Art | Geekscape

Emerald City Comic-Con Was An Overwhelmingly Beautiful Celebration Of Art, Fandom, And So Much More!

by Mikaela MaxwellMarch 15, 2018

This year’s Emerald City Comic-Con was by far the biggest convention (or event in general) that I have ever been to, and it was pretty amazing… and overwhelming… and so freaking exciting! Due to constant studying on how to help save lives better (I’m an Emergency Room Nurse currently doing some pretty intense additional schooling and certifications) I was only able to make it to the show floor for Saturday and Sunday, which was a super bummer, but still so worth it to make the mini trek down to Seattle. I definitely hope that I get to attend again in the future, and spend all four days at the convention centre!

This was my journey to and at Emerald City Comic-Con 2018. I hope that you enjoy it!

Mid afternoon on Friday I hurried out of the hospital and started my mini-roadtrip to meet up with Derek in Seattle. I have to say, this was actually an unexpected treat! I spend a lot of time transiting/driving, and have come to love listening to an audiobook while commuting. This time around I just wasn’t feeling my current book, so I listened to an episode of Geekscape Games, and then turned on a 90’s pop playlist that had recently been recommended to me (by Derek). This immediately led to a very animated and prolonged Careoke dance-sesh. It. Was. Great. I used to dance in the car all the time, and for some reason have fallen out of the habit, which I see now is an obvious mistake. I wasn’t even sad that I got stuck on an exit for half an hour trying to get into town, I just kept right on singing. If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, you can grab the playlist yourself right here.

I also stopped for a lil’ McDonald’s snack along the way so I could try this much anticipated Szechuan sauce. Spoiler alert, its just meh and Derek is wrong.

On a super cute side note I rolled up to our Airbnb to find that Derek had been standing outside waiting for me for half an hour. Ridiculous. Heart. Melt.

By the time I got into town Friday the convention was shut down for the night. But we had gotten an invite to a sweet lil’ partay, put on by Skybound Entertainment to celebrate The Walking Dead’s 15th anniversary, so we decided to head over there right away. I was pretty excited… and a little bit nervous. The venue was super rad — the space was beautiful, all exposed brick and wood beams, featuring a photo booth, yummy snacks, and bar featuring various The Walking Dead themed cocktails, and wine bottles that moved (in augmented reality, of course)! It was super neat, there were quite a few people there, and according to Derek there seemed to be a good amount of artists, and writers, and other important people that other folks may have recognized. I was pretty stoked when I spotted a cosplayer I had discovered at Fan Expo Vancouver, and can’t even imagine how star struck I woulda been if I had recognized half the people in there. This party is also where I discovered instagram stories, which is pretty neat once you get the hang of it, you can check out @geekscapeforever on Instagram if you want to see what we’ve been up to. (Hint hint: go follow us already!)

Super cool bottle, made even cooler in AR!

Saturday morning I woke up to Derek podcasting. One thing I love about this convention is that it doesn’t open until TEN! Which means I can get my beauty sleep! And it means Derek can get on that Wrestling Podcast! (#DoubleCountOut You are probably already checking it out, but if not, now is the time when you take a little gander over on the iTunes or where ever you get your podcasts and take a listen! — unless you aren’t into wrestling, cause then you wont understand what they are talking about, and it probably wont make much sense or be very fun to listen to… unless you just like listening to the sounds of young men’s voices, then it’ll still be a treat!)

Upon getting to the convention centre we entered a line up to go upstairs, and this line up was simply magical. Like people just kept coming out of nowhere. Then funneling into this teeny line, where literally one dude was checking if you had a badge and letting you get onto an escalator to ascend into the madness. Somehow, I don’t know how, this process actually moved pretty pretty pretty quickly. Like we weren’t at a stand still for more than 30 seconds, ever!

