SDCC 2016 - Thank you, Darwyn.

We publish comics in the U.S. since 1999, first work with a publisher was in 2003 things started to hit off only in 2006, but we still live in Brazil and that keeps us distant from the market. The upside is that we don't get influence by trends, imediata statistics or business gossip. We do our work isolated in the safety of our studio. The downside is that we don't have direct contact with the readers and retailers. We throw our books into the ocean hoping they'll find the reader. Throughout all these years, San Diego Comic Con International has been the moment we have to connect with the market, the editors, artists and readers. We've been going since 1997, and this trip serves to recharge our batteries and fuel another year of production.
The convention has changed a lot since we started going, but it's still a unique experience and the best portrait of the North American market in every sphere, from the indy artists with their first mini-comic, to the Small Press area filled with tiny publishers you've never heard of, to alternative oasis like Drawn & Quarterly and Fantagraphics, going through book publishers having their go on comics like Penguin and Scholastic and First Second, finally getting to Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, as well as "younger" companies like IDW or Boom Studios. Besides, there're many artists and writers scattered around on tables, signing sessions and panels. Yes, Hollywood has taken a gigantic space on the Con – physical space as much as the attention of the media and the public –, but if you're going there for the comics, you're still gonna have the best experience of your life.



We shared tables on small press area and booths on the main floor for years, but since 2012 we don't have a table anymore, a place to stay for the whole day selling our books. This year we had one signing every day and a couple of panels, giving us all the time in the world to walk around, enjoy the show and rest. We miss the close contact with the readers that having a table allowed us, but it was great to do things calmly and really enjoy our days. With such a big demand and a 7 years waiting list, I'd say it's rather unlikely we'll have a table in SDCC again.
But our signing sessions were awesome, full of old and new readers, known faces, people who we connect only by social media, who comment, share and like the smoke signals we send throughout the year, from afar. During these moments of brief interaction, we could have a glimpse of the the readers' reaction about TWO BROTHERS, released last October, and also about our new book, HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES, released last month. With two recent books, readers had a lot to talk about.
Between parties and dinners, one of the highlights of SDCC is the Eisner Awards Ceremony Friday night. Long and boring like any other award ceremony, the Eisner is, however, a moment to stop and celebrate Comics, the creators and the work. We're ALL isolated in our studios, separated by miles, continents and oceans, but right there we're all together, with all our attention on the art. Throughout the night you'll discover works you didn't know, see some comics that had not caught your attention earlier with new and fresh eyes, and get to know a little closer artists whose work you appreciate for years. Over the weekend, you can walk the convention floor looking for the winners. All of them will be there, waiting for you.
Once more, we were.






Over the course of twenty years, we met a lot of people in Comics. We've seen our idols become our friends and some of our friends turning into professionals. SDCC is also a big reunion, a big party.
This year's edition was one of the best SDCC for us, for all the reasons described above, but specially for bringing a deeper feeling of recognition. We're always trying new things, every new project is different from the last, and every year we meet new artists and new works that inspire us and push us to keep innovating and believing there's still a lot to be done in Comics. One of these artists, whom we've met personally in 2008, was Darwyn Cooke. He showed us with his “Parker” series that it was possible to make an good adaptation, keeping his own voice while doing it and blowing the readers' minds. This was the work that convinced us it was possible to adapt Two Brothers. He showed us (and everybody else) an adaptation can be relevant, feel original and look amazing. Throughout the years, his work would guide us, and I hope to have achieved just a bit of the prime he's presented us.
Last Friday, in the heat of the moment and nervous as hell, while thanking everyone who helped us making Two Brothers a reality, I forgot the most obvious and important person of all. Without Darwyn Cooke, our book wouldn't exist. The Eisner we won is dedicated to him.
 

SDCC 2016, here we go again.

Ten years ago, our career in comics started to really happen. By that time, we had just published the first issue of Casanova and released our Eisner nominated anthology, De:TALES. In 2006, we were very excited about all the wonderful possibilities awaiting us, and we made the video below to celebrate it. (the audio is in Portuguese).




Ten years have passed and here we go again, crossing the ocean to attend San Diego Comic Con International, the 5-days-long-pop-culture-craziness that celebrates comics, at least for those who really care and keep going back for it. If you’re going to SDCC for the first time, you may be overwhelmed by the whole Hollywood circus and all the bullshit that takes over the entire Gaslamp District, but if you cross the herds of movie fans standing in endless lines all day and get inside the convention floor, the comics are still in there, and the creators are still in there, just waiting for their fans. We certainly go just to see our friends and meet the fans.

