24 Hour Comics Day nears
The national comic-book event 24 Hour Comics Day is set for October 3. It’s an annual challenge in which creators attempt to produce a 24-page comic book in 24 consecutive hours.
ComicsPRO, the comic book specialty retailer trade organization, heads up the event. Interested parties can find out more about the event, and nearby locations, at www.24hourcomics.day.com.
Norah Curry, promotions director of the Laughing Ogre Comics comic-book chain, is heading up promotion for this year’s 24 Hour Comics Day. She said the event is intended to expose people to the process of comic-book creation.
“24 Hour Comics Day is intended to let anyone, at any skill level, who is interested in creating their own comic create one,” Curry said. “(It’s) an event to get people excited about the creative energy of creating a comic in a day.”
Curry is committee leader of ComicsPRO’s 24 Hour Comics Day Committee.
“ComicsPRO is the national sponsor for the event,” Curry said. “We are here to make sure that the groundwork is laid for anyone who wants to sponsor a site. We also work with national sponsors to make sure that the participants and host sites have everything that they need to make the event a successful one.”
Curry said all are welcome, from professional artists to complete novices. The camaraderie of the day is one of the most memorable parts of the event.
“I have seen some great artwork, innovative stories and artists getting know each other,” Curry said. “Most entertaining are the waning hours of the event as everyone gets their second wind of frenetic energy to complete the challenge.”
With a few weeks to go until the event, there’s still time for new locations to sign up.
“If your local store is not listed as a host site, ask them,” Curry said. “If you don’t have a local store, ask your local library! You never know who will want to be involved.”
- by Matthew Price
The Breakfast Club, Teen Titans style
Artist Cliff Chiang — who drew a great Prince-inspired Batgirl a while back — has created a Titans-themed tribute to director John Hughes. Go to his site to see the full-size version, and to read his Breakfast-Club-inspired take on the Titans.
- Matt Price
Entertainment insider: Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Jackson, spring events and remakes
Gene Triplett, Heather Warlick-Moore, Matt Price and George Lang discuss some of this week’s hot entertainment topics, including Joaquin Phoenix’s meltdown, Michael Jackson’s comeback; big spring events in Oklahoma; and the best and worst film remakes.
Full “Archer and Armstrong” Q&A with Sal Velluto and Bob Almond
The artistic team of Sal Velluto and Bob Almond create a new “Archer & Armstrong” story for the hardcover “First Impressions,” which will collect the earliest stories of the odd couple of adventurers from the Valiant Comics line. Earlier this summer, the artists talked to The Oklahoman about the characters, Valiant Comics, and their artistic collaboration. They also hint about a possible future collaboration reuniting their “Black Panther” team.
Matt Price: What’s most appealing to you about the characters of Archer and Armstrong? What interested you most about drawing a new tale featuring these characters?
SAL: In the past I’ve had the chance to work on other characters from the Valiant Universe, such as X-O Manowar (#2-3, 1992), Rai (#3, 5-6, 1992) as well as the revamp of Bloodshot for Acclaim (#1-16, 1997-1998). Archer and Armstrong represents both a return 
to my own personal “Valiant Era” of comics and a re-discovery of some beloved characters and stories. Working again with Jim Shooter is absolutely a treat, as it is joining forces – again – with my long time art partner, Bob Almond. It is interesting to note that Bob and I started our 10 year plus collaboration on an historic issue of Bloodshot vs. X-O Manowar.
BOB: Indeed, on Acclaim’s Bloodshot #8 back in 1997. Regrettably, I didn’t get a crack at those original era characters like Sal did…until now! It’s such a hoot for us to further add to the tapestry of the Valiant Universe and history as it’s still so well beloved by the diehard fans after all these years. Plus, some of my first and favorite comics were Jim Shooter’s stories at Marvel from the ‘70s, like the Avengers.
Matt Price: What do you think about the resurgence of Valiant Comics? Why is Valiant still important to people?
SAL: Since its first inception, Valiant Comics has been a character and story driven publisher. In the old days, as well as today, when you work for Valiant you have to leave at the door a big part of your ego and your temptations to “show off”. This might be a little uncomfortable to admit, for an illustrator such as myself, but it deserves to be recognized. This is a company who could have used the famous Shakespeare motto: “The story is the thing!” I believe the readers have enjoyed and will enjoy Valiant Comics for that very reason: “The story is the thing.”
BOB: Yes, this challenges an artist’s storytelling chops over the flashy approach. We can do flashy, and have, but Sal is so good when it comes down to the basic foundations of telling a story that he seems like such a good fit for the new Valiant.
With all the publishers that have come and gone, Valiant was among the best when it came to planning, execution, and quality by an all-star line-up of greats who created modern legends. Try to recall those other publishers and their titles and characters. While some are still remembered, like CrossGen and Malibu, most are fading memories to the fans. But it’s a testament to Valiant and its groundbreaking production of art and stories that fans are still fond of the past and eagerly rabid for more new stories.
Matt Price: What can “Archer & Armstrong” fans expect in the new story?
