Category: Comics

Andrew Robinson Gets Carter [2006]

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I first met Andrew Robinson when he was crashing at my buddy John Beatty‘s joint years ago. Andrew was just breaking into comics with his creation “Dusty Starr.” A blind man could see that this kid had TALENT. Andrew was also cool to hang with because he was so friendly and humble. I wasn’t back in to collecting original art then and so I missed my chance at a Andrew Robinson “Stallone.”

 

I was excited to see that Andrew was going to be a guest at this year’s Heroes Con. I figured that if I was lucky Andrew might agree to a Stallone drawing [if I could get on his sketch list]. I shouldn’t have worried. Beatty stopped by Andrew‘s table and it was as if the years melted away. They were like brothers who hadn’t talked in months. As it turned out, after Heroes, Andrew was coming to Florida to visit his family [who now lived less than an hour from Daytona]. One thing led to another and Andrew decided to ride back with Beatty and John Highasi. The bad news was that I would miss out on the drive back since I had other commitments. The good news was that Andrew was going to do a Stallone drawing for me… and he wanted to wait until he got to Florida to do it!

 

Andrew ended up drawing Sly as Jack Carter during one of his visits to Big Beatty’s. Not only did Andrew do a killer job, but he was having so much fun that he decided to throw some colors on it as well! Here’s the original, the first color piece the second color piece and even the third!

If you like what you’ve seen of Andrew‘s art, then be sure to check out Next Exit Productions which is Andrew‘s home on the web. You’ll also be glad to hear that Dusty Starr #1 is now available. If you can’t get it from your local comic book shop, you can get it straight from Andrew by clicking HERE. Be sure and also check out the first ever Dusty Starr Sketchbook. Like everything else that Andrew works on, it will make a fine addition to your collection!

Collector’s Comics — Full Report

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As I told you in an earlier post, this past weekend John “Johnny Star Warz” Higashi, and I drove down to Fort Pierce with “Big” John Beatty who was making an appearance at Keith and Monica Mallow’s  Collector’s Comics shop. [That’s Keith and Monica pictured below. ]

Beatty and I have known Keith for about 20 years, so we were both looking forward to catching up with him. He’s a pretty funny guy [maybe not as funny as he thinks he is, but he still has a pretty good batting average for humor]. We knew it would be a fun day.

Keith had advertised for weeks that Beatty would be at the shop signing autographs and sketching for fans. You can even see that Keith spared no expense with the sign to welcome John to his store.


A steady stream of fans joined those who had been waiting for Big John‘s arrival. Most wanted to get an autograph or sketch, but a few artists showed up so that John could offer advice on their work. You can see the look of joy on the little guy’s face in the picture above. Of course the pic was snapped right before Keith tried to bogart the kid’s sketch. Luckily the little feller’s dad set Keith straight and he returned the drawing straight away.

Big Beatty sketched throughout the day. Every sketch was a winner from his billionth drawing of the Punisher to his first attempt at Captain Marvel.

 


As the minutes turned into hours, Beatty continued to autograph and sketch for fans. Monica sensed that Big John was starting to fade, so she offered up one of her famous massages. [Personally, I think that Big John was faking it in order to get a backrub!]
Never one to be left out, John Higashi put down the manuscript that he was working on in order to get a massage of his own! As for me, well…

 

When six o’clock rolled around it was time to go. Everyone was having such a blast that Keith offered to take us out to dinner [again] and put us up for another night. Unfortunately, we had planned to get back home [and I really needed to]. Keith attempted to bribe us not only with another meal, another night in the hotel, but even tempted us with a poker game!


Next time, Keith! Next time!

 

If you’re in the area of Fort Pierce, Florida, check out Collector’s Comics. Tell Keith and Monica I sent you. Who knows, you may even luck out and get a massage in addition to some great deals on comics!

 

Collector’s Comics — Update

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It’s about 3:45 and the John Beatty show is still rolling on at Keith Mallow’s Collector’s Comics in Fort Pierce. [How’s that for another plug, Keith?]

