THIS WEEK; FINAL VENOM, 2D FESTIVAL AND ....... BATMAN!

This week my final issue of VENOM hits the stands. It's the final chapter of the 'Toxic' storyline; it's all been building to this! I've had a blast working on the series this year; from the stand alone issue with Rick Remender, to the Minimum Carnage crossover to this big epic Toxin arc, working on the series with writer Cullen Bunn has been a distinct pleasure. Lee Loughridge excellently matched the tone I was going for with this book, and Joe Caramagna did some gorgeous lettering work. Huge thanks to editor Tom Brennan for offering me the book and for all the encouragement along the way.

I hope you all enjoy the finale.

Also, the very next day sees my LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT story go online. Written by Robert T. Jeschonek with fantastic colours by Matt Wilson, I hope ye all download it via Comixology, or other such wonderful applications. Below is a sneak peek from the story.

But wait! There's more! This weekend is 2D Festival! An excellent FREE Comics Festival that takes place every year in Derry, Northern Ireland. I've been many times and have always had a fantastic experience. This year is 2D's biggest year so if possible I urge everyone to attend. There's a host of excellent panels and workshops; you can read all about them in the festival's excellent programme (see here). Did I mention it's FREE?

There's lots more about the festival on their website. As you can see, it's a busy week this week; plenty to keep you entertained :)

Dec.

IN ONE WEEK: C2E2

In a week's time, both myself and Jordie will be at C2E2; Chicago's premier comic book convention. Myself and Will Sliney went to the first one a few years ago when we were both working for Boom Studios and we had a great time. Really looking forward to returning.

Jordie and I will be in Artists Alley Table T5. Make sure you come by and say hi. I'll be doing commissions ($100 for b+w 9x11 inch pieces) on Friday, Saturday, and some on Sunday. I'll only be taking a certain amount each day though so make sure you swing by early to get on the list.

I'll also be participating in some panels during the convention. During one of these Marvel panels, there'll be a BIG announcement involving myself. Eagle-eyed readers might be able to figure it out.... but keep it to yourself! The announcement will break over the weekend. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Panel schedule below...
 

FRIDAY

Title: MARVEL: Breaking In
Location: W471
Time: 5:15 – 6:15
Are you a writer or artist?  Ever dream of working for Marvel? Do you find yourself thinking, “I could do that…if I knew how!” Well, here’s your chance!  Join superstar writers and artists including Ryan Stegman (SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN), Shawn Crystal (DEADPOOL), Declan Shalvey (VENOM), Jordie Bellaire (JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY) and Ramón Pérez (WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN), as well as Marvel’s talent scout C.B. Cebulski to find out the answers on how to get your foot in the door and make your job MARVEL!

SATURDAY

Title: MARVEL: Superior Spider-Man
Location: W474
Time: 2:00 – 3:00
Doctor Octopus has taken over Spider-Man’s body and vowed to become a SUPERIOR Spider-Man!  But what lies in store for the web-slinger? Find out the details right here! That’s right, True Believers! Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, Editor Ellie Pyle, Mark Waid (DAREDEVIL), Josh Fialkov (ALPHA), Nick Spencer (SECRET AVENGERS), Chris Samnee (DAREDEVIL), Declan Shalvey (VENOM), Ryan Stegman (SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN) and Arune Singh (Director of Communications) will be taking any and all questions from YOU the fans! This is one panel that no Spidey fan can miss!

SUNDAY

Title: MARVEL: X-Men
Location: W474
Time: 12:45 - 1:45
As new mutants emerge around the world, the mutant race may just be able to bounce back! Or at least it COULD, without the looming threats of Apocalypse, the Sentinels, and Cyclops himself!  Join us for an all-star panel featuring Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, Editor Jordan D. White, Rick Remender (UNCANNY AVENGERS), Brian Wood (X-MEN), Ramón Pérez (WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN), Declan Shalvey (VENOM) and Arune Singh (Director of Communications) to get all the details about what’s coming next for Marvel’s mutant heroes!

Hope to see you there!

Dec.

Sexy Update; I'll also be signing at the Marvel booth at the following times...

