ICARUS set to launch from Super75Comics.

Icarus is a new web to print comic series from Super75Comics. Created, Written and Illustrated by Ryan Cody, Icarus is set to launch on Sunday October 10^th, 2010. Previous creator credits include a short story in the Eisner award winning Popgun Vol.3 from Image Comics and Villains from Viper Comics, which is currently in development at Universal.

In 2014, a young child with the ability to see the future see an object approaching Earth, a giant spacecraft containing a species intent on invasion and occupation. She locates the most public superhuman of the time, The Golden Templar, and convinces him to take her to a secret group of world leaders. The Amaliorata do not believe her story and cast her away. When she, and other gifted seers go public with their warning, global riots break out and the world is turned upside down with religious and economic collapse. The Ameliorata decide that the super-humans cannot be allowed to roam unchecked and continue to upset the power balance. They order the execution of every known superhuman. Major Fisher Riley is put in charge of exterminating the world’s most powerful individuals. The Ameliorata convince the public that the oncoming object to Earth is only the asteroid Icarus, preparing to make its scheduled pass of Earth.

Icarus is expected to pass Earth on June 16^th, 2015.

The Icarus comic is an endeavor to bring the excitement and energy of big budget adventure comics to the world of small press. Each week two new pages will go online in preparation for a quarterly print release.

For more information please visit www.super75comics.com or contact the creator directly at hurricanekids@gmail.com

Super75comics is a boutique publisher whose previous credits have included The Hurricane Kids and the 24-Hour Comic Book Day project Fata Obstant.

Atomic Comics appearance

I will be hanging out most the day on Wednesday doing free sketches for people who buy an X-Force blank cover. I will also bring along some pages to ink from Jesus Christ:In the Name of the Gun and possibly some Icarus stuff as well. Stop on by and say hello and watch me work.

UFC 119 Predictions

A couple good fights on this card but the only one I really care about is Bader vs. Lil Nog. Apparently the winner may get Jon Jones. When a contest looks really tight on paper, I'll go with who is going into the bout with a head of steam and who is the better wrestler. That makes Bader my pick, he's a slight favorite so I'm not alone in my thoughts, and the idea of a Bader/Jones #1 contender match-up is very, very intriguing.

Icarus 10.10.10

Talking about Jesus

Weekly Crisis.com recently did a piece on Jesus Christ - In the Name of the Gun. I am the new artist for the second volume. Here is an excerpt where the reviewer refers to me -


Recently, it has returned, back with a brand new artist, and it is updating every Tuesday and Thursday. The art change may be jarring at first, just because it is so different: if former artist Ethan Nicolle was like a more cartoony Brian Bolland or Charlie Adlard, incoming artist Ryan Cody is more along the lines of a bulkier Cory Walker. It’s not bad by any means (specially by webcomic standards, this looks like a high quality indie comic), but it may give readers whiplash when switching from one style to the other. The writing is still as whimsical as ever, and the new arc seems to pit Jesus Christ against Queen Isabella of Spain, who also happens to be a Lovecraftian monster. It just started, so it’s the right time to read through the archive and jump on board.

I like the reference to Cory Walker, who is one of my favorite artists right now. The posts on the Jesus Christ - ITNOTG website generally are unhappy with my work, I dunno if they are just bothered by the change or by my work itself. We just started posting the 2nd scene of vol.2 and I think I am beginning to hit a stride now that I am happy with. Please, if you get a moment feel free to read it and let me know what you think or post a comment on the site, I could use the support.

Icarus

A new webcomic, coming next month.

Cody Daily 2010 - 257

I'm still keeping up my Daily sketches going over at The Sketchjam!

HERO New Avengers

Hero Initiative have announced their new series of sketch covers, and it's The New Avengers. I was fortunate enough to be included again this year so here is what I did, darkened in photoshop. Hopefully it brings in some decent money for this great charity.

