Upcoming Event: Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival 2015!

DCAF 2015 is this Sunday, Auguust 16!  I'll be there again this year, just inside the main entrance, with a fine selection of art in various forms for you to enjoy, and will be doing free sketches on the AIM Comics DCAF 2015 Preview Book.  Be sure to drop by and say hello!

Upcoming Event: Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival

So for those not already in the know, I'll be an exhibitor at Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival on Sunday, August 17.  This is an annual, free event held at Alderney Gate in Dartmouth, NS, showcasing (mostly) local comics creators.  The guest list this year includes some fairly big names, including Faith Erin Hicks, Sandy Carruthers, Nick Bradshaw, Geof Isherwood, Gisele Lagace and Kate Leth, so it looks like I'll be in good company.



Similar to the East Coast Comic Expo, I'll be doing sketches as well as selling prints of past work, and will have a sampling of AIM Comics material.  If you're in the area, drop by the table and say hello!

Come Sample Our Treats at ECCE!

Literally hot off the press, here's a preview of the AIM Comics East Coast Comic Expo Sampler Edition that I will have available at the event on May 17!  It's a comic! It's a sampler! It's a sketchbook!  It can even cut a rusty tin can!  OK, well maybe not that last one, but nevertheless, it is an exclusive item that will only be available at the East Coast Comic Expo, and then only in limited quantities. 
Running at 40 pages, the book contains several tasty treats, including the first Bruno the Bandit story, "The Amulet of Myglyn", The Journals of Simon Pariah # 1A, AKA "A Pair of Boots", and my 24 hour comic, "Why Comics".  To top it all off, the book has a sketch cover that will let me take quick sketch commissions at the event, so there's guaranteed to be something in it for everyone!
If you're in the Moncton area on May 17, drop by, say hello, and help support AIM Comics!

Upcoming Appearance: East Coast Comic Expo!

I've been pondering this for a while now, but I've just made it official...I will have an artist table at the East Coast Comic Expo in Moncton, NB on May 17.

From their webpage:
"East Coast Comic Expo is an all-ages, day-long convention organized by dedicated Fanboys and Fangirls to celebrate comic books and comic book culture. We'll have industry professional writers & artists joining us to celebrate, along with local vendors and many talented local creators and artisans as well."

I will have a table offering sketches for a small fee (hey, got to cover the cost of traveling, right?) as well as a sampling of AIM Comics products. 
This will be my first con as anything other than an attendee since Hal-Con a couple of years ago, so I'm really looking forward to getting out there again and  meeting some people.  Time to work on those quick sketching skills!

If you're in the area, drop by and say hello, get a sketch and chat with me about all things comics.

See you at the expo!

Bad News, Good News...

OK, first the bad news...
It looks like I won't be able to attend Hal-Con this year, at least not from behind an artist table.  I mean, I suppose technically I could, but in order to do so I would have to spend money that I really shouldn't spend right now, and rush some things that really shouldn't be rushed.  So, rather than do a halfway job of it and have my work suffer in the long run, I've opted to take a pass on this year's con and try to ramp it up for next year.
I'll still be attending as a patron, and you'll probably see a report of it, with photos, in this space in early November, so stay tuned for that.

Now the good news:  the pages for the first issue of "The Journals of Simon Pariah" are just about ready to send to the printers/distributors.  I know I've promised this before, but this time I'm certain that I'm about 95% done.  I could probably send the book out as it is, but this is one of those things that I mentioned earlier about not wanting to rush.  There's one page, one fairly important page, that I'm not satisfied with and want to redraw a bit.  Once that's done, the book will be on its way and ready to order shortly thereafter.  Look for it in October.

Of course, while you're waiting, you could check out a copy of Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit.  We've got three of them out now, all of them with some pretty stellar work.  Hit the links on the sidebar for our various stores and give it a try.  Frankly, each copy sold will go a little further to helping me put together a decent presentation for next year's Hal-Con.

Halcyon Halcon

What a weekend!  I spent the better part of the last two days at Halcon, the first big sci-fi/fantasy/comic convention in 15 years.  I got the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people, see some spectacular costumes and even spread the word of Bruno the Bandit a little.  This is only the second big con I've been to, and I had an amazingly good time.  I'm definitely looking forward to future cons, except that I hope to be seeing things from the other side of the table, as a presenter.

Seen above, the lobby of the Lord Nelson hotel in Halifax, where Halcon 2010 took place.  I think there's bellhops and doormen in desperate need of some self-medication after being inundated by the creme-de-la-geek of the region.  That's what you get for hanging out with business suits all the time...the real world just smacks you in the face, and it's wearing Spidey pyjamas and a Battlestar Galactica cape.

  As might be expected, Doctor Who fans runneth over at an event like this, and there were more bowties and blazers than you could shake a sonic screwdriver at.  There were some very good resemblances, not to mention this Dalek model that was a big attention getter.  "Direct me to guest services, or I will EXTERMINATE!!!"

 

Of course, some people, whether intentional or not, went for a more old-school approach, such as this Cyberman who could have walked right off a Tom Baker set. 

 

Unfortunately Jeremy Bulloch cancelled his appearance, but lest anyone be reminded that they wouldn't know him out of costume if they tripped over him, there was this first-rate Boba Fett who did a bang-up job of imitating the only actor from Star Wars less recognizable than David Prowse.

 

I haven't had the chance yet to find out if this guy won the costume contest, but he certainly deserved to place in the top three for his homemade Iron Man costume.  It was one of those costumes that was so good, it looked like it was bought from a high-end dealer.  Even with his visor raised, he was reminiscent of Tony Stark...except that I don't think the iron Avenger ever required someone to hold up his faceplate for him.  Well, maybe in his more gin-soaked days, but not generally. 

 

My other personal pick for top contenders was this guy, who did such a dead-on Ash, I'm surprised he didn't call me a primitive screwhead and offer to introduce me to his boomstick.

 One of the more creepy costumes of the day....at least intentionally so...was this good steampunk doctor, ready to battle the plague at its worst.  Actually, steampunk was very well represented at this event.  This was my first meeting with real steampunk costumers, and I think the level of detail they put into their costumes is just mind-boggling.  Somehow, a whole generation of mechanical engineers has gone seriously, but interestingly, awry.

 But top marks for creepy for the day has to go to this young lady and her "It's Alive" baby.  This was movie quality stuff, topped off with a truly disturbing pair of contact lenses.  I haven't been so similarly attracted and repelled since the first time I hooked up with a drunk chick in university.

 Just as good as the costumes, for me, were the many craftsmen and artists I met.  Such as this fellow, Robert, who had built a 6' scale model of the Alexei Leonov from "2010".  The detail and the hours of work that went into this job were just outstanding.  Whole sections were articulated around a central steel pipe, and the whole thing disassembles for transport.  The various lights along the length of it are functional, and in comparison with a photo of the original, I was unable to spot even tiny differences.  This man needs a movie contract to pay off his hard work (not to mention his wife's patience).


That's the best of my photos.  I'll be back at another time with some comments on the various creators and artists I met there.