ian herring • illustrator

Illustrator/Colourist based in Toronto working out of various spots.

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Shaolin Cowboy Staying A.I. Live #1

So! Happy Canada Day!

Since late last year, I've been working away on a very special, very intense series, and the first issue is out in the wild now!

Shaolin Cowboy is a mad world filled with smoking animals, garbage, crude denizens, vengeful vending machines, pollution, kaijus, garbage, endless advertisements, fast-food-beer-sex-gun-weed shops, dog poop, and more garbage! All to house a fun tale about a man trying to do a good deed!

(Also there's a dog companion that can communicate with him!)

I'm so happy I got to be a part of this newest entry in the series! It was really intimidating to see the first spread (showing up in issue 2!) but I've been pouring over these pages like a giant puzzle, and now it's oddly relaxing despite being the most detailed comic I've ever coloured! Endless credit to Geof, he is amazingly supportive and I'm very thankful for the chance to colour in Dave Stewart's footsteps. Hoping I can live up to the art and the pages that came before this.

A huge shout out to Casbri Studios' Alina Bartolini, Lea Mascareño, and Anubis Gil! I could not have coloured this without their amazing help flatting this! Further thanking Daniel at Darkhorse for suggesting me and of course, a giant thank you to Moo for seeing the first inks presented and instantly saying, "Oh that's fun! You should do it!".

This is a 4 issue mini-series and as I'm writing this, the finale is almost complete, so I hope you'll join us for the ride!

Written & Art by Geof Darrow

Letters by Nate Piekos

Flatting Assistance by Casbri Studios: Alina Bartolini, Lea Mascareño, and Anubis Gil.

Colours by Me!

P.S. This comic is powered by cats on all sides!

[iherring]

Incoming Graphic Novel - The Spectacular Symbie!

I haven't been posting as much as usual because I've had my head down working on some long-term projects that will start appearing in the coming months. First up, the Spectacular Symbie!

Colouring away with an awesome team, I've had the pleasure of working with Leo, Thomas, Lauren, and Farah for the past few months! Should be available early next year so there's more to come : D

(Definitely a change of pace than the normal monthly comic schedule, I remember working on Victoria Ying's Shang-Chi book and almost spoiled the surprise thinking it was already announced but it wasn't coming out for months after we wrapped it up. Book world is different : D)

[mongooseandson]

The Odyssey of Benedict Arnold - Nguyen Ánh

Sometimes you run across a piece of information that isn't backed up strongly by other sources. It still may be true, and I made note of it awhile back when thinking about what to write for future chapters, but when it came down to research, I found a lot less!

Years ago, I visited Vietnam via Japan and I ran across a book about that country's long history aptly titled, "Vietnam: A Long History". It was a hardcover edition and large, not ideal to grab while on the move through multiple countries and time-zones, but I was interested and ended up finding a copy when I returned home. That copy turned out to be a strangely printed paperback edition from Hanoi, 1987. I found out that it was missing recent revisions added in later editions but I'm still happy that it is now sitting on my bookshelf.

Where this links up with Benedict Arnold is that there is a portion in this book that mentioned a traitor, an emperor no less! Nguyen Ánh (or Gia Long). The author made the case that this ruler's efforts to secure his dynasty and dealings with foreigners, France specifically, left the door open to Vietnam being colonized further down the line, long after he had passed. This bit helped add him to the roster of traitors I'd been working through and I was really looking forward to drawing a chapter on Vietnam, but because I didn't find as much information as I had hoped to, I decided to shift the narrative back to Arnold and mix what I did know, hoping to add the unintended consequences of treachery (featured here with Andre's execution).

My memory of the book that I read was that it was written by an old communist, intent on framing thousands of years of a country's history through that lens. It was a good read, dry at times, but interesting, and a piece of history in its own right. I'm unsure what the prevailing though on Nguyen Ánh is at this moment, but I hope to revisit it somehow in the story because Vietnam has a rich history that I only hinted at in this chapter.

Thank you for reading! We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

https://ko-fi.com/mongooseandson (For Reading Ahead + Support!)

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/list?title_no=594697 (For General Comic Viewing + Subscribes!)

https://namicomi.com/en/title/re3w59Kj/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/chapters?lang=en (For General Comic Viewing + Subscribes!)

https://mangadex.org/title/4f3f6c16-5c45-4ebb-83b3-855240b27d74/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold

Notes:

Khac Vien, Nguyen. Vietnam: A Long History. Foreign Languages Publishing House: Hanoi, 1987.

*The pond scene is specifically sourced from my own photos from a visit to the ancient capital, Hoa Lu in 2014.

[mongooseandson]

The Odyssey of Benedict Arnold - Robert Ford

The final chapter of Volume III has Arnold board a train to the stars. Heavily inspired by Night on the Galactic Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa and partially hinting at a paradox from an old The Time Machine adaptation, the history interludes work in reverse, starting from Robert Ford's death and leading up to his moment of infamy, the assassination of Jesse James.

