Category: Flesk Book Updates

At the moment I am wrapping up The Legend of Steel Bashaw with Petar Meseldžija. We’re fine-tuning the remaining details, then it will be off to the printer in a week or two. I’ve included a few sample pages of the “Making of” section. There are 20 pages of sketches and notes chronicling the 15-year process of the conception of this book.

Enjoy,

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

William Stout’s fantasy art book collection, Hallucinations, will be arriving in the comic shop and bookstores on or around July 1. Outside of the 50 copies of the hardbound signed deluxe edition I have held back for Flesk direct orders and the San Diego Comic-Con International, the rest of them are already reserved. Between the store orders and pre-orders, this is all I have left. This edition is limited to just 500 copies. I have no doubt they will be sold out by the time the San Diego show is over. You can reserve your copy now to guarantee you get one. Visit our website for details.

If you are in the Los Angeles area, Stout will be signing at the George C. Page Museum (La Brea Tar Pits) on June 19, 2010. He will also appear at the Famous Monsters Convention in Indianapolis from July 9-11, followed by Comic-Con International from July 21-25.

And speaking of Comic-Con International, we’ll be set up again this year. Same spot with two booths and right across from Stuart Ng Books. Mark Schultz will be making signing appearances each day. There will be some other artists making appearances, too. I’ll post the schedule as we near show time. I will have copies of Al Williamson Archives for the show. This will be the debut for the book!

Charley Parker wrote up a nice book review of our James Bama Sketchbook on his Lines and Colors blog. He writes, “Underlying both phases of his career is Bama’s skill as a draftsman, and that aspect of his art is brought out beautifully in a new book from Flesk Publications.” You can read the entire book review by clicking here.

Enjoy,

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

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

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

I sold our last copies of both the Dinosaur Discoveries deluxe signed hardbound and Mark Schultz: Various Drawings Vol. 4 deluxe signed hardbound books while at WonderCon on April 2-4, 2010. (Softbound editions of both titles are still available.)

If deluxe editions are your thing, you may want to stay aware of the new William Stout: Hallucinations deluxe signed hardbound book, which will be coming out in July, to make sure you get a copy. Hallucinations is at the printer now and on schedule for its July release. We’ll have them at our Flesk booth at the the San Diego Comic-Con International.

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Both William Stout: Hallucinations and James Bama Sketchbook: A Seventy-Year Journey, Traveling From the Far East to the Wild West are available to order on pages 336 and 337 in the Books section of the April 2010 Previews. The DCD order codes are as follows:

APR10 1183 James Bama Sketchbook 70 Year Journey SC

APR10 1191 William Stout Hallucinations SC
APR10 1192 William Stout Hallucinations SGN LTD HC

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

Both books are also available to the book trade. Flesk books are distributed by SCB Distributors. Note that the signed deluxe editions of our books are only available direct from us, through Bud’s Art Books and through Previews.

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

I am pleased to announce that Mark Schultz Blue Book is now available. Contained within is an assortment of Schultz’s preliminary drawings in blue pencil form for Storms at Sea and miscellaneous pieces culled from his personal sketchbook. This paperbound collection is 16-pages at 5.5 x 8.5″ in full color. Blue Book is limited to 1000 numbered copies, each signed by Schultz. This item is only available through Flesk. Order this book by April 15, 2010 and get free shipping in the US.

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications