Major Con Sketch Catch-up Post!!

For those of you who have read my blog, I have been way behind on posting any updates!  I have been to nine cons since my last post (Heroes Con 2015 and 2016 (Charlotte), Tampa Bay Comic Con 2015 and 2016, Florida SuperCon 2015 and 2016 (Miami), Baltimore Comic Con 2015, Magic City Comic Con (Miami) and MegaCon 2016) and have lots to share including some cool new projects! 

And this blog name doesn't do justice to the new ideas I have pursued since I first created the blog.  As a reminder, I purchase the blank variant covers and have artists and writers who have worked on Amazing Spider-man, Daredevil, Captain America and Thor sketch or sign their names (if a writer or a non-sketching artist).  I have also added covers with Spider-man and Daredevil villains, members of the Inhumans, Fantastic Four and X-Men and various iterations of Ms. Marvel, Ghost Rider and Deathlok!  Lots of fun stuff!

Since we are playing catch-up, let's start fresh with what I have achieved to date (I will try to list them left to right, top to bottom, as mentioned not all artists sketch so may just be a signature).  I will add some commentary as needed!:

Amazing Spider-man Artists (49 artists to date)

 



Alex Saviuk, Phil Jimenez, John Romita, Mike McKone (my first head sketch), Humberto Ramos, Reilly Brown, Marco Checcheto, Bob Layton, John Romita, Jr., Bob McLeod, Mike Deodato, Jr., Mark Brooks, Ryan Stegman, Klaus Janson, Joe Quesada, Lee Weeks, Todd McFarlane (didn't sketch but added a spider).

 

Robert Atkins (probably my favorite sketch), Paul Azaceta, Eric Canete, Joe Quinones, Ron Garney.

Matthew Southworth, Michael Zeck, Valentine DeLandro, Jim Fern (exception #1 not an Amazing Spider-man artist but still added him), Tom Lyle, Paty Cockrum, Colleen Doran, Steve McNiven.

 

Paolo Rivera, Darick Robertson, Bob Hall, Keith Pollard, Erik Larsen, Rick Leonardi, Matthew Clark, Luke McDonnell, Mark Bagley.



 Angel Medina, Sean Chen, Michael Gaydos, Carlo Barberi, Ramon Perez, Brandon Peterson

 Barry Kitson, Sara Pichelli (exception #2 - she is an Ultimate Spider-man artist), Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Randy Emberlin, Scott Kolins.

 

 Amazing Spider-man Writers (20 writers to date)

 

Jim Shooter (exception #3 he was an editor not a writer), Joe Keatinge, Al Milgrom, Mark Waid, John Layman, Gerry Conway (best Spider-man writer ever), Marv Wolfman, Ann Nocenti, Louise Simonson, Christos Gage, Roy Thomas, Joe Kelly, Zeb Wells, Stan Lee (the master), Dan Slott, Bob Layton, Peter David, Tom DeFalco, Joe Quesada, Fred Van Lente, Todd Dezago

 . 

Spider-man Villains

 Doctor Octopus - Erik Larsen                                    Rhino - Mike McKone

Boomerang - Steve Lieber                                         Kraven - Alex Saviuk

Morbius - Matthew Clark                                          Sandman - George Perez

Shocker - Matthew Southworth                                 Kingpin - Mark Bagley

                             Vulture - Bob McLeod (excellent)

                                    Venom - Mike Deodato, Jr.

 Carnage - Angel Medina

Hypno Hustler - Aaron Kuder

Black Cat - Barry Kitson

Lizard - Paolo Rivera

Hydro Man - Robert Atkins

Green Goblin - Todd Nauck (my favorite villain)

 

Mysterio - Lee Weeks

More to come!!

Daredevil Artists (37 artists to date)

 

Keith Pollard, Paolo Rivera, Jim Starlin, Frank Miller (right under the logo), Terry Dodson, Jason Copland, Tom Lyle, Mike Avon Oeming, Rich Buckler, Geoff Isherwood (my favorite one), Rick Leonardi, Luke McDonnell, Steve Epting, Michael Allred, Paul Azaceta.

 Marco Checchetto, Greg Capullo, Clay Mann, Klaus Janson, John Romita, Arvell Jones, Keith Giffen, Alex Maleev, Ron Garney, John Romita, Jr,, Todd McFarlane, Lee Weeks, Sergio Carello, Mark Bagley, Cary Nord, David Mack, Dan Jurgens, Joe Quesada.

 

Stefano Gaudiano, Cully Hammer, Khoi Pham, Vanesa Del Rey.

