John Fleskes – John Fleskes

July 15, 2025July 15, 2025

The Art of Daniel Warren Johnson Kickstarter Campaign is Live!

Hi, everyone,

Our Art of Daniel Warren Johnson Kickstarter campaign is live!

We are thrilled to bring you the latest art book collection from Flesk! The Art of Daniel Warren Johnson showcases the majority of his kinetic career since his start in 2013. There are a multitude of sections covering his favorite comic-book covers and pages, along with rarely seen commissions and personal works, preliminaries and cover thumbnails. Full access was given to his personal sketchbooks, allowing for a deep look at over 200 sketches that are presented in a dynamic and exciting way.

Here’s the link to the campaign page.

This art book is offered as a paperback and as a signed deluxe hardcover edition. We also have two premium signed 13 x 19″ prints available. Every book pledge comes with a Kickstarter exclusive 8.5 x 11″ signed print.

This sizable book reveals great detail by sharing extended commentary covering DWJ’s thoughts and pathos for almost every piece. This collection has been methodically put together from the original art and through numerous interview sessions with DWJ over the span of four years.

DWJ is the writer/artist who brought us Space-Mullet, Extremity, Murder Falcon, Do A Powerbomb!, The Moon is Following Us, along with Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star, and a magnificent run on Transformers. And let’s not forget his short Wolverine and Superman stories, and his many variant covers. It’s unbelievable what he has accomplished in the last decade. His high-quality output is nothing short of spectacular. We’re all big fans of DWJ and are honored to showcase his work.

Enjoy,

John

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July 3, 2025July 15, 2025

Flesk at Heroes Con Wrap-up!

Hi, everyone,

We had an absolutely spectacular time together at Heroes Con. Nine creative giants who we work with were at the show. Nothing beats being together in person. We had so many great moments during our time together on the showroom floor and at our dinners. We got to meet many wonderful people who stopped by our booth and even some legendary pros for the first time. It felt more like a vacation with family than an event. A big thanks to Shelton Drum, Karla Southern and the entire Heroes crew for treating us with such kindness. We’ll be back!

In this picture, from left to right: Vicky, John, Joe Dragunas, Gary Gianni, Mark Chiarello, and Mark Schultz. William Stout, Richard and Wendy Pini, Daniel Warren Johnson, Jeffrey Alan Love, and Arthur Adams were also there!

Another Heroes Con high note was spending extended periods of time with Richard and Wendy Pini, along with David Mizejewski at our Flesk booth. Vicky and I consider ourselves to be the luckiest people in the world to have their friendships.

We also sat down with our friend Jeffrey Alan Love to view the original art for the first four issues of News From the Fallout. The originals are stunningly beautiful! Issue #1 of this new comic, written by Chris Condon and drawn by Jeff, is now available from Image Comics. Go grab yourself a copy! Jeff’s new book, The Last Battle at the End of the World and expanded editions of Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree were hits at the show!

Check out this recently completed drawing by Mark Schultz! Mark has enough pieces for an all-new collection. We’re working on a fresh title for the first volume of his next series. This book will be released in 2026.

Enjoy,

John

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June 4, 2025July 15, 2025

Bruce Timm Signed Vampirella #1 Exclusive Variant Cover Now Available!

Hi, everyone,

Welcome to Bruce Timm’s first signed variant comic event! We are offering a new exclusive Vampirella #1 cover featuring a new color piece by Bruce!

We also have limited quantities of Bruce’s previous signed sketchbooks that he self-published in the 2000s. Plus, a small number of various signed Naughty and Nice books and Teasers. Plus, two signed prints!

Here is the link to see all of the goodies and to read the descriptions. Sorry, no international orders.

Each signed item is limited to 1 per person. This is to help ensure that the most people possible can get something signed by Bruce at a fair price. Many of these books and sketchbooks are from Bruce’s personal stock. Most of these items are available in limited quantities.

Bruce has no foreseeable plans to appear at any events. This is a great chance to get something signed by this amazing producer/director/writer/animator/comic artist and co-creator of Harley Quinn!

