Comic Cove

Fever Ridge

2012-01-27T11:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a two-page spread from the WW2 pacific comic I'm working on. The book has been re-titled "Fever Ridge". We felt it would better represent the story and setting, along with the overall "mood" of the book. I'll be working on this for the next few months, but I won't be showing too much of it, until the publishing details are worked out with the company.

It's being written by Mike Heimos. I'm doing pencils/inks. Our colorist is Jordie Bellaire, and letters are being done by Brandon Desteffano. A great team of folks!

And here's the main cover again, with a new logo. This is just a mock-up cover, so it'll probably change, but this is our idea so far.

1977

2011-11-27T16:33:00.001-08:00

I painted this Star Wars piece with Acrylics and colored pencils on illustration board. 14" x 22"

Joe

2011-11-19T23:37:00.001-08:00

This piece is something I did for 3 separate GI Joe RI covers, being released by IDW in January. This is hand painted, but to fit it into my schedule, 3 separate paintings were physically done, and then I put them together in photoshop, to show how they relate to each other. The left cover is the retailer incentive cover for Cobra ongoing #9. The middle cover is for G.I. Joe ongoing #9, and of course Snake Eyes #9 for the right one.

Highway to Hell

2011-11-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess the rock n' roll homage covers are continuing for another few issues, so here's my variant to Ghostbusters ongoing #7, to be released in March. It's an homage to ACDC's classic album cover from 1979.

I decided to change it up a bit from the painted covers for this one and possibly a couple more.

Again, many thanks to Patrick Creel, Lisa Stevens, Rob Pearson, Vincent Nordone, Robby Fuselier, and Brian Knight for their contributions to this. A great team!

Texas

2011-10-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

I'll be attending the Austin comic con in a couple weeks, and I'm really looking forward to the show.

I'll be in Artist's Alley at Table #2013. Feel free to come say hello! I hear Austin is an amazing city so it should be a cool trip.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot what day it is......HAPPY HALLOWEEN

NYCC

2011-10-11T00:56:00.001-07:00

This painting is my latest poster for the film Boy Wonder.

It will be available exclusively at the New York Comic Con this weekend, to promote the official NYC premier of the movie. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend, but I'm positive the show will rock as much as it did last year! I had a great time then and I DO plan on going next time around, for sure.

If you are attending the convention, don't miss the chance to check out the film. You won't be disappointed!

Here's another poster I painted as well:

I really really enjoyed the film when I saw it, and I'm proud to have the opportunity to help out by doing these comic-con posters. This poster below was one I did back in April for the Chicago comic-con C2E2. The movie had an advance screening there.

Power of the Dark Side

2011-09-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Darth Vader. Acrylic paint/colored pencils on gessoed illustration board.

Original Art for sale

2011-09-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

I am selling original art through www.nsnart.com

It's a great site that features some very talented folks, and I encourage everyone to check it out, if you're interested in purchasing original art or collectable comics. I will be listing most all of my art there from now on but, of course, always feel free to still send any questions to me about my commission schedule or originals through my e-mail: nickrunge@comcast.net

Thanks!

The Doctor is in

2011-09-02T12:46:00.001-07:00

The 11th Doctor himself, doing his thing. I tried out some inks washes for this one. A nice experiment and a follow-up to the first Dr. Who piece I did a while back.

11 x 17 Ink on bristol board.

Ghostbusters ongoing

2011-08-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is my new variant cover for the 4th monthly issue of Ghostbusters. This is the last of the rock n' roll album cover homages. It's an homage to U2's Joshua Tree cover. The next few issues will have a different variant GB cover theme.

The b&w version of this will be printed on the front of the comic and the back will have the matching image in color. This 4th issue will be in stores this December. Check it out!

Here's a shot of the original hand painted art and, as you can see, it has a bit of a different color scheme to it, than the final print-ready version above. I adjusted the scan of the painting to give it more contrast, a different hue, and a "spooky" Ghostbusters look.

Again much thanks to Patrick Creel, Lisa Stevens, Vincent Nordone, Rob Pearson, and Robby Fuselier for all their help!

