Thing sketchbook, part 19

Let's look at some more entries into the Thing sketchbook!

Jim Rugg - Wizard World Pittsburgh 2015

The ill-fated Wizard World Pittsburgh was disappointing on a number of levels. After Wizard World took over for the Pittsburgh Comicon in 2015, I had at least faint hopes that the venue change (moving from Monroeville to the downtown convention center) would mean better things for comic conventions in the 'Burgh. This was decidedly not to be, and the show dragged on for the weekend at a snail's pace, but at least I got this great Thing sketch out of it! This one is by Jim Rugg - a Pittsburgh native and creator of the wonderful Street Angel series. Rugg is one of the most underrated artists in the industry, and I'm happy to add his work to the sketchbook!

Art Adams - New York Comic Con 2015

How in the world, you might ask, did I manage to get the legendary Arthur Adams to draw in this book? It took a lot of luck, my friends, but in general, I found him at a time that he wasn't too busy and I made a nice donation to the Hero Initiative in exchange for a five minute sketch. Adams has been at the top of his game (and the top of the industry) for decades at this point, and he draws one of the best Ben Grimms of all time. This is without a doubt one of the most impressive pieces in the book on name recognition alone.

Karin Rindevall - New York Comic Con 2015

I've been friends with Karin Rindevall for years, all the way back to Teddy and the Yeti #1, but I never thought I'd get the chance to meet her, because she lives in Sweden. She and her boyfriend made the trip to New York for NYCC in 2015, though, and I was lucky enough to get to spend a little time chatting with them. Naturally, because I'm an awful and pushy person, I talked Karin into drawing the the Thing in the sketchbook, and he kindly obliged with the above piece (the word balloon is roughly "it's clobberin' time!" in Swedish). Karin needed to find a table on which to draw, so (keep this to yourself) we sat down at the then-empty table of Art Adams. Several people walked by while we were there and were very confused.

Dave Wachter - PIX 2016

Dave Wachter is a Pittsburgh native and recently completed a run as artist on IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. I had met him a few times before but finally managed to get a sketch from him at the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Festival in 2016. I believe this is the second trench coat Thing in the book - you can never have too many. The rain in the background adds that extra something to it. And I'm absolutely in love with Dave's stamps, which he changes every year.

Todd Webb - Comic-Con International 2016

True story - I once bought a toilet seat from Todd Webb. He drew pirates on it and I still have it, packed away in a closet, waiting for the day when I can figure out where to hang it. That was quite a few years ago - 2003 or 2004, I think - and I hadn't heard anything of or from him in the intervening years until running into him at the very end of Comic-Con 2015. I was lucky enough to find him again at the 2016 show and knew that it was time to ask him to join the sketchbook ranks, near the very end of the book. This is the first entry drawn in crayon, and it's one of my favorites!


Believe it or not, this very nearly completes the Thing sketchbook. I'll be back with one final entry before closing the book on this...uh, book for good.

War of the Independents original art by Don Simpson!

There are a number of really talented and impressive comic artists living in Pittsburgh, and I've been lucky enough to meet a number of them. Over the last year I've had the pleasure of talking with Don Simpson on a number of occasions, and at last year's Wizard World Pittsburgh, Don gave me a page of original art from the upcoming War of the Independents #4.

This issue of the series features a number of cartoon animals such as Usagi Yojimbo, Felix the Cat, Simpson's own Cowboy Gorilla and....The Tick. There are also some non-animal cartoon characters like Milk & Cheese and the Gumby characters.

I wasn't expecting to get this page so it was a big treat to get a page of art from the guy who created Megaton Man, Border Worlds and other great comics.

 I would absolutely love to work out a Tick/Megaton Man crossover one of these days in an official capacity, but the two characters do actually meet in this issue as well. I'm hoping to see this issue in stores soon!

