Art Day: Paulo Siquiera commission

Well, I got my Paulo Siquiera Spidey saving Norah Winters commission today. As the scan I got looks great, the art is great. I am disappointed though, because I paid $420 for an inked 11x17 cover quality commission with 2-3 characters. What I got was an inked 11x14 high quality commission with 2-3 characters. The rep said he had no intentions of short-changing me, and didn't think anything about the piece being 11x14. Paulo's site lists 11x17. 99% of artists have a completely different pricing structure for 11x14 vs 11x17. He said I can send it back for a refund, but I am not going to do that. I like the art, but I don't feel like it is a cover quality piece because it doesn't 'look' like a cover due to the size. I waited a pretty long time for this, and I hope eventually the size of the piece will not bother me.

Haven't written in awhile, a couple of cool items...

Well, Oliver turned 1 a couple weeks ago. Man, I just can not believe how cute that kid is. We went out to dinner last night and he was waving and saying 'hi' to everyone he saw. One older lady said when he turned and looked at her he looked like a mini-me. She said it was uncanny. LOL.. It is really funny, given the circumstances. I can't believe how much I love him. It isn't that I didn't think I could love him so much, but it's that I didn't know that I had that much love to give. Here are a couple of his pictures we got taken on his birthday.

I am going to mid-Ohio in a couple of weeks. I have worked hard at selling some stuff so 1) I can buy some really good stuff there and not hurt the bank and 2) switch up the collection some.

I haven't really been buying much of anything over the last couple of months. Sure I have a few things that are owed to me, but I needed an art 'fix' LOL.. A friend picked up this Mike Perkins Enchantress for me a couple weeks ago at the New York Comic Convention. (I took money out of my Mid-Ohio funds to cover it). Mike did a freaking awesome job.

Next up is a Wonder Girl piece by MC Wyman I grabbed on ebay for an incredibly low price. I love his work, but his WG pieces are usually hit or miss with me (honestly, mostly miss) but this piece blew me away. I think it is the best Wonder Girl piece he has drawn. I couldn't pass it up for the price.

I bought one other reasonably priced commission that should be done in a week or 2. I am still waiting on 2 Tom Lyle commissions (one wth Spidy, the other with Robin) and my Paulo Siqueira Spidey commission.

Other than that, I am waiting for Mid-Ohio. :-)

What I've been Reading

I haven't been to the shop in a few weeks since the Cincinnati Comic Expo is coming up next weekend. I decided to pull out some older stuff and re-read them. First up was The Comet from the !mpact Comics line DC released in the early 1990s. I really enjoyed this series, mainly due to the art and plotting by Tom Lyle. As I have mentioned before, I am a HUGE fan of Mr.Lyle's work (and can't wait to see the commissions he is doing for me). Mark Waid did the scripting for this 18 issue series. It had his trademark strong story telling with character development. Eventually Tom Lyle left the series and a couple other artists did the pencil work. Kevin West did most of the issues that Lyle didn't work on. I like his work, but I really missed Tom's work on the book. I have been thinking about going out and buying some of the other !mpact comic series. DC recently relaunched some of those titles through a Red Circle imprint. I wasn't really impressed with the offerings, but The Web was decent.

Another fun series from a few years ago I pulled out was Madrox, written by Peter David, with art by Pablo Ramondi. David is another great writer, and Pablo's artwork isn't too shabby either.
This series followed Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man as he decided to open a private investigator's office. It had a strong noir feel to it, and it led into the new X-Factor series. Peter David is one heck of a character writer. He handled many of these characters from back in the 1990s X-Factor series from when they were a government sanctioned mutant team. He has not lost any ground with the time lapse between the original series and the new one. The only thing this team has in common are some of the characters. The mood and style of the book has changed. There are a few things that I haven't cared for, but overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed the book. There have been some awesome artists on the book, and I'd LOVE to own a cool page from one of them. Ryan Sook started off the series and then Dennis Calero rotated with him and worked on some of the issues. These two artists' styles worked very well, from issue-to-issue. They both have a noir, somewhat dark feel to it, but man, did it suit David's stories. I know there were several other artists, but, please forgive me, I can't remember them at this point in time. I guess I'll have to pull those issues out and read them next. :-)

