a mirror image... : Platinum Studios

Order Hero By Night issue 4 for only .79 CENTS (with FREE shipping)

Jason Embury — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:32:00 GMT

I can't say much more, .79 cents for the full color, 32 page, issue 4 of Hero By Night from Platinum Studios Comics. You can't find a superhero comic ANYWHERE that cheap. It's 32 pages of high quality, (beautifully colored if I may be so bold) compellingly written, superhero GENIUS for less than a dollar. the best part, FREE shipping. If you're like me, you're spending over $5 just to drive to and from your local comic shop. why not get FREE shipping and get yourself a little extra each month. Heavyink.com now offers 20% off of EVERY single book or trade collection at their site, and free shipping on ALL orders. You can start a subscription to all of your favorite titles (like Hero By Night for instance) it's easy to sign up, and it's where I'm buying all my books from now on as well. Check it out, and order your copy of Hero By Night for less than a dollar!!!!

Wizard World LA 2008 recap

Jason Embury — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:02:00 GMT

SO…I got in last night around 2:30 in the morning here. Wide awake, and not the slightest bit tired. Took a long, HOT shower for the first time in like 4 days, and was able to relax enough to get to bed by 3:30 or so. Didn’t wake up until noon today, which sort of put a crimp on me getting to work at 8am, but I’ve unpacked my bags, got things put in their places here, answered my emails, picked up my son from school, and am going to get most of my thoughts out here so I can get to work. 5 more pages to finish by tomorrow night, but I’m thinking of going all out juggernaut in a bit and wrapping them all up today then just sleeping in tomorrow again. Thursday- The flight out was great, after having to drive over and park in the overflow lot at the airport, wait on the shuttle to get me to my terminal, get through security and just BARELY catching my flight it seemed like. Gioy De Marco from Platinum picked me up at the airport, and got me over to where they were filming the Comic Book Challenge 2008 commercial in good time (and she’s NOT quite as maniacal a driver as everyone was telling me either) Or I’m JUST as crazy a driver and just didn’t notice it :D ) So once we were on location, the MIGHTY Dave Collins got me a sandwich while picking up some props (cuz man, was I starving by then) and the guys filming the commercial got down to bizness. Those guys did such a great job, it was really cool watching them work, the director Dave was awesome. And I sympathized with him, cuz he had a headache that kept getting worse throughout the night just like I did. I got to play this crossing guard, who dressed up as a crazy character called Crossing Justice, cape and all. I had fun with that once I got to wear the cape, doing all kinds of crazy Batman and vampire type stuff with the cape. It was a good time. The funniest thing was, that while I was standing out there in the street with the stop sign and big construction worker gloves on, people thought I was ACTUALLY directing traffic (in the middle of a 4 way stop intersection) it was kind of funny. Until the cop car pulled up, did a U-turn in the middle of the intersection and parked across the street. I went to tell Dave, “dude, if I get arrested, guess who’s bailing me out of jail!?” :D Turns out he was just visiting another house of some buddies or something. The UPS truck DID get kind of close to me as it raced by, and there was this whacked out lady driving around in an Expedition that regardless of the fact that I was standing with stop sign in the middle of the street, there was camera equipment set up all over, and I was directing her to just swerve slightly AROUND me into the next lane, looked like she had no intent of moving her car over and would be perfectly happy to just run me the hell over with her big gas guzzling BEAST of an SUV. She did end up going around at the last second, but that was funny. I mean, I had a CAPE on for crying out loud. What? She thought she could run over Crossing Justice? That vehicle would have BUCKLED and crumpled like aluminum foil if it had tried to run me over (at least that’s how I was seeing it in my mind) We then went back to the Platinum offices, met some more people up there and got to see them hard at work at 8 pm in their offices. I mean, half the office was still there at 8 at night, really busting ass on things, and making magic. It was so cool to see how passionate they all are, and to see how much they all LOVE their jobs. That’s how I am, and I really respect the hell out of people that work that hard at something because they love what they’re doing. A funny moment we had was when DJ and I went into their big board room, and sat at the head of their tables, and were just watching the film crew set everything up and watching everyone interact in the lobby together. DJ and I were in there, just talking comics, talking about plans we’ve got in motion, and just thinking it was a real cool place to have meetings (toys, video games, movie posters, statues all over the place) So we’re sitting there talking, probably looking like we were deep in conversation and Scott Rosenberg walks in with his pal Gareb Shamus (the dude who owns Wizard) Scott introduced us again, I’m pretty sure that I met Gareb last year in LA, and it was funny to hear him say that was actually the first time he had BEEN in the offices since WAY BACK when he was in there with Scott before they signed their lease. Those guys are really cool, because you can tell they’re just average guys like everyone else that LOVE what they do. So hopefully Scott didn’t think DJ and I were plotting a coup or anything :D Friday- A fun day to start the show really. Got to see everyone in action at the Platinum booth, moving their product. What a difference a year makes too. Last year at this time, they really had only 3 or 4 titles out, this year, there are tables worth of product, the HBN hard cover trades, singles from the original 4 issue mini-series of HBN, and the first 2 issues of the ongoing book, the GUNPLAY preview edition (which went over AMAZINGLY well with the crowd), The Weapon mini-series by Scott Koblish, Fred Van Lente, and Paul Mounts (probably my FAVORITE thing they’ve done outside of HBN in the last year) and just lots of cool energy flowing around the place. The guys at Mac Hollywood had some Wacom Cintiq’s set up there for us to play around on and demonstrate things, and I got to do some really cool painting stuff on there. Just quick little 15-20 minutes paintings of stuff like Batman and Spiderman, a quick little environmental concept painting, but it’s cool to have people that know how to use stuff like that just jamming things out as the crowd walks by, it makes the STOP and watch what’s going on, which is what it’s all about at conventions really. DJ and I had a Hero By Night signing at 1 that day, and we did a cool interview with The Weekend Gamer I think as well. Hopefully some of my comments don’t come