I cannot think of any way to describe the process that won't provide fodder for the minibrains, those who think "trace" is a dirty word, but since this is a frequently asked question, here's what happens:

First, I find a good, clean copy of the logo. One with as few as possible intrusions by drawing elements. Usually these come from one of the ESSENTIAL or SHOWCASE volumes, but sometimes I use one of the covers in my bound volumes.

I scan the logo and other parts (the set-up, as it is known in the trade) at high resolution, usually around 300dpi. I bring this over into Photoshop and clean up the edges and whatnot so it's nice and crisp.

Then I figure out the proportions I need for the drawing I am working on, and print out the neat, clean set-up, having first turned the image to a very light gray. I use this to print the image onto the actual board I will be working on, using my Minolta photocopier.

Then, using pens, brushes, straight-edges and other such tools, I "trace" over the gray image, creating the finished set-up as seen on the drawing.

All except the COMICS CODE stamp. That's just too small and complex. So, after a few instances of simply leaving it blank, I started letting the stamp stay black when I grayed down the rest of the logo, and print it "as is". If there is any drop-out, printing onto the bristol board, I touch that up by hand.

We will now sit back and wait for cries of "CHEATING!!" to ring thru the Halls of the Hollow Headed.

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Yes.

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Not being able to do it is rarely a hurdle internet grumblers have trouble clearing. And it's not limited to the internet. As some of you may recall, I was one of the first to use computer lettering in my work. I showed some pages to a fan who was visiting the Studio, before publication, and his immediate response was "Cheating, huh?"

"Cheating", I have noticed, seems to be an internet buzzword for "I didn't know it was done that way". When I mentioned using my Artograph to draw vehicles (expecially the starships in my TREK work at IDW), there arose an immediate chorus of "cheating!" in some quarters.

The magic is in the final image. That's the joy in the project. Everything else is just how the sausage is made.

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I find it quite interesting to learn how JB goes about the artwork.  For me it doesn't take away from the final piece.

I really can't shake how great this look piece looks.

The two stand outs for me are Scorpion and Swarm. I honestly don't think I have ever seen Scorpion drawn any better than this.