Over the next few weeks I will be posting a series of blogs about my exhibiting at Comic-Con International in San Diego for 2011.
I want to start off by highlighting one of the most exciting moments of the show to me. This was when my friend, Randall Dahlk received the Eisner award for Best Publication Design for the book Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition (IDW). I believe his Eisner is well-deserved and I am very happy for him. Randy was up against some steep competition, including 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking (Taschen).
Throughout the day leading to the awards ceremony I was informing people of his nomination which embarrassed him and he countered by downplayed it. Later that evening I spent time with Randy just before he went to the awards ceremony. I took some video commentary of him in his hotel room. (No, it’s not for public consumption—hilarious, but we’ll keep it to ourselves.) He was a little nervous and anxious, yet modest and felt that his chances of winning were slim.
At 11:30PM on Friday night I called Randy to see what was going on, but no one answered. He told me the Best Publication Design category was the final award of the evening and I knew the event ended around 11:00PM. I asked him to call me as soon as he had a chance. Finally, my restless sleep was appeased at 12:43AM when I received a text message from Randy, “win.” I was elated.
A big congratulations goes out to Randy!
You can learn about Randy and view his latest designs at his Retro Randy blog.
This Saturday from 11:00AM to 2:00PM I will be at Hijinx Comics in San Jose, CA for their big summer sale. I’ll have a variety of books for sale and free promotional material. I’m a friend of the owner, Neil Farris, and I enjoy helping out during his sales.
Alex Sheikman will also be there. Alex is the artist of Robotika published by Archaia. Mick Gray will be making an appearance as well. Mick is a popular inker who has done much work on DC’s titles.
Hijinx is located in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. This shop carries a wide variety of superhero and independent comics and graphic novels.
I’m back from Comic-Con International 2011. I’m catching up on emails and book orders while we were out. Be on the lookout for a series of five or six Comic-Con blog entries throughout the week.
The following newsletter is going out this weekend. I’ll be totally absorbed in preparing for Comic-Con and exhibiting at the show from now until I return on July 26. All book orders will be on hold until then and email replies will be sparse for the week. I look forward to seeing those that can attend the show.
I’ll have new blog entries with pictures later this month. I’ll have a lot to share about the show as well as many new exciting topics to unveil. For now, enjoy the new updates to the website like the details for the Bruce Timm and Craig Elliott books as well as the Terry Dodson interview in a recent blog posting.
If you would like to join our email newsletter list, please click here.
Flesk Publications Exhibiting at Comic-Con (Booth #5019). New Exclusive Books and Artist Signings.
Flesk Publications will be exhibiting at Comic-Con International this July 20-24 at booth number 5019. Flesk will have an exciting batch of new exclusive titles that will debut at the show, plus artist signings happening throughout the five days.
To begin, Flesk will have Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm Teaser, a 16 page sampler for the 304 page main Naughty and Nice book coming out this fall. Each copy is signed and numbered to 1000 copies for $15.00. A small batch will be available at the Flesk booth and the majority direct from Bruce Timm at the NFR booth (4601).
Flesk Prime is their second title premiering at the show. This 64 page hardbound book serves as a fresh look into the imagery of five exceptional artists: Craig Elliott (booth #4713), Gary Gianni (booth #4902), Petar Meseldzija, Mark Schultz (at the Flesk booth) and William Stout (booth #4803). The four artist’s with a booth number notation will be at Comic-Con and available to sign your copies. In addition, these four will have original art, books and prints available at their respective booths. All are available to chat and sign your other items as well.
Mysterious Islands by Gary Gianni is the third new Flesk feature. This 16 page chapbook opens his studio doors to offer the viewer an unrivaled selection of his favorite recent and past artworks. This is limited to 1000 signed copies with a $10.00 cover price.
Flesk is hosting signings with the following artists during the course of the show. Mark Schultz will be at the Flesk booth for the full event. His guaranteed times are included here.
Wednesday
Mark Schultz 6:00-9:00
Schultz will be available for autographs and he will have original artwork for sale.
Thursday
Mark Schultz 9:30-12:00
Bruce Timm 2:00-3:00
Timm will be signing his Naughty and Nice Teaser and we will have free Timm promotional postcards available.
Pierre Alary 3:30-5:30
All three volumes of the Belladone and Sinbad books will be available from the sponsor of this signing, Stuart Ng Books (Booth # 5012), who reside directly across from us. Plus original artwork will be available by the artist.
Friday
Mark Schultz 9:30-12:00
Gary Gianni 2:00-3:00
Gianni will be available for signing his full line of books from Flesk, including the new Mysterious Islands chapbook.
Pierre Alary 3:30-5:30
Saturday
Mark Schultz 10:00-1:00
Emily McGuiness 1:30-3:00
McGuinness will have her new self-published title Ties and free promotional material.
Adam Warren 3:30-5:00
Warren will be signing his new Empowered sketchbook available from Stuart Ng Books.