SAL: I’ve had a lot of fun illustrating this story and really appreciated the great amount of research Jim Shooter has put into it. Luckily, I was quite familiar with most of the historical and geographical settings, since I grew up not too far from where the story takes place and have touched with hand many archeological artifacts of that time period. I think Jim did a wonderful job taking some pre-existing elements from Archer & Armstrong published stories and creating a plausible and interesting prologue. If the fans enjoy it half as much as I did, I think we’ll all be in great shape. 
BOB: I don’t have the same global background and experience as “Indiana” Velluto here, but I could tell that Jim still has a fondness to these characters when I read the script. He’s still writing epics without having to tell multi-chapter, cross-title ‘events’ like other publishers are doing.
Matt Price: The two of you are best-known as a team for your work on “Black Panther.” Tell me about working together on that series.
SAL: When Bob and I were hired to work on “Black Panther”, the book was slated for cancellation. We started with “unlucky” issue number 13, which was coincidentally titled, “The End.” Well, with the help of the great Christopher Priest (also a veteran of Acclaim Comics) and the critical support of a wonderful fan base, we ended up prolonging the life of the book for three more years (36 more issues) and smashing Jack Kirby’s record for the most prolific art-team on that particular title. Along with all that, there was a lot of passion and involvement with the Black Panther characters and environments, which resulted in many, many extra hours at the drawing table for me and a strange psychosomatic reaction, developed by Bob, every time he had to ink one of my pages (smiles).
BOB: Thanks…I think.
Yeah, good times, good times; the series was ‘cancelled’ so many times while we were on it so imagine working on a series with a gun to your head, listening to the chamber and clicks, waiting for it to go off every few issues, and then suddenly three years passed and we had created some of the best work we’d ever produced and it’s still admired by the fans. Hey, that’s an unintentionally nice connection to my analysis of the Valiant books.
By the way, wouldn’t it be so cool for someone to bring back together both Acclaim alumni and award-winning Black Panther creators Priest, Sal & Bob on something in the future?
Matt Price: What other projects do you have in the works?
SAL: I am currently one of the artists on Lee Falk’s The Phantom, which is printed by Egmont Publishing in Scandinavia and Frew Comics in Australia. Among my other projects, a summer vacation with my family.
BOB: Vacation?! What’s a vacation?
I am doing some work for IDW on Star Trek: Year Four – The Enterprise Experiment and I’m even doing something else with Sal that I have to keep discreet about at the moment. Outside of that and lots of commissions, I’m also kept pretty busy with my ongoing pet project and passion, The Inkwell Awards at http://www.inkwellawards.com/.
Illustrator has circle of ‘Imaginary Friends’
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
By Matthew Price
WORD BALLOONS
Tulsa artist Dustin Evans has helped chronicle the adventures of Disney’s pirates and gargoyles. This summer, he’ll introduce comic book fans to new characters in “Imaginary Friends.”
“Imaginary Friends” is a 96-page comic book being published by Viper Comics. Evans handles the entire art process — penciling, inking and digitally coloring the story.
“This book is great for people who love ‘popcorn movies,’” Evans said in an e-mail interview. “There is a lot of action, comedy and great characters that drive the story. The plot revolves around six Imaginary Characters, being led by their fearless leader, Rex Montana, to save the world from certain doom. The question is can a clown, skeleton, pageant winner, deer-man, action hero and small child actually save the world?”
Jason M. Burns wrote the “Imaginary Friends” story. Burns is also the author of “Expendable One” and “M-Force.”
“It’s hard to sum this book up, but if I could pick a word or two to describe it, ‘roller coaster’ would be it,” Evans said.
Evans started drawing seriously in fourth grade, after getting a “How to Draw Dinosaurs” book from the library book fair.
“I drew every prehistoric animal in the book at least once or twice,” Evans said. “It wasn’t long after this when I discovered comic books. Batman, Superman and X-Men were my books of choice. I spent hours drawing and redrawing my favorite super heroes in battles only limited by my imagination.”
Evans took every art class he could from middle school to high school, then attended Oklahoma State University, majoring in illustration and graphic design. Evans graduated with a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in 2005.
But even before that, Evans was graduating into comics. A trip to Comic Con International in 2004 provided Evans’ big break.
“It was my first time on a plane, and my first time in a major state that didn’t border Oklahoma,” Evans said. “I handed out sample packets of my work to companies around the building, talked to as many people as possible, asked numerous questions and listened to all the feedback. It was the single most exciting and bizarre experience I had encountered to date. Celebrities were everywhere and artists and writers I had respected for years were looking at my work.”
A few days after returning home, Evans received a call from Disney Adventures, asking him to draw a comic strip based on the “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Later, he provided the colors for Disney’s “Gargoyles.”
“I grew up watching the animated series, so working on the comic books was like a childhood dream come true,” he said.
Currently, Evans is working on digital colors for an upcoming book from Devil’s Due called “Serpo,” scheduled for an August release.
“‘Serpo is a three-chapter graphic novel in the sci-fi/action genre, loosely based on a true story,” Evans said. The book was written by Burns with pencils/inks by Joe Eisma, letters by Nick Deschenes and colors by me, of course.”