At my request we went to see a Cosplay panel Saturday morning, about the basics of getting into cosplay. I was a little apprehensive when it started, as I’ve previously had some kinda meh experiences at panels, but it actually turned out to be really useful and informative! They talked about how to budget for building cosplay, and their various experiences of starting it themselves. There were 5 different young women there, who all had different cosplay styles and had been doing it for varying amounts of time. It was great to listen to people talk about something they are so passionate about, and to see how inclusive this community can be.

We also had a bunch of time to walk around the show floor on Saturday. I thought I knew what I was getting into with this, but I was mistaken. Now, the conventions I have been to in the past have evidently been on the smaller side of things. The first place we went was the main show floor, which was one of many levels (through several buildings), each strategically housing certain things such as the cosplay centre, the photo op and autograph area, the gaming floor where you could experience new board games or set up a round of DnD or Magic: The Gathering, and way, way more. We started walking around the show floor and I was immediately overwhelmed. There were just so many things, and even more people. And then around the corner there was more show floor, and through the doorway even more, and across the hallway, you guessed it, even more…

But it was an overwhelm in the most wonderful way. I have never in a singular place, experienced so many different kinds of beautiful, curious, interesting things and people! One of my most favourite aspects of being at a convention is looking at all of the art. There are so many different kinds of artists, creating so many different and wonderful pieces of art, from books, to postcards and magnets, to canvas paintings and prints, to leather work and jewelry, and so so so much more. Each booth is filled with treasures of every variety, and most of the time the artist who created this brilliance is sitting right there just waiting for you to ask them about their work! How often in life do we get an opportunity like that, to just openly admire the hardworking these people are doing and talk to them about these things which they are so very passionate about?! I went into this convention knowing that I would want to buy a print or two. I like the idea of taking a piece of this experience home with me, and a beautiful piece of art is a great way to do it, especially if its fairly affordable print! On Saturday we ended up walking past this beautiful painting of a women letting her breath go underwater and I knew I wanted to be able to look at that every day. But I didn’t want to make a decision without knowing all of my options, so I waited until the next day, after meandering through Artist’s Alley (forever, because it’s huge and has its own floor) to find my way back to that booth and take home my own copy of that beauty.

Some of my haul… time to buy some frames!

While exploring the show floor we had the opportunity to demo a couple of games at the Skybound Games booth. It was great fun! At first I was intimidated by the demo guys wanting to get you into a game, but actually this might be my new favourite way to buy a game! We literally got to play a few rounds of a game I had never heard of (which it turns out had just released after a successful Kickstarter campaign), and I walked away trying to adjust my budget so I could bring it home. Who am I kidding, budgeting is not my strength, a week later and my third day of eating Kraft Dinner is telling me I didn’t do a very good job of budgeting… But my super fun games day is telling me it was totes worth it! We ended up picking up The Grimm Forest and Superfight.

The Grimm Forest is kind of like a mashup of every fairytale woven into your memory and a little bit of Settlers of Catan. I was super stoked to bring this one home. You are descendants of the 3 ( or 4) little pigs competing to build your houses, while constantly being thrown off track by monsters and big meanies. It’s great fun, and can be played in under an hour, which in my books is a huge plus (because there is usually a WWE Pay Per-View to get to when people come over)! Superfight feels kind of like a mashup between Cards Against Humanity (but seemly less dirty so far) and Exploding Kittens, with a dash of… whatever games makes you tell a story about characters! You literally pick cards and have to combine a character with a ‘super power’ and then explain why it would win in a fight against the other person’s character… I will admit I was a bit of a sore loser at this one. There are also so many different expansion packs for this one (and even an expansion pack subscription program), so I am sure we will add on to it in the future. I am looking forward to playing it in a group with more people, and more adult beverages, I am pretty certain hilarity will ensue.

Oh man, I feel like I am talking so much already, but there were so many good things, and I have so much to say!