Upcoming convention appearances - Wizard World Pittsburgh, Baltimore Comic-Con and NYCC

My convention schedule has been fairly light in recent years.  I know some creators who travel all across North America throughout the year peddling books and other comic-related items - and I honestly can't understand how they have the money and mental fortitude to do it.  In any case, earlier this year I decided that I would try to get to a few more shows in the upcoming months.  My school schedule doesn't really allow for long trips outside of the summer, and the summer is swallowed up pretty quickly by Comic-Con in San Diego, but I've managed to get a few items on the schedule for September and October.

The first show is happening in...just a few weeks, it seems!  It's the inaugural Wizard World Pittsburgh show.  I'm not really sure what to expect.  Wizard World takes over for the former Pittsburgh Comicon, and it makes its move from Monroeville to downtown Pittsburgh, which is exciting.  Wizard World has a bit of a reputation for focusing on celebrities over creators, but so far I've had no complains about my interaction with the staff of the show.

They even put a link to my bio right on the front page, along with everyone else.  I, of course, forgot to include a reference to Imaginary Drugs, one of my two higher profile publications to date.  Oh well.

Next up, I'll be returning to the Baltimore Comic-Con for the first time in a few years.  This show takes place at the end of September, just two weeks after the Pittsburgh show.  Since expanding from their previous two-day format to a more traditional Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule, it's been more difficult for me to come to this show.  This year, however, I'm sharing a table with the very talented Jennie Wood, which allows me to be there just on Saturday and Sunday.  Jennie will be debuting the second volume of the popular Flutter series at the show.  I was lucky enough to get a chance to letter this new volume, so I'll be signing copies along with Jennie those two days.  Series artist Jeff McComsey will also be at the show, so it'll be a whole dang event.  Here's a visual representation of my lettering spree over the weekend:

We'll be at booth A223 for the show.  That's located in artist alley.

And just a few weeks after that, I'll be at the New York Comic-Con in New York City.  The plan right now is for me to be there on Friday and Saturday of the four-day convention.  I'll be wandering around aimlessly plenty of the time, but I'll also be making stops to sign books and generally gawk at the crowds at both the FUBAR and Flutter booths.

Oh, and Rafer Roberts will be giving out copies of the newest volume of Thanos and Darkseid: Carpool Buddies of Doom at the show.  I love these dang things.  I am going to snatch one up like nobody's business.

It'll be a busy few weeks.  Afterwards, I think I'll stay at home until February.  But we'll see.

The triumphant return of RANDOM NOTES!! Steel City Con, FUBAR, Kickstarter, Franks and Beans and more!

Selected short subjects:

- The latest of the installment of the Steel City Con was held at the beginning of April.  I'm continually surprised at how popular this show has become.  There are three shows a year and you'd think it'd suffer from fatigue by this point, but it seems to still be gaining steam.  It'll be interesting to see how it holds up after the Wizard World Pittsburgh show later in the year.

I was able to snag a few cool items from the show, including some Thing items and some comics.

All of these books were around 50 cents each, so I grabbed about 40 of them and spent way too much time looking through boxes...but there were some cool finds to be had, including Superboy #101 (in rough shape, but still), the last issue of Strange Tales vol. 2 (the only issue of the series that featured the Thing, a mainstay in the first volume) and the second issue of Simpsons Comics.

There was also a big Dukes of Hazzard presence at the show.  Larry wrote more about it on his blog, and you should check it out!

- I'm pretty sure this Thing magnet is homemade, but when I saw it at Pittsburgh Comics I had to grab it.  I can't quite place the artist, and it's driving me nuts.  Needless to say, I love it.

- The Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo came and went at the end of March, and it was better than I expected.  I managed to sell some books and buy a few that came home with me.  There was a lot of talent at this small show, which was encouraging.  I also met Don Simpson there, and we struck up a dialogue, at which point I learned that he...works at the same school that I do.  That is really bizarre.

Don is offering up a class for the fall semester in cartooning and character design.  This would be an awesome class to take.

- The second volume of Jennie Wood and Jeff McComsey's is currently up on Kickstarter and it's nearing its goal.  This is a great book and a the kind of comic the industry needs more of.  Check out the campaign and pledge if you can!

