullets would be returning to comic stands again, with the new series Stray Bullets: Killers. I’ve been a fan of David Lapham’s work since 1995, when a local comics shop owner handed me a copy of Stray Bullets #1, and said, “I know you like different stuff. You should try this.” Well, Stray Bullets was different than your average super-hero/cartoon comic book, that’s for sure. It read like a mixture of Pulp Fiction, and Mean Streets. The series was self-published, and self-marketed for 10 years, with 40 issues produced, which is quite an impressive feat in the volatile comics market. Lapham took a break from Stray Bullets in 2005, and did writing/drawing work for many of the major publishers, including Young Liars for DC/Vertigo, Daredevil vs. Punisher for Marvel, and Crossed for Avatar Press.

It makes perfect sense that he would take the long awaited final issue of Stray Bullets, #41, and the spin off series Killers to Image Comics, since the publisher has now become a safe haven for the type of original, creator owned comics that David Lapham was an early pioneer of.

In addition to Stray Bullets: Killers, Lapham recently completed his first all-ages series, Juice Squeezers, and he’s currently writing the comics adaptation of the hit FX TV series(and series of books) The Strain, both published by Dark Horse Comics.

You can follow David Lapham on Twitter here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

The post Comics Illustrator of the Week :: David Lapham appeared first on Illustration Friday.

Serbian born artist Toni Fejzula has worked on many comics, and illustration projects in, and around his current residence of Spain. The new Dark Horse Comics series, Veil, has finally brought him to the attention of American comics fans. His artwork, with it’s unique coloring style, perfectly fits the moody atmosphere of Greg Rucka’s story.

Fejzula has contributed covers to Cthulhu, created the science-fiction album ‘Central Zéro’ at Soleil Productions, and co-created the series ‘Nephilim’ at Delcourt.

Toni Fejzula news, new project updates, and more of his awesome art can be found on his on his facebook page.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Jim Rugg is an illustrator, graphic designer, comics artist, and visual narrative instructor at the School of Visual Arts. He broke into the comics scene in 2004 with the publication of his comic book Street Angel from Slave Labor Graphics, which he created, and co-wrote with friend Brian Maruca. Since that time Rugg has worked on a number of high profile comics projects including The Guild for Dark Horse, The Plain Janes for DC/MINX, and more recently, Adventure Time for Boom! Studios. He’s also contributed cover illustrations for LA Weekly, Sleazy Slice, and IDW’s G.I. Joe Special Missions. In 2009 AdHouse Books published his Street Angel spin-off, Afrodisiac, to much critical acclaim, and next month will see the release of the new Street Angel hardcover collection.

Jim Rugg’s art has been exhibited at Iam8bit, Gallery1988, Mondo, and the Society of Illustrators. His work has been honored with an Ignatz Award for outstanding achievement in cartooning, and AIGA’s 50 Books/50 Covers Selection for best designed books.

You can see more of Jim Rugg’s work on his website.

Jim Rugg is an illustrator, graphic designer, comics artist, and visual narrative instructor at the School of Visual Arts. He broke into the comics scene in 2004 with the publication of his comic book Street Angel from Slave Labor Graphics, which he created, and co-wrote with friend Brian Maruca. Since that time Rugg has worked on a number of high profile comics projects including The Guild for Dark Horse, The Plain Janes for DC/MINX, and more recently, Adventure Time for Boom! Studios. He’s also contributed cover illustrations for LA Weekly, Sleazy Slice, and IDW’s G.I. Joe Special Missions. In 2009 AdHouse Books published his Street Angel spin-off, Afrodisiac, to much critical acclaim, and next month will see the release of the new Street Angel hardcover collection.

Jim Rugg’s art has been exhibited at Iam8bit, Gallery1988, Mondo, and the Society of Illustrators. His work has been honored with an Ignatz Award for outstanding achievement in cartooning, and AIGA’s 50 Books/50 Covers Selection for best designed books.

You can see more of Jim Rugg’s work on his website.

You can read more about other great artists working in comics at my website here.