Sunday
Mark Schultz 10:00-1:00
Emily McGuiness 1:00-3:00
Two other locations of note are Spectrum Fantastic Art (booth #4503) where you can learn about the exciting new show, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. Also, Terry Dodson (booth #4706) will have his new Bombshells 5 and Reveries sketchbooks.
Flesk will have their new catalog, promotional postcards and posters available for free. Stop by and visit with their friendly staff to explore the entire line of Flesk books. A limited supply of bumped books will be available for 50% off. Publisher, John Fleskes will be present throughout the show.
Full details and sample pages for all Flesk Publications titles and the most-recent news can be found at fleskpublications.com. Additional information can be read on publisher John Fleskes’ blog at fleskpublications.com/blog
I have posted the details of our upcoming book, The Art of Craig Elliott on the Flesk Publications website. This book was designed by Craig with a personal touch that truly personifies the artist. Iain McCaig graced us with his willingness to write the introduction. I will have sample pages and more details posted as the book nears its street date in the fall.
Craig will have his own booth at Comic-Con International running July 20-24. (Booth #4713.) He’ll have original art, prints, books, postcards, jewelry and cool specialty items like the Moleskine sketchbooks with his art on the cover pictured above.
Also remember I’ll have copies of Flesk Prime at our Flesk booth (#5019) which features Craig’s art which you can have him sign.
Terry Dodson will be making his annual appearance at Comic-Con International running July 20-25. He is sharing his booth again with Aaron Lopresti (#4706).
Terry will have two new exclusive sketchbooks premiering at the show titled Bombshells 5 ($15.00) and Reveries ($25.00, signed and numbered to only 500 copies). Both are 5.5 x 8.5 inches at 16 pages, plus covers. I had the good fortune to help Terry out a little bit with the production of them. Terry will also have original comic art from his recent stint on Uncanny X-Men and will be doing a small number of sketches at the show.
I asked Terry if he was willing to share some insight into these new sketchbooks, his work on Uncanny X-Men and for an update on his second Songes book that will appear this fall. He was kind enough to agree. Our question and answer session follows.
Flesk: Can you tell us about your new sketchbook Reveries and what type of material is included?
Terry Dodson:Reveries is sketchbook material related to the graphic novel series Songes featuring the character Coraline. Mostly the sketches are of Coraline, me trying to get back into the rhythm of the characters. There are studies that are preparatory for Songes 2. There are commission drawings of Coraline.
Also there are some prelims for Coraline related illustrations, pin ups, prints, covers. Finally, there are some actual panels from the second book that we are not using as there have been some tweaks made to the story.
Flesk: Are you working on Songes now and when can we expect to see the second volume featuring Coraline?
Dodson: Yes, feverishly!
I’m drawing the line art in pencil, then scanning that in and coloring in Photoshop so I’m doing all the art so it’s a lot of work but it’s nice to be able to do the whole thing myself.
Expect to see it both in Europe and here in the U.S. this fall! The US version will include both volumes 1 and 2.
Flesk: What does Bombshells 5 comprise of?
Dodson: A variety of stuff directly from my sketchbooks. First there are number of designs and studies for creator owned projects that will hopefully all see the light of day sooner than later. There are sketches and designs of preparatory work for ongoing works such as Uncanny X-Men and Songes.
Plus, there are sketches from life when I’m traveling– I find it’s the best way to capture what I see when out–way better than a camera! Finally, I look behind all the design and process of creating the cover for the sketchbook.
Flesk: Do you spend much time sketching for yourself or find that you drawing mostly for assignments due to time constraints?
Dodson: It’s off and on but I have kept a sketchbook regularly since I was 13. When I can I prefer to draw for myself. But I use the sketchbook constantly for work, especially all the preliminary designs and cover/pinup compositions. Also, for figuring out and reminding myself of future illustrations. Plus, I love taking one with me when I travel!
It definitely can be a struggle to find the time when working to simply sketch for fun. I generally try to find something to do a study of to at least force myself to work in the sketchbook and better myself as an artist. Pretty soon, I’m sketching away for fun and I have to put the book away in order to get some paying work done!
Flesk: You’ve just finished up a run on Uncanny X-Men. How does it feel to be a part of this legendary title?
Dodson: Real cool! I read the book growing up and always wanted to work on the characters.
I was offered the book a couple of times previously but this time it felt right and the timing was good. Matt Fraction gave me some really good stuff to work on!
Flesk: Are there any particular Uncanny X-Men runs by other artists you are inspired by or enjoy?
Dodson: Arthur Adams annual work on Annuals in the ’80s was what really made me an X-Men fan. My favorite run on the book was Jim Lee’s run. It really got me excited about comics again and pushed me to become a professional comic book artist. Carlos Pacheco and Chris Bachalo also have done some great stuff on the book. And I think my last favorite run was the Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely stuff!
