New Mark Schultz Art For Xenozoic! Plus, The Spirit #2 Now Available from DC!

Mark Schultz Xenozoic Chapter Header Preliminary © 2010 Schultz

Mark Schultz is working on over twenty new spot illustrations for inclusion in our upcoming Xenozoic collection coming fall 2010. (Click here for full details about the book.) Mark recently sent me the preliminary and finished artwork above, which will be used as the chapter header for the story “Another Swarm.”

Mark Schultz Xenozoic Cover
Mark Schultz Xenozoic Cover

At the moment Mark is hand coloring the artwork for the cover to Xenozoic. The cover you see on the website, and shown here, is a digitally colored placeholder done by Randall Dahlk until Mark completes his coloring. I’m particularly excited by Mark’s willingness to use a traditional method of coloring instead of a computer. While I enjoy both computer and traditional art, I have the opinion that there is a certain “feel” that can only be obtained by using traditional tools. I’ll post the finished piece once it is ready.

The Spirit #2 written by Mark Schultz
The Spirit #2 written by Mark Schultz

On another Schultz topic, the new issue of The Spirit is out. You can get this second issue at your local comic book shop. Mark has written the first three issues of this new series.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

The Latest Book News At Flesk! A Rundown of Our Nine New Titles This Year!

What’s going on at Flesk? A lot. This is, without a doubt, my busiest year in regards to the amount of books I am publishing (nine titles between spring and fall). I thought I would run through the titles, give an update on each and share some of my thoughts.

Mark Schultz Blue Book was a fun little project. At 16-pages and being a softbound, it is intended as a cool inexpensive item available at the shows where we appear and direct through us by mail. Each copy is signed by Mark Schultz and goes for only ten bucks. The quality and printing is the same as with any of our products and offers those on a tight budget something affordable. 2010 will continue to be tough on many people as they get their feet back under them after a few tough economical years. Most of the books I am publishing this year have affordability in mind—solid volumes, packed with beautiful art, with low price points to get you all more high quality books without having to shell out the big dollars.

The James Bama Sketchbook is here! The book showed up last week and we are processing orders now. All pre-orders and stores should be receiving their copies any day now. The story behind this book is a simple one. I had visited Jim Bama and saw some of his sketches, which I absolutely loved. About a year later when my schedule opened up, I called Jim to ask if I could put together a book of his preliminaries. “Sure,” he said. And that was that. A year later the book is done and available. It can take me up to a year to get a book done based on what is involved and how many projects I am juggling. I get bored easily and prefer having too much to do in lieu of too little. I feel Jim is a living legend and one terrific guy. He has a gift for making anyone feel like family. I am always honored to have an opportunity to work with him. A few people have asked me if there will be a hardcover edition for this book. Not for this one. However, I’m working on a new Bama fine art book that will be published as a hardcover only in 2011. It will feature over 50 of his unpublished fine art paintings from his travels around the world.

On Friday I received my sample copies of William Stout: Hallucinations from the printer. What happens is the printer will send a few copies for me to review and make sure all is as it should be. If the book meets my approval then the bulk shipment is approved and heads for the shipping yard to make its long Pacific journey to the States. I will make the announcement on the Flesk Publications website once they arrive. The book came out exceptionally well. I’m happy with the colors and the wide variety of fantasy themed artwork filling the book. The deluxe signed hardbound edition is limited to 500 copies. At the moment 400 are spoken for. I will have some copies held for the San Diego Comic-Con International in July. I do expect these to sell out over the coming few months, as did the deluxe hardbound for Stout’s last book “Dinosaur Discoveries.” That’s a big hint that if you want this edition, I would recommend acting early.

I sent the book Al Williamson Archives Volume 1 to the printer last Thursday. This book is treat. It is packed with over 100 of Al’s personal unpublished drawings. The book is printed in color at 64-pages at 9” x 12” in a softbound format. I decide to bump up the dimensions so it would fit nicely alongside our previous Williamson book, Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic. A few people have asked about whether or not a hardcover edition will be available for this book. Nope, there is no hardcover. The themes for the first four volumes are already planned out, and the second volume is about eighty-percent designed. We all hope this becomes another successful yearly collection like the Mark Schultz’s Various Drawings series.

