#160: Back to ARCA

Workblogging, a little process, and a whole lot of THUNDERCATS

Nov 05, 2024

Welcome to DECLARATIONS a bi-weekly newsletter by artist/writer Declan Shalvey.

This is a regular workblog featuring exclusive peeks at upcoming projects with advance releases of original art/merchandise.

ALL THE LATEST

-Here’s a rough breakdown of the various obligations I’ve taken care of in the past two weeks. Have had a lot of things to do…

Inked 10 pages of MYSTIQUE Issue Four.
Layouts for MYSTIQUE Issue Four.
Pencilled 6 pages of MYSTIQUE Issue Four.
Lettering draft for MYSTIQUE Issue Three.
Pencilled/inked a Marvel variant cover.
Pencilled another Marvel variant cover
Lettering draft for THUNDERCATS #10.
Wrote THUNDERCATS #11.
Wrote TERMINATOR #3.
Wrote outline for TERMINATOR #4 & 5.
Wrote intro pages for PROJECT ARCA, revised pitch.
Layouts for two DC covers.
Layouts for THUNDERCATS cover [see below].

-It was fun do do a Marvel variant cover for a character I’ve never gotten to properly draw a cover for before. I have another one on the docket due later in the month that’ll be fun, just pencilled it. VERY much looking forward to those two DC covers too.

-Heads up that my TMNT: BLACK WHITE & GREEN short story is collected in trade paperback week, also sporting a cover by myself. There should be some of my process stuff in there too.

-I mentioned PROJECT ARCA above. I have asked my editor Heather Antos to kick my arse about this more, with the OLD DOG anthology done and a schedule made for the next OLD DOG installment. I’ve been doing a LOT of work for hire stuff in the last year and want to invest in a new creator owned project. ARCA has been in the works for about two years with very little progress and that’s entirely my fault [hey, I’ve been busy!]. Going to be moving on this more, if even just to try get a pitch in to Image by the end of the year, fingers crossed.

-I said yes to a convention in Ireland early next year. Meaning that so far for next year, I am doing an Irish con, A European convention, a UK signing and two US shows. Last show of 2014 though is Thought Bubble. I’ll be signing at the Kinetic table at various times, I’ll post them on socials next week. Will also be doing a panel on Saturday, 2-3PM

Transmedia: Storytelling Across Film, Game and Comics at the Dead Northern Stage

Hope to see you there!

ART DECO

A reminder that new covers, pages from OLD DOG and all of Issue One of MYSTIQUE are now available on the ART DECO store. We did quite well with the early launch last time, just shy of a third of the issue sold… very happy with that. Some choice pages gone, but still a lot of the splashier pages still available, for now…

MYSTIQUE original art

MYSTIQUE

Great responses and reviews been coming in for MYSTIQUE in the last couple of weeks. Feeling pretty great about it. I did an interview about the book with ComicsXF along with some other X-head, you can listen below

Battle Of The Atom: New York Comic Con Super Special 2024

The first half of Issue Four is all pencilled and inked, I’m currently pencilling the last half, looking to get the issue squared away before I head to Thought Bubble. I’ll have to get the last script done after that, which will be tough… All the issues have been fun and I’ve had plenty of teases through the series, but I’ll have to tie all the strands together and land the plane, as it were. I handed in the cover for the final issue [below], as much as i am really happy with all the covers, this might be my favourite of the set.

With the first issue out a few weeks now, I thought I’d share the full layouts to the 30 pages book. Marvel seem to have a recent strategy of doing 30 page first issues, something I learned when writing ALIEN. I think it’s a great way to give readers a real solid chunk of story and spectacle. Drawing one on the other hand, is a lot harder. Was worth it though, I think the extra 10 pages allowed me to get a lot more elements into that first issue while also giving me the room to get splashy in the right places.

I’ll share some of these online, just not the whole issue, that’s for you Decolytes only.

For those newer subscribers unfamiliar with my process:

I draw my layouts in my sketchbook in 5x7.5cm boxes. I work out all the compositions in pencil scribbles, where the dialogue captions should go, then take a pen and flesh them all out, work out my basic blackspotting and clean them up. I’ll then lightbox these onto the Marvel artboard and start pencilling. All the hard work of storytelling and composition, basic figure work is already nailed down, this approach stopping me from second-guessing myself on the actual artboard. The figures are drawn small enough so I don’t get bogged down in all the details, but the basic figure work is established enough that I can just start drawing on the skeleton.

