Category: Comics

HeroesCon 2016 / Z-View

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HeroesCon 2016 was, as are all HeroesCons, a blast.  Read on and I’m sure you’ll agree.

The Pre-Show:

Doralya and I left Thursday morning.  Several of our friends were going up early and so we decided to meet them for dinner the night before the show.  We met at Merts Heart and Soul.  By we, I mean Doralya, John Beatty, Little John and his bride Patricia, Mike Cross, Richard Cox and his wife.  The food was good, but the company was even better.

The Convention Hotels:

This was the first year that we stayed at two hotels.  Usually we can either be found at the Westin or the Hampton Inn Charlotte – Uptown.  This year, depending on the night we could be found at either.  When we decided to go up early the Westin (our main hotel that we had already booked for the con) couldn’t fit us in.  Thankfully, the Hampton came through.

People:

  • Hung with John Beatty at his table on and off throughout the con.  Joined by Doralya, Little John & Patricia and Mike Cross while John sketched in his room on Friday.  A lot of laughs.
  • Went to the start of the HeroesCon auction.  Saw a lot of nice art.  Happy that Little John won a few pieces!  It was cool seeing DMC from RUN DMC take the podium and get the crowd rocking.
  • Even cooler meeting DMC in the hotel gift shop later that night.  What a nice celeb!  Very gracious and willing to pose for photos.

Sketches:

  • Picked up HeroesCon Black Panther by Brian Stelffreeze t-shirts for me, John Higashi, The James and one of his friends.
  • Picked up sketches from Mike Torrance: 1] Jack Carter and Lono from 100 Bullets, 2] Jack Carter and Marv from Sin City, 3] The Specialist Card, 4] Capone (Sly as Frank Nitti) Card and two Sly Artist’s Choice Cards.  Mike came through like a champ and selected Rocky from Creed and Judge Dredd for the Artist’s choice cards.
  • Picked up Jack Carter sketch from Uko Smith.  Iconic.  Second year in a row for an Uko piece!
  • Picked up Jack Carter and Lono piece from Megan Levens.  First time commission from Megan but will not be the last.
  • Picked up Bullet to the Head mugshot by Dave Wachter.  The HeroesCon/Dave Wachter sketch streak stays alive.
  • Picked up Rocky sketch by Shamus Murphy.  Dug it so much, I went back for a bigger sketch by Shamus and he came through with Sly as Jack Carter.
  • Saw Casey Jones, who was drawing for Heroes Initiative, and was able to serve as the middle man to get John Higashi the Audrey Hepburn piece he wanted.
  • Commissioned and got a head sketch from Joe Delgatta.  I love Joe’s art and the Cobra sketch he did for me is a real highlight!
  • Met Reid Beaman and got a Jack Carter sketch from him.
  • Met (after many mail commissions) Thomas Boatwright and got a Rocky and Apollo watercolor sketch from him.
  • After hearing Little John talk about a sketch he got of Gargoyle on Batman on a Gargoyle all weekend, I got Chris Flick to do a Rocky with arms raised in victory on a gargoyle.

Autographs:

  • Danniel Warren Johnson – my Space Mullet trade.  So happy for his success!
  • Eric Bonhomme – his pinup in my The Package trade
  • Vanessa Del Rey – my Hit 1955 and Hit 1957 trades
  • James Harren – my Rumble 1 and 2 trades
  • Jason LaTour – his new sketchbook, my Noche Roja hardcover, my Southern Bastards 1 hardcover, and my HeroesCon 2016 Southern Bastards print.

Panels:

  • The Inkwell Awards (and keeping with tradition, LittleJohn312 and Patricia joined me — or did I join them?) were fun. It is always great to see deserving artists receive recognition.  It’s even better when Steranko is the keynote speaker!
  • Went to the Drink & Draw at Buffalo Wild Wings on Friday.  Got a Chris Flick Sly from Rhinestone sketch.

  • Crime Panel – Joe Rauch talked crime/noir comics, tv and movies with Justin Greenwood (The Fuse), John Lees (And Then Emily was Gone), Rich Tommaso (Dark Corridor), Christopher Sebela and Ibrahim Moustafa (High Crimes).

The biggest surprise is that we only ate at Fuel once. It was good to keep that tradition alive, but not over do it.