New Bane of Yoto theme

2011-08-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the new Bane of Yoto "motion" theme, made from three paintings I worked on with the pencils of Tyler Kirkham, (DC Comics artist )for the upcoming novel and video game from Leviathan Games

Please type this address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXVfN8IufM

Cap

2011-07-30T15:00:00.001-07:00

This is a sketch I started at comic-con, as the show was ending, and the person I did it for was cool enough to let me take it home and spend a little extra time on it, along with a couple other sketches, before I mailed them back. These blank Marvel sketch covers are pretty fun to draw on!

I wanted to do kind of a military-style 1940's poster, since this is the movie version of the Captain. Not going for a likeness here, but more of a comic-movie adaptation. A fun break from work...haha

SDCC 2011

2011-07-25T17:46:00.001-07:00

The convention was amazing this year, and I had a great time. This image was created for IDW's panel on Thursday. They are launching a new KISS series in 2012 along with Archie comics, who also has the license for the name.

And, for the first time here, I thought it'd be interesting to post a scan of the underdrawing that I do on every painting before I add acrylic paints and colored pencils. Staring on a grey surface, weather it be a gessoed surface, or just a grey illustration board, gives a nice, even middle tone to the art. That way, only the color, shadows, and highlights need to be added to the piece to achieve the look I need.

Comic-con and more

2011-07-09T17:06:00.001-07:00

San Diego Comic-con is approaching quickly and this Catwoman painting is one of the prints I'll be offering at the show. If you're attending the con, please feel free to stop by and say hi. My Artists' Alley space # is EE-12.

www.comic-con.org has a complete map of the show floor and more. Just click on Artists' Alley under the Exhibitors listing and zoom in on the map.

I'm a big fan of the old James Bond posters and I wanted to paint something along those lines. This also has a bit of a "Coca-cola" feel to it, similar to a lot of their classic adds. This 007 print will be available at the con too.

Sean Connery.....all boss. The definition of "old man strength", even in his early days. A legend, and the only dude cool enough to play the father of Indiana Jones...haha Even today, he could still easily kill any man....with one hand behind his back........ tied to the other hand. Just by looking at you! Oh shit, I think he heard me.

This piece is part of my Comic-con exclusive Cockatoo News sketchbook, which will have the cover to the book and this printed on one half. One the flip side will be some of Armando Durruthy's awesome art for Red Forest, which is also being written by the talented Mike Heimos. Grab a copy at the show!

The final colors I did for the cover of Lore. I posted the pencils a few weeks back (below)

Finally, this painting was done a few months back, as part of a Sopranos pitch from IDW to HBO. Just a pitch, but it was a strange, fun piece to do.

Yoto and Tyler Kirkham

2011-07-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

These two paintings are part of a 3 painting "motion" comic style animation, to promote the game The Bane of Yoto for Leviathan Games. I'll post a link to the final animated piece when it's ready.

The coolest part about this round of Yoto paintings is that they were penciled by Tyler Kirkham (Green Lantern, Superman, Transformers, Spider-man...and much more). It was an honor to work with him on this and it was fun too! I've posted his pencils below. I transfered them onto an illustration board and used acrylic paints to finsh the illustration. His work is very dynamic and I learned a lot from working over his drawing. Hopefully I can apply a bit of that to new art in the future...

More Ghostbusters Album Art

2011-07-09T16:51:00.001-07:00

Here's my brand new variant cover for Ghostbusters issue #3 monthly. To continue with the iconic album cover homages, this is quite clearly a tribute to Queen's classic II cover.

As always I had help from Patrick and my Ghostbuster friends, providing some nice reference for their likenesses.

Here are the credits for our regular team. Starting with the Abbey Road cover below, each cover from now on will have this consistent team, to keep things moving along.....and so the characters look the same..ha!

Vincent Nordone = Ray

Members of the Real Tampa Bay Ghostbusters
Robby Fuselier = Venkman
Patrick Creel = Egon
Rob Pearson = Winston

and of course, the very talented Lisa Stevens behind the camera. Thanks again everyone!

And here is my Abbey Road Ghostbusters homage for IDW's GB monthly series. This cover will be the variant for issue #2, in stores in October.

Team Angel prints

2011-06-07T01:34:00.000-07:00

This is another print that I'll have in San Diego. This cover has been on the net for a while now, but I just realized that I never posted it here, whoops...

