DUBLIN CITY COMIC CON --REPORT

Hello all. Got back from Dublin yesterday. Lets just say i'm suffering now for all the fun i had this weekend.

Met up with Will Sliney on Friday night before the con for a good old catch-up session. He headed too the hotel bar, where organisers and guests of the show were all out. A surreal moment was when i saw John McCrea chase Jim Lee out of the room. It was funny to see all the old hands go nuts while us young newbies behaved ourselves.















After Will and i set up our table, we met Alan Nolan, who presented me with his new Sancho issue that a cover i had illustrated months ago, which was great. I'll post it during the week. I took a break from the table to attend the Breaking into Comics panel. The panelists were Stephen Mooney (CSI, Angel), Nick Roche (Transformers, Doctor Who), CB. Cebulski (Marvel's The Loners), and Stephen Thompson(Star Wars, Star Trek). It was a really interesting panel and everyone had some great points, especially C.B., who gave some great advice to artists/writers who are looking to make a name for themselves in the biz.
















C.B Cebulski and Nick Roche at Saturday's panel.

During the day i did some sketches, sold a few comics, and showed some Frankenstein preview pages to folk. I'm happy to say everyone seemed to like my work on the book so far.




















Stephen Mooney and Stephen Thompson seemed to get some well-deserved props over the weekend. Here's Mooney doing a sketch for a fan. Thompson was doing some kick-ass sketches as usual. Thompson. I hate that guy. Mooney too.

Got a Jim Lee sketch! That was not only a highlight of the weekend, but a highlight of my life. As i said in the Birminham post, i don't geek out over artists much anymore, but Jim Lee....? Geeking compulsory. I should rellay scan that sketch....


I don't have any photos of it, but i was a panelist on Sunday's Irish Comics panel, along with Will Sliney, Alan Nolan, Gar Cummins and Pádraig O Méalóid. Was really fun, although i was just crcking jokes the whole time. I don't think i had any insightful advice for anyone. I was happy to take part, as there really is a lot of irish comics coming out these days, and was worth discussing.





















Did some decent sketches myself, this being one of them.
















Jackie, Setphen Mooney, Lisa Jackson, Dave, Stephen Thompson, C.B. Cebulski, my empty chair, Jamie, Sinead, Marney and Will Sliney after the con on Sunday.




















Bespeckled Irish Comic Creators Nick Roche and Me.
















The ineviable face-off. It's been established that myself and Will are the Thompson/Mooney for a new generation, seeing as myself and Thompson are similar characters, as are Will and Mooney. Here, we face off. The winner? Undecided. I'm rooting for the Shalvey/Thompson team, but i may be biased.

















Thompson laughing when finding out that Mooney is a big fan of 'The big guy upstairs'. Thats Jesus, to you kids.
















The gang. Lisa Jackson, myself, Jackie, Mooney, Will, C.B., and two people i don't know.

Below: Thompson.
















Two more people i don't know, guest of the show Jock and organiser of the show, John Hendrick.





















Sound man! C.B. gets a round in.

















Myself and show organiser Dave Hendrick.


















C.B. Cebulski and myself. Note how we both look off-camera like in those crappy TV shows when a character takes a photo of other characters. I hate it when they do that! Anyway, i'm veering off the point. The point is ....uh ....C.B. was sound, or something.

In summary, it was a great con.. It was great to come home to the city of my birth and attend a really impressive show, inlike having to go to the UK for one, as i've always had to do in the past.

I guess i'd just like to say thanks to everyone who said hello, bought a comic or asked for a sketch over the weekend. I hope ye had a good a time as i did.


Dec.

DUBLIN CITY COMIC CON --THIS WEEKEND!

Well, it's finally here, this week is the big Dublin Con. Went last year and had a blast. It's strange to think that in only a year i've made some great friends from that one weekend.




















This year's con is a huge step up on last year's one, with the headline guest being Jim Lee, the biggest star ever to come out of comics. Probably the most popular artist the medium has ever produced. While my tastes veer to more indie styles these days, this is the man that made me want to draw comics. I remember picking up a reprint of X-Men issue 1 when i was 12 and i was hooked! Damn you Jim Lee!

Carlos Pacheco had a big effect on me too. He got me out of my Jim Lee/Andy Kubert phase and opened me up to a more dynamic style, that showed how much you could push your knowledge of anatomy.

Liam Sharp drew the first American comicbook i ever bought. Nuff said

I was practically raised on Hitman, created by John McCrea, 'Nuff said there also.

There's an incredible group of talent with more recent artists who've make a name for themselves such as Adi Granov, Ben Oliver, Steve McNiven, Dougie Braithwaite and Jock.

Let's not forget the writers.

Mark Millar is arguably the biggest writer in comics right now, and Paul Cornell is not only becoming well known for being a writer, but for being a very good writer.

But last, and certainly not least are the 'New Kids On The Block,' the Irish talent. Great guys one and all. I speak of course of Stephen Mooney, Stephen Thompson and Nick Roche. All these guys are at the top of their game, working on high-profile books in the States(Angel, Star Trek and Doctor Who, respectively). I'm insanely jealous of them all.

Of course, i'll be there, flogging my wares along with the ever-handsome Will Sliney. He'll have copies of Atomic Rocket Group 66, i'll have Freak Show, Your Round and some Hero Killers too. I'll also have a folder of some Frankenstein work, just to tease you all. I've also been asked to appear on a panel aboul Irish Comics on Sunday at 11AM, so be sure to come to that and heckle me.

So, if you don't make this con, you are officially a leper. There's never been a con with this many high profile guests in Ireland before. I just wish it was saturday right now.

For more details about guests, the venue and panels, check out the Dublin Comic Con Website or MySpace page.

See you Saturday!

Dec.

SHALEV

My editor at Classical Comics, Clive Bryant, was interviewed this week on Newsarama about Classical's first graphic novel, HENRY V. He also mentions upcomming books, such as mine, ie, Frankenstein. There's also mention of artists working on these books.

"Some of the established talent in the comic book industry involved include the wonderfully talented Gary Erskine, Eagle Award Winner Declan Shalev and Panini/Marvel UK’s Jon Haward"

.....sigh. First mention of my name on Newsarama and they get my name wrong. Still, it's a mention, and i sound more interesting ....italian or something. Maybe i should consider changing my name althogether.

You can read the whole article here

Dec.

LAYOUTS

Due to popular demand (well, at least from Mooney), here's a layout page for something else i'm tipping away on. Bad language censored, for you impressionable kids. I'm looking out you Luke and Tyler.





















In other news, i got the rest of the Tim Skinner script off my Hero Killers partner-in-crime, Andy Winter and i gotta say; i love it. I have 3 pages of it done, but i'm not sure when i can get back started on it. I really want to wrap up Book 2 of Freak Show, and there's some other stuff i wanna get out of the way. I'm gonna colour Tim Skinner too, so the sooner it's drawn the better. There's a LOT going on it though, it's gonna be quite a challenge to draw, never mind colour.

Dec

I'M STARTING WITH THE MAN IN THE MIRROR

I'm asking him to change his ways.

















More Frankenstein.

Dec.

JAMES




















Doing some much-needed Freak Show work. Two cons within a month meant i had to concentrate on Frankenstein in October, so trying to pick up the pace on Freak Show a bit.

Also, just saw a funny post on Bob Byrne's site about Rob Liefield. Check it out here.

Dec.