Fangbone #3, at a glance...

If you have ever wondered what an entire 128 page graphic novel looks like all laid out at once...here it is.  This as the artwork for Fangbone #3, except for the cover and title page.  Thanks to Mike Scowden for the great shot, and to the Leonia Recreation Center for letting us use the Teen Center room.  Fangbone #3 comes out on August 2.

Making a hot mess...

Right now, I'm working on the illustrations for my next series, “Icky Ricky” which comes out in 2013 from Random House.  For these books, I need lots of backgrounds that have sprays and drips and all kinds of messy looking bits of business.  I recruited my two sons, Declan and Gavin, who are good at making messes, to help me out with the process.  We used some traditional spray-paint, watered down acrylic, and even a bit of clean water to get things to drip.  We produced a pile of papers that I can scan and sample the best bits from. 

My favorite piece was created by laying down some rope on the paper, and my son Declan gently spray-painted over it, creating areas of different values and contrast.

Here’s one of the drawings from the book.  The background area uses parts of the rope painted paper.  The type for the word balloon will be added later.

Book #3 is coming soon!

Just for fun...

Sometimes I like to create work that doesn't have anything to do with my books. I don't want to have to worry about it selling, or whether or not it will be reviewed well. I just want to simply create without all of the other nonsense. I had a bunch of Benjamin Moore paint sample bottles siting around in my studio. I wanted to do something with them, but nothing had really clicked. Yesterday I found some old pieces of plywood, and I knew the paint samples would look nice on the wood. Right after the kids went to sleep, I started working, and this is what I ended up with. I'm pretty happy with it, and more importantly, I had fun doing it.

Icky Ricky

While working on Fangbone, I've also been planning another series called "Icky Ricky." Random House will be publishing the books, and they are basically my answer to "Fancy Nancy," however, they are not parodies. This image is for the first book's cover. It's the first non-digitally colored piece I've done since 1997, and I'm really anxious about it. I wanted it to look loose, but not sloppy. I initially tried a photoshop colored version, but the whole "icky" thing didn't really come off too well. There's much more to the cover than this, and hopefully I can show that soon.

Astronaut #13

Wow. It's been over a year since I did my last astronaut. I hadn't planned this for the series, but it fits in well. This is a sketch of an idea that I have for a picture book. When I'm at this stage in developing a story, I like to do a quick piece of art to give me a concrete idea of what I am working on. I hope to do a "finish" of this soon.

A joke cut from Fangbone #3

One of the hardest things about writing a book like Fangbone is cutting gags that I love. This is one that was taken out at the very last minute because we needed to add some information that was important to the plot. And while I love this bit, I was worried that kids wouldn't know what a boil is, and the the whole joke would flop. Hopefully I can use this bit in the future.

The last few panels are blurry because they are still in the book and I don't want them spoiled.

Bad Bill Bill

Sometimes when I have an idea for a story, I like to do a quick drawing of a character from the story so that I can make the image in my head more concrete. While this may look like a finished piece of art, it was only about 2 hours work so I consider it a sketch. I'm pretty happy with it, but it really is a first draft of an idea that can go much further. I also wanted to try a style that was much more bold and stripped down than I usually do. As far as specifics go, it was hand drawn with a brush pen, and color added in Photoshop.

The story is a western that features a bunch of fowl, and as I was drawing this bad guy a name for him came up..."Bad Bill Bill."

Here's a great Team-Up!

Fangbone #1 in Scholastic Book Club

The April issue of the Scholastic Book Club flyer has Fangbone #1 in it. It's the "Lucky" edition, aimed at grades 2-3.

Deep thoughts...

Book #3 is done!

"Fangbone! The Birthday Party of Dread" is done! It will hit stores in August. This one's got some really odd stuff in it. I'm especially fond of the Bouncy Castle Monster! Just a note, the fonts in the above piece are not final.

Long Live Fangbone!

Here's a great review from the one and only Betsy Bird. She really gets Fangbone, and it always feels great when a reviewer sees your book the way you intended.

"Michael Rex has made a career of sorts out of spoofing classic children’s books of yore. As such, Goodnight Moon becomes Goodnight Goon, Runaway Bunny is Runaway Mummy and Curious George is the stellar Furious George Goes Bananas. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but parody ain’t nothing to sneeze at. Now Mr. Rex switches gears a little. You can go on spoofing picture books until the cows come home but why limit yourself? If you’re going to rework a classic go big or go home. Go for the gold. Take on a classic in the best sense of the term. You don’t need to have read Conan the Barbarian to enjoy Mr. Rex’s new graphic novel series Fangbone! Third Grade Barbarian but knowing the books won’t hurt your appreciation either. Basically, if you’ve been waiting around for a series about third graders with swords and deadpan deliveries your prayers have been duly answered."

For the rest of the review visit School Library Journal/Fuse #8

I have a good job...

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a mother who said how much her son loved my book You Can Do Anything Daddy! He had found it in the library, but she wanted to get him his own copy. Sadly, it recently went out of print, and is no longer available. Anyway, I sent off a signed copy and today I received this photo. What a way to start the day.

A monster review...

This review comes from a site called "Monsters and Critics" that reviews works that tend to have monsters in them. The site is well named.

From Monsters and Critics..."Eastwood Elementary has a new student, and he's nothing like the other kids in 3G. Fangbone is a barbarian warrior from another world! And he's been charged with the task of keeping a deadly weapon from Skullbania's vilest villain, Venomous Drool. Can Fangbone's new classmates team up to help him triumph over hound-snakes, lava-ferrets, and his first pop quiz?"

For the rest of the review, please visit Monsters and Critics