In his approximately four years as a comic-book artist, Evans said his upcoming “Imaginary Friends” is the work of which he’s the most proud.
“It will be the biggest project to feature my artwork alone, since I’ve started my comic book career,” Evans said. “There’s just something great about flipping through 96 pages, knowing you’re responsible for all the art from the lines to the colors throughout the story.”
More from comic book artist Dustin Evans
Dustin Evans, artist of “Imaginary Friends” from Viper Comics, answered some additional questions for Nerdage readers.
Matt Price: Who are your main artistic influences?
Dustin Evans: I’m definitely into the more “animated” style of comics. I had no idea this style was really happening and acceptable in American comics until I discovered my main influence, Humberto Ramos, while I was in college. I just remember seeing his work, and being blown away by the energy and style of his lines. Tim Burton has also been a big influence of mine. Not just his movies, but his concept art and animated work. Tim Sale and Frank Miller both stick out in my mind as big influences as well. Their lighting and storytelling is among the best in my book.
MP: What’s your favorite comic-book story?
DE: One book sticks out in my mind, “The Dark Knight Returns”. I remember my older brother getting the book for Christmas one year, and I “borrowed” it for years to come. I probably read the story a dozen times and flipped through the artwork hundreds of times before I even really knew who Frank Miller was and what he was about as a creator.
MP: What’s your dream project?
DE: My dream project would really be a project of my own creation. I really want to get my own book out on shelves, so everyone can get a real sense of my unfiltered style and storytelling. I’m actually writing and illustrating my own side project right now call, “Old Man Claus”. It’s about who else, but Santa Claus. Santa has lost his magical powers and fallen into a dark depression. He must rise up against packs of zombies, sasquatches, and bodacious babes to save the world and reclaim his title as world’s best holiday mascot.
MP: What are the challenges of living in Oklahoma and working in the comics industry?
DE: I would say, thanks to technology, the challenges of working as a comic artist in Oklahoma are few and far in between. Everyone can FTP or Fedex their work to the desired location. I’ve started and finished big projects via email. It’s great! The hardest part was making that first break into the comic business, not knowing anyone in the business. It’s true what they say, you HAVE to go to comic cons to make connections. I’ve been able to build a great working relationship with a few people, and they’ve been kind enough to introduce me to other companies and work opportunities. Having a great work ethic is extremely important in comics.
MP: Anything else you’d like to mention?
DE: Just to give thanks, really, to my wife and my family for supporting and putting up with a comic book artist for a husband, son and relative. They’re definitely the biggest influence and support in my life. I have no doubt I would have given up far before I broke into the comic business without them.
More art from Dustin Evans:
American Indian comic-style art exhibit in N.M.
The following is a press release from New Mexico’s Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. For more information, visit www.indianartsandculture.org.
Santa Fe, NM — Storytelling has long been a part of Native American culture. Comic Art Indigène which opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on May 11, 2008 looks at how storytelling has been used through comics and comic inspired art to express the contemporary Native American experience. Under the larger definition of narrative art, comic art is more related to Native American art traditions than one might expect. The earliest surviving examples of such narrative art is rock art. The historic examples used in the exhibition, such as photographs of rock art, ledger art, and ceramics are meant to link Native American art traditions with contemporary voices.
Making comics and producing art inspired by them is a method of reclaiming the narrative art form of comics and Native American culture from those who would dismiss an art for the masses. Today, Native American artists are reclaiming stereotypes used in earlier comic art depicting Indians as savage, war-like primitives or trusty sidekicks.
The exhibition begins with a photograph of a cartoon from the 13th century. The image of the red, white and blue pictograph of the All American Man, a shield carrying warrior from the Pueblo II period (carbon dated to ca. 1290) will be contrasted to a Jack Kirby drawing of that other red, white and blue shield hurling hero, Captain America. The most recent works will be from 2008. The majority of Indian art will be from 1990 to the present day.
Two-fisted tales of suspense showcasing fantastic heroes and villains interacting with gods old and new have always been a part of Native American Culture. As the first widely accessible mass media, comic strips, and comic books, were consumed by Indian people as a recognizable and legitimate form of storytelling. Stories of humor, adventure and the fantastic depicted through pictures have always been an indigenous practice. Today’s Native American scribes grapple with the same topics emboldened with millennia-old cultural traditions, blended with new methods of expression and life in the 21st Century.
Comic Art Indigène examines how American Indian artists articulate identity, reclaim stereotypes, worldview, politics, and culture through the kinetic expression of sequential art. Inspired by this unique medium, using its icons, tropes and dynamism, this is a new world of American Indian art, full of the brash excitement first seen on newsprint a century ago, sometimes unrefined, even crude at times, but never sterile.
A reception hosted by the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico will be held on Sunday, May 11, 2008 beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Also opening the same day will be a small exhibition of sculpture in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture created by students in their senior year at IAIA. More information to come.
Art: Lest Tyranny Triumph
Diego Romero (Cochiti Pueblo), Pencil, ink on board, ca. 2004