I Love(ed) the X-Men

I started reading comics in the mid 80's. I would pick up random issues of Spider-Man and other Marvel titles to start out with. I wasn't picky with what Marvel book it was, but early on I only read Marvel. The first title I started following regularly was Uncanny X-Men sometime around issue #214. I later went back and started buying back issues like a fiend. The artists who rotated in and out of the X-Men is an all-star team. Barry Windsor-Smith, Art Adams, John Romita Jr., Paul Smith, Alan Davis. I was in love, I think I even bought an X-Men shirt. But my favorite X-artist of all time was Marc Silvestri. When combined with Dan Green on inks, that team was dynamic and amazing. They had great action, sexy girls and powerful heroes and villains, everything an 11-year old boy wants out of his comics. I still think Marc's stuff then is better than his newer work, just a personal opinion as I'm sure others would disagree. I had a chance a year or two back to have dinner with two of my artistic idols, Silvestri and Jim Lee but I didn't really talk to either of them, but 16 year old me was in heaven at the time. I stopped reading X-Men after Joe Mad's run but the book had already been going downhill for years at that time.

Here are two of my favorite Silvesti covers from his run and a recent Colossus vs. Juggernaut commission I did. I threw a little Shadowcat and Wolverine in there for fun. Click for full size. (I'm still very much open for commissions if anyone is interested.)

UFC 118 Main Card Predictions

and here we go.................... Winners in bold.

Edgar VS Penn - I don't think we saw the same BJ Penn that decimated Diego Sanchez when he fought Franikie Edgar at UFC112. I think Penn took Edgar lightly and I think there was a nagging injury or sickness there too. The best words Frankie Edgar ever heard were "and NEW UFC lightweight champion....", followed a few days later by the worst words he had ever heard, "instant rematch with BJ Penn." I know I always pick BJ to win and I'm a BJ superfan, but the guy is insane when he's on his game, and I think he's on his game for this fight. He's been trying to stand and be a kickboxer in his last couple fights but I'd like to see him work some of his bjj and ground and pound in this fight. BJ by submission.

Couture VS Toney - Unless James Toney connects perfectly with Randy's chin as Randy goes for the takedown, he's not coming close to winning this. I think Randy will take a few moments to gauge his distance and Toney's timing then throw a jab or two to keep Toney on the defense before taking him down and beating the shit out of him. Couture via TKO, ground and pound. Toney will probably call Randy a homo afterward.

Maia VS Miranda - My three favorite jiu-jitsu guys are on this main card (Penn, Maia and Diaz) and I honestly do not know anything about Mario Miranda. I'll take Maia via submission for the safe bet.

Florian VS Maynard - I like Kenny Florian, I think he's a much better fighter than he showed when he fought BJ Penn the first time. He's a very complete fighter and if he really did train his wrestling with Georges St. Pierre as he claims then he's going to be able to nullify "The Bully's" attack, at least enough to win a decision. I think Florian wins via TKO and then the UFC has to try and promote Penn/Florian II, which should be closer than their first fight from a year ago.

Diaz VS Davis - Nate Diaz has always been fun to watch and Marcus Davis has gotten his bell rung a couple times in the last year or so. I loved it when Ben Saunders lit him up with his knees in their match-up. Diaz does not have knockout power but he can use his jab as a way to set up his jiu-jitsu and put Davis to sleep. Diaz via submission.

And yes, I am well aware I picked all the betting favorites. They are favorites for a reason.

Updates!

Spent last weekend relaxing in Minnesota visiting. One of the highlights of the trip was going to Lee's Liquor Lounge and actually getting to meet and hang out with the bar owner (Lee, obviously). He's owned that corner for over40 years, was a childhood friend of Herb Brooks (Do you believe in Miracles?!) and was very cool. He gave us a private tour of the building and all that jazz. Can't recommend that joint enough.

My friend Scott Godlewski is doing that art on a new Dracula book from Boom that came out this week, try and track it down, it's got some beautiful comic book goodness inside. There's a nice little review here.

