Holiday gifts for the Geek pt1

As the holiday gift-buying season is in full swing here are some gift ideas for the comic and pop culture fans in your life.

I’m not going to waste your time recommending comics of graphic novels if the person your buying gifts for reads comics just ask them what books they want and then get all the details title, artist, and were to get the books. There are numerous comic shops in the Chicago area that have a huge selection of books such as Challengers, Chicago comics, Brainstorm, Evil squirrel, Third Coast, Quinby’s, The Comic Vault, Grahamcrackers and numerous Boarders stores.

What I can suggest are some items that scratch that comics fan’s itch and may not be something they may think of. First are Toontumblers these are pint glasses with comic book and cartoon characters printed on the glasses. The tumblers can be gotten in sets or as singles with a wide variety of comic book characters on them.

Second are Gelskins these are coverings or ìskinsî for computers, gaming machines, cell phones and mp3 players. The skins feature art work from a wide variety of artists many who do comic work such as Mike Mignola and his Hellboy skins, Tara McPherson who as done art for DC Comics Vertigo books. There is also art from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Umbrella Academy, the Goon, Metal Gear Solid and many more.

Third are Mimobot designer flash drives which are super cool looking flash thumb drives great for carrying and storing data. The drives come in fun designs such as Starwars, Halo, Hello kitty, Domo and lots of original designs.

Fourth are T-shirts these days getting comic book t-shirts are super easy Old Navy, Urban Outfitters, Hot Topic and Target have a good variety of classic Comic book characters in fun styles. Also Most of the comic shops in Chicago carry a good supply of current Comic book t-shirts with modern characters and styles. Also places like Threadless T’s and Shirt Fight have a huge selection of fun and funky Shirts for both kids and adults.

That’s all for now coming next time will be fun games, cool clothes, and handy computer stuff for your friendly neighborhood Fanboy.

Holiday Geek Speak

With the winter holidays coming on fast its time to spot light some of the events going on in the Chicago area as well as how to give Santa your geeky gift demands.

First off I want to focus on how to let your family and friends know what comic book or other geek gifts you want for the holidays. To start don’t use "geek speak" i.e. nerd slang similar to jock talk or gamer speak. Geek speak is any slang or in-group talk that is clear to any other comic geek but is complete gibberish to the outsider or the uniformed. This past thanksgiving my brothers and my nephew were sitting around talking comics and my little niece was lost (and disinterested) as to what we were talking about. For example don’t ask for the "ohotmuî"pronounced O-hot-mu but rather ask for the Official Hand Book of Marvel Universe.

Many if not all hobbies, activities and recreational activities have their own in-speak whether its fans discussing a specific sport and it’s rules or D&D gamers talking about their favorite module or piece of equipment. In every example the slang or geek speak alienates outsiders and is exclusive. Keeping the exclusive nature of geek speak in mind try to translate your conversation into terms outsiders can understand making it easier for them to get you the items you want for the holidays.

Often around this time of year I see girlfriends, mothers and wives venture into my local comic shop Chicago Comics and try to get something for the comic geek in their life. Almost in every case the non comic geek has no clue what their loved one wants or already has and ends up purchasing some random comic related item. This act is similar to when a guy goes into a clothes store to get something for his girl friend and has no idea what size she is or what style she wears and just gets whatever the sales person suggests.

Minimizing geek speak as well as translating your hobbies hot holiday items will help include your friends,family,and significant other into the world of your hobby and insure your holiday gift satisfaction.

Another way to get some holiday comic geek satisfaction is by attending some of the fun holiday events at Challengers comics on Dec 23-24th they will be having the blackest night before Christmas 24 hour event with special guest, Tiny Titans artist Art Baltazar. Also on Dec 30^th artist supreme Mike Norton takes over Challengers and will host a variety of comic fun.

Chicago comics has some cool events on tap for December such as on Dec 11th they with be holding a Reading and Pictures charity event with lots a free comic give aways and free snacks. Then on Dec 16th they will be hosting a C2E2 meet and greet with free swag and a chance to get tickets for the event. This event is also a go chance to get the inside info on this huge comic con coming to Chicago in April.

Brainstorm Movies,Comics,and Games will be having a huge pink tag toy drive and sale on giving store credit and discounts to those who donate toys to the charity drive now throught Dec 23^rd.

Third Coast Comics will have super dooper artist Gene ha in the store signing comics as well as doing sketches on December 12^th.

So head out this December and get your comic geek on, but just remember to have your universal translator with you to aid the geek speak impaired.

defender riot

This is a illo I did for the Fair poster(love unites) remix contest over at Deviant art. The idea is to remix the Defend Equality poster done by Sheperd Fairey. Using the template(elements) provided as well as my stuff. I then did my own take trying to capture the spirit of Fairey. I always liked the way he juxtaposed images of authority or the military with the spirit of rebellion and defiance in a cool creative way. So this is my take on the concept, a Riot Cop as a defender of equality.

BLACKEST FRIDAY is coming

On Black Friday Nov 27th from 9am-12pm Chicago Comics will be having a huge 30% sale for everything in the store. The sale includes comics, trades, action figures, clothes, collectables, dvds and toys so stop on by and buy. Chicago Comics has a great store with a huge selection of books as well as everything comics related so you are sure to find something for yourself as well as gifts for the comic book fans in the family. For more info on this event click here.

Then the following weekend Dec 2nd, 3rd and 4th Gram Crackers Comics will also be having giant in store sales. Plus on Dec 9th Gram Crackers will be hosting Jacen Burrows artist on Avatar’s Crossed at their Chicago loop location. For more info on this event click here.

