DO IT WELL.

I have actual news! The press release sums it up perfectly so I'll share this IGN article and copy from the DC Comics blog:

"Before the new BATMAN BEYOND creative team takes over in late summer, readers will get a special treat when a new Batgirl joins the Beyond Universe for an upcoming arc starting in July. In this story, Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon meets a mysterious young girl with a familiar bat-symbol, who not only saves her life twice, but gives her hope that brighter days are ahead. The Batgirl arc will be written by Scott Peterson and illustrated by Annie Wu."

Batgirl Beyond! With me and Scott Peterson of Batgirl fame! I got to design a Batgirl costume. That is a thing that I got to do in my life. I also got to draw (Commissioner) Barbara Gordon. C'mon. That's insane.

Not sure how much more I'm allowed to say about this, so I should probably just keep my mouth shut. For now, enjoy this cover. There were some alternates to this illustration that I also really loved -- hopefully I'll be able to share those sketches around July.

I will say this, though: I had very strong feelings about how I wanted to present this Batgirl, from her attitude to her body type to her costumed silhouette to the way her posture shifts when she lets her guard down. It's a lot of what, I suppose, I would have liked to see in characters (and sometimes be) when I was a teen. I don't know how much of that thoughtfulness successfully bleeds from my mind and into the final product, but I hope you feel it when you see her in action alongside Babs.

... Is that sappy? Probably. Okay, I'll leave now.

PUT ON MY MY MY MY MY GOLDFISH SHOES.

I had the pleasure of doing a few full-page illustrations for this month's issue of HAWKEYE. These particular pieces were inspired by romance comics from the 60s, so I tried to find a nice middle-ground between that look and my own style. I also got to do cheesy hand-lettering! Anyway, I'm there for a few pages, but you still get plenty of the David Aja + Matt Hollingsworth + Chris Eliopoulos interiors you've come to know and love through the course of this series. I really hope you're reading this book -- it's hilarious, action-packed, gorgeous, and you don't have to know about Hawkguy or nothin' to start reading the series.

I've posted the two pieces that have already shown up in previews, and you can see some of Mr. Aja's pages on his blog. Huge thanks to Matt Fraction, David Aja, Stephen Wacker, and Sana Amanat for letting me join in on this one!

Marvel's HAWKEYE #8 will be available Feb 27 (tomorrow!) digitally and at your favorite comic book store -- yes, your favorite.

SQUIRREL FRIEND.

I missed Daryl Dixon -- easily my favorite Daryl Dixon -- from the latest The Walking Dead AND I was trying to distract myself during the hurricane, so this happened. Consider it portrait practice. Norman Reedus, I hope you know your face is impossible.

In completely unrelated news, the Light Grey Art Lab tarot deck I participated in is now available for purchase. Also in the shop are large prints of each card, if that's what you're into (here's mine).

COLORED A LOT OF METAL THIS YEAR.

The legendary publisher First Comics is returning with a new wave of titles, one of which is something called Public Relations. It's written by Matt Sturges and Dave Justus, edited by Angela Rufino, with art from David Hahn, Steve Rolston, José Marzán, Jr... And covers by me! That's right, your probably-pal Annie Wu. The series is incredibly funny -- it's weird and crude, and you've got monsters and swords and magic and business-appropriate attire and oddly-specific references to genitalia... All that good stuff. A few sneak peeks (and a far better description) are available on the Public Relations site. Above is a cover that I especially enjoyed doing. I'll post more as the issues roll out next year.


Also, I would like to remind you that the Venture Bros. Halloween special airs on October 28 at 11:30PM on Adult Swim. Your favorites return! Spooky stuff happens! JK Simmons guest stars! Wow! This will get you even more excited for the amazing new season coming in early 2013. Please check it out and, as a tragic bonus, guess which character's haircut I accidentally emulated in my last visit to a too-edgy-for-me salon. Hint: It's not a female. Double-hint: PICTURED ABOVE!? Super-hint: No.

Got some more comics stuff (interiors!) I'm looking forward to sharing with everyone. Soon. Just need to, y'know, actually put down these snacks and get back to drawing.

... Holy crap, is this white cheddar?