We don’t have a table anywhere, but we’ll have signings and will be on panels, so if you want to find us, here’s our week-long schedule:

THURSDAY, JULY 21th

4pm - Signing at Dark Horse booth (#2615) - Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá

FRIDAY, JULY 22nd

2pm - Signing at Dark Horse booth (#2615) - Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá (ticket event)

3pm - Dark Horse Originals panel (room 7AB) - Dave McKean, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Peter Hogan, Cullen Bunn and Jonathan Case. How cool is it to be on a panel with Dave McKean?

8pm - Eisner Awards (Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront)

SATURDAY, JUY 23rd

12pm - Signing at Dark Horse booth (#2615) - Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá

3pm - Signing at CBLDF booth (#1918) - Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá

SUNDAY, JULY 24th

11am - “CHANGING THE READER, ONE WORLD AT A TIME” panel (room 28DE). Let’s celebrate the power of comics and talk about how the use of images and words together to tell stories leave a unique and incredibly powerful effect on the readers. Find out which stories changed our lives and how we plan to keep changing the world with Comics.

3pm - Signing at CBLDF booth (#1918) - Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá

Stay tuned in our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc...), for updates on our schedule and activities.

We hope to see you all in San Diego, sign your comics and talk about our love for stories.

Frank Miller

Eighteen years ago, Fábio and I went to our first San Diego Comic Con International. It changed our lives. All those comics, creators, publishers. All our idols. One in particular had – and still has – a major impact on our careers: Frank Miller. That year, he gave a very inspiring opening speech at the Eisner Awards that we will never forget. And among other things, he did a signing session, to which I gladly waited in line. And with all my courage at the time, I told him I had come all the way from Brazil and asked if I could take a picture with him. It was the first time I stood so close to him, he was taller than me. In fact, he was a giant.




That seed that was planted back in 1997 has grown. We have a career in comics, we have our work. We've been back to SDCC 17 times, almost every year, and met with Frank Miller on few other occasions. None with such an impact as that first one. Until now.

Unbelievably enough, Frank Miller came to Brazil, came to São Paulo, our city, as guest of honor of Comic Con Experience, a very big convention here. He came to promote Dark Knight III. He made lots of fans very, very happy. One of them, of course, was me.

We were incredibly honoured to have Frank Miller visit our studio, we showed him a little of our work, our comics, our life. And after 4 days, with all the courage I had inside of me, I asked for another picture. One that will change my life the same way as that first one did.




Eighteen years ago, I was 21 years old and Frank Miller was 40. I am 39 years old today, and I'm meeting new creators that are 21, 20 or younger. I can't tell what the future brings, but I have faith that the next eighteen years are going to be awesome.

SDCC 1999

The first time we went to San Diego Comic Con was in 1997 and it literally changed our lives.

Only two years after that, in 1999, we threw all our chips on self-publishing a mini-series, full color, and having a big booth at the convention, all the mistakes young excited creators can make.
We had two issues out of four ready at the show, our booth had this big backlit sign in front of the table, we had free posters, we raffled a real sword and we had this huge papier-mâché statue of Charlemagne.  I had brought the last two pages of the series to finish during the show, a double spread on issue 4.
We did everything we could to leave a big impression.


standing: Chico Bela, Peov and Johnny B.; sitting: me, Shane Amaya and Fábio.


Fábio, me and Shane.

We've been to San Diego many times after that, but this is one of the fondest memories we have of the show.

SDCC - Different is Cool!

For the first time in a while, I looked at the whole upcoming SDCC program, and that reminded me how big the show is. There's a lot going on there. Of course there are loads of TV and movies useless bullshit that drag thousands of people every year to gigantic pitiful lines, but you can find many panels with comics creators and publishers with experience and knowledge to share, with lessons about the craft and great advices to the young artists and writers.
There’s a pattern to be recognised on the panels that jump to my eyes while reading the whole program. First, let’s see a list that I find very interesting, and that I might even go to.

