A Look Back at 2005

2005 has been a great year! So many projects... Here's a little recap:

My main focus at the beginning of 2005 was to make a series of animated short films called Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets. I had pitched the concept to Cartoon Network, Disney and Nickelodeon at the end of 2004 and was anxious to get into production. From the get go, it looked like I would be getting financing, so I slowly started designing and storyboarding the shorts. By the end of May I had signed a deal with Nickelodeon and could now hire a small crew. Production lasted for less than 3 months and by August 24th, it was a wrap. I sure had a blast working on those short films!

In June, my 12th hardcover book, Odd Numbers and ZED #6 were released. Both were very well received at Comicon 2005. I really wish I could do more than one issue of ZED a year. Maybe I can manage to do a couple for 2006. That'd be nice.

In April, the first installment of my epic "Rex" graphic novel was published in Flight: Volume 2 by Image Comics. Flight: Volume 3, featuring the next 28-page installment, will be published in Spring 2006, this time under the Ramdom House imprint.

Other highlights include:

Lamina (working title) - Early in 2005, I was contacted by Amy Tucker about a game project. We met in Seattle and a few weeks later she was commissioning me to create illustrations. This snowballed to the point that by the end of December 2005, I had created over a 100 pieces of art including illustrations, packaging elements, symbols and icons, etc.

Some of the work was a lot more illustrative than what I'm used to. I sure had to push my Photoshop skills to their limits! It was a lot of hard work, as well as lots of fun. The game will be coming out in a few months. I'll keep you posted.

The Trilobite Show is a 2-man art/educational show I'm developing with my friend from Vancouver, Andrew Scott. I am so excited about it. Check out the work in progress here, where you can see some of Andrew's wonderful sculptures.

Speaking of art shows, I was happy to participate in The Flight Show and The Monster Show at Gallery Nucleus. I've already signed on for 2 more group shows with Nucleus in 2006.

Let's not forget the conventions. Nancy and I did four in 2005: The Emerald City Comicon, San Diego Comic-Con, Stumptown Comic Fest and The Vancouver Comicon. Thanks to all the fans that came to see us.

I already have so many new projects planned for 2006 that my head is spinning. Keep checking my homepage for regular updates. Happy New Year!

Michel Gagné, January 1st, 2006