Gargoyles – Christopher Jones Comic Art and Illustration Blog http://blog.christopherjonesart.com Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:04:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 42733131 The (Not Exactly Canon) Gargoyles / Spider-man / Young Justice Radio Show at CONvergence 2016 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/the-not-exactly-canon-gargoyles-spider-man-young-justice-radio-show-at-convergence-2016/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/the-not-exactly-canon-gargoyles-spider-man-young-justice-radio-show-at-convergence-2016/#respond Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:04:20 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=6142 Performed live at CONvergence 2016, here is the (not exactly canon) Gargoyles meets The Spectacular Spider-man meets Young Justice Radio Show featuring Black Manta’s Celebrity Hot Tub.

…perhaps I should explain.

Radio Show Recruits - prevIn 2014, CONvergence (the convention I co-founded many moons ago) was lucky enough to get to host a 20th Anniversary Celebration of Disney’s Gargoyles. Our Guests of Honor that year included four people with ties to that series: Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman, the voice of Demona Marina Sirtis, Supervising Producer Frank Paur, and Lead Character Designer Greg Guler.

At previous Gargoyles “Gatherings”, Greg had written Gargoyles radio plays to be performed by a mix of voice actors from the show who were on-hand to play their roles and fans from the convention to fill out the rest of the cast. These were tongue-in-cheek stories that frequently broke the fourth wall and became increasingly more convoluted and absurd as they carried forward their continuity from year-to-year and eventually included mash-ups with other Greg Weisman projects including The Spectacular Spider-man animated series.

Greg generously decided to continue this tradition at CONvergence 2014, expanding this madness to include characters from Young Justice. So with only Marina Sirtis on hand to play both Demona from Gargoyles and her character Queen Bee from Young Justice, a large cast of fan actors were auditioned and cast from the fans at CONvergence. The play was called “Recruits” and you can watch the video of the event below.

 

When Greg Weisman returned to CONvergence in 2016, he was joined by Khary Payton (the voice of Aqualad on Young Justice and Cyborg on Teen Titans). From the moment we knew these two were coming to CONvergence I was hoping we could get Greg to not only bring us another radio play, but that we could incorporate an unproduced gem of an idea called Black Manta’s Celebrity Hot Tub.

OK, more explaining. Back when Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series were airing back-to-back on Cartoon Network as part of a programming block called “DC Nation,” Greg and Khary pitched Black Manta’s Celebrity Hot Tub for the series of comedy shorts that aired between the two shows. In one of history’s great tragedies, these shorts went unmade.

However these shorts were repurposed into segments in the CONvergence 2016 radio show, so now you can get a taste of the glory that might have been.

We had two separate sessions of auditions at CONvergence to fill out the sprawling cast, followed by Greg, Khary and myself hiding away in secret corner of the hotel and sneaking lunch while casting the whole show. The day after the final cast list was posted we had an hour to run through and rehearse before the live performance!


Many thanks to Greg Weisman for somehow finding the time in his busy schedule to write this crazy thing and to everyone who helped make the show happen, and thanks to the CONvergence Video Team for getting the video put together. The video isn’t fancy (single camera from the back of the panel room), but the audio is reasonably clear and we even have subtitles you can enable in the YouTube video!

So without further ado, here’s Greg Weisman, Khary Payton, and a cast of dozens (including me!) in Gargoyles meets The Spectacular Spider-man meets Young Justice: “The Cosmos.”

 

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Why I want Greg Weisman at CONvergence 2016 (And You Should Too!) http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/why-i-want-greg-weisman-at-convergence-2016-and-you-should-too/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/why-i-want-greg-weisman-at-convergence-2016-and-you-should-too/#respond Wed, 30 Mar 2016 04:39:01 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=5797 I wanted to show you all the art print I recently colored. I created a black-and-white line art version of this print for CONvergence 2014, to commemorate the radio play that Greg Weisman wrote then produced entirely at the convention. But I just colored it this month. This is the very first time it’s been colored.

