A tribute to Peter Fernandez of SPEED RACER

Peter Fernandez, the actor who played Speed Racer in the 1960s cartoon, passed away on Thursday, July 15. He had been battling cancer. He was 83.

I say 'played' as opposed to 'voiced' because he not only performed the voice of Speed Racer, but he also wrote the English scripts and directed the cast. So he really had a complete role in creating that character. (He also wrote the English lyrics for the theme song!)

A painting I made back in 2008.
 
As a kid, in the early and mid-seventies, I was transfixed by SPEED RACER. The high-octane action, the unrestricted violence (that was back in the day that us kids could watch car crashes, fist fights and machine gun battles and not go ape-crazy at school the following week shooting up the entire class...). The world-hopping travelogue aspect of the show, the championship car races, the strong sense of love and togetherness of the Racer Family....All of these elements made for captivating entertainment. But it was the central character, Speed Racer, that really made the show for me. Not seeming that much older than me at the time (he's identified as an 18 yr old), Speed was a young hero who stood up for values such as family, honor and justice. Sure, he could be a competitive hot-head when pushed up against the wall, but he stood for the 'right' things. He was polite to people, a gentleman with the ladies and respectful of authority. But always ready to bring out the fisticuffs when injustice (and cheaters!) reared it's head.

Peter Fernandez was the voice, and soul, of Speed Racer. Peter really epitomized the innocence of the character, as well as the rock solid determination of a young man seeking to be the best racer in the world. Remarkably, Peter also voiced Speed Racer's older brother, Racer X! It's amazing to me to watch the cartoon now and think that those two different voices are from the same actor, especially as they're in so many scenes together. Peter's career in acting extends back to the 1949, so he was a seasoned pro by the time he worked on SPEED RACER in 1967.

Of course, we shouldn't for a minute forget Tatsuo Yoshida, the original creator of 'Speed Racer', named Go Mifune in the Japanese manga, MACH GO GO GO. Yoshida is one of the giants of Japanese manga & anime, who, after MACH GO GO GO, created other titles, including the GATCHAMAN manga, which was also turned into an animated series (known as BATTLE OF THE PLANETS once it hit the U.S.). But Peter Fernandez was charged with writing all the English scripts and directing the episodes, so SPEED RACER definitely carries his storytelling imprint.

In 2008, I was hosting an internet radio show, PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO. Most of the interview subjects were comic book creators, particularly those who self-published their own work. But occasionally, I would have guests who I felt fit within the independent focus of my show, or other aspects of comic book culture. With the May 2008 release of the SPEED RACER film (see my glowing review in a previous Javzilla post) I thought it would be very appropriate to interview Mr. Peter Fernandez himself. And to be honest, I really just wanted the chance to at long last talk to the man!

I looked up his contact info online and sent him an email asking if he would be kind enough to appear. I'd like to share that email with you here:

Dear Mr. Fernandez,

My name is Javier Hernandez and I host a comic book podcast called Planet Comic Book Radio. The show is based out in LA. I would like to invite you on my show as a guest.

Of course I'm asking you to talk about Speed Racer. I am, I will tell you, a life-long fan of the show. And I absolutely loved the movie. I cannot believe how great the film was! And seeing you in it only added to the experience. The filmmakers really got the spirit of SPEED RACER: Family first, then all the fun, crazy action. I got choked-up several times during the film!

I used to catch the show here in Los Angeles in the 1970s. It would often air on an UHF station, called Channel 52. Another show you worked on, GIGANTOR, was also shown on that station. We were into anime before anime was even a known word back then!

My show podcasts live every Tuesday at 5pm (Pacific Time). If you are interested, I do have Tuesday, May 27th available (the day after Memorial Day). I would also have Tuesday, June 10 available. This would be by phone of course, and I figure I would take up about 45 minutes of your time, if that's okay with you.

In any case, please let me express my deepest gratitude and appreciation for the wonderful work you did in bringing Speed Racer to American audiences. The show remains my favorite cartoon of all time, and the movie is pretty much right up there.

