Cars Test Pages

In a way, Cars came to me out of the clear blue sky. My frequent collaborator, Mark Cooper, and I had self-published a collection of short stories we had done called "Intrepid Events." (I will certainly post some of that stuff in this blog in the near future.) A couple of weeks after getting a table at the Emerald City Comic Con and selling a few, Mark called me up to tell me the news that Boom! Studios had called to ask if we would be interested in auditioning for their upcoming line of Cars comics. Rarely have I been more excited! So Mark and I came up with a story, Mark wrote the script and I drew and colored a couple pages. Soon thereafter, I learned that our work was approved and that we were ready to contribute to the Cars comics! (Someone told me that, at some point, these pages had to have found their way under the eyes of John Lasseter himself! YOW!!!) And thus began my relationship with the Cars Comics. So far I have drawn and colored several dozen covers and drawn 6 full issues. It's been one of the most exciting and productive creative efforts of my life.

I have many people to thank for this. Ross Richie, publisher at Boom Studios for giving me a break. Paul Morrissey and Aaron Sparrow, the editors of the Cars books, who'se patience and guidance were essential for me to give these images my very best efforts. Alan Porter, who wrote most of the issues I worked on. Patrick Rills, a colse friend and collaborator whose interest and assistance was extremely invaluable, (we were close... SO CLOSE!!!) But most of all, Mark Cooper, without whom I would not have done Intrepid Events, would not have been contacted by Boom, would not have drawn those test pages that got me in, and whose conversation and moral support offered me comfort and encouragement every step of the way. Furthermore, I have enjoyed the company of everybody I have met at and through Boom Studios, and I have a whole coterie of friends I can indiscriminately instant message at random and inconvenient moments each and every day. Thank you all!

Over the next however-many months, I'm going to share with you a LOT of the work I did for the Cars comics, covers, sketches, pages, unpublished behind the scenes stuff. Just keep coming back, people, there's a lot on the way!