IT'S DONE!

Hey there sports fans, Al here with the latest:

CORRAX THE SEEKER NEWS:  

  What more needs to be said -it is done! And will be premiering at the Rose City Comic Show this year here in Portland Oregon Sept 8 and 9th and then followed show,  the Jet City Comic Show in Seattle later in the month.  FAN-F’ING-TASTIC!

Issue #2 of Corrax: The Seeker
copyright 2012 Alan Bennett and BBVA

As CTS #1 is finally done issue #2 begins to take shape.   The final cover you have already seen but here are a couple of inked pages that are completed and fitted into the traditional comic book layout to give you an idea what to expect.

1st appearance of Angry Robot
from Guilded Edges #2

"Cosmic Confrontation -part 2" is under way, and addition to this the beginning of a new plot line is starting to take place in issue #5.  Here are a few rough thumbnail images of those upcoming stories.  Now with those images being shown it should be apparent that there are robots to be seen.  Now of course being the supreme master of vague, this was the hint in the previous blogs I gave you about what was going to be shown in the future issues.  And to top it off this is one of main reasons for Corrax's seeking.  Here are a couple of images  from those original pages from Guilded Edges that show Corrax and the Angry Robot. Now with Corrax the Seeker I've been working hard to keep him light hearted but occasionally you as a writer have to dip your character's toe into something serious.  The A.I. Wars were like that for Corrax.  Now the funny thing is with the A.I. Wars,  this puts things into a time frame for the for the Vega Universe.  The formation of the Rangers was already spoken about in Johnny Vega #1 in color!  (Still available at IndyPlanet.com) 

And thats where the origin of Angry Robot comes from. 

1st appearance of Corrax- as an Outlaw
from Guilded Edges #4

But this also makes Corrax an old character- like over a century compared to you and me.  

CTS #5 thumbnails.

  With that issue we will be re introduced to the "Angry Robot" -AX1-2501.  The cool thing about him is the Robot continues to be a thorn in side for the Galactic Rangers and especially Corvis.  The Robot only processed Corrax creation by one issue back in the late 1990's.  This was when I was still working with the Eugene Comics Guild.  But now he makes his come back!  And when the Angry Robot shows up, there's no good that can come from it!  Chaos will ensue.  So in issue #5 of CTS, when the report about AX1 comes across his vid phone you'll understand the significance of this relationship.  It will be fun to play with two of my oldest creations. 

GALLERY WORK CONTINUES!

For about another two weeks the FANFARE show will continue on till the 9th of September.  And as that shows swings to a close the Rose City Comic Show starts.  Gotta stay in the public eye.  

But the thing to keep in mind is that as an artist in the 21st century you need to spread yourself out as far as possible.  And there's  nothing better than using the internet to do it.  Again this deals with the self promotion that so many artist just don't want to deal with or know how to.

So as the body of work continues to grow the need to spread it grows as well.  The art market has changed immensely over the last two decades and changes the landscape for galleries to sell work exclusively for one artist is rare.  Also the reasonable pricing for work is also needed to be talked about here.  A lot of artists ask me what a good price is for their work.  I firstly tell them I can only really gage my own work.  But it's based on cost of materials and time on putting it together.  In my case it covers the premade scratchboards, xacto blades, steel wool, varnish, framing, cost of gas for transportation to the gallery.  And then you add in the wage you would pay yourself (a living wage not some inflated price) and the percentage cut a gallery takes (in most cases this is about 40%).  But this all comes down to one price for the people at large to be able grasp.  Problem is that so many people think they should get something for nothing.  Sorry folkes, but it's taken a lifetime to get this far honing my skills.  The only thing I'll come down is the percentage cut that a gallery would normally take.  Deal with me directly and you'll see it right away.   That cut can sometimes make a big choice pretty damn easy.

OTHER NEWS.

As ECCC starts to loom in the future for 2013, my artist bud Dan DePaolo had mentioned to me about art submissions to the "Monsters and Dames" hard bound book .  If you haven't seen these books you should take a look.  They are prettt cool.  

So I am goung to take a shot at it.  

And that is it for the kid and I am outta here!