across as me bashing on other BIG publishers of superheroes, because that’s NOT what I was trying to get at. The interviewer just asked me what I thought was the best thing about HBN (or something like that) and I told her, it’s the fact that he’s not an angst ridden hero with lots of complicated issues, he’s a regular guy that kids and adults can both relate to. I was getting more at the fact that he’s the sort of hero ANYONE can get into. HBN IS the number 1, yeah #1, superhero comic on the internet for a reason. Friday we spent relaxing at the bar of the hotel outside. Chatted about some interesting things, had a really drunk girl come up to the table out of nowhere, sit down and start talking to everyone. It was humorous. Learned a lot about everyone really on a personal level, and getting to interact with people like that and learn what their ambitions are in life, is really probably the COOLEST thing of all. It was great to sit next to Dan the man Forcey for instance, and listen to him talk about things like where he wants to be in 5 years, and get to know people like that on a personal level. Because really, in the end, what we DO for a living is nowhere near as interesting as learning about who we ARE as people. Maybe my wife and I will end up living in the same town as him and his woman in Argentina in 20 years and we’ll wind up meeting in a marketplace or something, laughing about how we both remember talking about stuff like that at a bar in LA 20 years beforehand. The way this Universe works you never know. Saturday- fun day all around. more playing on the Cintiqs. I had a signing with Tone Rodriguez, Nei Ruffino and THE Adam Black at noon for KISS related stuff. I worked on the KISS 4K KISSmas one-shot with Tone and Nei, and Adam is now doing all of the chores on the KISS 4K regular series which is being released completely online (with plans to collect all that content in trade form in the future I believe) That was a fun time, I hadn’t actually ever met Tone before, he seemed REAL cool. I’ve met Nei before in passing really, but talked shop about coloring comics and stuff for a while and she seems like a real cool person. I’ve known Adam for a while now, and I’ve been helping him with his coloring for a few months now. That dude is so talented, that once I think he realizes his potential, he’s going to blow up. At 1pm, right after that KISS signing, DJ and I had an HBN signing. I love seeing the KIDS come up to the booth with their HBN books, or come up to the booth for the first time, pick up an issue of HBN and just watch their eyes light up. I had a conversation with one little boy, must have been a bit younger than my son, maybe 6 or 7 years old. He picked up the first issue of the ongoing series, and was just so EXCITED by that opening fight scene between HBN and Elemento in the volcano with all the lava everywhere. I told him, “isn’t that awesome!? It’s just like at home when you’re hopping across the furniture to see if you can make it from one end of the room to the other so that your feet don’t touch the lava” He looks up at me and says, “YEAH!!!! I love doing that” His dad looks at me and says, he does that kind of thing all the time, that IS really cool. They bought like a whole SET of books and the trade. Not because I was pitching them a sale, or trying to pimp the superhero, but because they can RELATE to what’s IN the book. I used to do the SAME jumping from chair to chair to couch, to sometimes coffee table, when I was that age, pretending the carpet was this big vat of lava or something and if I fell off the chair or didn’t make that last jump, I’d fall into the lava or something. I’m betting that kids DAD did the same thing, and that is what I’m talking about with Hero By Night. It wows the KIDS, and it makes the grown ups who read it FEEL like a kid again, and REMEMBER what it was like when they were kids. It’s just such a cool thing to actually CONNECT with people like that at these shows. Because I know that there are people out there reading the book, or reading the online stories and material that’s put online, and feeling the SAME way. Lots of other great things happened on Saturday, that debut of Gunplay by written byJorge Vega, drawn by Dominic Vivona, and colored by Nei Ruffino, was absolutely HUGE. That book looks absolutely wonderful. Donald Faison from Scrubs, who was a judge for last years CBC, was there to sign books, and they gave all the proceeds to charity, which in my mind was a truly wonderful thing to do, it raised some good money and people seemed really jazzed about it. Talked with Alex Sinclair for a bit, I idolize that guy, but I try and keep it in check so he doesn’t think I’m some sort of stalker. He’s helped me out so much over the last couple of years, both directly and indirectly. :D Talked with Alp Altiner for a while as well, about his upcoming stuff at Top Cow, about matte painting, concept art, and what sort of things I should be working on to get into that sort of work. It was cool to hear him say that I had talent, so I know I’m not a two bit hack ENTIRELY now, and that made me feel really good. DJ and I had a conversation with Marc Robinson who we were familiar with from the digital webbing forums. Marc was a real nice guy, and it’s cool to see him starting to land some nice gigs now as well. He had some Spiderman pages from an upcoming book he’s doing at Marvel there to show off and they were off the HOOK. More importantly though, he’s been there, struggling like everyone, and he’s fought through it all and kept producing work. He’s got some MAD talent, and I really like to see nice people like that succeed. I wish him the absolute BEST. Scott took us to dinner that night, we had a good time talking all things comics and movies, but I also really dig talking about everyday things like family and stuff too. We both have daughters that are in middle school, have cell phones, boyfriends, all that stuff, so it’s cool to relate to people on those levels that you share a lot of things in common with, even when you work in entirely different industries and capacities really. It’s all creative work though in the end. Sunday-traveled. Airport, plane, car, home. Couldn’t get on standby, so caught the later flight after all. Today is catch up, with the family, with email, and with work later most likely once the kids are in bed here. It was a good time, but now I’ve got a LOT of work related catching up to do. I didn’t take any pictures the whole trip for once, so I may have to borrow of few from others as they get them up on the net and I get time. Whew!

Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel sneak peek!

Jason Embury — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:33:00 GMT

not much in a writing mood this morning, however here's a little peek at the Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel coming out in March from Platinum Studios. Written by Fred Van Lente (Marvel Adventures, Wolverine: First Class, The Incredible Hercules), with pencils by Billy Penn and colors and stuff by yours truly. enjoy!

Impromptu studio tour!

Jason Embury — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:42:00 GMT

so yesterday I had a REAL sore back, still sore today, but I realized it was likely a combination of having slept on it wrong the previous night, and also the height at which I was working with my new Cintiq. So after getting some things done, I HAD to rearrange my entire studio so I could work on the Cintiq in a more comfortable way. Pretty much 90% of my work day is spent coloring or painting digitally now, and I would be in for some serious health problems if I hadn't gotten this Cintiq and been able to get it set up so that it's as close as possible to working traditionally. Having it on my drawing table is a great idea of my wife's, and I have to say, so far so good. It's like I'm working on a regular piece of paper almost it's so comfortable. Also, finally got around to stealing my buddy DJ's idea of wallpapering his wall with artwork. Mine is mostly fantasy oil paintings and LOTS of color too. So without further ado, here's an impromptu studio tour.

First up the Nap Room (or movie room, depending on the time of day) The couch for power naps and thinking, and the chair for sketching and writing and stuff.

The entryway to the studio,

Computer area, complete with notepad for writing down ideas and stuff of course, art ref books, graphic novels, and my Imagine FX magazines.

The new Cintiq setup, much more comfortable, the beginning of the wall of art as wallpaper, some traditional tools, a Pantone flip book for color scheming, various supplies, comics and books, and of course my Cintiq.

Talking to Bob a few weeks ago about our mutual obsession with Batman, so these pics are for him. I had to split up the mini-shrine when I rearranged things, so first, the batman shelf, limited edition metal sculpture, 42 of 1200, various action figures, including the limited edition Rise of Sin Ztu videogame Batman (or however you spell that name),

Limited edition, gold trimmed collector plates, my 3 legged lucky frog, picture of my beautiful wife, my son dressed up as Batman for Halloween when he was 2, etc......

Hero By Night hardcover trade, limited edition with silver foil flames instead of blue, signed by CEO of Platinum Studios <a href="http://www.scottrosenbergblog.com/">Scott Rosenberg</a> (thanks for mailing that out to me Scott :D ) Displayed in a wonderful silver framed shadow box with glass case my wife got me for Xmas (thanks honey)

The ever growing wall of HBN comics. From right to left, the original HBN mini-series, including all issue 1 variants, issue 1 of the new ongoing series (soon to be joined by issue 2 once Fed Ex comes today or tomorrow), a Tiki-God clock which I refuse to set at the proper time of day, because I really could care less about what time it is and I doubt those Tiki-Gods care either, a few toys and HBN trades.

hope you enjoyed this short little visual tour. I'm off to get more coffee and get to coloring now! :D

Playing with words and such, Gunplay.

Jason Embury — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:37:00 GMT

I've been lucky enough to be get some advance looks at some of the artwork for last years Comic Book Challenge winning comic, Gunplay from creator Jorge Vega recently. I have to say, from what I've seen the book is coming along beautifully, and is creating it's own unique look to go along with such a great story concept as well. I really enjoy Nei Ruffino's coloring work as well, and now that she is onboard to help bring the artwork to life I think it's going to turn out being an absolutely gorgeous product when it goes to print soon. Jorge and the gang will also be in LA with DJ Coffman and myself doing signings at the Platinum Studios Booth in March at Wizard World. Pretty sure we'll be hanging around the booth chatting and sketching and whatnot all weekend as well, so make it a point to stop out and say hi. You can still preorder Gunplay from your local comic shop, <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=248550&b=44882&m=8908&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Etfaw%2Ecom%2FProfile%2FGunplay%2DGN%5F%5F%5F316314">or online right now as well</a>.

Hero By Night #3 is available for preorder NOW!

Jason Embury — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:36:00 GMT

The internet's #1 Superhero webcomic continues his adventures in his own ongoing print series as well with issue #3 available to pre-order right now. This swanky collage cover features over 75 images taken directly from the original HBN diaries that ran daily for over 21 weeks prior to the launch of the first HBN mini-series in 2007. The comic continues to gain steam, garnering glowing reviews from all over as we build a modern day ICONIC superhero for ALL AGES. So get your local comic shop to order the book for you, or preorder the book online NOW by clicking on the cover below. But don't take our word for it, ""The current comic book story manages to prove that superhero tales do not have to be filled with angst-ridden, morally conflicted "heroes" to be good." - Tanya Crawford, Broken Frontier "I suggest that fanboys cut the fat they’ve been choking down out of their comic budgets (*cough* Spider-Man *cough-cough* Superman) and add in some nutrition in the form of Hero by Night." -The Pullbox "Coffman’s artwork is fantastic. I love his style because it creates an “animated series” kind of feel to this series that I think is vastly appropriate. I really do dig his style and there’s not much negative I can say about it because it just flat-out works for this story. Coffman’s work is only enhanced by the vibrant and brilliant colors that Jason Embury brings to the page as well and the artwork in this book becomes the complete package." -Kevin Powers, Comics Bulletin

Stop stalling, make a name for yourself.

Jason Embury — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:38:00 GMT

going to attempt to find that artistic zone again today. there's a lot of stuff going on this week here, kids are home from school for a few days I think, and have a couple half days as well. I'm on the verge of having that "feeling" that you get sometimes as an artist, where you think you're about to get a LOT of good work done. It either ends up happening exactly as you're feeling, or you get next to nothing done. I'm going to play the confident card though, and we'll wait and see what the dealer ends up having. If things end up settling down here this week, instead of having to wait until next week to do so....I might be able to find that elusive switch that seemed to be in the on position the entire month of December, and which I've been looking for the last couple weeks here. wish me luck.

in somewhat related news, I have to get a bunch of stuff done here in the next month and a half, because Wizard World LA is coming up here in mid-March. You can check out more about the show and get tickets online right now, Wizard World LA 2008 Also, they've mistakenly put me down as the artist on Hero By Night, instead of the colorist, I'm sure that'll get fixed soon though :D You can also check out what times I'll be signing that weekend for Hero By Night and for the KISS comics, Platinum Studios Signing Schedule.

