2006 Artmonkeys Studios update!

Wonder what we do? (Sometimes I'm not sure, it's so varied).

Day-to-day, it's lettering. There's been a distinct veer this year towards more illustration, though. There are some good negotiations underway for fonts, illustration, and some ole-fayshioned comic book storytellin'! Stay tuned for news on that...

Here's a short recap of Artmonkeys-lettered books on the stands now, or on their way soon:

DISNEY PUBLISHING
Artmonkeys has just wrapped a long commitment for some behind-the-scenes work at Disney for the ABADAZAD novels coming out this summer. As soon as I can, I'll explain our commitment. Meantime, props to the team, JM DeMatteis, Mike Ploog, Nick Bell, and Sumi Pak! (and read a bit further for what else the whole team is up to!)

MARVEL
A number of Marvel projects have just wrapped, or are wrapping, and some new ones starting.

• X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS was a complete windfall for Artmonkeys, and I'm stoked to see how high up it is on the Top 100 Retail list! The series is almost over, we've got an issue left to do, but it's going to be a doozy! There's a big secret that's going to get revealed, hidden for the entire time I've been an X-MEN fan (and that was just before the legendary Chris Claremont-John Byrne-Terry Austin-Tom Orzechowski days!) Oh My Stars and Garters!!
• We were the LoveMonkeys, lettering 3 of the 4 I HEART MARVEL books for February, and the monthly mini-series MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX. That's a fun retrofit project, re-scripting Golden Age Marvel romance comics. Artmonkeys gets to ape (Read: homage) the Golden Age Marvel lettering style over great comics artists like Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, John Romita Sr., and Dick Giordano!
• Also, did another fun retro-lettering project, elicited by writer Ed Brubaker, and artists Javier Pulido and Marcos Martin, for CAPTAIN AMERICA'S 65th Anniversary Special. Never thought I'd get a crack at a Silver Age Cap story! ‘Nuff said!!
  
• SON OF M seems to have the legs spinning out of the HOUSE OF M series, and it's been my privilege to work on this series. Issue 5 is on its way out soon, and that leaves us with 1 issue left to do! I can't wait! (Online preview mentioned in an earlier post.)
  
• THE THING is -- I'm proud to be working with my old CrossGen buddies, Andrea DiVito and Laura Villari on the THING mini-series! It vividly reminds me of my own joy reading THING and MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE when I was a 6th grade kid! Thanks to Dan Slott for pitching this fun series!
• DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON is a ballsy, kick-ass story, recapturing the magic of the partners of the Knightwing Agency, Colleen Wing and Misty Knight (remember them from the LUKE CAGE/IRON FIST days?). Street-savvy bounty-hunters, they deal with more villains per issue than the Avengers! It's a fun series, and it's got great artwork by Khary Evans.
• There's a new series on the studio's horizon: think SECRET WARS meets LOST, and you'll get the feeling for the new mini-series I started on called BEYOND!

WILDSTORM/CMX
There has been some press about OYAYUBIHIME INFINITY as the next hot book out of CMX, and Artmonkeys Studios is fortunate enough to begin this new series. Our own Melanie Olsen is raring to go on those books, having cut her teeth on Viz's Beyblade and Bleach series back in 2005! Issue 1 is almost in the can, so expect an online preview soon, I'm sure! (Right, Jim?)

DARK HORSE
Dave Land has offered us HELLGATE, a new series underway written by Ian Edgington and drawn by Steve Pugh! We lettered issue 0, and I thought it looked incredible! London's burning!

IMAGE
LIONS, TIGERS & BEARS VOLUME II is halfway wrapped; we just sent issue 2 to bed, and it looks great! Jack Lawrence and Mike Bullock are fun to work for! I certainly see Joey's story through my son's eyes, so I feel a kinship working on the story. Updates at the forum.

BOOM STUDIOS
STARDUST KID 4 is on its way to press. The same Starry team that I got to work with on ABADAZAD brought me on board for SDK, too! There's only one issue to go in this fantastic coming-of-age story, and Central Park is still magically out of control! Will everything get set straight? Will Cody patch up the rift with his parents? Are they alive? Is Stardust Kid/Paul going to save the day, or is he leaving that for Cody to do? I'm dying to find out! The cover for 4 is on our blog! Come see!

RED EAGLE/DB PRO
NEW SPRING, the Dabel Brother's adaptation of Robert Jordan's fantasy novel series, is in some troubled water, but seems to be pulling out of it. We just wrapped the lettering for issue 6, and with 2 issues to go, the story still has a big climax ahead!

ZENESCOPE
This publisher has revamped their series GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES, JINDAI and SINS OF THE FALLEN with some incredible new artists. Plus, to boot, they landed the license for the film FINAL DESTINATION, and that artist is an undiscovered star! You really owe it to yourself to go see these books. Ralph Tedesco and Joseph Brusha are quietly doing comics publishing right, and it's great working with them.

**ATTENTION PUBLISHERS**
LAZARUS is a graphic novel that Danse Macabre's Joseph Gauthier is assembling. The art is all done, so Artmonkeys is going to conclude the lettering and production soon. We're still pitching to any interested comic companies, so keep an eye out for news about LAZARUS's publishing home.

There's lots more I can't speak about yet, but I will soon! See you on the comic rack!