Thing sketchbook, part 20

It's been a long, long time since I've posted any updates to my Thing sketchbook routine. That's because my first sketchbook, purchased over 15 years ago from Waldenbooks, had exactly one blank area left, that being the inside back cover. I handed it to my pal Jeff McComsey a while ago with specific instructions. Now that it's been returned to me, I can say that the first Thing sketchbook is (mostly) complete. There are two entries that I might try and have inked at some point, but for now...all spaces have been filled. And there are 97 drawings of the Thing included!

Let's look at the last two entries, plus anything that's changed since I initially posted about them:

Jeff McComsey - Pittsburgh Comicon 2013

This drawing resides on the inside front cover. It's a partial recreation of one of my favorite Thing stories - Marvel Two-in-One #50. Jeff drew the top half, all the way to the sketchbook's spine. Here's what the original George Perez/Joe Sinnott cover looks like:

Jeff McComsey - Baltimore Comic-Con 2011/Pittsburgh Comicon 2013

Not only did Jeff draw the Two-in-One recreation in 2013, but he finished up a sketch that he had started two years earlier at the Baltimore Comic-Con. At top is the 2011 version...

...and this is the finished version, completed at the Pittsburgh Comicon.

Derek Fridolfs/Ian Nichols - New York Comic Con 2013/Comic-Con International 2017

I met Derek Fridolfs at the 2013 NYCC show, and asked him to draw Ben Grimm from Marvel's Ultimate Universe. As those books were winding down, the Thing shed his rocky exterior in exchange for some energy-based powers. Also he was purple.

I thought that this was an entry that could use some color, because it's so different from what we usually think of when we consider the Thing. So at Comic-Con in 2017, I passed the book to my friend Ian Nichols and he added some watercolors to the inked version.

Chris Burnham - Comic-Con International 2016

This is the last actual page in the sketchbook. I knew that I didn't want to take any chances with the very last entry into the book, so I scanned artist alley at Comic-Con and found Chris Burnham, who might be best known for his Batman work with Grant Morrison. Chris was a little nervous when I told him that I had been carrying the book around since 2003 and was giving him the last page, but he stepped up and added another memorable Thing to the book.

Then he took a picture with the book! Love that Pac Man lanyard.

Jeff McComsey - 2019

And now here we are - at the end of the book. Jeff held onto the sketchbook for, wow, a couple years, and he tells me that he kept it in a fireproof safe while in his possession. But he finished it up in style, drawing this partial recreation of 1983's Thing #1 on the inside back cover. Here's a look at the original, from John Byrne and Ron Wilson:

Like I said, there are two entries in the book that I'd like to have inked, so this might not be the very last time to break open the sketchbook. And I started a new sketchbook at New York in 2016, so there are plenty more Thing posts to come. But this book will always hold a special place for me. I'm kind of surprised that I never lost it! I don't know that I'll ever be able to top it.