Dr Who?!

2011-06-06T00:45:00.000-07:00

A few new things

2011-05-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

A Rocketeer painting that I'm offering as prints in Phoenix and San Diego.

A Superman and Batman montage painting. Also available as a print.

A cover I penciled (being inked by Armando Durruthy) for an Image Comics pitch being put together by Denver artist Nathanial Hamel and Ryan Valdez. The book is titled "Lore"

And finally, this painting was done as a trade for some tattoo work at a great shop here in Denver called Fortune Cookie Tattoo.

Ghostbusters: Monthly

2011-05-25T13:07:00.001-07:00

Well, it official, Ghostbusters has gone monthly! The news about the book has been making it's rounds on the net for a few weeks now, and I thought it'd be good to post my variant cover for issue #1. The book hits stores this September.

IDW is having me paint homage covers dedicated to some of the most iconic album covers. Each variant will be an homage to a different band, with a nice, funny GB twist! This cover is an homage to Ken Kelly's 1976 KISS Destroyer album art.

As always, with GB, I had a blast completing this cover, and I was fortunate enough to, once again, have help from the fan community and my friend Patrick Creel of the Real Tampa Bay Ghostbusters. They have helped me out tremendously over the past year and a half with amazing photo shoots (for my reference) and overall support towards IDW comics.

For this cover, Patrick, Ben Bond, Rob Pearson (Tampa Bay), and Ben King (UK GB) joined forces to bring our favorite paranormal team to life once again. This is especially helpful now, that I'll be doing these new variant covers as hand painted acrylic pieces. Having the wonderful photos from Lisa Stevens to work from makes my job very fun! She has taken so many amazing photos of Patrick and the team, and they always give me great ideas to work from. Thanks again guys! Much appreciated!

With Dapper Dan doing interiors and A covers as well, I know readers will be in for a major treat with this new series. I'm always happy to see anything Ghostbusters!

Welcome to the Jungle

2011-04-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here is my new painting for the cover of Cockatoo News, the WW2 comic book I'm working on. A few months back I posted the first version of the cover, but at this point it didn't work as well in capturing the over-all "mood" of the book, so I decided to re-do it. The first cover will probably be used for a specific issue later in the story, instead of the first issue, like this one. If the book is collected or put out as a graphic novel, this will also be the cover.

And here's the cover with the logo too.

The original for this measures about 30" x 22" and it's acrylics and colored pencils. One of the lens flair effects is hand-painted and I added the other in photoshop. Just a nice touch to make the sun spot more interesting.

There will be a new back cover as well, which I will post soon.

Boy Wonder poster

2011-03-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

This painting I did is being used as one of the official promo posters for an amazing new film called Boy Wonder, directed by Michael Morrissey. Feel free to check out the trailer for the movie here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQMSaRd2TSE

or a complete overview of the film over at IMDB.com

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1456060/

Spike 100 Page Special

2011-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

Here's my painted cover for the Spike 100 Page Collection Special. This very well may be my last Whedonverse cover, but I have no idea at this point.

Bane of Yoto

2011-02-16T15:10:00.001-08:00

One more

2011-02-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I was under the impression that my last Angel cover was one that is now a couple covers back, so I honestly don't know for sure which one it'll be. For now, I'm guessing this will be it, but we'll see. This is the variant cover to Angel #44.

Spike 2011

2011-01-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

Well, it's the new year, and 2011 still sounds like the year from a sci-fi movie to me, but hey, these are strange days we live in.

Anyway, here's the inks for my variant cover to Spike #8 from IDW. It's the last of my covers for this run, and I suspect for the Whedonverse, unless there are any more collected books or issues before Dark Horse gets back the various titles in a few months.

For this cover, I chose to go with the same "film" noir, high-contrast look as the last cover. I gave Spike a bit heavier coat than his usual leather jacket, and turned the collar up for more shadows.

A gift

2010-12-26T01:58:00.000-08:00

This painting was done as a Christmas gift for a very special person.

Turtle Power!

2010-12-16T02:55:00.000-08:00

Well, in honor of the awesome artists over at eclecticmicks.blogspot.com using TMNT for their sketch theme this week, I decided to do something quick along those same lines. I always liked the original comic designs with red masks for all 4 of them, but I totally understand the marketing behind the different colors. Kids can identify with each character easier that way... and buy more toys!

