elfquest – John Fleskes

June 6, 2024June 12, 2024

June 2024 Flesk Book Updates

Hi, everyone,

We had a nice time visiting with William Stout, Bruce Timm, and Allen and Vicki Williams recently in Southern California. We met with all of them to say hello and to go over upcoming projects. Updates on each artist can be found below, along with some details on more upcoming titles.

William Stout

We have numerous books in the works with Bill. We are getting close to finishing his massive three volume William Stout Comics set. The three books come to over 750 pages combined. Volume one and two are designed. Volume three is mapped out and just needs to have the design finalized. We don’t have a release date set yet. We’ll be sure to make a big announcement when we are ready to start taking pre-orders. We also have The Playing Card Art of William Stout two volume set completely done. This set will be released sometime in the future.

Bruce Timm

We also have numerous new books in the works with Bruce Timm. We’re not ready to announce what any of them are yet. But trust us, you will be happy to hear what we will be releasing. The Big Tease and Naughty and Nice books will be reprinted in the future as well. A lot of B.T. is coming!

Allen Williams

What a joy it was to see Allen and Vicki. It was a delightful experience to work with the pair when we published Covenant: The Art of Allen Williams. We will have more books featuring Allen’s art in the future. Allen shared an idea with us that we are eager to support him with and publish.

Jeffrey Allen Love

Jeff’s new book, The Last Battle at the End of the World, is in the final stages of its design. Our goal is to launch a Kickstarter for this new graphic novel in August. We will also reprint Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree at that time. We’re very excited to release this new book along with his previous titles.

Tran Nguyen

We have a new book of Tran’s studies that is close to being done. We will release this collection along with a new printing of her previous art book collection, Ambedo.

Gary Gianni

The updated trade edition of Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea art book by Mike Mignola (plot and script) and Gary Gianni (art and script) is coming! This collection goes into great detail about how this 49-page comic was made. We’ve introduced new insight and details that didn’t make it into the original edition. It has been a lot of fun retooling this book to hit a new audience. We’ll share more details in the coming months.

Mark Schultz

The all new edition of Portfolio by Mark Schultz is coming this August. We will begin to take pre-orders in July. The original printing back in 2015 was 272 pages. This new version is 432 pages at 7.5 x 10″!

Portfolio compiles the drawings found in the original five Various Drawings volumes as well as the cover illustrations and special bookplates. Plus, an additional 160 pages worth of material adds dozens of works not previously collected in the Various Drawings or Carbon books. Found within are nearly 450 fully rendered drawings executed in brush-and-ink, carbon or graphite pencil.

Enjoy,

John

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May 9, 2024May 9, 2024

ElfQuest: The Complete Covers Kickstarter Campaign Coming on May 21, 2024 from Flesk!

Hi, everyone,

The countdown begins!

In just two weeks we will launch the ElfQuest Covers Kickstarter campaign from Flesk. Set your alarms to go off at 9:00AM PDT on May 21, 2024 to join the event.

This art book will come in two formats and compile every single ElfQuest comic-book cover created. All 300-plus covers are collected in an elegant design, each of which will include behind-the-scenes commentary or story insight.

We’ve put the same passion and care into these books that you can see in our previous ElfQuest and Wendy Pini collections from Flesk. These include The Art of ElfQuest, ElfQuest: The Art of the Story, and Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini.

We’re excited to share the full details about this book on launch day. We’re thrilled to celebrate this pioneering and epic fantasy series that has captured the minds of generations since 1978 with this new collection.

More details coming on the 21st!

Enjoy,

John

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August 30, 2021September 9, 2021

Richard and Wendy Pini–Future Art Books with Flesk!

I’m not one to brag, but I can’t help myself. Who wouldn’t brag if they had the chance to meet with Richard and Wendy Pini? These are two of the kindest and smartest people who I know. It was a wonderful surprise when the Pini’s visited in Santa Cruz the day prior to their guest appearance at the Silicon show in San Jose.

I could rattle on for a while about what a delight it was to see them in person, especially given how few people I’ve seen in recent times. I’ll focus on a pair of quick points.

We may have talked about a new project, which I can not confirm or deny may turn into something really cool! How’s that for being vague? I’ve been itching to work with the Pini’s again for years. As I shared an idea with them I watched in amazement as Richard took my basic pitch and turned it into something far more exciting than I originally imagined. I don’t usually offer a tease so far in advance, but I really wanted to demonstrate how much I continue to learn from the Pini’s and how quick Richard’s business mind spins. They have been publishing and staying fresh for over 43 years and there is a reason why.

On another note, they were nice enough to listen to my ideas for the business over the next few years. I have a vision about where I want to take Flesk and how to navigate through all of the unknowns to get there. They encouraged me on my path while offering some very good insight into areas that I had not considered before. It was an enlightening visit for which I am grateful.

Thanks Richard and Wendy!

Enjoy,

–John

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July 13, 2017October 5, 2018

Flesk Booth #5019 at San Diego Comic-Con! New Prints and Books!

Hi, everyone,

Come visit us at San Diego Comic-Con. Flesk booth #5019.

