A #ComicBook #Artist #Illustrator and #Marine Friend in Need: Clifford Van Meter

Dear Friends,

It’s time to rally the troops and help a fallen soldier and comic book artist friend of mine. I want to make you aware of Clifford Van Meter, a Marine friend in Michigan, who is also a comic book artist/writer and non-fiction writer, as well as a galleried wildlife artist. Clifford is losing his home and, as of Friday, has just lost his job due to his medical condition(s). Like me, he also suffers from Type II Diabetes. Clifford’s write-up below was posted before he lost his job. Denise is scrambling to help him find social services and VA help, but in the meantime, please consider giving any amount — even the smallest amount to you would mean the world to him — at this page: https://www.gofundme.com/arctostor

Here is Clifford Van Meter’s story: 

I’ve been an artist and illustrator for more than 30 years now. I’ve worked extensively on games like Battle-Tech, and GURPS, as well as a number of books and comics. I worked as a writer, artist, and production manager at Valiant comics in the ’90s, and as an artist and writer with Milestone and DC. I’ve also been a galleried wildlife artist. I have samples up on my Deviant Art Page — http://quicktiming.deviantart.com/gallery/.

These days, I live on what I make as a data technician, I was demoted from marketing manager and lost about 1/4 of my income there, I also do a few private sales and commissions. We live pretty simply, but right at the level of what I make. My wife works a factory job and we live in the house her grandfather built… the house she grew up in. The loss of our home is now inevitable.

Like many of you, I don’t have a contingency fund. Frankly, I need help, as soon as possible. Every penny will go toward keeping the bills paid and keeping my insurance in case I get laid off. Prescriptions have become an issue as well. If I lose my prescriptions I’ll be dead in a month.

So…I will be doing whatever I can to help my friend Clifford, and I hope you can help him, too.

My next major show will be IlluxCon in Reading, PA in October. I hope to see you there.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

“To the BATCAVE, Robin!” My Tribute to Adam West

Dear Friends,

Like many of you, I was sad to lose my childhood Batman, Adam West. How cool it was to see the Batman come to life in living color on TV for my 8-year-old self. Adam West, like Batman, has become an icon for generations to come. He will be missed.

I have had a pencil piece of West’s Batman finished for about a year awaiting time to paint it. When I finish the painting, it will turn out to be a tribute piece now, with his passing.

I have combined the elements of West as Batman with the true memories I have of the original Batcave, not the “1966 modern” take from the show. I think he fits in very well. I will be doing this painting on Facebook Live and possibly Periscope as well.

“To the BATCAVE, Robin!”

Dave

P.S. I will be at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC this weekend, so look me up if you’re around!

The Dave Dorman No Tricks, Just TREATS Comic Books Pre-Sale!

Happy Halloween everyone!! No Tricks, Just TREATS today… and thru’ the weekend!

Starting today,  I will be offering for PRE-SALE two very anticipated upcoming Dorman cover Variants. These variants are being offered in 2 forms: A full color painted version and a a black and white pencil version. And now… THE REVEAL!

Vader Down!

The Dark Knight 3!

I once again have worked with M&M Comics in San Antonio, producing variant covers for two of the most anticipated books of the season... Marvel’s VADER DOWN and DC Comics’ DARK KNIGHT 3.

I am offering these for presale now with the release of DK3 on Nov. 11th and VADER DOWN on Nov. 25.

The main reason I am offering these together at this time is to allow you, my valued fans, the opportunity to make your purchases wisely with the holiday season coming up quickly , and not be surprised by a new book coming up that you might not be able to afford because you bought another book earlier. These are the last set of variants I will be producing thru’ the end of the year, so there will be no other Dorman variants upcoming after these (at least for now)

I am offering the books as individual purchases, sets of each title, or a complete set of the 4 books at a discounted price. The pricing is as follows (includes shipping and tracking):

DARK KNIGHT 3 Color Variant $15.00
DARK KNIGHT 3 Pencil Variant $25.00

VADER DOWN  Color Variant $15.00
VADER DOWN  Pencil Variant $25.00

VADER DOWN Both books $30.00
DARK KNIGHT 3 Both books $30.00

VADER DOWN & DARK KNIGHT 3 Full set of 4 books $60.00

AND… as a special HALLOWEEN TREAT (and extended thru’ my son Jack’s birthday,… the boy needs new shoes) all orders of the full set of 4 books will get a copy of my ARCHIE # 1 Variant AND my SPIDER-GWEN #1 variant for FREE!!! 6 books variants for $60.00!! Now THAT’s a treat if I ever heard one!

All books will be signed by me, of course. They will be bagged and boarded unopened directly from the distributor. Books will be sent out by me the week after they hit the stands; however, if you ordered the set of 4, I will send them out after VADER DOWN is released (the week of Nov.30)

Here’s the order page:
http://www.davedorman.com/DK3VADERDOWNvariant.shtml

Thanks again for all your support of my work and I hope everyone has a safe HALLOWEEN and continued health and safety through the upcoming holidays!

Dave.

From Dave Dorman’s Private Collection: BATMAN for SALE

Dear Friends,

Thank you for all of the great comments and interest in my step-by-step art process from yesterday’s blog. I’ll be doing more of those since you really seem to like seeing the process.

As I mentioned yesterday, here is the Batman I have up for sale:

 

BATMAN by DAVE DORMAN, From My Private Collection, Now on Sale

 

This piece is considered one of my more iconic Batman paintings, done in oil on illustration board.  I am asking $5,000 for this painting, and here is the link where you may purchase it, on the Comic Art Fans site: http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=637327&GSub=78979

Let me know what you all think of it. It will be like losing a piece of me to see this go, and my wife and son are none too happy to see it go, but these are very strange times indeed.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.