Hope ye’re all enjoying the book, it’s great to finally have people read and enjoy it.

TERMINATOR

Man, I love this book, but it’s hard. Some scheduling snafus at the start have forced me to get real flexible on this job which has become a real strain on my schedule. I love the project though, so it’s worth it. I’m currently working on writing Issue Four and Five at the same time which is tough, but I want to give artist Luke Sparrow as much time as I can to wrap this first arc, and new artist Lorenzo Re on Issue Four. With David O’ Sullivan currently wrapping up the 2-parter in Issue Three, the book now has a bit more of an anthology feel, which actually works for me honestly… considering the time-hopping nature of the book. All still tied together with Colin Craker’s gorgeous palettes.

Speaking of David, here’s a gorgeous page from Issue Three.

Variant covers are all solicited for Issue three, featuring work by Edwin Galmon, Cat Staggs and David Cousens.

TERMINATOR #3 covers by Edwin Galmon, Cat Staggs and David Cousens

And as I’m talking about covers, here’s my one for Issue Five.

You might have noticed by now that I’m going a bit more ‘symbolic’ with my TERMINATOR covers after the big splashy cover for Issue Two. That’s a deliberate choice on my part, trying to do something more like what I did with my series of covers for Becky Cloonan, Steve Dillon and Matt Horak’s PUNISHER run [Can you see the satellite is made up of endoskeleton parts…? See the side-orbs are the eyes of the T-800…? Hope so!] Also, I know all the other variants are going to be cool splashy images of the cyborg, so playing with the iconography of the T-800 imagery but applying it to the story elements [an advantage I have as the writer] is a way for my own covers to stand out a bit from the rest.

THUNDERCATS

Issue Nine came out last week and if you’ve read it, you know it had a pretty grim ending! The stakes are certainly being raised as the book progresses and it’s really satisfying to write. Below is a preview of the opening pages by Drew Moss, Martina Pignedoli and Jeff Eckleberry, if you haven’t read it, then pick it up ASAP, Don’t want anyone ruining the story for you.

I handed in my lettering notes for Issue Ten, I’m really happy with Joe Mulvey’s guest work on the book. The issue, much like Stephen Mooney’s issue] works as a self-contained story as well as a showcase for a certain character, this time being SLYTHE. I’ve been trying to build him up as essentially one of the main characters alongside the titular Thunderians and as we wrap up our first year, I was happy to dig into that character more and show more backstory leading up tot the start of the series. Here’s a very cool Drew Moss cover for the issue that I just saw the other day.

He recently posted this cover for Issue Twelve, which I am very happy to finally get to, story-wise.

Issue Eleven is all written and with Drew, kicking this arc off with a bang. As of this month, we’re working together for a year. Crazy.

Dynamite have announced campaign for ThunderCats Classic Years Omnibus, launching next week. I can reveal here I’m doing *something* for it.

Thundercats Classic Omnibus campaign

The APEX one shot special is coming together very nicely. Ed Brisson and Rapha Lobosco open with a nod to the end of OMENS in what’s looking like an excellent comic.

Ed talks about the book and the upcoming SILVERHAWKS series here.

Issue Twelve was recently solicted with covers by Lucio Parillo, Jae Lee, Ivan Tao And Manix

THUNDERCATS #12 covers by Lucio Parillo, Jae Lee, Ivan Tao And Manix

I don’t often show my layouts for my THUNDERCATS covers but I just worked out the rough for #14 which is the climax of my first year on the book with Drew. This is essentially where I was planning on ending the book via the original pitch. The huge success of the book has changed things obviously, but I still see this as the first big landmark for me. Because of that, I decided it was about time to do a big team shot, I haven’t done one since #3 it seems. Didn’t mean for it to go so long without a team shot, but being the writer of the book, I’ve been concentrating on showcasing specific characters or story points. I’m the ONE person in the best position to do so after all. But yeah, for this landmark, time to do a big team shot!

I blocked in thee overall character colours for the purposes of this rough… might play around with the colours more in the final. Or not, we’ll see. I’ll share the pencils here once they’re done. Excited to dive into it.