Reflections

As this year comes to a close let’s look back on some of the Hi-Fi highlights for 2009.

1. Master Digital Color is a wrap

We spent most of 2009 (& some of 2008) working on it but its in the process of being printed and will be shipped early next year to a store near you. Wahoo!

2.  Blackest Night

We had the privilege (& sometimes confusion) of working on various Blackest Night titles.  I actually think this is a kinda groovy idea (see my previous column) but it did get complicated and confusing at times.  Who knew one could emote a color then you can’t use that color on the page unless they are on it and then only if they are emoting that color and, and, and… Also, there were some serious deadline crunches involved with this title but we pulled through without missing a deadline.

3. World’s Finest

This one is actually a high & a low.  If you haven’t read this series you should, it’s a really cool idea with 2 (at least) super heroes per book that come together and kick ass.  Issue 1 had Red Robin & Nightwing, Issue 3 was Batgirl & Supergirl, etc.  I thought it was fun to read and the art rocked.  Alas, this was supposed to be an on-going series but it was cancelled–boo!

4. Ben 10 Alien Force

We have been working with a fabulous artist named Min S Ku on Ben 10 books (and a few other things in the past) for a couple of different publishers.  The books are finally out, so we can talk about them now.  Min’s art is fun and cartoony but still believable–and he’s a really nice guy.  We’ve done books with him for both Leapfrog & Scholastic this past year.

5. Lady Death

We recently re-friended Brian Pulido (we’d been out of touch for awhile) and got to work on various Lady Death pieces.  She’s always fun to work on, I love that she’s scary & hot and can take you down without falling over her own boobs.

6. Echo

Terry Moore has been a long-time friend and his new series Echo is amazing, just like him.  That man has more talent in more areas than anyone I know.  Incase you didn’t know Terry is the genius behind Strangers in Paradise and has now switched to a Sci-Fi type book.

7. Ghost Whisperer

Brian did painted covers for this TV Show/Comic Book as well as a cover for Jennifer Love Hewitt’s other series Music Box.  I watched the show faithfully the first year or two but hadn’t seen it recently.  After watching Brian paint the covers I decided to start Tivo-ing it again.  J-Love liked the Music Box cover so much that she & her agent called Brian personally to ask him if it would be too much trouble to send her a signed print. How cool is that!

8. Small Press

We have always strived to work with small/indie publishers. This past year we had the honor of working on and meeting lots of smaller or independent publishers that are well on their way to the big time.  A few of them have already made the leap from a personal project to working with Marvel, DC, or IDW.  It’s always fun to see what’s coming up and to step outside the mainstream box once in a while.

9. Birds of Prey

Ok this one is a low… Birds of Prey (the comic not the TV show) was cancelled.  I LOVED this series and was really sad to see it go.  Hi-Fi started coloring BoP in 2002 on Issue 47 and we remained the colorist until Issue 127 in March of 2009.  Sniff, did I mention I loved this series?

10. We weathered the storm

Like most people Hi-Fi experienced some rough patches in 2009.  It required us to think outside the box, stretch into areas we are not as comfortable in, and aggressively find work to keep ourselves and all the work for us from having to switch careers.  It wasn’t always plush and it wasn’t always fun but we held together and currently employe more people than ever.

Next week we’ll look forward, but this week, with Christmas being a few days away and a new decade around the corner, let’s stop and think about all that we accomplished this year.  If we can make it through the hard times think how great it will be when the things bounce back.  I tell Brian this almost daily… we are extremely lucky to have the job we do.  We work hard but the benefits of not sitting in a boring office pushing paper far outweigh the struggles.

Happy Holidays

Peace

Kristy Miller

VP, Development

Hi-Fi colour design