Monday, May 19, 2014

Robots of the Spaceman Jax Universe

Curio & Co. - Spaceman Jax - Through the Manatagon Minefield - comic book- Design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Robot caring crystal ore, retro deign


Here are a couple of robots from the Spaceman Jax universe.  These two guys play a small role in the Spaceman Jax - Trough the Mantagon Minefield comic book, they help explaining some of Jax and Dekkin back story on page 7.


Some times designing on the fly produces good designs…

Curio & Co. - Spaceman Jax - Through the Manatagon Minefield - comic book- Design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Robot caring crystal ore, retro deign

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - 014

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - © 2013 Curio & Co. - by Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro under pseudonym Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - (Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com) - Kid, in the green, playing Hercules

Cesare Asaro (under pseudonym of Clarence 'Otis' Dooley)

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Spaceman Jax - In Details

Curio & Co. Spaceman Jax and the Galactic Adventures - comic book - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro - thumbnail illustration for page 1 of comic Through the Mantagon Minefield - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Little girl and robot, retro design, Hanna Barbara like

Curio & Co. Spaceman Jax and the Galactic Adventures - comic book - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro - thumbnail illustration for page 1 of comic Through the Mantagon Minefield - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - humorous squid like creature making noise, retro design, Hanna Barbara like


These illustrations will be on page 1 of the comic the Spaceman Jax - Through the Mantagon Minefield and will print at 1/2 inch height, smaller then a stamp.  I'm doing my best trying to capture the spirit of the silver age comics, and I've learned that details are the things which give the flare to things.

More to come… 


Hope to see you at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, Curio & Co. will be at booth# 2102.

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - 011

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - © 2013 Curio & Co. - by Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro under pseudonym Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - (Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com) - Kid playing with dandelion


Cesare Asaro (under pseudonym of Clarence 'Otis' Dooley)

Monday, May 12, 2014

Spaceman Jax - Work in Progress

Curio & Co. - Spaceman Jax - through the Mantagon Minefield - comic book wok in progress package with notes - design and illustration by Cesare Asaro development with Kirstie Shepherd - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com

This is how the end of a review session looks like at Curio & Co. (one of the many).

An the pics below are of production drawings for the Spaceman Jax - Throughout the Mantagon Minefield comic book.  Concept design and development really is the most fun for me.  Investigating possibilities and doing research is so exciting, there's so much potential in so many directions, but it's up to you to choose the suitable one for the project.  I dig my job!

Curio & Co. - Spaceman Jax - through the Mantagon Minefield - comic book- design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - concept sketched of panel, buildings and other props including spaceships

Curio & Co. - Spaceman Jax - through the Mantagon Minefield - comic book- design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - concept sketched of panel, buildings and other props including spaceships

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - 009

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - © 2013 Curio & Co. - by Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro under pseudonym Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - (Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com) - Kid begin for mercy

Cesare Asaro (under pseudonym of Clarence 'Otis' Dooley)

Friday, May 09, 2014

Curio & Co's - Spaceman Jax Comic - Story Changes

Curio & Co. Spaceman Jax comic book - Through the Mantagon Minefield - Design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Spaceman Jax and robot are tangled in cables - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com

I tend to work by passed on a long project. This allows me to keep things constant with the designs and, I can make changes and try things out on multiple pages or scenes.  Something I learned when I made my first book, and it later was reinforced when I got into animation.  Changes will always be coming in, and more often then none toward the end of the production, it's always good to stay flexible.

We are now on the 3rd pass of the comic book, and surprise surprise, some story changes… had to be implemented.  Hey, not a bad thing! I get to draw and the book will be even better.  A win win situation.

Spaceman Jax - Through the Mantagon Minefield premiering at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con this July 24-27.

Curio & Co. (booth# 2102)

Stop by our booth and say hello!

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - 008

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - © 2013 Curio & Co. - by Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro under pseudonym Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - (Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com) - Disappointed kid playing at playground

 Cesare Asaro (under pseudonym of Clarence 'Otis' Dooley)

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Spaceman Jax: "The Mantagons vs. Modern Society"

Spaceman Jax fictional TV show created by Curio & Co. - Mantagon with musical instrument - Squid like create - animated character - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Design and illustration by Cesare Asaro


Here's a quick illustration I made on Monday for the Curio & Co. blog entry "The Mantagons vs. Modern Society"  that my partner Kirstie Shepherd manages.  

As we are getting ready to launch our new Spaceman Jax comic it's only fitting that we talk about some of the nemesis of our hero Jax. The Mantagons.  Jax, his niece Dekkin, and their trusted and sometime rusting (he's a robot) friend Artie are thrown in some crazy screwball adventures that fortunately for Jax, always seem to pan out well.  Let's hope that his luck holds up on future adventures… well, at least we know for sure that both Artie and Dekkin are there to remedy the situation.