FRIDAY
1-2

SATURDAY
3-4

SUNDAY
2-3

 

IRISH COMIC BOOK MONTH: TRINITY LECTURE

In case you didn't know, March is Irish Comic Book Month. Hope everyone supports some Irish comics this month! To celebrate this, the good folk at Lightning Strike and Atomic Diner are holding a talk discussing Irish Comic Book production. Guests include myself, Stephen Mooney, Robert Curley, Darrin O'Toole, Robert Carey and Ciarán Marcantonio so a wide spectrum of Irish comics are covered; from those working in mainstream comics, to creator owned comics, to self-published comics, etc. 

The Lecture will be hosted in the Trinity Arts Building, Room 2041B, The Uí Chadhain Lecture at 7.15pm. Free for all to attend; just make sure you get there early as i believe places are limited. Hope to see ye there.


Dec.

LONDON SUPER COMIC CON

This weekend I'll be at London Super Comic Con. Above are some Spidey-related commission I've done for the show. I'll be signing and sketching during the weekend at the Close Encounters table (table D317-322) along with fellow Micks Stephen Mooney and Will Sliney. Nick Roche should be around the place too, so make sure you stop by and say hello!

Dec.

THOUGHT BUBBLE 2012

In a couple of weeks I will be attending the wonderful Thought Bubble festival for the second time. This time however, I won't have a table of my own. Instead, I will be signing and sketching from 1.50 to 3.20 on both Saturday and Sunday at signing table C. It will be first come, first serve so make sure you get there early. Hope to see you all there!

Dec.

NYCC 2012!

Amazing Spider-Man Panel at NYCC 2012; (L-R) Arune Singh (Director of Communications, Marvel), Kevin Shinick (writer, Avenging Spider-Man), Steve Wacker (Spider-Man Senior Editor), Dan Slott (writer, Amazing Spider-Man), Ryan Stegman (artist, Superior Spider-Man), Joe Keatinge (writer, Morbius), Cullen Bunn (writer, Venom) Mark Waid (writer, Daredevil) and Declan Shalvey (artist, Venom.....also; ME)

I previously mentioned that I was at New York Comic Con. It was quite the experience! So much so I thought I'd do a convention report much like I used to do back in the old days.

I arrived at the show on the Friday with an unfortunate case of hungover-itis, which didn't help with the overwhelming amount of fans at the show. The place was packed, which made Artist Alley (this year located in a north wing of the Javits Centre) an oasis of sanity

 

NYCC Artist Alley

I was signing at the Marvel booth for about an hour in the main show hall. It was bloody crazy; it was near impossible to walk through the crowds; I have no idea how exhibitors and fans could manage a whole day of it. I could manage and hour then had to get the hell out of there. Thankfully, I was signing with good folks like Reilly Brown, Paolo Rivera and Frank Tieri, so that kept my sanity in check

 Hey; that's ME!

 It was a relief to get back to artist alley where it was certainly quieter than the main show, but was still plenty busy. There was a lot of business happening there, but you could still take a breather and talk to fans and fellow pros. I got to chat with Rick remender and Deadpool writer Gerry Duggan who were sitting next to me, both really sound guys. I got a change to look around artist alley a good bit too, so got to meet/catch up with lots of friends including old roomies Ricardo Lopez Ortiz and Stacey Lee.

Saturday was even busier than Friday. Jordie came to the show with me and proceeded to completely disappear for most of the day! Everyone was looking for her and stealing her away from me all day. We took a brief walk into the main show hall and it was just unbearable for me. It was a pretty busy day of commissions so didn't get as much of a break. Met a great Winter Soldier cosplayer though; Gerry Duggan sent me this photo with him (with Winter Soldier editor Lauren Sankovich in the background).

Winter Soldier and I. And Lauren Sankovich

 Sunday was a bit of a change as I was on the Amazing Spider-Man Panel first thing in the morning where I quite publicly stole a dollar from Mark Waid. I'm depending on my ability to be forgetful as a way of getting away with it.. It was really weird to be up there with all those established pros... I was sitting next to Mark Waid for godsake! Moments like that really remind me of how lucky I've been over the last few years. Got to joke a bit and tease what's coming up in Venom. Got to meet Venom writer Cullen Bunn too and chat about what was coming up in pour next arc, and even got to suggest a few things, so I'm really looking froward to draw all that stuff.

Sunday was also the day Jordie was on two separate panels; the Image Comics- Female Creators Panel which you can listen to here and the Women Of Marvel Panel. Unfortunately, my Spidey panel was on at the same time as Jordie's Image one, so I missed it. I was delighted to see her on the Marvel one though. I was happy to see the panel was really well attended...

