San Diego Comic-Con 2011

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 has come and went.

As I am currently working in New Orleans on GI Joe 2, I had to cut a couple of days off of my normal week long comic-con stay.  I didn't want to take more than 2 days off of work. Fortunately, I had Deana and Anson manning the table for me during my absent days.  Unfortunately, I didn't have anything new to sell this year.  It seems like a lot my fellow artists who regularly have a new product this time of year have taken this year off.  For some it's financial, for others, they just weren't able to find the time. So this year was spent selling off "old stock".  So I've finally sold out of all four of my 24 hour mini comics.  Which leaves me mainly with remaining copies of Art of Crime #1 and Striking Works for sale, as well as some Fanny McRollo prints.

I must say DeviantArt really stepped up to the plate this year by sponsoring Artists Alley. They added carpet beneath our feet and new padded chairs beneath our hardworking artist bums.  They also added two large video screens overhead, displaying the work of Artist Alley artists.  They also added a computer kiosk with several large screen monitors so you can draw on the computer in front of fans, or display your work via your website etc.  Thanks DeviantArt! You're our new best friend!


I spoke on one panel this year for the good folks at Monsterverse.  As I've mentioned, I have a story in this year's Halloween issue: Bela Lugosi's Tales From The Grave # 3. Dan Brereton and I were late arrivals to the panel ( literally) but we made it just in time to help pitch the projects we were working on.  Sam Park and Kerry Gammill have gathered a tremendous group of art and writing talent.  The fans seemed excited about the work. Check out the latest Monsterverse projects coming to a comic store near you!

And speaking of Dan, he was nice enough to give me a copy of his ultra cool, full color art book, The Goddess and the Monster.

Didn't buy that many books this year ( at least for me ).  I spent my bucks on original art this year.  I was happily surprised to see that the legendary Jordi Bernet had an Artist Alley table this year. He had a portfolio full of original Torpedo 1936 and Jonah Hex pages as well as sketches and doodles for sale.  Having lost out on an opportunity to buy a Torpedo original once before,  I didn't want to miss this opportunity again.
Below is a copy of the page I bought.  The original page  has no lettering on it.  As you can see, it's a beautiful piece, and it's MINE, MINE, MINE!!

I also picked up some nice books from Kevin Dart, Nathan Fox, and Adam Hughes. Another lovely find was at Stuart Ng's, where I bought a copy of The Art of Butch Lukic.  Nice sketchbook by a former director of The New Batman Adventures. Nice package with a firm, squarebound, paperback cover, 60 pages of color sketches throughout. And best of all, only $10 for a really impressive package.  When I looked inside, I realized that it was put together by my friends at Art of Fiction.  A couple of guys run this indy comics publisher through their comic shop in Burbank, House of Secrets.
In fact, I've done some work with them on their first book, Five Color Comics #1.  I also did a couple of illustrations for their forthcoming Five Color Comics #2 ( expected for the 1st quarter of 2012 ), so keep an eye out and order yours soon.

Seems like this will be a rebuilding year in terms of my self-publishing/comic-con ventures.  I want to shift gears and create more thoughtful and higher end projects.  Hopefully, I  can juggle this and my regular work, and put out some quality stuff.  Stay tuned...