Peck Comics

Yow!

2012-02-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

Apologies for being derelict in my Peck duties. I will post up soon. In the meantime, check out YARNS, the Yowling Anthology of Random & Neato Stories. It's a comic collaboration between six other friends and myself.

http://yarnscomics.blogspot.com/

back peck

2011-06-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight's drawing. I need to add a prosthetic device to his arm here …

night sketch

2011-06-21T23:19:00.001-07:00

Quick sketch before bed.

billy at kintoki-con

2011-06-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a little piece I did while exhibiting at Kintoki-Con yesterday.

kintoki-con approaches

2011-06-10T12:58:00.001-07:00

Here's a new local con I will be exhibiting at on Saturday, June 18th. If you have time, come on by and check it out. You can register for the event at http://kintoki-con.com/. You will find me listed in Artist Alley under the nickname Choko. Cheers!

wondercon shout out

2011-04-19T07:56:00.001-07:00

My buddy, Mark Machmann, got a shout out in a WonderCon comic photo album by Comic Booked. Thanks, Nicole!

peck's up on comixpress

2011-04-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

You can now purchase your very own copy of Peck at comixpress.com. Click on the image above to transport yourself thither.

issue #2 / page 1

2011-04-03T20:01:00.001-07:00

Okay this page has been done for a while, but I wanted to start posting the successive pages of Issue #2 now that there are people who actually have Issue #1 at home. I need to get switched over to Comicpress (on top of Wordpress) to make an archive gallery. I appreciate your patience.

wondercon 2011 post mortem

2011-04-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I sat in my Wondercon booth on Friday and thought, “What am I doing here?” One sale the entire day. Arg. But then Saturday comes along and the book starts jumping off the table. My inner voice comes back a second time, but this time says: “Heck yes!” Peck sold well in Artist Alley and it was so exhilarating to finally get this book out to the public. My table buddy, Mark Machmann, and I learned plenty at our first WC (at least the first time being on the other side of the table). All the exhibitors we spoke with were so nice and helpful. I'm definitely going to do this Con again next year. Thanks to all who came out to support us!

wondercon 2011 pics

2011-04-03T15:58:00.001-07:00

Dave Metran, the proud new owner of a comic book.

Nicole Sixx of Comic Booked liked Peck #1. She also sports a Solo postcard from Mark Machmann.

Made some new friends like artist Ian Walker, his wife, Wrennie and son, Jaylon.

Laura O'brien of Double Fine game co was my booth neighbor. Thanks for the girl scout cookies, Laura!

Rebecca Spencer fills in at the booth whilst I wander about Artist Alley. Thanks for all your help, Rebecca!

Mark Machmann ready to take on the Saturday madness at WC. Great event, Mark!

peck in SF this weekend

2011-03-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

If you make it out to WonderCon this weekend, please come by and visit me in Artist Alley (AA#142). I will be there on Friday and Saturday with some nice crisp issues of Peck.

peck link soon

2011-03-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

I will be posting a link for the mass release of Peck Issue #1 as soon as I can get Comixpress to list it. Stay tuned!

peck stuff

2011-03-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

Peck paraphernalia can now be found at http://www.zazzle.com/mestioko

buttons pas

2011-03-01T22:47:00.000-08:00

Some samples of past buttons. I'm going to resurrect a few of the character buttons. Billy for sure!

button 1

2011-02-25T18:35:00.001-08:00

Here's a button I'll be handing out at WonderCon. A few more designs to come.

cover art done

2011-02-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

Seems like the details sometimes take the longest. I am feeling very good about issue 1's new cover. Phew!

color's halfway there …

2011-02-18T10:49:00.001-08:00

I love this part of the process. You get to watch it come alive right before your eyes.

art flatted

2011-02-17T22:52:00.001-08:00

Placeholder color flatted in. I will pull out the details of windows and other objects after I light the general scene. Should be pretty dramatic with underlighting from the right bottom corner.

grayscale done. color time.