On Thursday there’s a panel called "breaking into comics right now" at 12pm on room 28DE and "Breaking into Comics the Marvel way" at 1pm on room 7AB. At 11am, a "Writing Workshop with Kelly Sue DeConnick" on room 2, and at 3pm, "Writing 101: what to think about before you start writing" with Marv Wolfman on room 30CDE. On the same room, it's followed by "Comic Book Art: making a living doing it", talking about how to price and sell your art, exploit and merchandise it and try to squeeze those dollars out of it. 

At 4pm, on room 28DE, there's the "Delcourt panel", with the French publisher's founder Guy Delcourt. Decades of experience and millions of comics sold every year, it'll be good to learn that there's more to comics than American super-heroes. And while you're discovering new cultures, at 5pm, "Making a living in Manga: Japan creators and editors talk" on room 29AB.

Fábio and I will be on two panels on Thursday. At 1pm on room 2, we'll join "DeConnick and Fraction: Milkfed Criminal Masterminds at work" to talk about all the projects this crazy couple is working on, including Casanova. And at 3pm we'll be at room 23ABC on "Dark Horse Originals: The New Mainstream", talking about our new graphic novel, Two Brothers. 

Wow, and that was just Thursday. 

On Friday at 11am, "Publishers Weekly: The French Comics Invasion" on room 29AB. 

If you want to create comics for kids, you should go to two panels. On Friday at 12:30pm, "GRAPHIX: Beginning, Present and Beyond" on room 24ABC, and on Saturday at 3pm, "Kid's Comics" on room 23 ABC, and 

Friday at 3pm, "Breaking into Comics and Staying in" on room 30ABC and on Saturday at 4pm, "IDW: So, You want to be in comics" on room 4. 

On Sunday, if you still have energy for panels and want to learn a little bit more about digital comics, “Comixology Submit: The Future of Self-Publishing” at 3pm on room 29AB. 

And almost every day there's a cool IMAGE COMICS panel with creators and editors talking about how awesome comics are.

You might have caught the pattern on the panels I’ve picked. They’re all about creating Comics, getting into Comics, different approaches and mind sets. Well, that was my way to prepare you to our panel on Sunday, “Different is Cool”, at 11:15am on room 6DE. 

In the last 20 years, we’ve self-published Comics and we’ve worked with small and big publishers, on tiny to gigantic projects, and we have been living exclusively out of comics for the last eight years. We have been to conventions all around the world (we’re open for invitations for show on Japan and Australia, by the way). The first thing we learn on our first trip to San Diego Comic Con in 1997 just proved to be one of the most valuable once we started going to Comics Conventions and Festivals in other countries. Diversity is the most precious quality the Comics global industry has to offer. Yes, Global Industry, because good creators can come from anywhere in the world, and a good story breaks barriers and travels to distant countries and gets translated to the most exotic languages. 

So I invite you to enjoy the whole show, go to all the panels you can, go to the Eisners ceremony, learn all the things you can, talk to all the people you can, and then come meet us on Sunday on room 6DE, at 11:15am, and let’s talk about how the best way to break into comics and build a career may not be by doing what everyone wants, but by doing what only you can do. And let’s find out what that means.

San Diego Comic Con 2014 Schedule

 Another year, another San Diego Comic Con. The convention keeps taking over the town, so there's stuff going on everywhere around the Gaslamp quarter. If you want to catch up with me and get somes books signed, this is my schedule for this year.

Wednesday July 23 is Preview Night! Show Hours 5:00pm-9:00pm
Before preview night actually starts, I think the action happens at the Hilton Bayfront, where there'll be an Image Expo presentation starting at 2pm. Image has been releasing so many great new books by some awesome creators, that I'm really looking forward to what they might announce this time.
After that, I'll probably hit the Con floor for preview night and, as I leave the original art we made for the CBLDF at the CBLDF booth, I'll get the Casanova and Spaceboy prints and leave them, along with the original art we have, at the Beguiling booth (#1629)

Thursday July 24 Show Hours 9:00am-7:00pm
- Signing 2:30-3:30pm – DCE Booth #1915
I'll be signing all the books you can bring at the Vertigo signing table, so don't be shy.
- Art Demo 3:30-4:00pm – DCE Booth #1915
You know those art demonstrations they have at the DC booth, where they interview an artist while he/she's drawing, right then and there, and they shoot the drawing being made and project it live on a big screen? So, those. With me.
At night, probably around 8pm, there's the traditional CBLDF party at the terrace of the Westgate hotel. Many artists will attend and it's a great chance to meet and talk to them, and to look at a lot of the great original art  that will be available at the CBLDF auction over the weekend.

