The best send off.

This is the finished page and the best send off to 2012 I can think of; at my drawing table working. A Happy New Year to all of you. 2012 was a year of growth and challenges. I end this year older ,wiser , healthy and happy.

Your friend,

Tony Figueroa.

Previously, in progress.

Hello everyone. I hope 2012 was a good year for you all. May 2013 find you happy, healthy and prosperous.  As you can see I'm inking my way through this page using a Utrecht #4 brush, Hunt 102 pen and Micron .001 and "S" markers.  I'm using Liquitex Black Ink because it's easy on my brushes and pen nibs.  Onwards and upwards...

Previously; revisited.

I wasn't satisfied with my first pass at this page, (which is under the entry "Previously") so I took another approach. There are still some work to be done here but the composition is where I want it and the figures look a bit more dynamic. The large disembodied head is a Gil Kane-ism and one he used quite often and always effectively.

Origins

The first comic book I ever read was the 21st issue of Iron Man. It was written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by George Tuska. It changed my life. From that point forward I devoured every comic book, sci-fi/fantasy movie and TV series I could get my young hands on. Shortly after turning nine my mother and I moved to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Luckily for me there were translated DC and Marvel comic books everywhere and my favorite shows were subtitled. There was something else too.  My mother's uncle had a large comic book collection which he generously allowed me to read and it was in that stack of translated comic books that I first encountered El Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata(the silver masked man). I'd never seen a comic book that looked like this:

This isn't from that first El Santo comic I saw; I don't recall exactly which issue it was but this sample is precisely the way these comic books looked. Sepia toned inks combined with photos and line art with backgrounds being either photos and/or line art.  My young mind was blown as it had been when I first saw that 21st issue of Iron Man. I soon discovered that El Santo, along with Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras were real wrestlers from Mexico and not only did they wrestle but they starred in movies and in comic books!  These masked luchadores became idols of mine. A few years later I moved back to Brooklyn and gradually lost touch with the world of El Santo and the other heroes.  For a time they would be supplanted by other comic book and movie idols and then practically forgotten. Many years later I picked up an issue of FilmFax that had an article on the movies of El Santo and Blue Demon written by Scott Rhodes.  Suddenly my love for these real yet unreal masked men came roaring back from where it had lain dormant for so long.  By that time there was a booming market for the buying and selling of VHS tapes( something that didn't exist when I was a boy and teenager) and I began to build a small but growing collection of these great MexiLuchaMovies.  Those old comics are harder and much more expensive to find but I've managed to find a few that were reasonably priced.  These comics and movies form the basis for "Wrestler Zero" which is both my original creation and tribute to these larger than life yet real masked wrestlers. 

Previously...

Hello everyone. I'm starting the third issue of Wrestler Zero with a recap of events from my recently published second issue called "Wrestler Zero Must Die".  I'm opening the in the works issue with a recap for three important and inter-related reasons: it's good storytelling which is the goal of comic book creation, it provides an "action opener" and it allows me to provide myself and the readers a fresh look at previous events. Because I self publish a mini-comic I don't have widespread distribution other than my convincing store managers to stock the book in their small press/mini comics section. So recapping previous stories is important for new and returning readers.  On the technical side of things I did my poor man's impression of Reed Crandall style pen and ink in the second panel using crow quill and my trusty Micron and Pitt pens and a bit of brush.

The hour of the wolf

As I prepare for the next issue of Wrestler Zero I like to do a lot of sketches. I have so much to learn I only hope I have the time to learn it well. This image was produced on 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock paper ( regular copy paper would curl up from all the inking) and was inked exclusively with Pitt Pens and brush. The white lines coming from the moon were done with a gel pen.  On to the next one...

Con Job

I was in Artist's Alley at the RI Comic Con this past weekend and I had a great time. I met quite a few cool people, received a thorough and inspiring critque from Walt Simonson and sold quite a few issues of Wrestler Zero and pin ups. I did inked sketches for the people who purchased a comic and pin up. The above is a sample of the inked sketches I did.  The entire experience of writing/drawing Wrestler Zero and the Con was an education in and of itself.  A big "thanks" to everyone who was at the show.

Lucha after dark.

If you've ever seen a MexiLucha film (masked Mexican wrestler film) you'll see that the ring announcer addresses an arena full of rabid Lucha fans without using a microphone and I homaged that here. Also, I wanted the look of the old black and white night time scenes from those movies.

Fight like hell for the living.

Here's another page from the opening to Wrestler Zero.  I inked this with a #4 sable brush, Micron Pigma markers .005 and .01.

Serpentum

And here's yet another page from the "I'd better get this done very soon" in progress issue of Wrestler Zero I plan to debut at the RI Comic Con on November 3 and 4.

Before the match

Another page from Wrestler Zero, inked with brush and crow quill and the ever hand Micron Pigma .001 and .01 markers.

