The Con...eh?? yet it still rocked!!

The Chicago Con is not the San Diego Con by any means, but for the first time in a loooooooong time I had a blast! There's a whole list of stuff to write about and art to post but seeing I still have a day job that takes up a good chunk of my time, I will do it this weekend. I wish there was more hours in the day in order to create and put up all the things that I want to do. Thanks to this Blog I can at least talk about doing it! Well the Con was a reason for a bunch of artists, writers and comic book aficionados to get together and simply dwell and bask in the grandeur that is comics. I got to meet tremendous talents like Gary Reed, an award winning writer not to mention publisher, Len Kody a great writer and his lovely girlfriend, Dan Dougherty an amazing artist, EricJ an incredible all around talent... just to mention a few. I hope this little club of ours, "The Chicago MOB" continues to grow and include alot more of Chicago's great pool of talent. Well I'll get to some more on the con this weekend.

MOB RULE DECLARED IN CHICAGO!

Authorities uncovered a plot by a nefarious group of artists, writers, and other bohemian ne’er-do-wells planning to storm the upcoming Wizard World convention in Chicago on Thursday, August 9^th, through Sunday, the 12^th.

The insurgents are intent on taking over the event, inciting riots and attempting to add numerous supporters to their dastardly cause. Their goal seems to be world domination!

Early intelligence reports have identified key members of this mob; a full disclosure of their names and areas of expertise are as follows:

Rafael Nieves, a Writer (VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE; THE PHANTOM; MR. MOTO), and the apparent ringleader of the mob whom, it is said, has threatened to sell and sign numerous publications from his 20 year stint in the field. Nieves has aligned himself with quite a diverse band of hooligans, which includes these known associates:

Douglas Klauba, Painter and Cover Artist for THE PHANTOM, KOLCHAK, THE SPIDER, DOC SAVAGE, ZORRO... will have copies of his Sketchbook for sale, packaged between full color covers, with never before seen drawings, sketches and roughs from throughout his career and, for the very first time, includes a special Phantom section of preliminary drawings and studies. Along with the Sketchbook, Klauba will have collectible postcard sets and DC VS trading cards on hand, and there will be a selection of limited edition fine art prints available.

Juan Arevalo is an Art Director and Freelance Artist who has collaborated with Nieves on various projects in the pre-production phase. Arevalo has worked with leading Christian publisher UMI and comics creator Michael Davis on the initial launch of THE GUARDIAN LINE of faith-based comics. He has also created character designs for an upcoming animation in association with toy company RC2. Rumor has it that Arevalo is currently working on a personal project, RIMANAKUY YAWAR-THE BLOOD COVENANT, a web comic due out next year.

Antonio Maldonado, Artist and Radical (CHILLIN'S , the cover art for band Aiden's RAIN IN HELL CD, and Game Animator for Spongebob Squarepants:Diner Dash 1 and 2 for
Nickelodeon and Playfirst) has a number of projects in the works: a back-up story for Nieves' re-release of EDGAR ALLAN POE’S THE BELLS titled "Alone", and the graphic novel BLACKBIRDS, also with Nieves. This malcontent will be selling copies of CHILLIN'S and his CUCOS! sketchbook, and will be doing Commission Sketches.

Dan Dougherty (CYCLONE BILL AND THE TALL TALES, KOLCHAK) will be previewing several upcoming projects, including two zombie period pieces, ROTTEN and NATIONAL HORROR, as well as the long awaited anti-gravity yarn NEWTON'S LAW.

