Category: Events

I set up at the Alternative Press Expo (APE) last weekend for the first time. Considering my relatively close proximity to the show, and how much I enjoyed myself, I felt like I’ve been missing out on the previous events. I’ve only attended APE twice before, first in 1997, and then in 2001. The show didn’t seem interesting to me back then, and I never felt compelled to check it out again until now. I’m glad I did, since it was a cool show.

I flew in William Stout for the day on Saturday. He spent time at our Flesk booth signing books and talking to people. It was great to have him there. (Thanks, Bill!) We had galley samples of our upcoming Dinosaur Discoveries and New Dinosaur Discoveries A-Z books by Bill. The show gave us a chance to promote the forthcoming books and get some direct early feedback from people.

I found the show patrons to be hip, smart, and the majority of them to be young. It was a cool crowd. I managed to walk the show on Sunday, thanks to my buddy James Walker who watched the booth for me. I’ve known James since 1994 when we worked at Lee’s Comics together. He helps me out at all shows we exhibit at.

The artists exhibiting were a talented bunch. There was an exciting blend of different types of creative people all sharing their personal works. Many people had these neat hand made comics and/or prints. A few artists I had not been aware of totally blew me away. Ape is a great venue for non-mainstream people, allowing them to have a relatively inexpensive opportunity to show off their items. The environment was mellow and didn’t have that crazy crowd factor of the San Diego Comic-Con show.

My friends Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. of JVJ pubs and Manuel Auad of Auad Publishing stopped by. It was great to see them, as always. Both of these guys have helped me tremendously over the years and continue to inspire and push me with their own projects and accomplishments. Jim publishes the ongoing Images magazine and Black and White Images collections. Manuel published those great Alex Toth, Jordi Bernet, Franklin Booth, and Alex Nino books. He has a few new projects in the works. You can check out his website here for details.

This picture (above) is of Bill Stout and Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. looking over one of the volumes containing Edwin Austin Abbey tearsheets from Bill’s collection. He brought them to the show for me to borrow, as I am starting a new pen and ink collection of his work. Thanks to Bill, and Jim Silke, I have a massive amount of material to go through.

Again, the show was fun and I’m definitely going to set up again next year. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. See you next year.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

We’ll be exhibiting at the Alternative Press Expo (APE) on October 17-18, 2009. The show is located at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. Full details on the show can be found at the APE website by clicking here.

William Stout will be joining us on Saturday from 11:00 to 5:00. He will be available to talk to and sign your books. We’ll have plenty of copies of Prehistoric Life Murals, and previews of his upcoming Dinosaur Discoveries books available.

I’ll have our entire line of books at the show, including a small supply of signed copies of Gary Gianni’s Major Thrill’s Adventure Book.

Stop on by! We’re looking forward to a fun show!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

William Stout will be making an appearance at Dragon-Con. He will have copies of his book, Prehistoric Life Murals, as well as his sketchbooks and original art for sale. The show runs from September 4-7, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information and directions to the show you can visit their website by clicking here.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

The second Spectrum Exhibition is starting soon. The show runs from September 1 to October 17, 2009 at the Society of Illustrators in New York City.

The following promotional text is from the Society of Illustrators website:

The Museum of American Illustration is proud to announce an exhibit featuring the top fantastic artists from around the world as seen in the annual SPECTRUM. Created in 1993 by Cathy and Arnie Fenner to showcase fantastic-themed art work, Spectrum is now the leading resource for art directors, art buyers, and fans of the genre. Selected pieces are chosen by top jurors in the field and images are produced in the full color book printed annually.

The SPECTRUM exhibit features a selection of over 120 works from both legendary artists and talented newcomers from the last four annuals. Divided into seven categories, the exhibit showcases multi-media works including original art in both traditional and digital medium, video, 3D, comics and graphic novels. Artists include Julie Bell, Kinuko Y. Craft, Eric Fortune, William Basso, Brom, James Gurney, Tony DiTerlizzi, Terese Nielsen, Yuko Shimizu, Michael Whelan, Donato Giancola, John Jude Palencar, Phil Hale and many more. The artwork will be on display from September 1 through October 17, 2009. In conjunction with the exhibit the Society will hold an Opening Reception on Friday, September 11, 2009. Tickets are $40 for non-members and $35 for members, and are limited. A percentage of the proceeds from this exhibition will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk.

In conjunction with the SPECTRUM exhibit the Society will host ART OUT LOUD. Saturday, September 12 from 1-5pm. Top fantastic artists will demonstrate their skills and techniques in an open forum. Refreshments included. $10 students, $20 members, $25 non-members.

Founded in 1901, the Society of Illustrators is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to “the promotion of the art of illustration- past, present and future.” It has over 1,000 members worldwide and is headquartered in an 1875 vintage carriage house in New York’s Upper East Side.

More information can be found on the Society of Illustrators website here, or at the Spectrum website here.

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Mark Schultz will make a live guest appearance on BlogTalkRadio, hosted by Mr. Media, Bob Andelman, on Friday, August 28 at 1:00 PM ET. They will be discussing our new book, Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Journey of the Heroic. The segment can be found live and in the future at the BlogTalkRadio website by clicking here. More Mr. Media interviews can be found by clicking here.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

I know this has nothing to do with books and art. It does have to do with my other passion — surfing and skimboarding.