Best,

Javier Hernandez

His response, the very next day:

Javier, PLEASE call me Peter!
I'd love to do your podcast. Tuesday, May 27th would be fine if your slot then is still available. My home phone is: xxx-xxx-xxxx.
All good wishes,
Peter

(The 'PLEASE' was capitalized by him.) The very next morning after the interview he sent me this:

It seemed to go very well last night!
Thanks!
Peter

Emails are of course, unlike letters or postcards, intangible. You can't put them in a scrapbook, or pin them on a corkboard (unless you print them out). I haven't read these emails in over two years, but I have to say right now I treasure them as if they were handwritten. It's sad to realize his Inbox will never be opened by him again.


For the sake of the podcast, I wanted to conduct an interview that shared his extensive experiences and professional career with my listeners, and his process in actually creating the episodes. There are some really interesting things to hear, and the fact that he was the one telling us makes this priceless. But to be honest with you, I really just wanted to be able to talk to Speed Racer for an hour. It was truly a selfish act, and a totally fanboy thing to do, and thank God I had the chance to do it. That I now have a recording of me and Peter Fernandez talking about SPEED RACER, well, that's something I can look back upon fondly.

I won't delve into it too much here, right now, but I can say that Speed Racer is as much an influence on my creation of El Muerto as other childhood heroes, like Peter Parker/Spider-Man. A few years ago I was working with Mort Todd on the exclusive El Muerto comic book that came included in the EL MUERTO movie DVD release. I wrote the story, and sent Mort very loose pencil layouts to work from. He certainly was more than capable of drawing the whole book on his own, but I wanted to at least provide the layouts for the story. When I got back the first couple pages, Mort had added heavier wrinkles on El Muerto's face, probably more in line with the type of zombies and monsters Mort was used to drawing. I told him to think of El Muerto more as a pretty-boy Speed Racer/Peter Parker type, and if he could please 'smooth' up the face! Mort ribbed me for that, but of course complied like a pro. If you ever wondered why I draw long eyelashes on Diego de La Muerte, wonder no longer!

My rough pencil layout, and below that is Mort's final, finished piece.

By the way, I have to mention that some years ago Mort wrote & illustrated a SPEED RACER newspaper strip, and I had mentioned this to Peter in an email. Peter wrote back asking me for Mort's current address, as he wanted to catch up with him. And I just now am realizing, as I write this, that an artist who worked on a Speed Racer strip also has worked on an El Muerto comic!

Back in 2009, the Planet Comic Book Radio website was hacked into and screwed up. That and the fact that we had some poor file back-up strategy meant I stopped doing the show for awhile. Eventually I got busy with other projects and had to pull the plug on doing Planet Comic Book Radio. The whole site had to be rebuilt, and all those interviews had to be uploaded (and the show notes would have to be rewritten), and at that time, I just found myself not being able to devote the time to work on it. Well, with Peter's unfortunate passing, I made a trip back to the studio where I recorded PCBR and searched for the old podcast interviews. But I also found out we had the podcasts archived on another server, and now I'm very pleased to be able to present to you, once again, or for your first time, this most special podcast interview with Mr. Peter Fernandez. Click on this link here. Once the page loads completely, there will be a Player located right under the SPEED RACER graphic. The podcast is in 3 parts, so after each one ends scroll down the bottom right hand corner and click on the 'Next' Arrow.

My condolences go to Peter Fernandez's family and close friends. His work on SPEED RACER definitely is a milestone in the history of Japanese anime finding a foothold, and audience, in the United States. I'm grateful to Peter for appearing on my show, and hope all of the SPEED RACER fans find value in the podcast. When you listen to the episode, you'll hear Peter talk about how he had recently met a fan, in his 40s, and how between tears the man tells Peter how much the show meant to him. I know exactly how that fan feels.

Happy 4th of July...from La CALACA AMERICANO!

La Calaca Americano, one of the superheroes from my CALACAS OF JUSTICE project. Characters inspired by the great work of Jose Guadalupe Posada, the Mexican printmaker who popularized the calacas (skeletal figures) seen in the folkart of the Day of the Dead. 


These are mash-ups of classic comic book archetypes and the Dia de Los Muertos folkart. With DC and MARVEL tripping over themselves to create the most decrepit and ghastly undead versions of their properties, I figure a much more fun and friendly approach to afterlife superheroes was in order! Thus the Day of the Dead comes to the rescue again... (You may have heard of EL MUERTO?)