Len Kody: The up-and-coming comics Writer started his career contributing short stories to the MOONSTONE MONSTERS anthology series, which is now available in trade paperback. He'll be selling and signing copies of his dark, Western mini-series, CISCO KID: GUNFIRE & BRIMSTONE. And he'll no doubt be talking up his long awaited CISCO KID vs. WYATT EARP crossover, a two-issue event also featuring the talents of Chuck Dixon and EricJ, scheduled for a late '07 release. As a Convention Exclusive, Kody will debut pages from his first independently produced original graphic novel, SOUTHSIDE COP, about the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Nick Muntean, the Writer of "Kay-rash" from the anthology CHILLIN'S. Currently working with Antonio Maldonado on their upcoming 2008 project DOOM DOOM: 21ST CENTURY GIRL, a book so quirky, so odd, so manic, so pop-culture that it's best and most coherent description is "The Archies on acid!" Nick and Antonio will preview their book with a special, for-sale print of the characters.

Juan Gomez, Artist (CHILLIN’S, EDGAR ALLAN POE’S THE BELLS) will be previewing his latest project, WHO? THE HEX! as well as MALGATO, a graphic novel to be released in 2008.

La Morris Richmond is a Writer/Publisher/Revolutionary who, through his B.L.A.M! comics imprint, has produced the comic series CANTON KID and PURGE. His BOOTS OF THE OPRESSOR and JIGABOO DEVIL remain benchmarks in provocative, guerilla storytelling. Richmond will invade the convention on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and will have copies of these books available for purchase.

John Siuntres is Host/Agitator of wordballoon.com, the best place to find podcast interviews with comicdom’s best and brightest. Siuntres is a raconteur and bon vivant nonpareil, so be warned!

All law-abiding citizens are urged to attend the WizardWorld Chicago convention and seek out this rabble at booths 4110 through 4120. Only by purchasing as much of their tracts and propaganda as possible can we deflate their scheme for rampant anarchy, preventing them from spreading their misinformation and half truths to the unsuspecting world!

Jeez' I've been gone a sec!!!

Hey all! sorry for becoming a hermit all of the sudden, but work was kickin' my Arse! I work as an art director for a small but busy ad firm in the northside suburb of Lincolnwood near Chicago. I'm posting some of the work that I've been doing there. I have some personal projects that are coming too so please be on the lookout for those. I need to invent a time machine in order to get me more time to create some of the stuff I'm planning. If any of you out there beat me to it please let me know so I can hitch a ride to where ever it is that you're going!! Anyhoo I'll be back soon with more stuff... Promise.

The Poe Poe is comin'!

Hey all! I created this here image for my very good friend Raf Nieves. It'll be featured as one of the many pinups for his upcoming book "The Belles" based on the story by Edgar Allen Poe of the same name. Raf adapted it and Johnny Gomez, another brilliant fellow wielder of the led, drew it. I had some time to fiddle and doodle around so I decided to make it a bit more dramatic. I used PS to color the piece and create the background and the fonts. I drew Poe and the Raven on a tree piece. I really like the way it came out, hope you do too.

The Justice League of Amigos

OK so let me be honest... I'm freakin' geeked about this episode. There I admit it I was feeling like a little 10 year old again, watching Superfriends back in the 80's saturday morning lineup. Yes, some of the costumes were pretty gay looking and some lines were just beggin' for wine to go with all that cheese, but it was a very cool episode. I enjoyed watching all of them work in unison just like the JLA in comics would, The anticipation leading up to this point was very exiting and since I'm a huge Smallville fan this was truly an event. Yea I'm geeky that way. Well I also found out that Martian Manhunter will appear again on next week's episode... BADASS! Along with all the MARVEL movies coming out this year, seeing this just makes this year look that much more worthwhile. usually I don't have alot to look forward to, movie wise anyway. The movie Superman Returns made last summer a bit of a letdown after all the hype it got, not to mention what a dissapointment it was to watch. It's good... No it's GREAT to see someone doing the Superman Mythos some justice(no pun intended!) Yea so til' next week True Believers... Exelsi..... Oh wait that's Marvel, well you get the point! Ciao!

Look what I found!!!

Here's some oldies but goodies(at least to me!) from about 2-3 years ago. I created these for a meetgroup who consisted of various talents from Chicago. A couple of pieces I wasn't able to finish Like this Lenore piece from the EAP poem The Raven. This Cap I just created cus' Cap doesn't get mad enuff' !! So I figured why not piss him off a bit
These are Tony Akins Inks and my colors...Perrrrty cool!
This one too.
This is my hot yet fiesty fairy... Don't see too many of those around anymore.

