Venture Bros. trading cards

Atlanta's Dragon Con seems to be a mecca of sorts for those who like to dress in costumes.  I never thought much of it, but I paid attention to the news coming out of Georgia for this year's show, and I was surprised to see just what a big deal it was.  There must have been thousands of costumes on display and it all looked like a great time.  I might have to make it out to a show at some point!

There were lots of great Venture Bros. themed costumes at this year's show, both classic and incredibly obscure (Brick Frog and Betty Rage were a few favorites, for completely different reasons).  If you get a chance to, do a quick Google Images search and check out some pictures for yourselves.

What caught my attention leading up to the show, though, was the above pictured Venture Bros. trading cards.  This 12-card set was put together by a Venture Bros. cosplay group and I thought it looked pretty swell.  I contacted a friend and he was able to send me a set in exchange for a Teddy and the Yeti card set, which I think was a pretty good trade.

As a whole, I thought the cards turned out really well.  All of them were interesting, and while some are better than others, I think the set is indicative of most of the main characters from the show (though I can't imagine how the Moppets were left out), and it features some great art.  Below are a few of my favorites:

The only artist whose work I recognized was that of Fiona Staples, who drew this Rusty Venture card.  Staples has made a name for herself recently with Image's Saga, which is a fantastic book and one that's certain to see lots of acclaim.  Getting her on this card set is a big deal!  I love the slight refraction that the good doctor's glasses make.  It's a nice touch.

It's hard not to like everything about Brock Samson on the show, and similarly, it's hard not to like the art on this card.  The hair, the blood, the glass shards...it captures his essence in a single image.  Well done.

 

And who can't empathize with "two-ton" 21?  Again, a great piece, though I'll say that I would have liked to see a "classic" 21 and 24 image thrown in there.

Twelve cards is an odd number for a set.  Cards usually come in sets of nine, for the sole reason that card binders hold pages with room for nine cards per page.  So that means that there's room for six more cards in this set to make it a nice, neat 18 - I say we round out the set with a few more before it's all said and done.  One for the Order of the Triad, perhaps?  The aforementioned Moppets?  The Impossible family?  The possibilities are nearly endless.

Thing sketchbook, part 5

Here's the next five Thing sketches that I've collected!  These five have a few things in common beyond the obvious: they're all from the 2006 Comic-Con International, and they're all AWESOME.  Check 'em out, with witty commentary on each:

Fiona Staples - Comic-Con International 2006

Fiona Staples was the art half of Markosia's "Done to Death" book.  Ryan Stegman told her to draw ears on the Thing (as I bugged him about doing the same in previous pieces of art), so she did - and then put flowers growing out of his head.  I love the uniqueness of this sketch.

Comic-Con International 2006

I really should remember this artist's name (Scott?), as he sat in at my booth for an hour or so at the 2006 San Diego show.  He had a pinup in Image's Invincible a few months later.

He apparently ran into Rosario Dawson a few minutes before stopping at our booth, and he was kicking himself for not being able to talk to her.  "She was just so beautiful", he kept saying.

Jason Martin - Comic-Con International 2006

Jason Martin (creator of "Super Real") had helped promote Mr. Massive, the book I had at the San Diego show this year, so we chatted a few times over the weekend.  The all blue Thing was a great touch.

Aaron Farmer - Comic-Con International 2006

Aaron Farmer (part of Ms. Monster's illustrious crew) had a booth next to ours at the San Diego show in 2006, and he did this cute rendition in no time flat.  I especially enjoy the Disney-esque look to the words.  This from a mohawk wearing hard core guy like Aaron...spectacular.

Todd Nauck - Comic-Con International 2006

Todd Nauck is a great artist and a really nice guy.  I apparently even cut in line to give him this book, but it all worked out - Todd even drew a really cool Mr. Massive cover for me that I was just able to use in the second issue of Teddy and the Yeti.

More to come, some of which even top these, as hard as that is to believe.

Thing sketchbook, part 4

It's time for some more great Thing sketches (and so-so commentary), including my first sketch with color (woo!), courtesy of...well, me.  We're not quite half way through the sketchbook at this point, and I hope to add a couple more in the next few weeks.  Hope you like!

Amanda Conner - Pittsburgh Comicon 2005

Amanda Conner is great a drawing expressive faces, and this is a good example.  Before adding in the speech balloon, she asked "what is the Thing's catch phrase again?"  C'mon, Conner!

Ruben Cordero - 2005

My friend Ruben drew this for me as we were waiting to see the midnight showing of Batman Begins in a theater in the middle of New York City.  I think he stopped drawing because the lights went down.

Ryan Stegman - Comic-Con International 2006

I've known Ryan for a number of years, but we first met (outside of the Internets) at the big San Diego Show in 2006, where he drew this Kingpin-esque Thing for me.  The red shading is particularly nice.

Comic-Con International 2006

This inker (whose name, other than "Dez", I unfortunately forget) stopped by the booth I had at the San Diego show in 2006.  At the time he mentioned being one of the dozens of inkers working on "Infinite Crisis".

Andrew Foley - Comic-Con International 2006

Andrew Foley and Fiona Staples were at the Markosia booth promoting their vampire comic "Done to Death", and Ryan Stegman passed the sketchbook on to them after he finished with his entry.

Some great sketches.  More to come!