Fans have been keeping Big John pretty busy signing autographs and sketching. John‘s done some nice Captain America, Punisher and Batman sketches. He’s currently working on a Captain Marvel [Shazam] sketch.

We’ll be here until about 6pm, so if you’re in the area, swing on it!

Live Blogging from Collector’s Comics

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So here I am “live blogging” from Keith Mallow’s “Collector’s Comics” in Fort Pierce, Florida!

 

Keith invited my good buddy, John Beatty, to come down to his shop to sign and sketch for fans. Beattty asked John Higashi and I to make the trip — and how could we refuse? We’re always up for a trip, and Boy! is Keith Mallow a trip.

Keith is actually a pretty funny guy — and I’m not just talking about his looks. Ok, ok, all kidding aside. Keith has a really nice comic shop that carries action figures, statues, dvds, trade paperbacks and, oh yeah, comics. When I found out that the shop also had a wireless internet connection I decided to give “live blogging” a try. If you’re reading this, I was successful and we’ll have more updates as the day continues.

Vampires, Anyone?

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I’ve been into vampires lately. Remember back here when I told you about the new Blade comic series that Howard Chaykin was going to draw? 

I’m currently reading Underland by Mick Farren. It’s got modern day vampires, as well as modern day Nazis, conspiracy theories, UFO’s and more. I’m digging it and am only about 1/2 way through.

Before Underland I read Already Dead by Charlie Huston. Huston has quickly become one of my favorite writers. Already Dead also features a modern day vampire, uh vampyre. As much as I’m enjoying Underland, Already Dead is even better. It combines The Godfather, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and the end result is pure Charlie Huston. I highly recommend this one!Okay… enough about me and vampires. I’d write more but I’m off to watch the latest episode of Blade.

Tampa Con, Here We Come!

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In just a couple of hours I’ll be heading down to Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention. Tim holds the show three times a year and it’s always a fun time. Although the show is on Sunday, “Big” John Beatty, “Johnny Star-Warz” Higashi, “The James” Howell and I go down the night before. It’s always a blast with these guys and the convention is like an added bonus.

This trip could turn out to be even more fun than most since our buddy, “Wild Bill” Black is going to film some scenes for one of his movies. Bill is a guest at the show and decided that while he was in Tampa he could combine work with pleasure [or in Bill‘s case pleasure with pleasure]. He’s even enlisted “The James” to play the role of a 70’s lounge singer who gets attacked by a vampire!

Then tomorrow we’ll head to the show. It’s got a pretty impressive guest list for a small one day convention. There will also be a costume contest, door prizes and a film room. I’m really looking forward to seeing an old [as in longtime, not because he’s 81] friend of mine, Jim Ivey.

If you’re within driving distance of Tampa, come on over and join us. If you want to hook up with our group, more than likely I’ll be wearing a StalloneZone shirt, or just look for a 70’s lounge singer who was bitten by a vampire.


300 Test Screeners Love It!

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It’s seems like I’ve been talking up “300” forever. By now you know that Zack Snyder is directing the adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel. Surely you know just how hard I think the movie is going to rock.

Over at Ain’t It Cool News they’re starting to post reviews from folks lucky enough to attend a test screening. Seems everyone likes it… a lot.

Now if the release date would just get here so we could see it!

Sketch Society a Success

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Big John Beatty’s Sketch Society had their first meeting last night and it was lot of fun! John had e-mailed out invites and posted flyers, but wasn’t sure how the turnout would be. He shouldn’t have worried.
Robert Smith [red shirt] drove in from Ocala. Jesse and his crew came down from St. Augustine and arrived at the Daytona Beach Barnes & Noble before John – who was an hour early!

Jeff Whiting and his lady friend dropped in. Although they both had sketch books and Jeff was drawing in his, if you can make out the title of the book she was reading, you can see she seemed to be more interested in drawing to a full house!