Here are some sketches I've done recently, they are both available for sale in my Etsy store as well as a Trevor Bruttenholm sketch I did. New pages are popping up weekly over at the Jesus Christ: Name of Gun comic I'm doing. Not everyone is digging me on the art, but I'm not everyone's cup of tea, I understand that. I'm going to try and do better on the next chapter of pages. Thanks for stopping by.

Suits!

For the rest of the year as part of my daily sketch challenge over at the Sketchjam!, I am going to try and focus on problem areas I have. First up is people in suits. I've always had a problem with collared shirts and suits, so I'll be doing a bunch of them to try and work it all out.

35 min. Pencil & Ink. This sketch is also for sale in my Etsy shop.

Influence Map

click for full size

This was started on deviantArt but I thought I would post it here as well. This is a visual sort of map to who I feel influences me. You'll notice mostly comic artists on there. I never consider myself a fine artist so I tend to think in terms of how "this guy handles this" and this guy "brings this" when I draw comics. So that's why most of my influences are other comic guys. Some are very obvious, Kirby, Oeming and Toth. Others you might question. Marc Silvestri drew (to me) the most exciting run of comics I ever read when he was on X-Men. Rob Liefeld, for all the hate he gets, was super exciting and new and really made me want to be an artist in the first place. Other guys on there are fairly new (in terms of comic artists) but I am always thinking about how would Eric Canete draw this or how would Cory Walker ink this and make it looks simple and dynamic at the same time. When I color I tend to try to think a little outside the norm, and nobody does crazy palettes and makes it work better than Rico Renzi in my opinion.

So anyway, there it is and feel free to ask questions or comment away.

Fantastic Four

This is a recent commission featuring a bunch of really awesome characters. This was a whole lot of fun. If you want a commission of your own feel free to order one on the paypal sidebar to the right.

UFC 117 Main Card predictions

My picks this month are going to short and sweet. -

Junior dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson - JDS via TKO

Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida - Almeida via decision.

Clay Guida vs. Rafael dos Anjos - The Carpenter Guida via decision

Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves - This is a tough one. I'll go with the wrestler in Fitch.

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen - Silva takes this any way he wants. Hopefully by vicious knockout.

Unpublished pitch

Along with RISE I was also part of another pitch last year that was sent out to publishers. "Blackmail" was the working title and it was written and co-created by writer Mark Sable. Mark has written books including Grounded and Hazed at Image comics and Unthinkable at BOOM!. The idea behind Blackmail was that a vigilante and a crime boss face off against each other from behind masks, only to be best friends in real life. It was all about hidden lives, sacrifice and of course, Blackmail. We showed it to a couple different publishers but it never gained a foot hold anywhere. We're hoping to work together on something else soon. Meanwhile, pre-order his new book RIFT RAIDERS from Kickstart Productions.

I really tried to reign in on my cartooning on these pages to convey the darkness and mood that we wanted. I'm still pretty happy with these, which is extremely rare, and yes, on page two that guy does piss himself.

X-Men Villains!

Over on the Daily Sketchjam I have been drawing a series of quick sketches, all X-Men Villains A-Z. I'm on N so far. Here is what you have been missing. Adversary, Bishop, Callisto, Death, Emma Frost, Fabian Cortez, Garrok, Harpoon, Iron Patriot, Juggernaut, Kierrok & Lady Deathstrike. (Click for full size) I've also added a Paypal button to the right sidebar for anyone interested in getting a commission. Thanks for stopping by.

Not @ SDCC event.

I will be out at Atomic Comics tomorrow selling $5 sketchbooks and I'll also have some copies of Villains with me for anybody who still doesn't have one and wants one. Free, quick sketch with any purchase. I will also be doing $10 commission sketches (similar to this) and donating 50% of those proceeds to the HERO Initiative charity. So if you're not going to be out at San Diego Comic-Con, come hang out with us.

