Denver Comic Con 2014!

Denver Comic Con kicks off today! I must say, this is one awesome comic con that I am VERY proud to be back at. Every comic con has its own flavor and personality, and even though Denver Comic Con draws around 75,000 fans, it still does an impressive job of feeling like a community. Plus I get to hang out with Greg Weisman all weekend.

 

I will be set up at Artist Valley table D16 throughout the convention! Here’s a handy map to help you find me:

My Denver Comic Con Schedule:

FRIDAY

Young Justice – MINI Main Friday 4:45pm to 5:35pm

The creators of this fan favorite series will talk all things about the team of Super-Hero sidekicks.

Four Color Mixer  – Breckinridge Brewery/Hilton Garden Inn 7:00pm to 10:00pm

Denver Comic Con’s intimate cocktail party to celebrate our special comic book guests, along with a limited number of attendees.

SATURDAY

Batman 75th in Comics – Room 203 2:45pm to 3:35pm

The Dark Knight has prowled the streets of Gotham for 75 years. Come hear from some of the people that made his journey possible over the years.

SUNDAY

Aurora Rise – Booth 532 10:30am to 11:00am

I’ll head over to the Aurora Rise booth to hang out and sign, maybe contribute a sketch for their next charity sketchbook! Check out this great organization!

DMZ Art Talk – DMZ/Corral 1:30pm to 2:15pm

Fans of all ages are invited to come chat and draw with Christopher Jones in the DCC Comics Corral teen zone!

All other times, I will be at my Artist Valley table signing, selling & talking to fans! I didn’t do any panels at last year’s Denver Comic Con since my decision to attend was sort of late in the game, so I’m super excited about my schedule this year. You may also wish to check out Greg Weisman’s Denver Comic Con schedule.

Who Doesn’t Love FREE Stuff?

I’ve got several freebies this year at my Artist Valley table!

Free Mini-prints for followers!

Show me you follow me on Twitter or like my Facebook page for your FREE signed mini-print!

Free Parallel Man posters!

Parallel Man is my upcoming sci-fi comic series for FutureDude Entertainment. I’ve got a limited supply of FREE full color 11×17″ Parallel Man posters featuring characters from the book, which I am more than happy to sign for anyone who wants one.

    

Free Candy & Healthy Snacks!

I always have free candy at my table! It’s part of my evil plan.

Step 1: Have free candy at my table.

Step 2: ??????????

Step 3: Profit!

Recently I’ve also started stocking a supply of granola & breakfast bars for anyone who asks for one. I know convention food can get expensive and it can be tough to eat anything healthy, especially if you’re a young fan on a budget. So if you feel yourself energy crashing or just in need of an energy boost, PLEASE do stop by Artist Valley table #D16 and just ask for a granola/breakfast bar.

Aurora Rise Sketchbook

Available at Aurora Rise Booth #532! I contributed a sketch to the Aurora Rise Sketchbook Vol. 2! All purchases go to benefit victims of the 7/20/12 Aurora Theater Shooting. You can find more information on the Aurora Rise website here.

Prints! 

I’ll have all my Young Justice & comics 11×17″ prints available at my Artist Valley table, including a new Artemis Crock and Wally West print, “Spitfire”. Prints are $20/ea or 3 for $50, which is a significant discount from my Etsy store.

  

  

I’ll also have some smaller, black & white prints for $5, including a Young Justice and a Batman ’66 print.

Signatures are ALWAYS free, so feel free to bring stuff for me to sign.

Classic Doctor Who fans may be interested in picking up my new-in-2014 print, “For the Fans”, based on Peter Davison’s fantastic 50th Anniversary special, “The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot“. This will be the first comic convention I’ll have it at! And of course I’ll have all my other Doctor Who prints, too.

Day one of Denver Comic Con.

It is a full moon and Friday the 13th.

GERONIMO!

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na I’m drawing Batman ’66!