For this quick, inked, colored sketch I wanted to mix the Turtle designs by showing Donatelo with the large build of the cartoon and movies, but the red mask of the first comics, instead of his normal purple one. I also wanted to draw in a different style for this piece, than I have before. Just for a cheap thrill I guess, trying new inking, and zip techniques....

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was such a big part of my early childhood, that this piece was a lot of fun!

Spike Noir

2010-12-02T18:13:00.000-08:00

I wanted one of my Spike covers to be different than the painted style, so I did this. I think it works better as a black and white inked piece, but the color seems to complete the mood.

I love old detective films, and anything comic related that is done in a dark "noir" style.

My original idea was to have the black mass of crows be Spike's actual shadow ,cast by his cigarette, but in the end, the composition of it moves from left to right easier this way. I just flipped Spike around and added the stone wall. Not being his shadow, the crows still add a nice boarder to the image....I think.

Whedonesque

2010-11-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here's my painting for the variant cover to Spike #6 from IDW. Willow guest stars in this issue as well, so a nice simple image of them together seemed appropriate.

Again, like usual, this is acrylic and colored pencils on illustration board. 30"x 20"

Reach for the Stars

2010-11-15T03:24:00.001-08:00

I'm still holding off on commissions at the moment, but here are a couple older ones that I forgot about. First, this piece was done for someone who was having different comic artists re-create the cover for Starman #36. This is my version.

And then, a Gambit/ Rogue X-men pin-up.

Something different

2010-11-05T00:26:00.000-07:00

This will be the variant cover for Angel #41. I wanted to do one in my regular style as a little break in between the painted covers.

Follow-up NYCC

2010-10-16T02:12:00.001-07:00

Well, Ney York was amazing!! I've been to the city 3 times now, but this was the first time I was able to experience it for more than a few hours at a time. Great time! The Comic con was a blast and was packed on Saturday. Like 90,000 in one day.

Also, I got to finally meet Stephen Mooney, do the art swap, and have some drinks. It was great seeing all the eclectic micks again. Cheers Will and Dec! Thanks for all the great art gentlemen. It's all hangin in the studio now. Anybody who's not familiar with their killer art should check out the daily sketchblog at www.eclecticmicks.blogspot.com

Good people....

And this cover below is for Spike #5 from IDW. I had a LOT of fun painting this one. I couldn't keep a straight face when painting Elvis.

And this is a little Super-painting that was supposed to be for sale at NYCC, but I didn't finish it on time. Something quick for practice.

Headed to New York

2010-10-03T05:03:00.001-07:00

Well, before I leave on Thursday for NYC, here's my newest Angel cover. It's the variant cover for issue #39. Again, like usual, it's all hand-painted with acrylics and colored pencils on gessoed illustration board. It's 30"x19"

I've really been enjoying these last Angel covers, and I'm looking forward to meeting a ton of new people at the New York Comic-Con next week!

Cheers mates!

Commissions

2010-09-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent commissions that I finished. Unfortunately I'm holding back on new ones for a couple months, to catch up on work ( of course that doesn't include any commissions that I've already agreed to though) and then I'll be back at 'em!

First off is an Iron Man painting for Angel artist Stephen Mooney. He's an awesome dude, and an amazing artist, and we've been talking about an art swap for months, so this will be traded at NYCC for some of his comic art.

Next up is a Batman piece that was done a few months back.

Last but not least, I was commissioned to do my "take" on the famous death of Gwen Stacey atop the George Washington bridge. On the cover of that issue, Spidey's got her in his arms, but the person this was done for wanted her on the ground, with Parker in front of her, protecting her from the Goblin. It came out ok.

Pictures of Home

2010-09-27T20:26:00.001-07:00

Well, at the moment, I'm preparing for the New York comic-con, but the main project that keeps me busy these days is a WWII graphic novel called Cockatoo News. I'll be drawing it until well into next year, but for now, here's the inside front cover image.

This acrylic painting shows photos of Erik's home and friends. Erik is the main character of this book. He's based on a real person, but the story consists of fictional men in a very real place and time: the dark heart of the New Guinea jungle.