Arthur Adams, Daren Bader, Frank Cho, Terry Dodson, Craig Elliott, Lance HaunRogue, Richard Pini and Wendy Pini, Jim Silke, Gary Gianni, William Stout, Bruce Timm, and more artists who we’ve worked with will be there!

Daren Bader and Lance HaunRogue, the artist and writer of Tribes of Kai. Signing at the Flesk booth on Thursday from 2:00-3:00.

Richard Pini and Wendy Pini will be signing at our booth on Friday from 2:00-3:00. We’ll have copies of The Art of Elfquest, Elfquest: The Art of the Story, and Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini with us.

Debuting at our booth will be our new series of prints!

The new Wendy Pini prints are ready for San Diego Comic-Con! These fine art prints can only be purchased at our Flesk booth #5019. Each is made with the finest museum quality paper and archival inks, and made to the highest standard that you can expect from Flesk.

The new Bruce Timm prints are here and ready for San Diego Comic-Con! Flesk booth #5019 is the only place where you can get these official prints by Bruce Timm. There are 13 different prints available.

The art has been scanned from the original artwork, plus the paper and inks are museum quality, archival and will last longer than any of us! These are gorgeous! Bruce will be at the show where you can get them signed as well.

We’ll have free postcard giveaways and a full selection of our latest Flesk books.

See you there!

Enjoy,

John

March 29, 2017October 5, 2018

Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini Update

Hi, everyone,

The advance sample copy of Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini is here!

This is possibly the greatest gift that I have ever seen presented from a husband to a wife. I watched Richard Pini pour all of his energy into this book for months. This is the culmination of years of planning and organizing to make this book a reality. Today, Richard had the joyful moment to present a copy to Wendy.

The books will be arriving with us in a few weeks when we will begin shipping them to our supporters. Thanks to everyone for your patience while this book was finished, and to Richard and Wendy Pini for the opportunity to work with you on these three stunning and marvelous books (including Art of Elfquest and Elfquest: The Art of the Story for those out of the loop) that highlight Wendy and her art!

Enjoy,

John

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February 24, 2017October 5, 2018

Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini Update!

Hi, everyone,

A lightning fast update on Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini.

The bonus page for the limited edition, which Richard Pini and Wendy Pini manage to sign amid a very hectic week, have arrived with the printer. At this point the printer has everything that they need and they are printing and binding the book. It’s on track for delivery just in time for our Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event where Richard and Wendy will be special guests. Kickstarter orders will ship at the same time. It will be a busy April!

elfquest.com

Enjoy,

John

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January 5, 2017October 5, 2018

Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini Heading to the Printer!

Hi, everyone,

Today is our last day to review Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini. Kathy and I are reading over the text sections, checking the captions and looking over the design one last time before I bundle it up for the printer. I’ve also sent Richard Pini a PDF of the book so that he can also give it one final review. We’re almost there!

The book is scheduled to arrive with us in April. The first thing we will do once they are here is to ship them out to our Kickstarter supporters.

Its arrival will coincide with our Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event in Kansas City, MO (running on April 21-23) where Richard and Wendy will be featured guests of the show. You better believe that we will have copies there for you to get signed!

Enjoy,

John

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November 22, 2016October 5, 2018

Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini Book Update!

Hi, everyone,

I’d like to share the latest news regarding Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini.

Two major stages have been completed since our last update, which takes us into a third big stage that will start very shortly. Let me share what each stage consisted of.

In late October Richard posted the following in a Facebook post that perfectly sums up the first stage.

“Today I have turned in to Flesk Publications the first ‘final’ text and book map files for Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini. This means the book is essentially written and roughly designed–and now begins the process of fine tuning nearly 43,000 words and 500 art images. (Which means, by many definitions, this qualifies as a novel-length work. Egad!) Now, the publisher, the designer (who provided the wonderful look of both Art of Elfquest and Art of the Story), and I shuttle this baby back and forth until we are all as satisfied as we can be. (I’m lucky; I have a head start in that department.) There has never been a ‘The Art of…’ book like this, not even its two predecessors.”

That’s right! 43,000 words and 500 art images! Richard selected the art, wrote the text and roughly placed them throughout the 304 page book. It was a staggering amount of work. Much respect goes out to Richard for pulling this off. Truly, I’m in awe at what he accomplished.

This brings us to the next stage which is a month long process where the designer, Arpad, fine tunes the art and text into a finished book. While this is a short summary of what he is doing, the work involved is intense. He’s taking the engineers blue prints, gathering the materials provided and constructing the actual building.

In the next week or so we will begin the next stage. Once Arpad turns the designed book in to us, Richard and I will begin our inspections. There may need to be a tweak here, a slight adjustment here, a shift over there, and lots and lots of reviews to look for typos or for any sort of little thing that needs to be addressed.

After this, I will review every piece of art and make sure it is color corrected and prepped properly for the printer, while packaging the book to turn in. These last two bits are done by me alone. I have done these last two stages for every book that I have every published. It’s my final stamp of approval and I take no shortcuts.

This brings you up to speed. I’ll fill you in more next month!

Enjoy,

John

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