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.

 

Thanks for Listening to me on Dennis Miller’s Radio Show Today

Dear Friends,

On Veteran’s Day, I thank all of the brave men and women serving in all branches of the military who sacrifice SO MUCH to ensure we continue to enjoy our freedoms. As the son of USAF Lieutenant Colonel Jack Dorman, I understand how much the military and their families sacrifice. Thank you also to all of you who were listening to me on The Dennis Miller Radio Show today. Here is the link on Dennis’ site to my interview: http://www.dennismillerradio.com/b/One-Of-A-Kind-For-Our-Military/-338762614549322936.html

Dennis and Christian were kind enough to let me come on and the share news about my military art project, Project 52, which helps to raise funds for military families who are financially challenged, given through USACares.org. Here is the link: http://www.indiegogo.com/Project-52.

Last year at this time we auctioned my Transformers painting, which was the first-ever illustrated cover art for GEEK Monthly magazine for their special Comic-Con issue, juxtaposing the “old school” Transformers character vs. the modern day version. I donated all of that money to USACares.org.

 

 

Dave Dorman and Dennis Miller with Dave's Transformers Painting We Auctioned for USACares.org

Today, I’m asking you to help me spread the word about Project 52. Please post it on your FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn accounts, and anywhere you connect with your social networks. On Twitter or Cinchcast, the hashtag reference is #Project 52. Please tell your military friends and your family about Project 52. For just $5, you or the person you designate will be mentioned in my Project 52 book, which I’m self publishing. For $1,000, you can own a Dave Dorman original oil military painting. There are tons of contribution opportunities and options between the $5 and the $1,000 range, but please contribute whatever is comfortable for you, even if it’s just words of support. The initial $52,000 we are raising will cover expenses for publishing the book, art materials, printing the limited edition signed and numbered lithographs and helping to defray costs for me taking time off of commercial work to focus on this project. Fifty percent of all earnings from the books and lithos will go to USACares.org. The remaining 50% of book and lithograph sales will go to the Make a Wish Foundation in honor of Katie Johnson (501st founder Albin Johnson’s late daughter) on behalf of the 501st Organization, for which I’m honored to be an honorary member. For those of you reading who are unfamiliar with the 501st, these are the great men and women worldwide who donate their time, wearing Star Wars costumes and marching in parades, visiting children’s hospitals and continuing to be good will ambassadors of Lucasfilm.

I thank you all for your kind words and moral support. I’m very passionate about doing Project 52 and ensuring it is done to perfection.

We are still in the throes of unpacking from our big move, and the other day I discovered the old reel-to-reel audio tape recordings of my father, from when he was serving on behalf of the United States Air Force in Viet Nam. We didn’t see my dad for an entire year, so we communicated with him solely by letters and tapes.  I’m getting these recordings made into CDs for my sister and brother, but if you  know of a military museum out there who might want some of these recordings, please let me know.

As always, I thank you for reading and following my work.

Dave

Here’s a Link to My Dennis Miller Interview

Dear Friends,

Thanks for all of your support & your interest. Here’s the official link to my interview with Dennis Miller yesterday.

http://www.dennismillerradio.com/pg/jsp/charts/audioMaster.jsp?dispid=318&pid=11564

Let me know what you think of it.

Thanks,

Dave.

HARVEY PEKAR and ME

Dear Friends,

I’ve had a lot of questions over the past 24 hours about Harvey Pekar – what did I think of him, did I know him, etc. So, here’s the scoop:

I met Harvey at a comic book convention years ago. True to form, he did his curmudgeonly schtick at the show, just like the person you saw on The Late Show with David Letterman. He knew my work and liked it. His wife approached me and asked me to do an entire Harvey Pekar comic book for FREE, because she apparently felt that I wanted or needed to hitch my wagon to Harvey’s star. At that point in my career, I had already won an Eisner, had a best selling art book with Ballantine, a worldwide fan base, etc. Also, while Harvey’s American Splendor comics appealed to those fans who enjoy that slice-of-life style of comic, they held zero appeal for me personally. Mind you, his wife approached dozens of comic book artists for free comics – not just me. So, while I enjoyed Harvey’s David Letterman appearances very much, I can’t say I was a true fan of Harvey Pekar. Paul Giamatti’s portrayal of Harvey in American Splendor was brilliant and spot on. If you’ve never seen this movie, put it on your NetFlix list or rent it at Blockbuster as soon as you can.