There are still unsigned copies of the latest edition of Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm and some unsigned prints that are available at affordable prices.

There are 150 signed copies with the title on the cover and 100 signed copies with no title (virgin cover) available direct from Flesk.

“Nosferetta” and “Slime Thing” 13 x 19” signed prints by Bruce Timm!

Bruce Timm’s previous signed sketchbooks that he self-published in the 2000s are available in very low quantities. These are direct from Bruce’s personal stock and his last copies.

Our Flesk B.T. Teasers from 2011 to 2013. These were limited to 1000 copies and sold out a decade ago. These are copies from Bruce’s personal stock.

Warehouse finds! A handful of copies of the two Big Tease hardcover editions and some first edition paperback copies of the original Naughty and Nice book are available. All come signed by B.T. on the title page!

Enjoy,

John

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May 19, 2025

The Making of Spectres by Tran Nguyen

Spectres and Ambedo: The Art of Tran Nguyen Collections: Two luxurious hardcover books that collect the very best paintings and drawings by Tran Nguyen! Our Kickstarter campaign runs until May 22, 2025.

Hi, everyone,

Making books, even after publishing for nearly 25 years, always takes more time than we expect. I was looking back at our email exchanges with Tran about Spectres and came to the realization that this has been a three-year project. If you add the time that Tran put into making the art, Spectres is over a decade in the making.

“Study No. 1,” the painting that would spark this series by Tran was done in 2014. I was already well-aware of Tran at this time and marveled at each new painting that she created. It was in early 2018 that I first broached the idea of publishing a book on her paintings. Thankfully Tran said yes! This led to the release of Ambedo in December of 2019. The\is book had a limited print run and was never available to stores. It quickly sold out directly from us.

The experience of working with Tran was so enjoyable, and I continued to see her growth and creation of her “Study” series, I was eager to work with her again one day. In early 2022 we started discussing a new edition of Ambedo and a new book collecting her experimental studies–Spectres.

As with Ambedo, this opportunity to publish a second collection of Tran’s work has been an absolute privilege. Tran is very kind, creative and professional with smooth communication. She is very involved with the designs and packaging of both books. The cover designs are all by Tran. The look and feel of the book are very much guided by her feedback. This is a book that not only collects her art, but the covers serve as her own hands to hold the book together.

While it is a long process, the time is worth it. We never set a schedule when making a book. The time needed is dictated by the book, not by us.

We tried something new with this campaign. In the past we had stretch goals. Instead, this time we launched as an all-or-nothing approach. The gilt edges, the foil for the cover stamps, the spot color inside the book are all elegant features. We wanted to make sure you knew from the beginning that these books are luxurious.

Your pledge and trust in us, and our faith in you to support us, has made something especially beautiful. Thank you.

The campaign ends this Thursday. As we noted in our last update, the book is with the printer. The proofs have been approved and the book is on the press. As soon as we have our advance copies, we will share pictures in a future update. We will also update the shipping schedule once the books are on the way from Hong Kong.

We look forward to getting Spectres and Ambedo into your hands and onto your library shelves.

On behalf of Tran and everyone here at Flesk, thanks!

Enjoy,

John

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May 7, 2025July 15, 2025

Tran Nguyen Book Updates! Spectres and Ambedo Collections

Hi, eveeryone,

Our Spectres and Ambedo: The Art of Tran Nguyen Collections Kickstarter campaign runs until May 22nd! These two luxurious hardcover books collect the very best paintings and drawings by Tran.

These two art books are offered as a hardcover edition for only $39 (the cover price is $49.95). In addition, we have a signed edition of Spectres that comes in a slipcase and is limited to 500 copies. We also have two premium signed prints available.

I have good news to share!

We had Spectres and Ambedo done and ready for the printer before this campaign was launched. With the successful backing by you all, we went ahead and sent the books to the printer right away. The printer then made a set of proofs for us to review. We always request high quality proofs for all books that we publish. It’s costly but guarantees that the press team has a visual guide on hand to compare the pages coming off the press to. It also gives us a chance to tweak or adjust any colors that may not look exactly the way we expected before the book goes to press. We have approved the proofs and sent these sheets back to the printer.