Atomic Comics Mesa - 11am to 3pm, Saturday, July 24th!!!

Dark Horse Comics is pulling out all the stops to provide a party for comic fans who were unable to attend San Diego Comic-Con. The Red Bull Wing Team will be present with cars, girls and all sorts of stuff and RED BULL! There will be special live cell-phone feeds and online chats with the Dark Horse team at the San Diego Comic Con. We'll have prize packages throughout the day and have local artists such as Ben Glendenning, Daniel Bradford, Brandon James and Ryan Cody stop by to do sketches.

Among the prizes to be given away:

• Hellboy figure + graphic novel box sets
• Buffy Supernatural Defense Kits
• Star Wars Clone Wars graphic novels
• Umbrella Academy magnets
• Red Bull swag

My current project.

For the past few weeks, and for the next few months, I will be handling the art chores on a comic called Jesus Christ: In the Name of the Gun. Volume 2. Volume 1 came out last year and seems to have a few bit of people who enjoyed it. It will initially be put up online, a new page each Tuesday & Thursday and then collected into a print trade later this year. The first page is up here. Now, to preempt any backlash I may (and probably will) get from working on this project, I will do a quick FAQ here.

Q: How did you come up with this idea, was it glorify or denigrate Jesus, God or the Bible?
A: I did not come up with this idea. I am just the artist.

Q: How can you depict Jesus doing things like fighting monsters and smoking and swearing?
A: The same way I can depict the Hulk smashing rocks or a guy flying with a jetpack. I draw them in pencil and ink. I'm not drawing this book as a believer or as a non-believer, I'm drawing it the same way I would draw any book.

Q: Do you worry about offending anyone?
A: I'm sorry if I do, but it's not my responsibilty to manage each person's sensibilities or beliefs.

Q: What would you say to people who have a problem with you drawing a comic about Jesus?
A: If it bothers you, then don't read it.

Q: What are your religious beliefs?
A: None of your business.

Q: Don't you think you should not be mocking Christ?
A: I'm not mocking anybody. I'm drawing a comic book. It's action-adventure, not a biography.

The bottom line is, I thought it was a fun read and it's a fun story and there's plenty of action and it's a gig. Those are the things I look for in a project. I don't try to preach or push my beliefs on anyone and I don't want anyone pushing theirs on me. Fair enough?

RISE

I've always thought my best strength as an artist was being a storyteller. I like to take an idea and expand it as far as I can, having as much fun as I can with it but I also including a message or purpose to the story. I've never been a big fan of my own artwork so I thought I would try to develop a story with me as the writer and bring in another artist. So last year I developed a pitch with my friend Scott Godlewski. It's basically my take on our planet that has 3 super-powered individuals. No superheroes, or villains really, just a small group of people with the ability to hold an entire word hostage if they chose to. The main character has been held in a military bunker and kept sedated for the last 5 years, since he went a little berserk. At the beginning of our book he is freed from his restraints and must take out his nemesis before an end-of-the-planet scenario occurs. It's an idea that has been done before as most have, but I also tried to infuse a lot of political and social ideas into the story. One guy is not good and the other is not bad, they just see things differently, all the while governments are trying to control them both. I pitched this around to a couple companies and essentially heard crickets back from them. The ones I did hear back from shied away because it was an indie superhero comic. I never thought of this book as a superhero book personally and was really bummed it never went anywhere. Scott and I both enjoyed working on it and would love to do it one day if we found the right publisher. He's pretty busy kicking ass over on some Boom-Studios books for the foreseeable future and rightly so. There's no telling when or if we'll ever be able to do this, but it's been laying around on my hard drive for a while so I thought I would post the pitch pages.

Written, colored, co-plotted & lettered: Ryan Cody
Black and White Artwork, co-plotted: Scott Godlweski
Cover pencils by Scott Godlewski, Inks and Colors by Ryan Cody
*click on images for larger view