Sunday, May 21, 2006

Motorcity Madhouse!

It was convention time again this weekend & it was off to Detroit, Michigan to the Motorcity Comicon, which is, oddly enough, held in Novi, Michigan. Anyway, this time around it was all for fun. I've not attended a comic book convention just for the "fun of it" since I first started this wacky ride some two years ago.
And this time around, it was a small army of us along for the ride. Barbi, Dwayne, his two boys Alec & Dylan and our friends Larry & Amanda "Sprinkles" Berker and their two boys Tyler & Jeremy all made the trek to geekdom this year. Aside from the radio konking out on us on the way home, the trip was uneventful, which is never the case.

One of our first and most frequented stops was the Inkslinger's table. There's not much more about this guy that I can say that I haven't said before. Since I'm not sure how he might take that, I'll say one more thing: Bill will soon be taking the inking reigns on Salem, AZ. His work on part one of Up Jumped the Devil was so awesome that Nik & I offered him the inking spot on Salem, AZ. It only seemed right as he is the book's #1 fan.



Pirates, Storm Troopers & Caped Crusaders, oh, my! The three seemed to be the preferred costumes this year artist Sherrie Spencer was more than happy to pose with one of my packs of candy cigarettes. Be sure to check her out.
Anybody into Nick Cave, Tom Waits & The Man In Black can't be all bad.

Sympathetic to my crusade as well (yeah, I said it) against the consumption of candy cigarettes, the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder were more than willing to pose for this picture. I just want to make one thing clear. I'm against banning almost anything, and it's not my intention with candy cigarettes, I merely want the general public to realise that these candies are still being made. Do I have to say more? Knowing me, I probably do, so I'm in the process of putting together another blog to do just that. By the way, these guys were awesome and I owe them a big "thanks."



If you haven't read David Petersen's Mouse Guard, you have no idea what you've been missing. Issue one is currently sold out and issue three is due out in June. I picked up issue two Saturday, read it in the hotel and was blown away! David is also a super nice guy who, in spite of his busy work load of requested sketches, took the time to talk shop with me and pose for this picture. Perched upon this tree stump are all the characters, which he also hand made, in Mouse Guard. Check it out!



No, it's not Bat-Mite, just the best costume I saw all weekend.













Model, bow hunter & arachniphobe Nicole McClain poses behind the curtain of legendary George Perez and strikes a pose for a photo reference for an upcomg Salem, AZ postcard. Postcard supplied by the Inkslinger. Notice the orange t-shirt (if you can stop looking at Nicole for a minute).


The "Kerry" costume is coming together nicely thanks to the tireless efforts of both Nik Havert & Nicole and here's proof. As an artist, it just makes me proud beyond belief and even a bit giddy to see a walking, talking version of my two-dimensional creation. Nicole's willingness and gung-ho enthusiasm towards the whole project just fuels the excitement.






Nik, Nicole & yours truly pose for a group shot. A big "thanks" goes out to the incomperable (and tall) Dave Nestler for snapping this shot.
If the croud response we got while test running what we currently have of the costume is any indication of things to come, this thing's gonna be bigger than anything the three of us can imagine.

Flabbergasted by the Salem, AZ preview the Slinger let us run in Lucius Hears A Wha?, Nicole was more than happy to pose for a final quick flash.
Lucius Hears A Wha? not only wraps up the adventures of the Amazing Walter, but sports some major guest talent. Contributions from the likes of Stephen "Bad Music for Bad People" Blickenstaff, C.J. Filer & Bill "Don't Call It A Comeback" Loebs must be seen to be believed.




Keep it here, boppers...

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