Category: Comics

Heroes Con 2010, Part 4

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Today we start off Part 4 of my 2010 Heroes Con report with a shot of Adam Hughes.  Most times when I post a photo of an artist it is because i got something from him/her at the show [sketchbook, sketch, autograph, etc.).  That’s not the case this time.

So you’re probably wondering, “Why the photo of Adam Hughes?”  I posted it because the show ran for three full days and the shot above lasted less than a minute and i just happened to be there!  There for what you ask?  (And I’m glad you did!)  That photo proves that Adam didn’t have a line of fans in front of him the entire show.  Now I’m sure that some folks are going to say that the crowd was photoshopped out and that there is NO WAY that Adam had even a second when he wasn’t 3 deep in a crowd of fans.  All I can say is, I wouldn’t have believed it, if I hadn’t seen it myself.

The shakey cell phone photo above shows two of the nicest (and most talented) artists you’d ever want to meet.  The fellow on the left is Sean Gordon Murphy and the gent on the right is Casey Jones.  I was very fortunate to get a wonderful sketch of Rocky Balboa and Butkus by Sean.  And, as you guessed, I will post it in the not to distant future.

You’re probably wondering why the photos suddenly got better.  No, it’s not just because of the subjects.  The photos up to this point had been taken using my cell phone.  We’re done with them.  From here on out it’ll be digital camera work.  This one was taken by my buddy John Beatty.  He was kind enough to allow me to post it here instead of his site.

Tomorrow starts Heroes Con 2010, Part 5.  I hope you’ll join me.  At least the photos will look better.

Heroes Con 2010, Part 3

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Can you believe it’s already time for Part 3 of my report on HEROES CON 2010?  So today we kick off with a photo of Andy Kuhn.  Andy’s blog is a daily stop on my internet travels.  I love his bold sense of design and unique art style.  I was fortunate to get a sketch from Andy at Heroes — he riffed on Sly as Jack Carter and I plan to post it soon.

I first met Chris Stevens at a con last year.  Chris was there as a fan although his work had been making a big splash over at Deviant Art.  When I heard that Chris was going to debut his first sketchbook at Heroes this year, I knew I had to get one.  I pre-ordered and Chris even included a headsketch of Sly as Jack Carter.  [As you probably guessed, I’ll post it in the near future.]

You’re probably wondering why Laura Martin, the best colorist in the business, is in such a great mood.  You would be too, if you were so good at your job that if someone looked up what you do, there’d be a picture of you.  Don’t believe me?  Click on this link: Best Colorist in Comics.

What’d I tell you?

Jay Potts Takes On Jack Carter

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Jay Potts, the creator of the very hip blaxplotation web comic World of Hurt, worked up a Jack Carter sketch for me. Yeah, he definitely caught the tough guy image that Jack Carter projected!

Before you click over to Jay’s web comic, be advised that World of Hurt is suggested for MATURE READERS due to violence, profanity and a bunch of other stuff that can be found in the best blaxplotation movies.

Heroes Con 2010, Part 2

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Okay, here we are with Part 2 of my report on HEROES CON 2010.  No, that’s not Lois Lane posing with Superman.  It’s actually John Beatty’s wife, Bella. You gotta give her credit since she made the drive up with John and me.  Surviving THAT trip would take superhuman effort on the part of anyone.

That’s Bella posing with The Black Panther and Captain America.  Or maybe it’s them posing with her.  You can make that call.

Take a close look at the photo above.  Why does Ron Salas have the surprised look of someone who just sat in something?  Now swing your sights over to Joel Carrol.  Why does Joel have the satisfied smile of a man thinking “mission accomplished”?

Again, you make the call.

Heroes Con 2010, Part I

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It’s hard to believe that HEROES CON 2010 was three weeks ago.  Usually within the week following HEROES, I post my con report and photos.  Of course, most years, the con is held later in the year and so when I return home I still have at least a week of vacation left.  This year HEROES was held earlier in the month and I didn’t have the luxury of vacation when I returned home.

Enough with the excuses.  In an effort to get my con report and photos up before next year’s HEROES CON, I will post three pictures a day along with some comments.

That’s Chris DiBari.  He’s worked on some pretty neat comics including adaptations of The Warriors and The Crazies (especially cool since Chris is a big movie buff).  Currently Chris is working on the very well received western comic Pale Horse.  Chris is also a Stallone fan and he did a cool take on Sly from Nighthawks which I will post in the near future.

That’s Jay Potts, the creator of the very hip blaxplotation web comic World of Hurt.  As you can see from the photo above, Jay rocked a Jack Carter sketch for me.  I’ll post a scan soon.

Chris Mills Spruces Up Atomic Pulp

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My internet buddy [which means I’ve never met him in person], Chris Mills has retooled his main website.  It will serve as a hub to his other internet joints.  If you click over to this post about the new Gravedigger graphic novel, you might notice that the bad guy that gets the drop on Digger resembles someone we all know and love.  We’ll at least my dog loves me… I think.

