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…

CONvergence 2013 is not yet imminent…

CONvergence 2012 is over, and my thanks go out to everyone who helped make it such a fabulous success yet again. The metrics are that total memberships rose to the staggering number of 5,980, with a little over 5,600 members actually managing to attend and occupy the building (AKA the “warm body count”).

The true measure of the convention’s success any year isn’t in those numbers or even in the money that is generated for our non-profit parent organization Convergence Events, but rather in the anecdotal stories of the experiences had by our members. Here’s one official photo gallery, but there are plenty more out there if you search for CVG2012 or #CVG2012. That #CVG2012 hashtag will also lead you to an epic number of CONvergence-related tweets on Twitter. If you’re wanting to get over the post-con blues by immersing yourself in all things CONvergence, the following links should help:

Official Page – http://www.CONvergence-con.org
CONvergence YouTube Channels – http://convergence-con.org/media/videos
Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/2204992216
Connie’s Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/CONvergenceCon
CONvergence on Twitter – https://twitter.com/convergencecon
And finally, the epic video teaser for CONvergence 2013

So for my last batch of images for CONvergence 2012, here’s a little more artwork I did for the convention this year.

Souvenir Program Guide cover

Here was the cover art for the Souvenir Program Guide. The Kill Bill image seemed like a nice alternative to the omnipresent Wonder Woman imagery for our 2012 “Wonder Women” theme, and I knew there was going to be a Kill Bill-themed sketch at the Opening Ceremony. I didn’t realize there was ALSO a Kill Bill sketch being organized by a different group for the Closing Ceremony. Maybe that’s Overkill Bill.

Mark 2 as Elle Driver

As a companion piece to that cover featuring CONvergence mascot Connie, I drew Connie’s evil sister Connie Mark 2 as Elle Driver from the same film. I don’t know if anyone else was as amused as I was by the eye patch over the Cylon eye, but it cracks ME up…

CVG 2012 Grid Cover

This was the cover art for the pocket-sized programming book, which presents our programming schedule in condensed grid form. It’s cleverly referred to as “The Grid,” and it’s a running gag that I try to do cover art for this each year that both reflects the theme and has some sort of “grid” reference as well. This year we went for the Ms. Pac-Man treatment. That’s a Connie-fied Ms. Pac-Man chasing around the maze with Mark 2-style Ghosts.

CVG 2013 Ad

And finally, here’s the ad for CONvergence 2013, which will have the theme of British Invasion. I managed to pack quite a few references in here, but I still didn’t manage to include The Prisoner, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and so many others! Well I’ve got a year to come up with something to work them into!

Now, back to work on Young Justice!

CONvergence Badge Art: #CVG2012 Guests of Honor

Happy CONvergence everybody!

Here’s THIS YEAR’S Guest of Honor batches, which were handed out to the #CVG2012 Guests of Honor at the hotel last night. I say last night, but I’m pre-scheduling this post on Wednesday, so they don’t have them yet and I’m still hoping they’ll like them! This is the grand finale to several days worth of posts sharing the art I’ve done for badges for the past several years of CONvergence.

#CVG2012 – Bonnie Burton

#CVG2012 – Jennifer Clarke Wilkes

#CVG2012 – Judith Walcutt

Jennifer Clarke Wilkes is an editor, notably of the book The Last Supper. So you can see what I did with a parody of that book’s cover. I hope she finds this joke funny.

Among her other credits, Judith Walcutt was Executive Producer of the The War of the Worlds 50th Anniversary Production.

#CVG2012 – Lyda Morehouse

#CVG2012 – Ruth Thompson

#CVG2012 – Sharyn November

Ruth Thompson’s badge is a Connie-fication of Ruth’s print Eye of the Storm.

Sharyn November is the author of the Firebirds series, including the award winning Firebirds Rising.

#CVG2012 – Sophie Aldred

#CVG2012 – Tamora Pierce

And finally Tamora Pierce’s badge is a reference to her Songs of the Lioness series.

So these guests are walking around the Double Tree hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota wearing these badges. Hopefully they like them.

Once again, watch for all the CONvergence-related tweets at #CVG2012. I hope to see many of you there! Look me up at one of my signings or panels!

I promise to return with some Young Justice blog posts soon!

CONvergence Badge Art: #CVG2011 Guests of Honor

It’s TOMORROW! CONvergence is as IMMINENT as it gets!

Here’s the last batch of art I’ve done for badges for the Guests of Honor of CONvergence 2011.

#CVG2011 – Edward Douglas

#CVG2011 – Brain Van Camp

#CVG2011 – Jason Carter

Actor Brian Van Camp was in the film and sported a zombie look not entirely dissimilar from this badge art.

The film also features actor Jason Carter, best known to many sci-fi fans from his role as Ranger Marcus Cole on Babylon 5.

#CVG2011 – Lynne Thomas

#CVG2011 – Seanan McGuire

#CVG2011 – Catherynne Valente

Author Seanan McGuire is a Munsters fan and made the mistake of mentioning publicly that she identified with Marilyn Munster. Clearly she paid for her mistake.

I was at a bit of a loss for what to do for author and poet Catherynne Valente, and ended up referencing the fairytale element of her work very literally.

#CVG2011 – Brian Keene

#CVG2011 – Anthony Tollin

#CVG2011 – Greg Weisman

The first badge I had an idea for this year was Anthony Tollin’s. Anthony is a historian of The Shadow and other pulp heroes, and is publishing deluxe reprints of The Shadow and Doc Savage pulp novels. I first knew of Tony for his work as a colorist, specifically his work as colorist of Keith Giffen’s Ambush Bug series for DC Comics. Mash up! There you go.

And finally we had another returning Guest of Honor with Greg Weisman, who I was working with on the comic book version of Young Justice, based on the animated TV series for which is is head-writer and producer. Red Tornado is featured in Young Justice, a character Greg has a history with, so Connie got the Red Tornado treatment.

That’s it! We’re all caught up! I’ll be scheduling a post for tomorrow with the 2012 Guest of Honor badges, but otherwise I’m off to CONvergence! Watch for all the CONvergence-related tweets at #CVG2012. I hope to see many of you there! Look me up at one of my signings or panels!

CONvergence Badge Art: #CVG2010 Guests of Honor

We’re getting close! CONvergence is IMMINENT as I count down to CVG2012 on July 5-8, sharing more art I’ve done for badges for the Guests of Honor of CONvergence 2010.

#CVG2010 – Chuck McCann

#CVG2010 – Jeremy Bulloch

#CVG2010 – LA Banks

“Boba Fett? Boba Fett, WHERE?” Yes, I went there on Jeremy Bulloch’s badge.

An elegant design based on a character from L.A. Banks‘ writing. She is missed.

#CVG2010 – Paul Cornell

#CVG2010 – Wally Wingert

#CVG2010 – Bridget Landry

Wally Wingert’s obsession with the Adam West Batman appeared again, this time mashed up with Wally’s new gig as the announcer for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show.

Yep, it’s another plain Connie badge for cosplay queen of the rocket scientists Bridget Landry. I wanted to produce a new badge in the style of the 2010 Guest of Honor badges, but I made sure the scale and position of the Connie figure was the same as her previous badge, so the costume overlays I was providing her with would work equally well with the new badge. I didn’t try to keep this plan a surprise this time, and contacted her in advance of the convention to ask if there were any planned cosplays I could match.

#CVG2010 – Bridget Draco

#CVG2010 – Bridget Kira

#CVG2010 – Bridget Maleficent

If you’re coming to #CVG2012 be sure to look me up! I’ll be doing two signings and on a bunch of panels.