This week’s guest comic (once again filling in for me while I work on the Dresden Codak book) is by the magnificent cartooning-man Chris Baldwin, creator of the fantastic sci-fi series Space Trawler. Seriously, if you haven’t ever read his stuff before, you need to get on that.

One more guest comic to go next week, then it’s back to our irregularly scheduled program!

This month I’m working on finishing up the upcoming Dresden Codak book (more details to come), so a few of my marvelously talented friends are providing some guest comics! I hope you like them!

This week’s comes from C. Spike Trotman, creator of Templar, Arizona and organizer, a fantastic alternate-history webcomic that you should be reading if you aren’t already. She’s also the organizer of Smut Peddler, whose Kickstarter you should most definitely check out.

There will be another update next week, and very soon I’ll be able to tell you guys more about the book!

BUT IT DOESN’T STOP THERE: I’ll be at TCAF in Toronto next weekend doing some panels and bringing some books and merch as well. TCAF’s a great show and it’s free to attend! If you’re in town you should definitely give it a look. I’ll be at the TopatoCo booth upstairs.

Also, if you haven’t noticed the Dresden Codak Messenger Bags have finally arrived! I’m so pumped about these, you have no idea. Ever since I put that image in the comics, I’ve wanted to make these. They’re very high quality and glow in the dark, too!

This ends the first chapter of Dark Science! Thanks for reading so far, the next part’s going to be pretty exciting, I hope you enjoy it!

Last week my personal hero, Jean “Moebius” Giraud, died at 73. There has never been a more singular influence in my work and career, and his passing has been deeply felt by the world of comics and pop art. While many in America may not recognize the name, Moebius has had a heavy hand in the direction of modern science fiction since the early 1970s, including Alien, Bladerunner and Tron. In the comics world he is best remembered for co-founding the magazine Metal Hurlant, gracing it with such legendary stories as Arzach and The Airtight Garage.

He has been a part of my life long before I knew his name. I remember picking up a monster magazine when I was 8 years old (as it had previews of the upcoming Batman cartoon), and on one of the pages was an image from Arzach, the iconic warrior atop his concrete pterodactyl. I didn’t understand where itw as from at the time, but the picture stuck with me. Years later, when I was around 12 and the Sega Saturn was coming out, I saw in a store footage from the game Panzer Dragoon, which somehow reminded me of that image from years ago. I ended up getting it for Christmas and it became a massive influence in my artistic development, though at the time I had no idea that Moebius (whom I still did not know) had actually worked on this game as well!

It kept happening as I grew up, everything from Miyazaki’s film Nausicaa to all my favorite science fiction films, Moebius was there. By the time I discovered who he was as an adult, I decided it was time to make my own comic, namely Dresden Codak.

I’ve been having a difficult time expressing what he’s meant to me as an artist and a person, so I’ll leave it at this: there aren’t many artists who can change the direction of a person’s life, but Moebius was one of them for me, and the best way I can pay tribute to the decades of amazing art and storytelling is to keep making my own and hope it might one day reach people in the same way.

Goodbye, Jean. You’re gone, but not forgotten.
-AD

Caspar appears! What’s she all about? Tune in next time!

I’ve got some new posters in the store based on the ones seen around Nephilopolis. You might like them!

I’ve also added my appearances this year. Next up will be Vericon at Harvard next weekend, and after that I’ll be headed to Seattle again for Emerald City Comicon! And yes, I will be drawing people dinosaurs.

Due to some extenuating real-life circumstances including illness, the next page of Dark Science is going to be a couple days late (look for it Friday). To tide you over, I share with you some of the alien evolution illustrations I did last week on my art blog.

1 - Lightning Beast

2 - Gas Giant & Spark Glider

More things here later…