On Dec 12th Third Coast Comics will be hosting comic artist Gene Ha who has worked on titles such as Top 10, Global Frequency, and Batman fortunate son. Gene will be signing comics as well as doing sketches at this event. Don’t miss this event Gene is not only a super talented artist but he is also a very friendly guy and so are a gang at Third Coast Comics. For more info on this event click here.

So all you members of the Fanboy corpse head out on Blackest Friday for major sales on comics and swag. Charge up your power rings and debit cards, hit these comic shops and don’t let one deal escape your sight!

ACT-I-VATE and ART in Chicago!

This weekend some signifigant events are taking place on the Chicago comic’s scene. Quimby’s Books will be hosting Dean Haspiel, co-founder of the premier online comic art collective, ACT-I-VATE.com. ACT-I-VATE.com is a webcomic collective that hosts a wide array of talented comic creators as well as comics for all types.

Haspiel is bringing the ACT-I-VATE salon to celebrate the release of The ACT-I-VATE Primer, A showcase book highlighting the creative talents of the members of ACT-I-VATE. Also this will be the Midwest debut of The ACT-I-VATE Experience, a 30-minute documentary by filmmakers Seth Kushner and Carlos Molina about how ACT-I-VATE is leading the webcomics revolution. Dean will discuss his work in the Primer, “Bring Me The Heart Of Billy Dogma,” as well as discussing the whole web comic to paper comics process. Dean will also be joined by Chicago-area multimedia writer Tim Hall, producer of ground breaking text only-comics for ACT-I-VATE and they will discuss issues relating to web comic production.

The ACT-I-VATE Primer is a comic collection that showcases the work of many talented artists as well as acts as an intro to the ongoing web comics produced at ACT-I-VATE.com. Please stop by Friday Nov 13 and absorb the Activate experience.

Also starting this Friday Nov 13th and continuing all weekend long there will be a comic art show at Challengers comics. On Friday evening there will be an opening reception, which will be full of many of the artists on the Chicago comic’s scene, so it will be a great chance to hob knob with some of your favorite artists. This event will also be raising money for the Hero Initiative a comic book charity that raises money for ageing and sick artist who need help. For a full list of art for sale as well as the contributing artists please follow this link to Challengers Art Show.

No matter what your interest whether it is the ins and outs of webcomics scene and what that means for the future of comics or if you’re a passionate lover of comic book art this weekend is sure to please the Fanboy in you.

thundarr process

hey all here is more art process stuff this time a peak into the process that went into making my thundarr redesign illo. First off my thoughts on the whole concept, this illo was done as a Halloween contest between myself and a few other artists as a personal challenge. The challenge was: if I was given the task to do my version of the Saturday morning cartoon thundarr the barbarian what would I do. My idea was a more modern savage a mix of Road Warrior and Conan with some Jack Kirby styling thrown in.

I felt that Thundarr's look would have war paint similar to Conan's in the first movie but a more stylized look with a Mohawk similar to the roadwarrior villain and jack kirbys Omac. Thundarr's gear would be more of a mix of scavenged items so body armour and clothing would be a mix of football shoulder pads in a roman gladiator style with military belts and a loin cloth. Finally the Sun Sword his signature weapon (it's a light saber) so wanted to add some flair to it. I have the sword burning white hot with a flame like tip and white embers and energy bursts coming from the blade. The blade has a orange to red outer glow to help set the mood. Lastly the blade itself is a samurai sword(due to the nature of thundarr's wandering) this helps add to the fact it was stated he either found the sword or took the sword from a evil wizard it would make sense to have the blade be a non western design.

The art work process. You can see the evolution of the image going from 80's hair metal on the lower left to the final color version on the upper right. I used non repo blue pencil for the roughs and finished pencil stage. I scanned the roughs from my sketch book into photoshop and blew them up to a 11x17 size then printed them out for for clean up and finishing.

Also for the finished pencils I did them on marker paper with separate layers for the main figure and the foreground demons. I the inked this all up using micron pens,then scanned them in and did coloring in photoshop with added effect and textures.

comic art and powerings

Comic Art, Music and POWERINGS!!!!!

Starting Friday Nov13th Challengers comics+conversation will be having a Huge 3 day Comic art show and sale. Featuring original art from Greg land Mike Wieringo, Mark Bagley, Steve McNiven, Cliff Chiang and many more.

On Friday evening there will be an opening wine reception from 7pm -10pm.

This art show will also be raising money for the Hero Initiative. For a full list of art for sale as well as the contributing artists please follow this link to Challengers Art Show.

Also don’t forget this Sunday Brainstorm comics is hosting a comic bash

On November 8 at the Beat kitchen 2100 W Belmont it promises to be a fun comic book filled party with rock and pop bands such as Dead on T.V, Daemonfamiliar. For more info click here Brainstorm bash.

Plus all November long the Comic Vault is having a Green Lantern Give Away.

Each week in November the Comic vault will be giving away a $50 gift card to one lucky customer. All you have to do is purchase the featured Blackest Night tie-in on Wednesday of each week. You will a get a ring and a raffle ticket. If your raffle ticket matches the winning number you win a $50 gift card to the Comic Vault. You have to come in on a Wednesday to qualify. So stop buy and pick up your Power rings for a chance to get real green CASH!!! For more info click here Green Lantern Give Away.

So whether you like to get your party on, check out cool original comics art, or get your mighty power rings November is the month to get your geek on!