Chris Mills is a great guy.  Swing by and show him some love.

Florida Super Con

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been a week since Heroes Con [and I haven’t even posted a con report or photos] and in just four days the 2010 Florida Super Con will kick off!  Last year was my first trip to the Florida Super Con and I had a blast!

I had every intention of attending again this year, but since my return from Heroes, my job responsibilities  have changed and I’m going to have a lot less time off this summer.  I’m going out of town the following week, so it may be pushing it to get to the FSC.  Still, with a great comic guest list, and an amazing media guest list, the temptation is still there.  Who knows?  Maybe, I’ll still get down for a day or two.  You should too, if you can.  A fun time is guaranteed!

“They were 300. He was one.”

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Yesterday, CBR.com followed up on a Dark Horse Comics announcement via its twitter page that Frank Miller is returning to comics with a prequel to 300.  The long rumored series won’t hit the stands until sometime in 2011 and will be titled Xerxes.

Xerexes was the Persian king who attempted to conquer the world, only to fall short thanks to the efforts of 300 Spartans. The tagline for the new series is a good one…

Xerxes: “They were 300.  He was one.”

You can read more about the Xerxes mini-series and the Frank Miller lithograph that Dark Horse is releasing by checking out CBR.com’s post.

Heroes Con Countdown

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In just about exactly 72 hours, I’ll swing by and pick up my best bud, John Beatty, and we’ll be off to Heroes Con.  John will be a guest there, sketching and signing autographs for his fans.  Although I’ll hang out at his table and help keep the good times running, I’ll also spend time on the other side of the aisle as a fan, visiting other artists to get books signed and some new sketches for my collection.

Heroes is always a blast.  I can’t even begin to imagine how much fun it will be this year.  The guest list has never been bigger.  In addition to all of the regular comic superstars that always attend, this year we’ll also get to see folks like Tim Sale and Mike Mignola for the first time.  As LittleJohn312 said today, “The guest list keeps growing, but my budget doesn’t.”   Amen to that.  My plan this year is the same as last: get the most bang for my [limited] buck.  So I’ll be looking for sketchbooks with head sketches and avoiding the superstars.

If you’re going to be at Heroes, you can usually find me hanging out at John Beatty’s table [#721 in artist’s alley].  If I’m not there, I’ll be the guy looking to score some Stallone sketches.  Either way, I’m not too hard to find.

Mark Pennington’s Jack Carter

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Mark Pennington graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in 1985. Upon graduation Mark became a toy designer at Hasbro. Mark created designs for the G.I. Joe line of action figures including a Rocky Balboa GI Joe that never saw production! Mark’s first work as an inker in the comic book industry was for SQP on Judge Dredd!

When I started collecting original sketches of Sly, Mark was one of the first artists that I approached. I was excited to get this Rambo head sketch from him. Earlier this month I posted Mark’s take on Sly as Rambo.

Today we have Mark’s take on Sly as an older Jack Carter. Although we’ll never get a sequel to Get Carter, and it is not a perfect film, Get Carter remains one of my favorite Stallone movies. Sly was perfect as the “bad brother” — the man who knew that he’d taken the wrong path and saw a chance at redemption by finding his brother’s killer and keeping his niece and sister-in-law safe. So I thought it would be cool to get Mark to draw Sly as Jack Carter, but with some more years on him… sort of like Clint Eastwood’s performance in Unforgiven. I couldn’t be happier with the result!

“The Walking Dead” Speak

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I’ve been a fan of The Walking Dead comic since shortly after the first issue was pulled off a printing press.  The Walking Dead is the best comic series being regularly published today.  I’m especially excited about the new AMC tv series that will bring the comics to life.

Quint over at AICN recently posted an interview with The Walking Dead creator, David Kirkman.  Here are a few tidbits…

AMC is giving us a huge deal of support and they have already shown that they have a lot of confidence in the show just by immediately picking up the six episode first season without ever even starting to shoot the pilot…

I’m actually writing the fourth episode in the six episode first season…

…Frank Darabont… His vision for this show is so unique and the pilot script is so strong that I think that that’s why AMC got behind it so quickly. I think Darabont’s hand in this is the thing that is driving it. I think that he’s going to turn this into a pretty awesome television show…

To read the entire interview, simply click here.

Comics on the Fringe

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If you’re a regular viewer of Fringe, then you know all about the alternate universe which is very similar to ours.  It’s an interesting concept and fun to see how things are just tweaked a bit and yet those tweaks make all the… I would say “all the difference in the world,” but I guess I should instead “all the difference in the universe.”

One of the characters on the show likes comics books and so several slightly different prop comics were created for the alternate universe.  Bleeding Cool compares the alt. reality comics with those from our universe.  Slightly tweaked comics can be seen here.