MC & HNY

I'm sorry but i really couldn't come up with anything funny and original for the greeting card. Another drunk or evil Santa or sexy girl dressed in his costume don't do it for me. Which doesn't mean I don't wish you all the best in 2011. : )
So instead, here's something that I hope will make you smile ... : )

The making of ...

So, I've been asked to participate in The Hero Initiative, non-profit organization dedicated to raise money for creators in need. I gladly accepted, of course.
I got an issue of JLA with blank cover to illustrate, which will be sold on auction. Choosing which character I'll draw took seconds, but deciding what situation to depict took awhile. Didn't wanna get too pretentious, yet wanted something with a catch. Finally, came up with this ...
Now, drawing on the actual cover was quite tricky. You have all the printed pages underneath it and staples in the middle, the paper is rather smooth (I got used to the rough boards DC provides) and there's a stage-fright of not screwing it up, because you can't just throw it away and take another one. So, the pencil drawing was quite rude. And difficult to scan ...
With the paper being smooth, I decided to ink with markers. No pens or brushes.
If it was an actual job, this is what it would look like - scanned as line art.
Again, with paper being smooth, gray marker would be really messy, so I've dropped it. And I've chickened out on casting Batman's shadow on the bricks behind him, but played a little bit with gray tones in Photoshop. For my amusement and your viewing pleasure. : )

Nana nana nana nana nana ...

... BAT-MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

JL

Christ, you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me!

Funny

I've been (rightfully) criticized for neglecting the blog and taking it too seriously.
So, there you go ... : )

CRŠ report

Yeah, I know I've promised second part of NY Con report, but Blogger is really not friendly for posts with lots of pics along with commentaries, so I'll do it later.
In the meantime, I just wanted to let you all know that I had a great time on the last installment of Crtani Romani Šou! This one was the 13th and it was one of the best.
There were lots of exhibitions, promotions and signings. Lots of friends showed up, it was a beautiful weather and we had a lot of fun.
The guests were really diverse, so everybody could find something interesting.
Iztok Sitar
Jerome, Olivier and Anne Claire Jouvray
Stan Sakai
Štef Bartolić
Aleksa Gajić
And, the one and only - Howard Chaykin, who blew our minds and was in large part responsible for making this year's festival one of my all-time favourite!
All these photos were done by Davor Đurinić, so big thanks to him! You can find much more here.

CRŠ TRINAJSTI !!!

Be afraid! Be very, very afraid! : )Poster by Shtef.

New York Report, part 1

OK, here we go ...
We (Esad, Zeljka, Talaja, Vlatka and me) rented an apartment in Hell's Kitchen for a week. Esad found a perfect location; 5 minutes of walk to the convention center and 15 to our publisher's offices. Cosy place, cheaper then any hotel on same location.
That window on the second floor, on the left - that was my room.
Manhattan is amazing! None of the pics can really describe how tall these buildings are.


But honestly I can't imagine people actually living and working in there. Of course it's not all just skyscrapers. One of my favourite is Dakota building where "Rosemary's baby" is taking place and where John Lennon lived and was shot in front of.
Dakota is right next to Central Park. Big and beautiful!
You could almost forget you're in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world ...
Yeah, almost ...
Around the town there are smaller parks, like Bryant Park here. Perfect places for a coffee and cigarette breaks.


I was surprised to hear from the local people same rant that's going on probably in every bigger (or smaller) city in the world - how it all changed and it's not like it's used to be. That Times Square looks like Las Vegas now, for instance. To me, it always seemed that way.
What I find ironic, if not cynical, is that at the tourist epicenter of Big Apple there's a recruiting center. I wondered can a tourist come in and get drafted?
Not that I'd want to do it myself, of course. >: )
We met Spiderman there. At first we got along just fine, but then ...
... he found out I'm working for DC Comics! : P
So, Talaja had to jump in and explain there's a new boss in town!
Speaking of DC Comics, their building on Broadway is far from being one of the largest, but being all black, it stands out as rather unique.

At the corner of it, there's a coffee bar/restaurant with chairs and tables outside where you can smoke. So I had my meetings down there, instead up in the offices.
Corridors and offices are decorated in a way that you have no doubt comics are being produced here. This is Metropolis. On the lower floors there's Gotham, too.

That statue is rather lame. I liked the old one better.
This is not some teenager's room. It's a typical room of a DC employee. : )
New York is famous for its restaurants, too. There's probably not a nation in the world that wouldn't have its cuisine here. We visited quite a few. Man's gotta eat, right? This is a Japanese one, with bizarre shop above it.
From left, clockwise: Davide Gianfelice and Danielle, Esad Ribic and Zeljka, Vlatka and Dalibor Talajic.
Evening after that at Chinese restaurant a historic moment - "Scalped" crew meeting in person all together for the first time. So much love there; Will Dennis, R.M. Guera, Jason Aaron and Giulia Brusco!
And, since I'm at name-dropping ... : ) A Spanish dinner with Vertigo people. From left, clockwise: Jason Aaron, Rafael Albuquerque and his wife, Mark Doyle, Will Dennis, Cliff Chiang, Brian Azzarello, me and R.M. Guerra.
And that would be all for now. Next part will be all about the con.

Hell's Kitchen and Moebius

I'm back. Exhausted, but happy. New York was amazing. We stayed in Hell's Kitchen and I expected Daredevil to jump from the roofs any time.

Paris was way too short, but I got lucky - the day I arrived big exhibition of the world's greatest genius opened. To see huge bulk of Moebius' original art in one place absolutely made the trip worthy!

Unfortunately it wasn't allowed to take pictures at the exhibition, but I'll be posting more pics from NY soon.
Stay tuned.

New York, New Yoooork!

Today I'm leaving for New York for a week. I'll be attending New York Comic Con held there next weekend. It's more then three years since my last visit. On my way back I'll spend couple of days in Paris. I'll be back on 14th of October. Ain't life sweet, eh? : )
Managed to finish some work before the trip, but still not enough. So, as soon as I get back it's work, work, work ...

Be good boys and girls while I'm away. I'll be thinking 'bout you. : )

24hour people

Here.

Strip radionica

Kreće nova sezona. Tico ju vodi, kao i do sada. Moja topla preporuka. : )

Keep on truckin' ...

Warehouse

This one's for Rico! : )