I think I have my evenings back, for a short while. My next comic book, “Metro Med Summer Special #0”, is done, turned in to Shooting Star Comics, ready to print. PHEW!

I know I haven’t really been talking much about this, aside from generally hyping it, but I guess it’s time to share a few bits of inside baseball.

Metro Med, as some of you know and some of you don’t, is a project I’ve wanted to do for a long time, centering on a superhero hospital. If you need a Hollywood pitch description, it’s “E/R” but set in Astro City instead of Chicago. I collaborated with artist Phil Meadows in pitching this in spring 2004 for Dimestore’s Small Press Idol and last summer we won first place. Various delays kept it from being published until now. Instead of being a part of an anthology, we decided to put out a full issue of Metro Med stories and background materials, all for only $2! This is a great introduction to our hospital staff, our superhero characters and the Tri-Metro in which they live.

OK, everybody caught up? Here’s some insider talk:

Phil Meadows has been knocking himself out to get a new second page story done. I make it tough for him because I keep creating new characters and places and he has to design them all. Comics set “in a world of superheroes” are challenging because we have to create dozens of heroes and villains with histories, noteworthy names, interesting costumes and origins for them all…and all for people who are background figures for the main action. (Some of these teams I’m creating seem like they really could have titles of their own.)

If you see Phil at Wizard World, be sure to tell him what a good job he’s doing. I say it as often as I can, but I know it’s never often enough!

Roz Terrill helped us out with our second story by taking over the coloring chores. Roz is juggling three kids, doing colors for our book and STILL working on her own comic book. While she’s doing colors, she can color me impressed. (You KNOW I’ll tell you more about her comic when there’s more to tell.)

In order to make the deadline for publication in time for Wizard World, we had help from two Shooting Star regulars, Erik Burnham (writer/artist of “Nick Landime“) and Robert Bavington (one of the artists on “Rex Solomon” and Metro Med’s Fifth Beatle). They each have done a pinup for a superteam, which gave Phil Meadows more time to concentrate on art in the story and doing a two-page pinup. (Wait till you see that one!)

But I mentioned a surprise.

We had one last page on which to show two of the main superheroes. Phil was running out of time so Robert offered to draw one of them. Due to a miscommunication on my part, Robert did a full-sized action scene that was so impressive, we decided to devote the entire page to it. (And Robert did it in only a day and a half!)

Robert now has two pinups in the book. And he’s going to be flying all the way from England to join us at Wizard World Chicago, so be sure to get his autograph there or you’ll have to take a trip across the pond!