We were on the road, back in June, promoting our new book TWO BROTHERS here in Brazil, when we received an email from our friend Gustavo Duarte inviting us to collaborate with him on a page of an upcoming issue of his Bizarro series.

It is the first time either Bá or I have drawn on a super-hero book from DC or Marvel.

This issue comes out today.

This is the cover for Dark Horse Presents 28, out in September 25th. In one of our rare art collaborations, Bá penciled the cover, inked the top image, I inked the bottom part and he colored the whole thing. Click here to see the cover with the logo and everything else.

Two of the recent covers I've done.

The first one is for the CBLDF's Liberty Annual 2013. The editor for this anthology changes every year and this one's Scott Allie. I did this cover and Fábio also has a little story in there. It will be out in October by Image Comics.




And also my variant cover for THE TRUE LIVES OF THE FABULOUS KILLJOYS #5, crazy mini series by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan. Edited by Sierra Hahn and published by Dark Horse, this will also be out in October.




There's a lesson to be learned here. Make friends with editors. Get to know their names, what books they edit, who they work with. If they like your work and they trust you, they'll get you cool gigs.

I did this quick sketch based on a monster character from Gustavo Duarte's new book while I was waiting for a panel we would do together this weekend in São Paulo.
Having a panel and a signing session back home in the same week of Comic Con in San Diego made it just a tiny bit easier for us to miss the convention for the first time in 17 years. Both the talk and the signing were packed and Bá and I love to talk to the fans, and we were happy we could do it this weekend.
Back to work now. One of the reasons we skipped San Diego was to work on the new books, so let's get back to them.

Convite Mercearia São Pedro from FILMA_FILMES on Vimeo.

Both Craig and I worked on this last piece together. I inked a little bit he pencilled, he inked a bit I pencilled, but for the most part we just passed the paper back and forth as we kept working on the panels. This was fun.

A did a lot of other incredibly interesting things in Portland, but there's only so much we could put on paper in the time we had. There was also a lot of things I could have done but didn't because of time constraints, but that was not my point when I decided to go. You'll never see and do everything, but you can enjoy everything you end up doing. And I certainly enjoyed my time in Portland, seeing all those Dark Horse people I only see within the crazy rules on the San Diego Comicon, meeting new artists, talking about art, life and everything inbetween.

Time to go back and start all over again. Time to go home, happy, ready for more.

We could see it from very far away, from inside the car, still some twenty minutes before we really got to the beginning of the trail. It was massive, it was strangely alien and different, and it was this one thing in my trip that would actually also be new for all people involved (except for Dan, Craig's friend and our guide for the day).

Have you ever been to a volcano? Have you even stood inside it's crumbling interior partly rocky, partly ashy surface? Have you ever seen a waterfall with hot water?

We stood there, got ready, and went for it.

To be continued on Craig's blog, which includes the full contribution from Dan Attoe (I'm only showing the detail below).

At the Vertigo Blog, you can find a very interesting line-up of artists. To be on the same book as them is thrilling. When I agreed contributing, I had no idea who else would be on the book.

I did my best, and I'm very happy with my pages, but right now all I can think of is "what will everybody else on the book be doing?"

Here's one of mine:

It was in the end of 2008 when Diana called us to do a story for her Noir anthology. Of all the things she could have said to invite us to the project (we would have done it in a blink anyway, because it was for her), she just had the perfect two words:

Brian Azzarello

We've known Brian for some time and it was just great to finally be able to work with him. He's got this twisted mind, one that sometimes we wished we had when we're coming up with new stories, and it was nice to get inside his twisted mind for a while and draw this story.

Now, the book is out. Check the link here and look for it on your comic book store. There's a great selection of crime fiction in it from a all star list of creators. I'm a suspect, for I love all of Diana's anthology projects, but this one is a killer.

Some times, it happens like that: We have a limitation, which in this case was page length. 2 pages. No problem, I say to Bá, 'cause we've been doing one page stories every month. I suggest a character which has more graphic possibilities, even if the other one was Bá's original choice and he will actually draw the 2 pages. Then, because of what I suggested, Bá remembers an old picture we found that could be used in the story. It makes sense, I think, and in the sense it made in my head, I tell him how we could include the old picture inspiration into the original character idea. The idea instantly gets better. It was the missing link, and we suddenly have not only an idea, but a story.

I wish all stories came like that.

Click HERE and order your copy TODAY!

With some delay, the art is done. When you read it, i hope you agree it was for the best. We self publish this thing, we do it because we love comics, we love to tell stories and we really believe in the work we do. At the end of the day, we are not a big corporation filling the monthly market of comic books, where the most important thing is to hit the scheduled slot on the comic-book shelves. At the end of the day, we do this because we love it and we want to share it with as many people as we can, and to better express our love we have to give it our best. Sometimes, our best takes more time than we anticipated, but it's something we'll be proud of. We already are.

The printer people are our pals (we have been using the same guys for three years now), so we'll try to get it done faster, so it's just a matter of time now. The hard work, the good work, the "I still can't believe I do this for a living" work, it's done.

And it's coming.

