Post-Convention Wrap-Up

Back to the ol’ lettering thing over here and coming down from the NYComic Con, which went really well. If you’ve been following this blog you know that Philly convention last year was an unmitigated disaster, but this past weekend went much better than expected. I had a great time hanging out with my old Bullpen co-worker Jacob Chabot, sold plenty of comics, and met a lot of cool folks. I just may do it again next year.

If anyone is interested, feel free to shoot me an email and I’d be happy to get a copy of the new Mini comic out to you.

On the Pixelstrips front, it’s slow going at the moment. I had to miss last Wednesday’s release date in order to meet lettering deadlines as well as prepare for the Convention. The comic will be out this week… most likely not tomorrow, but by the end of the week.

I apologize for the wait.

Thanks.
--Gent

Convention Preview

With only one week to go, I'm further behind that I thought I'd be. But, I should be able to finish up before next Friday.

Here are a few shots of some character sketches I've done in preparation for my first venture into offereing Convention Sketches. Feel free to let me know what you think of them.

--Randy

Plan B!!!

I ran a few test stencils yesterday and it didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. (Check out the pics) I didn’t really know what to expect, but after this I’m glad I gave myself time for Plan B.

I was hoping to have each cover of the Mini Comic with it’s own unique stencil. But the one thing I didn’t think of was how much Krylon Paint stinks. So I don’t want to have people walking around the convention smelling the fumes of my comic. So, with Ereisa’s help, I have a good replacement. I’ll still stencil, but I’m going to stencil one big one, then I’ll shrink that down on a copy machine, and use it on all the covers. Thus eliminating the awful, mind altering stench.

In other Mini Comic news, I got another pin-up from Jacob Chabot and it’s fantastic. It’s presently my desktop wallpaper and I couldn’t be happier with it. Chris Giarusso sent me the thumbnail of his pin-up, (which is actually a really cool one-page comic) and boy and I glad I asked Jim Lujan, Jacob and Chris to do a few pages… it’s really going to add to the Mini.

Also, don’t forget about page 2 of the new NYComix “Who Gives a @#$# about the Letterer?” over at Pixelstrips.com.

Thanks!
--Gent

NYComix Swag and New A Story Up At Pixelstrips!

ITEM!
There’s a new Chapter beginning over at PixelStrips.com…. it’s called: Who Gives a @#$%* the Letterer!

It’s going tell how I got into Lettering and what it’s like to work for the one of the Big Boys in the Comic World.

There will be a new page up every Wednesday, so have a look.... page 1 is up now!

ITEM!
As I gear up for the NY Comic Con this February, I got a surprise package from my sister-in-law back in Saugerties.

A box full of NYComix Tote Bags!

I’m so excited about it as it’s a great idea and something I’d never think of. I’ll be handing these babies out free at Booth #AA72. Check 'em Out!

Thanks Kate!

Lazy Reviews and MiniComic Update

ITEM!
The lettering over here on my end of the Virtual Calligraphy Train has slowed down a bit. After about 3 weeks or so of having a book due just about every day, I finally found some free time to get knee-deep into Volume 2 of the minicomic.

After making a quick dummy mock-up, this one looks like it’s clocking in at 32 pages. Which is a lot considering Volume 1 was something like 21. So as it stands right now, the pages are ready to go. I’m just waiting on a few pin-ups, which I think will show up. I hope they do as I think they’ll really add something to the comic. If someone is going to be kind enough to drop 2 bucks on a hand stapled, Kinkos printed comic, I might as well throw in a few extras, right?

I’ll be giving the stencil cover a test run tomorrow and I’m going to have Ereisa take some pictures of the process so I can post it here… it could be a total disaster, who knows. Either way you’ll see the Triumph or the Failure here in a few days.

ITEM!
After literally a few months since my last trip to a comic shop, I’ve made it out to the shop the past 3 weeks. During my “dry spell” I realized that I was completely out of the comic loop. Most every comic message board was foreign to me. Although my pull from 2 trips to the comic shop only resulted in 9 comics, I was pretty happy with the reads.

Here are my impromptu reviews.

LazyComix Picks O’ Da Week.

1) The Goon #15. By Eric Powell.
This is the one comic that keeps my faith in “mainstream” comics afloat. I have never, ever read a bad issue of this book. Powell is, in my opinion, the best writer/artist in comics right now. The latest Trade just came out as well, so if you haven’t tried this book, do yourself a favor and do so.

2) All-Star Superman #1&2. By Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely.
I only bought this book because I have yet to hear a bad thing about it. I’m not a huge fan of Morrison’s work, which is sacrilege in some comic circles, but his stories tend to wind up a little esoteric, in my opinion. I absolutely loved the start of his X-Men run, but by the end, I dropped it. And that was when I got comps from Marvel. Either way, the first 2 issues of this book were really fun and it really made me want to read more…so we’ll see what happens. I’m on board now, that’s for sure.

3) New Avengers #14&15. By Bendis and Cho.
I’ve been enjoying Bendis’ Avengers run since Disassembled. I’ve missed a few issues here and there, but I’ll probably pick those up at some point. Spider-Woman’s double agent story is really interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes. I miss Finch’s artwork, though. Cho is great, but Finch’s art just seems to fit better for the book, IMO.

4) Powers #16. By Bendis and Oeming.
This book is always good. I keep forgetting to order the Hardcover that just came out. I’ve never read the early stuff and I’m looking forward to doing that. I love Oeming’s work, I originally bought this book for Bendis’ writing, but now I buy it for Oeming’s art.

5) Savage Dragon #122 By Erik Larsen.
A new Dragon? What? Yup. I can’t even remember when issue 121 hit the stands, but this is a book I’ll buy no matter what. My boss, Chris Eliopoulos, lettered this thing, it’s been a while since he was on the book and from what I read in the back, it’s only temporary, Erik is looking to hand letter this book himself soon. When he does that, he’ll be a one-man show. Which is pretty damn neat.

6) The Amazing Joy Buzzards #4. By Crosland, Mahfood, Smith and Hipp.
I’ve never read and issue of this book, but I heard that Mahfood was in it, so I picked it up. It was a pretty cool read, and it’s nice to see a real Indy feel on an Image book. I’ll pick up the next issue, Mahfood involved or not.

7) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. By Miller and Ching.
This is the first issue of the Darkhorse Star Wars relaunch. I hate to say it, but I was incredibly under whelmed by this book. I really haven’t read a good Star Wars comic in a long while. I’m picky with Star Wars, but this book didn’t feel like the universe at all to me. The art was nice, though, as well as the cover. But the story…..

So that’s the rundown of comics I’ve read recently. It was nice to pick some books up after a long layoff… I’ll be back at the shop next week, hopefully.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for update on the Mini Comic Cover Stencil.

--Gent