I've mentioned before that I'm taking place in a charity auction for the Candlelighters. There's a pretty slick flyer that's been designed by Jesse, who's also part of the event which I'm showing here. Follow this link to the full story, and see how to download your own flyers.
Seven Days and other cancelled UPN shows
This time next week I'll be at the first day of the New York Comic-Con. I'll be there, taking commissions, selling Love and Capes #1-6 and Powerful Women sketchbooks. And seeing those way-cool Iron Man Toon Tumblers fly off the shelves. Man, that glass looks sweet if I do say so myself.
Hope to see you all there. And I'll be posting my full convention schedule for 2008 shortly.
It'll Be Here Before You Know It
I received my advance copies of Love and Capes #7 from the printer today. I got both the Free Comic Book Day and the retail version (available in July). I am so looking forward to this FCBD. I didn't know what I was in for last year. This year I do, and I think it's gonna rock!
Raise Your Glasses!
Yes, I understand the irony (pun intended) of an Iron Man pint glass. Doesn't mean it's not cool.
Actually, out of all the Toon Tumblers except maybe the Love and Capes glass, this may be my favorite. A lot of them are recreations of a cover or a panel. This one required a lot more design work and tasked my meager knowledge of the Golden Avenger. It features the Classic Bronze Age Iron Man in color, and then a lot of images of his previous armors, from the original clunky tin can look to the Ohio State-themed scarlet and white of the eighties. Finding and recreating the images was fun, even if a lot more work.
It'll be available at the New York Comic-Con, and oh my goodness, I'll be there too at booth 2446!
Like a Zombie or Vampire... but GOOD!
Mid-Ohio-Con's coming back! Here's the press release:
Mid-Ohio-Con Acquired By GCX Holdings
Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 Scheduled For October 4th-5th
R.A.P. Promotions, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement to sell Mid-Ohio-Con to GCX Holdings LLC. Now entering its 28th consecutive year, Mid-Ohio-Con is one of America's longest running and most successful pop culture conventions. Every year, Mid-Ohio-Con brings fans of all ages together with leading comic book writers and artists, film and television creators and stars, as well as publishers and retailers from across the nation.“I am delighted to have reached an agreement to sell Mid-Ohio-Con to GCX Holdings”, said Roger A. Price, President of R.A.P. Promotions and founder of Mid-Ohio-Con. “I know that the GCX team is excited about the opportunity to continue the tradition of Mid-Ohio-Con and I’m looking forward to working with them as we get underway with the planning and execution of the 2008 event. We have selected the weekend of October 4th–5th for Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 and we will be reaching out to invite guests, exhibitors and sponsors shortly.”
“Mid-Ohio-Con is a fantastic event with a unique heritage and a loyal base of fans that have enjoyed this convention year after year,” said James H. Henry, Managing Director of GCX Holdings. “We are committed to staying true to the things that have made Mid-Ohio-Con successful in the past while looking for opportunities to further grow the event over time. We are particularly pleased that Rog has agreed to stay on to work with us since his insight, knowledge and relationships are second to none and will be invaluable to us in the future.”
Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 will be held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center at 400 North High Street in Columbus, OH. The event will be held in Exhibit Hall E and several adjoining panel rooms which will offer more than 70,000 sq. ft. of space for exhibitors, panels and other activities. As the winner of multiple Prime Site and Inner Circle Awards, this state-of-the art facility has become one of North America’s most popular sites for local, state, regional and national groups and organizations.
Contacts:
James H. Henry
GCX Holdings LLC
jhenry(at)gcxholdings.comRoger A. Price
R.A.P. Promotions, Inc.
conman(at)midohiocon.com
In the past, I've had a pretty tight relationship with Roger and Mid-Ohio-Con. Roger's a great friend and that will never change, unless he turns out to be a Skrull, which seems to be the rage these days. As far as the show proper, that's up to the new owners. Everything's still in the start-up process, so things are still being figured out.
Regardless, I'm thrilled the show lives on, and you can plan on me bringing the Love and Capes Magical Mystery Tour to Columbus that weekend. Yay!
Bunnies, Bunnies It Must Be Bunnies!
This is another tracing paper recreation of a MegaCon sketch. I think it's got a lot of great energy to it. I was looking for a place to put it, and what celebrates the resurrection of our Lord better than Victor Von Doom? Okay, not really, but I love writing that Doom dialogue.
Click on the image to see it embiggened. And today's blog title comes from... anyone, anyone... the Buffy episode "Once More With Feeling."
The Neverending Battle
Wait! Don't buy a sketchbook yet!
Do I have your attention? Good. Then read on.
Through teh internets, I've gotten to know Thomas, who not only has a fine first name, but runs the truly excellent Say It Backwards blog, devoted to most things Superman. His nephew is a superhero in his own right, as he's been fighting and beating childhood cancer. Thomas has turned this into a cause and is running an auction to support the Candlelighters organization. The Candlelighters are a group fighting childhood cancer and helping those it attacks and their families. The Candlelighters helped him, and now he's helping them with the auction.
I was asked to contribute a piece, and I was more than happy to do so. If you really need some Thom Zahler art, and want to support a worthy cause, you can bid when it goes online. So, here's what I'm donating:
- Original Supergirl Commission (seen here). There's the black and white original, and the digitally colored high-quality print.
- Full set of Love and Capes.
- Love and Capes t-shirt.
Read more about the Candlelighters here. Read Say It Backwards here. And have a great Easter wherever your here is.
Buttons, Pins and Other Things to Wear
I've been using the fine people at Affordable Buttons to do my giveaway buttons 
Speaking of pins, I should mention, too, that with Pop Culture Trading Pins, there will be some high-quality Love and Capes trading pins. Metal, custom cut, just like the ones at Disney but better... because they feature my characters, and because Pop Culture Trading Pins really know what they're doing. I don't know when I'll have them for sale yet, but it should be soon. Those, however, will not be free. But, when you see them, you'll want to give me money for them.
Push the Button, Frank!
It's time to announce a New York Comic-Con exclusive, this time for me. I've had these one-inch buttons available at shows for
These buttons are absolutely free at my table. I'll have a limited number, so I can't promise I won't run out by the end of the show. So come to booth 2446 and check them out as soon as you can.
Here Kitty, Kitty
Here's another one of those tracing paper recreations from MegaCon. This one's Kitty Pryde when she was going around as Shadowcat. She had a number of
Still, when you comes up and pays your money, you get what you wants. Someone came up wanting Shadowcat and I was happy to oblige.
Incidentally, this is the first piece done on my new Jack Skellington Mac and man does it just scream. Painter just flies on the new machine, so I was able to mess around with an oil painterly color technique, which I think adds a little energy to the piece.