Erik worked as a butcher in St. Louis before the war. The photos are all supposed to have been taken by him, so the people in them are just random friends and co-workers. He's looking at them in his tent in New Guinea.

The Greyhound bus photo is based on a place in California near the military based where the characters first trained. They were training for north Africa, and at the last second, were sent instead to the Pacific. Not a good trade. Surviving the jungle becomes a war within itself. These photos are a nice bit of peace among a world of shit.

Angel's Last Stand

2010-08-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

Well, since the Angel comic title will be returning to Dark Horse, issues 40-44 will be the last Angel issues published by IDW. This is my variant cover for issue #40. The amazing Jenny Frison is providing the regular covers, so fans should have a nice choice for each issue.

This cover shows Angel, Connor, and James. James has really only been seen in the comic book, so there was no "real" person to base his likeness on. I just went with a generic face that seemed to fit his character. I saw it a bit different in my head, but this seems to work, I think...haha.

I painted this by hand with acrylics and colored pencils. Some glowing light was added with the airbrush, for the background. Unlike my Angel Aftermath covers, which were painted in black and white and colored in Photoshop, this cover and the rest will be painted in color, with no digital effects.

Anyway, I believe this Angel story arc begins in November. Check it out!

The Avengers

2010-08-05T22:58:00.001-07:00

This painting above is something I did for another portfolio piece, and to try and get more cover work. I'm really enjoying painting with this technique, and I thought since the last post involved DC characters, this one should involve Marvel. I chose to show the avengers as they've been seen sperately on screen (Thor has only been seen in previews for the movie next summer.) Also, even though Bruce Banner has already been re-cast for the actuall Joss Whedon Avergers flick, I though Ed norton did the best job so far. Neither one of the Hulk movies has really gotten my attention, but maybe one day they'll make an interesting one.

Anyway, this is also going to be my Artist's Alley background display at Supercon in a week or so. It's right here in Denver, and it's a gaming convention. It should be a lot of fun, even though I don't know a lot about today's latest video games. The artwork for them is always amazing and exciting to me though, and I think it fits right in there with comic book art and illustration in general. I'll post more about Super-con after it's done.

Cheers!

After the Con ( Watchmen)

2010-07-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, this WAS supposed to be finished before Comic-con to show there, but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men....

Anyway, this is something I did as a potrfolio piece, using acrylic paints and colored pencils on illustration board. The original is fairly large (2'x3.5'). It was a lot of fun experimenting with this one. I thought that the Watchmen movie nailed some of the characters and totally missed the point on others. I chose to use movie reference for the a few of the guys, but I did my own versions of Viet and Silk Spectere (based on Gibbon's comic versions) I also chose to mix movie and comic versions of Nite Owl.

And, since I think the Comedian's face turned out the strongest, here's a dteail of it. Click on it to see it at the actuall size it was painted.

So, to get back to talking about Comic-con San Diego 2010, this year was AMAZING.

303

2010-07-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

This is an acrylic painting that I just finished as an illustration for Denver's 303 Magazine. It appears along with a piece of short fiction titled "Exporting Your Demons", written by Ben Simkins. When the issue is printed, I'll post more details and a photo of the double-page spread as it appears in the magazine. That way, the story can be read here on Comic Cove as well. The issue will be in stores next month.

This is probably one of the only illustrations I'll do where the face/ head can't be seen, but the character seen here is not the main focus of the story, but what he's carrying in his soaking wet, paper grocery bags.

October

2010-07-05T00:32:00.000-07:00

Ghostbusters+ Halloween= good times.....be sure to pick up a copy! In stores early Oct. from IDW.

Getting ready for San Diego

2010-06-15T15:09:00.001-07:00

Independence Day

2010-06-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Don't forget about the Ghostbusters 4th of July special, which is in stores this month!

Dr. Jones

2010-05-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

I'm very slowly gearing up for San Diego Comic-con and I thought I'd post one of my prints that will be available in Artist's Alley.

An Indy painting I did from a while back.

