Dave Dorman Updates and Fresh Captain Nemo Art

DEAR FRIENDS,

I hope all of the mothers following me had a great Mother’s Day. My mother died of breast cancer way too young, and I find myself missing her more and more as the years go by. She would really have loved our son, who often asks about my mom and dad. Probably the most poignant moment was the day he asked to take my parents’ framed portrait down from our fireplace mantel and put it on the cocktail table where he was playing with his trains so Grandma and Grandpa “could watch him playing.” He has a way of choking us up out of the blue.

NEW ART I’M ACTUALLY WORKING ON TODAY – CAPTAIN NEMO: Here’s a snippet of the painting. I’m having a lot of fun with this piece, which is part 1 in a triptych I have planned. I will do a step-by-step blog when it’s complete, which should be in a few days.

Unfinished Captain Nemo by Dave Dorman

NEW BOOKS I’M IN: Many of you know I’m a military brat and a solid supporter of USACares.org, which helps financially challenged military families. Writer Julie Rahm contacted me about a year or so ago to be in her new book, “Military Kids Speak” and I agreed to the interview. I’m in great company with fellow Fort Walton Beach, FL resident and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel (he has a street named after him in my old home town), actor Mark Hamill, Colin Powell, Newt Gingrich and many more. If you are interested in reading this topic, here’s the link: http://amzn.to/iJAgBn

Denise and I have contributed recipes to a new cookbook fundraiser for Destin Middle School near where we used to live on my beloved Gulf Coast, so here is a link to that cookbook (my recipe contribution is actually my mother’s): http://www.thedestinlog.com/news/destin-17741-cookbook-recipes.html

APPEARANCES: I had planned to participate in the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards event in Los Angeles this forthcoming weekend, but we need to stay home due to some in-law health concerns. My next public appearance will likely be Cherry Capital Con in Traverse City, Michigan at the Grand Traverse Resort the end of June. It looks like a fun show.

Of course, we will be exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con, same Bat time, same Bat channel (Booth #4500). Sharing my end cap booth this year will be Australian publisher Gestalt Comics, who does really great stuff and publisher Archaia who also publishes terrific graphic novels (who will be using a portion of my booth as their satellite booth location). I will have new sketch books this year, so watch for those! Thanks to friend and Devil’s Candy Store founder @Charlie_Athanas on Twitter who really pushed me to produce them.

TECH NEWS: My friend and colleague Mike Bawden of Brand Central Station in Iowa is working with me on my new Web site, so I will post here when it’s up. Additionally, he and I are working on a Dave Dorman iPhone app, and I will let you know when it’s ready for you.  One of my newer friends is the founder/owner of the blog DumbLittleMan.com, so be sure to check that out for life’s little tips. I am probably going to contribute some articles there and will post a link here. According to my wife, he gets GREAT SEO so if you write advice or tips articles, she says be sure to post there.

PODCAST NEWS: Michael Mennenga of Farpoint Media (and the host of Slice of Sci Fi, now on SiriusXM Satellite Channel 80) has graciously offered to continue producing our podcast, It’s Comic Book Day, which is news, interviews and reviews of all pop culture-related stuff – artists, writers, directors, magazine editors, producers, musicians…you name it. Our podcast is free on iTunes, so please feel free to download it for your next workout or road trip.

Okay, that’s all the news I have right now. Thanks as always for reading and for your interest in my work.

Follow me on Twitter: @DaveDorman

Follow me on Facebook: Facebook.com/DaveDorman

Link with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Dave

We Honor You, Star Wars Girl Katie Goldman

Today my blog honors Katie Goldman, aka Star Wars Girl.

As I told my gay friends and followers on the day we all wore purple to honor them, the bullying that occurs over our differences needs to STOP. NOW. Like Katie, my wife is also adopted. My wife is a geek. I’ve felt the wrath of being different as a kid – I was the painfully shy military brat moving all of the time…always the nerdy new kid in school, drawing comics silently in the back of the classroom, hoping no one would call attention to me. You might say we both identify with Katie’s plight. Denise was the one who brought it to my attention through a Facebook posting from ACME DESIGN.

We need to start celebrating our differences instead of clamoring to be the same. The Me, Too-ism Movement is clearly alive and well. Why else would women be financially challenging themselves just to wear the same overpriced designer brand purses, shoes, jewelry, sunglasses, etc. Why are men driven to buy luxury brand cars when the mechanical performance is often sub-standard? We’re all caught up in this endless cycle of sameness and trying to come off as too cool for school. I just don’t find it terribly interesting…or relevant.

I find individualism interesting. I find Katie’s bravery interesting.