AWAY FROM COLORFUL PAVILIONS.

I'm one of 78 artists contributing to Light Grey Art Lab's "Tarot, Mystics and the Occult" exhibition and tarot deck. The fates selected the Seven of Swords for me. Themes include deception, shirking responsibilities, being a lone wolf.

I recently upgraded my workspace at home, getting a monster of a Cintiq and a desktop. This is my first all-digital piece in my usual style... I still intend to draw my professional work on paper before taking it to the computer for clean-up and color -- handling all of this digitally was just a matter of trying to save time. It only kind of worked.

You can pre-order the deck right here. It's limited edition, and the list of contributing artists is crazy! I can't wait to get my hands on the final product. Full-size prints will also be available through the gallery during the course of the show, which you should totally check out if you're in the Minneapolis area around late October. For more information, check out the Light Grey Art Lab blog.

INSECT LIGAMENTS.

As a big fan of Mondo's posters, I was super-excited to be invited to make something for last month's Adventure Time exhibit at their new gallery. Here's Marceline's dad, also known as the Lord of Evil. The character's digital and all the black bits are ink on the print.

SPEAKING OF AMAZING SHOWS -- I can't believe it's taken me this long to mention -- I recently started working at the NYC branch of Titmouse Inc, doing character/prop/effect color design for the upcoming season of The Venture Bros. That means I, uh, design the... colors... for... characters, props, and effects. As some of you may know, VB is one of my favorite shows ever, so I'm thrilled to be working on it. I could go on about how much I adore this show and how I've been a super-fan since high school (... geez) but I still have to face my co-workers for a few more months, so I'll save it. I don't want to use creepy fire to burn this one bridge I've made to animation so soon, y'know. Oh, look, it's old fan art. I hope you guys like the new season when it comes out next year. Spoiler alert: Your socks? They'll be knocked off. And then fuckin' set ablaze.

And there are more things on the horizon! Still very much under wraps, but if all goes according to plan, there will be some comic-related material available from me by the end of the year-ish. I'm excited. And a little nauseated.

THAT GIRL IS POISON (POISON!)

Since college, WIRED Magazine has been on my list of "someday clients" so I was thrilled to have an opportunity to work on their latest issue. Even better, the assignment was to illustrate this awesome, frantic puzzle hunt -- kind of like a scavenger hunt but with more brainy problem-solving and puns. Check out the May 2012 issue on newsstands or read the full feature on WIRED's site.

The story's absolutely fascinating, and it led me to seek out events in my area. I was excited to find similar hunts in New York City, but then I remembered that I'm terrible at this sort of thing and find even calculating tips at restaurants a sweat-inducing ordeal. So maybe I'll just enjoy from afar. Above, the main illustration and some spots decorating the drop caps in the print edition. Below, a handful of rough options I did for the main illustration. Thanks to Victor Krummenacher and Gus Wezerek!

EVERYTHING HURTS.

I choose you -- Weezing! For Light Grey Art Lab's "Pokemon Battle Royale" show. If you're in or around Minneapolis, check out the show April 16 - May 11. This list of the 151 participating artists is absolutely incredible, so I'm sure it's going to be an amazing display.

It took me a while to decide what I wanted to do with Weezing, a shitty, farty, floating rock. After staring at it for a while, I figured its day-to-day must really suck, so I focused on conveying it as a ball of hot garbage covered in scabs who is in incredible discomfort through every moment of its existence. Yeah? Yeah.

If you want to own this piece... First of all, what's wrong with you? Secondly, I hope you put it in your kid's room. Thirdly, you can purchase it -- and any of the other pieces in the Battle Royale -- from Light Grey Art Lab for $40 once the show kicks off. I won't be doing any other prints of this, so consider it an original.

Also, also: Light Grey Art Lab currently has a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a computer/print lab, which they will use to teach professional-level art and design to people in the community.

LORD BLOODBATHINGTON.

I made this super-quick because I wanted a different drawing of myself on the About page. You can also consider this one of those "what I wore today" doodles.

I'm thinking about taking a cue from Peter Cook in the original Bedazzled and buying only red socks from now on.

TOO MUCH SPIDER-MAN.

