A page of pencils from Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story. Click PREVIOUS for more.

FYI: J Michael Straczynski is slated to take over the writing chores on both Superman and Wonder Woman. Incoming links to this page tell me:

A) Some people out there are spreading the rumor that I am the new Wondy artist.

B) Some people out there are spreading the rumor that I am posting these pages to audition to be the new Wondy artist.

C) Some people out there are hoping I am the new Wondy artist.

I am not auditioning, I am not in line to do the book, and I have two GN projects for DC’s Vertigo that I need to clear off my schedule before I can take on any new work at DC. So, no to All of the Above.

I am working on the GN Gone to Amerikay with Derek McCulloch, and Stealth Tribes with Warren Ellis. Stealth Tribes is temporarily sacrificed on the altar of Amerikay.

Thanks for all the kind words, and you all know how much I enjoy drawing Wonder Woman, but the new artist isn’t me.

Wonder Woman is © and ® DC Comics Inc.

I think this will be the last page I will post from the unpublished issue of The Book of Lost Souls. This series was published by Marvel Comics’ Icon line, and the first six issues are available in a graphic novel collection. We planned to go forward with the series, but JMS had so many tempting offers elsewhere he didn’t have time to continue. It was great working with him, and I really enjoyed this project.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look.

Hit PREVIOUS to see other works from this project. The art is © J Michael Straczynski and used with permission.

Come back soon for a look at my pencil art from Wonder Woman projects.

Another page from The Book of Lost Souls. As with the others, this is from an unpublished issue. A number of pages from The Book of Lost Souls are available for sale. Please inquire.

The Tarot images in the bottom panels are paste ons. The art is drawn by hand.

Hit PREVIOUS to see other works from this project. The art is © J Michael Straczynski and used with permission.

More unpublished art from The Book of Lost Souls. Click PREVIOUS for more.

Totally loved the dude in panel one, who was based on painter Sandro Kopp. I got a real kick out of the use of the tarot in this story.

Used with permission and © J Michael Straczynski.

Another unpublished page from The Book of Lost Souls. Click PREVIOUS for more info.

The villains in this storyline were fun to draw and very creepy.

Used with permission and © J Michael Straczynski.

Another page from the late, lamented Book of Lost Souls. Click PREVIOUS for more info.

Was DYING to do more of this storyline with the Tarot Cards. I had briefly discussed doing a BoLS set. Oh, well, can’t win ‘em all.

Speaking of can’t win ‘em all, I accidentally saved another file under the original file name for this page. So, my archive copy of this art is no longer in my system. This jpg still shows pencil lines and other marks. Oops.

Used with permission and © J Michael Straczynski.

Another page from the unpublished issue of The Book of Lost Souls. Hit PREVIOUS for more from this project. Used with permission and © J Michael Straczynski.

Another page from the unpublished issue of The Book of Lost Souls. The interesting bald fellow who dominates this page was based on my friend, painter Sandro Kopp.

For more information about this series, hit the previous button. Click the thumbnails at the bottom of this post for Lost Souls art in the COMICS gallery.

I’ve also updated the Photo gallery. Click ABOUT and scroll down the menu to access.

The Book of Lost Souls is © J Michael Straczynski and presented with permission.

Another page from the unpublished issue of The Book Of Lost Souls. Pen and ink.

The spatter effect is an old trick: toothbrush dipped in ink. Flick across the brush with your thumb. Quite messy, but looks great. You’ll spend a month trying to get the goop out of your fingernail.

And no, I did not use computer graphics, nor did I use pose files or any other such aids for these drawings.

Go back to see more of this project.

© J Michael Straczynski. Presented here with permission.

This is the alternate version of page one of The Book of Lost Souls. I can’t quite recall, but this may have been my audition page.

JMS didn’t like the way the coat flared in this shot. I ended up redrawing the entire page from scratch (which was completely unnecessary. I don’t know what I was thinking). The website gallery feature will pop up the final version of this page below. Click the thumbnail to view and
go back one page for more info about this project.

Some artists are dead set against auditioning for projects. I don’t mind if the client pays a fee. Some do, some don’t. JMS doesn’t like having people work for him on spec, so I was assured that if I didn’t get the gig I would be paid for the audition.

A writer I once knew would fly into a rage if anyone asked them to audition. I think it’s one of the reasons I never see work from this writer anymore. I don’t believe they’ve had any major work in fifteen years. They believed they were too important to show clients samples. Maybe that’s true if you are Neil Gaiman. Not so much if you are a journeyman writer.

Clients invest a lot of money in major projects and have to know what they are getting. There are some clients I won’t audition for, and others I will. But I never say never. There is always a special project out there you will never get if you can’t prove you are the right person for the gig. I loved The Book of Lost Souls and never would have gotten it without an audition.

Bette Davis had to audition for the lead in the film All About Eve. If auditions are OK for Bette, they are OK for me.

Art © J Michael Straczynski