Radio Show Recruits - prev

And here’s a recording of the radio play, “Recruits”. It is a mashup of Young Justice, Gargoyles, and The Spectacular Spider-Man. and it features CONvergence 2014 Guest of Honor Marina Sirtis.

Why am I sharing these things? Well…

Most of you know that way back in 1999 I helped start a science fiction convention here in Minnesota called CONvergence. (Yes I have a second career as a con runner in addition to my career as a comic book artist.) Many years later the convention is still going strong with 6-7,000 annual attendees. One of our favorite repeat guests at CONvergence is Greg Weisman, among other things, creator of Disney’s Gargoyles, producer and writer for The Spectacular Spider-man, Star Wars: Rebels, Young Justice, and, of course, my collaborator on DC’s Young Justice comic book. Beyond Greg’s impressive list of writing and producing credits, he always makes a great convention guest because he’s a great talker and great panelist – great both in terms of quality and quantity. No guest ever does more panels at our convention than Greg Weisman does. (Seriously, he’s broken records.)

This is how you'll usually find Greg Weisman at CONvergence: on a panel

This is how you’ll usually find Greg Weisman at CONvergence: on a panel

So, some of us are trying to bring Greg Weisman back to CONvergence this year. How, you ask? Well,  he’s been good enough to volunteer to be our guinea pig for a new program CONvergence is piloting called “Fan-Featured Guests” – guests brought in by an outside group with approval from and working directly with the CONvergence Guests of Honor Department.

That is SO CRASH!

The funding for bringing in a Fan-Featured Guest is provided entirely by the group bringing the guest and can be crowdfunded, fund raised, or privately donated. This means that the budget to have Greg as a guest at CONvergence 2016 isn’t coming from the convention budget, but rather from a third party – in this case, a crowd-funding campaign that Hal and I are running. As of right now, it’s 70% funded!

I’d particularly love to see Greg back as a guest at CONvergence this year because Khary Payton (the voice of Aqualad on Young Justice and Cyborg on Teen Titans) will be a Guest of Honor as well. (And strangely enough, so will I! After having been a guest at most of the other sci-fi and comics conventions here in Minnesota, I’m finally going to be a guest at the convention I helped start. It’s a little surreal. But I’d love to have TWO members of the Young Justice family there with me to join in the fun.)

The last time Greg was a guest at CONvergence in 2014 he wrote and produced the radio play at the beginning of this post – a mash-up of three of his TV shows: Gargoyles, The Spectacular Spider-man, and Young Justice. Marina Sirtis was also a Guest of Honor at CONvergence that year and she provided the voices of her characters Demona from Gargoyles and Queen Bee from Young Justice. The rest of the characters were cast from volunteer attendees of the convention, during the convention. I wasn’t kidding when I said Greg produced the play at the con. He held auditions and everything. I mean, this was a hell of a thing.

Greg has said that if he returns to CONvergence this year, he’ll write and produce another radio play, and this time we’ll have Khary Payton to lead another cast of fan volunteers. I would do a new art print to commemorate the new play as well.

Greg and me with Young Justice fans at CONvergence 2014

Greg and me with Young Justice fans at CONvergence 2014

You can probably tell where I’m going with this. I’m inviting you to contribute to help bring Greg Weisman as a guest to CONvergence 2016. We have a number of rewards for various contribution amounts, including the new color version of the 2014 radio play print. I’ve also donated copies of prints I’ve done based on Young Justice and on Greg’s novel and audio play Rain of The Ghosts, which will be signed by both Greg and myself. Those prints can be picked up at the convention or mailed out if you are unable to attend.

Hold the phone. Why would you support the campaign if you are unable to attend?

Well… Some of the rewards are things like Khary Payton (Aqualad, Cyborg) recording a custom greeting for your voicemail. You could have Greg Weisman or me do one too, but if it was ME I’d want the Khary Payton option. Or you could have one of the art prints mailed to you. On top of that, the radio play will be recorded and made publicly available after the convention, so that’s a new, original production by Greg Weisman for everyone.