 The Women of Marvel Panel was PACKED

It was a very interesting panel.  I really wish there wasn't a need for 'Women in Comics' panels as ideally, comics would be equally populated by both sexes but to this day it is totally skewed towards us guys.

 The Women Of Marvel Panel: (L-R) Judy Stephens (Photographer and AR producer ....in a great Captain Marvel costume), Jeanine Schaefer (editor) Ellie Pyle (editor), Sana Amanat (editor), Marjorie Liu (writer), Jordie Bellaire (colourist), and Lauren Sankovitch (editor). Janet K. Lee (artist) arrived mid-panel

The panelists all briefly described how they all broke in though various means and moved quickly to questions from attendees and also twitter. While listening to all the questions it became clear that there were plenty of female fans at this panels who really appreciated that their voices were heard.

 The panelists talking with fans once the panel had wrapped

Once it had wrapped; the panelists were swamped with one-on-one questions. It was really encouraging to see so much interest from female fans in female creators. I would argue that it is panel such as these Women In Marvel panels that invest in the female fanbase and will over time, develop into a more equal gender balance in the creation of comics.

The rest of Sunday consisted of brief hellos and goodbyes. The great thing about NYCC is you get to see so many friends over one weekend. the downside is that you rarely get to spend as much time with them all as you'd really like.

 Brooklyn Pizza! With Ricardo Lopez Ortiz, Stacey Lee, Nayoung Wilson, Jordie, me, 

Peter Timony, Bobby Timony and Matt Wilson (photo by Danna Bremer)

A perfect end to the weekend was pizza in Brooklyn with old friends.

NYCC 2012 was a fantastic weekend for me. Got to catch up with a lot of friends, return to the city that feels like a second home, and talk about some interesting future projects. Was particularly happy to see Jordie do so well at the show too. Between her panels, and her signing with Jonathan Hickman, and with the flood of people looking to meet her, It's amazing to see her career take off in such a big way in such a small space of time. Can't wait for NYCC 2013!

Dec

VENOM #26

Back from NYCC! And what a fantastic time I had. Back to the studio now to get started on new projects. I see that VENOM #26 is out tomorrow. It's part 3 of Marvel's MINIMUM CARNAGE event and also my first issue with SIXTH GUN writer Cullen Bunn. Make sure you pick it up; it's full of sci-fi crazyness. You can see a fully coloured and lettered previer over at CBR.

Dec.

NYCC 2012

It's that wonderful time of year; New York Comic Con is fast approaching; only days away in fact. If you're looking to get a commission, signatures, or just looking to say hello, just swing by table K2. Just look for the long que of people..... for Rick Remender, who's table is next to mine.

I'll also be signing at the Marvel booth from 1-2pm on Friday.

And be sure to check out the Spider-Man panel from 10:45-11:45 on Sunday, where I'll be on stage talking about Venom.

COMMISSIONS

I'll be taking a limited amount of commissions at the show. I'm planning on only doing 8 commissions a day and I'm not taking any pre-orders, so make sure you get to me early to get on the commission list. Commissions will be $100 for 7.5 x 11' fully inked piece.

Hope to see you all at the show!

Dec.

DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL COMICS EXPO (DICE)

Hey all, DICE is finally here this weekend and it's a cracking line up. A fantastic guest list with some of the best in mainstream and creator-owned comics with top-name talent from the US, UK and of course, Ireland!

I'll be sketching at my table for the bulk of the weekend. It's first come, first serve I'm afraid; I'm not taking any lists so you'll have to wait in line (uh.... if there is a line)

Prints of the above Batman piece will also be available at the show too. Not sure how they're being handed out, but I know there is a very limited amount available, so make sure you get to the show early to get a copy of this EXCLUSIVE print.

Here's the panel schedule too; it's a great group of talks; I'm not sure how I'll find the time to draw this weekend as I really want to see all these. I'll be on 2 panels; The 'Marvel Now' panel on 5.30PM Saturday and the 'Break In; Stay In' panel at 10.30AM on Sunday.

I believe I'll also be moderating the Half Past Danger panel at 1.30PM on Sunday too. I'll be quizzing writer/artist Stephen Mooney about his this new series along with colourist Jordie Bellaire and I believe there will be a very special announcement too. Make sure you don't miss that one.

Here's directions to the venue and tickets are available here.

Hope to see ye all this weekend!

Dec.

THOUGHT BUBBLE THIS WEEKEND!


