Friday, November 20, 2015

UPDATE 11/20/15



UPDATE 11/20/15
Tomorrow I’m off to Bakersfield for a Comic Con. It’s a new venue for me and I’m looking forward to meeting some new friends, and getting together with some old cronies I’ve known many years. If you’re in the area, certainly drop by and say hello1.



THE 8th ANNUAL 
BAKERSFIELD COMIC-CON
KERN COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS Buliding 1
1442 So. P St., Bakersfield, CA
Bakersfield's Orignal Comic Book Show!
SUNDAY. NOVEMBER 22nd, 2015
Sun. 10:00am TO 4:30pm

Admission is Only $7.00
(Children under 8yrs are Free)

FREE PARKING!













A couple of months back I was recuperating from a medical procedure and the first thing I did was get back into the routine of taking my morning walks. I live in a virtual paradise and walking in the hills of Tujunga everyday is one of the great pleasures of my life. While I’m out walking I’m constantly doing little sketches of the hillsides, and when I get home I turn them into quick watercolor sketches. Since I didn't have enough energy to do much else at the time, they were a perfect distraction. Here’s a smattering of that latest watercolor sketchbook…all of these are about 5.5” x 3.5”.
















The next issue of Mad Mummy is actually a reprint of Mummy’s Boy, a story that Pete Ventrella and I did for our Voodoo Mansion series way back when, and it was the impetus for the series that I’m working on now. And since it fit so well and I couldn’t resist, I did my homage to the great Will Eisner and what was possibly my favorite Spirit cover. So below is the cover, and the frontispiece for the book, as well as couple images from the story.





Make sure you check out the earlier books Mad Mummy, Retrowood and Lori Lovecraft books on either  iVerse (http://digital.comicsplusapp.com/search_results.php or Comixology (https://www.comixology.com/search?search=mad+mummy). 

Till next time,
Best,

Mike

Saturday, November 14, 2015

UPDATE 11/14/15




It’s Millie the Model!!! This is a drawing I did for the cover of Alter Ego 136 which celebrates the 75th birthday of one of the greats of the world of comics, Roy Thomas, someone I’ve known since my days in fandom. I once joked with Roy that I’ve had two letters printed in the fan press over the years, and both were bitching about him. But he’s a man who’s work I’ve enjoyed and respected for many years…and the man who first hired me at Marvel when I was  starting my career.  Definitely check out this issue of Alter Ego from Two Tomorrows. 
As you can see from the PART of Roy’s birthday card below, I wasn’t the only one who contributed to this event.

(For those of you not up on your comics history, Alter Ego was the original comics fanzine created by Jerry Bails and Roy back in 1961. Jerry was one of my idols and mentor, a college professor at Wayne St. University in Detroit, Michigan. Meeting him was what got me started my own fanzine 
Masquerader, the impetus that led me to meeting so many of the movers and shakers in comics while I was still a teenager. We miss you, Jerry.)

(These are a sample of the types of commissions I do for fans at the shows.Vampirella and Princess Leia...two favorites.)


For those of you in the LA area I will be at the San Fernando Valley Comic Book Convention this week.





11128 BALBOA BLVD, GRANADA HILLS, CA 91344

11128 BALBOA BLVD, GRANADA HILLS, CA 91344

Stop in and drop by and say hello! I'll be premiering several prints of my work including some of the Tales From the Crypt covers, a Lori Lovecraft pinup,  and two images from Mad Mummy, including the lovely Ankesenamun. While not everyone can afford a piece of original art, the prints are a way to offer a high quality reproduction on heavy stock at a fairly low price point. I’m planning on producing more of these in the future, so if there are favorites of my comic drawings or paintings that I've done over the years, feel free to give me some suggestions.






The following week I will be north in Bakersfield CA.
THE 8th ANNUAL 
BAKERSFIELD COMIC-CON
KERN COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS Buliding 1
1442 So. P St., Bakersfield, CA
Bakersfield's Orignal Comic Book Show!
SUNDAY. NOVEMBER 22nd, 2015

Sun. 10:00am TO 4:30pm

Admission is Only $7.00

(Children under 8yrs are Free)

FREE PARKING!




This is a new show for me so I’m looking forward to seeing some new faces and seeing a bit of California that I haven’t seen before. And I get to spend time with old friends Stan Sakai, Sergio Aragones, Tone Rodriguez and Mike Kazaleh. Thanks for inviting me, Steve!
While I haven’t been posting much in the past couple of months, I have been busy working on a number of paintings and illustrations, as well as continuing to produce the Mad Mummy comic. Here are some of my latest efforts.


(Okay..is it really Fred and Ginger if they are in color?)






Next Update a preview of Mad Mummy #9 as well a peek at some of the little watercolor sketches that were part of my morning walks in the neighborhoods and hills around my house in Tujunga,CA.

Till then, best,
Mike