Also, if you don’t want “Black Manta’s Celebrity Hot Tub” to be a real thing, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. Because it will definitely be a real thing if we can get Greg Weisman to CONvergence 2016.

Click here to view the crowdfund campaign.

And please share this with your friends. Together maybe we can all give this effort the last push it needs!

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The Digital Print I Created for Greg Weisman’s Rain of the Ghosts http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/the-digital-print-i-created-for-greg-weismans-rain-of-the-ghosts/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/the-digital-print-i-created-for-greg-weismans-rain-of-the-ghosts/#respond Wed, 08 Apr 2015 01:03:35 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=5312 Rain of the Ghosts - Kickstarter RGB prev

I created this digital print as one of the rewards for the Rain of the Ghosts full-cast AudioPlay Kickstarter.

Rain of the Ghosts is the first in a Young Adult novel series by Greg Weisman, creator of Disney’s Gargoyles, and a writer and producer for numerous fan-favorite animated series including Spectacular Spider-man, W.I.T.C.H., Young Justice, and Star Wars Rebels. Greg describes the novel this way:

These are the adventures of Rain Cacique, a young girl descended from the indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean.  Rain lives on the Ghost Keys, a chain of islands on the edge of the Bermuda Triangle, where her parents own and run a Bed & Breakfast that is both Rain’s home and place of employment.  Over the course of the first book, Rain goes from making beds for tourists to learning she has the ability to communicate with ghosts.  Rain has a mystery to solve, a mission to accomplish and a destiny to fulfill.  I can honestly guarantee that if you enjoy the sensibility, characters, plotting and surprises I’ve brought to such series as Gargoyles and Young Justice, you’ll love Rain of the Ghosts.

Now Greg wants to bring the story to life as a full-cast audio drama. Not just an audio book with the text of the novel being read by a single performer, but a full cast of 20 actors with sound effects and music! Greg has already paid to record the vocals out of his own pocket, but funds are needed to complete the post-production work and bring the story of Rain Cacique and her friends fully to life.

I created the image you see above as one of many rewards being offered to supporters of the Kickstarter campaign. The digital download print you can earn as a reward is at much higher resolution than this preview version and doesn’t have the big “Rain of the Ghosts” text in the middle of the image! 

Here’s more on the Kickstarter:

This is a great project that’s worth supporting. Check out the Kickstarter page to see the great rewards for backing the project, plus the amazing cast Greg has assembled for Rain of the Ghosts, featuring fan-favorite voices from Greg’s many animated series.

Support the Rain of the Ghosts AudioPlay Kickstarter!

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CONvergence 2014 Guest of Honor Badges http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-2014-guest-of-honor-badges/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-2014-guest-of-honor-badges/#respond Thu, 24 Jul 2014 18:42:26 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=4967 Since co-founding the first CONvergence in 1999, I’ve drawn unique, custom badge art for every CONvergence Guest of Honor, every year. It’s time consuming, but I believe—both as a convention runner and as a frequent guest at conventions myself—that it creates a powerful first impression towards CONvergence being a unique convention experience.

I usually try to reference something from a given guest’s body of work in a clever way, as well as try to incorporate our mascot, Connie, on badges for Guests who have been to CONvergence before and are already familiar with the character. Here are the custom Guest of Honor badges I created this year for our CONvergence 2014 Guests.

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Amy Berg

Amy Berg

One of Amy’s projects is the digital series, Caper, for Geek and Sundry. It seemed appropriate to highlight one of the superheroes from that show, so I drew the armored alter ego of The Machine.

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Emma Bull

Emma Bull

Emma Bull is probably best known in the Twin Cities for her Minneapolis-based urban fantasy novel, War for the Oaks, so I wanted to visually reference that setting, including the novel’s protagonist, Eddi McCandry, and the shape-shifting phouka.

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - C Robert Cargill

C Robert Cargill

Cargill is a long-time friend of CONvergence as well as a personal friend of mine. Knowing his tastes, it was a no-brainer to suit him up as Ace Hunter from Megaforce, with Connie along for the ride on his jet-powered, flying motorcycle.