Check out this Gallery on my DeviantArt page for my two previous Calacas of Justice. And have a safe and fun 4th of July weekend!

GEEKS CON reviewed (hint: Two Thumbs Up!)

GEEKS CON came and conquered, for sure!

Held at GEEKS Comics, the first-ever GEEKS Con took place on Saturday, June 14. Among the many great things I liked about doing the show was that it was about 10 minutes away from home. That comes particularly handy when I'm driving home at about 11pm, exhausted by a full day show!
 
Here's me setting up. To my left is Ted Seko, cartoonist (BILLY COLE & the SUPERMONSTERS franchise) and podcaster:

EL MUERTO comics, movie and sketch dolls taking up one whole corner. It's Signature Character Korner, Kids!



Jim Lujan not only debuted his brand-spanking new GHETTOMATION GARDEN DVD at the show, but he had time to record several interviews throughout the day, alongside the ever-loving creator of CRYING MACHO MAN, Jose Cabrera (in the baseball cap):

Raul Aguirre Jr. setting another young artist on a strict path of discipline and serious Art Fu:

 (photo courtesy Hortencia Aguirre, used with permission)

Raul's an animator, cartoonist and the host of the MAN VS. ART podcast. Once you hear it, you can't unhear it!! If you've ever talked to Mr. Aguirre, you've no doubt been swept over by his gale force windstorm of artistic knowledge, passion and inspiration. The very reason I've christened him '¡El Bombastico!'




This crackerjack of a comic book artist, Rafael Navarro, has a long history with me:

Rafael is both a Xeric Award-winning comic book artist, and an Emmy Award-winning storyboard artist. But mostly he's the guy I can sit and talk with hours about such topics as Frank Robbin's INVADERS comics, Jack Kirby's CAPTAIN AMERICA and Dick Sprang's BATMAN work. When he's not working on his Sonambulo comic book or freelance gigs, he knocks out stunning pieces like this one:

Yep, this wickedly, wonderful drawing is a pin-up of my WEAPON TEX-MEX. This guy Navarro is a real keeper, believe me!


Here's a pic of (l to r)Rafael, Michael Aushenker, me and Alex Vallejo:

Michael, no stranger to readers of this blog, is, along with Rafael, one of the guys who proceeded my first self-publishing efforts back in 1998. Mikey's the creator of EL GATO, CRIME MANGLER, as well as his current series of comics, CARTOON FLOPHOUSE. He also writes regularly for BACK ISSUE Magazine, and even writes a column for the DITKOMANIA zine (which I occasionaly provide an illustration for). Me, Raf and Mikey were 2/5ths of the 'legendary' LA indie comics group, BIG UMBRELLA! One day, the book will be written on that era (probably by me!) and by Asgard, the tale will be told. Our good friend Alex drove up from San Diego to join us for this show.

Among the other cartoonists joining us at GEEKS CON was Sherm Cohen, the very talented director/storyboard artist from such shows as SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS and  KICK BUTTOWSKI:

Even outside his table, Sherm gets mobbed by young fans!

Between all the hoopla of selling comics and meeting fans and drawing in sketchbooks, we even found time to inaugurate another artist into the Cartoonista fold! Co-founder Jim Lujan and I had discussed this some months ago, but we figured this was as good a time as any to spring this on the unsuspecting artist:

Arvie Villanueva of Agimat Entertainment, newly crowned Cartoonista. He and his lovely wife Adonna have had great success with the brand-new video game that Arvie created based on their webcomic, Shadow Candy: SUGAR RUSH. The game is available through iTunes, and I congratulate Agimat on their successful launch. No mean feat, considering how many applications are submitted to Apple every week!

Among the personal highlights I like to remember: Seeing one of the students from the 4th Grade class I spoke at a few weeks ago show up with his mom and use his own allowance money to buy a comic book from me, the fans who took home my Muerto Sketch Dolls, the friends who came by to say 'Hi', other artists like Will Caulfield (ADVENTURES OF BAT BAT) and Lalo Alcaraz (LA CUCARACHA) stopping by to show some support. 


Also, this young man, Andrew, asking for an El Muerto drawing with half his face peeled away! And he insisted on the eyeball dangling from it's socket!! Remember the good old days when kids would ask for a drawing of a cowboy or a dinosaur?!

