Convention Season! Rabbit Season!

The 2012 Convention Season continues!

On the 4^th of July, Rene and I will be signing at Art Baltazar’s Aw Yeah Comics in Skokie from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  (www.awyeahcomics.com)

There will be a parade, hot dogs and comics.  Stop by and get a free copy of the Feast of the Wolfman mini-comic (while they last).  Make sure you are there at 1:00 p.m. for a special announcement.  Oh, Art and Jimmy the Muscle will be there too.

Then in August, Rene and I will be at Wizard World Chicago aka Chicago Comic-Con.  We will be joined by Serena Guerra, colorist of Mice Templar. (http://www.wizardworld.com/home-ch.html)  The new collected Distant will be available at this show.  It includes all four issues of the mini-series, plus the Not-So-Distant FCBD mini-comic, pin-ups, and this great new cover by artist Manuel Preitano.

The last show of the year will be FallCon on October 6, 2012. 

Dann Phillips, creator, writer and artist of Starbomb, will also be at this show. (http://midwestcomicbook.com/)

For updates, be sure to follow Instant Press Comics on Twitter @NstantPress.

And for random thoughts and mostly useless information, follow me @GrubbMaster.

Spirit Having Flown

Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees died today at the age of 62.

The Bee Gees have been a part of my life since junior high.  I discovered their music, like most people, back in 1977 with Saturday Night Fever.  I was only 13 at the time and the movie was rated R, but my mom still took me to see it.  We would go to the movie theater every week and see whatever was playing.  I’ll save those stories for future posts.

I was lucky though to have a friend whose parents were big fans.  My buddy, Eric, introduced me to some of their earlier music.  I ran out and bought Main Course, which contains my favorite song, “Nights on Broadway.”

When we were in 8^th grade, I would go hang out at Eric’s house after school.  Then, we would walk to my house so he could pick up his little brother from pre-school.  On the way there, we would sing Bee Gees songs.  “Nights on Broadway” was a big one for us; we would switch off on the different parts.

My very first concert was The Bee Gees at the Chicago Stadium in the Summer of ’79.  I had finished my freshman year at Gordon Tech and was working at the school for the summer.  Back in those days, you could only purchase concert t-shirts at an actual concert.  So, if you had one that meant you actually went to the concert.  It was a big deal.  Unfortunately, the majority of concert shirts worn in those days were rock or heavy metal.  The Bee Gees were frowned upon because they were considered disco.  I didn’t care.  I was proud of my black concert shirt with the Bee Gees logo and all three of their faces on it.  Another student who had also gone to the concert told me I was brave to wear my shirt at the school.

Ten years later, Eric, my cousin Adrienne (another long-time fan) and I went to see The Bee Gees at Poplar Creek.  We had great seats.  The pavilion was full, but the lawn was a little sparse.  We had a blast.

The death of Maurice Gibb in 2003 signaled the end of The Bee Gees.  Their music and its influence on my life, however, will continue on.

Help Kickstart My Heart

Hi friends!

My name is Justin Castaneda and I am the creator of the When I Was Little picture book series. Dave and I met at Wizard World Chicago a few years back. We have since shared the convention floor and continue to build a great creative friendship with him, Rene, and Instant Press Comics. He was kind enough to have me do a guest post because I have a new book project I am raising funds for thru Kickstarter.

The way Kickstarter works is it funds creativity. It accepts donations to help creative people get their passion projects made. Artists, writers, and filmmakers can set up a Kickstarter campaign and by supporting them and their work, you get rewarded! For instance when you donate to my project, you can receive a signed copy, sketch cards, digital prints, buttons, custom art and a lot more.

So the name of my new book is called, Heart. Heart is a story about love and acceptance. This book has been a labor of love for many years. I really believe in this book. It's been an idea birthed through the struggles I had growing up trying to find where I fit in. I had difficulty making friends and I thought for the longest time it's because of who I was as a person. I thought if I changed who I was I would find my place. It wasn't until much later when I learned all that was non-sense and the most important thing I could ever do was: To Be Myself. 

It's a bit more expensive to release a hardcover children's book than I had anticipated. I didn't want to cop out into doing it as a softcover, it's not meant to be that way. With the help of some fellow creatives that gave me an extra push, I started this Kickstarter campaign:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/justin-castaneda/sharemyheart


I hope you can help support the book and the message this book gives.

I thank you for your time and consideration and thanks again to Dave for letting me post on his blog!

Convention Season! Duck Season!

The 2012 Convention Season has started!

