I am sad to report that I do not have much to report this week. I know, I know – I’m sad, too. This week was a week of playing catch up, trying to get ahead on this book we’re working on, in addition to other projects. This week, I did finish up a T-Shirt design that you can check out here and here, if you’re into that kind of thing.

This week also saw me do some more warmup sketches. However, unlike weeks past, these I did digitally. I may turn these into a print or something at a later date, but you can check them out individually right here.

Also, I wanted to remind you guys and gals that this is the season of lovin’! In that vein, we here at MMP want to faciltate the nerd-love and are offering a GREAT DEAL on our Zombie Valentine’s Cards! They’re available here and here, so go get them before time runs out!

On the art front this week, I want to share a drawing I did recently. It’s of Jean Grey as Phoenix. I don’t do a lot of large-scale drawings anymore, but every so often I get an itch and need to scratch it. This is 11×17 drawn in ink. she’s not quite done yet, I might color her. I’m trying to start doing more sketches to take to shows, so if you have a character request, let me know (in the comments, perhaps?), and maybe your idea will make it onto the blog.

Be sure to keep checking out my new webcomic, Urban Wild, which updates bi-weekly.

PS – The last day for (as close as I can get to) Guaranteed Before X-Mas Delivery of stuff is Monday, Dec. 12. I’m mailing every other day in preparation for the holiday rush, so PLEASE get your orders in soon, so you don’t have to be mad at me when your posters/books don’t get to you before X-mas and your kids are all disappointed (that’s happened).

This weekend in Portland is a very special weekend: this weekend in N. Portland is Geek The Halls, a small 2-day geeky art show, put on by the PDX Browncoats. I’m very excited about this show, as this is our first official year showing there. (We were supposed to be there last year, but I got pretty sick right beforehand and couldn’t make it. It promises to be a ton of fun with a lot of the local nerd herd being in attendance, so if you’re in the area, please swing on by. This is also the second-to-last (maybe the last, depending on the application of another show) show we’ll have this year, so help make it a good one to end our season.

So, last week I debuted our FREE SHIPPING SALE that’s going on right now until 12/9 (GET ON IT!), where all you have to do is buy a poster, pendant or book and I pay your shipping. It’s all taken care of, couldn’t be easier. This week, I wanna debut some new products! YAY! As some of you know, Ashlie and I recently went crazy and bought another button  machine. It’s bigger than the old one, which means I can put arts on them that I couldn’t put on the tiny 1 inch buttons. WHICH IS EXCITING (shut up, it totally is), because it means I can do THIS:

Click me! Click ME!

Me Too! Click!

ROBOT BUTTON PACKS! I’m really excited about these. The picture really don’t do them justice. The buttons themselves are 1.5 inches across and each pack comes with 4 buttons. They are pretty durned cool, if I do say so myself.

So, those are neat. Onto the artworks for this week: This week, I got an itch to draw a new Propaganda style art piece and thought, “you know who’d be cool on a propaganda poster? DOOM.” So here he is. I like the idea of Dr. Doom as a world-dominating bad-guy, who thinks that he’s the only person in the world who can fix all the world’s problems, if only he were running EVERYTHING.

The Bots Buttons and the Doom print will be added to the stores after this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled!

So, I wanted to start this post off with something cliched like a Black Friday Deal or something, but thought better of it (that’s coming further down, I promise). Instead, I want to talk about you guys and gals and your awesomeness. As I mentioned in past posts, I recently decided to take MMP full-time. (2 months ago this week, actually) This wasn’t a rash decision and it wasn’t something I could’ve done even a year ago and it’s largely due to you, the Minions. Since I made the choice to strike out on my own, you guys have been awesome with your support, and I wanted to let you now how much I appreciate it. Without you I’d be back in my cube at my job, killing time until I got to hop a bus and go home. Brain dead and soul-weary, I’d be forcing myself to try to get ‘extra’ work done for our convention appearances, and it would be lacking. Since I moved to MMP, though, I’ve completed 4 new prints, which beforehand would have been a 4-6 month long process at least, started a new webcomic (which goes live on 11/29), and begun production on the next Captain Dan Book (not to mention all the awesome freelance projects I’ve been able to take on and other items we’ve been making).  And it’s all due to you. So, in keeping with the season I’d like to say Thank You to all of you.