I also dug out She-Hulk, the 2004 and 2005 series penned by Dan Slott (whose writing really reminds me of Peter David's work, and that is a good thing), with art by Juan Bobillo, whose work I was unfamiliar with at the time. I have been hit-or-miss with various creator's take on She-Hulk (Byrne's run is freaking awesome, I need to track those down, too..and I'd loe to get a nice She-Hulk page by Byrne...), but Dan Slott really took the ball and ran with her.
Unfortunately I had to cut back on titles at a point, and this was one of the casualties. I may pick up the rest of the series in trade paperback form.

Next up was Ms.Marvel, from 2006. To the best of my knowledge, Brian Reed wrote the 24 issues I have of the series. Yes, this was another one of the casualties of the comic-cutbacks I had to make. Which sucks, because I heard it got very interesting when Moonstone took over the Ms.Marvel identity under Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers. Again, I'll probably pick the rest of the series up in tpb.

The Cincinnati Comic Expo could be a good place to find some of those trades at decent prices.
I have been thinking about buying a full run of the 1980s Starman series, featuring Will Payton. This is another book that Tom Lyle had a huge part in.

Cincicnnati Comic Expo...here I come!

It's been awhile since there has been a comic convention of any sort in Cinciinati.
http://cincinnaticomicexpo.com/

I think it will be fun. It's the first time they're having this show. Maybe it will become a yearly thing and become larger.

HAPPY HAPPY, JOY JOY!!!!!! I AM GETTING A TOM LYLE COMMISSION!!!

'Nuff said. :-)

MID-OHIO CON, HERE I COME!!!!

I am really excited. My wife said I can go to Mid-Ohio Con this November. I haven'been in 4 years. I hope to get commissions from Adam Hughes, Ethan Van Sciver, and Barry Kitson. I have an idea of various characters I would like from each artist but I need to narrow it down. I can't wait!!!!

Ahhh.. The Good Old Days...

You know....when i was a kid, I was obsessed with G.I.Joe A Real American Hero. I LOVED getting up before school and watching the cartoon at 6:00 or 6:30. I had quite the collection of figures, too. The vehicles, the special mission figures, you name it. Many years after the fact, i discovered that there was a G.I. Joe comic book. I can't remember what issue I started reading the series, but it was probably in the range of issues 65-75. Of course I went and bought all the back issues, one shots, mini series, etc. Alas, all of those things are long gone. There have been other incarnations of the franchise that I never really bothered with because I was too mature. (yeah, right). When i started collecting comics again within the last decade I had occasionally picked up an issue of the newer Joe series 9from DDP, Image, etc)and found it somewhat enjoyable, but not enough so I collected the series in its entirety. then i heard that IDW, the current owner of the rights to G.I. Joe) was releasing a new Joe series, which continues the Marvel series from the 1980s!! How freaking cool is that???!!! On top of that, IDW have been reprinting the original series in tpb form, titled G.I. Joe Classic. I think right now there are 10 volumes of these collections out. I just bought volumes 1 and 2 to read on the plane ride to and from Florida next week. I plan on buying them all. Even the collected editions of the newer series, just to see what all happened. I am glad IDW is continuing the Marvel era, because there have been some character deaths and stories that I heard about that I really didn't care for. Although there were some really cool characters that didn't last through the Marvel series, either... Quick Kick was one of my favorites, and he was killed in battle along with a dozen or so other Joes later in the Marvel series.
I tell you, I am really excited about reading this series again.

Sean Chen commission arrived!

This arrived a few weeks ago, but I forgot to post it. It's a pretty cool perspective. There are a few things I'd change if I could, but overall, a very cool piece of art.

Woo-hoo! Walt Disney World Vacay booked!