Most of the traitors I've dealt with in this series have involved historical figures that betrayed entire countries, factions, peoples. This is one where although limited to a more personal level, it managed to break out into being a well known case, enough to spawn books and films, most likely because of the setting and the fascination with outlaws in the old west. It's an area of history I wasn't particularly interested in but I like trains, and I thought it would be fun to mix in another American traitor for Arnold to gripe with.

I also enjoyed the book!

Thank you for reading! Chapter XVI, the finale, has begun posting, and I'll be adding more snippets of the following chapters soon! We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

https://ko-fi.com/mongooseandson (For Reading Ahead + Support!)

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/list?title_no=594697 (For General Comic Viewing + Subscribes!)

https://namicomi.com/en/title/re3w59Kj/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/chapters?lang=en (For General Comic Viewing + Subscribes!)

https://mangadex.org/title/4f3f6c16-5c45-4ebb-83b3-855240b27d74/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold

Notes:

Hansen, Ron. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. W W Norton & Co Inc. New York, 1990.

Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. "Robert Ford: The Man Who Shot Jesse James". Civil War Saga. Website, October 2011.

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - "It's A Wonderful Life!" in DC's I Saw Ma Hunkel Kissing Santa Claus

A holiday special for the DC fan in everyone! This time we take a dive into Animal Man and other animal related characters in a fun 'It's A Wonderful Life'-kind of way!

Teaming up with the always talented Jon Mikel again (from Little Batman and Bizarro!) to bring Marley Halpern-Graser's great story to full coloured (and silver!) glory : D Thanks to these flashbacks, I got to further experiment with the limited pre-digital palettes of the day which I've been playing with in other books. It's like putting together a puzzle! Happy Holidays and hope you check this anthology out, there's some great stuff in there!

Written by Marley Halpern-Graser, Art by Jon Mikel, Colours by Me!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Minor Threats Vol. III: The Last Devil Left Alive #2

Issue 2 is here! It's been a little bit since I worked on this but the 2 sequences that stood out were The Searcher's more mundane existence and the break-in caper with Brain Tease and Sh*teater! Had so much fun with the colours and getting to play with the warms/cools of night lighting!

Issue 3 is coming along next and that IS fresh in my mind since it was complete not too long ago, there's some amazing moments next so hope to see you then and thank you for reading!

Written by Patton Oswalt & Jordan Blum, Art by Scott Hepburn, Lettering by  Nate Piekos, Colours by Me!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #5

The finale is here for Krypto!!

And I'm happy to share it's a good moment for this super dog! Thank you to everyone who checked out the series and stuck through the emotional roller coaster. Saw some amazing comments here and there, many about sharing this experience with their pets!

Looking forward to seeing Krypto's heroics again in the future when it hits the trade format and a huge thank you to Ryan, Mike, Sabrina, Katie, Lucas, and Ferran for being an incredible team to colour with!

Written by Ryan North, Art by Mike Norton, Letters by Lucas Gattoni, Colours by Me!

[mongooseandson]

The Odyssey of Benedict Arnold - Benedict Arnold & The Durants

There are some figures in this story that were not traitors, ones that have been collectively labelled as 'Lumins' by Arnold & Co. This pair shows up in the eleventh chapter and are caricatures of the Durants, a husband-wife team of historians that wrote the Story of Civilization series.

They took on a monumental task and in the first volume, admitted that their approach will be full of errors. They kept going until their deaths in 1981, 2 weeks apart from each other!

I've referenced their books a few times and have been working my way through the eleven volumes, on and off, since around 2014. As of writing this, I'm in the 8th Volume, The Age of Louis the XIV!

I most likely won't finish the series before Arnold's own story is complete but wanted to include them since I've always enjoyed the way they can sum up a person's life in a paragraph or two.

Thank you for reading! This chapter has been up for a bit now but the story has kept moving along. Chapter XV is the start of the finale and has begun posting on various platforms below. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

https://ko-fi.com/mongooseandson (For Reading Ahead + Support!)

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/list?title_no=594697 (For General Comic Viewing + Subscribes!)

https://namicomi.com/en/title/re3w59Kj/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold/chapters?lang=en (For General Comic Viewing + Subscribes!)

https://mangadex.org/title/4f3f6c16-5c45-4ebb-83b3-855240b27d74/the-odyssey-of-benedict-arnold (On Mangadex now!)

Notes

Will & Ariel Durant - Journey. Robert Cohn Productions, 1973. Film.

Durant, Will & Ariel. The Age of Reason. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1961.

Durant, Will & Ariel. The Lessons of History. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1968.

Little, John. “A Visit with Will and Ariel Durant”. Northern River Productions, 2003. Film.

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Minor Threats Vol. III: The Last Devil Left Alive #1

It's been a bit but Minor Threats is back! Well, actually a lot of new stuff and series within the world have been happening in the meantime but now, the team is ready to show off the newest saga in the original series!

Getting to continuously build on this world, take a break, and then dive into some new and old has been immensely fun so I hope it shows on the pages. There are doppelgangers afoot so check it out!