I also had the opportunity to visit the Espionage Cosmetics booth, which specializes in nerdy nail decals, and got to try some on! There were so many different styles of nail art, most of which I was a little clueless to, but the lovely lady at this booth helped by pointing out what a few of them were! She also applied one for me, and it was so simple and easy, but glammed me up so much! I walked away with a little sample and can’t wait to have days off so I can give them a go! (Though I probably won’t be sharing photos of that, cause I have chapped nurses hands!). Their demo station also had glitter available so they could add a little sparkle to the bearded gents who were in attendance. I think this may have been the first time in my life I almost wished for facial hair! I tried to convince Derek to try it, but as you can probably guess, he was having none of that! Lame.

We got to watch a Twisted Toonz, which I had seen before at the convention we went to in Vancouver. It is actually pretty hilarious. A bunch of voice actors (I don’t know why they are called voice actors, they also do the body moving stuff, but they do video games and their characters are animated so I guess you don’t get to call them actors?) get together and read from a script, but each of them takes on a different celebrity (or character’s) accent for each scene. We literally had to stand for an hour and a half just watching giant screens from the back of the room packed with thousands of people, but it was so worth it! They were reading from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and it was hilarious. I feel like I need to go back and rewatch that movie, I just could not believe how inappropriate some of the lines were!

https://youtu.be/-XUluDsQkk4

I don’t know if anyone has noticed the activity on our Instagram feed @GEEKSCAPEFOREVER, but it has been taken over lately by yours truly, and that means so many many photos of amazing ECCC cosplay! Which leads me to, Saturday night and my most anticipated event… The ECCC Western Championships of Cosplay!

https://instagram.com/p/BgAISGWgL-U/

We stood in line an hour and a half before the event started, which meant lining up outside in the cold (which actually wasn’t that cold considering its the beginning of March). It also meant a very whiney Mikaela who did not bring a sweater with her, but it was soooo worth it! There was a crowd of over 2000 people and we managed to get pretty great seats (although not great enough for pictures). I can not even put into words how amazed I was with these costumes. There was someone who had made the Doof Warrior outfit, and musical transportation platform from Mad Max: Fury Road (WTF?! so Amazing, and totally one of my favourite movies/characters!). There was also an amazing Dark Pit with movable wings from Kid Icarus: Uprising, and even giant guy who was dressed as an even more giant guy (some sort of Brute from Halo, according to Derek), and I couldn’t even believe this was real life. This competition was definitely one of my ECCC highlights, and if I get to go again, I hope I am able to grab some photos so I can share it with y’all.

https://instagram.com/p/Bf6zjMFAT2M/

Saturday night after dinner, I tried to stay awake to take advantage of being out and about and young and hip and… I fell asleep before midnight, and before even getting into bed.

Sunday I was determined to see the rest of all of the floors. I was super invested in checking out autographs or photo ops, but I ventured over to the cosplay areas and checked out the gaming area options. Then wandered through Artist Alley with my jaw on the floor as I tried to take in all of the crazy beauty. It was so neat to walk past booths and see people sketching or colouring or whatever, just making their art right there in front of everyone. It definitely brought me back to the budgeting thing, and wish I was better at it, so I could bring home more beautiful things. I picked out some post cards, and found a neat print of a Narwal ( which I had to have.), and walked away sadly from at least 5 prints that I wish I could look at every day. I also nabbed a little independent comic with super beautiful art, and even found the perfect Mother’s Day present!

We also went to check out the Cosplay floor, which had some handy booths for makeup touch ups and demos, as well as places where you could fix your outfits. There were a few Cosplayers who had their own booths, and a green screen set up for photos. The lighting in this area was not great, so I didn’t get as many photos as I would have liked, but it was super nice to see a place set up for the people from this part of the community.