At this point the books are entirely in the hands of the printer. They will be printing, binding, applying the gilt edges, spot colors, foils, and making the slipcase for the Spectres deluxe edition over the next 4-5 weeks. Once they are done, the printer will send us two copies of each edition for us to review and approve. Once approved, the books will be packaged and shipped to us from Hong Kong. The transit times are typically another 6-7 weeks. We’ll keep you updated on how everything goes.

Thank you so much for supporting us! We’re grateful to you all for helping to make these books a reality.

Enjoy,

John

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April 22, 2025July 15, 2025

Jeffrey Alan Love Signing Books at the Flesk Warehouse!

Hi, everyone,

The Last Battle at the End of the World and the expanded editions of Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree are available on our website. The books are here and are being signed by Jeffrey Alan Love at this moment. We look forward to shipping out these books to our Kickstarter backers and to those who placed a pre-order on our Flesk website soon! The first batch of books will go out on the 28th.

Enjoy,

John

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March 10, 2025July 15, 2025

Flesk Book Sale! Runs from March 10-14th, 2025!

Hi, everyone,

Here’s the link to the sale on our Flesk website. If you like reading details, I have a bunch to share.

Our Flesk bumps sale runs from today until Friday, March 14th. This is your chance to get some of our books for up to 70% off the cover price. We normally run this sale during the holiday season in December, but we were too busy shipping the Portfolio by Mark Schultz, ElfQuest Covers, and Arthur Adams Preliminary Studies books throughout the last three months of 2024. Throughout January and February, we were focused on finishing the new Jeffrey Alan Love, Gary Gianni, Tran Nguyen books. All six of these books are 100% done. We’re finally caught up and ready to launch this big sale!

These sale books all have slight marks, or a bump on them. Whenever a new book comes in we set aside any copies that may have a slight scuff. We save these for our big yearly sale. In this way you have this chance to load up on our books at a greatly reduced price for one week out of the year. We may have anywhere from 2-40 copies of each book offered. You can expect many of these discounted copies to sell out within the first day or two. We love packing and shipping these books to you and look forward to having a busy week.

Another thing that this sale helps us with is to free up some space in our warehouse for new titles. These sales also help us to add to our emergency fund—an important thing for us to do. Especially this year with the unknowns regarding tariffs, as well as the Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy. Unfortunately we are affected by their bankruptcy. The ElfQuest Covers books delivered to Diamond last December remain unpaid and we have no idea if we will receive any funds or not. Luckily, we are not in any trouble. This is because I run this business with no debt and with an emergency fund. You never know how outside forces will try and challenge you. This strategy of not taking on debt and having savings got us through the pandemic, and I’m confident it will move us forward through this year as well.

Thanks for supporting us!

Enjoy,

John

February 20, 2025July 15, 2025

Remembering Jim Silke

Hello, everyone,

I heard the sad news of Jim Silke’s passing last Sunday evening. Jim was the consummate gentleman. He was always dressed well. He had an impeccable way of speaking, with a gentle laugh and he loved to smile. Jim was very engaging and curious, and had a flair for perfection in all that he was involved in. Just looking at him, I imagined he was the living embodiment of a Hollywood actor from the golden age. It’s inspiring to see how his career as an artist started so late in his life. It was my honor to work directly with him on his Jungle Girls and Jim Silke Sketchbook titles that we were lucky to publish. He will be missed.

–John

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February 4, 2025July 15, 2025

New Book by Jeffrey Alan Love! Flesk Kickstarter Campaign Launched Today!

Hello, everyone,

We’re thrilled to announce that our Jeffrey Alan Love Kickstarter campaign has launched. We are bringing you Jeff’s new graphic novel, The Last Battle at the End of the World. There are a hardcover and a deluxe signed hardcover available. We are also releasing expanded editions of Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree. All three books include a behind the scenes section that features sketches and commentary revealing how each book was made.

