You could just look in the back of any StH or SX comic. You can either mail them or e-mail them (the e-mail for StH and SX is: Sonic@archiecomics.com). You can also send any fan-mail you want there too. Any letters and fan art is chosen at random to the best of my knowledge, and they all have to be family friendly to be accepted. Sonic Universe hasn't come out yet, but I assume that they'll just continue picking at random for that comic as well.

I think Ash means to actually draw for the comic, in which case he should read this.

If more people got into this, I wouldn't mind Sonic Universe being kind of like an ongoing collaborative project, different artists and writers doing different stories, if only to spice it up, ya know? Because Lord knows we need more awesome people like Jon Gray doing stuff contributing to it. ;D

But, alas, that's a pipe dream. Best of luck to you, Ash. (Psst, can we see some samples? :P)

I think Ash means to actually draw for the comic, in which case he should read this.

Oh. Well in that case, yes that's a good link for him. From my understanding, I think they might be a little more strict and tougher than they have been in past years. It sounds like it is a bit of a challenge to actually get to work from them, or even get close to working for them. Right now they have about 5-7 artists working on Sonic, so I don't really know if they are looking for anyone else.

Granted, but keep in mind there were 2-3 writers on staff when I was applying, and here I am.

Good luck to you, dragonash!

This is true, although you had more than luck going for you (and I don't mean that in a negative way).

Looking back at my comment, it was a little more negative than I really meant it to be. Although my point still does stand. I suppose it's all really up to Mike Pellerito and if he likes your work and thinks that it can work with the books or not. I didn't mean to discourage you ash (if I did), and I wish you the best of luck.

Marry me, Ian.

Or at least take my position on this board.

~Tobe

Marry me, Ian.

Or at least take my position on this board.

~Tobe

1) Sorry, already taken
2) I've got my own board to stress out over XD

Does Mike Pellerito have an email address? I am in the process of uploading some work that I think he'd like to see, and sending him a link directly seems like a much more intelligent and speedier process than snail mail. Besides that, I'm trying to swap a dead-end job for a life-long career in comic art, and the sooner I can accomplish that the better.

He does, but that's not something I can give out.

You've got to go the traditional snail-mail route to make initial contact.

Fair enough, I'll do that. Thanks for all your help!

I'd certainly like to see how all this drawing and submission stuff all turns out in the long run, because that would definitely be very greatly appreciated by me.

Here are some of the scans of the Sonic related art... If you like it give a shout out and vote for Justin Gussman (thalos3@yahoo.com) for new StHC Penciler!

Sonic - http://upload.bayoushoote.../rn5p88bau5yo0qf5tj10.pdf

Sally, Rotor, Antione and Bunnie - http://upload.bayoushoote...s/12ve90l5hy7bm9kadoi.pdf

Robotnik - http://upload.bayoushoote...es/zbtvvjddk3fwfa4itc.pdf

Sonic Vs. Mecha Sonic - http://upload.bayoushoote.../8te97cl7y6d6sycbjexh.pdf

Just as a heads-up - .PDFs are not the best file type to send. They're big, they're clunky, and you need to run Adobe Photoshop to see them properly. A .JPG or .PNG, on the other hand, is small, easy to send off, and much easier to view.

Yo, dragonash, that is some sick stuff. I can totally see that in the comic. Good luck man.

I agree, just one constructive criticism: I think you make Eggman's legs too short they should be longer as Eggman is a pretty tall feller.

wow, you're definitely good. i wasn't expecting too much but wow.

Mmm, that Eggman page is damned good and expressive. The rest are pretty good too, but there seems something a little... flat? About Sonic himself. Also you might want to clean those lines up some. Shading may look good on a picture, but when it then has to be inked over and coloured and whathaveyou, it's better to stick to crisp, sharp outlines.

I think.

I dunno, I'm not a comic artist. (Not untill I start eating brains at the next comic convention I go to anyway >.> )

I found a conversion program to change them from .pdf to .jpeg, so hopefully that will be an easy fix. I appreciate the constructive criticism as I am always striving to be a better artist!
I knew that my eggman rendition would have mixed reactions, because I wanted him to look fat but sleek. IMO he has looked only a bit flabby unlike the grandiose original Ivo. So I went for the happy medium. If Archie hires me and wants it done differently, I can easily change it, but personally I think it's a perfect fit for his character because it's a better balance of old and new.
As far as the shading goes, obviously "official comic art" wouldn't have nearly as much of it, but I wanted the concept art to pop off the page without use of ink to try and show off what I can do with a pencil.
I have my own manga that I will be submitting to tokyopop soon, if anyone is interested in seeing it I will post some that as well. I am also trying to get a website going to feature my portfolio.
Anyways, thanks for the support, kind words, and critiques, keep em coming!

