Sunday, March 21, 2010

Spokane Comicon 2010 Update #4

Hello fans, it's only nine weeks until Spokane Comicon! This will be a short but important update.

Here is our current list of guests:
John Layman
Andy Owens
Jason Gorder
Daniel M Davis
Dustin Weaver
Eric Trautmann
Brandon Jerwa
Matthew Southworth
Charlie Schmidt
Mark Rahner
Lars Brown
Stephen Lindsey*NEW*
John Lustig*NEW*

You can find out more about our guests on our web page http://spokanecomicon.com/

Dealer/Artist Tables:
First off all of our Artist Alley tables are SOLD OUT! As a result a waiting list has been created so you can email me (spokanecomicon@yaho.com) if you want to be added to the list.

We are on pace to sell out of dealer tables for the second straight year as we only have about a dozen dealer tables left. A friendly reminder that the price break ends April 22 then it goes up $10. When you go to our site click on the dealer tab and download the dealer application word doc.

Sponsors Update:
I am very excited to announce Creators Edge Press as a new sponsor. Creators Edge Press will be debuting the Devil's Trail (for mature readers) exclusively at the fourth annual Spokane Comicon! Additionally writer Stephen Lindsey will be on hand to sign his new comic at the Creators Edge Press tables. Finally the talented folks from CEP will be doing a panel about "How to break into comics". Time of the panel TBA. To learn more about Creators Edge Press, including appearances, upcoming releases and submission guidelines take a look at their site. http://creatorsedgepress.com/

Additional local sponsor and dealer added are Uncles Games. Uncles will be sponsors our gaming tournaments. More details coming soon. http://www.unclesgames.com/

Finally since our last sponsor update both Oni Press and Arcane Comics both sent me 7 boxes each of comics to give away this year! I think we'll have a few to go around.

The last thing I wanted to mention is a special thank you to all of the people that turned out and I had to a chance to talk to at Emerald City Comicon. It was a great con and I was amazed at how many fans from the east side of Washington/Idaho stopped by to show their support for the Spokane Comicon. Hope to see you all in May!

---------------------------------
Nathan O'Brien
Spokane Comicon Founder & Coordinator
www.spokanecomicon.com

Thursday, March 18, 2010

ECCC 2010 Wrap Up

Where do I even begin, since there was so much that happened over the weekend. I've been attending ECCC as a fan for the past 7 years, but this was the first time I attended as an artist. It's been an amazing run for me personally since I've started the Spokane Comicon [link] back in 07 because of all the great people in the industry I've gotten a chance to know. Two of them are artists Levi Skeen [link] and Ben 1314 Hansen [link] Both are crazy talented and invited me to join them along with the rest of the Sketch Crew [link] at ECCC. I graciously accepted as I could help promote my con and do my art thang.
Right from the get go when the trumpet blared on Saturday I was instantly busy selling prints and doing commissions. I don't think I took my first real break until 3pm. It was really cool besides seeing many of the pros I've gotten to know over the years, but also friends from all over Washington who came by and said hi. I was also amazed how many people where from the east side of the state and where also stoked to see me cross promoting for the Spokane Comicon
On Sunday I had a girl come up to me and look through my portfolio and said she was looking for Punisher prints, which I didn't have. She commissioned me to do a color/inked piece of the Punisher that she would then take to Thomas Jane to sign, no pressure. Some other commissions I did were Deadpool, Clone Trooper, Batman, Poison Ivy, Catwoman just to name a few (pics coming soon).
My personal favorite part of the con was being able to get into the con an hour and half prior to the doors opening. This gave me a tremendous opportunity to talk to fellow artists and vendors. My personal agenda was accomplished by getting to talk to (name dropping time) Tim Sale, Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III, John Layman, Matthew Southworth, and Dustin Nguyen to name a few. I got some prints, signed comics, a few sketches and talk Spokane Comicon boo-yah. Fingers crossed that maybe we might see one of those guys come to the Inland Northwest some day.
I am looking forward to doing Jet City Comicon in September (new sister con to ECCC) and returning to ECCC in 2011. I took lots of notes on how to improve and I can't wait for the next con. I only wish I had time to do some sketches at my own show, but I'll be to busy making sure things are running smooth.
Talking with a few friends considering how well I did at ECCC they are trying to tell me I should start doing commissions on Deviant art here. Anyone want to give me their thoughts?
A couple other notes to wrap up my thoughts on ECCC. One, was that I debuted my first 3/5 guest comic panels to Monster Commute [link] artist Daniel M Davis. Daniel really liked my interpretation of his characters and thought I captured the essence nicely. For those of you who don't know Daniel asked me to be a guest artist for his Monster Commute web comic so while Daniel travels to cons in the summer he can run the guest artist strips.
The other second item worth noting was on Sunday when creator/writer of Image Comics Chew came by my table. I've had the please of having a few conversations with John prior to ECCC so he knew who I was, plus he will be coming to the Spokane Comicon [link] as a guest. Anyways, he checked out my portfolio and commented that he liked my Chew tribute drawings. John then asked me if I've seen the latest issue of Chew. I said no not yet, and he said "well you should, you're in it!"
"what do you mean?" I asked."I published one of your tribute drawings in the back" he said. I think I swore to some degree in my ecstatic state of mind. For the record I think it's in Chew #8, because that's the only issue I don't have, and it's not in #9. Go me. UPDATE! I got a scan of it and it was in issue #8.
Anyways, thanks for reading. It was great being surrounded by so many talented people and I am still on an emotional high from the entire weekend. I came home on Monday to read this [link]Cheers

Monday, March 15, 2010

How was my weekend at ECCC you ask? Well there's an insane amount to tell but for now here is a good start.

http://downtownseattle.komonews.com/content/next-generation-talent-emerald-city-comicon

The Next Generation of Talent at the Emerald City Comicon


Though everyone knows the big names like Stan Lee and Leonard Nimoy, the Emerald City Comicon offered more than just long-established superstars. The ECCC also showcased a wide range of up-and-coming talent, artists and writers who have yet to make their big break. The Sketch Crew is one such group of gifted comic artists that are on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream. The Sketch Crew consists of Tony Dela Cruz, Levi Skeen, Nate O’Brien, Harrison Wood, and Ben Hansen. Most of the men hail from the Puget Sound area, and Levi Skeen, of Spokane, heads up the Sketch Crew. The group started 4 to 5 years ago and mostly met through the art showcase website, Deviantart.com. They have been coming to the ECCC ever since. Individually, they have not done anything big, just a few good small gigs here and there. But they come to Comicon every year to get their names out there, meet people, and just to do what they love, draw comics.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010



Reminder that I will be at Emerald City Comicon all weekend along with some of Spokane's finest artists. I will be sitting with the Sketch Crew (artists Levi Skeen, Ben Hansen, Tony Dela Cruz, and Harrison Wood) in the artist alley tables A-18/19/20. http://thesketchcrew.deviantart.com/

We also have the pleasure of sitting along side The Spokane Comicsmiths Guild A-16/17 http://www.comicsmithsguild.com/
We will be doing sketches, selling prints and helping plug the 4th Annual Spokane Comicon. If you are in Seattle stop by and say hi and I will have some freebies while supplies last.

I have finally posted Chapter 1 of my new web comic "WEASELMAN" http://www.weaselmancomic.webs.com/

Each Chapter will consist of 5 parts. For as much as I would love to be "that guy" who posts a new comic every day, I simply don't have time for that. I am happy to do them in blocks as the ideas come. For those of you coming to ECCC this weekend stop by to see me with the Sketch Crew, I'll have Chapter 2 available to view before it gets posted.

Hope to see you there!