I spent a couple hours on Sunday searching for and photographing some of the most amazing cosplay. The convention centre in Seattle is a beautiful building and has this great little courtyard that was the perfect back drop for so many photos, which you can see on instagram by @geekscapeforever and so many other people. We managed to get out there before the rain started, and still got some great photos inside once everyone was escaping the rain. Every time we go to a convention I am amazed by the amount of time and talent people put into these outfits, and ECCC did not disappoint. Go check out our Instagram and you will see what I am talking about.

https://instagram.com/p/BgMfJgQnDe0/

One thing that I became aware of at ECCC was the amount of respect and kindness the people of this community show each other. This convention even had a beer garden in the same building as the main show floor (!!!), but even with this awesome feature, I did not notice any drunk or belligerent people over the entire weekend! At most big events that host thousands of people there are usually a few rotten eggs in the bunch, and I am sure they existed here as well, but I never came across them. It was so lovely to be surrounded by people who are so accepting and kind towards each other. To be in a place where children and elderly and everyone in between are able to exist and make space for each other (metaphorically, not physically, that place was packed!) was pretty magical.

Thank you Emerald City Comic Con for putting on an amazing event.

I am so happy to have found this super interesting, beautiful, artistic, amazing culture of people, and I can’t wait to venture into this community again in the future.

Geekscape Interviews: Glass Artist and Graphic Novelist CJ Draden on Forging His Own Path

by Eric FranciscoOctober 7, 2015

You’ve seen CJ Draden at Comic-Con before. That fella painting stunning art on supremely bright white glass that always attracts a crowd? That’s him. He’ll be at this week’s New York Comic-Con as well as the Vienna Comic-Con later this year. If you’re going to NYCC, look for CJ and say hello. If you’ll be in Austria, say hallo.

Early in our conversation, I ask CJ how his new book, The Wooden Heart is doing. A departure from his typical superhero art, The Wooden Heart is his stylish take on the classic Pinocchio. In so few words, it’s doing pretty well. “I’m pretty happy with the response,” he tells me. “I’ve been fortunate to have Stan Lee endorse the project. That was a big change in the interpretation of how I was going to go about, being an artist. It would change anyone’s perspective of themselves.” Stan “The Man” Lee telling you he likes you’re work is a heck of an endorsement.

Another project of his, Atlas, represents another departure from his typical work you see at Comic-Con. “I think that at any given point in time someone decides to do something with their life, start a project, change a career, do something different, I think it marks their current comprehension of their life, and their surroundings. I think that’s true when an artist creates something, because of the things that you’re interested in or learning about at the time.”

The Wooden Heart and Atlas, CJ tells me, are resonant of specific, super personal times in his life. “I was dealing with a lot of things, and I put a lot of personal things in it. It’s a very personal project. I learned a lot from that. I grew from that and I started taking my lessons and moving on to another point in my life.”

Ahead of his presence at the New York Comic-Con, I interviewed CJ to get a glimpse of what it’s like to be an artist still trying to figure out this crazy world we inhabit.

You said something interesting just know, that “Atlas” was kind of like a turning point for you. Did you always want to be an artist? Or did you stumble onto this career unexpectedly?

CJ: No, I can’t say that I always wanted to be an artist, I don’t really have that clicheé story where people are like “Oh I’ve always been drawing.” I have always been drawing since I was young, but it’s a good thing to bring up because I think that people have a calling, I think if you just make certain choices in life and you stick to what you feel is truthful about you, you’re going to encounter people and encounter certain situations that are going to change you, and lead you in a certain direction.

I did go to college for illustration but I dropped out, it was a struggle, I struggled with this a lot. It wasn’t something that just came naturally, which I was always concerned about. Art is used as a therapy and people enjoy it and it’s always fun to be around creative people. So I was just curious as to why it was so hard for me to do. I discovered myself in my own particular process with the way that I work, and it changed everything. So no it wasn’t something I always wanted to do, but I found a love for it, and I think that the people that follow what I do and support what I do in the past five years, it gave me a sense of purpose. Like okay this is what I’m meant to do, and I grew to love it.

Does it surprise you the amount of support you’ve gotten? You’ve said you’ve had Stan Lee and Michael Rooker praise your work, Whoopie Goldberg too. Does it surprise you that you’ve gained such a notoriety for something you didn’t expect you’d be doing?

CJ: Hell yeah. It’s shocking. Again because I think that in Western culture we have this status quo step by step process of what is gonna lead you to the light, what’s going to make you successful, and that’s through go to college, get a job, start a family, get the white picket fence, all that stuff, and it’s very rare that people promote an outside of the box thinking on how to follow your passions and create a life. So when this started happening I was going to dip out of this, I wasn’t even going to be an artist, but when Stan came around it really changed everything. I was about ready to just stop. I really knew how I was doing so I can legitimately say that I’m still an artist because of Stan Lee. It gave me the spirit to keep moving forward.

Because of all this stuff happening, like being on The View and doing work for Michael Rooker and Whoopie Goldberg and having some interviews with Stan, him endorsing the project, it’s miraculous in a way because I was continuously beat down for being an artist, that’s kind of the standard. Most creative people are like oh you know I was told this would never happen, all my art teachers in high school, my college instructors and peers thought I was a joke, so I left and I started going to the people and they said yeah this is cool stuff, and they kept supporting it, so I just followed what worked, and I just said , okay. I’m going to do what I feel is right.

There’s an interesting parallel between the way you said you lived your life and the way even your art is made. You make your art on glass and that’s a very unconventional way of making art, art. I was curious about how did you arrive at making glass art in the first place?

CJ: That is a very metaphysical and philosophical answer. I tend to over think things a lot, and I get very deep into my own head, and I guess you could say that it is a reflection of myself.

Really?

CJ: Yeah, absolutely. When people, especially some of the things that I’ve noticed when I was in part college, a lot of the things that people were struggling with were transcending information from their imagination to this reality this point of existence through sculptors or paintings or body of work, whatever it may be with a big block of getting that vision out, and I felt this whole heartedly.

So when I started discovering this process I felt that circuit just open up and things just started pouring out that I never thought I could do. So a lot of what I do is purely instinctual and I don’t even understand how I do a lot of it. I feel like I just let go of control in this world that I exist in just starts to pour out and the only way I can really describe it is a portal. When I start carving and scraping and molding and building these shapes into the glass and opening this door into a reality that only exists to me, and allowing people to see into that. I think that’s the best way I can describe it. I think you really have to connect with what you’re doing. You get what I’m saying? You really have to connect what you’re doing.

I’m curious as to know why you gravitate towards the fantasy genre comic book realm, and I can assume that you have some sort of connection there.

CJ: Well it’s a two sided coin in this situation because at the time I started doing this I had no idea what I was doing. I knew that I had discovered something that made me feel like the implicate me, it made me feel at peace. Because there was a lot of depression, there was a lot of different things I was going through in college, and when I discovered this it gave me a sense of peace and I wanted to stick with it. I think that when you find something that you’re passionate about, now you have to figure out what you want to do with it. Especially art, when you have no boundaries, putting yourself in a boundary and committing yourself to a goal, committing yourself can be very challenging, but you have parameters.

So I think the hardest thing was after I discovered something I started building my own process that communicated my vision to people. I needed to do something worth it. So I chose comic-cons because I just went with what worked and people liked the way I did these things that they had been reading about and seeing for years when they were kids, and it was painting a joker, painting a batman, this is pretty wicked, it’s pretty rad. I just kept doing that till I figured out myself inside of that.

At one end of the spectrum I had no idea what I was doing, but at the other end of the spectrum I knew I was going towards something I just didn’t know what it was, and I felt that it would present itself when it was ready, I wasn’t trying to force it. So I have done a lot of the comic work and I have grown up with that stuff, so there is a personal connection with that, but in the same light there does come a point in a persons life where you have to make a step for what you do, and put your own messages out there.

We all kind of grow up reading about Batman and Superman and these traditional archetype stories then you eventually have to get into a point where it’s like, this is what I do. So it’s a little bit of both. I think we all have connections to these archetypes but there has to be a point where you bring something to thee table. I think everyone felt my journey, it doesn’t matter what career path you’re on.

Do you hope to leave your own creations, your own creations to the table? Do you hope to create something that another “CJ” in the distant future will create works of?