 

Daredevil Writers (19 writers to date)

 

Scott Lobdell, Charles Soule, Mark Waid, Jm Shooter, Gerry Conway, Frank Miller (classic writer - across the logo), Danny Fingeroth, Chris Calremont, David Mack, Kevin Smith, Stan Lee, Ann Nocenti, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, John Romita, Jr. Joe Quesada, Greg Rucka, Joe Kelly, Fabien Nicieza.

Daredevil Villains

 Kingpin - Lee Weeks                                    Elektra - Bill Sienkiewicz

Gladiator - Cully Hammer                           Bullseye - Klaus Janson

Man-Bull - Stefano Gaudiano                                Lady Bullseye - Clay Mann

Stilt-Man - Paolo Rivera                                 Typhoid Mary - Paul Azaceta

                                   Mister Hyde - Cary Nord

 

 Captain America Artists (16 artists to date)

Allen Bellman

 Barry Kitson, Michael Zeck, Steve McNiven, Steve Epting, Dan Jurgens, Francesco Francavilla, Mike Perkins, Mark Bagley, Jae Lee, Andy Kubert, Lee Weeks, John Romita, Jr., Mike Manley, Stuart Immomen, Lee Weeks.

Captain America Writers (6 writers to date)

Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Jim Shooter (exception #4 - he was only an editor), Marv Wolfman, Cullen Bunn, Mark Waid, Chuck Austin.

Thor Artists (19 artists to date)

Barry Kitson, Mark Brooks, Mike McKone, Simon Bisley, Keith Pollard, Tom Raney, Stuart Immomen, Lee Weeks, John Romita, Jr. Mike Deodato, Jr.

Jey Leisetn, Dan Jurgens, Andy Kubert, Geoff Isherwood, Greg LaRoque, Tom Grummett, Bob Budiansky, Jorge Molina, Walt Simonson, Jim Starlin.

 

Thor Writers (7 writers to date)

 

Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, Gerry Conway, Jim Shooter (exception #5 - he was only an editor), Roy Thomas, Jim Starlin, Ron Marz, Walt Simonson.

Inhumans

 

            Triton - Jae Lee                                      Black Bolt - Tom Raney

Lockjaw - Brandon Peterson                           Medusa - George Perez

Mosaic - Khary Randolph                                Alaris - Matthew Clark

                                                                          Naja - Ryan Stegman 

Invaders

 

Union Jack - Mike Perkins        

                                                 Captain America - Allen Bellman                                                    

Submariner - Alex Saviuk

Human Torch - Bob McLeod  

Fantastic Four

 

      Skrull -Tom Raney                                    Mr. Fantastic - Mike McKone

Doctor Doom - Casey Jones                          Sue Storm - Ryan Stegman

                      Mole Man - Juan Doe                                     Thing - Mark Bagley                                  

                                                                        Human Torch - George Perez 

Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel

 

              Ms. Marvel #1- Bob McLeod         

                                                             Ms. Marvel #2 - Greg Horn                                                    

Captain Marvel - Kris Anka

Ms. Marvel #3- Jake Wyatt   

Ghost Rider

          Danny Ketch - Mark Texiera           

                                                    Carter Slade - Juan Gedeon                                                          

Johnny Blaze - Pat Broderick

                                                     Alejandra Blaze - Matthew Clark                                                       

Robbie Reyes - Tradd Moore 

X-Men

 

                Storm - Dexter Vines                           Wolverine - Yanick Panquette

Magneto - Shawn Crystal                           Colossus - Ken Lashley

Gambit - Jorge Molina                                Iceman -Andy Smith

                                                                       Cyclops - Nolan Woodward

                                                                      Professor X - Mark Bagley

                                                                    Rogue - Kevin Sharpe  

Deathlok

 Deathlok #4 -Henry Hayes - Mike Perkins 

 

That's it for now - I will try to stay current going forward!  Thanks for looking!

Megacon 2015 and "An Evening with Kevin Smith"

I think I need to change the name of this blog!  What started out as a collection of Amazing Spider-man and Daredevil writer signatures and artist sketches has turned into a collection of Spidey and DD villains and signatures and sketches of creators of Captain America, Thor and the Inhumans!

 

The first con I attended was Megacon here in Orlando in 2002 and I have been going every year since...as usual with recurring cons, the same creators come year and after year but with some of my new "collections" that has led to some new work for me by these creators.

 

Here is a summary of what I accomplished this year at Megacon 2015:.

 

 

Captain America (2 artists so far)

 

As mentioned last post, I added the classic Marvel hero of Captain America to my writer and sketch collection.  Here is another example of a series I have read casually over the years and just got back into it.  As a result, I thought it would be fun to seek out these creators.  At this con, there were two artist in attendance, Allen Bellman and Mike Perkins.  Allen is a classic artist - in his 90's and worked on Captain America as an artist when Marvel was known as Timely Comics in the 1930's and 1940's!  Allen said it would be easier to work on the sketch at his home so he shipped me the finished product after the con.  And it is a full head sketch too - great job from a classic artist.  The more traditional small head sketch was by a more recent Cap artist Mike Perkins.