2011-02-15T21:39:00.001-08:00

Time to bring it all together.

cover 02

2011-02-14T05:04:00.001-08:00

Here we are in "Peking Man" stage. As the drawing is fully fleshed out, I will downplay some of the things that are getting way too much air time (i.e., the window behind him, the drainage pipe, etc).

cover final begins

2011-02-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Still in cor-magnon stage, but will evolve quickly.

type tinkering

2011-02-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

Adjusting the spacing of the logotype to accommodate blocking. Nothing like getting away from the computer and back to analog mode.

home studio

2011-02-05T21:42:00.000-08:00

A glimpse of the bat cave.

amigurumi billy

2011-01-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

A big thanks to Risa Knight and her mad craft skills! Here's her awesome yarn rendition of Billy. If you'd like something done by her (knitted items or amigurumi), check out her work at http://eesaray.wordpress.com/

peck bust

2011-01-13T10:05:00.001-08:00

alley lit

2011-01-12T17:16:00.001-08:00

Will include shadow in final sketch. Stay tuned.

almost there …

2011-01-12T15:20:00.001-08:00

alley in progress

2011-01-12T14:36:00.001-08:00

Whistle while you work …

analog model of alley

2011-01-12T11:09:00.001-08:00

Beginnings of my cardboard mockup of the alley. Just need enough detail to see the foreshortening, angles and shading properly. I will be tweaking the perspective of the final ref image as I want a wide angle lens appearance. On to making more cardboard buildings …

rough cover concept

2011-01-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a rough digital mockup of my cover concept. Going to build a cardboard model of the alley background and light it for shadow accuracy. Colors are tbd at this point.

cover musings

2011-01-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

Initial musings on a new cover concept for issue #1.

the new bamboo

2011-01-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

Just picked up a Wacom Bamboo Pen. This will greatly speed up my coloring efforts. I know a lot of you veterans are saying: "Wha? Where have you been?" Slowly but slowly. ;)

finished color

2010-12-30T10:20:00.001-08:00

flatting

2010-12-29T21:01:00.001-08:00

color fun

2010-12-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

Color in process …

finished pencil

2010-12-26T10:59:00.001-08:00

christmas peek

2010-12-25T11:50:00.001-08:00

Not quite done, but here's a peek. Merry Christmas all.

kando characters

2010-12-21T16:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, here it is. The official kanji for "Way of the Can." It is pronounced Kando. I see a headband in Corn's future …

ho ho ho!

2010-12-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a rough study of the Christmas pin up I'm working on. At first I was going to have Peck dressed up as Santa Claus, using the garbage can as a toy sack. I thought of a better idea once I started brainstorming the sketch more. I thought I'd put Cornelius and Billy in the trash can, with Corn donning the Santa cap. I then thought about a set of antlers on Peck to make him the reindeer. Too involved though. Then I thought of the single sawed-down antler the dog on the Grinch Who Stole Christmas wore. We'll see how it turns out.

the way of the can

2010-12-10T13:47:00.000-08:00

This post will be updated multiple times as I explain the curious philosophy of Cornelius Bacon. Known as The Way of the Can (a.k.a. twotc), it is a school of thinking that Professor Bacon acquired through his years of research in eastern culture. Unlike japanese styles (i.e., karate, aikido, hapkido, kendo, sumo, etc) or chinese schools (wushu, etc.), twotc is a fusion of the asian styles, culminating in the "becoming one" with a man-made environment. All martial arts embrace the forces of nature. Twotc takes it a step further by encompassing the creations and refuse generated by industrial society. What better venue to study the art of twotc than a landfill? Bacon found great inspiration in the founder of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee. Adjust the a few words in his timeless quote and you have the doctrine of The Way of the Can: “Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like garbage. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless—like garbage. Now you put litter in a soup can, it becomes the soup can; You put trash into a dumpster it becomes the dumpster; You put it in a landfill it becomes the dump. Now garbage can compost or it can stink. Be garbage, my friend.”

(Cornelius Bacon, with apologies to Mr. Lee)

kintoki confirmed

2010-12-09T05:28:00.001-08:00

Reservation made. Locked and loaded.

kintoki-con 2011

2010-12-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

Looks like Peck might be making an appearance at Kintoki-Con's artist alley in June 2011. This is a new conference in Sacramento that celebrates all asian culture and animé. I think Peck will fit in the mix as he champions to the ancient art of Gar Bag Do (the Way of the Can). More info to follow as details develop.

solid for wcon 2011

2010-12-04T00:03:00.000-08:00

Got my WonderCon 2011 confirmation in the mail. Excellent, Smithers …

cornelius's ode to tryptophan

2010-11-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

"And turkey carcass, never flitting, still is ziplocked, still is sitting

On the frigid shelf a freezing just above my ice makor;

And his cold bones has the seeming of a future meant for steaming.