And now, for the commerce! Last week, we released our Pirate Gift Pack and today in keeping with the holiday sales season, we’re starting our “Black Friday Shipping Sale!” It’s easy, just go the either our Store or our Etsy shop and buy a Large Print, a Pendant (or Keychain) or a book and I’ll cover the shipping (if you live in the contiguous US) and I’ll cover half of your shipping if you live outside the us or in AK & HI. Because I’m nice like that. All you need to do is place the order, the shipping is already fixed for you. So go ahead, you know you want to.

This week, I also want to share some arts with you. It’s been a while. Again thanks to you minions, I find myself with some spare time at night, so instead of rotting my brain in front of the tube, I’ve started doing some sketches and original art pieces again. Most of these will probably start appearing with me at conventions for sale, but if you happen to see one you want, let me know and we can work something out. This one isn’t finished yet, but it’s almost ready for inks. There are some problems with it that need to be addressed before I do that, though. But I wanted to show you something I’ve been working on. So that’s all I have for you today. Go out and have a nice weekend and I’ll see you again next week! – D

Sorry I’m late this week. I’m getting prepped for Portland Comic Book Show this weekend and I lost all track of time! I’ll try not to make a habit of it. If you’re in the area tomorrow, you should definitely swing by and check out the show. I’ll be there at tables 123 & 124 hawking my wares and sketching all day. I may have some special guests stop by and lend their sketchery as well, so make the trip!

So, remember last week when I mentioned a “special announcement” for this week’s blog? No? I am disappoint. Go back and re-read it. I’ll wait.

All done? Good.

So, this week, I am proud to announce that beginning Tuesday, 11/29/11, I will be the official illustrator of a webcomic called Urban Wild from Craigmore Creations! Ah! How cool is that!? Urban wild follows the adventures of Lorry the Raccoon and her woodland friends as they make a living in the urban jungle. I’m really excited about this! Most people don’t know this, but when I was in college, in addition to Graphic Design and Art, I also wanted to study Conservation/Game Biology. I took some classes, but opted not to go for the second degree because of the additional math requirements. Science, and animals and biology in particular, has always held an interest for me. So this project really marries a lot of my interests into one awesome package.

So for today’s art post, you guys and gals are getting an exclusive art preview! Yay! Let me know what you think! And remember to check out Urban Wild when the new season starts on 11/29!

Just messing with you, folks. You came here to read about what happened during my time at the big poppa Con, so let me regale you with tales & legends of my travels. (I’ll skip the vacation part of the trip, but let me just say, the Chula Vista Nature Center is kinda awesome and right next to the Motel 6 in C.V. where I stayed.)

Ok, so Preview night started off without a hitch. Ashlie and I were able to get in and set up with 2 hours to spare. It was FANTASTIC. I’ve rarely had a show start so easy. (Which you know if you are a regular reader of my con wrap-ups.) We got all set up and found ourselves next to Chet Phillips and his wife, who were both super awesome people to be next to, and Chet’s Art is GORGEOUS, go buy some. On our other side were the gentlemen responsible for Red Moon, which is gorgeously drawn, and while I didn’t have much interaction with them, they seemed like cool dudes with a beautiful book. Anyway, preview night: it was ok. Slower than last year, it seemed that there weren’t as many people there for Wed. night as in previous years, but it was good to be there. It amazed me how many tables in Small Press were empty on preview night, too.

Thursday started off ominously as we got to the show about 15 minutes late (actually 45, I found out later, but more on that later). Chet told me that I didn’t miss much since most of the fans there that morning were just kind of running through Small Press to hit bigger booths. Eh. We got unwrapped, caffeinated and set up as people started making their way back through the small press area. Made some sales, talked to some people, had some fun chatting with Chet and his wife. Thursday was really slow sales-wise, when you think of it as the first full day of the show, but considering the fact that it was Thursday, it wasn’t really surprising. Thursday night Ashlie, Christina (Ashlie’s sister and our minion for the show) and I went to dinner with our friend Matt, whereupon he visited on us his knowledge and insight and we had a great time eating some Thai foods. We then went back to the hotel and slept the sleep of the just (and tired).