Hey all, I'll be at THOUGHT BUBBLE; The Leeds Comic Art festival this weekend. I've heard wonderful things about the show for years but this is the first year I've been able to attend. There is a fantastic guest list this year including Adam Hughes, Jeff Lemire, David Aja and even fellow THUNDERBOLTS artist Kev Walker! I'll be at table 14 in the Royal Armouries Hall (see below) with Jordie where I'll be taking sketch commissions, selling sketchbooks and prints.

See more about the show here.


Dec.

LILLE COMICS FESTIVAL

This weekend I'll be a guest at the Lille Comics Festival along with guys like Dustin Ngyen, Mike Allred, Rufus Dayglo and R.M Guera. Very much looking forward to it. Haven't been to France since I was quite young. I'll be drawing free sketches for anyone who wants them. I'll have some prints and sketchbooks for sale too. If you see me there, feel free to say hello.



Dec.

SIN/CROSSBONES

Jordie and I are attending the Lille Comics Festival in a few weeks (Nov 5th/6th). As such, we were asked to contribute artwork to be made into a lithograph print that will raise money for charity. The theme was 'villains'. This is what we came up with: a Crossbones/Sin piece. The Red Skull raised his ugly head too.

Dec.

HEROES CONVENTION 2011


I'll be at this year's HEROES convention in Charolette. I had a wonderful time at last year and I'm delighted to get to go again. This year, I will have a proper table with colourist extraordinaire Jordie Bellaire. I'll be at table AA-117.

I'll be selling copies of my Art Deco sketchbook for $20
I will be doing 9x12'' commissions for $50
Original artwork will be available for sale.
Also, I will have 20 limited edition prints (see below), exclusive to Heroes, coloured by Jordie. It came out great!


Finally, if you're at the show, feel free to check out the Comic Twart panel at 1:00PM on Friday

More here..

FRIDAY, JUNE 3rd, 1:00 PM

Comic Twart
Room 206
Every monday one of the members of Comictwart picks a subject for the group to draw over the course of the week. In the last year and and a half, using that very simple formula, Comictwart.com has become one of comics’ most popular art blogs. Join “twartists” Dan Panosian, Francesco Francavilla, Ron Salas, Tom Fowler, Declan Shalvey, and Dave Johnson, with moderator Chris Sims of Comics Alliance, for an entertaining Q&A while the group sketches a subject taken from you the audience! All sketches to be donated to the HeroesCon Annual Art Auction!

Hope to see some o' ye at Heroes. It's a bloody great show. Can't wait for it :)

Dec.

ART DECO, BOSTON COMIC CON, PRE-ORDERS...


Hello all. I've finally made a solo sketchbook. It's called ART DECO. It's 80 pages of material, made up of Eclectic Micks sketches, Comic Twart sketches, layouts, etc. There's actually a good chunk of previously unseen work in there too. I'll be launching it at the Boston Comic Con this weekend. Check out their guest list; it's pretty sweet!

If anyone is interested in pre-orders for sketches at the show; just e-mail me (address is in sidebar on right) and i'll add you to the list. It's $50 dollars for a fully inked A4 sized piece. Thanks.

Dec.

NYCC THIS WEEKEND!












This Friday-Sunday is New York Comic Con and I can't wait.

If you're going, at booth R-12 you will see the ECLECTIC MICKS banner; the place to find (at different times) Len O'Grady, Will Sliney, Stephen Mooney and myself signing and sketching copies of Eclectic Micks Vol. 2, the new edition of sketches from out group blog. It looks great. Kudos to Will for putting the whole thing together.

As for me specifically, I'll be at the following tables at the following times...

Friday:
Boom Studios booth 1-2pm
Eclectic Micks table 2 -5pm

Saturday:
Eclectic Micks table 10am - 1pm
Boom Studios booth 1-2pm
Eclectic Micks table 3-4pm

Sunday:
Eclectic Micks table 10 -12am
Marvel booth from 12.30 to 1.30 pm
Eclectic Micks table 3 -5pm

I'll have my pre-order sketches for those who ordered them, and will take a list for sketches ($50) on Friday and see how it goes after that.

Also; sketches from the Micks and Comic Twart blogs along with original artwork from 28 DAYS LATER and my first issue of THUNDERBOLTS will be on sale at the Cadence Comic Art table, Small Press booth #253

Hope to see yeh there!

Dec.

SUMMER EDITION 2010

























Next Saturday I'll have a table at Summer Edition 2010.