I found an old doodle of the new Peter Parker in a stack of papers, so I used it as a color warm-up this morning before doing real work that doesn't involve looking up pictures of Andrew Garfield.

I can't believe I haven't updated in so long... I've been steadily working away on different things but none of it's for public consumption yet. I share the occasional sneak peek crop on my Twitter, if that's what you're into.

Yeah, 2012's gonna be a weird one, guys.

I'M LIKE HALF-WOLF.

I've been following the new season/series of Misfits... I don't know if I'm watching because it's genuinely good or because the new guy's face is, somehow, the best thing ever. Seriously, Joe Gilgun's facial expressions are amazing. So, on Friday, during a break from drawing other stuff, I did a quick sketch of his character and the quick sketch turned into a full-color Rudy Wade. There you go.

The first two seasons of Misfits are on Hulu for American viewers. The third, which features the new guy, will start streaming later this month. Here, have another Joe Gilgun picture and a song that Misfits totally ruined for me, LCD Soundsystem's "Get Innocuous!"...

OH GOD THERE'S INK EVERYWHERE.

I'm still alive! I'm trying to get things done and be a productive human being! I actually made and ate squash today like I'm a real person! Madness.

New work will be coming in a bit, but I just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I've updated my shop with a few originals, including the one pictured above. Also! Since I won't be doing cons for a while and that's typically the only time I offer sketch commissions, you can grab a one-hour sketch from the shop. Details inside. I will only be able to take on, like, four or five, so this is a pretty limited thing. I don't know when it'll happen again.

Okay, that's all for now. I'll get my shit together and share something new soon.

EATING DOLPHINS AND HANGING OUT WITH LADY-SINGERS.

Parks & Recreation and I had a somewhat rocky beginning, but I believe those early obstacles allowed us to strengthen our relationship to be what it is today. Seriously, I'm a big fan now. I'm totally gonna be Ron Swanson when I grow up. Or Jean-Ralphio. I don't know, there are a lot of factors to consider... Mainly how douchey I become (most signs currently point to Jean-Ralphio).

I oh-so-cleverly used tonight's season premiere as an excuse to draw some Jean-Ralphio and Tom. I don't think Jean-Ralphio does ties, but I liked the way I drew that hand, so I left it.

What's that? You want another drawing of Ben Schwartz? Well, that's a strange thing to request, but I guess I could upload this other sketch I did while watching "Jake & Amir" videos. I know a lot of illustrators have taken to doodling Nick Offerman/Ron Swanson pics -- AND FOR GOOD REASON -- but I submit that Ben Schwartz/Jean-Ralphio is equally fun to draw. I think it's the hair.

Aaand that makes three updates this month with actual new artwork. I'm really determined to keep this blog alive, even when I can't post my professional work. We'll see how long I can maintain this stupid go-getter attitude. "Oh-ho-ho," she laughed knowingly.

"Jean-Ralphio" count: 6

PROHIBITION ERA PSYCHEDELIA.

I did a guest comic thing for Warren Ellis's Three Panels feature. Above is the full-size third panel, which I had to crop in a weird way to keep the writing legible at 640px on Warren's site. Click here to see the full comic. My friend Ariyana Suvarnasuddhi also did one.

I've been thinking a lot about this concept over the past few months. I had "PROHIBITION ERA PSYCHEDELIA" scrawled repeatedly in my notebook and those words regularly bothered me, so I eventually forced myself to draw this, just to get it out of my brain so I can never think about it again. I think my exact words were "Deliver me, inky exorcism." And yay! I'm free. Now I can get on with my life. I guess.

Oh, these are some pictures I threw on Twitter and Tumblr while I was working. This actually strayed pretty far from my typical process. I usually use pens more than brushes or digital linework.


And this is how I look after staying up 'til 6AM last night for no good reason.


Okay, back to real work.

THIS CROP MAKES ME LAUGH.

I bet you're rolling your eyes at me if you also follow me on Twitter or Tumblr, because I've been going on and on about this... But it's my first printed comic work, so LET ME HAVE THIS MOMENT.