Most of those “cool” celebs that everyone wants to be like? I’ve met more than my share. I’m usually disappointed. Leonardo DiCaprio sneered at me and wouldn’t stop smoking in a NYC elevator when I asked him. John Leguizamo talked shit about me–right in front of me–at the Telluride Film Festival. It turns out, he has some weird prejudice against sitting next to portly gents like myself. Dennis Miller is one of the few celebs who actually exceeded my expectations. He’s a class act. And he’s also a geek like me. Like us.

Today CNN.com picked up Katie’s story, but those of us in the know within the geek/nerd culture and Star Wars community have been following it online for at least 10 days or more. I think it’s very cool that  Star Wars: Clone Wars Padme Amidala voice actress Catherine Taber and  Her Universe.com founder and Ahsohka Tano character Ashley Eckstein took up the cause and very publicly showed Katie (and her parents) that Katie’s not alone.  Catherine’s online participation was the Tipping Point in giving Katie the credibility and social media support to thumb her nose at those know-nothing naysayers.

Apparently Katie’s classmates haven’t realized yet what every major movie studio knows, as they show previews at San Diego Comic-Con:  Geeks are the world’s taste makers. Geeks RULE.

So… all of those haters out there had better be nice to us or else their TV, videogame, book and movie options are going to suck. As for me and my house, we’ll be wearing Star Wars gear on December 10th to honor Star Wars Girl Katie Goldman. If you wear some, shoot me your photo and I’ll post it here on my blog.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

 

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving Weekend

Dear Friends,

I have so much to be thankful for this year, I don’t know where to begin. I’m thankful for those closest to me–my wife, my son, my best friend Steve Smith, my friend Charlie Athanas, my in-laws who have helped me out tremendously this past year, Colin Pritchard of Rocket No. 9, Kevin Sandstrom at Blick Art Supply, the 501st, (especially Chris Spice of top-rated Star Wars site Sandtroopers.com) the great art directors and editors I’ve worked with this past year, and also for all of you who take an interest in my art and are the reason I keep doing what I do. I am thankful for my U.S. military family, for USACares.org and  for The Dennis Miller Radio Show who has been kind enough to have me on to share my projects and my military art passion project, Project 52.

I especially thank all of you who have purchased my new art career retrospective and memoir book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN, by IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing, either for yourselves, or for a loved one as a holiday gift. Even if the book wasn’t mine, I would enjoy 4.5 pounds of art in hardcover to peruse over my mulled cider during the holidays.

Today I wanted to share another blog with you, written by my friend and fellow 501st member David Syczylo. David is the Snowtrooper who posed for me for this year’s Star Wars Celebration painting. He did an excellent job of explaining the poses, not to mention providing us all with a brilliant display he has created of my Star Wars Celebration prints:

http://www.djsyczylo.net/chronicles/DormanHoth/DormanHoth.htm

I hope you enjoy David’s blog as much as I did about how the Star Wars Celebration piece came about. The best part of this project? I have been very fortunate to get to know David over the past 6 months and he is a special person to me and my wife. You will never meet a kinder or more giving person. He drove all of the way to my home in northern Illinois from Indianapolis just to pose for me, and refused to take even  gas money. That’s the kind of guy David is. Ask him about his film career when you meet him. He has great stories.

Thanks for reading. More to come. I just did a Captain Marvel this past weekend for the very first time in my career, but I have to check with an editor first to see when I can post it.

Be safe this holiday weekend,

Dave.

P.S. I finally got to see “Walking Dead.” I’m hooked. What do you all think of it? Any of you watching? If not, check it out – let’s compare notes. My friend and fellow judge in the December 6th Chicago 10-minute horror play international competition Death Scribe 2010, Jay Bonansinga, is writing the novelization of the series and he’s an excellent writer.

Dave Dorman Interview on GeekTwins

Hi Everyone,

Today Nigel and Maurice, the “Geek Twins,” posted my interview with them this week on their blog. Please check it out and show them some SEO love: http://geektwins.blogspot.com/2010/07/exclusive-dave-dorman-interview.html

What I liked about their interview is that they asked me questions no one has ever asked before.

Denise is going to post on her blog the mock interview amongst Alien, Predator & Dave Dorman she wrote a few years back for Matt Brady when he was still with Newsarama.com, so watch for that. Her blog is http://denisedorman.wordpress.com. That will give you a little flavor of Dorman gestalt during our blogging absence while we’re traveling to San Diego Comic-Con. We are bringing the Flip Camera (thanks to Christina Bouvier) and hope to have some interesting interviews to post online for all of you. Denise is printing out the “image release” forms as I write this.

I will have some other really fun and exciting news to announce, but I have to get permissions first, so keep checking back here. Until next time, thank you  for reading. If you’re at the show, don’t forget to stop by Booth #4500!

Dave.