Friday, Ashlie and I got to the hall at 9am. Awesome, we were on time (or so we thought). Just as we got into the hall and were congratulating ourselves on getting there on time and talking about how we should do this EVERY morning, the con-voice comes over the intercom: “Attention exhibitors, the Exhibit Hall is now open to attendees.” WHAAAT?! the show isn’t supposed to start until 9:30! WTF? So, I hurry to my table (from Hall G to Hall B is a long way to speed-walk when your physical condition is most suited to sitting, let me tell you), and get unwrapped just in time for the deluge. There were a LOT of people there, yo. It was awesome. At one point in the morning an nice yung lady from LucasFilm animation stopped by my table and asked if I had any sample sheets she could take with her (mental note: I should have some sample sheets made up for future cons), I didn’t but she gave me her card, so that’s pretty cool. The rest of the day went by without a lot of incident. Sold some stuff, ran out of some stuff – Good times. Ashlie’s TMNT Hats were big hits, which was neat, and I have a LOT of photos to post of people wearing them. Friday night we went to the Famous Kansas City BBQ (which, apparently, is where the bar scene in Top Gun was filmed) which was delicious (if a bit sloooow) and saw the Worst Cartoons and Spike and Mike’s Animation Gauntlet panels after dinner (always a must-see).

On Saturday, we got to the show at 9am once again, thinking that maybe yesterday’s early open was a fluke. (We tried to be there early, but the Geeks in the Trolley prevented that by not clearing the doors when they got on, thus delaying our trip in)  NOPE. turns out that the Con opened early every morning. No reason why, but it did. Grr. Saturday was busy. Like busy, busy. Remember how I said that we ran out of some stuff? Well, I had to go get more prints. Luckily, I was able to get some printed and picked up pretty easily thanks to SD’s red line trolley. Neat. got back to the show just as it hit the crazy part. PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. I will never get used to the sea of humanity that is SDCC, no matter how many years I go. It’s nuts. Saturday was also the day I learned my second box of copies of “Captain Dan Takes a Day Off” (available now!) weren’t going to be there in time for the show. So that was fun – dealing with the Createspace guy while trying to talk to customers and fans. On Saturday I also met a really cool dude and awesome designer, Adam Levermore, who is someone I’ve been a fan of and didn’t realize it since he created the Serenity travel posters and BSG Propaganda posters. He was a really nice guy and we chatted for a while. Saturday was also Mythbusters signing day at the con and a gentleman who stopped by and bought our Muppet Busters prints came back to show that he’d gotten the autographs of ALL 5 Mythbusters on his prints. That was pretty awesome! Saturday night we went to dinner with my buddy Spencer, and talked to him about his new revolution in digital comics. Spencer is a very cool dude to hang out with, so dinner was way fun.

Sunday was busy, too. Although some of that may have been the loss of our minion, Christina, as she had to leave for the airport that morning to go back to DC. Sunday was largely uneventful for the majority of the day. We ran out of some of our prints again, but at that point I wasn’t willing to make another print run, so we took orders, and finished out the awesomeness that was SDCC. In the last few minutes before closing time, a couple of people came to the booth to buy some stuff, they were very nice and very complimentary (which I always appreciate). Once they were done with their purchase, they walked down the aisle and brought back a friend of theirs, a tall, bearded, red-haired gentleman in an Avengers Baseball Cap. While they were showing him what they got and pointing out my Keep Fighting print, I recognized the guy. The man standing no more than 5 feet from me was none other than Geek-god, Joss Whedon! I almost freaked. I looked at Ashlie and whispered “That’s Joss Whedon!” I asked him to come closer and, not wanting to make a big deal of him being there, just shook his hand and said, “Thank you. So much. For everything.” It was awesome.

And thus ends my SDCC adventures. It was a lot of fun, and I hope that I get to come back next year. To everyone who stopped by the table, thanks so much!

Next show – Kumoricon in Portland, OR!

I’ll be at my Small Press Table, n-14, all week long for the show. I’ll have my new book, Captain Dan Takes a Day Off, which is a cross between storybook and a graphic novel for kid’s about PIRATE MONSTERS. Cool, yes? We’ll have that, our first book, The Zombies Next Door, some awesome crocheted geek hats (including a hand-made Captain America hat) and of course, my art prints, buttons galore and our zombie greeting cards.

