More Wizard World Texas 2007 - Sketches

I finally got around to buying a scanner during the holidays, and so here are the sketches I got during the con. You can click on the images for bigger versions.

First up is a fully inked (with a brush!) sketch I got from Thom Zahler, the Artist/Writer/Creator behind the marvelous Love and Capes . I had read the FCBD issue he put out this year and was intrigued.After talking with Thom a bit about the marketing ideas behind the book and what he is going for, I decided to pick up the first issue from his table.

I read that issue over lunch at the Steak and Shake near the convention center, and after that picked up the rest of the issues and this sketch of supporting character Amazonia.

If you’re not reading Love and Capes, you might pick it up and give it a try. It’s a great super-hero romantic comedy with some wonderful emotional beats. If you’ve been in a relationship, it will certainly resonate with you. It kind of reminds me of a less goofy American version of the britcom My Hero.

Next up is a color sketch finished in marker of Dark Phoenix by Cal Slayton. I was really attracted to the line work in Cal’s stuff. His style is reminiscent of Darwyn Cooke, which is a style I’m really into right now.

Cal has done a lot of books and works as an illustrator in the Dallas area (the ‘metroplex’ as we call it). He has a new book he is working on called ‘Spookytown’. It looked really interesting by the sketch book he had on display at his booth.

Then there’s a Rogue head sketch I got from Billy Tan, the current artist on Uncanny X-Men.

And a head sketch of X-23 I got from X-23:Target X and upcoming Uncanny X-Men artist Mike Choi. Funny story about Mike — I had thought about standing in his signing line at the Top Cow booth at various points during the show, but the line was always really long. On the last day of the show, I happened to walk up to his table in artist alley just as he was setting up.

People hadn’t realized that he was there yet so I was able to walk right up to his table. I noticed he was wearing a Texas Longhorns t-shirt. I had attended grad school at UT and my wife has multiple degrees from there. I assumed he had gotten it as a gift or souvenir from his time in Texas at the con. I asked him if he had gone to UT and it turns out he has a business degree from there and spent a few years as a consultant with PWC before deciding to become an artist for Top Cow.

Having been in software professional services for a few years myself, we traded war stories about life ‘on the road’ as a services guy. Of all the things I would have thought I’d have in common with an artist I met at a con, I would never have thought it would be working in consulting services. In addition to this sketch, Mike hooked me up with a variant cover edition of X:23 - Target X. He’s a really nice guy if you get a chance to meet him at a con.

Finally, here’s the Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America blank cover edition I had sketched by Humberto Ramos that I raved about getting in my first post on this blog.