This Saturday is the 9th Annual Senseless Skimfest. The event will be held at 26th Ave in Santa Cruz, CA. My buddy Ryan Parola does a superb job each year as the event organizer. What started out as a folding table on the beach with about twenty guys hanging out, has turned into a premier event bringing the community together for a fun-filled day. Last year had 55 entries, with hundreds of spectators.

I’ll be there early to help set up, then I will be judging the amateur divisions throughout the day. I’ll definitely be sneaking in some skimming and surfing and photography throughout the day. With a new south swell hitting late Friday, and filling in throughout the day on Saturday, and warm weather, it is shaping up to be an epic event.

Information, directions, and sign-up details can be found on the Senseless website by clicking here. Check out the Senseless newspaper article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel Sunday paper by clicking here.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

I had a blast at the San Diego Comic-Con. I always come back super-charged to work. Since returning from the show, I’ve been focused on our new batch of books (I’ll start announcing these new titles in the coming weeks). There is so much talent at the show, it is a visual rush that inspires and pushes me to do better work.

When I’m at the show, I don’t permit myself the luxury of strolling around. Part of me misses this, but at the same time I love what I do, and being at the booth is fun for me as well. Fortunately, we’re set up in a great area surrounded by some of the most amazing artists in the industry. Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Jim Silke, Sanjulian, Frank Cho, William Stout, Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni (a Comic-Con guest this year), Terry Dodson, Craig Elliot, Chris Sanders, Adam Hughes, Donato Giancola (who just won two Chesley Awards and a third Hugo), Brom, Art Adams, Bruce Timm, J. Scott Campbell, and Thomas Yeates area all within an aisle or two or three from us. Given the close proximately of all of these artists, I was able to stop by to see what most of them were working on, and pick up sketchbooks from those that had them.

As I mentioned earlier, Gary Gianni was a guest at the show this year. He had an artist spotlight on Saturday at 12:30. He invited Geoff Darrow and Mike Mignola along, who put on a funny show by heckling Gary throughout the hour-long panel. This is the one panel I saw. It felt good to disappear from the exhibit hall floor for a brief stint.

Back at the booth, I was lucky to have two people helping me out this year. My good friend James Walker ran the booth, covered for me, and basically handled anything and everything I threw at him for five days. We were also privileged to have Randy Dahlk help throughout the show. Randy has been amazing at taking on much of the design work for Flesk while I focus on the business end of things. The new Flash Gordon and Various Drawings books are designed by Randy.

We had a good number of signings at the booth. Mark Schultz signed for two hours each day. Gary Gianni, William Stout, Jim and Ruth Keegan all greeted fans at various times. Also, Peter de Seve, Dave Guertin and Greg Baldwin (Creaturebox), and Eric Goldberg signed for two hours each. The later four gentlemen were in conjunction with Stuart Ng Books.

A highlight for me every year is having the chance to see Charlie Kochman, Executive Editor of Abrams ComicArts. He is a true inspiration to me, and a heck of a guy. He edited the Eisner Award winning Kirby: King of Comics. To learn more about Charlie, you can read an interview with him by clicking here.

Speaking of highlights, I was pleased to have the opportunity to spend some time talking with Cathy and Arnie Fenner. Even before I knew them personally, the Fenner’s played a major role in influencing me, and pushing me harder to improve my own books. They continue to do so today. The bonus is they are both terrific people.

I’m going to wrap this up by listing out a random selection of cool books I picked up in San Diego. I won’t attempt to write a review for each one, but take into account that I wouldn’t list anything I wouldn’t recommend.

Chris Sanders sketchbook 3.

Strange Days edited by Cathy and Arnie Fenner. Big 32-page poster book featuring rare pulp art. Worth it for the J. Allen St. John pieces alone.

Daren Bader showed me a copy of his book just as we were closing up on Sunday. Very nice work.

Steve Rude Commissions 2009 sketchbook.

Arthur Adams Ocho, #8 in the sketchbook series.

J. Scott Campbell Monster Green the Wicked Tales

From the Vault 2 by Mike Mignola.

Essex County by Jeff Lemire from Top Shelf Productions.

Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell, winner of the 2009 Eisner Award for best new graphic novel. I read it last night, and it is a unique and refreshing read. Top Shelf has been producing wonderful art books and graphic novels. I think they are easily doing some of the best work out there.

Dames, Dolls & Gun Molls: The Art of Robert A. Maguire by Jim Silke. A must purchase.

You can buy just about all of these books from Bud’s Art Books.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth in San Diego!

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

I have a few pieces of art up on Ebay right now. If you would like to check them out, you can search by my seller id: “fleskpublications”, or click here to view the listings. There is great art by John Byrne, Adam Hughes, and Mike Zeck. Big scans can be viewed on the Ebay listings. These are terrific pieces of art that would be a welcome addition to any collection. Auctions end on Aug. 13, 2009.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Gary Gianni will be exhibiting in artist alley at Wizard World Chicago this weekend. The show runs from August 6-9 at the Donald Stephens Convention Center. More details on the show can be found at their website by clicking here.

Gary will have his latest books, including his new title Major Thrill’s Adventure Book, and original art for sale.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications