simpsons manga update

tfaw.com says Simpsons Comics #131 will be released on June 27, 2007.

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and that manga company is…

Commissions are closed again, and will be for a long time, as I’m going to be busy with other things for the next while.

A note to people waiting for commissions from me: I’m giving my wrist a vacation this week, so I apologize for the wait. Also, I’ve been feeling mildly sick for some reason…

The company that will publish my comic is Del Rey Manga, a division of Random House. They translate several popular titles such as Air Gear, School Rumble and Tsubasa, so they’re VERY widely distributed. But don’t hold your breath; it’ll be at least a year and a half until the first book’s release. Maybe even two years.

To answer a question from my last post: it’s going to be a horror/fantasy/comedy. The bad: it takes place in ye olde samurai era Japan, which is a setting I don’t like and normally avoid. The good: it’s not about samurai. It’s about youkai. Not only kappa and tengu and kitsune and such, but several other classic youkai that are relatively unknown over here. And it’s going to be filled with anachronisms, because I love anachronisms.

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commissions news

* Commissions open!

Again, I would advise against commissioning me to do anything with a close deadline right now, because I have a couple of things to work on.

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site update

* Commissions are open!
* New donation prize sketch for February!

I WILL be slower than usual with commissions this month, because I have to work on the Simpsons comic. This is my first time pencilling, so I have no idea how long it will take. I’ll accept maybe 5 commissions (or less if they’re all complex), and then I’ll have to close it again. So please commission me only if you’re fine with the possibility of having to wait a month or two before it’s finished.

Very big thanks to Richard R., John H., John H., Nils P.J., John M., Robert S., Peter K., Skye K., Jonathan K., Jonathan K., A. K. Simpson, Michael G., Alexander W., Alexander W. Erin C., Rebecca G., who are all generous people who’ve donated. The winner of January’s sketch is Skye K! Congrats! (If you don’t want to be stuck with that portrait, I could draw something better for you.)

This month’s raffle prize is one of my “amputee muses” celebrating my good fortune and Saturnalia’s 5th Anniversary. If you’ve ever wondered what’s up the amputee muses: they’re supposed to be sort of like those ancient European nude sculptures with the missing limbs come to life.

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an aurora borealis?!

Man oh man, there’s some misinformation going ’round the media. I’ve stressed certain points when getting interviewed, yet things still seem to get blown a bit out of proportion. It’s making me uncomfortable, and I don’t want people thinking I’m outright lying, so I’m setting things straight right now:

-The Bongo comics thing is happening for sure. This is not a “manga series,” but a short one-shot story done in manga style.
-I might do art for Futurama. Might. Nothing’s been decided yet. Still in talks about that.
-I wasn’t “hired by Matt Groening.” The guys who noticed my pictures were employees of companies that work with Groening. Groening himself didn’t see my picture until much after this whole overnight recognition thing happened.
-I’m not an employee of Bongo or Fox. I still need to do commissions to pay for my bills, but with any hope, I can finally get a professional art job. Speaking of which, commissions will reopen in February.

I hope that clears things up! One more thing: I’ve said this before, but again, I’m not selling prints of my Simpsons or Futurama fanart. Even if I wanted to, deviantART automatically disallows making fanart into a print available for purchase.

Here’s Simpsonzu in ZOO magazine. Also, I TOTALLY forgot that I was quoted in The History of Webcomics by T. Campbell nearly a year ago. If my friend hadn’t told me she saw Saturnalia get a mention in it, I may never have remembered! I finally got the book and here I am, sounding lamely redundant.

I’ve been contacted by a major manga publishing company (not Tokyopop)! Might possibly get to work with them and/or release my own series?!

I did two more Simpsons and Futurama fanart pieces last night: Skinner and Chalmers and Claw Plagh.

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thank you internet!

I’d like to thank everyone who congratulated me (which is a lot of people), even if I don’t know you (which is… a lot of people). My good fortune was mentioned on digg.com: “Anime Style Simpsons artist gets hired by Matt Groening thanks to Digg” (the “Hired by Matt Groening” part is a bit of a stretch…) I do owe a lot to the power of digg.com; however, I feel it would be unfair to credit just one website. Several websites and bloggers had linked to my two pictures. I owe a lot to deviantART, too. Then there’s ABC News Australia, a major news site. Hence the title of my dA journal entry, “THANK YOU INTERNET.” That covers all the bases.

I won’t be saying much more about my Simpsons-related job offers, because I’m sure they don’t want me to blab about everything! I’m still discussing things with them. A lot of it is speculation. (And just to be clear, they didn’t tell me to shut up or anything; I’m using discretion to be on the safe side. Everyone I’ve talked to have been very nice.)

I’ve been receiving even more exciting offers. I’m so busy answering e-mails, I haven’t had as much time as usual to work on commissions (commissions have been closed, by the way). Rest assured, I AM still working on the ones in my queue.

I don’t know if you can call this a “success story” when I haven’t even done anything yet! Let’s not jump to conclusions here. Just keep your fingers crossed for me.

Following the advice of my friends, I’m finally beginning to sell prints through dA. More on that later. Oh yeah, I will not be selling prints of the Simpsons or Futurama pieces because I don’t want to make any profit from copyrighted characters.

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good news, everyone!

Do you want the good news first, or the better news, or the even better news? Okay, let’s go with good news.

GOOD NEWS: My Simpsons pic will be published in two magazines. First one is ImagineFX, a monthly magazine for fantasy and sci-fi digital artists. They’ll have a small article about me and my overnight recognition also. The second one is ZOO (link not safe for work), a weekly Maxim-esque UK magazine.

BETTER NEWS: The better news is that I’ve been hired by Bongo Comics, Matt Groening’s comic book publishing company, to do a short manga-style Simpsons comic. They had a script that called for a manga style lying around for weeks, and they saw my picture and decided my style (with a dash of more overbites) would be perfect. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would EVER work for The Simpsons in any way, especially with my MANGA STYLE. Can you believe it?

EVEN BETTER NEWS: Just when I thought my luck couldn’t get any better, as soon as I got off the phone with Bongo Comics, I got a call back from the Director of Illustration for Fox. Long story short, he wants me to work with them somehow. He’s had trouble finding people who can draw in the Groening style, because it’s a lot more difficult than it looks and people who are far better artists than me can’t get a grasp of it. Because we live in a great new world where everything can be done digitally and people can work from home, I might get a job as a concept artist for THE NEW FUTURAMA SERIES.

Now is the time when we dance!!

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sudden internet recognition

Okay, so my art (or a link to my art) has been posted on digg.com, reddit.com, 4chan.org, and ABC News Australia. Any more links to throw at me before my 15 seconds of Internet fame are up?

I was contacted by the Director of Illustration for 20th Century Fox, who’s working on a gallery of other artists’ interpretation of the Simpsons. Matt Groening himself may potentially see my work, and honestly, I would die happy if he did.

P.S. Here is my embarassing ancient Simpsons art website. It’s on Geocities, so handle with care.

ETA: I don’t know how or why, but Simpsonzu has made the FRONT PAGE of ABC News Australia. It’s not there anymore, but here’s a screenshot.

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Simpsonzu on deviantART

My Simpsons pic made the front page of deviantART! Sweet. (It’s not there anymore because 24 hours have passed.)

Anywho, here’s my version of Futurama.

ETA: In case you were wondering… Yes, I AM trying to get as much art as possible done for myself before I have to get back to working on commissions on Monday. If I could just squeeze in one more picture tomorrow…!

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