Happy Halloween 2012

Happy Halloween all you pagans! Here is a little sketch whipped up for just the occasion. The tombstone was from a pic I took at a cemetery nearby a couple of years ago and the pumpkin is from one sitting in my backyard with its own guts hanging out courtesy of the local squirrels.

Detroit Fanfare 2012

The 3rd Detroit Fanfare kicks off tonight at 6pm and will run until Sunday. Check out the times on their site. Besides myself (you can find me at table 129 in the Great Lakes Ballroom), there will be a whole bunch of Michigan based artists and creators. Of course, there will be artists and such from out of state, as well. And don't forget the celebrities, such as David Prowse, Sam Jones and Michael Jai White, etc.

Voices From The Deadworld by Gary Reed will premiere at this show, which is an anthology of the characters that have appeared over the last twenty years, or so in the Deadworld comic. I have two pieces in the anthology and they are shown above as they will be seen in the book. I have color prints available for the two, as well. The top character is Tattoo and the bottom one is of my own creation, a zombie obsessed with time. I will have copies of the book and prints at my table, as well as my other books and prints, sketch cards and will be doing commissions as requested.

Don't forget to get your official fanfare print by Bill Pulkovski and get them signed by the actors. He did a great job on this one!

El Arto

El Arto is the studio name of a couple illustrator buddies of mine by the name of John Marroquin and Chris Sanchez and they have taken their mascot and studio image El Arto and turned him/it into a comic book, which will debut this weekend at Detroit Fanfare. I was honored to have been asked to do a pin up for the book, which is the image above. I wasn't sure at first about the background, but after finishing it and letting it sit for awhile, I think I achieved what I was going for in a claustrophobic and cluttered background, something seemingly impossible to escape from. Bullets, Bandito Goblins and death. But, our hero (or is it an anti-hero?), the undead mariachi has his six-shooters  ready to face the improbable.

Make sure to check out the artwork of John and Chris on their websites and be sure to come on by Detroit Fanfare this weekend in Dearborn, MI and check out the El Arto book! Oh, yeah, I'll be there, too.

Cryptids Sketch Cards

A new sketch card company came on the scene this past year by the name of Viceroy Cards and I was asked to be a part of their first set, which is made up of cryptids. Cryptids are the stuff that urban legends are made from, local folklore so to speak. So, you might have creatures like yetis or sasquatch and mermaids to a more uncommon one like fur bearing trouts. An interesting collection of creatures to choose from. And what makes this set more unique from others is that the cards themselves are quite thick and are letterpressed (is that the right way of saying this?), stamped with the Viceroy logo on the front. A lot of care and detail went into making these cards. Fellow artist Ashleigh Popplewell was the designer and consultant for this set and she did a great job. You can check out her work here.

I do have Artist Proofs available for commissions if anyone is interested. Just give me a holler.

Halloween Pin Up

Over at Denver Brubaker's Tales of a Checkered Man he is having other cartoonists dress their own characters up as The Checkered Man for Halloween. This, of course, sounded like fun, so here is Muck man dressed as the acrophobic crime fighter.

Did you really think it wouldn't be messy?

You can check out this piece, as well as other cartoonists, such as Jay Fosgitt and Tom Dell'Aringa take of their characters dressed as the Checkered Man here. And check in all month long for more cartoons from more cartoony people!

Deadworld Sketch Cards

Let's roll with the Halloween theme and show some Deadworld sketch cards, shall we? Above are some of the 50 cards done for the set coming out soon by Breygent. Deadworld is a comic that was originally put out in the late 80's by Caliber Comics. The original stories were written by Stuart Kerr and illustrated by Vince Locke and are now written and published (as was then) by pal and colleague Gary Reed. As many in the industry will testify, Gary Reed is a good guy and I always learn something and enjoy the time spent when in his company. Definitely a straight shooter.

It was a lot of fun to work on this set and explore the many different characters that populate the Deadworld universe. I even made Gary a zombie on a couple of cards.

In a couple of weeks I should have news regarding another Deadworld project that I am a part of as Detroit Fanfare nears.

fish poop

So, this is kinda sorta an unofficial 'aquarium' cartoon since it has some 'negative' connotations. I started this one months back before the 'aquarium' opened at a one day event that drew about 4, 000 people to see a half filled with fish building. A pretty good draw for some 'officials' who stated that it was an old building that no one wanted. And since we usually get yelled at in some way by the 'powers that be' for positively promoting what is happening, this would definitely give them an aneurism. But, I felt it needed to be said and to be shown. Just not with blessings.

So, it's Rebel Underground Cartoon Alliance day! Operating from an undisclosed location, of course. Until they shut me down I will have pen in hand! Viva la Ink!

Avengers 50 Sketch Cards

Here are most of the 55 sketch cards that I did for the Avengers 50th anniversary set, based on the 1960's British tv series, of course. This set was put out last month by Unstoppable Cards.

This has been the year of the sketch card, for certain. And there's more coming, so stay tuned if that's your thang.

More Sketch Covers

I haven't done too many of these sketch cover thingies, but after attending Wizard World Chicago back in August I can certainly see the potential for them. I'm sure it depends on the show, but for that one I did alright with the covers. So, while I was there I drew up a couple more to replace the ones that I sold and were commissioned to do. I will have these on hand at this month's Detroit Fanfare if anyone is interested in them!