 I have to thank all the artists who showed up and helped us pack the room with fans. Thanks to Jim Lujan for gettting the ball rolling on GEEKS CON, and of course to my pal Sal Felix, owner of the shop, for opening his store up to GEEKS CON and all the other shows we've had in his store over the last two years.

Making our comics and cartoons and art is our passion, and we'd do it anyways (or go plum loco). But to be able to have a time and a place to show it, share it and sell it...Well, that's what us artist types want! Thanks everyone who played a part in GEEKS CON!

EL MUERTO Sketch Dolls coming to GEEKS CON!!

You say you never heard of 'sketch dolls'? Well, that's cause I just created them!!

These brand-new, fresh-off-the-assembly-line dolls are made from blank fabric dolls which I literally 'sketched' a Muerto drawing onto. Instead of drawing on a sheet of paper, I drew on a blank doll, thus...a sketch doll. We have sketchbooks and sketch cards, I figure I'm  taking the next step. (If someone's done this before, or if anyone out there can send me a link or a pic to other sketch dolls, I'd like to see 'em.)
 
I've always wanted to produce my own EL MUERTO action figures, and in fact have had friends make me some custom figures over the years:

But when I got the idea to make these sketch dolls, I jumped right on them. They're not too time-consuming to make, and they've gotten some positive responses from some folks who've seen them. I like the fact that these dolls are literally 3D representations of my art, and I also like that each and every one is unique and one-of-a-kind.

The little one on the left is 5", and the other one is 8". I'll have only a very, very limited number of these at the upcoming GEEKS CON this weekend, but I'm definitely going to be making more, including some with color and perhaps a special two-pack version as well. I even created a new toy brand for the dolls:

In addition to more dolls, I'll also be rolling out some other products under the KLONKO label, adding them to my comics, DVD and anything else I can concoct and unleash upon fandom! If I wasn't such a fan and collector of toys, memorabilia and other tsotchkes myself, there probably wouldn't be any Muerto sketch dolls or a KLONKO toy brand. Now wouldn't that be a shame!



Be the first to get your hands on the sketch dolls this Saturday, June 19 at GEEKS CON in Whittier. Info on the show, as well as the full line-up of creators, on my previous blog entry....

GEEKS CON, June 19, in Whittier!

Saturday, June 19 will be the debut the first-ever GEEKS CON, a mini-comic book convention being held inside GEEKS Comics!

GEEKS CON is FREE to attend, and will be held inside GEEKS Comics, the friendly, neighborhood, upscale comic shop in Uptown Whittier. The show runs from 12 noon-10pm, perhaps making it one of the longest, single day comic conventions around!

Uptown Whittier has plenty of restaurants and shops, and even a movie theater just down the street from GEEKS. So come on out and build a whole day around GEEKS CON.





There will be over 20 creators exhibiting at GEEKS CON, believe it or not. Independent artists who work in various mediums, such as comic books, animation, video games, fine art, web comics and probably a few others as well! For a complete list of participating artists, check out the GEEKS CON Facebook page.


I'll be bringing, besides my usual catalog of goodness, a brand-new button featuring my comic book mascot, FLOPPY the COMIC:

Copies of my brand-new WANTED:TEX-MEX mini-comic, created for my recent trip to the Phoenix Comic Con:

My current sketchbook, featuring over 40 pages of art from my sketchbooks:

And...some new items from my newest entrepreneurial, artistic endeavor. Check back later next week on this blog for pics on these one-of-a-kind items!


Geeks Comics is located at:
6747 Greenleaf Ave, Suite A
Whittier, CA 90601
Ph.: 562.696.9393


GEEKS CON is Saturday, June 19 from 12 noon- 10 pm!!

Phoenix Comic Con: Big Thumbs Up!

Last weekend's trip to the Phoenix Comic Con turned out to be a great call, as it was my first time exhibiting in Arizona and ended up being an exceptionally good show.

How do I judge the success of a convention? Sales, quality of the people I meet, the surrounding environment outside the walls of the convention hall.... All these were met with positive results.

First thing that struck me about Phoenix, as evidenced from the 6th floor window of my hotel, is that this town was empty!

Photo taken at about 8am Friday morning.

Here's a shot taken 9am Sunday morning, about 6 blocks down from the hotel, after a filling breakfast at IHOP.