In closing:

HeroesCon this year was huge. The wider aisles made movement easier. There were also additional sections this year with chairs and tables for con guests to sit, eat and visit.

Seeing old friends and meeting new ones is always a fun part of the show. I won’t try to list them all because invariably I would leave some out.

This year I was able to talk Doralya into coming into the show on Sunday. We walked the floor and met a lot of artists (new and old friends).

Thanks to Shelton and his crew for another great HeroesCon — see everyone next year!

HeroesCon Fever!

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Yeah, I’ve got con fever.  Or con fevah, as my good buddy, John Beatty calls it.

If all goes as planned, the fever [or fevah, if you prefer] will break tomorrow when Doralya and I load up the Jack Carter mobile Queen’s Kia Soul and head for Charlotte to attend HeroesCon 2016.

We’re going in a day early to make the most of the weekend.  We plan to meet up with friends [Little John and Patricia, others?] for dinner and catching up.

Friday through Sunday will be non-stop fun.  Look at the guest list, artist’s alley and the schedule of events! I’ve pre-arranged for some Stallone sketches for pick-up and will be on the lookout for others to add to the collection.  I’ve packed my books ready to be autographed, made the list of artists to see and haven’t forgotten the HeroesCon shirts I have to pick up for John Higashi and The James Howell.  Higashi has a sketch mission for me as well.

HeroesCon has been a Zablo family tradition since my sons were kids and it is always a blast.  If you’re able to make it, come on down.  I’ll be the guy getting the Stallone sketches.

15 Solid Facts About “The Flintstones”

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Garin Pernia and Mental_Floss present 15 Solid Facts About The Flintstones.  Here are three of my favorites…

4. THE FLINTSTONES DIDN’T COPY THE HONEYMOONERS.
It’s true that Fred was based on Jackie Gleason’s Honeymooners character Ralph Kramden, but Joe Barbera made him different. “So many people say, ‘Did you copy The Honeymooners?’ I said, ‘Well, if you compare The Flintstones to The Honeymooners, that’s the biggest compliment you can give me,” Barbera told Emmy TV Legends, “but The Honeymooners don’t have all the gags that we had in there,” including a Stoneway Piano and the Polarrock Camera.

7. PEBBLES WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A BABY BOY.
In 1962, during the show’s third season, the producers decided Fred and Wilma should have a child. Barbera told Emmy TV Legends the plan was for their child to be a boy, until Ideal Toy Company (the company that created the Rubik’s Cube and Betsy Wetsy) changed his mind. One day, Barbera received a call from the guy in charge of Flintstones merchandising. “He said, ‘Hey, I hear you’re having a baby on the show.’ I said, ‘Yeah,’” Barbera said. “He said, ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ ‘What else, a boy. A chip off the old rock.’ He says, ‘That’s too bad. I have the ideal toy. If it was a girl, we could’ve made a hell of a deal.’ I said, ‘It’s is a girl.’” They sold three million dolls within the first couple of months.

8. MEL BLANC KEPT VOICING BARNEY DESPITE A HORRIBLE CAR ACCIDENT.
The Man of a Thousand Voices portrayed Barney Rubble, even following a devastating head-on car collision in 1961. Blanc didn’t let a 70-day hospital day deter him too much, and when he got out of the hospital, the cast and crew came to his home to record episodes. Blanc recounted the experience in his book, That’s Not All Folks, writing: “Tangles of wires were scattered all over the floor, and chairs and microphones were arranged around my hospital bed.”

The cast gathered around Blanc, and the producers talked to him through a built-in speaker. “Every couple of hours Joe would ask if I was too tired to carry on, but I insisted on completing the show,” Blanc wrote, saying that they recorded about 40 episodes in that manner. “Thankfully, by September, my doctors allowed me to sit up a bit, elevated by way of a pulley-cable system, to a semi-sitting position. It was no more than a few inches difference, but as I laughingly told my colleagues, ‘How nice is it to be able to look at your faces instead of at the damned ceiling.’”

Brittney Hutagalung’s Jack Carter

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Brittney Hutagalung created today’s sketch of Sly as Jack Carter.  Brittney had posted some sketches of Jon Bernthal that she was taking to MegaCon.  I liked “Bnie’s” art and saw that she was open for commissions so I set this one up.