Some ol' stuff!

Hey all! I'm just posting some old art so as to keep up with Tony"MALO" M. It's only about a year old or so! I was selling them as prints and the plan was to sell em for every month... I might still do it! This scheme was thought up by that madman Raf Nieves in order to help me out financially, The man is a genius! I think I might of already posted these but oh well, enjoy!

New Painted Pics

Hola! Yea I was bored and decided to paint these characters. I'm trying out a new way of painting and I think I'm getting it down. I really admire artists like Kim Hyung-Tae and Tetsuya Nomura so I've been trying to get a style that reflects both of their coloring techniques. I think I'm getting closer. I'll have more soon, my computer went for a little trip to hell and I'm trying to resurrect the old girl. Soon I tell you soon!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Merry Christmas!!!

Ok so I'm all late about it, but on my defense I've been busy at work and at home. All this shopping for presents can zap you of your superhuman ability to doodle, well at least it zapped mine. All in all it was very cool festivities! My Baby got me, Kim, Hyung-Tae's OXIDE 2x!! I screamed "SweetBabyJesus, this is what Christmas is all about!" as soon as I opened it. That didn't go over too well at first, but after I reflected on what this holiday is all about and explained to my wifey, that my enthusiasm came from the thought of knowing how Kim's artwork has influenced not just myself but countless others all over the world and how now I was part of that creative chain that would in turn help me create hundreds, no THOUSANDS of pieces that would in turn inspire others to create, and so on and so on and by then I realized I was talking to the tree. Seeing that I had failed to drive my point home, I went thru my old sketchbooks and found a few sketches that I forgot I even drew. So in this season of inspiration, here's some doodles that were inspired by whole lotta artists and I hope inspire u aswell. Oh and in case I forget to mention it! ComicSpace rocks majorly... is that even a word, oh well! Yea so go check it out, drop by say hello! Pick up a few friends along the way, i did!

Latest sketch-a-doodles

Yes it's been a sec but as always I found time to come up with some new sketches and I even painted one of them. I tend to talk too much and explain too much when i write these things in so I'll just let you see them for yourselves and let me know what you think! The Asian woman who i have named Otohime was conceived while sketching at a sketchmeet with Norm Dwyer and Tony Akins. Two of the most talented artist on this side of the planet! It was an awesome experience albiet brief, but I hope we can have more of them! Norm is moving to Montana soon at the end of the month to be exact and well, he was one of my earliest teachers, and I will miss him. Norm, hope I've made you proud!!! but hell it's only Montana, so maybe we can have a sketchmeet facing yellowstone park one day!

Yanni and Vann Johnson Love is All Taj Mahal India

Yea it's Yanni, but Vann Johnson is the voice that attracted me to this song. She has a powerful voice. Anyway I tend to listen to this song for inspiration, it often helps me concentrate. I thought I'd share it seeing we all need a bit of inspiration once in a while.

Guild Wars: Factions Trailer

Swwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeta! had to share this with you all i have this game and it is awesome. Now i'm not much of a gamer, but I was sold on the trailer. It's an older trailer from last year i think, but for those of you who never saw it here it is, I'll be posting soon so be tune in next time...

Ho Ho Krampus!

GRESTEN, Austria (Reuters) - As Christmas nears, Austrian children hoping for gifts from Santa Claus will also be watching warily for "Krampus", his horned and hairy sidekick.