Nice, huh? Seriously, I love wide, empty streets! I'm from So Cal, remember? Yes, it was Memorial Day Weekend, but from what I understand, the downtown area, as clean and modern as it is, just doesn't seem to attract people to it. Might have to get me an artist studio over here and enjoy the silence!


The Con itself, billed as the Southwest's "signature pop culture event", was filled with enthusiastic fans of comics, fans of anime and manga, fans of superheroes and dressing up and having a good time. I was amazed at the sheer amount of folks in costumes. I'd swear about 20-25% of the attendees were in costume. Something about that made me feel like I was in a place where no one is 'too cool for school', that it was perfectly fine to let your inner geek out of it's hiding place. Sure,  all comic book conventions are like this, but something about this Phoenix Con really struck me as a pure love of the comics culture. Truth is, I took more pictures of costumes than I usually do.

This gal was just the cat's meow in this costume, my favorite version of Catwoman.

I just love that this guy dressed up as the classic Penguin. He wasn't concerned about wearing something hip or current.

I have to admit that I found this well-crafted bird head somewhat unnerving. The lower beak would occasionally open, then close...

As I've written here about previous trips, it's always good knowing your work is being introduced to a whole new audience. This is only my third state outside of California that I've exhibited at, so the anticipation of the audience reaction is always a welcome experience. 

The advantage about driving to a show is that I can bring my full storefront, such as my banner and acrylic stands, and as much merchandise as fits in my car. With ever-rising airplane ticket prices and mounting cargo fees, picking shows I can drive to becomes more and more likely.


One of the benefits of attending shows is getting to meet some new fellow creators. In the photo above, on the far right side, you can see one of my neighbors for the weekend, Ralph Miley of the Christian Comics Arts Society. Turns out Ralph lives in the neighboring city to mine! Small world, no? Ralph and I had plenty of good laughs over the weekend, his infectious laughter making for some great moments.

My neighbor on my left was also my carpool co-pilot and roommate for the weekend, Jason Martin of SUPER REAL fame:

Jason of course is my good friend from Portland, whose hosted me several times when I've exhibited in Oregon. Jason actually flew in from Portland to LAX, landed at 5:30 pm on Thursday night, from which we drove straight through rush hour traffic across Los Angeles and all the way to Phoenix! We arrived at our hotel at about 3 am Friday morning. And believe it or not, I was hit with a serious case of insomnia, meaning I slept about an hour total. But, like troopers, we got up and set up Friday morning and had a great time together. Amazing how much comics/publishing talk you get done stuck in a car together for all those hours. Jason's a great friend, and I always enjoy traveling with him and doing a convention together.


Here's a pair of suave creative types I finally got to meet in person, Mssrs. Dave Baker and Eric M. Esquivel of Modern Mythology Press:

These guys are an artist (Dave) and writer (Eric) duo that I've known for about 2 years now via podcast interviews we've done with one another. Just a few years out of their teens, they've self-published comics, run a podcast, and in general have put themselves on the radar of everyone from comic book writers Matt Fraction and Tony Isabella to Word Ballon podcast host John Siuntres. They have a real, genuine love for the comics medium and their nerd factor includes them walking around with Superman backpacks and lunch boxes! Dave's art has been evolving at an amazing rate, as his long hours of drawing are really paying off. And I once received a proposal from Eric for an El Muerto story that really impressed me with his keen perceptions of the characters. I hope they get as far in comics as they want to with their hard work and moxie.

My good friend John Narcomey of Draw Hard Studios and Hightower Comics made the trek from Los Angeles as well:

I had the opportunity to meet several other creators, including Paul Ziomek and his brother Peter from the New Mexico comics collective, 7000 B.C. Paul had heard of me through my podcast, JAVILAND. He and I really hit it off, and one day I hope to make it out to a con in New Mexico. It sounds like they have a pretty vibrant comics and art community in their area.

 Outside the convention center, making dinner plans....

The night life in downtown Phoenix is pretty sparse, far as I could gauge that weekend. Seems like a lot of the restaurants closed before the evening really got started. One night we had the misfortune of hitting a grill that took over an hour to get us our food after we ordered it. Wish I remembered it's name so I could badmouth it over at Yelp.... 