Brittney’s prices are very reasonable and she gets my highest recommendation.

Joe Kubert’s Cover for Superman vs Muhammad Ali

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My guess is that nearly all of you have seen the cover above created by Neal Adams for the Superman vs Muhammad Ali treasury comic.

Seen it.  Owned it.  Old news, right?

Well, how many of you knew that Joe Kubert created the original cover (see below) Apparently Ali’s folks weren’t happy with The People’s Champ‘s likeness, so Neal Adams was brought in to do the book.

Source: David J. Spurlock.

Gene Gonzalez Wins the Title with Rocky, Too

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The extremely talented, extremely nice, Gene Gonzales created his take on Sly from “Rocky II” at the last Heroes Convention. Gene is funny, knowledgeable and really nice.

At every show he attends Gene is constantly signing autographs and sketching for fans, so I was happy to find he could fit me!

You can see more of Gene’s work at his blog.  Gene is also available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable.

Thanks again Gene!

The Art of Jock

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Art and comic fans will be all over The Art of Jock set for release on September 20, 2016.  From the Amazon summary…

The Art of Jock delves into the proli­fic artist’s catalog, showcasing not only the best of his extensive sketches and published images, but also personal notes from Jock himself that provide insight into the often philosophical inner workings of his creative process. Featuring interviews and quotes from colleagues and long-time collaborators, including Scott Snyder, Alex Garland, and Stephen King…

Want to see more preview art from the book?  Check out A Look Inside The Art of Jock Book Release at Mondotees.

Saturday at MegaCon Report

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Saturday I spent the day hanging out with my best bud, John Beatty at MegaCon.  John was a guest of the show along with Mike Zeck and a gazillion big name comic artists, animators, actors (sci-fi, horror, anime,tv, movie), tattoo artists, cosplay folks, gaming people, crafts people, and fans of all of the above. Thousands and thousands of fans were in attendance.

Because I was there for just one day and knew I wouldn’t have time to commission any artists, my goal was to touch base with friends I seldom see, check out artist alley and hang out with Big Beatty.  All three goals were accomplished.

I was able to at least say “hi” to Mike Zeck, Michael Golden, Hoyt Silva, Manny Aguilera, Gene Gonzalez, Jason Walker, Jason Solbol, “The” James Howell, John Higashi, Steve “Born to Be Alive” Martinez (who we hadn’t seen in over 25 years), Mike Kott and I’m sure a few others I’ve forgotten to mention.

That’s Mike Zeck getting a photo with a fan and getting photo-bombed by John Beatty.

Neal Adams came over to say “Hi” to Zeck and Beatty.  I looked up and suddenly Neal Adams was there.  For those that don’t know, Neal Adams is one of the living legends of comics.  Over the years, because of all the shows I have attended, I’ve met a lot of famous artists but I’d never met Neal Adams.

Anyway, I was sitting behind the table next to Beatty and as Neal spoke to Zeck and Beatty he would look over at me.  I know Neal was thinking, “Who is this guy?  I guess I should know him.”  As Neal got ready to leave I stood up with the intent to just say that I was a fan of his art, but truth be told I became tongue-tied as Neal reached out to shake my hand.  What I hoped to be, “Nice to meet you Mr. Adams” turned into something like, “I’m not an artist – I’m just a friend of John’s – I’m a big fan of your work, Mr. Adams.”  Definitely a fanboy moment.

The guy above was making the rounds and looked so much like The Beast I had to snap a photo.  He said the only thing not real was the “blue” and his choppers.  Yikes!

I did pick up a few things at the show… Manny Aguilera was set up in artist alley and he did a cool sketch of a scene with Sly from Lords of Flatbush that he surprised me with.  Josh Hood was sketching for fans and had copies of We Can Never Go Home.  I picked up a copy.  (Check it out and maybe you will as well.)  I also bought two prints: Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed fight poster by Brian Hoang (for me) and a Predator print for my nephew.  I also got to check out some of the Frank Miller originals that were on display.  The rest of the time was spent hanging with Big Beatty who had Zeck on one side and J. O’Barr (from The Crow fame) on the other.

All in all, it was a fun day… and I’m glad it was just one day.