And speaking of Kickstarters...the UHF movie campaign is nearing its end with some work to be done.  It's finished on the evening of Sunday, April 26th, so if you haven't pledged yet...there are only a few more days to do so!

Some of the rewards for the campaign are making their way to me, including these 8-bit pins featuring characters from the movie.

- I'm currently catching up on some lettering work.  Whenever I letter, I use a page from IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic as a template.  I type in "that's turtle power!" every time I start a new project to make sure that my letters are the size they should be.  This continues to amuse me, so I'm sharing it.

Just what am I lettering?  Among other things, some FUBAR for the By the Sword collection, including this short story titled "The Leper King", written by Mark Bertolini with art by Chris McFann.

- And lastly, there's a newly released, really short episode of Franks and Beans to watch!  This episode was originally released as a Vine, hence the brief time limit.  There's also a loop of the video (100 times, over and over) in case you want to feel the cold grip of insanity.

Wow, these random notes are fun.  Look for them again whenever the hell I feel like writing them.  See you then!

Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo - March 28th, 2015

Pittsburgh has lagged behind other cities in terms of comic book conventions in recent years, but maybe that is finally changing.  If you haven't heard, Wizard World recently bought the rights to the Pittsburgh Comic-Con, which will be held this September at the David L. Lawrence convention center in downtown Pittsburgh.  There are good things and bad things about Wizard taking over, I suppose, and we'll see what the inaugural event brings later in the year.

I'm more excited about Pittsburgh's independent comic show, PIX, which takes place this year on Saturday, March 28th.  This isn't the first year for the show.  I heard about it last year after the registration deadline had passed, so I made sure that I got an early jump on it this year.  I'm not quite sure what to expect, but the fact that there is a show dedicated specifically to small press and creator-owned comics is something to be pleased about.

The show, which is co-sponsored by the Toonseum, will be held at 10 S. 19th Street in Pittsburgh from 10-5 on Saturday, with programs taking place later that evening, from 7-11pm.  Both admission and parking to the event are free!

I'll be there with a few of my new books, including the Naked Man at the Edge of Time mini comic, which hasn't been on sale anywhere before now.  I filled out the requisite exhibition form, including information about myself and my publications.  I am apparently a raging narcissist as my damn entry is longer by an exponential factor than anyone else's on the list so far:

In case you are wondering, yes, this is embarrassing, and yes, I wish I could change it, but I'm not going to mention it because I don't want to bring more attention to myself (...other than writing a blog about it, I guess).

Some other guests include Carolyn Belefski (Magic Bullet), Rafer Roberts (FUBAR, Black Terror) and Don Simpson (Megaton Man).  I'll be interested to meet Simpson for the first time, and a bit nervous about bringing up The Tick with him, but I suppose it had to happen some time.

For more information on the show and its guests, check out the PIX website at http://pixcomics.blogspot.com.

It's great that Pittsburgh finally has a second show dedicated to comics.  The city deserves one.

Random notes? Hey, why not? CTCS 2013, "Weird Al" Yankovic, new Fantastic Four swag, Franks and Beans and more!

Welcome back to another installment of "Random Notes!" When I talk about whatever to no one in particular!  What a great draw this must be for the blog: something that is about nothing in particular!  Well, I think we've all come to expect the Thing to show up in these posts.  So what do we have in this edition?  The Thing?  Great!  Let's get started!

- I bought some magazine-sized bags and boards a month or so ago from my favorite comic supply company: TCBulk!  I'm able to buy bags and boards in bundles of a thousand, which is pretty convenient.  Anyway, I needed magazine-sized supplies because of books like those pictured above.  Apparently, in the mid 1990s, Marvel thought it was a good idea to package some of their books with other stuff that amounted to oversized advertisements for things I had no interest in.  Case in point: Fantastic Four #376 came with an issue of Dirt magazine (whatever the hell that was) and an ultra hip cassette tape featuring none other than "Right Here, Right Now" artist Jesus Jones!

