The Digital Print I Created for Greg Weisman’s Rain of the Ghosts

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:

New Print, Schedule, Ribbons, and Young Justice at Gallifrey One 2015

FINALLY got all my prints and ribbons and stuff in order and packed for Gallifrey One. Including my NEW PRINT, “Bat Wolf”. (Why? Because Batman and Doctor Who are awesome and because I can.) I first started going to Gallifrey just attending as a fan, and while I’m now a guest and will be “working” the convention from my table in the Dealers Room, for me its still one of the most enjoyable conventions I do all year. Time to seriously get my “Doctor Who Geek” on!

I’ll also have all my other Doctor Who prints, which you can preview in my etsy store. Find me in the Dealers Room to pick up some art and also to get a ribbon for your badge :)

11×17” color prints are my usual convention prices, $20 each or 3 for $50 – quite a discount from etsy!

If I’m not at my table, I’ll probably be at one of my panels:

• Breaking Into Comics – Friday, February 14, 12:00pm-1:00pm, Program C
• Superhero Supercrush – Saturday, February 15, 1:00pm-2:00pm,Program D
• Kaffeeklatsch (Christopher Jones/Greg Weisman) – Saturday, February 15, 3:00pm-4:00pm, Board Room
• Women of Young Justice – Saturday, February 15, 6:00pm-7:00pm,Program D

I’ll have some non-Doctor Who art as well, if anybody was interested in original sketches or superhero/Young Justice prints.

So some of you know Greg Weisman and I have been doing Young Justice stuff at the Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention in LA because they keep letting us. (Also we like Doctor Who.) This year we would like to present…

WOMEN OF YOUNG JUSTICE

Saturday, Feb 14, 6:00pm in Program Room D

Featuring…

• Stephanie Lemelin – Voice of Artemis
• Kelly Hu – Voice of Cheshire
• Vanessa Marshall – Voice of Black Canary
• Masasa Moyo – Voice of Bumblebee
• Lolita Ritmanis – Composer
• Greg Weisman – Writer/Producer
• Christopher Jones – Comic Book Artist

The panel is open only to Gallifrey One members. Greg and I and anybody else who wants to will stick around for about an hour in the same room for a Young Justice meet-up, if anybody wants to grab an autograph or photo or just hang out and talk YJ for a bit.

YES, we will record the panel. (Here’s the video from last year’s Young Justice panel at Gallifrey One.)

I’m always happy talking to fans at every convention I attend, but ESPECIALLY at Gallifrey One I’m there as a fan too, so please come up and say hello if you see me around the con!

CONvergence 2014 Guest of Honor Badges

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.

	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.
	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.
	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.
	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…
	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!
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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!

CONvergence is Imminent!

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.

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!!

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!)

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.)

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!