Couldn't resist asking this lady to give me a celebrity endorsement:

One b&w clad, white-faced zombie character promotes another...


Far as the show itself from my perspective, I didn't do too bad at all. It was interesting to me how many folks told me they had seen the EL MUERTO movie, mostly via cable. That was really cool. That's one thing about movies, they're so pervasive in our culture, and with the advent of non-stop, continuous content streaming day and night, even a small film like EL MUERTO gets heavy rotation.


One of my favorite encounters was with this patron:

Yep, a fan in Crow make-up stopped by the table. First day he walked by and slowly looked at image of El Muerto on my banner. He stopped and flipped through the comics, and didn't mind when I asked if I could take his picture. I talked to him briefly about the various Crow movies and sequels. The next day he came back in make-up and bought MANGA MUERTO, then briskly walked off. The third day he came back without the face make-up (apparently the black was burning his eyes!) and finally bought the first issue. My friend Jason turned to me and said in an announcer voice, "Crow fans have an application for El Muerto comics".  I'm a fan of the original Crow graphic novel and the first movie, so it's cool to have a Crow fan also be a fan of El Muerto.


I also had lots of sales for my new WEAPON TEX-MEX mini comic, as well as the occasional fan of swamp monsters reaching for MAN-SWAMP. But I would say that overall the three days in Phoenix allowed me to introduce new readers to El Muerto, which always makes me happy. While I'm continuing to create new titles with new characters, I really get a lot of personal satisfaction of being the creator of El Muerto.

I decided by the end of the third and last day that I would definitely be putting the Phoenix Comic Con on my must-do list for next year. Hotel and travel costs (especially if I split them again) are doable, and I have way better idea of what merchandise to bring (buttons seem to do good here), and the fans were just really responsive. 

Having been up in San Francisco in early April for the Wonder-Con and my solo art show, I think circulating the West Coast/Southwest for more shows is something I want to focus on even more. There are obvious benefits to the internet, no doubt about it. But doing these in-person events are so rewarding in numerous ways.

See you next year, Phoenix!

New WEAPON TEX-MEX comic for Phoenix Comic Con!

This coming Memorial Day Weekend, I'll be exhibiting at the Phoenix Comic Con. It's my first-ever show in Arizona, and as I've heard good things about this Con from some DIY comics creator friends of mine, I thought I'd take the plunge and head to Phoenix.

It's always exciting to get in front of a new audience, and I'll also be able to meet some friends of mine from Tuscon, the tag-team comic duo of Dave Baker and Eric M. Esquivel of Modern Mythology Press. Besides bringing along my comics and DVD, I'll also have some prints and original art with me. And, as a special exclusive to Arizona, I have a brand-new mini-comic I've just put together, WANTED: WEAPON TEX-MEX!

Weapon Tex-Mex actually appeared in the first comic story I ever had published. I was asked to contribute to an anthology called HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS, so I came up with this character to use in an anti-anti-immigration story, back in 1997. Seeing how the political climate is swirling around a new immigration firestorm from Arizona, I thought it would be most appropriate to reprint my original story, along with a new Weapon Tex-Mex story, and take it to the Phoenix Con. Actually it's the first new Tex-Mex comic in 13 years, so this is an interesting little collection. You get the first as well as the most recent story in the character's history.


I'll be at Phoenix Comic from Friday, May 28 - Sunday, May 30 at table T78. Los Comex is hitting Phoenix, baby! Planting the El Muerto flag in a new state, and ready to make some new fans.

Free Comic Book Day and GEEKS art show memories

Yesterday was Super Saturday for me. I participated in a Free Comic Book Day event, and attended the Opening Reception of GEEKS Comics 'Covered' group show. A full 12 hours of comics and art, and every minute was a fun time.

My day actually started out at about 9:30am, when I hit the freeways toward Rancho Cucamonga, a good 35 minutes from home. Traffic was pretty non-existent and the weather was crystal clear. As I approached the shop, I was taken back by the sheer majesty of the San Bernardino Mountains. Now that's some serious Art!