Regarding art prints: there most likely will not be room for all of my prints to be on display at SDCC, so a few designs (read: Our Star Wars prints) will not be out on display. I will still have them with me, you’ll just have to ask for them specifically.

Once again, I’ll be doing quick FREE HEAD SKETCHES in sketchbooks and on my personal sketchcards on PREVIEW NIGHT. These will be first-come, first-served and one per customer. For the rest of the weekend, I’ll be doing sketches as requested, prices will be posted at my table. Also, every copy of Capt. Dan Takes a Day Off sold will be signed/personalized (and maybe sketched in) by request for free.

I think that about covers it. We leave for Sunny SD on Saturday, so I maybe slow in responding to questions after that. See you when I return!

Phoenix fans, I know you get what I’m saying up there. Phoenix Comicon was last week and MAN-O-MAN was it a fantastic show! Let’s start at the top, shall we?<INSERT OBLIGATORY PHOENIX IS HOT JOKE HERE>

We got to the convention center early Thursday afternoon (which is actually quite late when you need to build your booth), and after wandering around the GIGANTIC convention center, found our badges (and our super awesome friends Gareth, Cinda and Chris handing out vendor badges) managed to get set up almost (SO CLOSE!) before the doors opened. The attendees came in slowly, looked around and like that, it seemed, it was 9pm and time to go home. On the way out, we ran into my friend Tony and chatted for a bit about his panels that night and ran into Joe the programming director. As it was really late, and I was beginning to look at Tony like he was a giant turkey leg, Ashlie and I excused ourselves and headed home (back to our other awesome friend’s apartment in Tempe where we crashed for the duration) and grabbed some grub on the way.

Day 2 (Friday, Friday) opened less ominously. Having failed to obtain a Phoenix seller’s permit ahead of time, I dropped Ashlie off at the show a little before doors opened and went to the Dept. of Revenue offices there in DT Phoenix. Wrapping that up, I went back to the show and WOW were there lots of people there. I’ll tell ya what, the amount of growth from when the show was in Mesa and we were excited for 3,000 attendees to what I saw last weekend was exceptional to say the least. I went around the whole weekend saying to myself “Our little con’s all growed up” *Sniff*. Saturday was cool, the sales were brisk, and the compliments were flowing and I’m just kind of drifting along in a haze when a pair of lovely young ladies comes up to the booth. They’re ooohing and complimenting the art when a bolt of recognition strikes my brain. I look at one of the ladies and say, “I know you, I think. Aren’t you @undeaux on twitter?”  (editor’s note: I’m not going to link to @undeaux’s twitter account due to the fact that some people might not like what they find there. Yes, she’s a porn star, but she’s also a big nerd and that’s the important thing to note) to which she replies, “Yes I am!” Her friend says “You’re the first person to recognize her! How’d you know?” I say, “The hair.” You see, April (@undeaux) tweeted a picture of her big crazy, Deanna Troi hair earlier that morning and I just happened to see that tweet, so I recognized her. Apparently, I had missed a later tweet where she said that she was going to be giving away copies of her most recent movie to people who recognized her. So, I got a free DVD! I couldn’t leave the transaction lopsided, so I gave her a copy of my “Turtle Power” print. I’m a little sad that I didn’t think to get her to autograph it until way later, though. After that, we finished the day and met our con peeps Rebecca and James, Daniel and Dawna, Alina and Travis (and his son and boothman) for dinner at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant where Ashlie and I were introduced to the amazing spectacle of FLAMING CHEESE. A fun night was had by all and we went our separate ways (after a long walk back to the parking garage where Daniel, Travis and myself pontificated about the merits of corn).