Wrestler Zero versus The Heretic

The match against The Heretic continues. I'm trying to transition away from the "superhero look" but the old tropes can be hard to shake off at times. I pencilled this with a HB and 2B graphite sticks and inked with brush and Micron Pigma markers .001 and .01 sizes.

Transition

Hello everyone. As summer transitions into Autumn I've been working on a transition of my own. For some time now I've wanted to move away from trying to duplicate the look of the superhero comics I grew up with and love to this day into something different for Wrestler Zero.  I've been slowly working towards getting away from the "superhero look" when depicting my characters. I want the figures to be more barrel chested, less defined and rendered.  If you look at the physiques of the old school of pro wrestlers and Luchadores you'll see powerful men but not bodybuilder physiques.  I'm slowly incorpoarting this into the in progress issue of Wrestler Zero.

Wrestling with The Heretic and backgrounds.

This is the finished page. I wasn't planning suggesting a crowd on this page. I was going to give the crowd it's own panel on the next page but I think it was called for in this page to at least suggest the crowd.  I was stumped for a background in panel two but I ultimately went with drybrush and some 2H pencil.  On to the next one...

Wrestling with The Heretic

A page in progress of Wrestler Zero versus The Heretic.  I still have to do the backgrounds.

The color of Zero.

Here's the finished product. I colored it with a combination of Prismacolor and Utrecht color markers. The rag vellum bristol I was using definitely had an effect on the inks and the colors but that's why every drawing's an education.

Of color and paper.

I'm a devotee of black and white artwork but I enjoy an occasional foray into coloring my work. The red is FW "scarlet" and "flame" inks and the blue is a Prismacolor "Copenhagen Blue" marker. I'm going to need to purchase some more colored inks and/or some Copic markers. I've heard a lot of good things about Copic markers but they are expensive.  The paper I'm using here is a rag vellum finish 11x14 sheet of Bristol. It's a good paper but it's tough on my brushes so I may save it for pieces that will be pencil only.

The work in progress.

The above is a pin up that's going into the next issue of Wrestler Zero. At this point all the elements in the picture are in place but there's still some refining left. After that it's on to inking. I don't have a lightbox yet so I draw right on the board lightly with an HB graphite stick.  I'm pencilling a bit more tightly but still leaving room for improvisation in the inking.

Pencilling.

Hello everyone.  The above is the early stages of a Wrestler Zero page. Although there's still much to do the basic storytelling and poses are in place. Obviously there is still work to be done but I don't pencil too tightly so as to leave some room for spontaneity in the inks.

Jacob versus an Angel.

Wrestler Zero and The Spurned Siren of The Sea.

This was drawn on standard size heavier stock copy paper. I used a "B" pencil, a #4 and a #8 brush as well as Micron Pigma markers.

Wrestler Zero versus The Six Fingered Servants of The Serpent.

I did it again.

Here's the finished version of the work in progress from my last post. I used Dixon Ticonderoga pencils, Liquitex black ink, #4 brushes, crow quill and Micron Pigma markers. Now, onto the next one....

Here I go again part one

This is an in progress view of a reworking of an earlier post titled "Blue Demon vs The Blind Dead". I wasn't satisfied with the first version so I wanted to revist the idea with a better and more dynamic composition.  Every drawing is a lesson in how much I still have to learn. The Blind Dead are the intellectual property of whoever owns them and of course Blue Demon is the intellectual property of his estate. This is purely the fan in me at work.

Wrestler Zero and The Vampire

Hello everyone. This is the finished piece I had previously posted in progress.  Each new drawing is a learning experience.

Work in progress.

I try to not pencil too tightly so as to leave room for spontaneity in the inks. I still have quite a bit of work to do on the rest of this piece and I want to work on the hands of the vampire before I go to ink.

Blue Demon vs The Blind Dead

My tribute to Blue Demon and Amado De Ossorio.

Mano Negra (Black Hand)

Mano Negra (Black Hand) is one of my favorite Mexican Luchadores and one of my all time favorite masks. He lost his mask in a mask versus mask match against Atlantis in 1993 and has wrestled mainly in undercard and independent promotions in and around Mexico.  His son Mano Negra Jr currently wears the black glove and the mask his father made famous.

Blue Demon vs The Cult of Jason

This was done with a Dixon Ticonderoga pencil, PITT brush pen and Micron Pigma Markers on copy paper.

Visions

Here's the complete page, part of which was previewed in my last post. This is what happens when I get out of my own way and just sit down and do the work without the paralysis that is a result of fear and anxiety.

"...A vast serpent".

Hello everyone, I hope this post finds you in good spirits and fine health. The above image is a panel in progress in the next Wrestler Zero story. I inked this with a number 4 Utrecht brush and Liquitex black ink.

MeFisto

Nothing terribly profound at work here; I just wanted to have fun for a change. I drew this very quickly and didn't even erase the pencils.