If you haven't ordered your copy, you can still do it online at Khepri.com ( click here). It's your safest bet to grab you PIXU, so hurry to get it before the PIXU gets you.

There's an interview with all PIXU creators at CBR. It's a nice introduction to what our new story is about, and at the same time it doesn't spoil it for those who haven't read it. There are preview pages from all four artists, like this one from Bá:



Production on the second volume continues steady and on schedule. We're a little bit late on everything else, but it's only for one more week. We can't all be drawing machines like Becky, now can we?

If you still haven't hopped on the PIXU ride, you can get your copy online at Khepri.com. Trust me, you'll want to know what happens before PIXU II arrives.

Back to work.

The response for PIXU has been great and that helps us continue on the horror path we created. We were eager to be drawing again, and I think every time this happens with an artist, it shows on the first pages that come from this creative hunger. The best thing about having a working routine and a daily output of work is the constant feed we get from finishing a page, a feed that only enlarges our hunger and leaves us always wanting more.

There's nothing better.

Home. Here we are, and we're safe, and we're happy.

And busy. We've been busy for a long time. We were very busy during the convention, as we were on previous years (maybe more), and being busy is a good sign, is a sign we're working, we're building something that hopefully will stand the test of time as worth of the reader's time. We work because we feel this need to tell stories, and being busy is a way of knowing that stories are being told. This year, above all, I felt that not only stories were being told, they were being read as well.



We work our best, but the job is only done when we find our readers, when they do their part, when they get the books and read the stories. Maybe they'll like it, maybe they won't. Every year, as we work more, I think it becomes easier to find our stuff and to read our stories. Having a body of work certainly makes it easier to be seen in this sea of artists and that's something most people don't realize. Doing comics is not easy and more often than not there are no overnight successes. It takes a long time, it's a long road, and you have to love it.

We do love it.



I still can't believe we won. It's overwhelming, it's flattering, it's unbelievable and, at the same time, undeniable. I remember well that, during the ceremony, I completely forgot to thank anyone, so say anyone's name, or to express my gratitude for these awards. I was holding myself from bursting into tears, I was high of happiness, and I was pumped by my love of Comics.

From that moment on, all I could think of was how bad I wanted to do more comics, and I hope that's the effect these awards have on people: this is it, you won, now get back to work and do it better, do it harder and do it for as long as you can. No words can really say how it feels, or how it felt for me, so I just want to work an keep doing what I love, and what it seems people also love, and have the work be my way of saying thanks.



It's great to belong. It's great to have friends. Nobody is an island, we were not made to be alone, and it's great to find people who can take this great trip along with you, people who share our love for comics, people who also want to do their best, who don't settle, don't give up and they always want to do more, and do it better.

These are great friends to have and I wouldn't have it any other way.

On the plane back, I started drawing. I couldn't help it, I couldn't wait any longer and I just did it, between the first and the second movie on the second and longer leg of my trip, and it was great. It's great to draw, to create and to share. I inked the drawing when I arrived home, 'cause the plane was too shaky. I knew this drawing world need good inking, 'cause these are friends you have to treat well. They're great, and I miss them already.



We have a second PIXU to finish now, and just too much more to list at the end of this narrative, and we just can't wait to get to it. We love comics, and we thank all of you for your tenderness and support.

Coming out in September, the mystery continues.

Monday, we got together with two friends, Grampá and Rafa Coutinho, and at dinner we made a fast crazy comic at eight hands on my sketchbook. One would ink the other's pencil, and then the next had to continue the previous panel.

Nothing that makes sense, but great fun.,


First panel is Grampá inked by Bá, second panel is me inked by Rafa.

Then, it's Bá inked by Grampá, and Rafa inked by me.

Now, it's Rafa inked by Grampá and Ba inked by Rafa.

Finally, Grampá inked by me and the last panel is Rafa inked by Bá.

Less than a month before San Diego, and we're all so excited.

PRE-ORDER: PIXU #1
(streets 07/23)

part 1 of 2
Becky Cloonan, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Vasilis Lolos
Special limited edition, 1000 copies numbered and signed by all 4 authors.

Part one will be released on the San Diego Comic Con International. Part two will be out in September.

This is not going to be distributed by Diamond. If you're not going to San Diego and you want to save your copy of PIXU, it will only be available through KHEPRI.COM. They are already taking pre-orders.

http://www.khepri.com/16.html#pixu

PIXU
2 part mini series
by Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá.
special edition, 1000 copies, numbered and signed.

part one will be released on the San Diego Comic Con International. Part two will be out in September.

This is not going to be distributed by Diamond. If you're not going to San Diego and you want to save your copy of PIXU, it will only be available through KHEPRI.COM. They are already taking pre-orders.

PIXU, our new self-published comic, will be ready for San Diego Comic Con, special 1000 copies numbered and signed. The PIXU crew is Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá.

It's gonna be a 2 part mini-series and the second one will be out in september.
If you're going to MOCCA this weekend, find Becky at table A69 and find more about our new project.

And If you're not going to San Diego or if you already want to save your copy of PIXU, you can pre-order it at KHEPRI.COM.