I'm curious about what art program you're using that saves as PDFs but not JPGs. Perhaps I - or someone - can save you a step?

The concepts are nice, but I took them as just samples you're showing to the forum. These are not the kind of examples you'd send to an editor. You need to show you can tell a story through your pages. And the pencil shading, while nice, isn't needed. Look at pre-colored pages to see where the blacks would be used. All other shading is up to the colorist.

Actually, I have been taking the originals to Kinkos to get them scanned because I wanted them to come out as close to the real thing as possible (my scanner isn't that great). For whatever reason they give me a disk with .pdf's on it. The conversion program seems to work fine though with no loss in quality, so no worries, although I do appreciate the offered help. As soon as I can start making money with my art and get some actual spending money then I will buy a better scanner right away and do it myself.
I am working on an story sequence right now (no shading, lol), and when it's done I'll post it here and see what you and others think about it before submitting it. I really want to make sure I do this right, because I know for a fact that I can draw anything thrown at me.

I wish you goodluck on your story sequence dragonash, because I've enjoyed your sketches alot! Since those are some very good sketches, and even show the characters perfectly-shaped into being the way they are as well.

Ash those are some damn good peices of art.

How'd your app go? you applied yet? do you have any pages of, like what ian suggested, show you can tell a story? i'm really interested in following yor little quest here. Tell us how it all goes, best of luck!

Between holiday hours at work, being snowed in, and submitting my own title to Tokyopop I haven't had much time to work on this, but it is almost ready. I would like to thank everyone for their kind words, support, and patience, it means the world to me. Hopefully 2009 will be the year when art will become my full time job!

Whew, Done! Sorry it took so long, so much going on at once...

I'm hoping this is closer to what they are looking for... not going to bother to submit until Ian says it would be taken seriously.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for your patience guys and gals!

Wow. Very impressive.

Wow. Very impressive.

Seconded.

You definitely show promise. The only thing I'd caution is that there doesn't seem to be much room for dialogue in the non-action scenes. Not know the script you're working off of, though, it could be that it'd work fine. Anything more would need a professional artist's input.

Give it a shot, and good luck to ya.

I really like the second image where you've got a shadow of Sonic looking bored, to him dashing out of Eggman's reach. Really nice work.

Thanks for all the feedback! I figured that since they'd be picture only that I didn't bother coming up with any dialog. I wanted to put in just the blank word bubbles and sound effects, but I wasn't sure if those are done by the letterist and I didn't want to overstep.

As far as sending anything in, would it be prudent to send in a couple pages of my own comic work ( minus dialog and toning of course ) for further reference?

If you think it'd better illustrate (HAW HAW) your ability, then sure. Just be careful - you don't want to overload and already busy editor.

Your artwork's very nice but I have to comment on the somewhat lacklustre amount of background. There could definitely be some improvement or at least more detail there, as otherwise some of the panels are looking empty. I can definitely vouch though that backgrounds are hard work; alot of my earlier comic work were bare on the backgrounds as well but when I look back at them they definitely could have done with more detail.

But overall it looks like solid work. Good job.

yeah, i agree; some of the more complex backgrounds can be rather time consuming. But like everything worth doing, the extra detail is always well worth the effort. The backgrounds are admittedly simple, but I assure you that it was no accident. I had set a personal deadline for these pages and, between work and working on my own material, I had to set the stage somewhere open and beyond the temptation of adding environmental elements to the fight ( i.e. uprooting trees , lasers cutting through buildings, etc.) and ended up in a grassy field rather than Eggman's factory as the original script called for. I definitely see your point, though , and will make sure that the few supplementary comic references I send in have more going on in the backgrounds. Thanks again, I appreciate the comic feedback; not to mention the comical comments

"I had set a personal deadline for these pages and, between work and working on my own material, I had to set the stage somewhere open and beyond the temptation of adding environmental elements to the fight ( i.e. uprooting trees , lasers cutting through buildings, etc.) and ended up in a grassy field rather than Eggman's factory as the original script called for."

Timeliness is more important than detailed backgrounds. As long as you don't pull a Liefeld and have NO backgrounds

in response to comix750 "How'd your app go? you applied yet? do you have any pages of, like what ian suggested, show you can tell a story? i'm really interested in following yor little quest here. Tell us how it all goes, best of luck!"

Well I sent off my app. with 12 pgs. , those 6 of sonic and 6 from my own comic. I hope it goes well but I understand the nature of the business and wont hold my breath, I'm gonna get back to work on my own comic now. Thanks for all the support and feedback, it's more than I could've hoped for!

Good luck matey, it is after all not unknown for people who have visited this place to become artists on the comic. Personally I'm waiting for archie to bundle Toby Barret into the back of a van and drag him off to a comic drawing camp, but there you go. Your stuff is cool already, and I'd love to see it go through.