Hints of hot broth o'er him streaming beckons soup in De-cembor;

And my soul from out that vision that slumbers on the kitchen floor;

Shall be lifted—nevermore."

(with apologies to Mr. Poe)

wondercon 2011

2010-09-06T20:48:00.001-07:00

Peck will be at WonderCon 2011 in SF. I'll also be there with fellow comic artist, Mark Machmann, current artist extraordinaire for the upcoming Arch Enemy Comics creation, Solo. Look for us in Artist Alley. Hopefully you'll see us wedged between the likes of Sergio Aragones or Mike Mignola. Cheers!

happenings

2010-02-23T19:19:00.000-08:00

Just a heads up that the Peck site will be changing soon. I've purchased a new domain called peckcomics.com, BUT will let y'all know when it's up and running. I will be switching over to Wordpress (with Comicpress running over it) to make it more convenient for updating the comic on my side as well as viewing it from the audience's side.

Also on the horizon: I will be resurrecting my past cartoon panel, Incompatibles. At one point this feature was self-syndicated to 12 college newspapers. Grad work and career gave it an early retirement back in the mid '90s, but now with the schedule cleared out, I can go back to telling jokes in a format I've really missed. Stay tuned.

bacon in the wind

2010-02-15T17:30:00.001-08:00

doh!

2010-02-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm a loser. I waited until now to try to register for WonderCon and just found out it sold out. Argh. In the past, WCon had plenty of space in artist's alley, as they would just add in more tables in that corner of Moscone. Apparently it has sold out much earlier in the fall months preceding the con, at least in the last two years. Ah well, lesson learned. I'll get in there early next time.

THIS DOES NOT derail the launch of issue one, however. That's still slated to hit the online store (Comixpress) at the beginning of April, along with a few full-color pin-up posters. So stay tuned if you're feeling a bit Peckish.

edit on cover

2010-02-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Actually I dug up this old sketch and am going to base the new cover on it. He will be running through an alley, underlit and in full color. I really want to make this more visually charged.

cover sketchin

2010-01-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

Here's the beginnings of the new cover; I'm really shooting for a more action-packed vibe. I'm going to work on the background elements next—total extreme three-point perspective, should look really torqued. I'll be integrating Cornelius and Billy in the background and I'm working on a new hand-crafted type solution for the title. Mel Smith, Einser award-winning artist for Gumby, suggested I just go with "Peck" for the name instead of "The Peck." I think I'm beginning to agree with him, make it even simpler.

old cover

2010-01-18T19:16:00.001-08:00

Here is the old cover of The Peck's first printing. I'm currently changing it as a few people mistook it for Rayman. Ack. I actually do like the cover quite a bit, but I'm biased and my eyes have been on it too long. I'm replacing it with a more dynamic image, one that will hopefully attract viewers' eyes more—full color, cool action pose, etc. Someday I think this old cover will make a nice commemorate poster.

heading to sf in april

2010-01-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm making good on my New Year's Resolution and bringing this comic blog to life. Updates will be beginning soon. FYI, The Peck will be appearing at WonderCon 2010. I'm redoing my issue #1 cover and touching up a few things, as well as doing a few pin up posters for the expo. My hope is to also have 1–2 t-shirts to fold into the mix. Look out for me in Artist Alley in April. Maybe I'll get lucky and get placed right next to Sergio Aragones or Mike Mignola.

page 25

2008-11-24T22:09:00.000-08:00

No, this isn't page 25. Just a placeholder as it's been a hairy week.
I will post post haste.
Thanks,
Mario

page 24

2008-11-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

A bit of a flashback to find out what has led to the confrontation on the previous splash page.

page 23 - chapter 02

2008-11-10T23:53:00.000-08:00

Click here to view the full-sized comic.

Little bit of a jump forward as this is the opening page for Chapter 2. Dent has been at his garbage man duties for a while and now he's getting a warm welcome from the locals.

page 22

2008-11-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

Click here to read the full-sized comic.

Welcome folks. This the official launch of The Peck: The Man Without Neck. To the right, you'll find a quick synopsis of the story. To read the latest page of the novel, click here.