The FCBD event I went to was hosted by 4 COLOR FANTASIES, run by Chris Brady. My good friend John Narcomey Jr. split his table with me, and as usual with any time I exhibit, it's always best to have someone you actually like sitting in the trenches with you. John's a writer/artist, and the Creative Director of Hightower Comics. He's got a great outgoing persona, and I love talking comics craft, business and superhero movies with 'im. I actually recently did a pin-up for John's  GHOSTFACE #3. FYI: You can order the new GHOSTFACE tpb via Indy Planet!

John Narcomey, representin'!

 Me, being...me.....

Chris had told me he puts on a pretty big show for FCBD, but Jeez Louise, it was mind-boggling to actually be in the eye of the storm! Here's a shot I took from a stairwell across the driveway:

 On the left, with the 'Free Comic Book Day' sign, is Chris' store, 4 Color Fantasies. To the right is the sectioned off parking lot with tents for creators, Star Wars 501st Legion, Hamburger vendor, kid's jumper, local library booth, $1 back issue bins, face make-up booth, photo op area for costumed characters and a few more I'm missing!

I swear, the event started at 11am, and by about 3 pm, there were still people in line to get free comics. Tons of kids and families and the usual comic fans. I got to meet lots of new readers, and even got commissioned for an interesting idea:

 This gentleman asked if I could create a drawing for his friend, whose a minister. He showed me a pic of his friend via a Blackberry, and I went ahead and made this sketch. The guy was really happy with it, and was looking forward to give it to his friend. I had fun doing this.

 

People, people, everywhere!

 

 The Scorpion (Spider-Man villian), Vixen of the Justice League and Kick-Ass, with a young comic fan. There were several costumed characters throughout the day posing with fans for photos in this area. 

Chris Brady, and his army of volunteers deserve a huge amount of gratitude and recognition for putting on such a stellar event. I can imagine the logistics, and cost, to have put on this event. Those 'free' comics aren't free to the retailers, and with about 20 creators showing up, plus all his other vendors and participants, Chris really had his hands full. But he does this because he loves comics, he's a totally professional retailer, and he's always trying to connect the community with this wonderful artform.

After we packed up all our gear, John and I drove over to Whittier, as we had an art show to attend to! After a relaxing break at Brickhouse Pizza (quickly becoming a standard if you're a local comics creator), we waltzed over to GEEKS and met our fellow artists.

Here's a group of us having a grand ol' time:

Left to Right: Gerry Bonilla, John Narcomey, Dan Mendoza, Grasiela Rodriguez (she picked up her Batsymbol at the face-painting booth at 4 Color Fantasies) and me.


Cartooning dynamo Raul Aguirre, the host of the lively and entertaining MAN VS. ART podcast, showed up with his contribution to Free Comic Book Day, a 'Citizen Sanchez' mini comic. And he was handing out free copies to one and all! 

 His comic's based on his animation project, which you can see right here:





And Raul's wife Hortencia also showed up with some art of her own:

Yep, a heavenly delicious Brownie cake, with the El Muerto logo emblazoned on it. It was a belated birthday gift, and it was a very nice gesture. Class acts, Señor and Señorita Aguirre! Many thanks!


I unfortunately didn't take more photos of the artwork on display, but the show will be up for a few weeks. I'll post some pics later. Here's one of a kid clutching a copy of the kid friendly MANGA MUERTO! His parents asked about my work, and I directed them to this particular book.

It was nice chatting with some of the patrons, and with my fellow artists. By the time I left GEEKS, it was about 11pm, some 12 hours after the FCBD event began at 4 Color Fantasies. Not a bad way to spend a full day.  And topping it off with some homemade Brownies, well, c'mon now!

See me twice on Super Saturday: FCBD & GEEKS 'Covered' art show!

This Saturday, I'll be putting in two appearances locally.

On Saturday, from 11am-4pm, I'll be at 4 COLOR FANTASIES in Rancho Cucamonga for their FREE COMIC BOOK DAY event! I'm told this is a huge, parking lot festival of comics and food and artists galore. I'll be sitting at John Narcomey's table, selling my comics and DVDs and sketching for folks! 

I got on board a little too late to make it to the flier, but I'll be there! As will, apparently, half the comic creators on the West Coast!!

And, later that evening, I'll be at GEEKS in Whittier for the opening reception of their group show, 'Covered'! That's from 7pm - close. 

I'd call this a full day of comics and art, for sure! Hope to see some of you at one of the events!