In folklore, Krampus was a devil-like figure who drove away evil spirits during the Christian holiday season.
Traditionally, he appeared alongside Santa around December 6, the feast of St. Nicholas, and the two are still part of festivities in many parts of central Europe.
But these traditions came under the spotlight in Austria this year, after reports last week that Santa -- also known as St Nicholas, Father Christmas or Kris Kringle -- had been banned from visiting kindergartens in Vienna because he scared some children.
Officials denied the reports, but said from now on only adults the children knew would be able to don Santa's bushy white beard and red habit to visit the schools.
Now, a prominent Austrian child psychiatrist is arguing for a ban on Krampus, who still roams towns and villages in early December.
Boisterous young men wearing deer horns, masks with battery-powered red eyes, huge fangs, bushy coats of sheep's fur, and brandishing birchwood rods storm down the streets, confronting spectators gathered to watch the mediaeval spectacle, which is also staged in parts of nearby Hungary, Croatia and Germany's Bavaria state.
Anyone who doesn't dodge or run away fast enough might get swatted -- although not hard -- with the rod.
"The Krampus image is connected with aggression, and in a world that is anyway full of aggression, we shouldn't add figures standing for violence... and hell," child psychiatrist Max Friedrich said.
A JOLLY OLD FRIGHT?
Friedrich, who says Krampus is scary because people can't communicate with a mask, doesn't get much of a hearing in the traditionalist towns of Lower Austria and the Salzburg and Tyrol regions that hold the most elaborate Krampus processions.
In Gresten, 3,000 people, including many children, packed the kerbs of Dorfstrasse one recent night to await his coming.
The horned figure suddenly burst out of a dark corner, shouting menacingly at onlookers and waving his birchwood whip.
As he knocked over a metal crowd barrier and waded into the spectators, a boy who identified himself as Simon flinched.
"Don't worry," a nearby adult assured Simon. "Krampus won't do anything to you. He's not allowed to."
Johann Leichtfried, a young Krampus actor in Gresten, defended his role and said most children were fascinated by Krampus's symbolism. "Krampus is for the kids."
But not everyone agrees.
Listeners of Austrian youth radio station FM4 shared the horror they felt when first confronted the figure.
"Krampus scared ... me when I was seven," said one, identified as Riem on FM4's Web site. "I panicked that I was never going to see my father again because a hoofed human wanted to throw me in his wooden backpack."
But Friedrich conceded there had been few known cases of "Krampus trauma".
He said Krampus remained a popular custom probably because "there's a phenomenon of finding fear attractive", pointing for example to the frequently frightening, sometimes gruesome, plot twists in the classic fairy-tales of the Grimm brothers.
Sometimes, Krampus can get carried away -- in some towns in the Tyrol and Salzburg areas, some of the horned devils have lost control after downing a few too many beers or schnapps.
"In Tyrolean communities ... the Krampus actors have to wear a number so everyone can know who the bad guy is behind the mask, just in case," said Friedrich

just a few more

More Mayara

Mayara Sketches

Here's my gurl!!

More Cruz pics

Here's some more

Some old ideas coming to light

Hey all, I've always had an idea of creating my own book, and until recently I've been pondering the thought. Finally I simply put my ideas to paper, and started to develop a story and characters. Some are fairly old characters I've had in my sketchbook and my mental doodle book for years. I wanted to re-create them and so here are the first 2. I got alot more but I'm starting out with 3 main characters, here's 2 of the 3. The "Mami Caliente's" name is Mayara, and the "Mucho Macho" dude is Cruz. I've been coming out with some good ideas for them but I'll post more finished work later for now here's my random thoughts on paper. Hope you like em'

and here's some more...

Here's a CD I created for an awesome singer. Her name is Lynn Smith, and I was lucky enough to hook up with her, thanks to music producer Derwin Davis at Minstrel Studios. DERWIN when are we going to finish YOUR CD, man!?? Anywho, here's a peek at her cd cover, should be out soon so be on the look out! I've heard her songs, and YES the woman has talent, she's the real deal!!

Hi Deee HO!!!

Hey All! Here's some book covers that I created for "The Book Publishers", a publishing company based here in Chicago! My very good friend DR.CARR or as I like to call her, AJA created this succesful venture. We had lunch once and I offered to create her logo if she paid for my meal, needless to say i was full that day and the rest as they say was history. Much love AJA!