Baltimore Comic-Con 2023 — Part 4 Of 4
Baltimore Convention Center, September 8-10, 2023
Tag: Scott Dunbier
Baltimore Comic-Con 2023 — Part 1 Of 4
Baltimore Convention Center, September 8-10, 2023
Once again, HUGE thanks and congrats to all the terrific folks who made this past weekend’s Baltimore Comic-Con just as perfect an event could be.
As noted in previous years, It’s easily one of my favorite conventions — an absolute delight to attend. I had a blast catching up with old friends and colleagues, making some new acquaintances, and hosting some fun panels.
I’m exhausted, but it’s a happy exhaustion, and once again, I miss all of you already.
Jack Kirby — Encore Presentation
Baltimore Comic-Con, September 8-10, 2023
After a five-year hiatus, the legendary Jack Kirby original art presentation returns with nearly 1,000 high-res images* featuring some of the King’s most important pages and covers. Join myself, the legendary Walter Simonson, the incredible Scott Dunbier (at least 80(!) IDW Publishing Artist Edition collections under his editorial belt — I’ve lost count) for a Kirby tribute unlike any other.
Baltimore Comic Con 9/8-9/10, exact time and panel room location TBD.
(*Yes, nearly 1,000. It’s an hour-long presentation, so if you blink, you’ll miss a few.)
In the meantime, I’m fortunate enough to personally own a few pages of Jack’s original art and have covered most of them previously in the blog, but here they are in one place for the first time.
If you want to see them and much more, simply enter “Jack Kirby” into the blog search bar.
SDCC 2023 (Part 1 of 3)
San Diego, July 19-23, 2003
The Art Of The Library
Columbia University, April 2023
Happiness is a terrific graphic novel library.
Pictured is just one tiny part of the incredible collection at Columbia University curated by my pal, Karen Green, part librarian, part force of nature. From three books a few years ago — to three full rooms(!) of some of the best material published in the medium thanks to her tireless efforts. (Not to mention the acquisitions of personal papers and ephemera from some of the best-known names in the industry.)
Here we can see some of the shelves dedicated to the oversized material, including many of the original art “Artist Editions” titles I was fortunate enough to publish during the halcyon days at IDW Publishing. These of course were edited and curated by another pal, editor par excellence Scott Dunbier.
I cannot tell you how pleased I was to see the scope of this collection at my Alma Mater.
(Illustration of Karen below from Columbia Magazine by Nick Sousanis)
Baltimore 2022 — Back To The Future (Part 1 Of 3)
October 28-30, 2022
Big thanks and congrats to all the folks who made this past weekend’s Baltimore Comic Con just as perfect an event could be.
It’s easily one of my favorite conventions — an absolute delight to attend. I exhausted myself catching up with old friends and colleagues, making some new acquaintance, and trying (ultimately not quite succeeding) to see all the great comics-related material in the room.
I miss all of you already.
Walter Simonson — Mighty, Indeed
Thor Artist’s Edition, Original Art Cover “Remarque” Limited Variant, 2011/2012 & Sketch, 2012
Here are two terrific Walter Simonson Thor pieces with equally terrific “origin” stories.
First up: IDW Artist’s Edition Editor Scott Dunbier developed a unique concept with one of his earliest volumes — A blank cover that the artist could then draw on, making a limited amount of copies of the book true originals.
A challenge for the printer, but mission accomplished, at least with this volume.
Walter and Scott agreed on a price, and Walter drew approximately a dozen of these covers. I say approximately, because of some confusion about whether it was going to be 10 or 15 of them, and Scott ultimately chose to offer them privately to some well-known original art collectors in a addition to a handful of IDW’s senior management team. I have no recollection how many were actually ultimately created. And I’m not positive all the completed drawings were scanned.
(Yes, that is the way comics works sometimes, folks.)
In addition to the piece I own, I’ve seen about four others, and like this one, they are all terrific. The only challenge is figuring out a creative way to display one properly and safely. If anyone has solved that puzzle, feel free to chime in.
The second Walter piece is looser, but extra special. Walter generously drew it in my office after SDCC while I was tied up in a meeting elsewhere, with the plan to personalize my “regular” edition of the Artist’s Edition.
It was only after the art was completed that I noticed it was the book was damaged printer’s proof version, instead of my actual personal copy.
A bummer, certainly, but a solution presented itself with the help of a handy X-Acto blade. I removed the page, trimmed it to a more precise 11×17 size, and framed it.
Voila. Now I can view it all the time, instead of just upon opening the book.
As they say, it’s in the permanent collection.
It’s Thor’s 60th anniversary this year, so we have a few more posts lined up to celebrate Marvel’s God of Thunder. (Of course, technically, the Thor legend is eon’s old, but, as always, we digress.)
Joe Kubert — Tarzan, Unvarnished
Tarzan #234, January 1975
2022 is the 110th anniversary of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle icon, Tarzan.
This year has at least two-other important Tarzan-related anniversaries:
The first is 1932, the release year of the first Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan feature film. Tarzan existed on screen prior to the Weissmuller film, of course, but his 12 features likely did more to enshrine the character in the popular imagination than any other media representation.
The second is 1972, the year DC took over the comic book license from Gold Key and re-established Tarzan as a savage lord of the Jungle. Joe Kubert’s comic art work on the character was the first that took the sheen of the character and returned him to his literary roots.
Long before “reboot” became part of the pop culture vocabulary, Kubert’s Tarzan was a stunning new look for comic book readers.
DC, as part its licensing deal, had to provide all the original art to the Burroughs estate. It’s still there in the archives, in excellent condition, and we used it to create three beautiful Artist’s Editions volume at IDW.
Ultimately, thought, this means that Kubert Tarzan pages are among the rarest of the last 50 years. With the exception of a handful, none of them have ever been offered on the open market.
Joe originally gifted this splash, part of a DPS, to a friend.
I happened to see it the day it the day it came up for sale, and despite a lofty price, I acquired it then and there.
I knew I wouldn’t likely see another one.
Joe Kubert — DC At War
Sgt. Rock #14, July 1991
The legendary Joe Kubert “borrows” from himself to create an iconic cover image; one of the very few to feature both Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace together.
It’s a beautifully rendered cover, and one my personal favorites.
Kubert’s covers graced so many DC war comics from the 60s through the 90s that occasionally seeing one from another artist is just… incongruous.
And as artist, editor and Publications Director, Kubert’s storytelling insight and eye for talent ensured that many of the interiors were terrific as well.
Ahead of Memorial Day later this month, we’re featuring a number of great pieces of art from DC’s war genre by some truly talented creators.
Stay tuned.
Darwyn Cooke — Martinis And Bullets
The Seventh, Short Story, Parker Martini Edition, 2013
Here’s the best page from The Seventh, an Eisner-winning short story adapted from Richard Stark’s (Donald Westlake) Parker novel of the same name.
Adapted, designed, illustrated, lettered, and hand-colored by the late, great, Darwyn Cooke.
Most of the original art pages from Darwyn’s Parker graphic novels feature two smaller pages on a standard-size board. This one is a full-size page on board (aprox.11X17). It was created as a special bonus for the “Martini Edition,” the beautiful oversized collection of The Hunter and The Outfit, edited by the terrifically talented Scott Dunbier.
The second Martini Edition, collecting The Score and Slayground finally debuts later in 2021. And its bonus material will include a new story by Ed Brubraker and Sean Phillips (Criminal, et al).
I can’t wait. Bam!