I am delighted to formally announce that my next project is a story for DC Comics’ Batman ’66 – part of their Digital First tier of books and based on the classic 1960s Batman TV series staring Adam West. Here’s the solicitation for the print version:

Cover for Batman ’66 #7 by Mike Allred

BATMAN ‘66 #7
Written by JEFF PARKER and TOM PEYER
Art by CHRISTOPHER JONES and DEREC DONOVAN
Cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale JANUARY 22 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED E • DIGITAL FIRST
Horrors! Bruce Wayne is trying to scam a jewelry store and put the blame on poor Aunt Harriet? Or could it actually be the work of that mysterious master of disguises, False Face? Then, find out how crime really pays when the Clown Prince of Crime tries to downsize his mob in “The Joker’s Layoff Riot.”

I’m doing the False Face story in the issue, written by Jeff Parker. I can’t share any artwork from it yet, but I *can* show you the Batman art I did to be approved to work on the comic! This is a real treat for me to work on as I’m a HUGE fan of the 60’s Batman series, and the False Face episode is among my favorites. In fact, there’s also a cameo by my *absolute favorite* villain from the show, but you’ll have to pick the book up when it comes out to learn who that is!

You can look for print versions at your local comic shop when they come out, or look for it in Digital Form on Comixology where you can currently find past issues of the series. The book is presented in DC Comics’ DC² (pronounced “DC Squared”) format, where each tap of the screen actively advances the next element of the story, whether it’s the next panel or individual art elements on the page. It’s been an interesting challenge creating artwork for that format, but I think it creates a reason to seek out the digital version of the story rather than waiting for it to be collected in a print format later!

I’m having the best time working on this, and I think it shows in the pages. I can’t wait for the story can come out so you can see for yourself!

The Batman vs Nightlinger, Dr. Doom (and other commissions)

Here’s a piece I just finished for my good friend and collaborator Steven Philip Jones featuring his character Nightlinger fighting The Batman.

I wanted to share the piece in general, but it also nicely dovetails with my current offer of accepting commissions online for sketches and illustrations. This is a nice example of a full illustration commission, as is the Doctor Doom piece below. They’re both drawn in ink on 11″x17″  bristol art paper. You can read more about ordering a commission piece from me here.

A tale of Batman, me, and one young fan.

“Check Please!” says it all…

I just told this story in responding to a comment on another post and I thought it was worth sharing with a wider audience.

I remember one of my earliest conventions at which I had a table as an artist – it was before I’d “broken in” to do work for DC Comics or any other major publisher. I had displayed a Batman drawing I’d done on the wall behind me – it was my response to a lot of Batman art I’d seen that didn’t strike me as having a lot of mood or atmosphere. My piece was a black and white ink drawing that was 90% black with just a moon and just enough edge-lighting in white to make out the shape of Batman’s cowl and cape.

This young kid was walking buy my table and the sight of that Batman drawing stopped him in his tracks. He looked up at the drawing and his eyes got big. “Do you… draw Batman?” he asked me.

“I drew that Batman, if that’s what you’re asking, but I haven’t worked on the comic book yet, no.”

“Oh,” the kid matter-of-factly replied, and walked away without saying another word.

This is NOT the Batman drawing from the story…

I thought it was pretty funny at the time, and I *still* think it says something about fans and conventions – but don’t ask me exactly what that is!

Title Pages: The Batman Strikes #19

It’s time for another installment of Title Pages, featuring another title page from my run on The Batman Strikes! which was a tie-in comic for The Batman animated TV series. A Title Page is the page which features the story title and credits for the issue, and is often (but not always) a Splash Page, which is a full-page image, rather than a page broken up into multiple panels.

A classic comic book Grundy

Grundy as seen in The Batman

The De Niro Frankenstein monster

I wish the effect of Batman caught in the beam of the flashlight hadn’t been colored with such a sharply-defined cone of light coming from the flashlight. It’s not a realistic effect and it detracts from the effect of the area caught in the beam popping out from a background that’s otherwise in silhouette.

And while it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Title Page, I can’t blog about this issue without including my favorite page from the issue, and one of my favorite from the entire series.