conventions – LeeFerguson.Art

Well, here we are … April 2026.

Congratulations.

Anyway, today (I’m starting this on a Sunday afternoon) is supposed to be a day off. I haven’t had a day off in awhile, so I told myself “this is it. THIS is the weekend you’re taking off. You can do this…”

So yesterday turned into a day away from my desk, but I spent most of that time putting together bookcases, rearranging things in the living room, you know … stuff that hadn’t gotten done because I haven’t had the time. So today … TODAY is my day to be lazy…

Except that I have this newsletter due, of course. And if I don’t do this today, then I’ll have to take time I need to spend drawing NIGHT MOVERS to get it out there.

So let’s get to it. First off … thanks to everyone who signed up for this newsletter from our last MALICENT BLACK campaign! I’m glad you’re here 🙂

Next … is anybody going to Heroes Con in July? I’ll be there. I had a great time last year, and I’m happy to head back. It’s a wonderful con. And if anybody is interested, I am taking on some pre-show commissions. Just drop me a note if you’d like to see about getting on the list…

Beyond NIGHT MOVERS and Heroes … well, we shipped off the last big batch of MALICENT BLACK packages yesterday!* This is … no lie … a huge relief for me. I was in pretty good shape when we started the campaign, and was confident I’d get the book wrapped up and ready to go in the time frame we had…

And then I picked up an unexpected Marvel deadline.

And then we found out our deadline for DREAD THE HALLS was sooner than any of us expected.

And then I picked up another (pretty insane) Marvel deadline.

And then I caught a bug and ended up feeling miserable for a few weeks.

And then I started stressing about everything that I wasn’t getting finished as quickly as I needed to. I felt like I was not only going to blow a deadline (or two), but that I was going to blow ALL the deadlines. I was gonna blow OTHER PEOPLE’S deadlines, man, on projects I had nothing to do with! That’s how underwater I was.

Things piled up. It’s taken me quite awhile to get things back under some semblance of control.

(Honestly, I’m still not where I want to be with the things I have to do, but it’s definitely so much better than it was that I don’t feel I should complain…)

So the past few months have definitely taught me some things about time management. Things I should have learned sooner, I suppose, but I’m pretty thick-skulled. And let’s face it, when you’re a freelancer, you rarely get ‘ideal’ gigs. I’ve always been willing to jump in on a project, no matter how much sense it made. No matter how far behind schedule the book might be. I always figure I can help out, and I always think “hey, if I pull this off, it’ll lead to something else down the road, something with a better deadline, etc…”

Nah.

Stress. It leads to stress, people.

So with that in mind, hey, you know how I have a Facebook page? I have my boring old “me” page where I fight the urge every day to go nuts about … y’know, things … and then I have an ‘art’ page or whatever. I don’t know. If you’ve been here long, you would be right to assume I don’t really do much with that page mostly because of my disdain for social media. I can barely muster the energy to do much on my other accounts.

(I don’t care to argue with strangers online, I’m not great at self-promotion and god help me I would much rather make comics than ‘farm for engagement’ because holy shit does that sound pathetic. I hate so much that THAT is apparently part of being an artist today…)

Okay, where were we? That Facebook page. It’ll be active again, because my wife wants to run it. So hey, along with this website and the newsletter that comes with it (for FREE!), there will be a Facebook page that’s more active than … well, than any of the rest of my social media. Yay? The nice thing is, my wife is a nicer person than I am and will do a great job with it. Why does she want to do this? I don’t know. I think because I frustrate her. I’m pretty sure it’s tough being married to me, but I never ask because I don’t really want to hear the answer.

Uh, here’s this link:

https://www.facebook.com/100032091891895

Alright, so meanwhile, I’m working on not just NIGHT MOVERS, but the next issue of MALICENT BLACK … and one more thing. Something I can definitely not reveal yet, but it’s something I’m pretty excited about. Mighty Marc Deering will be inking me again for the first time in awhile, and we’re working with a writer that … well, you’ll see. It’s early, and there’s still a lot ahead of us…

Speaking of Marc, I’m sure this MIRACLEMAN piece is the most recent thing he inked over me … though he’s got a page on his desk right now that’s gonna be for the Heroes Con art auction, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with it…

*And the other thing I’m working on are the commissions that are due some of the backers of the last MALICENT BLACK campaign. Those are the only books that haven’t gone out … but I’m working on the commissions, trying to make them worth it for everyone. Each backer picked characters that I’m really excited to draw, and I’m trying to work up some clever things for each piece. Some of these characters I’ve never drawn before and I’m excited to take a swing at … and then there’s one character I’ve drawn many times before, and will be drawing again. Soon. 🙂

I’m sure I’ll post those in a future newsletter, and hey, more likely than not, my wife will share them on Facebook, too. I wonder if I can get her to take over my personal Facebook page…

Hey, speaking of being bad at social media and promotion, I should mention that this Geiger cover I did (colored by the amazing Brad Anderson) will be out next month. It’s a variant for #23, I think:

I’m pretty excited to have that cover out there. I had originally wanted to do something with the Geiger logo, using it across the middle of the image with some kind of x-ray treatment, but I couldn’t quite nail that part of it down in a way that was able to earn the much-needed thumbs up … so in the end, we had to ditch that notion. Here’s the rough version of what I wanted to do, for anyone interested:

I also want to plug DREAD THE HALL H while I have your attention … it’s by many of the usual creators who work on DREAD THE HALLS each year, rounded up by Jordan Hart and my pal Chris Ryall. I haven’t seen any of this, but I’m sure it’s gonna be a ton of fun, just like last year, and I’m looking forward to reading it:

https://www.comicsbeat.com/exclusive-preview-dread-the-hall-h-is-back-with-a-new-2026-installment/

I also got this in the mail today (I’m still working on this newsletter, but now it’s Monday afternoon) … somebody posted a Batman page online the other day, and while I recognized the great Kevin Nowlan’s finishes immediately, I had no idea what the art was actually from! So I asked Kevin about it, and he was kind enough to send me a copy: