Thing sketchbook, part 29

Merry Thingmas, everyone! Here to Thing in the holidays is none other than Ben Grimm, with five more lovely sketches from the Thing sketchbook. Let's take a look! Thing!

 

Luis Perez Banus - Rhode Island Comic Con 2021

It's fun to grab sketches from artists I know or those who've drawn the Thing in an official capacity. It can be unpredictably exciting, though, to take a chance with someone you've never heard of, because you don't know what you're going to get. Take this zombie-esque Thing from Luis Perez Banus, who I saw at the tail end of 2021's Rhode Island Comic Con. Someone tabling at the show cut out after Saturday, so Luis commandeered the spot and was selling drawings, guerrilla-style, during those last, fleeting convention hours. I thought his style was interesting enough to take a shot at a Thing commission, and Luis delivered with one of the more unique entries into the book.

Lin Guo - Comic-Con Special Edition 2021

2021 saw San Diego's Comic-Con return following the cancellation of the previous year's show, and I was so excited to have it come back that I didn't mind that it was held on Thanksgiving weekend. The show was lighter and more subdued than the years immediately prior, but it also focused a lot more on art and comics than the show sometimes does now. I only got one Thing sketch at this show, from Lin Guo, but it's great one, a real slice-of-life drawing of Ben Grimm's morning routine. Lin drew a pinup of the Bulwark for Planet Comics soon after!

Jeff McComsey - 2022

Jeff's no stranger to the Thing sketchbook in general, but this is his first entry in my second book. Not only did he draw a human Ben Grimm, but this entry is also a period piece. Jeff drew Captain Grimm in 1951 as a pilot during the Korean War. He also drew it as if it were a photograph, with the caption written underneath. The drawing is secured to the sketchbook with adhesive photo corners, making this entry extra special.

Duane Redhead (2022) and Ian Nichols (Contropolis 2023)

It's a two-page spread! By two artists! At two different times! Oh wow.

For a brief time during Marvel's Fear Itself event series, the Thing was transformed into Angrir, Breaker of Souls after picking up a hammer, similar to Thor. He had these weird squid-like creatures around his neck and his rocks looked a bit volcanic. He also beat up the Red Hulk during this period, before returning to his much more lovable Thing state at the end of the series.

Anyway, it's always fun to get different versions of the Thing in the book, and this one's about as different as they come. Our pal Duane Redhead was visiting from the UK when I so rudely handed him the sketchbook, but he came prepared and knocked out this very intense left side of the page. Fellow Tick artist Ian Nichols finished off the right side the next year at a small comic show in Philadelphia named Contropolis. Ian added the Thing/Angrir's partially gloved fist and tried to match Duane's detailed style. This one definitely stands out in the book.

Kelly Phillips - Small Press Expo 2022

I know Kelly through our mutual love for "Weird Al" Yankovic - not only are we both fans, but we've both contributed to the Illustrated Al anthology. Kelly definitely one ups me in the Weird Al comic department with her beautiful Weird Me collection, though, hey, it's not a competition (is what I keep telling myself). Kelly also contributed to the first issue of Planet Comics, and I met her for the first time outside of a Weird Al concert at 2022's SPX show in Bethesda, Maryland. I really enjoyed the show, and I got quite a few Thing sketches when I was there, starting with this sultry pinup drawing of Ma Grimm's baby boy. Flaunt it if you got it, I guess.

That's it for another Thing-tastic sketchbook session. Plenty more to come. Happy clobberin', everyone.

"The League of Obscure Historical Figures" with Jeff McComsey!

Fresh from the Baltimore Comic-Con, FUBAR head honcho Jeff McComsey and I have completed a new mini project for the third issue of DC Conspiracy's The Magic Bullet.  Jeff and I worked on a story for the second issue as well, and you can read it by clicking here.

This new story is titled "The League of Obscure Historical Figures", and in a very, very loose sense it's a parody of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in that instead of well known fictional characters, our story features real people of whom history has relegated footnotes (though honestly, we should all be so lucky) banding together for...well, for whatever reason.

This particular story came about in a roundabout fashion - as the deadline for Magic Bullet stories drew closer, Jeff suggested doing a story that told the history of an obscure figure.  I liked the idea (and still do), but for the life of me I couldn't come up with just one person to highlight, and I couldn't think of a way to write a biography of that person that would even be remotely interesting.  If the characters all came together, though...then there'd be a story...and that's how the LOOHF was born.

You'll notice that this story features an almost obscene number of panels, but there were even two more in the original draft, which would have been nearly impossible to include in this oversized page.  At the beginning of the story, Catharine Sedgwick has a difficult time getting past the doorman into the meeting room, as the doorman has never heard of her before in his life, thus setting the stage for everything else to come.  I'll admit that those two panels were the right ones to take out, though Ms. Sedgwick does seem to be a bit underrepresented in this final draft.  Oh well...I guess she's obscure for a reason.

And, of course, I had to sneak in an appearance of George McClellan - no group of obscure characters would be complete without him.  I do take some small pride in the fact that he might be the most recognizable of any in this story, a point that makes it into the end of the story.  All in all, I'm very happy with how this short tale turned out, and I think everyone will agree that Jeff McComsey brought everything together in a visually pleasing way.

If everything I've heard is correct, this issue of the Magic Bullet will be out very soon - the weekend of September 10th and 11th at the Small Press Expo in Baltimore.  I'll probably get my hands on some copies a little while after and will do my best to distribute them at shops around the Pittsburgh area.  The MB seems to really be catching on, as this issue will have more pages than previous issues.  That's great news, because it's a really fun publication!

Here's the cover to issue #3:

Find out more about the Magic Bullet here: http://www.magicbulletcomics.com/