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Sarah Clemens

Sarah Clemens

Much of Sarah’s work features the characters of Magnus the cat and Loki the Norwegian Speartail Dragon, so doing something with them seemed the obvious choice. I understood Magnus & Loki are known to be pair of troublemakers, and somehow a “Usual Suspects” motif emerged…

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Matthew Ebel

Matthew Ebel

Musician Matt Ebel includes many references to robots, including GLaDOS from Portal. So I placed GLaDOS in front of a keyboard and added Matthew’s trademark beard. This was the design from this year that I most questioned how it would go over, but Matthew was delighted with it. Whew!

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Scott Lynch

Scott Lynch

This was Scott’s first time as a CONvergence Guest of Honor but he’s been attending the convention for many years, so I had no problem casting Connie as the Gray King standing in front of Red Seas Under Red Skies from Scott’s Gentleman Bastard series of novels.

CONvergence 2014 welcomed several Guests of Honor with connections to Disney’s Gargoyles as part of our celebration of the Gargoyles 20th Anniversary. In light of this, I did a mash-up of a Gargoyles character with another thing a given Guest of Honor was known for. 
CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Greg Guler

Greg Guler

Greg was Lead Character Designer for Gargoyles and currently serves in the same capacity on Phineas and Ferb, so his badge featured a mash-up of Brooklyn and Phineas and Ferb’s Agent P.

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Frank Paur

Frank Paur

Frank was the Supervising Producer on Gargoyles and in recent years has served as art director and director of many Marvel animation projects, including Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, so I drew Dr. Bruce Banner transforming into Gargoyles’ Broadway, in an homage to the cover of The Incredible Hulk #1.

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Marina Sirtis

Marina Sirtis

Marina Sirtis was the voice of the villainous Demona on Gargoyles, which stood in stark contrast with her role as Counsellor Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation. So I couldn’t resist putting Demona in Troi’s uniform… With a phaser rifle thrown in for good measure.

CVG 2014 GoH Badge prev - Greg Weisman

Greg Weisman

I’ve been lucky enough call Greg a colleague and a friend for several years. The majority of our work together was on the Young Justice comic book for DC Comics, so dressing Goliath as Young Justice’s Nightwing seemed oddly appropriate. Whelmed, even.

So that wraps up all of the CONvergence 2014 badge art. If you didn’t see it yet, be sure to check out the CONvergence 2014 membership badge art as well! And if you’re interested in checking out more badge art from previous years, I’ve got most of it posted on my blog under the “Badge Art” tag – click here to check it out!

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CONvergence 2014 Badge Art http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-2014-badge-art/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-2014-badge-art/#respond Sun, 13 Jul 2014 18:36:31 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=4956 Each year, CONvergence commissions volunteer art for its Membership Badges that feature our CONvergence mascot, Connie, and references that year’s convention theme. We have different badge art for each of the four different age categories we produce badges for, and inevitably I hear people wishing they’d gotten the artwork on a different age group’s badge.

When I produce the badge art (which almost always, but not always the case), I try to keep the colors bright with a different color scheme for each design so that the small membership badges are as easily identifiable as possible for our volunteer badgers and staff under the various lighting conditions around the convention.

Without further adieu, here were the CONvergence 2014: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Membership Badge Designs!

Adult Badge: Connie and her slightly evil sister Connie Mark 2 as Detective Elisa Masa and Demona from Gargoyles, flanking Goliath.

CVG 2014 Adult Badge RGB
Ages 13-17 Badge: Connie and Mark 2 again as Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural, with their creator Professor Max as Bobby.

CVG 2014 Ages 13-17 Badge
Ages 6-12 Badge: Connie as Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service.

CVG 2014 Ages 6-12 Badge
5 & Under Badge: Connie riding Falcor from The Neverending Story.

CVG 2014 5 & Under Badge

CONvergence also produces custom badge art for each of its Guests of Honor. It was no different for our 2014 Guests! Check out my CONvergence 2014 Guest of Honor badge art post!

If you’re interested in checking out more badge art from previous years, I’ve got most of it posted on my blog under the “Badge Art” tag – click here to check it out!

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CONvergence is Imminent! http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-is-imminent-2/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-is-imminent-2/#respond Thu, 03 Jul 2014 00:57:53 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=4942 1937734_10151902092756372_244166107_o (1)

CONvergence is Imminent! Per usual, I’m finishing up last minute things before heading to the hotel tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Greg Weisman and talking Gargoyles and Young Justice all weekend.

I’m also on two shipping panels on Saturday night. I blame Tumblr for that. You can’t see it, but I’m right now comically shaking my fist in the direction I presume Tumblr to be. Yeah, Tumblr, that will teach you.

Anyway, if you see me around the con, ask me for one of my cool Time Lord Batman Ribbons.

alsobatmanribbon2

 

I’ll post my CONvergence schedule below with links to the online schedule so it’s easy to join my events. In addition to my signings, I will have a few of each of my art prints available in the CONvergence art show.

 

My CONvergence 2014 Schedule:

 

Thursday

2:00pm – 3:00pm Fan Art and Social Media  (Atrium 2)

Discuss how the latest social media platforms and visual blogging sites (such as Tumblr and Pinterest) are enabling more exposure for artists–fan and otherwise. Panelists: Shawn van Briesen, Jennifer Lundstrom, Hal Bichel, Fes Works, Christopher Jones

3:30pm – 4:30pm Parallel Man (Plaza 1)

FREE POSTERS at the panel!!

Clipboard01

Take a look at the new sci-fi adventure coming to you later this year as a comic, a computer game, and in development as an animated TV series, feature film, and toy line. With local creators Jeffrey Morris, Rob Callahan, and Christopher Jones.
Panelists: Christopher Jones, Rob Callahan, Jeffrey Morris

7:00pm – 8:00pm Opening Ceremony (Mainstage)

If it’s not exactly a magical invocation, it is nonetheless our official kick-off for the convention! Join Connie as we welcome our Guests of Honor, give out some awards (including the Mark Time and Ogle winners), and get this party started.
(I co-wrote/produced this. My voice is in it, but I won’t be on stage.)

8:30pm – 10:30pm Smackdown (Mainstage)

Bring your wand and cloak to this year’s Smackdown for some Magical Mayhem! Wizards, witches, warlocks, and sorceresses will be judged as our panel of “experts” decides who lives and who dies in our mystical iron cage match!
Panelists: Amy Berg, Tim Wick, C. Robert Cargill, Melissa Kaercher, Tim Uren, Molly Glover, Joseph Scrimshaw, Kelvin Hatle, Christopher Jones

11:30pm – 12:30am Physics of Impossible Costumes (Atrium 7)

We’ll discuss the physics of our favorite highly unlikely costumes, from unreal women’s shapes and male upper bodies to unrealistic body armor.
Panelists: Ryan Consell, Sarah Barsness, Marie Porter, Karine Charlebois, Christopher Jones

Friday

12:30pm – 1:30pm From TV to Comics (Plaza 2)

We’ll discuss the TV shows that expanded into the comicverse, such as Buffy, Smallville, and Gargoyles. Did they succeed? Were any of the comics improvements on the shows? How did canon change during the transition?
Panelists: Shawn van Briesen, Jonathan Palmer, Greg Weisman, Greg Guler, Karine Charlebois, Christopher Jones

2:00pm – 3:00pm SIGNING  (Autograph Table in CONvergence Central)

I’ll be selling and signing Young Justice trade paperbacks and prints along side Greg Weisman and Greg Guler.

8:30pm – 9:30pm Gargoyles Q&A (Mainstage)

Join the cast and creators of “Gargoyles” to talk about the show and comic books.
Panelists: Greg Weisman, Christopher Jones, Marina Sirtis, Frank Paur, Karine Charlebois, Greg Guler

11:30pm – ??? Young Justice Meet-Up  (Garden Court)

Everyone who attends gets a SYMBIOSI ribbon (while supplies last!)

alsobatmanribbon2

Writer Greg Weisman and artist Christopher Jones host an informal gathering for fans of Young Justice! Come hang out, chat, get autographs and take photos. Cosplay is encouraged but not mandatory!
Panelists: Christopher Jones, Greg Weisman

Saturday

12:30pm – 1:30pm SIGNING (Autograph Table in CONvergence Central)

I’ll be selling and signing Young Justice trade paperbacks and prints.

10:00pm – 11:00pm Blue Mug (Edina Room)

Ever wonder about the sexual habits of Gargoyles? Ever wonder who was sleeping with whom among the Young Justice Team or the cast of Spectacular Spider-Man? Join us for for a late night peek at your favorite animated series. This panel will get blue!
Panelists: Greg Weisman, Christopher Jones

11:30pm – 12:30pm Which Supers Should Hook Up?  (Plaza 2)

If Thor and Storm got together, they would have cute little thunderbabies.
Panelists: Lyda Morehouse, Kenneth Konkol, Lathan Murrell, Samma Johnson (mod), Christopher Jones

Sunday

11:00am – 12:00pm SIGNING (Autograph Table in CONvergence Central)

I’ll be selling and signing Young Justice trade paperbacks and prints alongside Tim Lieder.

12:30pm – 3:00pm Art: Impossible (Bloomington Room)

The artists return to the Thunderdome with new challenges to challenge their brain and their artistic integrity. Join us to find out how artists can achieve the IMPOSSIBLE!
Panelists: Tim Wick (mod), Christopher Jones, Melissa Kaercher, Jerry Belich, Louis Frank, Dawn Krosnowski, Ruth Thompson

3:30pm – 4:30pm Young Justice Panel (Mainstage)

Some of the creative minds behind the Young Justice TV and comic book series will talk about this fan favorite.
Panelists: Greg Weisman (mod), Marina Sirtis, Christopher Jones

5:00pm – 6:00pm Closing Ceremony (Mainstage)

It’s not over ’til the gynoid sings – or something like that. Join Connie and our Guests of Honor as we say farewell to another convention. Shenanigans may ensue.
(I co-wrote/produced this. I won’t be on stage.)

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CONvergence 2013 wrap up http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-2013-wrap-up/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/convergence-2013-wrap-up/#respond Wed, 17 Jul 2013 05:26:50 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=4019 There are too many friends connected with and people to thank to list them all here, but I wanted to share some highlights I thought might be of interest.

CONvergence Opening Ceremony began with a live musical sketch called “Avenue Who,” which is basically what would happen if Avenue Q and Doctor Who made sweet, sweet love and had a baby.  It was written by Tim Wick, Chad Dutton and Gordon Smuder, with puppets built by Gordon Smuder.

The cast included:

Tim Wick as Purple Monster
Molly Glover as Pink Monster
Nick Glover as Leonard Nimoy
Windy Bowlsby as Mary Poppins
Courtney McLean as The TARDIS
Jeff Neppl as The Doctor
Christopher Jones as A Dalek
Laszlo Nemesi as Sherlock Holmes
Gordon Smuder as Dr. Watson
and last but not least…

Connie as herself! (With special thanks to Connie’s personal assistant Dawn Krosnowski)

I’ll be sharing video as soon as it becomes available, but until then you’ll have to settle for some photos! (My thanks to Peter Verrant from the CONvergence Photography Department for these!)

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Purple Monster (Tim Wick) and
Pink Monster (Molly Glover)

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Leonard Nimoy (Nick Glover)

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The Doctor (Jeff Neppl) offers Mary Poppins (Windy Bowlsby) a jellybaby

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Sherlock Holmes (Laszlo Nemesi) and Dr. Watson (Gordon Smuder)

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Did I mention that The Dalek (me) had a song?

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The TARDIS (Courtney McClean) spoke like a Minnesota mom.

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Connie with handler/personal assistant Dawn Krosnowski


One of the year’s Guests of Honor was Caitlin Blackwood who played young Amelia Pond on Doctor Who, and now at the age of 13 our first guest to be younger than the convention! Filmmaker Emily Hagins was 14 when she was first a CONvergence guest. Now 20, Emily was in attendance and in a completely unnecessary display of pop and circumstance, helped us crown Caitlin as our new Youngest CONvergence Guest of Honor.
Crowning Caitlin

Emily Hagins crowns Caitlin Blackwood as the new Youngest CONvergence Guest of Honor. Photo by Peter Verrant.


Opening Ceremony concluded with a special appearance by Inspector Spacetime as played by Travis Richey, who Hal Bichel and I had arranged to bring to CONvergence after having met him at the Gallifrey One convention. Hal and I are big fans of both Community and his Inspector Spacetime character’s unofficial spin-off Untitled Web Series about a Space Traveller who Also Travels Through Time, but after meeting Travis at Gally, we knew that he was really great with fans, good on a panel, and trying to build awareness of his Kickstarter campaign for Untitled Web Series season 2. It just seemed like Inspector Spacetime at CONvergence 2013: British Invasion HAD to happen.

It was a special treat for me to get to write a little scene for The Inspector in which he interacted with Connie and expressed his intention to visit the previous years of CONvergence he had missed (one of the advantages of being a time traveller) and that we was looking for an associate to join him in his adventure, preferably someone with experience as companion to a traveller in space and time. Of course he chose Caitlin Blackwood, and the two of them left the stage hand in hand, with the Inspector telling her that they were leaving immediately, “no waiting!”

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Travis Richey as Inspector Spacetime in the CONvergence 2013 Opening Ceremony,
Optic Pocketknife at the ready!
Photo by Peter Verrant

Susan Lundberg - Human Being & Inspector

Travis Richey with Community’s Greendale Human Being (in reality Hal Bichel, who helped bring Travis to CONvergence!)
Photo courtesy Susan Lundberg.

Photo Courtesy Dawn - Connie Dawn Inspector

Travis Richey backstage in the MainStage Green Room with Connie and Dawn Krosnowski.
Photo by Peter Verrant


Later in the weekend, Travis debuted the Untitled Web Series Season 2 Teaser Trailer as part of his Inspector Spacetime panel, which revealed that plans for Season 2 include Guest Star Robert Picardo from Star Trek: Voyager. You can see the trailer here and contribute to the Kickstarter. One of the contribution incentives is an Inspector Spacetime print by me, which will be revealed in the coming days!

I’d like to thank Travis for coming to CONvergence and being such a good sport about joining in our shenanigans, Hal Bichel for organizing the IndieGoGo campaign that helped us cover the cost of bringing Travis to the con, and of course everyone who contributed to the campaign!

Immediately after the Opening Ceremony was this year’s SMACKDOWN panel, which this year was S.U.P.E.R.S.P.Y. Smackdown. The competitors ranged from Jason Bourne and The Black Widow to Inspector Gadget and Danger Mouse, but eventually Emma Peel won the day! And yes, we had a James Bond lightning round that pitted Daniel Craig’s abs against Sean Connery’s accent. You know, this isn’t the most serious competition… Big thanks as always to co-conspirators Tim Wick who acted as Emcee, and Melissa Kaercher to handled created and operated our Video Scoreboard. Thanks also go to Romeo Azar who created our intro video!

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From Left to Right: Kelvin Hatle, Dawn Krosnowski, Joseph Scrimshaw, Jeremy Stomberg, Christopher Jones, Tim Uren, and Caroline Symcox.

Saturday at 2:00pm I had a signing at the Autograph Table alongside Travis Richey, and happily we both enjoyed a fairly steady stream of fans. Hopefully I’ll get a couple of signings scheduled for CONvergence 2014.

It’s never a convention without cosplayers. Given that I spend so much of CONvergence running around, you’d think I’d get tons of cosplay photos, but I’m actually not too quick on the draw with my camera phone and get far more photos when I’m at an Artists Alley table for the weekend (especially when I have help!). That said, I did manage to snag a photo with some Young Justice cosplayers as I was on my way in to Sunday’s Art: Impossible panel.

