Sydney OZ Comic-Con Video, GFS Animation, ACMI SUperhero Symposium: News Dump-Nov 2016

I'm hopeless at this blog thing. Flat out with September Oz Comic-Con events in Sydney and Brisbane, picked up a new, ongoing series which I can't say much about at this point, but it's a dream gig, and it's keeping me up around the clock to get the first deadline. More soon.

In the meantime, three posts from the last week, adding to the busy-ness, and some news regarding a graphic novel I've almost completed (with Christian Read and Gestalt Comics) to be announced and released, coming soon. WIll be nice to see the last two years of drawing actually see the light of day.
One is a video from recent Sydney Oz Comic-con.

Looking forward to speaking at ACMI in Melbourne next month (bottom story), and perhaps a day of rest :P

'The Deep' OzComic sketch

Ordinarily, there's two things I don't do:
> Warm-up sketches/colours. Why screw about when there's work to do?
> Random sketches. Again, why screw about when there's work to do? ;)

However, this week's OzComic sketch theme was 'The Deep' by Tom Taylor and James Brouwer. I'm fortunate enough to call these two gents friends, but was a fan of their creator-owned, Australian Graphic Novel beforehand. And I'm not the only one :D https://www.facebook.com/explorethedeep

The 'Gestalt'-published title won an Aurelius Award in 2011 for Best Graphic Novel, and the recently released volume 2 has a foreword and high praise from Joe Kelly, the co-creator of 'Ben-10'. There's more, but I'm tired :P- check this: http://www.exploringthedeep.com/

Anyways, I always wanted to do an image, and although I'm super-strapped for time, I made an attempt on the underwater family of 4. The image was inspired by Jack Kirby's exploring 4...and no, I don't mean 'The Fantastic Four'. As much as I dig the guy and enjoy his writing work (and had the pleasure of meeting and chatting to him), whenever people point to Stan Lee's typed synopsis of the FF as the earliest inspiration for the Marvel adventurers, I point to this series Kirby created for DC comics years before as pretty good evidence the ideas had been bouncing around before the early 60's.

Anyways, off topic. Here's the image, inspiration etc. If I had more time, I'd finish it. Basically, it needs at least colour holds on the lines, but as it's time consuming and fiddly, I have to abandon the pic and move on with the pile of nonsense that faces me right now.

Gotta run, more soon.

Brisbane Supanova 2012 Recap :D

(Ok, So I'm managed to absolutely butcher the formatting of this post, thanks to this not-so-user-friendly system. Enjoy! :P)

The Albert and Logan News had a little mention in their 'What's On' section of the Friday 9th November edition.

Man, an awesome weekend :D

(From left to right): Stewart McKenny, Michelle Delecki, Paul Mason, Howard Chaykin, Shane Davis, David Yardin, Royd Burgoyne, Cordie Phemister, Wendy Keulemans, Tim McEwen and Sarah Ellen.

As you probably know, and are sick of hearing about, I was an official guest of last weekend's Brisbane Supanova Pop Culture expo, held at the RNA showgrounds. Above and below are a bunch of pics from the weekend, but I recommend if you want to see a good chunk of 'the Soldier'
 fans and some cool cosplay, suss out the photo album from "Brisnova" on The Soldier Legacy facebook page.

Firstly, I want to thank the fans and my friends who came by the table, came to the panel, and/or bought a copy of the books or prints. I appreciate you continually supporting my work (or for the new fans, becoming a recruit ;D), and I'm so pleased to be able to have to opportunity to chat to you. You guys, plus the publishers and close mates/mentors, the Supanova team, and the family and friends that pay attention, encourage and spread the word of what I'm trying to pump out, are the ones that help fuel this venture and help me continue. There's a bunch of you who got your photo snapped in front of 'The Soldier' on the weekend, so I hope you dig being on the FB page, and up on the website here: http://thesoldierlegacy.com/?page_id=231

"Quinny", or "Q-Dog" lookin' cool. I just look like a fool. I'm a poet.

