We’ve just posted a preview for Flight 7, including 2-6 page excerpts of each story in the book.  This volume is fantastic, but you don’t have to take my word for it, see for yourself!

Flight 7 will be released at San Diego Comic-Con this year.  Feel free to stop by the booth (#2235) and say hi to several of the Flight artists, who will be there all weekend signing books.  If you won’t be at the show, you can also pre-order the book on Amazon, or look for it at your local bookseller on July 20, 2010!

It’s official, Image Comics will publish the 200-page full color graphic novel, The Saga of Rex, this coming October 15. I see that the book is already available for pre-order on amazon.com and featured in Diamond’s Book Distributors’s catalog on page 86.

A big thank you to Flight’s editor in chief, Kazu Kibuishi, and the rest of my Flight comrades who encouraged me all the way to the finish line.

Just thought I’d let everyone know about my upcoming animated project which will premiere in Vancouver on June 25th, 2010. I’ve wanted to do a project such as this for many years, ever since I discovered the abstract work of Oscar Fischinger, Norman Mclaren, Kandinsky and Yves Tanguy. I got started in 2006, and now, four years later, I’m finally going to be able to share this work with an audience.

Using cutting edge technology, I will be performing the animation with the musicians, creating a dialogue between music and images that should be quite exciting. I would like to point out that the seven musicians involved in the project are all fantastic and are worth the price of admission all by themselves. So if you’re in Vancouver on June 25th, you might want to check it out! Tickets can be purchased here.

You can read about how the project came about here.

Flight 6 has been nominated for this year’s Eisner Award for Best Anthology! If I’m not mistaken, this is the second nomination for Flight (the previous nomination was for Flight 2, I believe).

Big congratulations are in order for all the nominees, and of course to some of the Flight alumni: Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Yang for Best Short Story, and Steve Hamaker for Best Coloring. Way to go, guys!

Michel Gagne and Joe Olson, CEO of Fuelcell Games, met in 2007 in Seattle’s Fremont district where they discussed the possibility of bringing feature quality 2d animation to the gaming world in a classic side-scrolling adventure. Shortly after, a production team was assembled and Fuelcell Games was born. Their mission: bring the vision of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet to life.

“This is one of the most thrilling projects of my career”, said Gagne. “I love working on ITSP with Joe and his team. It amazes me to see how they’re able to expand on my concepts and animations and create such a memorable interactive experience. Simply put, this game is going to rock!”

The Fuelcell team has been busy building a studio infrastructure and quietly working with Gagne on ITSP while exploring partnerships to develop the game. After months of negotiation with several entities, it was decided that Microsoft and Xbox LIVE Arcade was the best possible home for the project.

“The team here at Fuelcell is incredibly excited to be starting production in full force on Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet”, said Olson. “We’ve assembled an extremely talented, dedicated, and passionate group of people around this unique project. The combined forces of our team of game industry veterans, Michel’s unique artistic style and vision, and Microsoft’s expertise in the downloadable game space is sure to make for a lasting impression on 2D gaming.”

“Microsoft is thrilled to have Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet heading to Xbox LIVE Arcade”, said Saxs Persson, Senior Director of Xbox LIVE Arcade. “We look forward to helping Michel and Fuelcell realize their creative vision, and continuing to support independent developers looking to drive innovation on our service.”

For more information on Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet visit www.insanelytwistedshadowplanet.com or the official blog at http://michelgagne.blogspot.com.

A lot of developments have come since I first posted about my Cavemen in Space Fundraiser a few months ago. There is only one month left for the fundraiser, so I decided to do one more post to remind folks about it, and to catch everyone up on what’s been happening with it and the book.

-AdHouse Books has released its information about the book. AdHouse will be distributing the book, and the book is solicited in Previews now, so you can preorder the book at your local comic shop, to be shipped in May! Diamond Order Code: MAR10 0679

-Preview pages and sample comics all around! You can download a pdf at AdHouse’s CiS Page, previewing the first 9 pages! Then you should go over to the Amazon page and click on “Search inside this book” to read MORE preview pages that pick up right where the AdHouse preview leaves off! THEN you should go over to my site and check out the full-color Cavemen in Space warm-up comic that I drew when getting started on the book!

-At the moment the Cavemen in Space Fundraiser has raised $2,112. That’s about 60% with about a month to go. I have announced a deadline for the fundraiser which is April 5, 2010. In the second month, I announced extremely limited hand-crafted woolly mammoths that will go to the first 4 people to donate over $150. 2 have gone to good homes, but 2 are still left! Act now!

-The CiS Fund has had one Level 9 donor so far, and he has made his appearance in Monster Isle!

I think that’s the basics! Check out my website and blog for more regular updates and some more in-depth information about the publication of Cavemen in Space! If you haven’t already, please consider making a donation to the fund, and/or preordering/recommending the book at your local comic shop this month. And look for the book to hit shelves in May! Thanks!

From February 12th to February 21st, the Creative Artworx Design Group in Barbados will be hosting Paint Me Barbados – The Ultimate Artist Experience, where several international artists will be giving workshops and lecturing about their respective fields of expertise. It should be a great time for all who attend. I was asked to be a part of the event, and I’m pleased as punch! My presentation will be on February 13th from 3:00 to 6:00pm.

WORKSHOP DETAILS

I will give an overview of my art career and discuss creating animation and special effects for movies; designing characters for animated films and television projects; visualizing videogame projects; creating comics and graphic novels.

I will share my philosophy about creativity and give insight on how to be successful as an independent artist. The presentation will include several video clips and images showing my process and approach to various assignments ranging from mainstream Hollywood movies to personal fine arts.

Click here for more details.

As some of you may know, I have recently completed my second graphic novel, Cavemen in Space. I plan to self-publish and distribute through AdHouse Books this Spring, but I need your help!

Inspired by folks like Liz Baillie and Jamie Tanner, I have launched a fundraiser to raise the raise the money required to publish Cavemen in Space! And as a thank you for donating, I have several different rewards based on the level of donation!

Go to the donation page to see the details, but rewards for donating include original art, comics, and more! And if you can’t afford to donate, you can still support the cause by sharing this page with others on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, email, cave walls, etc!

So, click here to see how you can be the first to read my newest projects, receive original art, and even appear in a comic yourself!!