Mondays seem to be lethargic by nature I think. Which doesn't really give me and excuse, other than maybe I haven't had quite enough coffee yet.

Ringing in the New Year with a comic from the Dabel Brothers!

Jason Embury — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:10:00 GMT

Novelist C.E. Murphy (The Negotiator Trilogy,The Walker Papers) has signed a deal to produce her superhero comic series Take A Chance, with the Dabel Brothers! Issue 1 of the series is completely done, issue 2-5 will have art by the amazing Ardian Syaf, and I will be providing digital inks AND colors for this series. More news and updates to come as they roll in here, but I'm literally NECK DEEP in work here in the studio wrapping up colors on Hero By Night issue 2, and finishing up colors on the Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel for Platinum Studios in the next month as well. Here's a sample of my colors from issue 1, and a sample of the digital inks from issue 3!

Looking back and stepping forward.

Jason Embury — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:47:00 GMT

2008 is here, and I’ve gotten caught up enough with work, and taken enough time off to enjoy family and relaxation here, that I can look back on the great things that 2007 brought to me, and look forward to what this year has in store. I’m not a big list guy, but there will be lists in this post just to make it shorter. Get ready to scroll down!!! So first up, last year.

2007

Family wise we had a great year here really I think. We accomplished a lot on the home front such as: a new stone patio in the backyard, retaining walls around the burms behind our waterfall/pond area, put in a fire pit off the patio, planted more trees in the yard, got our basement almost finished, got the pool table set up and re-felted in the basement, painted both of the kids bedrooms (which involved a lot of hand painted silohettes and things on the walls, an entire wall of giant Kracken tentacles and a treasure map in my sons room, tiny little stars, custom shelving, borders and 4 different colors of paint in my daughters room) watched both the kids play baseball and softball and be successful, found time to fit in a real family vacation for the first time in a couple years, and generally just really made this house start to feel like it’s our home now instead of just being the “new house”. So in that regard things were hectic and busy as ever, but also fun and even relaxing at times.

I met a few people in 2007, that I’ve come to regard as friends as well. GOOD people first and foremost, and all of that has nothing to do with them working in comics, but everything to do with them just being real people without any sort of agendas or anything. Hard workers, and people that share a lot of things in common with me. People like Dan Forcey, Rob Richardson, Jason Maranto, Dale Mitchell (a.k.a Adam Black), Carly Wagner.

And lest I not forget my long time buddy DJ Coffman. DJ and I have known each other for a long time, but this last year I think we really started to become not only better friends, but a sort of Batman and Robin type of act. We share a lot of the same philosophies on life and family, politics and spirituality, and of course comics. I honestly probably owe a large part of my current happiness and success in comics to DJ. I was working as a colorist in the industry before I started coloring his Hero By Night book, doing various things at Image including a stint on Shadowhawk right before, but having him ask me to color HBN was probably what really solidified my financial situation enough for me to hone my craft, make more connections, and become good and fast enough to make a living coloring comics all day. I have had an immeasurable amount of fun working with him over the last year, creating an enormous body of Hero work, talking shop, bitching about things that seem lame and petty, and as stupid as it sounds…..looking to the future and dreaming. He has a lot of big ideas, and big goals, as do I, and I think I’ve seen enough of this industry at this point, to know that we have a real chance of making those things come to life some day.

In terms of work, 2007 was really a breakthrough type of year for me. This was the year where I really transitioned into coloring comics full time. The year started with wrapping up colors on the successful Hero By Night mini-series, started coloring the new KISS comic KISS 4K, which also allowed me to color the Guiness World Record largest comic book ever, doing some digital painting commissions, creating some card art for Fantasy Flight Games, working with some extremely talented creators on various projects…..Also starting with Wizard World LA, where Hero By Night debuted, where the KISS comic debuted, where I signed a lot of autographs and such, went to dinner with Scott Rosenberg (who was a real genuine and nice guy) and had a great time. I went to all of the Wizard World conventions this year, met some other great creators, publishers, fans and people in general. I met a lot of cool people and generally had a blast.

By the time summer rolled around I was busier than ever here. In May I started as the VP of Creative Development over at the new publisher Big City Comics. I had met Jeff Kaufman in LA, signed up to color one of his books shortly after, and then as his plans changed and we talked more and more, I decided to come onboard and help him coordinate things, find talent, and make the comics he was producing the best they could be. So here I was, trying to coordinate things with Diamond, design ads and promotional materials, color 2 Big City books, as well as the KISS 4K comic. It was a great experience, I learned even more about the comic industry, met even MORE great people, but I realized after a couple months I was really stretching myself pretty thin trying to be a colorist AND be on the editorial/administrative end of things for a publisher, and it was having a negative impact in my life (and on my health) I decided to step aside and continue just coloring for them after a period of a few months, and really focused myself on doing some outstanding coloring work on their Dragon Cross title, providing near painted pages at times for that first issue. Literally the week I finished the last page of Dragon Cross #1, a series of things happened rather quickly: first, my lucky 3 legged chinese frog who holds in i-Ching coin in his mouth and sits on the top of my desk had the coin drop out while I was dusting. THAT DAY, I got a call from my editor on the KISS comic, and was informed I had been let go as had then entire creative team on the book. Well, evidently I hadn’t put the right side of the coin back in the frogs mouth, so I immediately rotated that coin. I’m not sure which happened next, but I know that a check I had been expecting to come the week before, and NEEDED to get to me that week, didn’t show up. So THAT wasn’t a lot of fun, and again, the coin got rotated in my lucky frog. The next day, I had gotten offered enough work for the next 6 months here, and that frog hasn’t been TOUCHED since. All of that happened some time towards the end of August/beginning of September I think.