Written by Patton Oswalt & Jordan Blum, Art by Scott Hepburn, Lettering by  Nate Piekos, Colours by Me!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #4

The penultimate issue of Krypto is here today! I hope you all have an animal friend nearby to hug while reading this one!

Grateful that Ryan and Mike gave me more winter scenes to colour before the arrival of spring.

Fair warning, this is a sad one!

Written by Ryan North, Art by Mike Norton, Letters by Ferran Delgado, Colours by Me!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #3

SO! I'm late on posting this by 2 weeks, usually we get copies the week before but because of a mishap with a delivery, I lost track of the dates and didn't get this until it was on the shelves. Ah!

No matter, this issue is as sweet and playful and sad and hopeful as it was when i first came across it. Ryan and Mike are a perfect duo! Also, our editor Sabrina came up with the great moment that hints at a certain cape! Was really happy to see some comments noticing it : D

Hope you checked it out, or if not yet, will be doing so before issue 4 arrives later this month. It's going to be an important one!

Written by Ryan North, Art by Mike Norton, Letters by Lucas Gattoni, Colours by Me!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Kal-El-fornia Love #1

This week, we have an anthology starring the goofier Superman, Bizarro, and another animal team-up, with Mittens the cat!

Reuniting with Little Batman's Jon Mikel, Moo and I coloured this funny & heartwarming story by James Reid! There were two Mittens-like Tabbies by my side during most of the colouring, sometimes helping, sometimes impeding, as Tabbies do!

Jon and James really went all in on this short and now I want more adventures! Hope you enjoy this story (and the many other great ones in the collection, it's ok if you think the one with Bizarro and Mittens is best : D)

Written by James Reid, Art by Jon Mikel, Lettering by Lucas Gattoni, Colours by Me and Moo Meng!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #2

Warning: This issue contains scenes of a bad person with a good dog. True heroes care for their furry friends and treat them with love and respect.

Krypto is back and I'm sharing the warning printed at the start of the issue because it's important but I don't want to give too much away!

Hopefully the panels shared will give you an idea of what's ahead.

This series has been an amazing chance to colour some very challenging scenes and also some beautiful ones, with more coming up!

Thank you to everyone who picked up issue 1 and I'm looking forward to sharing issue 3. In the meantime, going to go pet my cats!

Written by Ryan North, Art by Mike Norton, Letters by Lucas Gattoni, Colours by Me!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #1

It's been a bit since a post but more are on their way after some release dates slipped my mind. What hasn't slipped is the release of a new mini-series that I'm colouring with Ryan North and Mike Norton!

We're a few issues in and the pet owner in everyone is going to run into some heartbreaking moments. Mike conveys Ryan's story perfectly through a dog's eyes and I love how the dialogue pops in and out of attention thanks to the amazing work by Lucas Gattoni on letters!

There's more to come in the next few months so please keep your animal of choice nearby to pet.

(For the record, there are 2 Tabbies on this end who like to crowd the desk/chair area during work hours, eyeing the comic dog.)

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy issue #1!

Written by Ryan North, Art by Mike Norton, Letters by Lucas Gattoni, Colours by Me!

Sidenote: I have to remember to tell people I'm working on Superdog because saying 'Krypto' in person makes people think of some weird crypto project... It's not Krypto's fault, he had the name first!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Welcome to the Maynard #4

The finale is here! A finale to an awesome series where I got to try new things, some old things, and team up with Jay Bone from page 1 to deliver one of my favourite miniseries I've ever coloured on!

Thanks to J. Bone and James and Jim for the incredible team and hope you check it out, whether it be in floppy form or the upcoming collected version!

Sharing some spots from the newest issues which hit the shelves Wednesday!

Written by James Robinson, Art by J. Bone, Letters by Jim Campbell, Colours by Me!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Little Batman: Month One #4

(Oops, posted this a week early, it's available Feb 25th!)

Here we go, the finale to Damien's Month One! Some fights, some twists, some reveals, and a lot of rain!

(The Batman & Me pages provided by a Jon & Moo pencil crayon combo!)

This mini series was a joy to work on, had missed Merry Little Batman when it originally came out but we watched it before starting colours on this one and just got swept away in the fun. So glad it continued onto this series.

Thank you to Morgan, Jon, Lucas, Sabrina, Andrew, and Katie for the great team. Hope you check it out (and if you missed the single issues, keep an eye out for the trade later this year : D)

Written by Morgan Evans, Art by Jon Mikel, Lettering by Lucas Gattoni, Colours by Me & Moo Meng!

[iherring]

It's Wednesday! - Welcome to the Maynard #3

Woo hoo! It's release day for a very fun series with a very fun issue! Back to more Welcome to the Maynard and as the series goes on, got more comfortable with the colour language J. Bone worked out with me! Especially enjoyed working with the palettes for city-scapes and offices!

Hope you check it out, there's only one more issue left and I wish there was more but you're going to want to see the finale : D

Written by James Robinson, Art by J. Bone, Letters by Jim Campbell, Colours by Me!

(Also glad I wasn't late in posting this one!)