At the moment I am working on Petar Meseldžija’s The Legend of Steel Bashaw. It brings me great pleasure to publish Petar’s work in the English language for the first time. If you haven’t read his interview yet, you can click here to learn more about the book and how I came to meet Petar.

Another title which is almost ready for the printer is Walt Reed’s Harvey Dunn: Illustrator and Painter of the Pioneer West. This is one of those books that is a dream project for me to publish. Besides Walt being one of my earliest influences and someone I look up to, Harvey Dunn is one of the legends of the illustration field long deserving a lavish book collection of his work. The final tweaks are being made now. Pending Walt’s final approval, I expect the book to be off to the printer soon.

I am also working on putting together Jim Silke’s Jungle Girls. Mr. Silke has already provided me with a very thorough book map and all the material I need. It’s just a matter of finishing putting it all together and getting it into all of your hands.

Right after I am done with Jungle Girls, I will work on wrapping up Mark Schultz’s Xenozoic collection.

Then there’s William Stout: Inspirations coming in late fall. Yes, I enjoy being busy! Especially when having the opportunity to work with all of these talented gentlemen.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

San Diego Union-Tribune William Stout Interview and Article by Robert L. Pincus!

William Stout Dinosaur Drawing Workshop for Kids at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
William Stout Dinosaur Drawing Workshop for Kids at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Robert L. Pincus, the chief arts editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, interviewed William Stout during his latest visit to the San Diego Natural History Museum on March 25. The result is a wonderful front-page article for the Sunday, April 25, 2010, newspaper. The full piece can be viewed online by clicking here: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/25/jurassic-art/

The interview and article covers a wide variety of topics, including his involvement with the San Diego Natural History Museum as muralist for their “Fossil Mysteries” wing, and his latest projects and future goals.

Stout was at the museum to sign copies of his new books, Dinosaur Discoveries, New Dinosaur Discoveries A-Z, and our book featuring the San Diego Natural History Museum murals, Prehistoric Life Murals. Afterwards, Stout entertained the crowd in a free interactive dinosaur drawing workshop for kids and anyone else interested in partaking. Stout also gave a tour of his “Fossil Mysteries” murals.

You can visit Stout’s website to see when he will be appearing at the museum again, and where you can find him next. (Click here to be taken to William Stout’s website.).

Here’s the link again to the Union-Tribune article. Click here to read.

Enjoy!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Al Williamson Archives Available to Order in Previews—May 2010!

Al Williamson Archives Vol. 1 Coming July 2010 from Flesk!
Al Williamson Archives Vol. 1 Coming July 2010 from Flesk!

Al Williamson Archives Volume 1 is available to order on page 308 in the Comics section of the May 2010 Previews. You can also re-order our Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon book in the same order form. The DCD order codes are as follows:

MAY10 1032 Al Williamson Archives SC VOL 01

MAY10 1033 Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: Lifelong Vision of Heroic SC

You can place your orders now through your local comic book shop. Visit the Previews website for more information here. Diamond orders are due May 15.

Both books are also available to the book trade. Flesk books are distributed by SCB Distributors.

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

William Stout Interview at Comic Book Resources!

William Stout: Hallucinations Coming July 2010 from Flesk.
William Stout: Hallucinations Coming July 2010 from Flesk.

Alex Dueben has written an article on “The Many Careers of William Stout,” followed by an interview with Stout, available on the Comic Book Resources website.

This informative article and interview covers Stout’s work in film, comics, and as a paleoartist and muralist. Furthermore, Stout discusses the story behind his books, Dinosaur Discoveries and New Dinosaur Discoveries A-Z, and shares news on his upcoming fantasy art collections Hallucinations and Inspirations. There is also a good discussion focusing on his work ethic and diversity in selecting projects.

You can read the interview at Comic Book Resources by clicking here.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications