A Dwayne McDuffie memory

Dwayne McDuffie

I was already a fan of Dwayne McDuffie’s writing for comics and animation when he attended the convention I helped start, CONvergence, as a Guest of Honor in 2009. I got to interview Dwayne for a panel, escort him on a tour of the convention parties, and spend some good time with him over the weekend. It wasn’t until the weekend was over that I showed him some of my own comic art, which included art from The Batman Strikes, the series I had been drawing at the time. He said some complimentary things as he flipped through the binder of art, and then upon getting to a page with a streamlined silhouette of Batman said “Yeah, you GET IT.” That made my weekend.

If I’d been a fan before of Dwayne’s work, that weekend made me a fan of Dwayne. His warmth, humor and generosity really blew me away, so I was glad to have played a role in creating a warm welcome for him.

First of all, I had done the badge art you see above. I do custom badge art for all of CONvergence’s guests. Dwayne’s badge featured a face to face meeting of the comic book and animation versions of Dwayne’s signature Static character.

I also play a role in crafting what goes on at the convention’s opening and closing ceremonies. In researching Dwayne to plan for his time at CONvergence, I came across this “ProFile” of Assistant Editor Dwayne McDuffie from a 1988 Bullpen Bulletin page from Marvel Comics.

Dwayne McDuffie – ProFile

In the questionnaire, Dwayne said “The reason I got into comics” was “So I could hit Wolverine in the face with a pie.” This was too good to pass up.

At Closing Ceremony when Dwayne was brought up on stage to say goodbye to the convention, we brought up this ProFile and this quote, and told Dwayne that CONvergence was the place where dreams come true…

Ready… aim…

I would have preferred a volunteer Wolverine cosplayer, but you work with what you’ve got, so I brought out a color marker drawing of Wolverine I’d done on foam core board and Dwayne was given a cream pie to use as ammunition. I was half-expecting that the pie was going to hit me rather than the 2-dimensional mutant, but Dwayne took careful aim at Logan and nailed him square in the puss.

SPLAT!!!

After that, Dwayne left the stage and as I went backstage with the remains of the comedy bit, I heard our next Guest of Honor horror author Brian Keene say “That’s funny. I got into writing so I could hit Chris Jones in the face with a pie.” Before I finished laughing, another pie had been readied and was being delivered to Brian and I dutifully marched back out on stage for the sake of comedy. But that’s another story.

I still have that rather smeared Wolverine drawing. I also have the copy of Dwayne’s script for the Justice League episode “Epilog” that Dwayne had donated to our charity auction, which features an original Bruce Timm Batman sketch on the cover page!

I’m happy to have those treasures but I’d rather still have Dwayne around. I miss you, Dwayne!

Heading to New York Comic Con!

Click the image to go to my Facebook page and “like” it!

Attending New York Comic Con on October 11-14? Come say hi to me in Artists Alley (table D2).

If you show me that you “like” my Facebook page, Christopher Jones Comic Art, I’ll give you a *FREE* signed Young Justice mini-print or Christopher Jones Comic Art button!

I’ll be signing at DC Comics (Booth #1238) Saturday 10-11am and Sunday 1:30-2:30pm.

Sunday from 2:30-3:30pm I’ll be on the Drawing DC: Kids Edition panel in Room 1A06.

Chris & Young Justice cosplayers at C2E2

Are you a cosplayer? I’d love to take your photo to share on my blog, and I’d especially love to have a photo taken *with* any cosplayers wearing costumes from Young Justice, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, or any of my other projects! Stop by and I might just have a freebie for you, too!

Can’t wait to meet you all!

Comics Continuum TV

Comics Continuum TV

So back at C2E2 (that’s the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo) I was interviewed for the Comics Continuum TV Show. Well apparently the interview finally made it into an episode but I missed it when it first aired/went online. If you want to check it out, click on the picture above or click here. Most of the talk is of course about Young Justice…

If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing and just want to see me, skip to the 19:15 mark!

Coming to New York Comic Con!

New York Comic Con

Just added to my page of upcoming appearances: New York Comic Con! I’ll be in Artists Alley for the full 4-day show, October 11-14 at the Javits Center in New York City. If you’re going to be there, plan to look me up!

CONvergence 2013 – The Key!

CVG 2013 Ad

CVG 2013 Ad – Key

1. Connie as Emma Peel from The Avengers
2. Professor Max as John Steed from The Avengers
3. Connie Mark 2 as Nathan from Misfits
4. That Smiley Planet Guy from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
5. God from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
6. The Liberator from Blake’s 7
7. Starbug from Red Dwarf
8. Harry Potter from… uh… Harry Potter
9. An alien walker from John Christopher’s Tripods
10. Thunderbird 1 from Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds
11. The TARDIS from Doctor Who
12. Graffiti from V for Vendetta
13. A Triffid from Day of the Triffids

Not numbered, but visible in the background: The London Eye, Big Ben, and a Double-Decker London bus.

I considered adding a reference to The Prisoner or Sherlock Holmes or James Bond… but I didn’t want to over-clutter it. There’s a whole year ahead to reference the works of H.G. Welles, Sapphire and Steel, 28 Days Later, Quatermass…