So as September got underway I now had several things going once again, had gotten back into a much saner schedule work wise, and the quality of life started to improve dramatically for me here. DJ and I were working on the new Hero By Night webcomic coming out 3 times a week, had started planning for the upcoming ongoing HBN series launching in December, I was starting work on an 88 page graphic novel, and things were going fairly well. October and November were much of the same thing, with a trip of WW Texas thrown in. As November close, I found myself finishing colors on HBN 1, steadily working on my graphic novel, and ignorant of what December was about to blow into the studio. One day, early in the month, I had just finished putting in about 8 hours here, it was around 4pm I got a call from my EIC over at Platinum, and was asked how many pages I could get one overnight for the KISS one-shot KISSmas special book, written by Chuck Dixon and drawn by Tone Rodriguez, I guess they had some problems with scheduling and stuff or whatever, and the book had to go to print the next day. Well I thought about it some, told them I could do 6 pages, hung up, thought about it some more, talked to my wife, talked to DJ, decided I could in fact probably do 13 of the 15 pages they needed for the right price. So I called back 15 minutes later and agreed to do 13 pages. I then proceeded to knock out all 13 pages, with the help of some VERY wonderful and reliable people who were able to flat for me, and low and behold from 5pm to 11:45 am the next day, I did indeed to get all 13 pages done, after which I proceeded to eat lunch, lay down long enough for the phone to ring 3 times, the dogs to go crazy and get absolutely NO sleep before heading up to the gym and coaching my daughters basketball practice for almost 2 hours. So I took the next weekend off basically, then did another 11 pages of my graphic novel, wrapped up the HBN webcomic for the month, started issue 2 of the HBN series, heard from an author in Ireland that I had colored a book for in late 2006 that my services may be needed for the remaining 5 issues of her story as she was working out the kinks in a deal with a major BOOK publisher and distributor for her series, then around the 18th got a call from my buddy Rob who informed me his book was going to be late if it wasn’t done by the 4th of January because they had a colorist drop out after issue 2. This was the Dragon Cross book I had to leave to take all the work I had signed on for at Platinum. Rob is such a good guy, I saw how issue 2 had turned out, I had just done essentially half a book overnight a week or so earlier, I still felt bad for HAVING to leave his book, so I agreed. Lo and behold it’s January 2nd, I was able to take time off to spend with family on Xmas and New Years, and I only have 3 1/2 pages left of issue 3 of Dragon Cross, and the whirlwind that closed 2007 will have come to an end. WHEW!!!!!!

Which leads us to….2008

I’m not sure about doing resolutions this year, life is a spontaneous, ever changing thing. But I do have some goals for this year though, which if you want to think of as resolutions I guess they could be seen that way. In no particular order:

1- Find more time to create art for just me. I have a couple of projects I’m working on right now of my own that I would really like to find time to develop and produce. I also would like to find time to set aside for working in my sketchbook every day, for throwing around some colors in a traditional way (i.e. with markers or real paint)

2- Finish losing the weight I wanted to lose last year. I lost 15 lbs in 2007, I have about 10 more lbs to lose to get to where I wanted to be in 2008. I think I’ll get there by the end of the year though.

3- Become a better digital painter. I made some great strides this year, I really did. From taking 2nd in a Gnomon School of Visual Effects monthly digital art contest and winning lots of great training DVD’s, to painting my first comic cover (Dragon Cross issue 4) I have a vast amount of potential for growth, more than I EVER saw for coloring comics when I started. So I really want to take the steps to become an even better painter this year.

4- Learn a new software program. The likely candidate will be Painter X, however getting my hands on Maya or a similar 3D app would be nice.

5- Paint the elvish script around the decorative ceiling shelf in our living room for my wife, and include a large celtic/elvish design motif painted on the ceiling for her. I told her that I didn’t want to do anything this year but mow the lawn, however if this is ALL I have to do extra, then I can count myself lucky!

6- I have a comic coloring related goal I don’t want to mention really. I’ve established myself this past year as being undeniably GOOD and reliable. IF I can make as much progress this year as I did the last year and a half, I can approach being great I think. I know that may sound selfish, but I think all artists want to be more than just good, it’s in your nature as an artist. That’s all part of it though.

7- Make more connections. I made some great connections in the comic industry this past year, as well as in the digital art community, the concept art and gaming industries, and I want to further those connections this coming year. Being a freelancer isn’t easy, but having a larger pool of editors, publishers and potential employers that know your name is always a good thing.

8- I want to start to step back a bit and give my kids more freedom. NOT an easy goal, and hard to explain, but my wife and I have always been VERY involved in our kids lives, making decisions, coaching sports teams etc….. I’ve come to the realization though, especially as my daughter is in that pre-teen stage now, that we really need to start letting the kids, mostly HER, start to become more independent, and either succeed or fail on their own. I think we’ve done what we can to make them strong enough to handle things, and we’ll obviously still be guiding them, but the only real way to learn some things is through adversity, and learning to deal with that adversity on your own (especially when you get to be a teenager) They are both at the absolute top of their classes in school academically, they both have reading levels that are FAR beyond their grade level, and they both are good athletically as well. It’s hard being a parent, but I think if we don’t start to step back a little bit, that what will happen is that the kids will start to RELY on us to be there for them at all times, and the fact is, as a parent you CAN’T solve all the problems.

9- Relax more. Deadlines can be stressful. I need to actually eliminate some things from my daily routine here, and add some others in order to accomplish this. I’ve moved away from meditation a lot in the last year or so with how busy things have been, but I really feel I need to get back to that a lot more. I also need to do things like read more, find more time for family and doing brainless activities like watching TV, and playing some video games now and again, playing pool. Sadly deadlines drive your life as a freelancer, and living in the state with probably the WORST economy in the nation right now….you take whatever work you can, when it’s there. I’m extremely blessed to do what I do for a living, but I can’t be content. If I were to have to go FIND a job out in the “real world” right now, there is NO WAY I could find something that would pay me as much as I’m making now (which is kind of sad) There are just no good jobs to be had, so for me to be able to work from home, remotely, and for employers that are from all over the world, is really something of a miracle.