Secondly, there's a number of people I want to thank for making the weekend enjoyable. The Supanova team of Daniel Zachariou, Tim McEwen, Royd Burgoyne, plus Bruce, 'Quinny', Chris, Felicity, Missy, Dion, Alf and all the crew and volunteers who helped get my to locations over the weekend, looked after the comic guests, and made the show run smooth for us. Had a great time catching up with you all, and thank you again for having me onboard.

A man I admire greatly: Australian Comics Godfather, Supanova co-founder, and friend, Tim McEwen.

Thumbs up fail. Oh well. Hanging out with good mates Bruce and Royd.

Hard working Supanova crew- Alf, Royd, Felicity and "The Boss", Daniel.

Ok, it looks like someone has just insulted us. Alf is like "You didn't just say what I think you said...?", Dion is like "****! You're a dead man, cuz", and I just look pleased that my knuckles get to dance ;P

Comic Artist/Writer Tristan Jones chills with  Artist David Yardin. Cheers, Gents. Thank you for putting up with my nonsense.

Sarah Ellen, thank you for all your help this weekend- the person who bears the brunt of my nonsense. Would not have been able to juggle all the weekend's commitments, cash and ticking off stock without your assistance, and I thank you greatly. xo
Although, I am sorry to say, the Schwarzenegger voice will continue. Suck it up :P

James Brouwer, the fantastic illustrator of Tom Taylor's 'The Deep' graphic novel series. It was great to spend a bit of time with you, absolutely love the Spider-man print, and thank you for not hitting me across the back of the head with a chair during our crazy panel ;P

James was a graduate of QCA's Bachelor of Animation program too; what a small world :D

Yes, we gave 'Quinny' a bit of drama during our panel :P We endeavoured it to be the best  panel most people would miss. Sucks to be them! I'm sure it will podcast in a number of months. Be warned- I was sleep deprived, and therefore a bit manic :P

This was a big highlight of the weekend: going to Howard Chaykin's Masterclass on the Friday, followed by a great, entertaining dinner, than after asking permission from Howard on Saturday night, he gave me a 'no B.S' folio review, where I learned a great deal. I was absolutely torn to shreds, but that's how you learn. False praise and smoke blowing is not going to teach you anything, and I'm pleased he trusted the fact I could take it. I still laugh when I think to myself the expression on his face that he gave me when he turned to the next page: "Seriously?" hahaha. I'm learning, I'm learning! I stated at dinner on Sunday night, you don't expect to get into the ring against Ali and not get hit. He told me that was "Bull s***". Thankfully, we agreed to disagree, and settled on Archie Moore, before moving onto boxing talk :P A knowledgeable guy, great to have that privilege to spend some time with him.

Amanda Bacchi, host of Geek Speak TV, along with Todd, Wade and the massive film crew dropped in on Saturday. Thank you guys so much for stopping by to chat, and for doing the interview. Loads of fun, and I very much appreciate the support you continue to give me. There's only a handful of comic-based media in our sporadic scene that seem to acknowledge my existence, and I am grateful for the coverage, that's for sure.

You've got to love a family that not only dig old school 'Luke Cage", but also roll with Jack Kirby
'Captain America'. Pleasure meeting you all.

Ronny Ron! 

Melbourne-based Australian Cartoonist and comic-making robot, Frank Candiloro. Great to see you and your happy, smiling face ;P Seriously, so I appreciate your support, bro (and great catching up with your table mate and comic creator, Alicia Jade too, who didn't get a picture! :O), and your latest gear in on the table, ready to be consumed.

 More pics below, featuring some cool Fans, hidden Geek Speak crew, and friends. More on the website/FB page.

Shout out to the awesome 105th Division, whose services I may use in the future...Thanks gents! Awesome stuff. 

Hey! Uni students, whose minds I corrupt...I mean, nurture :P

...and more!