C2E2, One Week Later

2010-04-26T01:04:00.003-07:00

Well, Chicago was a great time, and the C2E2 Comic and Entertainment Expo went VERY well for it's first year around. I had the chance to meet a ton of amazingly talented artists and writers and got to hang out with a few of them. I bought some original GL art from Patrick Gleason, and got to meet Mike Richardson from Dark Horse. I also had a fun time hanging out with Arie Kaplan (writer for DC, Mad), Will Sliney (artist for Farscape) and Declan Shalvey (artist for 28 Days later). Cheers guys! IDW aslo threw a bad-ass party at Challenger's comics (downtown Chicago), so thanks to Jimmy, Chris Ryall, Scott Tipton, Andy Schmidt, and everyone else that was hangin out.

I plan on returning to Chicago next year for another awsome show.

Here's a recent Ghostbusters piece that was done as a commission, and then made into prints for C2E2. I'll have prints of this available in San Diego this July as well. The commision for this came from friends of Patrick Creel ( Real Tampa Bay Ghostbusters), as an idea for a surprise birthday present for him. Once I heard it was for that, I was on board, and it ended up being a lot of fun. Patrick is the reference model for Egon on my Ghostbusters covers for IDW. He and his awsome friends helped me out big time with the GB: Convolution (4th of July) one-shot. It hits stores in June. Check it out!

Also, anyone from Tampa Bay Florida should recognize the buildings that Egon is standing over.....ha!

This is a Spider-man piece that I did as a commission too. Prints are also available for this. It was originally a part of a "Spider-man and His Amazing Friends" commission for my new friend Mikeal, but I thought Spidey worked well by himself too. I adjusted it and Gabe colored it.

Farscape

2010-04-06T01:04:00.001-07:00

Here's my second cover for Boom! studio's Farscape: Scorpius series. I'm doing the variant covers for the book. I'm very much enjoying working with the guys at Boom, and they seem really awsome!

As you can see my Kubrick inspiration is back for this piece. A while back when I was penciling it, I was watching my favorite sci-fi movie: 2001 A Space Odyssey. That kind of simple, yet powerful composition seems to work well for this kind of theme.

"Singin In the Rain"

2010-02-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

This "Clockwork Orange" image is just a watercolor painting I did for fun, and a way to practice that medium again. ( A medium that I haven't painted with since 2006) So it was a bit of a challenge to come back. After painting with acrylics and using colored pencils, it's a tough switch. Trying to be super-detailed and crisp with watercolor is kind of pointless to me, and it was nice to leave the painting a bit "softer".

Stanley Kubrick is my all time favorite director, and an amazing photographer as well, and I believe A Clockwork Orange is quite possibly his greatest work, aside from 2001. Extremely shocking, even after 40 years, but with a certain beauty that is undeniable. Only Kubrick can do that. The Anthony burgess novel is amazing, but the visuals that the film adds are like paintings come to life.

That's why I chose to experiment with this subject for a practice painting. I'll be trying out other Kubrick homages in the future.

Justice in the New Year

2010-01-19T21:49:00.000-08:00

Some of my recent work. I penciled this and it was inked and colored by DC/Wildstorm colorist Gabe Eltaeb.

Super "Man of Snow"

2009-12-10T16:25:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are the four b&w pages for the Superman holiday story. It's the second short story featured in the DC Universe Holiday Special '09. It's titled "Man of Snow". I did the pencils, the inks were done by my good friend Gabe Eltaeb (who also does amazing color work on Green Lantern Corps. for Dc/ Wildstorm). Colors were done by Ulises Arreola, and leters by Travis Lanham. And of course, it was all written by the very talented and cool Arie Kaplan.

Please feel free to head to your local comic shop and check out the finished product. The Holiday Special is a whopping 80 pages, but it's a great read and contains tons of fun holiday stories, from some truly talented creative teams. Happy Holidays!

Man of Steel

2009-12-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

In October, I got the chance to pencil my first DC story. It's a short 4-page Superman story for the DC Holiday Special. It's in stores this month! Dec. 9th to be exact. Please get to your local store and have a look! The issue features tons of wonderful stories and some of the top artist's work. I'm very honored to be a part of it.

Here's a snip-it from page 3. This is a section (cropped) from panel 1. Just a small tease! I'll be posting all the b&w art when the issue comes out next wed.