We also have five signed prints available as add-ons. Please visit our campaign page for all of the details, book spread samples, and a video preview. Thanks so much!

Enjoy,

John

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January 28, 2025January 28, 2025

Flesk January 2025 Upcoming Book Updates

Hello, everyone,

We’re just one week away from launching our new Jeffrey Alan Love Kickstarter campaign. This event is to celebrate Jeff’s new graphic novel, The Last Battle at the End of the World. There will be a hardcover and a deluxe signed hardcover available. We are also releasing expanded editions of Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree. All three books will include a behind the scenes section that features sketches and commentary revealing how each book was made. The campaign will launch next Tuesday, February 4th at 9:00AM PST. We have a pre-launch page online where you can click on the “Notify me on launch” button. We’ll also send out a newsletter reminder that morning.

In other news, we returned from a short trip to the LA area last Sunday evening. It has been heartbreaking to see how the fires continue to affect people in certain areas. William Stout and his wife were evacuated at one point. They are safe and back in their house. We were glad to see the rain on Saturday and Sunday while we were there.

We had a nice get-together with Bruce Timm where we went over the second round of his new book together. Bruce’s original art is so valuable at this point that we stopped mailing packages years ago. Since we make a handful of trips to the LA area each year, we make a point to pick up and drop off material as we pass through. This is my favorite method since we can take our time photographing and scanning the art at home. Once the new material is organized, I drop the pieces into the appropriate book (we’re currently jugging three different themed books) and tighten up the book maps. Once I’m happy with the latest revision I print out a hard copy for Bruce and hand write or type any thoughts or notes that may be useful for him to see. I then mail this copy to Bruce. During our next visit I pick it back up from him. The printout will have his notes and sketch guides written and drawn all throughout to help guide the next revision. I have the second revision for one book in my hands. I will begin to make the appropriate improvements over the next few weeks. Bruce is an absolute joy to work with. He’s always pushing to improve the books, while being easygoing and thoughtful with his communication. We’ll keep going back and forth like this until a book is done. As soon as we are done with the first title, I’ll announce what it is. I’ll give you one themed book hint… HORROR.

On another topic, I had a few productive days working on the Daniel Warren Johnson book last week. I emailed and talked with Dan to fine tune the final art picks for his collection. There are a few recently completed pieces that we slipped into the book. I’m doing a little shuffling around to adjust the flow slightly. I tend to come up with new ideas often. It’s not unusual for me to make small or drastic changes all throughout the book map and design process. I’ve been having some recorded conversations with Dan to ask questions. I capture the relevant portions of our talks that I then transcribe into commentary. I send off the text to Dan who gives his words a final look to make sure his voice is captured correctly. I then insert the commentary on the relevant page. The artists like this method since they can draw while we talk, and they don’t have to write anything. I never plan my questions. Instead, we let the conversation go in any direction. In this way we get interesting and natural dialogue for the book.

I’m also working out some details with the printer for the two new Tran Nguyen books, Ambedo and Spectres. And I’m doing the same with the Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea revised art book by Mike Mignola and Gary Gianni. These details include obtaining the pricing, reviewing and ordering paper, and looking into some production options. This lets us review our budget, set the cover price for the books, fine tune the release schedules, and gather the final details for when we officially promote and offer the book to you all. This is typically a 2-3 week process depending on how much specialty work goes into the book. I have ongoing conversations with Tran, Gary and Mike to keep them up to date and to get their input and approval on everything. All our books are a collaboration and involve a lot of communication.

Besides the three Love books, the two Tran titles, the Gianni/Mignola collection, the DWJ and B.T. books, we still have the three-volume William Stout Comics set on the schedule to be released late this year. This Stout collection is stunning. I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

2025 will be our best year yet! We already have our 2026 and 2027 schedules mapped out as well. We are not considering taking on any new books or artists for the next five years. This is how long it will take for us to get fully caught up on all the upcoming books that are on our existing plate. I’m grateful that we are in this position. Thank you for supporting us so that we can continue.

Enjoy,

John

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