CJ: I don’t think it’s viable for a creative person to think about themselves that way. I think what that does is stops you from moving forward. If I were to allow myself to believe that a character, a creature, a project that I worked on is going to be the next Sandman, then there’s no room for improvement. So I think that as long as you look at everything as a learning experience, and you commit to doing something and you finish it, you’re always going to find something that you need improvement on.

So even if I wanted to see myself as this type of hypothetical person that we’re talking about, I don’t want to think that my rational mind would believe it. You don’t learn anything from the things that you don’t finish, and you never move forward on to something else if you don’t learn anything. So there’s always something to learn, and I’m always putting myself in this retrospective self reflective process. So even if I wanted to see myself, I just wouldn’t like “I’m going to be the next so and so.” I don’t even think I would believe it.

What’s next after New York Comic-Con? What do you hope to do next?

CJ: I have a few other different shows that I’m booked for through out the year, like there’s a big horror convention down in Orlando that I used to do, I haven’t done it in four years. One of my friends, Tony Todd who was Candy Man in Final Destination, is going to be there, so I decided to pick up the show, and go see him, and kind of retouch with some people back in that side of the country. I actually got invited out to Vienna for a major launch of their convention. There’s a big demand over there for the Western art and super heroes and there is a big comic book scene, but not a convention scene. This is going to be like the huge launch of their San Diego Comic-Con. So I was invited out to do this show.

I’m pretty stoked about it because every year, and this actually ties in full circle to what we were talking about, was like where does Atlas come from, every Christmas and New Year’s I have this tradition where I travel abroad, I spend New Year’s in a different city around the world. This past new years I went through Greece and Atlas and this other project, The Zero Mirror comes from my love of philosophy and anthropology and ancient culture, because I love learning about what makes us tick as human beings. I use that as like a platform psychologically to build projects off of because there is so much in the implicate of human being that can serve as creative forces. Because motivation is the driving force to anything we do in life.

So I like learning about different anthropological aspects of cultures so going to be there for Comic-Con is going to be fascinating because it’s going to help allow me to go there for the summer I worked but also see a different part of the world I haven’t seen. There’s Vienna and there’s Prague over there, I’ve always wanted to go there. So I’m pretty stoked about it, it’s always fun to go to a place where your senses, the five senses are completely active.

It’s very rare that we ever get to experience that because we are so focused on responsibility past, present, and future, and where you can just shut off and you’re in survival mode. You don’t speak the language and geographically you have no idea where you are at, and I think it’s going to be just cool.

The Art Vs. Science ‘Splatoon’ Splatfest Starts NOW!

by Josh JacksonSeptember 18, 2015

After a very popular Transformers themed Splatfest, it was business as usual going forward. While the following event didn’t have any cool or surprising licensing, the question being settled isn’t any less important.

From 9 PM tonight to 9 PM tomorrow, September 19th, kids and squids alike will be fighting in the name of art or science. It’s Einstein vs. Di Vinci! Edison vs. Van Gogh! Banksy vs. Ahmed the clock kid! Who will win the battle of disciplines?

Personally, I’m more of a science guy. Without it, many of the tools needed for art wouldn’t exist. Then again, I feel like art will be more popular, but as of this point, the popular team has never won the majority of matches. I just want to win for once!

Which team are you on? Will you use up a perfectly good Saturday to reach the top rank? Tell us who you’re siding with in the comments!

The Saint Mort Show Episode 127: Veronica Batter of Rockdale Art Center

by SaintmortMay 10, 2015

Veronica Batter was my old art-school teacher. After she was forced into resigning due to a disease which made her unable to work. Instead of giving up she started her own art center which opens this Thursday.

Follow Saint Mort on Facebook and Twitter and SoundCloud.

If you really like the show get Matt something nice off his AmazonWishList

Subscribe to Us on iTunes

Exclusive: Here’s Stephane Blanquet’s Incredible Artwork For The ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Legend Of The Yokai’ Artist Initiative!

by Derek KraneveldtSeptember 4, 2014

Briefly: Well, Jonathan Liebsman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned out way better than we expected it to be (it was so much fun), and Paramount isn’t nearly finished promoting it yet (and a sequel has already been announced).

