I'm
moving right along on Zed
#3 and should have it back from
the printer around the beginning of
December. I am glad to see myself
really improving from issue to issue.
It's very gratifying. I will be posting
a few of the inside pages soon, so
stay tuned.
All
work and no play is not good, so
I went to John Dillon's party
last Saturday, and it was great.
John and I have been friends and
co-worker for many years. For those
who don't know, John is currently
the special FX guru on the Powerpuff
Girl Movie. John is also
the guitar playing party expert!!
He
showed me the trailer for his proposed
show (Boris and Leech) and I was
really impressed. Nice stuff!
It
was a pleasure, as usual, to have
a chat with my good friend Jon
Hooper (Evil
Cartoons, Animation
Meat ). Hoops is a totally
cool guy and a really talented artist.
I met Jon at Sheridan College
(Toronto, Canada) in 1983 and we
have been friends since! We did
the Night Club scene in Ireland
from 1987-89 (An hilarious and over
the top phase of our lives). While
in Ireland we even collaborated
(with Jon doing most of the work)
on a series of animation notes (Ten
Steps to a Perfect Inbetween).
Then back in California,
he
helped
me a lot on Prelude to Eden.
We actually started scanning in
his bedroom!
Also
in attendance was Dan Kuenster,
the animation machine. One of the
few man in the industry who can
storyboard an entire feature by
himself! I met Dan in 1986 at Don
Bluth Studios, and I really like
him. We always seem to run into
each other at parties. I showed
Dan my books and he was really into
it. I always love to share my projects
with people.
If
you are in the L.A. area make sure
you stop by Stephanie's
Art Gallery, in La Canada. They
are currently exhibiting several
of my paintings and sculptures.
For info you can call them at (818)
790-4905.
08-13-01
Upon
visiting the Mile
High Comics website yesterday, I found Chuck
Rozanski's (Mile High's owner) review of Zed #1
& 2. Here is a copy of the review:
"An
incredible new comic by Michel Gagné called
ZED. Michel has a great resume, including many years
as an artist with the Don Bluth animation studios.
The basic plot of ZED is an Intergalactic talent
competition in which things go completely awry,
setting the stage for a cosmic war. All this is
triggered by a seemingly innocent creature named
Zed, who is swept up in events far beyond his control.
He has nothing but the best of intentions, but in
the first two issues is overwhelmed by the events
transpiring around him. The closest title I can
equate this book to is BONE. It has wonderful art,
and a story that is both endearing and compelling.
You immediately like Zed, and can't help but wonder
what is causing all the craziness in his life. I
am very much looking forward to reading issue #3!"
Both
issues are available through their site. They even
posted the entire first issue for people to read!
Note: Zed #2
is now also available on Amazon.com as well as directly
from us.
We
have received a lot of e-mails lately asking us
if it was possible to order books or prints directly
from us. Well, now you finally can! Just go to our
Ordering &
Contact Info page. As an extra bonus, we are
only charging 5¢ per item for shipping. You
can even pay with your credit card!
On
a different note... A couple of months ago, I was
contacted by Tao Nguyen, who's a clean up artist
at Disney. We ended up having lunch, and he brought
his portfolio for me to have a look at. Tao is a
super nice guy, and a really sharp artist. He told
me he was in the process of building a website which
would feature galleries of professional animators
/ illustrators and he wanted me to be one of the
featured artist. I said sure, why not!
The
site called www.prosketch.com
is now up and running. It features really cool artists
such as Tao Nguyen, John Pomeroy, Tom Sito, Sean
Gallimore, Matt Busch and more. Make sure you check
it out. Good luck with the site Tao!
It
looks like I'm gonna be working away on Powerpuff
Girls: The Movie for the next six weeks. My friend
John Dillon, who's running the FX on the show, has
asked me to give him a hand. I'll be juggling my time
between that, the comic series (Zed) and my
next two books (Frenzied Fauna and The Towers
of Numar). Very busy schedule ahead...
We
will be leaving for the Comic-Con early tomorrow morning.
We hope to see some of you over there. Please, make
sure you stop by our table and say hi. If you're
there on Thursday don't forget to come to my presentation.
I will be showing lots of artwork, including a video
presentation of my special effects work on Osmosis
Jones.
Just
dropped a bunch of Zed
#2 at Golden
Apple and Meltdown
Comics in Hollywood, and Astounding
in Burbank (Buena Vista & Olive). This is your
chance to get the issue a full three months before
it actually hits the stands nationwide. So if you
are in the L.A. area, make sure you visit one of
these fine stores.
More
updates in the books
section. You can now have a look at the covers and
read synopsis from Zed #3 and #4.
Amid
Amidi (famous animation journalist and critic) just
sent me a text copy of The Great Shadow Migration
review that appeared in Animation Blast magazine
#5.
I posted it here
for your reading enjoyement.
Hello
everyone! We have been on line for 4 months, and I
hope you like how the site has evolved. This is truly
a work in progress. All your comments have been really
helpful. So keep 'em comin'!
Zed
#1 is now available through July's Previews
- The Comic Shop Catalog (page 272). It even
received a spotlight (these items are not to be
missed!). Make sure your comic retailer is aware
and orders in sufficent quantity!
In
the past few weeks I have received a lot of emails
from people wanting to publish their own comic books.
One of the recurring question is: what do I send
the printer? Well, I found a book recently which
outline the process quite well. The writing could
be a little clearer but it will definitely answer
a lot of questions. The book is called Digital
Prepress for Comic Books. If you're serious
about self-publishing comics, this is a good tool
to have.
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