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Me with Red Arrow, Stealth Mode Kid Flash and Artemis cosplayers at CONvergence 2013. Photo by Tony Karna.

Art: Impossible is our new improv art panel, Emceed again by Tim Wick along with Dawn Krosnowski. (I just can’t seem to get away from those two!) I think the panel was pretty entertaining, with an assortment of artists creating art based on a multiple “challenges” of various lengths. Winners bidders from the previous evening’s art auction got first pick of original art produced during the 90-minute panel.

Finally on Sunday was Closing Ceremony which found Connie having a hard time with the idea that she had to wait an entire year for CONvergence to return. Inspector Spacetime appeared again and offered to take Connie directly to CONvergence 2014 so she wouldn’t have to wait. I’d like to think I added two entries on The Inspector’s roster of Time-and-Space-travelling associates: Caitlin Blackwood and Connie!

Closing Ceremony ended by previewing plans for CONvergence 2014, which features an Urban Fantasy theme and will spotlight the 20th Anniversary of Gargoyles with a roster of guests that includes Gargoyles show-runner Greg Weisman.

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Promotional art for CONvergence 2014

I’m really looking forward to next year’s convention, and part of me wishes I could skip directly to July of 2014 with Connie. Then I remember how much I want to get done between now and then, and I’ll happily take all the weeks I can get!

Here are some quick links to my other CONvergence 2013 posts:
CONvergence 2013 – Guest of Honor Badge Art.
CONvergence 2013 – Registration Badge and Souvenir Book Cover Art
Posters I created for CONvergence’s Costumes are not Consent campaign.

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Christopher Jones, Dawn Krosnowski, and Connie

 

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Happy Halloween from Gargoyles! http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/happy-halloween-from-gargoyles/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/happy-halloween-from-gargoyles/#respond Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:00:44 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=628 Counting down…

Gargyoles: Bad Guys #3 - pg 24 detail

Gargyoles: Bad Guys #3 - pg 24 detail

This page is from the Gargoyles: Bad Guys mini-series. Pencils and inks by me. Story by Greg Weisman. Based on characters from Disney’s Gargoyles.

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Gargoyles: Bad Guys http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/gargoyles-bad-guys/ http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/gargoyles-bad-guys/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:28:23 +0000 http://blog.christopherjonesart.com/?p=334 Time flies.

Back in 2007 I was asked by Greg Weisman if I’d be interested to draw a fill-in issue of his Gargoyles: Bad Guys mini-series. The book was for Slave Labor Graphics, a publisher also doing the main Gargoyles comic, itself a continuation of the Disney’s Gargoyles animated TV series. The comics were written by Greg and are considered a continuation of the canon of the show. Gargoyles: Bad Guys was a 6-issue spin off featuring several characters introduced on the TV show has villains who were now working together and trying to do some good.

Greg knew the Bad Guys comic needed a fill-in on art to keep it on schedule, and we’d been looking to work on something together again following up on our one previous collaboration when I drew a 10-page story called “The Flashback of Notre Dame” Greg wrote for JLA Showcase 80-page Giant #1 back in 2000. That story was an unofficial crossover of sorts, as Captain Atom (a character Greg had written for DC in the 80s) along with some Justice League Europe co-stars encountered some small-“g” gargoyle creatures who bore an uncanny (but legally dissimilar) resemblance to their Disney counterparts. So when Greg asked me about contributing the the Gargoyles: Bad Guys book – even though he counceled me to say no due to the low page rate – I had to say yes.

I penciled and inked the 24 pages of Gargoyles: Bad Guys #3 faster than I would have liked – but it was a lot of fun to play in that particular sandbox. I was invited to bring some of my own style to it and not slavishly follow the animation models for the characters, but given that I was filling in for one issue of a 6-issue series I didn’t want to do anything too drastically different. It’s one of those projects I’d love to do again more on my own terms and with more time, but it’s best to just enjoy it for what it is and move forward. Otherwise you turn into George Lucas…

Gargoyles: Bad Guys #3 pg 11

Gargoyles: Bad Guys #3 pg 11

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