I first bought the book when it came out, and like a normal person, I opened the bag, read the comic and tossed the miscellaneous garbage.  Like an idiot collector, though, I recently re-purchased the book with a sealed bag, inserted junk intact.  Of course, the cassette tape and the extra large magazine means I can't store it with my regular collection; instead, it has to go with books like Doom 2099 #18 and its Sega game tips poster, the tips on which probably said something like "buy more Sega!"

- Some more Fantastic Four items have magically made their way into my possession recently, including the above original animation artwork of the Thing from the most recent Fantastic Four cartoon!  You may recognize this cartoon as the show where the Thing wears pants and has a number four spray painted on his chest, for some reason.

And here's a color guide for a page from the X-Men/Fantastic Four joint 1998 annual!

- My cat looks pretty spiffy in his new cat-sized Jayne hat.  What good taste he must have!

That reminds me, last month I went to the annual Can't Stop the Serenity Pittsburgh screening of the movie Serenity!  It was, as always, a fun time, and proceeds went to the charitable foundation Equality Now.  There was a silent auction at the event, where I managed to pick up...

...a copy of the Serenity: Better Days trade collection!  But not only did I get a cool comic in the deal...

...it was signed by two of the cast members, Summer Glau (River) and Jewel Staite (Kaylee)!  The organizers of the event went out to Wizard World Philadelphia earlier in the year and landed the signatures there.

They even included pictures of the two actresses signing the book.  I'm very excited to have won this book!

- "Weird Al" Yankovic, he of the iron accordion and fabulous hair, had a signing for his new children's book in Cincinnati a few weeks back.  I made the trip into Bengals territory in my Steelers hat and also other clothes to get a chance to meet him and get a copy of the book signed.

Here I am, apparently instructing him on how to write his name.  So far, no one has ever commented on the shirt I'm wearing in the picture.  One day, someone will figure it out.

- A recent issue of Dark Horse Presents, still an enjoyable anthology despite the fact that it's continuing too many stories in separate miniseries, featured a few interesting cameos in one of the stories by Steve Rude.  Yeah, buddy!

- The blog passed a milestone in the past few months, as it reached a pretty astounding six figures in terms of viewership.  I have no idea why so many people have come to this site since its inception, but my big sweaty thanks go out to each and every one of you.  I should charge admission or something.



- And lastly, here's some (kind of) new Franks and Beans!  Yes, we're still using that name.  It's ours.

The blog is mobile! Plus, Mr. Massive CGI, FUBAR and more!

- Technology is an ever changing beast, my friends, and if you don't keep up with it...well, you're liable to be left behind, like...Napster or something.  Oh, wait, Google tells me that Napster is still around.  Really?  Huh.  That's nice.  Anyway, this blog recently took a small leap forward as I was able to update it for mobile devices.  So if you're reading this on an iPhone or some equivalent piece of technology, it now is simpler and easier to read.  Fantastic.

- Hey, and speaking of rampant, unwarranted self promotion, Blogger was also helpful in pointing me to the site www.wepostalot.com, a site where a lot of people go to...uh...well, hope that other people will find and read their blogs about random things.  I joined up and put links to a few posts I thought were interesting (they're all interesting, right??), and what do you know?  Those posts got a bump in readers almost immediately afterwards.

This picture from the Motor City Comic Con is floating around the Internet, thanks to the site www.conpictures.com.  This site collects pictures from various comic conventions and posts them online for all to see.  It seems localized to the Michigan-Ohio-Pennsylvania area right now, but I suppose that just means there's room for growth.  Check 'em out and send them some pictures of conventions you've been to if you can.

- I got this image in my e-mail a few days ago of a CGI version of Mr. Massive and his alter ego, Andy Vann.  I will be honest here - I have no idea what it's for, but it does look pretty cool.  I'm not crazy about Mr. Massive's explosive hair, but the rest works and overall it's pretty intriguing.  If there are more...I'll show 'em.