 

 

Not an official artist sketch but my 11-year old son decided to try his hand at a Cap sketch.  Maybe some day he will be on the blank variant cover!

 

 

Daredevil "Foes" Artists (6 sketches so far)

As with other DD villain sketches, I usually let the artist choose their favorite DD villain for them to sketch.  I met one DD artist at Megacon, Lee Weeks and asked him to choose his favorite and he chose the Kingpin (top left).

 

I still like the way I added outlined boxes to make the sketch area more linear and comic panel-like.

 

 Inhumans (2 artists so far)

 

As mentioned before, with the announced "Inhumans" movie coming from Marvel in a few years (and their presence on the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." TV show), I decided to catch up on the titles featuring this team that have been released over the years (starting in the 1970's).  As I have enjoyed this collecting of signatures and sketches hobby, I decided to take the blank variant of the newest series "Inhuman" and have Inhumans past and present writers sign on the inside cover and have artists who have drawn the Inhumans over the years each sketch their favorite Inhuman (a la Spidey and DD villains) on the front and back.  The first two characters and two of the main Inhumans, Black Bolt and Medusa, were sketched by Tom Raney and George Perez.

 

 Amazing Spider-man Artist (42 sketches so far)

 

I was able to add only one Spider-man head sketch at Megacon.  A simple Spidey head by the artist Sean Chen (on the right).

Spider-man "Foes" Artists (13 sketches so far)

The Spider-man villains are done by Spider-man artists as they sketch their favorite villain (as long as their favorite is not the same as another artist!) or a villain that they have drawn many times over the years. I find consistently that the artists love this concept of being able to choose who they can sketch,

 

The sketch I received  this time is an old school Lizard by artist Paolo Rivera - a favorite of mine and if you look at this blog you will see he has added a few sketches.

 

 

 Thor (5 artists so far)

 

I was able to add one new Thor sketch to my Thor collection - that of Tom Raney (top right) - I had the artist Lee Weeks just add his signature to this cover as he had already sketched the Kingpin for me above.

 

 

Daredevil Writers (15 in total so far)

 

This writer addition was a cool one.  I am a fan of Kevin Smith and he is a fan of comics - and he wrote a handful of Daredevil issues in the late 90's.  He came to Orlando in April for "An Evening with Kevin Smith" which is basically a two-three hour Q&A session where he shares stories from his career.  He is a pretty nice guy and I had brought my DD writer collection with me in the hopes I could get him to sign it.  Turns out during the course of Q&A he lets people come on stage and he will sign things. 

 

My daughter came with me and as she has a little more nerve than me, she asked him if he would sign the cover.  She went on stage and told him he could sign above the Stan Lee signature.  He thought the cover was a cool idea and obliged (took a quick picture but a little blurry).

 

Well that's it for this time - more cons on the way in 2015!

Shock Pop Comic Con 2015

 

 

Welcome to 2015!  I started the year at a brand new con in Florida, Shock Pop ComicCon which was located in Ft. Lauderdale, about 3 hours away from Orlando. Once again, still surprised how many cons have popped up in Florida over the last few years and there will be a second new con in Ft. Lauderdale in October, Wizard World.

 

Though a smaller con, I was able to add a few more sketches and writers to my collection...and even started a few new "collections".

 

Here is a summary of what I accomplished.

 

Amazing Spider-man Writers (19 in total so far)

The extreme highlight of this con for me was to meet Gerry Conway, who was the writer that turned me onto comics many years ago.  He wrote classic stories for all of my favorite characters as will be evidenced below, including the famous "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" issue of Amazing Spider-man 121 which (in my opinion) changed the innocence of comics.   In addition to Gerry's signature (for which I had saved room at the top of the issue cover) I added Joe Kelly to my cover (and he wanted to sign right above Stan Lee).

 

 

Daredevil Writers (14 in total so far) I was able to add three writers to the DD Writer collection this time including Gerry Conway, Joe Kelly and Scott Lobdell (who added a quick sketch on the back of the cover).

 

 

Daredevil Artists (33 sketches so far)

 

For my additions to my "Daredevil sketch collection", I was able to only add one artist, Cully Hamner, who I had received just a signature on the cover from a few years ago.  He was more than happy to sketch for me and his sketch below (bottom one) has quickly become one of my favorites.