The studio has launched an incredible art moment called ‘The Legend of the Yokai.’ The exhibition explores the origins of our heroes, and features over 30 amazing artists from 16 different countries. Plenty of amazing pieces are already available for viewing on the Legend of the Yokai’s official website, and Geekscape is very excited to be exclusively debuting Stephane Blanquet’s incredible piece. Before we reveal it, you should definitely check out the trailer for the exhibition:

As Paramount describes, the exhibition “tells the epic tale of a village over-run by an evil warlord and his army of demon monsters. When all hope seems lost, the wishes of an innocent girl summon forth the heroic Kappa, who abide by the pillars of honour, courage, wisdom and brotherhood, fighting side-by-side to vanquish this fearsome evil.”

The site shows off some incredible pieces based on each of these ideals, and Stephane’s abstract piece is definitely one of my favourites. Born in 1973 near Paris, where he lives and works, Stéphane Blanquet is a multi-talented artist and a prolific figure of the French art scene since the beginning of the 1990s with: Installations, mix-media artworks, sculptures, mural paintings and urban furniture, performances, music, theatre (scenography and play writing), animation movies, alternative graphics, comics, publishing, etc. His work has been shown around the world and twice very successfully at the Singapore Art museum. (Latest show in Singapore: 100,000 visitors). With many upcoming projects, in Europe, Asia and US, Blanquet in on the way of becoming a key artist on the contemporary art world scene.

Take a look at Stephane’s piece below (click for full-size), and be sure to keep scrolling for an amazing behind-the-scenes look at its creation.

The art is incredibly complex. Take a behind-the-scenes look at the artwork below and you’ll be amazed by the amount of detail and layering hidden inside.

Pretty amazing, huh? Again, be sure to head to the exhibition’s official website for much more!

Mondo Unveils Amazing Comic-Con Exclusives!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 10, 2013

With less than one week to go until San Diego Comic-Con, news and exclusives are starting to come out fast.

Following Toys R Us last week, the latest company revealing so good that we have to share exclusives is none other than Mondo. The company will have a variety of limited edition prints available at their booth (#936) throughout the convention. Some of the prints will even be available for pre-sale starting this Friday, so if you’re quick, maybe you’ll actually be able to get one.

Take a look at all of the new prints below, and let us know what you’ll be trying to pick up. I wish I had the cash for all of them. For more details about the pre-sale, as well as poster signings, head to Mondo’s official blog.

Pacific Rim by Kevin Tong. $45 regular, $75 variant.

Pacific Rim Jaeger and Kaiju by Ash Thorp. $50 each (both of these framed, opposite each other are going to look INSANE).

Pacific Rim by Vania Zouravliov. $50.

The rest of the posters can only be acquired by pre-buying, so again, be sure to head to Mondo’s blog for all of the details.

Dark Tower by Drew Struzan. $275.

Conan by Martin Ansin. $50 regular, $75 variant.

Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle by Olly Moss. $90 each.

Incredible, right? I would love to purchase each and every one of those beautiful, beautiful images. Instead, I’ll probably have to limit myself to one! What are you planning to buy?

Wow: Check Out Andry Rajoelina’s Incredible ‘Super Families’ Artwork!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 2, 2013

Briefly: These were just sent my way, and are far too gorgeous not to share.

An incredible artist by the name of Andry Rajoelina has debuted a new art series titled “Super Families”, which is set to premiere at the Paris Comic Con this weekend. The series is a stylish adaptation of many of the Marvel universe’s most famous families, and each piece is absolutely stunning.

Six individual pieces have been unveiled so far. Check them out below, and we’ll be sure to update you if more are revealed! You can also head to Andry’s deviantART page to see even more amazing work. Be sure to let us know what you think of the series!

Source: DeviantART