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A crazy character design for a cigar chomping, tough guy greaser cupid! Got a little John Kricfalusi to it, but it needs more. Way more!

Has it been a year already? Last year, Wonder Woman Day raised over $15,000.00 for the two shelters: The Raphael House of Portland Bradley-Angle House. Andy Mangels masterminded the event to be a part of national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. You can bid here. Lots of great original art by Adam Hughes, Jim Lee, Steve Rude and lots more! Even if you're not in the area, you can bid online. It's a really good cause.

WONDER WOMAN DAY II
Sunday, October 28, 2007 -- 2pm-6pm, FREE
Excalibur Comics, 2444 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, Oregon
A part of national Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

SPECIAL GUESTS SIGNING:
Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Infinite Crisis)
Gail Simone (Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey, All-New Atom)

I woke up Monday morning to stumble into my studio with a cup of coffee and answer emails while waking up. The first one was from Tim Townsend, and it carried the report from Newsarama: "The comics industry lost a luminary this weekend - Mike Wieringo passed away Sunday of a sudden heart attack. Details are still sketchy as of this time, but according to close sources, the acclaimed artist had chest pains at some point during the day and called 911, but the responders did not make it in time." I was stunned. Unbelievable. It felt wrong somehow, like I was still half asleep or hadn't read the news correctly. He was only 44.

I had only known Mike through emails and conventions, but he was an inspiration to all of us in comics and the kindest person to talk to. His personality shown through in his art; innocent and playful, dynamic and heroic, passionate and stylized in such a way as to make it all look effortless. So much so, he posted a sketch a day on his blog. A sketch a day! He inspired me to do the same. I lasted maybe three days. He loved what he did, and it showed through in everything that he did. His drawing looked fun.

I was lucky enough to ink him on one occasion, on this Batman and Robin commission. I don't really have time to ink comics much any more, but when I was asked "wanna ink Ringo?" I jumped. Of course I did! And I'm glad I did. I got the chance to touch a piece of his art, one page in a huge body of work that has touched us all. Thanks Mike. You were one of the best.

Someone once said of Mike, "he draws like we all wish we could draw." That sums it up perfectly for me. The only consolation is the work he left behind. It's bound to continue to inspire artists and amaze children for generations to come.

I've been looking at a lot of Shane Glines and Kyle Baker lately, and it amazes me how effectively they can break a character into simple shapes. I figured I'd try it with Superman, since he's so iconic to begin with, how hard could he be? Just quick warm-up sketch that i ended up liking enough to color. I threw the step-by-step up on my blog if anyone is bored enough to look at it!