Here are the credits for the Superman story. It's titled: "Man of Snow"

Writer: Arie Kaplan
Pencils: Nick Runge
Inks: Gabe Eltaeb
Colors: Ulises Arreola

Gears

2009-12-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is a GOW pin-up that I did with my friend (and fellow comic artist) Gabe Eltaeb. He did the inks and colors. This was just for fun. And it was!

Displaced

2009-12-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

Been really busy these past couple months and I have a lot of cool things to talk about here in a few days. Until then though, here's a new Ghostbusters cover (GB: Displaced Aggression #4). Chris Ryall has posted the pencils for this way back before Comic-con, but this issue is finally hitting stores this month. Check it out!

I did pencils and colors for this, and the inks were done by the amazing Armando Durruthy. He was cool enough to lend his top-notch inking skills to these GB covers.

After the Con

2009-08-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, it's certainly been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd update 'ya with some new covers. First up, since these three covers were shown at the IDW Angel panel at Comic-con, here they are again. First Angel 26 (above), and then the two Stephen Mooney covers for the "Last Angel in Hell" issues. I colored these for the "Moondog" and I have to say, working on his awsome art was a pleasure! We should colaborate again dude!

Then, next up are two new Ghostbusters covers: Ghsotbusters- Displaced agression #2 and a Ghostbusters Christmas Carol (a holiday special) In the Displaced agression series, all the GBs are lost throughout time and space. This cover shows Ray Stantz in the days of King Arthur, battling ghostly gouls and demons. Also, as you may have noticed, this cover is my tribute to Tom Mandrake's wonderful Doctor Who cover. Since the GBs are traveling through time and other dimensions, I thought it would be cool to pay homage to Dr. Who, who does the same.

And the GB Christmas special deals with Scrooge and those three famous ghosts he meets. Classic story with a hell of a twist!

Fallen Angel Reborn

2009-06-25T01:51:00.000-07:00

Here is my variant cover for Peter David's Fallen Angel: Reborn #3. The colors and the inks.

I've also attached the inks for my cover for issue #2. I liked the inks better than the colors, so the colors can been seen on the printed cover, but just the inks here,..for now.

This mini-series is a cross-over series that features Joss Whedon's character Illyria from the Angel comics/show. It debutes in July, and my variant cover for issue #1 can been seen by going to this blog's archives, where it was posted a while ago.

I'm completing the cover for issue #4 right now. Also, J.K. Woodward is the main interior/cover artist for this mini-series and the main Fallen Angel series. His work is incredible! I strongly suggest picking this book up when it's out, but make sure to get both covers! ha ha....

The Boys Are Back in Town

2009-06-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

Here are the colors for the first Ghostbusters issue of the new series. This cover is a speacial variant cover and is one of the three that will be offered with this issue. This series is titled Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression and it's being written by Scott Lobdell. it debutes from IDW in September.

In this series, our favorite paranirmal exterminators have been scattered throughout time! Venkman is in the old west in 1886. Ray has been sent to the time of King Arthur, Egon is on a Mars colony in the future, and Winston is stuck in the timestream! Find out more in sept.

And, since this eries has been listed in the solicits for Sept. I thought I'd also post the main cover (A) that I did as well. It shows Venkman with his "old-west style" costume and equipment battling a "demon' oil-slick which has picked up a bunch of cows. I've done 3 of the four covers for this four-part miniseries (two covers for issue one) and the fourth is almost ready. I'll be posting the others when it's ok to show them.

Mr. Jigsaw is back!

2009-06-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, it's been a while since my last post, and I thought I'd re-post this cover I recently did for Mr. Jigsaw #4 with the logo. Mr. Jigsaw, Man of a Thousand Parts is a superhero created by Ron Fortier (Green Hornet, Terminator:Burning Earth) and Artist Gary Kato. I had the pleasure of meeting Ron and his family last Dec., and since Ron wrote the first comic that Alex Ross ever did (terminator) I quickly turned into a fanboy at first! Ha ha, but then Ron offered to let me do a cover for the return of Mr. Jigsaw.

Mr. Jigsaw had not seen the pages of a comic in years, but now Ron and Gary have re-printed the first three original issues and Gary has illustrated a brand new issue! It's called "The phantom of Studio B" and it's great! It will be available soon from airship27.com

Also, here are the inks for the cover as well.

