That's right... the Codename: Kids Next Door/One Piece mash-up I drew actually made it into the September 2011 issue of Shonen Jump, my sooper most favorite magazine in the universe! See?
And I'm all like,
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!!!!!!
And in case you didn't know, we sell copies of this print in the mighty printlab!
So I'm thinkin' we gotta celebrate with a big sale.
Well, there's nothing like celebrating your birthday with 10,000+ fellow nerds is there?
Yup, another Con down and now I've got a year to recover! I'm gonna need it.
3 solid days of walking 'the floor'... walking 'round town... standing 'round talkin'... walkin' and talkin'... talkin' and walkin'... with Christopher Walken. (not really)
But I loves it.
I love the energy of the whole thing. I love the discovery. I love the weirdness. And I especially love hanging out with old friends and new!
But there's just TOO MUCH to tell you about. So I'll break it up into a couple specific posts.
In the meantime I'll tell you some of my favorite things I done and saw this year:
• I took pictures of awesome costumes:
• I took pictures of EVERYTHING in the Lego booth for my little dudes:
• I made a Yu-Gi-Oh card:
• I got to talk to Conan O'Brien in the Warner Brothers booth! I told him that I helped animate his first show opening and he rattled off the year and the studio! Sooper nice guy. And very tall.
• I took LOTS of pictures of Fish Hooks creator Noah Z. Jones doing silly things:
It's time for the annual running of the nerds. And you know I'll be smack in the middle of the action as usual!
For those of you who've never had a chance to go it's not just about comics. In fact, it's BARELY about comics anymore. (Hence the the rise of the exciting new TRICKSTER festival that's happening at the same time this year!)
The con is REALLY about entertainment these days.
TV shows Movies Gaming Toys Books Nostalgia You name it.
Me? I love it all. But my FAVORITE activity is sneaking up on unsuspecting show creators, artists, and authors that I admire and asking, pleading, and threatening them to draw in my sketchbook! Can't wait to see who I meet this year!
And I'll DEFINITELY be stopping by the Fish Hooks panel Sunday morning:
SUNDAY, 10:00am, JULY 24: “Fish Hooks” – Creator/executive producer Noah Z. Jones, executive producer Maxwell Atoms, director Bill Reiss and cast including “Dancing with the Stars” finalist Chelsea Kane (“Bea”), Atticus Shaffer (“Albert Glass”) and Justin Roiland (“Oscar”). Fans will also get a sneak peek of Disney Channel’s upcoming animated series “Gravity Falls.”
Autograph sessions with the cast and crew from “Phineas and Ferb” will occur throughout the weekend, and signings for “Kick Buttowski-Suburban Daredevil” and “Fish Hooks” will take place at the “Phineas and Ferb-Disney Channel/DisneyXD” booth preceding each of the respective panels.
I HAVE to go. Who else is gonna heckle Maxwell Atoms?
It was a long time ago so it's hard to remember. Regardless, at some point in my life I graduated.
And I was scared poopless.
Sure, I knew I wanted to get into animation.
But
HOW?
Well, first I decided I was gonna try my darndest. I mean, I was going to try HARD! I was gonna try EVERY DAY! And I was going to write down how hard I tried every day so that if I DIDN'T get a job in animation, at least I had proof that I tried my most darndest.
So I started this:
Yup. I kept a journal of my post-college journey towards a career in animation. It's a little cringe-worthy to read. I'm young. I'm crude. I'm immature. Just like now. Except for the young part.
But here, for your enjoyment, are some choice entries complete with names that late 1980's NYC animation folk might recognize:
And then, after what seemed like an eternity (but was in truth only a couple months) IT happened:
My first job!
Buzzco Associates. The first time I stopped in they told me they didn't have any positions open. (Especially not for a rookie straight outta Kutztown University) But they also said I could stop by whenever I was in town. To say Hi. To use the bathroom. And check if there were any jobs available. And as you can see from the entries above... I DID!
And it's a good thing I done did that. Because that's what got me started in this business.
So thanks Candy, Vinnie and Marilyn. Thanks for taking a chance on some dumb punk kid.
And you know what? Even after I got the job... I kept writing journals.
HARK! 'Tis that the sound of another sketchbook falling to the deft slash of me pencil?
'Tis!
And this one fought well, it did. Twas a short fight, though. Around two months... But these sketchbooks with thicker, cream colored paper don't share as many pages as their lily-white brethren so it's understandable.
So what lies in this tome with the merry One Piece stickers festooning its front? Well...
Okay okay... so when I'm bored I draw giant squiddies. So what else is new?
I also draw a lot of plants:
BIG plants:
The occasional Egyptian god walking his sphinx:
A samurai turtle:
Jellyfish:
Bob-Ombs:
Flaming turkey legs:
Trash:
And Dungeons and Dragons characters:
That's my character up top; Stacey Walker, Texas Ranger, a surly, overweight teenage Elf whose dad owns Arwë (the Elvish version of Ikea). Below that is my version of Gyros, soopuhstar Fish Hooks character designer Serapio Calm's Warforged Paladin.
What's that? I haven't told you about the Fish Hooks crews' lunchtime D&D adventures yet? Hoo boy... that's a whole nerdy post unto itself.
But for now, let's just bury this sketchbook and move on to the next, shall we?
.jpg)
