Hey there...

Well, hello there. I was at the Big Apple Con's free 1-day show today with Walter and we had a pretty good time. A small show by any measure, but still a lot of quality packed into a small space. Essentially split into 2 rooms, Artist's Alley and a dealer room, the show, held at the Pennsylvania Hotel in Manhattan, was abuzz with folks when we arrived about noon. We quickly ran down one of the organizers and were shown to a good table spot in the artist's room. I set up the sales area for Square 1 Press items, which only consists of the Walter Simonson sketchbook right now, but nonetheless. I also had the print proof of the new Howard Chaykin sketchbook there on display and got a lot of good feedback on it. I think Philly should go well, possibly selling out of the Simonson sketchbooks. So, if yer there, or you haven't go yours yet, then you bettter grab one while you can, either online here or at the show in Philly next week. We also had a flyer I made last night to handout that looked like this:
We met alot of great fans of Walter's and even though he wasn't planning in sketching at all, of course, he relented and began sketching for some fans.
In the afternoon he had a 45-min panel with Gene Colan and spent the time relating great stories to the small roomull of fans alongside Gene. Afterwords, Walter introduced me to Gene and his delightful wife, Adrienne. I have to say this was a great honor for me, along with Walter, Gene Colan's artwork was another of the great influences on early comics education and it was real treat for me to meet this legend. In addition, I also got to meet the great British artist Kevin O'Neill, creator of "Nemesis:the Warlock" and "Marshall Law" and artist on the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" graphic novels.

I also met a young artist trying to break in to the comics biz. His name is Dominic Orologio and here is small sample of his work. More can be seen at his web gallery here. Some fun stuff there, check it out. If you want even MORE, then go here. Click on the "Illustrations" tab on the lower right of his homepage.

All in all, a good day. I sent the Chaykin sketchbooks off to print yesterday, should be picking them up mid-week.

One bit of sad news, albeit one with a small upside. Hassan Godwin, the creator/writer/artist for the "Valkkadia" project was let go from his job this past week. The latest in a long line of good folks from this particular company. The upside? He has lots of free time to draw now, and we're gonna get a lot of stuff done in the next couple months.

Anyways, I'm out, enjoy your weekend, talk to ya soon!