10- Become a better person. Don’t get me wrong, regardless of the few people out there that may think I’m a jerk, I’m really a good person. There are certain things I want to work on though for sure. I think we probably ALL have this goal somewhere deep down, for some it might be buried in their sub-conscious, but the bottomline is just being the best person you can be. A better dad, a better husband, a better friend, a better brother, a better son, a better artist, a better citizen….that’s a lot of hats for any of us to where, and yet finding the BALANCE is the key. At 31 I think I’m just starting to get the right weights on each side of the scales, now it’s just a matter of adjusting the scales until they’re balanced.

Whew. That’s it I guess, probably some other things I want to do I’m not mentioning, I’m probably forgetting some things too. But in a nutshell, that’s pretty much it. I’d like to look back NEXT year at this time, and say that I was able to make progress on each and every one of those goals if not accomplish them outright. Hopefully everyone else can think of at least 10 things they can work on or strive for in the coming year. I’d like to throw world peace on there somewhere, as a lot of us would I’m sure, but working on being a better person will have to suffice as a write in for that one. Happy New Year everyone!!!

First review of the new ongoing Hero By Night comic book series!

Jason Embury — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:05:00 GMT

The first official review is in that writer James Patrick found for our new Hero By Night series…. see here:

Kevin Powers: Silver Bullet Comics Line of Fire Reviews: http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/119827005595745.htm

“Overall, I am very excited about the return of Hero By Night. Coffman has the opportunity to bring some creative ideas to the table, as evidenced by the introduction and conclusion of this issue, and expand and introduced characters that could not be covered in the mini-series. I think this is definitely a great series to follow that has a level of realism in the writing and some fantastic artwork to really bring it all together.”

Hero By Night is published bi-monthly by Platinum Studios Comics. The webcomic can also be read online for free at HeroByNight.com

Happy Days.

Jason Embury — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:05:00 GMT

So yesterday I got 4 boxes worth of comp copies in here, 2 boxes of the hardcover collected trade of the original Hero By Night mini-series, a box of the first issue of the new ongoing Hero By Night comic, and a box of the KISS 4K KISSmas special one-shot. I'm going to run through my thoughts on them real quick here.

Hardcover HBN trade- Where to start. This is admittedly my very first trade collection, or graphic novel, of any kind. Thus I was prepared to be critical, as I always am when I see any of my work in print. What I wasn't prepared for when I cracked open that first case of books yesterday, was to be COMPLETELY blown away by how awesome it looks. I have several hardcover collections already from Marvel and from DC, and I've seen countless others on shelves in comic shops and at conventions. This HBN hardcover not only stands up there right next to anything DC or Marvel has done, but it surpasses a lot of trades that are out there. I know that the ONLY collected work I own that is nicer, was the oversized Absolute Batman HUSH hardcover that DC put out, complete with that thick black cardboard slipcase and dust jacket. The gold foil HBN logo is NOT obnoxious at all on this thing, and neither are the blue foil flames. The printing and design of the spine of the book is great, and will look wonderful on my shelf of books. The interior page design and layout is spectacular. Zach Pennington, and everyone over at Platinum Studios, REALLY, TRULY, did everything in their power to make this book beautiful. Zach's design work is wonderful. They even included a cover gallery of all the covers from the original series without any text or logos on them, and used a previously never before seen version of the issue 4 cover that didn't make the final cut. Very cool stuff to see all in one package like that. A nice introduction by DJ at the front of the book, of course the 5 pages of extra epilogue content we did just for this edition, creator bios, and a great ad for our ongoing series. Kudos to everyone involved in putting out such a great product are in order. DJ and I work hard to not only deliver great work each issue, but we're continually pushing each other to do better. I really feel that is evident from the time you turn the first page of this book, until you get to the last page of the epilogue. It's only getting better, and I'm extremely energized and excited to see this all come together in such a fantastic way.

Hero By Night #1 (ongoing series)- This won't count as one of the first official reviews since I'm biased. But, this book looks even better than just about any of the pages from the mini-series. Lots of reasons I think for that, going back to how hard I think DJ and I push each other to get better, and how hard we push OURSELVES to not settle for good enough but to strive for maybe one day approaching something that resembles really GREAT work. Thinking back, just doing pages, and more pages, and then doing webcomic work, and more webcomic work, and more pages over the last year, we've started to really become comfortable with working in the world of Hero By Night, and it's starting to show. When you turn the cover and stare at page one I think you become IMMEDIATELY immersed in this new book. Starting with page 1 and continuing through page 4, you're looking at this huge fight scene between HBN and a LAVA MONSTER deep in the heart of a volcano. How cool is THAT? And if that wasn't enough action for you..well, one of the all time favorite characters from the Hero By Night webcomic, makes his first official debut in print. It's funny to think that characters makign their debut in an issue 1 already have a fan base, but with over 250 UNIQUE pages of full color work that we've done for the online webcomic in the last year, there is just this enormous backstory to this book already. Tons of characters and plot lines from the webcomic that ALL tie directly into the books that are being printed. I mean, there are now 110 pages of story in print, plus all the webcomic stuff....so what, close to 400 comic pages worth of material in about 12 1/2 months. DJ alludes to it in his intro to the trade collection, but what readers and fans and kids that have been following Hero By Night, or might just be picking it up for the first time, what everyone is seeing happen RIGHT NOW, is a new hero being born. Everyday for over a year I've spent a good deal of time, up to my eyeballs in Hero By Night. I'm making a living now using things that didn't exist when I first started reading comics, working on a superhero that wasn't around then either. But in the space of a year, there is so much story, history and nostalgia behind HBN, that it really feels like the character has been around forever. I'm proud to say that I'm a part of something that is probably much bigger than DJ or myself. These are stories that are telling themselves for the most part. What our job is artistically, and we've often times reminded each other of this fact, is to let the story tell itself, to do what is demanded by the characters on each page, to not take shortcuts for the sake of taking shortcuts (for evidence of that, look back to the original webcomic of the HBN journals, sometimes as much as 4 to 5 hours being put into a DAILY webcomic the NIGHT before it's supposed to be posted-and that's just on MY end) I think part of what makes HBN so special to me, is the fact that the creative team of DJ and myself both believe in the same type of things when it comes to storytelling, and producing comics. You don't dictate what goes down on the page, the story and characters do, it's up to YOU as a penciler, inker, or colorist, to do what is required of you by the story so that you add something to it, make it something more than just another comic page. You won't always succeed of course, but more often than not you'll end up with something you can be proud of and you'll know that you really have put your heart and soul into producing that page or book. When I look at this first issue, I can see vast improvements on both of our parts, and I can say with confidence that we have both put our souls into this book, and it shows. It may not be a book that is to everyone's taste, whether it be the story or the art, but it truly IS a book that is FOR everyone who loves comics and who loves superheroes.