Denver Comicfest

2009-04-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest to the first annual Denver Comicfest. I just want to officially thank Jason, Matt, Ben and everyone else who put on the wonderful show. Even against blizzard-like conditions for Fri ans Sat, a large crowd flowed through the Artist's Alley and into the show-room.The show was a blast!

I got to sell sketches and to meet many amazing artists including Zach Howard, Armando Durruthy, John Cboins, Tom Rasch, Amy Hadley, Stan Yan, Mike Giger, and many more. Above is a Spidey pencil sketch that I sent in for the Comicfest skecthbook (sent out to stores in Colorado before the show).

They're Back!

2009-04-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone's favorite para-normal exterminators are back in action at IDW. Here are the pencils and inks for the first art of the new Ghostbusters mini-series. I'm not sure yet when this will be published, but I'm currently working away on four covers (not including this one posted here) for it.

There was some confusion between Idw and sony publishing (with the Other Side series) on weather or not actor liknesses could be used. I drew and colored the first cover to look like Bill Murray, Dan, Harold, and Ernie. Then Sony needed them changed. It wasn't a big deal, but I still laugh about it now and then. Just one of the many fun things and challanges of working on licensed property comics. With this new mini-series (not sure of official title) there is NO confusion. The characters can not look like the actors specifically, but MUST resemble the characters as closley as possible.

Comic Book Covers 2007-2009 (IDW)

2009-04-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to the Comic Cove! This is my new blog gallery for all my art. Either published comic book covers or commisions and fun stuff. This site will be updated every few days, with a new cover, sketch, or commision. To start of the posts, I've uploaded all of my covers for IDW publishing. They are from 2007 all the way up until now. They are below, but to see them all, the "older posts" button must be clicked on.

These covers are done using two different approaches. 1: My regular comic book "style" which is pencils/inks on 11x17" bristol board (colored using photoshop) and 2: My painted "style" which is acrylics/colored pencils on grey board. Then I scann the fully rendered b&w painting into my computer and add "photo filers' and things to it using photoshop. The end result looks like a hand-painted (color) painting. Something I'm still experimenting with. Used it for the covers for Angel #18-21, Terminator:salvation #2-4 and a few others. The rest are done in the regular fashion. Besides the cover above, (Fallen Angel/Illyria crossover) here is a list of the covers displayed below. (not in this particular order though)

Angel #22: Aftermath conclusion
Terminator Salvation #1 (big terminator head with red coloring)
Terminator Salvation #1 variant unpublushed (blue coloring with red eyes)
Term. Salv. #2 (truck chase scene)
Term. Salv. #3 (terminator buried in sand surrounded)
Term. Salv. #4 (T-600 with fire behind him)
Badger Saves the World #1 (Badger on rooftop)
Badger Saves the world #2 (ninjas)
Badger TPB (red background)
Badger Bull! One -shot (Badger kicking gun)
Ghostbusters: The Other Side #1 (four guys together)
GB:Other Side #2 (Graveyard cover: blue)
GB: Other Side #4 (venkman behind red logo)
Star Trek TNG: Last generation #5 variant
Gene Simmons Omnibus cover
Angel ATF #12 (wesley)
Angel ATF #13 (connor/Angel)
Angel ATF #14 (Angel through the years)
Angel ATF #9 (I love LA)
Angel Aftermath #18 (Angel, jaguar)
Angel #19 (black cover)
Angel #20 (dez in cage)
Angel #21 (Cordy, kate, gwen)
Angel #23 (blue Gunn cover)
Angel #24 (Drusilla part one-candles)
Angel #25 (Drusilla part two-Hell-A )
Gutwrencher pin-up (sweater-vest axe killer)
Helmethead poster pitch (horror-movie)

I think that's it, but i may have missed a couple.

Also, three of these covers (original art b&w) are available now for sale. Go to ebay.com and type in any of these three descriptions in the search bar. If anyon'e interested, please check 'em out! Thanks everyone!

Original Angel #14 Cover IDW Nick Runge

Original Ange #23 Cover IDW Nick Runge

Original Ghostbusters #4 Cover IDW Nick Runge

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