Friday July 25 Show Hours 9:00am-7:00pm
I don't have any signings or panels, so I'll be free to actually see some stuff at the convention. I plan on catching up with some friends and seeing some panels.
At night, I'll go to the Eisner Awards ceremony, which starts at 8pm at the Hilton Bayfront. I have a bunch of friends nominated and I'll be rooting for them while we all join in the celebration of our medium.
Whatever happens, afterwards we'll party!

Saturday July 26 Show Hours 9:00am-7:00pm
- Signing 10:30-11:30am – DCE Booth #1915
Hangover signing! I'll be signing all the books you can bring at the Vertigo signing table, so don't be shy. I'll be shy for the both of us, okay? Also, this is my last signing this year, so don't leave anything for Sunday.
Sunday July 27 Show Hours 9:00am-5:00pm

Another day without signings or panels for me, so I hope you enjoy the last day of the convention. I know I will. And I'll definitely do an "art hunt" on Sunday for those who stick until the end.

At the end of today I looked at my desk

Bá and I work on many projects at the same time. Part as a result of being a freelancer and thinking we have to accept every offer we get ( dreading not having any after we finish the current book), and part just because there are projects, invitations and people who want to collaborate with us that we can't simply say no – they're too good to pass –, we end up working on many things, some big, some small, some writing for ourselves to draw, and some drawing what others have written.
So, from time to time, when we finish something and have a little time to step back and look at what we're doing... well, to look at our drawing board, then we get so see some of these many facets of the delicate crystal we work on.
Tonight, I finished the first draft of a new script and sent it over to the editor.  That's the high point of my week – the awful game on tuesday being the low – so I stepped back and tried to look at my drawing board.

My sketchbook has a figure drawing of a woman from last year's class I gave (I have something I can't show yet on another page, so I flipped it to that page to take this picture).
On the top left, I have some bookplates left for the BPRD: Vampire TPB that we did for Gosh.
I started to sort out original art to take with me to San Diego for Comic Con, and that's why the Killjoys variant cover I did is there, looking right at us.
The bottom left is what's left of color studies and preparation for coloring my story for the Magenta issue of the CMYK Vertigo Quarterly anthology.
On the right, the script and the layouts of Casanova 4.2, which I'm working on and am afraid I'm a little late.

Boom!
Pa-Zow!
Back to work. It doesn't really matter if you work on one project, or on many. If you believe in what you're doing, it's all worth it, and you should give it everything you have.

Casanova step-by-step

This week, both Bá and I did new original drawings for the annual CBLDF auction that takes place in San Diego during Comic Con. We took some time from our crazy-busy schedules (made even crazier by the fact that World Cup is going on just outside our studio window) and created two new images with characters we have created. TFAW, who always helps coordinate this, will make prints of the images that the artists will be able to keep and sell, so I decided to make a full color image that would make a great 10 x 17 print.

My first idea was to do a Sugarshock image. Everybody seems to really love those characters, and you could say that right now Joss Whedon, writer of Sugarshock and nowadays writer and director of the Avengers movies, has never been as popular. I sketched the characters on my notebook and started working on the final image, but something wasn't clicking and I wasn't happy with where I was going with the drawing. I decided to call it a day and get back to it the next morning, and I'm glad I did.
Next morning, I went looking for inspiration at one of my sources: Pinterest. I used to keep thousands of images in folders on my computer, but nowadays it's much easier to keep everything I think might inspire an illustration or a story on my Pinterest page. If you go check it out, you'll find elements of my recent CMKY stories for Vertigo, as well as research for the short Hellboy story, and many other images from across the internet that I keep in handy to mix up in my head when I'm at the drawing board.
The new wave of inspirational images made me decide to change characters, and the drawing became a Casanova image. It's easier to imagine Casanova in any situation, anywhere, with anyone. Much more pleased with this second sketch, I showed it to Bá:
"It's great", he said, "but lose the cheetah and the boat". I agreed and started working on the final piece.

I took pictures of the process to post on twitter, and it's a great way to see the way I was thinking visually, how I left many decisions for the inking stage, how I helped to make the characters pop by using cool darker colors on the background, how the red elements united the characters, how dripping and large expressive brushstrokes help give it a "drawing" look, a "hand-made" look.