The crew from 31 Digital, filming on the weekend, where I was interviewed by the good doctor here ;P
Great catching up post-LNS *Fist bump* Ka-Boom!

Yes, Shogo channels one of my biggest heroes: Bruce Lee, from 'Game of Death'. 

Darren for the awesome "Gifts of the Geek" store; great to see you boys up here (and Cordy of course ;D) , am so looking forward to coming down next year, and thanks for the assist with the shirts. May have to order more, as I really love the baseball style tops now ;)

There were some really cool moments not captured on camera here: Chatting to Malcolm-Jamal Warner and talking Uni stuff, John DiMaggio, having a laugh or two with author Joe Abercrombie, being introduced to "Triple Brie" and some other nutty/fig thing you stick on a cracker (yes, I'm not that sophisticated), meeting Shane Davis, my next door "neighbour" and guest Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz (his friends/helpers and the most epic moustache on the planet ;D), catching up briefly with Gemma Duffill, Cameron Davis (funnywebcomics) James Gilarte, Sorab Del Rio, my good mate Paul Abstruse, Stewart McKenny and the lovely Wendy, Jame's partner Adrienne, Mandy from Whatcha podcast/Geekxpectations https://www.facebook.com/Geeekxpectations?fref=ts ( good to meet you, thank you for the interview and the attention, guys. Very touched), Libby and Kate, and Dave, Fez, Julie and Amy, Brent, and all the long supporting fans; Dave Hornsby, Wayne, Shogo, Ben Small, Saxon, The true life soldiers who buy the book (lest we forget).Oh, and my brother in Red and Green Arms, Paul Bartlett from Aussie Fake Tattoos. Ummm, I' m terrible with names and I'm just getting a swirl of faces here...look, I'm starting to run out of steam here. Too may late nights working. I just want to stress how much I enjoyed the weekend, and you were all a part of it. Thank you :D (There were a couple of people who stressed that the Soldier book was one of the things they came to the con for, and I want to thank them: names escape me, but I know all your faces. That's very touching.)

Anyways, I'm out. Thank you, Brisbane! A full year recap to come soon. In reflection, it's been a big year. Thank you for sharing the journey with me, Soldiers.

The Late Nite Show with Scott Black: featuring guest Paul Mason :D

The entire 'Late Nite Show' with Scott Black is now available online, featuring me as a guest, talking nonsense ;P

Thank you again to Scott, the crew and 31 Digital. There may be a replay during Brisbane Supanova weekend, that is,  Saturday night the 10th, on Channel 44.

For those interstate, who want to witness my embarrassment (I had a lot of trouble watching myself :P), I appear in Pt 3 and Pt 4, with a credit mention in Pt 1. Enjoy!

(Please bare mind mind the 'M' rating, kids :) )

Brisbane Supanova November 2012 Floor Plan and Panel Announcement!

Listen up, Soldiers!  Brisbane Supanova Floor plan is now available online at http://www.supanova.com.au/news/brisbane-2012-event-guide/

New buildings while the RNA gets a revamp, so better familiarize yourself via the link.

If you're interested, you'll find 'Soldier Legacy' comic books, pinups, and I'll be sketching all weekend at table 'F' (highlighted in Pink) opposite Kings Comics in the Comic Creators section (Click the images to enlarge here.)

Oh, and to my surprise, and thank you to the fantastic Supanova organisers, I'm on a panel (!) with the awesome James Brouwer, the artist on the award-winning 'The Deep', published by Gestalt, and written by the international goal-kicker writer, and gentleman, Tom Taylor. The Panel is entitled 'Domestic Drawing Dynamos!', on Saturday 10th at 4:20pm in the Supanova Seminar room. Very humbled, and excited.

(I'm also digging the idea of the David Yardin/Tristan Jones panels too. Sunday's one looks like a lot of fun.)

More updates on the Show as we get closer. In the meantime, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all the supporters of 'The Soldier Legacy Comic Book' Facebook page- we cracked 1000 likes! A small reward when issue #5 is off to the printers at the end of this week.