Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Spring Update, Convention Update and a few teases!

Hi everyone,

Hope all is well in your world. Thanks to everyone for the help on the HERO Christmas auctions, one last drawing to finish! Next year....well that can wait until the fall.

We thought it'd be a good idea to let you in on our Convention Schedule this year and take a look at some upcoming projects.





First up is Megacon, our annual pilgrimage to Orlando. Come by this weekend to say hi to Marsha and me, as well as Jimmy Palmiotti, Miss Amanda Connor, Frank Tieri, Nelson DeCastro, Rev. Dave Johnson and tons more. Beth and Richard put on one of the finest shows of the year so we're happy to be heading back for more.




Next is Boston Comic Con. Here's the spiffy T-Shirt they let me do for them. By Boston I'll be able to announce some big news we've been holding, it should be a hell of a good time ;-) Can't say more, 'cause someone out there would kill me.




Come May, I'll be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, one of the great events for creator owned & indie comics on the continent. As some of you may know, Toronto is my hometown, and this makes it all the more special for me.

If you've never gone, come see why it's growing so quickly in size and reputation. I'm lucky enough to be a special guest this year, a humbling position for me amongst greats like Chester Brown, Adrian Tomine, Brian Boswell and Natsume Ono. So many friends and cartooning geniuses are going, I'll just urge you to the site to see the guests.

That's it for shows for now. I'll leave you all with a couple pieces of artwork. The first is my cover for JSA #50. Hope you like the image and the message. The second is a penciled page of...Vigilante? That's right, owlhoot. Vigilante. What the heck could this be for? I'm not telling.






A couple final notes, since I'm here.

My colleagues and I traffic in the nature of heroism, some would say. I just want to take a moment to say that the workers at the Fukishima Power Plant are the bravest people on the face of the planet. May their Gods bless them and keep them.

And more personally, I want to mention the passing of my Aunt Helen. A wonderful woman and loving sister to my Mom. She will be sorely missed.

Best to you all
Darwyn

Saturday, March 5, 2011

TCAF - Toronto Comic Arts Festival

from the TCAF newsletter:

TCAF Welcomes Featured Guest Darwyn Cooke!

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is proud to announce that award-winning, New York Times best-selling cartoonist Darwyn Cooke will be a Featured Guest of the 2011 Festival. Darwyn has a long and very special history with the Festival, having three times previous been a Featured Guest of the event, and having designed the 2005 and 2007 Festival posters.

Cooke has had an impressive and varied career in comics, despite his relatively short tenure in the medium after having had successful careers in both graphic design and animation. From the time of his debut with 2000′s Batman: Ego, fans have thrilled to his stylized and classic depictions of the pantheon of DC Comics Superheroes in projects like The New Frontier (which netted him several Harveys and Eisners, and the animated adaptation of which was nominated for an Emmy), Jonah Hex, and Catwoman, and in 2006 he took on the task of re imagining Will Eisner’s classic character The Spirit for a new generation.

Cooke’s most recent works are his New York Times best-selling graphic novel adaptations of Richard Stark’s PARKER novels, published by IDW. Parker: The Hunter and Parker: The Outfit (released 2009 and 2010 respectively) debuted to enormous critical acclaim, and Cooke’s vision of the character was enjoyed the special privilege of being approved and enjoyed by the series’ author Donald Westlake (who wrote the series under the pseudonym Richard Stark), before his passing in 2008. Currently, Cooke is hard at work on the third Parker adaptation, The Score, expected for release in 2012.

Darwyn Cooke will be exhibiting for both days of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival with a dedicated exhibition space, and will also be participating in programming and panels (to be announced).

If you're interested in attending TCAF, they have a wonderful section on their website devoted to helping get you all the info you should need. Check it out - torontocomics.com/attending

TCAF takes place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (so get your passports if you're from away!)
Saturday May 7th, 9am-5pm
Sunday May 8th, 11am-5pm
@ Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St., Toronto, Canada
416-533-9168
Admission to TCAF is Free.