Smoking Spy Girl by Phil Noto (SDCC 2004)

We attended San Diego Comic Con again in 2004, and luckily enough, Phil was there again that year. I came on a mission this time and planned accordingly. I had saved up a decent amount of money, and wanted to spend a little bit at Phil's booth. One thing I really wasn't expecting was for Phil to bring a portfolio full of pre-drawn sketches and drawings. That kind of threw a kink into my plan. But then I saw this "smoking spy girl" and knew I had to have her. She was a pencil drawing at the time...nice and big on 11x14" paper...just gorgeous!

I was planning to keep her as she was, but Dexter Vines, inker extraordinaire was seated just a few booths away, and I took a chance and asked him to ink her to see what would happen. Dexter said he had never inked any of Phil's work, but was looking forward to the challenge. I'm not disappointed in the results!

Thanks to both artists for creating this beauty! (The original can be seen in Phil's sketchbook from that year.)