We kicked it off at DanCon 2012 on March 4th.  This year was bigger and better than last year, which was hard to top.  We premiered House of the Wolfman, the second book in the Tales of the Wolfman series, with a standard cover and an exclusive sketch cover.  The book sold well along with the first book, Bride of the Wolfman.  People really enjoyed Rene’s original sketch covers. 

Last Sunday, Rene and I were panelists for the Author Afternoon at the Beverly Arts Center.  We were joined by Jim and Pat McGreal, creators of the Future Shock comic strip, and Jim Nelson, writer and artist of Crosstown Crush.  We each gave presentations about writing, drawing and working in comics.  The crowd, one of the biggest for Author Afternoons, was very receptive and participated in the Q&A.  Afterward, many came up and spoke to us, looked at our work and even bought some books. 

Coming up (April 13th – 15th) is C2E2. (www.c2e2.com)

Rene and I will be at Table E19 in Artists Alley all weekend.

On Friday, we will be joined by artist Mark Lone. (www.marklone.blogspot.com/)  And on Saturday, Dann Phillips (www.dannphillips.com) will be at the table promoting his book, Starbomb. 

Then, 2 weeks after C2E2 (April 27th – 29th) is Anime Central. (www.acen.org) Rene and I will be at Table 18 in Artists Alley all weekend.  The collected trade of the mini-series Distant will premiere at this show.

May brings Free Comic Book Day on May 5th.  We will be signing at First Aid Comics in Hyde Park.(www.firstaidcomics.com)  As in past years, we will have a free mini-comic.  This year will be Feast of the Wolfman.  All of our other titles will be available for purchase.

Then on May 12th, we will be at Summit City Comic Con. www.summitcitycomiccon.com

Stay tuned for more convention news.

10 Years of Instant Press Comics

This year, Instant Press Comics is celebrating its 10^th Anniversary!

 The celebration kicks off at Dan Con 2012! (http://danconcomic.blogspot.com/)

Our first release of the year will be House of the Wolfman, written by me and drawn by Rene Castellano.

Also coming out this year is the collected trade of IPC’s top-selling mini-series, Distant

and Instant Press 2012, a collaborative celebration of all of IPC’s titles of the last ten years.  You can check out all of those titles here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2922856917752.143175.1450727712&type=3

Check out our convention schedule to the left, and stay tuned for more releases.

You Damn Dirty Apes Prequel Part 2

Some of you may have read my blog from last year regarding the new Planet of the Apes movie.  If not, go to May 2010 and read it.  Or, you can just read the specifics here in this new blog.

Initially, I was against a new POTA movie.  But after reading about the film and seeing the trailers, I became more interested.  It looked different enough to make it work.  Well, I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes and was disappointed.  I won't list my specific likes and dislikes here because I am against spoilers.  Instead, I will dissect my original blog and see how it compares to my current opinion.

"...it seems to me that they make these movies for a new generation that has never bothered to watch the originals..."  I still think this is true.  I can see many of the people who did not grow-up with the originals liking this film very much.

"Fox also plans on doing all of the apes in CGI..." "...unless they really change it up for this new movie (which could also be a mistake)..."  The CGI apes looked really good.  I thought that the main orangutan and gorilla actually looked better than the chimps.  Making the apes look real as opposed to people in make-up worked.  It was not a mistake and it was one of the things that made me want to see the movie.

"Yes, I am a huge fan of this franchise."  This fact did not impact my opinion of this new movie.  I was able to watch and critique it solely based on its own efforts.  Of couse when discussing the movie, some comparisons do have to be made.

"Maybe next summer, when the CGI apes are up on the big screen taking over the world, I will be cheering in the theater."  I wasn't.

It is very clear that there is going to be a sequel, and I do like part of the path that it is on.  Maybe the next one will work better for me.  But until then, give me Chuck Heston and a bunch of actors in make-up.

Free Comic Book Day 2011

Friday, May 7th is Free Comic Book Day at comic book stores around the world.
Instant Press Comics will be respresented by me and Rene Castellano at First Aid Comics in Hyde Park from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
(http://firstaidcomics.wordpress.com/)

 
Two new comics will be available at this event.

DORKS ISSUE NO. 5 by Rene Castellano

This issue completes the story arc contained in the trade and launches the next part of the Dorks saga.


STARBOMB ISSUE O by Dann Phillips
 

This 12-page comic leads up to the events in Starbomb Issues 1 and 2, both of which will also be available.
 

If you are unable to attend this event, please support your local comic book store and creators.
http://www.freecomicbookday.com/signings.asp