Saturday comes afterward, and boy howdy. Dropped Ashlie off at the the door so she didn’t have to walk 3 blocks from the parking garage in the it’s-only-9:30am-and-it’s-already-90-degrees-heat, and on my way back to the con, I see a limo pull up and out pops GEORGE TAKEI! I love that PHXCC has grown to to the point where people like George Takei, Stan Lee and Leonard Nimoy come to it. It was very cool seeing George even if it was from across the street. I went inside and made it to the table just as the influx of people made their way into the exhibit hall. It was awe-inspiring. In between rushes of people, I made my way across the aisle and bought an exclusive print from Travis (see here) and Ashlie gave her life blood (literally at the Red Cross Blood Drive). We also got to see our “Booth BFF’s” (see the Stumptown Recap) from Devastator and they seemed to be doing well, too. We also found our friend Spencer Brinkerhoff at his table and listened to his presentation about how he’s going to completely revolutionize comics on the iPad (and if his app takes off, he will).  At about 5pm (I think), Matt the Convention Director comes on the intercom and tells us that the Fire Marshall has had to cap and meter the influx of people into the convention floor (at 10,000) and due to that, the exhibit hall was going to stay open an extra hour! At once, you got a cheer from the attendees and a collective groan from the exhibitors. But whaddaygonna do? Cry about it? No. So we sucked it up and the attendees more than made up for the long hours with their general coolness. After the show, we met our friend Mari and her husband for dinner at Thai Basil (my favorite Thai place, ever!) on University and went on home.

Sunday was a strange and fantastic day. I don’t often get to run around conventions to buy things. It just doesnt’ happen. Sunday, however, events transpired that made it almost necessary. Start at the beginning: Just after we arrive our friends Dave and Micha Beaty come over to see us and we talk for a while. Dave is one of the coolest and most giving people I’ve met in this business and it’s always good to see him. He told us about the charity art auction that the con put on and he went to, and it sounded like an amazing experience and I wished that I’d been there. Soon after that, the aforementioned Matt swings by and after hugs and greetings are dispensed we chat about the previous day and how the show’s going and plans for SDCC. He can’t stay long as he has a show to run, so he takes off and soon afterwards, the day begins. I think that attendees may have been worried about getting left outside again, so they start pouring in early. It was awesome. Sometime during this madness a friend of Ashlie’s gives her a couple of slips of paper and says “be free around 3pm.” She looks at me dumbstruck and shows me what she got: TWO TICKETS FOR STAN LEE’S AUTOGRAPH LINE. I was flabbergasted. I was trying to help customers and could barely speak. (if you were there and were wondering why it seemed as though I’d swallowed my tongue, that’s why) Not (obviously) having planned for this, we had nothing worthy of getting signed by “The Man” with us. So, we had to do some shopping. I went out 3 separate times and I was looking for a cool Spidey statue to get signed, with no such luck. You’d think that at a show the size of PHXCC one retailer would have such a thing, but no joy. Oh well. I settled for my second choice a classic Spidey comic, written by Stan. I chose Amazing Spider-Man #100. Ashlie chose a classic Fantastic Four issue (the number escapes me at the moment, but it’s got a great Jack Kirby shot of Doom surrounded by the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer on the cover). Having no one to watch the booth, I got in the line early, while Ashlie, unfortunately, stayed behind at the booth. Stan was gracious and allowed me to babble at him for a few minutes before the volunteers and security ushered me away. It was great. Got back to the table and without any major problems, we finished the show and packed out, Phoenix comicon 2011 a big mark in the history books.

After the show, Ashlie and I went back to our friend’s apartment, ordered pizza and I picked up beer (Shocktop Raspberry Wheat is AMAZING, you guys) and margaritas and we celebrated another successful show. We’re already signed up for next year, and if you’re smart and love all things nerdy, you will too.

Next show – freaking SAN DIEGO COMICON.

HELL YEAH!! Portland Nerds are AWESOME! This year’s STCF was fantastic. When I moved here, I was saddened about the lack of a “real” comicon here in PDX, given the prevalence of comics creators and publishers here in town. That sadness is largely assuaged, now. STCF 2011 is well on it’s way to becoming the comic show that PDX needs.

The weekend started off well, with Ashlie and I getting to the con center Friday night after works to set up our table. As we were working, a couple from down the way was setting up their table and realized they had no way to hang their 6′x4′ banner. Being from LA, they had no car and no real idea of how to navigate the labyrinthine streets of DT PDX to find a hardware store for PVC Pipe, despite the convention floor director’s best attempts to explain it to them. Immediately, Ashlie (being awesome like she is) offers them some of our extra pipe, since we wouldn’t need all of it for an 8 ft. table. She then proceeds to build them a free-standing banner stand that they can sit in front of. Because she’s cool like that. Having made new friends, we set about putting up our display and went home to finish packing for Saturday.