I went to the first event last year, and it was a great auld day. Since I'm back in Ireland I thought I should make the most of it and get a table this year. I'll be doing sketches, selling various comics/books I've done, and sure I might show a sneak peek of the Thunderbolts pages I'm currently working on.

There's LOTS of interesting artists participating; check the list of exhibitors here.

So make sure you come by Filmbase, Temple Bar in Dublin town on the 24th of July between 11 and 5pm. It's FREE-in for godsake!

Dec.

HEROES COVENTION 2010











This June 4th-6th i'll be attending the HEROES con in Charlotte, North Carolina. Everyone has been harping on about how great it is so i'm really hoping it'll live up to my expectations.

A huge part of the HEROES convention is the auction for The Heroes Initiative, a charity dedicated to helping comic book creators in need. Myself and the other Comic Twartists have done pieces for the auction, so hopefully mine will raise some money. We'll also have a panel on Friday. Come check it out. Details below...

COMIC TWART!!
Room 209
The comictwart.com site has become one of the more popular sites online for fresh weekly comic art. Join “twartists” Tom Fowler, Chris Samnee, Francesco Francavilla, Ron Salas, Declan Shalvey, and Andy Kuhn, with moderator Chris Sims of Comics Alliance , for a discussion and multi-sketch demonstration. All sketches to be donated to the HeroesCon Art Auction!

All weekend i'll be signing/sketching at the BOOM! Studios booth, Booths 514, 516 and 613. If you buy a copy of the 28 Days Later hardcover i'll do a small free sketch in the book, however i'll also be doing commissions all weekend upon request for 50$. As an added incentive, i've made 30 original sketch-badges (exclusive to HEROES con; so you won't be able to get them anywhere else) for anyone who buys artwork (original pages or sketches). You can see some of them here.

Hope to see some of ye there.

Dec.

C2E2; The Chicago Comic Con

Last weekend was C2E2 in Chicago; a con i was very much looking forward to attending. both myself and will Sliney flew out from out current abode in New York and had a bloody fantastic weekend. I got to meet a lot of my fellow contributors to the Comic Twart blog, and both myself and Will got to spend most of the weekend with the crew at BOOM! Studios. They were all absolutely lovely people and it was a pleasure to meet (and drink... and eat double-dish pizza with...) all of them.

The show was actually comfortably spacious in it's layout. Will and myself took a REALLY nerdy photo (which i'm sure he'll share soon) and i got some great sketchbooks from the likes of Chris samnee, Eric Canete and Guy Davis.








































Above is a photo of myself sketching at the BOOM! booth with the lovely Jo; the boss' wife. Tried to get fresh with her but she was havin' none of it.

Below is a photo of myself and 28 Days Later writer Michael Alan Nelson. It was great to finally meet him and talk about what has happened in the book and what is coming (hope no one overheard us). We even got to work out an upcoming scene in a future issue; actually collaborating rather than me just taking a script and drawing it. Michael was such a lovely guy and it was an absolute pleasure to spend the weekend at the BOOM! booth with him.

















There was just too many happenings over the weekend for me to cover here, but safe to say i'd like to thank everyone who came to the BOOM! Studios panel and picked up a copy of 28 Days Later (I did a sketch in every copy), all the crew at BOOM! Studios for treating myself and Will so well, all the artists i met(Twartists included) who were so complimentary about my work (appreciate it so much), Mike Norton for dinner and a drive on Sunday evening and of course; the Samnees (Chris and Laura) for sharing a table with me for a spell. They soon learned to regret it.

Dec.

BICS IRON FISTS

Strangely enough, the most requested sketch of my weekend at BICS was not Infected/ zombie-like characters, but was in fact Iron Fist. I had a folder of Eclectic Micks sketches, one of which being this Iron Fist that everyone likes, so i reckon that's why i got so many requests for auld Danny Rand.

This is probably my favourite one.





















I made a stupid, stupid mistake with this one and drew him with two flowing hands instead of one.
He's not Iron Fists Dec ....you idiot!
















A very noir-y sketch.




















And finally a really loose and rough sketch.
This was the very last one of the weekend, so was a little more rushed, and i was at my most tired.
Sue me.





















Dec.

BICS SKETCHES PART 2

Here's more sketches from BICS.

Poison Ivy.
















An Infected. The only one i drew all weekend, which was surprising.




















And an old reliable; Batman.





















Dec.