We booked our first family vacation for this summer, and I am really excited. We are going to walt Disney World in Orlando! I have never been anywhere like this growing up. Ollie will be 10 months old at the time of the trip, so he won't get quite as much out of it as my wife and I, but it will be cute seeing how he reacts to the characters (I hope..LOL)

We booked made advanced dining reservations for most of our meals, and have a few left. I think Animal Kingdom and MGM are going to be awesome. We are staying at the Polynesian resort. It is still a ways off, but I can't wait!

First day on the new job...

And I get in a horrible car accident on my way in. I was making a left turn at an intersection, and there was an oncoming car turning right onto the same street. A car whipped around them into the other lane to beat the light and hit me. I think my car is totalled. My wrist kind of hurts and I have general aches and pains, but I think it could have been much worse. I am not sure what the condition of the other people are. The police said they were fine, just shaken up. They went to the hospital in an ambulance. I had 1 car payment left on my car, so luckily I had full coverage. I just hope the other driver isn't an "opportunist" since I was the only one cited, which really cheeses me off, because a) it is illegal to change lanes so many feet before an intersection and b) they were speeding to make the light. Here are the pics of my "car" So sad.

Second finished commission!

Wow, two awesome commissions completed in one week. What more could a guy ask for???!
This piece is by Chris Staggs, whose art I saw in an issue of Deadpool Team-Up. I really like his style. a tad cartoony but chock full of action. Chris was great to work with. He told me he'd send a couple thumbnails for mt to pick from (which I love it when artists do)but he sent me 5 thumbnails to choose from. They can be seen below. I chose #3 and Chris did an awesome job on the finished piece. Check out his Deviant art page here: http://bolognafingers.deviantart.com/
He kept me updated and the turnaround was pretty fast. A terrific commission experience.

My first completed commission of 2010

This past year I hadn't been able to buy much new art. Once I got my severance and unemployment and started looking for a job I was in a position I could buy a few things. I have really been enjoying the Spidey books ever since the Brand New Day storyline, so I started buying Spidey related commissions. This first piece is by John Watson. (www.johnwatsonart.com) Mr. Watson was a joy to work with on this commission. He has done many cover paintings for DC (Hawkman, JSA and others) and Marvel (Marvel Apes, Silent War, Uncanny X-Men and more) and more recently Buck Rogers covers for Dynamite Entertainment. Without further ado, here is Spider-Man trying to rescue Norah Winters (a spunky reporter that works with Peter Parker for Front Line) from menace! I don't have the art in hand yet, but I got the scan this morning. I love it!

I am soon to be employed again!

I was laid off the week before Christmas. I knew it was coming for a long time, and I was blessed that I kept getting extended as long as I did. I took a week off to enjoy the holidays before I really started looking hard. I started sending out resumes and contacting companies about openings. I had a couple telephone interviews and a couple in person interviews. Back in early January I sent my resume for a position opening for a local company. I received a response to fill out a questionnaire. Now, I had been taking care of my son this whole time I have been unemployed so my time spent online has been minimal, so I didn't see the questionnaire for a few days. i filled it out and was asked to come in for an interview. I thought it went really well. I interviewed with 5 of my would-be peers. While I was talking with them, I felt I would fit in with the group rather well. i felt a good camaraderie with them. A week after the interview I was called to come back in for a second interview. This one was much more grueling. It lasted 2 hours. I thought it went well. I was told to contact them Friday February 12th for an update. Well, they called me Thursday and offered me the position.
The company is a pretty large business. The benefits and hours seem pretty good. I hope I am there for many years. Finally, after everything my family has been through the last few months, we get some good news. :-)

New shelf is up! and other basement pics

I need some new storage boxes for my comics....
This new shelf is so much nicer than what I had...

New Bookshelf will be here today!

I have been needing (and wanting) a new bookshelf for my graphic novels and tradepaperbacks for a long time now. I am talking like 2 years. I bought one over the weekend and it should arrive today. Here is a photo of my old one. I can't wait to get the new one put together. :-)