Ralph is a local artist who dropped in. It was my first time meeting him. Not only was he having a great time sketching but he also served as the pitch man for Fiji water. He did his job well, and I ended up buying a bottle just to try it out. It was okay, but not as good as the packaging [or Ralph] would suggest.

It was really great catching up with everyone. I’ve known Rob for about 30 years [whew – can we really be that old?] and we ended up talking about novels, movies, comic shows, and so much more. Rob is a great guy and I’m really glad he was able to make it.

It was a blast seeing Jesse “Cadre” Hansen and his crew [Chris and Jason]. Jesse loves comics and his passion is contagious. [Although he appears to be getting a little too friendly in the picture above. Footsies anyone?]

Big John made the rounds making sure to thank everyone for coming. He also snapped up some photos for his blog.

Everyone was having a blast sketching and socializing. At about 10pm Big John started giving off a white light glow. Although it was probably one too many Moca-Carmel-Soy-Lattes with with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles, we decided to not take achance and instead call it a night. Still, everyone agreed that they would be back the next time John called another informal meeting of the Sketch Society!

Craig Hamilton Gets Carter [2006]

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I can’t tell you how excited I was to get this piece from Craig Hamilton. Craig is a true “artist’s artist.” I had the pleasure of spending most of a Heroes Con two years ago seated next to Craig as he was sketching and interacting with fans. It’s always cool when someone whose art you admire turns out to be as nice as the work they produce.

Craig did this reflective shot of Sly from “Get Carter.” You can see it here. Comments are always appreciated.

You can see more of Craig’s work here.

 

Sketch Society

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My buddy, John Beatty is planning the first [of what he hopes will be a monthly] meeting of folks who like to sketch/draw and socialize. John’s calling the informal gathering Sketch Society and it looks like the first turnout will be pretty good. Of course we’re going to have local artists [and please note you do NOT have to be a professional artist to attend] and even some out of towners as well.

If you’re within driving distance of Daytona Beach, Florida and this sounds like something that you’d be interested in, then click here. The first meeting will be next Saturday at Barnes & Noble.

Brereton’s Nocturnals are Back!

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Dan Brereton has several projects coming out that I know will appeal to many ZONErs. You can bet that I’m going to be on the lookout for them.

This Halloween (and talk about perfect timing) all of Dan‘s Nocturnals stories will be collected in three oversized hardcovers. Each edition will contain a new story and new art in addition to the reprinted stories. The plan is to then continue with new Nocturnal adventures.

[For those of you who came in late, The Nocturnals is a horor/crime/sci-fi series featuring: Doc Horror, a scientist / adventurer; Eve (aka Halloween Girl) has supernatural powers and is Doc’s little daughter; Gunwitch is Eve‘s self-appointed bodyguard (who happens to be a scarecrow… a gunslinging scarecrow); Polychrome is a ghost; Starfish, an amphibian girl; Firelion, a pyrokinetic samurai; and the Raccoon, a infamous gangster).

 

I’m also hoping for a release of The Last Battle, a “gladiator” graphic novel that teamed Dan with Italian writer Tito Faraci. 

Shawn Surface

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Shawn Surface is an independent comic book artist best known for his work at Bill Black’s AC comics and “Bubba the Redneck Werewolf.” I first met Shawn a few years ago at a TampaCon. We talked about comics, movies and art. I left the show thinking that I’d like to get Shawn to do a piece for my Stallone Gallery.Finally at this year’s Heroes Con things worked out. Shawn decided to draw Sly as The Punisher. Click HERE and you can see the result.

Shawn is available for commissions and is reasonably priced. Check out his website and tell him I sent you!

My Gallery is Moving!

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I’ve decided to move my Stallone themed art collection from my site to ComicArtFans.com. You can now see my gallery there. [Well, at least 1/2 of it… the rest is going up later this week.]

If you’ve never checked out the Comic Art Fans site, you should. But my advice is to go when you have some time to spare. There’s so much cool stuff there that you may even forget to check out my collection!