- My new FUBAR story (with artist Mario Wytch) is slowly coming together - this is an image from the fourth page.  The FUBAR guys are in Philadelphia this weekend for a Wizard World convention, and from everything I hear things are going very well.  Volume II is out in August for the Baltimore Comic-Con!

- If you're looking to apply in person for the new Batman movie filming soon in Pittsburgh, today's the last day!  So get to it!

- Lastly, I just got the complete series collection of Beast Wars in the mail and woo! is it cool.  It comes with a comic that serves as the official prequel to the series, new special features, and oh yeah, 52 episodes of the best Transformers series ever produced.  Buy it.  Buy it!!  Beast Wars!

Thing sketchbook, part 3

It's time for more Thing sketches...because I said so.  I did!  I just said it.  This is a fantastic bunch, with what might just be my favorite related story.  I imagine which one I mean will be obvious.  Take a look!

Erik Larsen - Wizard World Los Angeles 2005

This is apparently Erik Larsen's stock Thing image, as people have told me they've seen it before when they look at the book.  It's fantastic either way.

Chuck B.B. - Wizard World Los Angeles 2004

Most people draw the Thing smoking a cigar, which was the norm in the 1960s and '70s.  A cigarette doesn't really have the same effect.

Talent Caldwell - Pittsburgh Comicon 2005

This was the most awkward sketch in the book.  Talent Caldwell had a sign on his table that read "I will not sketch Supergirl."  I asked him why, and he said "because I hate drawing Supergirl."

I gave him my book and he made it look like it was the most painful thing he'd ever done.  He stopped several times and shook his hand like it was cramped (who knows, maybe it was) and would make "aagh" noises under his breath.

To break the silence of me just standing over him watching him draw, I said "your art reminds me a lot of Michael Turner's", at which he took offense.  He said "it doesn't look anything like his!", but here's the thing: he studied under Turner, worked in his studio, and would do backgrounds for him.  Anyone who's seen their art side by side has to admit that there's at least a resemblance.  But he would have none of it.

As he was drawing, a handful of people gathered around, each getting his or her sketchbook out in anticipation.  When he was done, I took the book back from Talent back and thanked him.  He shouted out "twenty dollars!!", at which point, everyone else put their sketchbooks away.  I handed him the Andrew Jackson (or the equivalent thereof) and he said "I probably should have told you that before I started drawing."

Weird.

Also, a friend of mine was with me in line, and after a while he started recounting a story told earlier about Caldwell by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner.

Apparently they had all gone out the night before and had some drinks, so Jimmy and Amanda started referring to him as "Wasted Talent", etc. My friend started to recall this and was being WAY too loud about some of the nicknames, which Caldwell obviously heard and, as he was uncomfortable with it, started shifting listlessly in his seat as he was drawing.

I had no idea what to do while all this was going on, so I just stared at the ceiling.

Darryl Banks - Pittsburgh Comicon 2005

Darryl Banks might be best known for co-creating the Kyle Rayner version of Green Lantern.  In 2005 he had been out of comics for a little while, but was looking to break back in with a Cloak and Dagger pitch.  The writer at the table with him wanted everyone to sign a petition to send to Marvel saying that they should be allowed to produce the book (which seemed like an odd way to go about things).

The writer went into his pitch on what he would do with the characters.  "Most people don't know how to write teenagers," he said, "but I do!!  I've lived it!"  He was very adamant about that fact.

I asked Darryl why he incorporated the dollar sign into his signature, as he had started doing about half way into his Green Lantern run.  "It's when I starting making lots of money", he said.

Casey Jones - Pittsburgh Comicon 2005

How does someone get a name like Casey Jones?  In any case, he's one of the nicest creators I've met, and draws the Thing with two eyebrows as opposed to the Kirby-esque unibrow.  He drew a couple fill in issues of the FF in '04 or '05, and I've since become a big fan.

Plenty more to come!