I have been reluctant to sell original art from Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen, but more than a year after the book’s release, I think it’s time to tentatively let a few pages go.
I may change my mind tomorrow and take them down. Or else raise the price. We’ll see.
But for now, the following are available for purchase for US$350 each (including postage).
Poor old Sam is late for a deadline And so, while his wife Sally sleeps alone, Sam sits staring at his computer screen, stuck on page 17 of his Lady Night script. Sam’s predicament here is uncomfortably familiar from my days writing scripts for DC Comics. As a consolation, I indulged myself with the decorated bedspread and curtains in panel 1. Drawing details like this – and slowly, meditatively shading – are among my favourite parts of the process.
(Japanese marker pen, ink & white-out on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
US $ 350
(including postage)
This is one of my favourite pages; it was SO MUCH FUN to draw! Sam is surprised by a giant Martian Sand Monster. I worked out a bunch of information about the Sand Monsters that I never got to use in the book. In short, they feed off their prey’s fear, rather than their flesh. The teeth and claws, horns and roar are all designed to terrify rather than kill. I have pages of drawings and notes in my sketchbook for numerous Martian (and Venusian) creatures – some of which are mentioned in the book. Maybe I’ll do a bestiary one day?
(Japanese marker pen, ink & white-out on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
US $ 350
(including postage)
Ah, Miki. Here she flies across the barren desert of Mars, with Sam clinging (a little too tightly) on her back. My earliest plans for Miki were very different, but once I started trying to draw her, a completely new character forced her way out of my pen – loudly demanding her own back story – and the Miki you see here emerged. Her presence changed the whole story, and made it even more fun to write and draw. On this page, she’s wearing the outfit I first gave her, before changing it halfway through the process of drawing the book. I later went back and redrew her clothes, giving her something closer to the classic manga sailor-suit school uniform. All of that was added in Photoshop, so the original version remains here. Warning: there are two errors in the lettering, which I also fixed in Photoshop, making this page an excellent conversation piece for the compulsively pedantic proof-reader in your life.
(Japanese marker pen, indian ink & white-out on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
(including postage)
SORRY – SOLD
Sam is proclaimed the Cartoonist God King of Mars. This is another of my favourite moments in the book, because… CARTOONIST GOD KING, right? It took ages drawing all those Martians in the crowd. Also, you’ll notice that I had second thoughts about Sam’s thought balloon in panel 3, and tried out a couple of alternative lines in the margin. In the end, though, I stuck with the original line. Feel free to white out the rejected dialogue yourself.
(Japanese marker pen, ink & white-out on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
(including postage)
SORRY – SOLD
Sam meets his Venusian wives. I apologise for the messed up lettering in panel 1 (which was later fixed in Photoshop). Again, feel free to correct it on the original before framing. Of course, the black and white drawing gives no hint of the queens’ bright green skin (as seen in the published version). But hopefully you’ll be able to imagine that while looking at it.
(Japanese marker pen, ink & white-out on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
(including postage)
SORRY – SOLD
Sam escapes to the Royal Bedchamber (accommodates 50), leaving his “wives” outside. I had so much fun drawing all the decorations on those pillows and blankets on the bed, forgetting how many times I would have to draw and colour them before the book was done. It took aaaages! Likewise the shading on the curtains. All hugely enjoyable to draw, but it’s lucky I wasn’t on a tight deadline.
(Japanese marker pen & white-out on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
(including postage)
SORRY – SOLD
Miki’s back – and introducing Sam to some of the Magic Pen’s many mysteries. This is the first time we get to see Miki’s extensive comics collection – some of which we explore with Sam and Alice in later chapters. Also, YAY SATCHMO! Note there are a couple of lines of dialogue on this page that I tweaked later in Photoshop, so it doesn’t exactly match the published version.
(Japanese marker pen and ink on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
(including postage)
SORRY – SOLD
Real Life. You may not want this page on your wall, and I wouldn’t blame you. Unless skip-diving is seriously your thing, in which case HAVE I GOT A TREAT FOR YOU! Either way, this is one of my favourite pages in the book, even if it did take days to draw all that bloody garbage!
(Japanese marker pen on Fabriano paper)
420mm x 299mm, 16.5 x 11.8 inches
(including postage)
SORRY – SOLD