Saturday morning comes and we hit the convention. (Can I just say how awesome it is to have a convention that’s easy to get to?) We finish set-up and they open the doors. Now, let me say this: PDX people don’t like to get up early. I don’t blame them. So, I wasn’t at all surprised that there wasn’t a mad-rush of people waiting outside the doors like Black Friday shoppers on speed. It was slow until about noon. Then it turned awesome. PDX nerds aren’t as voracious as their Seattle or SanDiego counterparts. We’re more methodical and deliberate. We like to talk to the artists and learn about their artwork. That doesn’t stop us from buying, tho. Oh no. Early in the morning, Jim Demonakos from Emerald City Comicon stopped by and chatted for a minute, happy to be at a con that he wasn’t working at. LOL About halfway through the day, I was approached by a bubbly young lady who identified herself as being with the Dangerous Kids podcast, and asked if I’d be interested in doing an interview later on. Being a camera/media whore I, obviously, said “Hell yes!” A little while later she came back with Switch, the host of said podcast and we did a little chat about art and Portland and stuff (Which I will post in the “Press” page when I find the link). After the recorded part, we talked about the possibility of my doing some work with them, and he went back to awesoming up the con floor and I went back to work. Some of our fans from South Oregon came up for the show and stopped by the booth and we made plans to eat dinner after the show closed. After that, the booth was set upon by pirates. More specifically, it was set upon by Captain Ragnar “Redgoat” McHaggis from Portland’s premiere pirate crew, PDXYAR, who stopped by to talk to me about having reached 104% of their kickstarter goal, to fund the building of a pirate ship. (If you follow me on twitter, you know that I’ve been promoting this as much as possible) It was, in a word, GLORIOUS, to meet this man and his beard. After that, we had pirates around the table off and on all weekend which was fantastic. After the show closed, we went to dinner with the Klamath Krew and Ashlie and I went home for sleepies.

Sunday was awesome. It started off awesome in that the show didn’t open until NOON. That gave Ashlie and I time to get some breakfast at Kenny & Zukes in DT PDX (pastrami gravy & biscuits, OMG) and wander around the Pearl for a bit before leisurely heading to the convention. the show started off brisk, and then went in surges (I imagine based on the panels going on at the time) for the rest of the day. I met another awesome pirate, the famous buccaneer balladeer, Master Dingo. He too, was glorious (and quite dapper) and a very pleasant fella. I then wandered the floor for a bit, and picked up some books, and chatted a bit with another super nice guy, Brian Meredith of Microbrew Comics and Emerald City Comicon who was tabling at the show selling his 11-year old daughter’s awesome comic, as well as his own comic anthology (both of which you should pick up). After the show, we went out to dinner with a couple of friends of ours, which nicely capped off our weekend. Bone tired, we drug ourselves back home and crashed. Thank you to EVERYONE who came out, and to Indy at STCF for having us out. We will be back next year, and I, for one, am really looking forward to it.

Coming up (very, very quickly) next on the crazy convention horizon is SakuraCon in Downtown Seattle this weekend (April 22-24). I know, we’re crazy for doing 2 cons 2 weeks in a row, but how else are supposed to support our growing eating habit? We’ll be in Booth #503 all weekend, so stop on by if you’re in the area. After that, I’ll be at Free Comic Book Day on May 7th at the Beaverton Things From Another World from 4-7 pm singing, sketching and basically doing whatever.

BTW, I’m sure you noticed that the Store links in the sidebar are gone. WP-Ecommerce borked completely over the weekend and I can’t get the asshats that own it to help troubleshoot. So, I’m in the process of moving everything into my Storenvy site (in the sidebar). If there’s something you want and it’s not up, let me know and I’ll make it happen.

Find US here!

It’s that time again – CONVENTION TIME! This time around, the show is Stumptown Comics Fest right here in the Western Comics Capital, Portland, OR.

This will be our first time at SCF, so I have no idea what to expect. We’re right by the entrance, though, so that’s pretty freakin’ sweet. When you enter the doors, turn right and you really can’t miss us. But, just in case you’re a visual learner, I’ve made you a map. See you there!

You LITERALLY can't miss us.