KISS 4K: Merry KISSmas one-shot- not sure where to start with this book. A week ago almost to the day I got a phone call at 4 in the afternoon, and was asked how many pages I could color overnight, because the book had to be AT the printer the following morning. I'm not entirely sure they believed me when I said I could do 13 pages overnight. So after firmly stating I could, and convincing them that I wouldn't let them down, I proceeded to sit down at 5:30 pm and not get up from my workstation except for a bathroom break or to get more coffee until 11:45 am the next day. I worked straight through. I owe some shout outs to a few people that helped me along the way by flatting a few of my pages, and by FINDING me a reliable person to do 3 of the 6 pages I needed done at the VERY last minute in the WEE hours of the morning. So big thanks to Michael, Alex, Chris and Daniel. You guys rock. And you made me not only meet my deadline but look like a badass in the process :D Taking that into consideration, I really don't think that you can tell I did so much work in so little time. The pages look GREAT. Would I have made a few changes here or there if I had more time, you bet. But it turned out great, AND the book was NOT late. A large part of that is due to having wonderful line art supplied by Tone Rodriguez. It was written by THE Chuck Dixon, and I have to say, I laughed my butt off a few times while reading it. Chuck really paced this book out nicely, and it's really a great read. I would definitely recommend it for any KISS fan in your life, or for just a sheer fun read (since I colored the first few issues of the actual KISS 4K book, I will also say with confidence that this one-shot is a MUCH better read)

So to recap, the Hero By Night hardcover is GREAT, go buy one today, you can find them on ebay, you can buy them from the Platinum Store in a week or so, or you can have your local comic shop back order you one. The new ongoing HBN series kicks BUTT, so go get your hands on that as well, and make sure to check out the HBN webcomic where we've got an absolute TON of stuff for you to read for free. Have a Merry Kissmas, and all that jazz. I'm headed to make more coffee, grab a few sticks of incense to burn, and get my butt coloring this morning. If my new set of prismacolor markers come today in the mail, I plan on playing with those for a bit, and tonight, is buddy night with my son while the girls are out having fun. Which means playing some pool, darts, video games, popcorn, coke, and maybe some more episodes of Smallville.

Back with a BANG! New interview sneak peek!

Jason Embury — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:34:00 GMT

I seriously doubt that I'm throwing too many spoilers out there for this, but I did an interview recently that will be appearing in the Platinum Studios releases for the month of December. Here's the special edition, EXPANDED interview from that for all the rabid fans (probably mostly friends and family actually) that read my blog on a daily basis, enjoy! More indepth answers you won't find anywhere, as well as a BONUS question that didn't end up getting used because of space constraints. Be sure to check it out in the back of Hero By Night issue 1 landing next month!

What was your first job in the comics industry?

I started out inking a book called Zombieopolis, drawn by some guy named DJ Coffman, and written by a guy named Bob McDeavitt. It was supposed to have been a mini-series published by a fairly small publisher in the late 90's. We did like the first 2 issues or so, it ended up getting cancelled, so DJ self-published it in graphic novel format just to get the book got out there. That book actually got me some inking work on some small press stuff, I inked a story in the very first issue of Digital Webbing Press which was probably my first work that got onto shelves. Then I sort of went through a period where I just got out of comics for about 4 years, after banging my head against the wall as an inker, working for peanuts, and getting a lot of "close, but not quite there yet" stuff from most of the major publishers. Actually, it was funny because when I DID get back into comics, I was inking a book for a guy and he was having a REAL hard time finding a good colorist for our cover. So I had bought a Wacom tablet a few months prior, and after seeing the results he was getting back from various people, I just kind of told him, "you know what dude? Let me try this coloring thing out." Not only did it look pretty good, but I think it showed me in just one page, that I should probably be focusing on coloring and painting, than on inking. It was just a lot more natural for me to see the finished product, than just working in black and white.

Who were some of your influences and inspirations growing up?

I'm grown up? That would be news to my family and friends. Seriously though, when I was younger I bought comics for about 6 years I think, religiously, in the late 80's early 90's. Pretty much before the advent of computer coloring. I'd have to say that I have a strong liking of guys like Neal Adams, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane's loose style, and I think Kirby was a great storyteller. I follow a FEW colorists in the industry today, people like Brian Haberlin, Alex Sinclair, Rod Reis, Dave Stewart, Richard Isanove. Stewart and Sinclair are probably my biggest contemporary influences I think in terms of comics. Jim Valentino also taught me a LOT about comics when I was first starting out. I've always drawn a lot more inspiration and knowledge from classic masters like Rembrandt though. I'm a HUGE Rembrandt fan. Also, I've been getting into a lot more painting and digital art, including 3D lately, which has opened my eyes to a massive number of inspirational artists and really taught me a lot more about being an artist and really understanding art than comics probably ever could. I'm more a traditional guy though, so I kind of like to look at the NATURE of art and not really focus on how it's created. I mean, we've got ALL theses tools today, that are really just extensions of us as artists. So it's more about what you want to accomplish, rather than how you get there you know.

How were you brought on to Hero By Night?