Flesk: Did you find yourself making an artistic connection with a certain X-Men character?
Dodson: You know, I actually have worked on a number of X-characters over my career, so it was nice to reconnect with Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Storm, Beast, Nightcrawler and then try to put my stamp on characters like Cyclops, Colossus and Wolverine. Plus, I was able to do some redesigns and costume tweaks on characters like Dazzler, Dagger, Emma and Namor plus a host of others.
One thing about the X-Men, you draw a LOT of characters which I really enjoy doing on superhero books!
I’ve just confirmed the artist signings that will happen at our Flesk Publications booth at Comic-Con International in San Diego (#5019). This is a terrific group of people and I hope you will stop by and visit. Books and original s will be available, or just come by and chat.
The Pierre Alary and Adam Warren signings are done in conjunction with Stuart Ng Books. I’ll have more details posted in the next few days.
Wednesday
Mark Schultz 6:00-9:00
Schultz will be available for autographs and he will have original artwork for sale.
Thursday
Mark Schultz 9:30-12:00
Bruce Timm 2:00-3:00
Timm will be signing his Naughty and Nice Teaser and we will have free Timm promotional postcards available.
Pierre Alary 3:30-5:30
Alary books will be available from Stuart Ng Books, plus original artwork by the artist.
Friday
Mark Schultz 9:30-12:00
Gary Gianni 2:00-3:00
Gianni will be available for signing his full line of books from Flesk.
Pierre Alary 3:30-5:30
Saturday
Mark Schultz 10:00-1:00
Emily McGuiness 1:30-3:00
McGuinness will have her new self published title Ties and free promotional material.
Adam Warren 3:30-5:00
Warren will be signing his new Empowered sketchbook available from Stuart Ng Books.
I’ve added the Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm book details to the Flesk Publications site. (Link below.)
When I originally proposed a book of Bruce’s personal art to him, I suggested a 48 or 64 page collection. I wasn’t aware of how many pieces he had available and I wasn’t assuming he would create new art either. Not only did Bruce have archives of pieces he created over the last 15 years but, he was also willing to produce new works. There will be over 125 new pieces featured in this book. Then I got on the internet and started seeking out collectors to request scans of the originals in their collection. A good number replied and shared some amazing pieces. Before I knew it this little 48 to 64 page book kept growing and expanding. Designer Randy Dahlk and I found ourselves stopping and rethinking the approach of the book a few times as new batches of art would fall into our laps. I recently came to the decision that 304 was the final page count. This is both a substantial number and it is forcing us to only use the very best of the best.
With the page count and art at our disposal continually growing I couldn’t prepare the details, such as the book description, page count and cover price. Now that we’ve come to a finalized map of the book I can share these details. I personally enjoy the journey of where a book leads. It’s the art and Bruce’s willingness to be involved that has determined the shape of this book. Creating a blue print in the beginning and sticking to it is not the approach I care to take.
Randy is hard at work on the design, and I’m doing my editing thing where I call and bug Randy and throw ideas and additions at him. I’ll get more details, sample pages, the street date and news about Naughty and Nice posted here and on the Flesk site as we continue.
I put together a new Flesk catalog over the weekend. This shows all of our current books that are available and upcoming books planned for the near future. You can download the catalog as a PDF from the Flesk homepage and also by using the link below. I have copies being printed now. They will be available for free at our booth (#5019) at Comic-Con in a few weeks. Hard copies will be included with all Flesk book orders placed direct through us starting next week.
I’ve added three new titles to our Flesk online store for pre-order. We now have four books that will be available at the end of July for shipping. Order any number of books in the same transaction and you will get the same flat rate shipping charge of $5.00. All four of these titles will premiere at Comic-Con in San Diego. (Flesk booth #5019). Terry Dodson’s sketchbook will be available only at his booth at the show (#4706). Here’s a breakdown of these latest books.
Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm Teaser. A Flesk chapbook exclusive that is limited to 1000 signed copies. At 16 pages this 5.5 x 8.5 inch saddle-stiched paperback sampler includes an assortment of pencil, ink and color works representative of the pieces to be featured in the forthcoming 304 page 9 x 12 inch Naughty and Nice title, and they are unique to this special production. 100 copies are reserved for the Flesk store and the remaining copies are available only at shows where Flesk exhibits. Price is $15.00.
Mysterious Islands by Gary Gianni. This Flesk chapbook exclusive is limited to 1000 signed copies. 16 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inch saddle-stiched paperback. Price is $10.00.
Bombshells 5: A Terry Dodson Sketchbook. I helped Terry Dodson out a little with his latest sketchbook. I’ll have a small batch for sale in late July. 16 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inch saddle-stiched paperback. Price is $15.00.
Then as a reminder Flesk Prime is also available for pre-order. Full details for all of these can be found on my previous blog post and on our Flesk website by following the links below.