After it was done, dry and ready, I scanned it, adjusted the colors on photoshop and sent it over by email. The original will be going with me to San Diego, where I shall say farewell to this painting, hoping it will find a great new home on the collection of some lucky fan.

Monster

I did this quick sketch based on a monster character from Gustavo Duarte's new book while I was waiting for a panel we would do together this weekend in São Paulo.
Having a panel and a signing session back home in the same week of Comic Con in San Diego made it just a tiny bit easier for us to miss the convention for the first time in 17 years. Both the talk and the signing were packed and Bá and I love to talk to the fans, and we were happy we could do it this weekend.
Back to work now. One of the reasons we skipped San Diego was to work on the new books, so let's get back to them.

SDCC 2012

Our books

This year, more than any other year, we'll have our books at our booth inside SDCC. If you like one of our stories and want to try out another one, we'll be there to supply whatever you want. Some are rare to find, others, like the third CASANOVA album, AVARITIA, will debut at the conven.tion.
We'll be at the booth selling and signing the books, and every book we sell will get a sketch inside.

Our schedule

These are our plans inside the convention center, and around San Diego:
thursday, July 12th
2PM- I'll be at TR!CKSTER for the art demo, where I'll draw and ink on the spot, and answer questions about style and storytelling.
8PM- Bá and I will go to the CBLDF welcome party at the Westgate hotel. Stop by to see all the amazing original art they're auctioning this year, and grab a drink while you're at it.
saturday, July 14th
4PM- Bá and I will be signing at the Dark Horse booth (#2615)
sunday, July 15th
12:15-1:45 CBLDF Rock Art Jam- Bá and I, along with Nate Powell, will draw on site rock related images while we talk about the love and influence of music in our work. The audience we'll be able to bid on the drawings to take them home after the panel, the profits will all go to the CBLDF. Room 5AB


Other than that, we'll probaly be at our booth (#1320) most of the time. Come along, stop by and let's have fun at another crazy Comic Con.

And then, something extra

Aside from all the original pages we'll have at our booth, from Umbrella Academy, Casanova, Serenity and BPRD 2012, I'll be bringing these little paintings I've been doing recently. They're small and delicate, and cheaper than the pages, so a wonderful opportunity for those who want a piece of original art from us but can't afford a page.

CASANOVA originals at SDCC 2012

It's sexy. It's crazy. What else can I say for sure about CASANOVA?
It was a very hard year working on this series and juggling it with all the other projects both Matt and I had to do, so I'm really sorry to have delayed issues #3 and #4 so much. But, in the end, it was for the best, because I was more focused and could produce what I think were some of the best pages of my life.
AVARITIA was a crazy story arc that explained a lot of things and left a whole other bunch on the air, but that's the way it is with this book. And what comes next? We'll have to wait and see. Only Matt knows.
So if you're a fan of Casanova Quinn, Sasa Lisi, Suki Boutique and Luther Desmond Diamond, you'll be thrilled to know that we're bringing original pages of AVARITIA to sell next week on SDCC at our booth (#1320). Here's the amazing selection of pages (click on the pages to see a bigger version).
 









Oh, how I loved that Ziggy Startdust reference. It came out perfect. I really love when Matt points at something and I nail it. It's a very hard thing to do. the man is not from this world.

The folks of Beguiling have some other pages as well, from previous stories. So don't forget to check them out. They sell it online and I'm sure they'll bring of of them to the show as well.
AAAAAANNNNND… we will have all three trades of the Casanova series for sale at our booth.
LUXURIA, GULA and AVARITIA. Very exciting! PA-ZOW!

BPRD originals at SDCC 2012

Both Fábio and I have been big fans of Mike Mignola's work for a long time and when he began Hellboy, it just blew our brains with his amazing style and perfect mix of fun story, great characters, amazing design and overwhelming use of black&white art.
It was a great honor to have worked with him on BPRD:1947.
So if you're a fan of the Hellboy universe as well, you'll be happy to know we're bringing original pages for SDCC next week! We have a bunch already with the folks at Beguiling and I'm sure they're bringing them all this to the show, but here's the new selection of pages (click on the pages to see a bigger version).



It's great to create characters that survive your story and move forward on their own. Ota, the priest we helped creating for this series, has new adventures of his own on the series Cameron Stewart is doing, called BPRD - Hell on Earth: Exorcism. Go check it out.

So if you're going to SDCC, stop by our booth (#1320) and check out all the original pages we have there, as well of all the amazing comics too, of course.