Alrighty, so I was out in LA for a bit for a signing and shennanigins at The Secret Headquarters with the delightful Brea Grant for her book WE WILL BURY YOU. Crazy night ending with playing HALO: REACH in a special room below a trap door with Nathan Fillion teaching me how not to suck too much. Very weird. But awesome. Caught up with old friends and new including Todd Stashwick, Dennis Calero, David and Erica and a fair few more.

I even got a sonic screwdriver as a gift.









But what else happened? Wondered where CHOKER got to? Well, it's BACK. Hopefully more or less on schedule. ( Ahem, *more or less*. ) Personal apology from me for the lateness in the back of it. All my fault.

Issue 4 hit store shelves wednesday this week.

Still not sure if it's worth it? Well, Image Comics have sent out a huge 9 page preview of the issue...if you like what you see, let your retailer know and they may just have copies of 1-3 as well. It got pretty popular and went to multiple printings but there should be some still lurking about.

And of course, you can always wait for the trade if you're so inclined.

Really happy with how this book is turning out. Some of my best work and of course, Ben McCool is going places because of his obvious talent.

So give it a looksee and get down to your local comic store.

May the Squid be with you.

Honest. It is.

I wrapped issue #4, finally. Now it's just needing the lettering and it's off to the printers with the bastard. Promise you won't be disappointed with it. The second half is the better half...and that's saying a lot with what's already come before from Mr McCool.

With CHOKER #3 coming up, here's a peek at how the cover came together.

And yes, just so you know, this image should be a print, available at HEROES CON over in Charlotte, where I'll be, all days, June 4th to 6th! ( As well as the US premier of SQUIDGIRLS! )

Before all that though, I'll be at LONDON MCM EXPO, May 29th-30th. And, if all goes well, SQUIDGIRLS gets it's world premier there. Didn't actually plan it that way but hey, only fitting considering my Anglophile status. 9 And guess what, Warren "I will kill your dog if it looks at me funny" Ellis will be there, Saturday only, so it's probably worth checking out regardless of how much my presence may in fact, repel you.

After some rough pencils, I start adding some basic line work.

Then comes the watercolour washes and such. I do like the drips!

I'd actually already started on the white lines before I took these shots. Yes, I use a few white pens to get some of the details in.

The final, original art, scanned in. Added some white acrylic paint as well as a dash of red veins. If you like it, check out www.templesmitharts.com to buy the original art piece.

Added a bunch of layers of textures and medical type things, a bit of dodge and burn as well as fleshing out the skull with the photo I took for reference for the drawing in the first place.

The final image before it's slotted into the CHOKER cover design.

Some work in progress shots of CHOKER issue 3. The book is now ALL DONE! I was silent all last week as it was killing me doing this book. Many a late night. But I love my job so I'm not actually complaining. Should be back to more regular bloggity business as usual now. I have a bunch of other sneak peeks to show from this issue...so stay tuned.

Huge thanks to Image Comics and Ben McCool for bearing with me! February-March-April were utterly exhausting months with all the travel and conventions and work. Too me ages to ramp back up for work really.

And now I stare down the barrel of a massive work load before SDCC... it's going to be all systems go from now on. I hope I live through it!

CHOKER #3 should hit, May 26th!

Yes CHOKER issue 3... it IS coming... with all the cons, the tour and extra signings ( not to mention a filming of a certain webisode ) I've barely been able to draw breath... so obviously, it's slightly delays and my fault entirely.

But it's coming. Here's  a sneak peek.

The LAST convention/travel I need to do this month is for C2E2 in CHICAGO. Really looking forward to this one. It should be big. Plus, I get to announce the new thingy...not ot mention sell a bunch of books, prints and original art should anyone be interested.

So come by for a chat, I'll be in Artists Alley most of the time when not at a few panels! More on all that tomorrow.

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CHOKER ISSUE ONE

ISSUE ONE: PAIN Industry superstar BEN TEMPLESMITH teams up with writer BEN McCOOL for this deliciously skewed tale of hardboiled noir. Johnny “Choker” Jackson, once one of Shotgun City’s most promising police officers, is a bitter private detective with a terrible case of Alien Hand Syndrome. But he’s unexpectedly been offered a job back on the force: provided he can nail a twisted drug dealer selling a very exclusive product, that is… RETAILER WARNING: MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

CHOKER: Coming in 2010

Dick Puncher

CHOKER: Coming in 2010

CHOKER: Coming in 2010

Worm

CHOKER: Coming in 2010