I was finishing up work on my last issue of Shadowhawk over at Image for Valentino at the time. I've known DJ now for going on 10 years almost. I knew he had won the Comic Book Challenge, and I think I called him a few days after he got back from San Diego, just to tell him congrats and wish him luck. He called me back a few weeks later I think, maybe it was a month, and asked how Shadowhawk was going, and if I'd have time to maybe fit in his Hero By Night book. Shadowhawk had actually just wrapped up over at Image like a couple weeks beforehand, so I told him I'd love to come onboard. I had a lot of fun working on a superhero book, and DJ liked what I was doing at the time and thought I would be a perfect fit for the look he was after.

As a colorist, how closely do you work with the rest of an art team or the writer on a book?

Well, in terms of Hero By Night, it's sort of a different situation because until James Patrick came onboard, there were only 2 people producing that book. DJ and I talk multiple times just about every single day of the week and weekends, either on the phone or we'll instant message each other. I think as a creator, you need to understand that you have to have someone, or a tight knit group of people, you can trust to bounce ideas off of. DJ and I have the sort of relationship where he knows he can run stuff by me and I would tell him if it sucked or not. We're always talking about HBN back and forth, not in a way where I'm really doing anything with the plot or storylines, but you know, I'll have an idea now and then of something I may want to do, or add in, and I can run it by him and usually we work out something that might be even better than what we were after initially. There is a respect I think that comes from familiarity, that I don't have with other books or creators really. He knows that I'm a creator too, that I'm also a pretty decent artist in my own right, and that I understand the entire comic making process from conception right through to getting your books printed and distributed by Diamond. Other books, I have pretty set guidelines of what I have to do and I can't stray from things very much. Books that I've colored straight from pencils, almost everyone that I've done, the editors or publisher has realized early on, that I can clean up the pencils and fix things that might be off, fairly quickly and easily, so I go in and make things look their best. I mean, I'm technically the LAST stop for the artwork, and it really comes down to just putting the best product on the shelf at the end of the day that you can.

If you could color any book in comics today, which would it be?

I'm already coloring it aren't I? Outside of Hero By Night though it would be a tough decision. For a long time my favorite character was Spiderman. But right now, I'd have to say hands down, it would be Batman. I would love to color just about any Batman book out there.

What's on your plate next?"

I'm currently working on the graphic novel Hotshot and Mighty Girl coming out early next year from Platinum Studios Comics, as well as the new ongoing Hero By Night series. I've got some other books and personal projects I'm currently working on as well, when I get some time in between deadlines and coloring of course. One is a fantasy based online type of project incorporating digital painting, another is a darker, murder mystery type of graphic novel project that I've just started writing in the last month here that I'm really excited about, and I have another project that I'm doing a rewrite on at the moment that is sort of a suspense/thriller type of story.

Hero By Night interview is up at The Pulse, as well as an 8 pg. preview!

Jason Embury — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:25:00 GMT

HBN interview with series creator DJ Coffman is up over on The Pulse. Check it out here!!!

Good stuff.

here's the preview for those that don't have time to read the interview or aren't inclined :D

Hero By Night Trade HARD COVER, and new ONGOING comic series coming soon!!!

Jason Embury — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:09:00 GMT

BIG update! Our collected HARDCOVER trade of the original Hero By Night mini-series will be out in November, and debuting at Wizard World Texas! That's right, I said hardcover :D

OUT OF THE LAIR AND INTO THE NIGHT…AGAIN!

Hero By Night Returns as an Ongoing Series

LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 23, 2007 – Platinum Studios Comics (www.platinumstudioscomics.com) and DJ Coffman are proud to announce that Hero By Night is back! The winning comic book idea from the inaugural 2006 Comic Book Challenge (www.comicbookchallenge.com), launched in March 2007 as a four-issue series. Due to overwhelming demand, the critically acclaimed SOLD OUT comic returns in December as an ongoing series. The new series focuses on a young Jack King who struggles with the pressures of being a superhero in the modern age while battling the worst Steel City has to offer.

The comic also follows Jack King’s predecessor, David Day, as he attempts to reconcile the faded memories of a forgotten past. “I was thrilled with the overwhelming support and popularity of the first Hero By Night series,” says creator DJ Coffman. “With the help of my co-writer, James Patrick (Death Comes to Dillinger and Crackurz), we’ve expanded the Hero By Night universe and added a whole new opportunity by following the continuing story of David Day. I’m proud that this comic will appeal to comic fans of all ages.” In addition, for both new fans as well as those familiar with the story, Platinum Studios Comics will release the Hero By Night Trade Collection this November. The HARDCOVER trade collection of the original four-issue series includes an added storyline that reveals what happened to the previous Hero By Night, David Day, after the Steel City explosion in 1956, and it will be available for only 12.99! Fans can also check out over 300 pages of background story for FREE of the Hero By Night in the form of webcomics at http://herobynight.com.

Hero By Night #1 (OCT073736) Co-written by D.J. Coffman and James Patrick, with art by D.J. Coffman and colors by Jason Embury, will be on comic stands this December. Tell your comic retailers to order now!!!

Also, international fans can order the book from Comicsnow.com, and a huge discount and get very affordable shipping. http://www.comicsnow.com Just enter Hero By Night into the search menu.

2007 Comic Book Challenge Finalists.

Jason Embury — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:53:00 GMT

After watching the final 3 contestants left in the 2007 Comic Book Challenge, presented by AT&T and Platinum Studios, my absolute favorite has to be Gunplay by Jorge Vega. You can check out a few articles that are popping up online about Jorge and his entry, Here, and Here, and over here. The AT&T Hollywood Blueroom is where you can find the video pitches of the finalists and where you can VOTE to decide who wins this years competition. Vote for YOUR favorite, and vote as much as you like. It really is a chance for to help someone not only change their lives, but help them bring their one of their great ideas to fruition. The fact that I'm starting work on an ongoing comic book series soon, which won the comic book challenge LAST year and had a 4 issue mini-series printed, has really got me interested in seeing what other great comics are waiting to be made out there.