Since the back story of Spaceman Jax, in the Curioverese, is that it was a TV show, from the 1960's (produced by Pud Film), I've been making images that would suit that feeling.  I.e. snap shots of animation cells or the animated show and of course creating the logos that would would fit the time period and its production company Pud.


Her's a couple of Curio & Co. back story links on Spaceman Jax:
Spaceman Jax - TV show back backstory
Brought to You by Sunnington Morn - Sunnington Morn the TV show sponsor
Ringer Comics - The comic book publisher
The Rocks in Bloom - The  fauna on the TV show
Fan Club Fanatic - The fan club
In Praise of the Bad Guys - some more info about the Manatagons

Other related:
Brigadeer Bafalo - Pud film other show

We also tend to put more back story info in the products descriptions as well, in the case of Spaceman Jax the animation animation production drawings descriptions have some little easter eggs hidden in there


And a couple of images to go along with the spirit of this post.

Spaceman Jax and the galactic adventures - animation cell  with Pud Film logo - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Design and Illustration by Cesare Asaro - Character grabbed by robot arms

Spaceman Jax and the galactic adventures - animation cell  with Pud Film logo - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Design and Illustration by Cesare Asaro - Character frozen in energy field


From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - 006

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - © 2013 Curio & Co. - by Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro under pseudonym Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - (Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com) - Kid playing with kite

Cesare Asaro (under pseudonym of Clarence 'Otis' Dooley)

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - 005

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - © 2013 Curio & Co. - by Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro under pseudonym Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - (Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com) - Kid in the green playing with doll

Cesare Asaro (under pseudonym of Clarence 'Otis' Dooley)

Curio & Co Story Workshop at Talentakademie OÖ - December 2014

Here's a bit of news:

Curio & Co. Workshop for Talentakademie OÖ at Altmünster Castle Traunsee, Gmunden - for 2012, 2013, 2014 - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Cesare Asaro, Kirstie Shepherd teaching location

Curio & Co. has been teaching workshops at the Talentakademie OÖ for the past 2 years now, and we just scheduled an other one for this December bring us in the 3rd year of collaboration.  The past two workshops were on developing products from scratch and rebooting an existing brand; things that we do at Curio & Co. on a regular basis.  These workshops are usually 5 days long and hands on for the students.  We've been really happy teaching at the Talentakademie OÖ both Jörg Kurzwernhart, who heads the program, and Heidi Petermichl who's our liaison have been great to work with.  The students are from a small talent student pool, and the group is idea at 12 students.  I have to say that we go full force, through at them college level material, all in english, and they eat it up! which makes it really exiting for us.  It helps us and the students that the workshop is limited to a small number of participants; both the students and us have been really happy with the outcome and we even had students return for the following workshop.  Because of the positive feedback, even before the last workshop was over, we were already talking about what we were going to teach in 2014.

Well, this December we'll be teaching an other 4 day workshop in Gmunden, more specifically at Traunsee castle, in Altmünster. That's the usual location, and yes it looks like Hogsworth, (the location is also a boarding school).  It's definitely exciting teaching at such a majestic place with a wonderful view of the lake.  I'm digressing though; the focus this upcoming workshop will be on storytelling and creating a pitch for the entertainment industry.  Kirstie Shepherd and I will do a series of lectures and the students will break-up in 3-4 groups of 3 and will develop a story, an elevator pitch, and a working pitch package.  It's definitely a challenge but, I tell you, it's impressive what these kids can do!


See you at Hogsworth in December!

Friday, May 02, 2014

Curio & Co. Prints Are in the House! (of Chet Phillips)

It's always good seeing your work in a good home.

Oberfaffendorfer - Print from Curio & Co. - Design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Prints on the Wall of Chet Phillips

Oberfaffendorfer - Print from Curio & Co. - Design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Prints on the Wall of Chet Phillips

Oberfaffendorfer - Print from Curio & Co. - Design and illustration by Cesare Asaro - Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com - Prints on the Wall of Chet Phillips


Here are some of our Curio & Co. prints in the house of our friend Chet Philips.  He's a real modest guy, and he won't say… but if you ask him, he'll confirm it… What you ask? He did the model package (art work) for a little movie called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and he's got the faxes to prove it!  So next time you see him at a conference or at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, stop by his booth (O-1) in the Small Press section, say hello and take a look at some of his beautiful illustration work and books he has made with the help of his wife Julie. If you get the chance to get your hands on one of the Land of Kaiju books, get one! They are a rarity and a wonderful piece of art all hand bound by Julie (like most of their books).

I'm looking forward to see them again in a couple of months and I'm really happy to see that our work found a good home.

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - 003

From: Frank and His Friend - Special Collector's Edition Vol.1 - © 2013 Curio & Co. - by Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - Illustration and design by Cesare Asaro under pseudonym Clarence 'Otis' Dooley - (Curio and Co. OG www.curioandco.com) - Kid jumping in the water

Cesare Asaro (under pseudonym of Clarence 'Otis' Dooley)