U.S. Marshal John Jones Is The Martian Manhunter!, 2009, ink with digital color.

For those of you who don't know this character, the Martian Manhunter is a person from Mars named J'onn J'onzz who was beamed to Earth accidentally and is now trapped here.

Being a Martian gives him quite a surprising mix of powers. One of his key powers is shape-changing, which he uses to disguise himself as Earthman John Jones, a detective.

I first saw the Martian Manhunter on the pages of Justice League of America 229-230 (which I picked up on a walk to 7-11 with my grandma). In the story, a Martian armada invades our planet and J'onn J'onzz betrays his race to defend the Earth.

Space operatics ensue—the JLA satellite is destroyed, the Manhunter dukes it out with a Martian champion-general type, etc. Since then I've read lots of stories featuring the Martian Manhunter but that one remains one of my favorites.

The image above is my attempt to depict a Martian Manhunter who's ready for the kind of rollicking space action I just described, as well as some serious police work.

Oh, I gave him a shape-changing Martian dog, too. :)

J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from Mars, created by Joseph Samachson and Joe Certa. Martian Manhunter, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and related elements are trademarks of DC Comics.

Suburban Barbarian Princess Jennifer, 2009, ink with digital color.

I drew this for a friendly trade. The colors were added several days after the drawing was handed to the postman.

On the topic of color, a question I've posed elsewhere: Do those of you who tinker with digital color typically use a "channels" method or a "layers" method (or a combination of the two or another method altogether)? Does your method vary according to image type?

Character concept sketches, 2009, graphite.

Displayed in this post are three pages drawn yesterday in my sketchbook. They're all the same fellow, an incidental character.

On this first page, I kind of liked the last in both the top and bottom rows but I think he too much resembles a more prominent character who will appear in the same story.

Character concept sketches, 2009, graphite.

While drawing on this second page, Broom-Hilda popped into my head. I think you can see her influence (or Myer's, rather) in the face at the top right and the inked face in the middle.

Character concept sketch, 2009, graphite.

Here's a final take, with the fellow as he'll likely appear in the story.

Excerpt from Fannie Firecracker, 2009, ink with digital color.

Stumptown Comics Fest 2009 is a fading memory. Kudos to Stumptown staff and volunteers and thanks to my PNCA comrades, with whom I shared a table.

I was only there half the weekend but I didn't pass up the chance to purchase cool stuff directly from cool folks like Alec Longstreth, Maris Wicks, and Liz Prince. It was nice also to meet Joe Quinones, soon to be beloved by Green Lantern fans everywhere.

Following its Stumptown premiere, the Fannie Firecracker fold-out mini-comic is now available to you, my web community!

Specs, revisited: Eight colorful panels printed on cardstock. Measures 5.5 inches by 4.25 inches folded, 5.5 inches by 17 inches unfolded. Hand-decorated wrapper. Price three dollars ($3) U.S., plus shipping and handling.

Fannie Firecracker Original art and fold-out comic, 2009, mixed media.

Ready to sell! Here's a first look at Fannie Firecracker, the eight-panel fold-out comic my clever co-conspirator Liska and I prepared for Stumptown Comics Fest 2009!

Liska and I knew early on that we wanted to present our fold-out comic as a small, crafty package. Liska volunteered to decorate envelopes to hold the comic. A great idea!

Cornered by Decorated Envelopes!

We guarantee your copy of Fannie Firecracker will contain:

• Eight (8) colorful panel-pages
• One (1) hand-decorated envelope
• At least three (3) instances of silly innuendo

One hundred copies of Fannie Firecracker will be available for three dollars each this weekend at Stumptown Comics Fest in beautiful Portland, Oregon. Run to Table 2 and snag your copy! See you there!