Okay, so, basically, I illustrated a short story in the penultimate issue of House of Mystery (#41, out today). I may have had too much fun doing it -- I got to sneak in a robot with a hand grenade! And used fight scenes as an excuse to study clips of Mac from Always Sunny! Also, I showed the cover (by Esao Andrews) to my mom on Skype and she screamed. There's your stamp of approval. Thanks to Greg Lockard, Matt Sturges, Shelly Bond and the folks at Vertigo.

I can't wait for you guys to see what else is coming up. I just need to learn how to work faster and stop nitpicking at every line and maybe cut down on these very time-consuming ham + cheese toasties.

Oh, and speaking of ham and wanting all of it, if you've already seen Patton Oswalt's great new special, you may enjoy this silly sketch I did while watching it this Monday.

STREAMING FLAXEN WAXEN.

Here are two portraits for "Hairy Baltimore," a book featuring interesting coifs of various folks around the city. Illustrator Alex Fine is putting together this exhibit/book for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and the Baltimore Book Festival, and he asked me to be one of the twenty illustrators to provide the forty doodles. And you know I can't resist drawing some bitchin' locks.

... "Some bitchin' locks"?

I'm super-curious to see what reference photos the other illustrators were assigned.

I also got a haircut recently, but I don't know how to style it properly so it just kind of looks like a black cat flattened itself out and mounted my skull.

THERE WAS A WHIP INVOLVED AT ONE POINT.

I attended Dr. Sketchy's NYC for the first time and enjoyed a bit of Zorro-themed drawing. I had a weird moment during the session when some sort of, like, lost memory resurfaced and I suddenly remembered that I actually watched a LOT of Zorro when I was a kid. Y'know, the old black and white series. It used to be on the Disney Channel until the early 2000s, I think. I had really forgotten all about it until I was in the middle of drawing the model's mask for the third or fourth time.

Said mask was not on the model during this pose, as he had passed on his hat, cape and mask to his topless co-model lady (not pictured). His black blouse-y puffy shirt just disappeared altogether though, which was maybe for the best.

Some more substantial updates to come. Soon. I mean, I think. I've got some stuff I need to finish. I'm being pulled in ten different directions right now. We'll see. UGGGH GET OFF MY BACK GEEZ.

I SPECIALIZE IN LONG-HAIRED LADIES WITH WEIRD GLASSES.

This is part of something I've been working on with M-Edge for the past few months. This specific illustration was for a custom iPad jacket, sent to Rachel Zoe. We later got word that she loved the cover, which is always pleasant to hear. There's a feature on The Zoe Report today, where you can see the final product.

M-Edge makes some damn spiffy covers, by the way. They've got a new thing called MyEdge where you can design your own e-reader jacket. Once I finally get around to killing a weak-looking person in a secluded late-night subway car for their iPad, I'm so totally going to make a super-cute cover.

ART FOR JAPAN.

Just a very quick post to let you all know there are about four hours left to bid on the original inks from my punk JLA illustration. This is all part of the big ART FOR JAPAN effort that has been going on for the past few months and all money goes to AmeriCares for Japan relief. I've been linking this on Twitter a lot and I just remembered I didn't blog about it, which is a bit terrible. Sorry. There are plenty of other great listings for the campaign here. I got a creepy-cool tote bag a few days ago.

I'll have a proper update soon. I'm dealing with a few different projects, one of which was just announced -- a short story in Vertigo's 'House of Mystery.' Additionally, I moved to New York a few weeks ago, and I'll be disappearing to London in about nine days. So things have been and will continue to be a bit... interesting. This guy has been my Twitter avatar for a long while, if that explains anything about what's going on in my brainbox.

THIS WON'T MAKE THE 24-HOUR NEWS CYCLE.

There hasn't been much activity in my shop in the past few months, but I've just done a massive update and I'm re-launching it. You can now browse original art, prints, bigger prints, a handful of postcards, and even t-shirts (sort of). Most things are in very limited quantities, including prints.

I think I'll only be able to keep the shop up until the end of the month, when I'll mostly likely put the whole operation on hiatus again so I can focus on moving. I hope something strikes your fancy. If you've got any questions, feel free to e-mail me or use this weird form thing.