 

 

 

Spider-man "Foes" Artists (12 sketches so far)

No DD villains this con, but I did get to add two villains to this collection.  The Spider-man villains are done by Spider-man artists as they sketch their favorite villain (as long as their favorite is not the same as another artist!) or a villain that they have drawn many times over the years. I find consistently that the artists love this concept of being able to choose who they can sketch,

 

The sketches I received were The Green Goblin (my favorite villain and glad someone finally chose him) by Todd Nauck and a Venom sketch by Spider-man artist Mike Deodato, Jr.

 
 

 

Thor Writers (1 so far)

 

I was only able to add one Thor writer to my blank "Thor" #1 variant that of Gerry Conway (notice a trend?).

 

Thor (3 sketches so far)

 

I was able to add two new Thor sketches to my Thor collection - those of Simon Bisley (the larger one) and Mike Deodato, Jr. who did the quick head sketch at the bottom.

 

 

 

 Inhumans (3 writers so far)

 

With the announced "Inhumans" movie coming from Marvel in a few years, I decided to catch up on the titles featuring this team that have been released over the years (starting in the 1970's).  As I have enjoyed this collecting of signatures and sketches hobby, I decided to take the blank variant of the newest series "Inhuman" and have Inhumans past and present writers sign on the inside cover and have artists who have drawn the Inhumans over the years each sketch their favorite Inhuman (a la Spidey and DD villains above) on the front and back.  There were no artists in attendance so I started with three writers who have worked on the Inhumans over the years - Gerry Conway, Paul Jenkins and Andy Lanning.

 

 

 

 

Captain America (1 writer so far)

 

Lastly, one more classic Marvel hero has been added to my writer and sketch collection, Captain America!  Here is another example of a series I have read casually over the years and just got back into it.  As a result, I thought it would be fun to seek out these creators.  At this con, only one writer, Gerry Conway, was in attendance (again, see I mentioned he wrote a lot).  Lots more to come on this blank variant as the 2015 cons continue.

 

 

That's all for now...next con will be my annual trip to Megacon here in Orlando in April...more will be added for sure!

Florida Supercon (Miami), Tampa Bay Comic Con and Fanboy Expo (Tampa) Cons

Time to catch up!  Over the last few months, I have attended a few smaller conventions, all within driving distance of Orlando.  I attended Florida Supercon in Miami in July (about 4 hours away) and two that were in Tampa (hour and a half away), one in August and one this past weekend.  I am very surprised how many cons have popped up in Florida over the last few years.

 

Though small cons, I was able to add a few more sketches and writers to my collection...and even started a new "collection".  More on that at the end of the blog...

 

Here is a summary of what I accomplished.

Daredevil "Foes" Artists (6 sketches so far)

As with other DD villain sketches, I usually let the artist choose their favorite DD villain for them to sketch.  But in the case of Clay Mann, who I met in Miami, I asked if he would sketch Lady Bullseye as he was the artist for her inaugural issue.  He obliged as shown below...very well done.

 

At the first Tampa con, I again met with one of my favorite artists, Paolo Rivera.  He decided to choose Stilt-Man (a classic!) as the villain to sketch. 

 

I still like the way I added outlined boxes to make the sketch area more linear and comic panel-like.

 

 

 

Spider-man "Foes" Artists (10 sketches so far)

As with DD, the Spider-man villains are done by Spider-man artists as they sketch their favorite villain (as long as their favorite is not the same as another artist!) or a villain that they have drawn many times over the years. 

 

The sketches I received were The Vulture (super cool sketch) in Tampa in August by Bob McLeod and this past weekend I received a Carnage sketch by Spider-man artists Angel Medina.

 

 

 

 

Amazing Spider-man Artist (41 sketches so far)

 

I was able to add three Spider-man head sketches over the three cons.  On the inside back cover, I added Al Milgrom (a legend) in Miami, Scott Kolins in Tampa in August (in the right corner) and in the inside front cover Angel Medina this past weekend in Tampa where he sketched a cool upside down Spidey with a little spider too.

 

 

 

 

Amazing Spider-man Writers (17 in total so far) Just one signature added to the Writer collection this time - the aforementioned Al Milgrom, joining Joe Keatinge on the back cover.

 

 

 

Thor (1 sketch so far)

 

I have recently discovered Thor comics, which is funny because in the past I was never much of a fan of the character.  It was through the purchase of some Thor Marvel Masterworks a few months that I realized what great stories have been told over the years with this character.  So I decided to now add Thor head sketches to a blank cover variant of "Thor, God of Thunder" #1.  Over the past three cons, only one Thor artist was in attendance, Keith Pollard, so I asked him to be my inaugural Thor sketch artist.  Excellent job!!

 

 

 

Well, that should be it for 2014 conventions - I discovered a new con in Ft. Lauderdale in February that will probably be the next one I attend and one of the greatest Spider-man writers of all time will be in attendance - Gerry Conway...can't wait!