The David Letterman-Harvey Pekar phenomenon is yet another indication that having an abrasive, abrupt or odd duck personality will get you booked on talk shows in a New York minute, but those of us in comics who are merely pleasant or not somehow socially retarded in our talk show  interviews rarely have media “juice.” I’ll have to adopt some weird schtick to appeal to those producers – let me know if you have any kooky ideas for me.

My next posting will be my San Diego ComicCon schedule. I’m doing 3 different panels this year and as a featured guest, I have autograph signings slated a few times with the convention, aside from those at my booth. I am at Booth #4500 this year. Joining me will be artist Charlie Athanas, Blueberry/Star Wars artist Colin Wilson, his agent Royd Burgoyne and Australian indie publisher Wolfgang Bylsma.

As many of you already know, at San Diego ComicCon this year we will be unveiling my new book from IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing, “ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN,” and remember – 10% of my earnings from this book will go to USACares.org – the not-for-profit raising money for financially challenged military families. Comedian and radio personality Dennis Miller is their official spokesperson, and I look forward to promoting the new book on his radio show soon. The book will be in all nationwide bookstores as of August.

Rumor has it that my friends Tom Baxa and Mark A. Nelson will be sitting right next to me at the show, so this show will be even more fun than usual. Mark used to teach illustration at my wife’s alma mater, Northern Illinois University, and used my Star Wars: The Art of Dave Dorman book as his required text book for class. Those added book sales were much appreciated!

If you are looking for my usual San Diego ComicCon booth cronies, e.g., Christopher Moeller, Scott Hampton, John vanFleet or Durwin Talon, they will be in Artists’ Alley this year, and by the time of the show, I should have data on their exact booth #s to hand out to you, as well as a promo piece on Comix Academy, which we will do next year the week before the show.

As always, thanks for reading. Until next time,

Dave.

My podcast: http://www.itscomicbookday.com

Follow me on Twitter: Twitter.com/davedorman

Dave Dorman Announcement: You Read It Here FIRST!

Dear Friends,

As promised, here are some pictures of my first paint brush, gifted to me by my father and on Sunday by my wife & son; it’s now a permanent shadowbox display in my studio, keeping company with my Little Nemo calendar and my clock:

Dave's 1st Paint Brush Hanging on Wall in Studio

This was my best Father’s Day gift, second only to my son. And here he is:

Me & My Mini Me on Father's Day 2010

Here’s a close-up of the shadow box:

My Father's Day Gift This Year

Speaking of Jack, he was inspired by a recent visit to a planetarium and created this little piece of art:

Dave Dorman's 5-Year-Old Son Draws His First Astronaut

As he described his drawing, a family argument ensued as to which planet was looming in the upper right, with Jack insisting it was Uranus. Unfortunately, my wife cannot keep a straight face if her life depended on it when anyone utters the planet “Uranus” (the traditional pronounciation), so now Jack knows the magic word to say to Denise at the worst possible times, like the library, or…while she’s receiving communion.

If you received the most recent Imagine F/X magazine issue honoring Frank Frazetta (a.k.a. my favorite magazine), the picture of Frank & me that I shared with you in a previous blog is on Page 8, with a quote from me on how Frank inspired my work. It was his Conan the Barbarian work that first grabbed my attention, and it was Frank Frazetta who taught me to paint. I’m so glad I was able to tell him that in person.

In other news, our friend and Denise’s client Stan Bush, who has the #1 Geek Anthem of All Time (Transformers theme song, The Touch) just got his song ” ‘Til All Are One” in the new Transformers game from Activision, which came out yesterday. Huge congrats to Stan on that coup. We will have him on our pop culture podcast, “It’s Comic Book Day” in a forthcoming episode. This is a free download on iTunes, so be sure to sign up for it. You’d be surprised at all of the people Stan’s written for, performed and recorded with – a who’s who of rock ‘n roll. Even better, he’s genuinely a decent person in a tough business.

Rumor has it I will be on Dennis Miller’s radio show in July, so once Denise firms up the details, I’ll let you know when to listen in. Actually, you should always tune in to Dennis Miller (that is, when you’re not listening to my podcast) – the guy’s LOL hilarious every day and his choice of diverse and interesting guests is never dull. 

I want to give a shout-out to one of my favorite podcast/media personalities, Mike Dodd of This Week in Geek. If you haven’t discovered his podcast yet, definitely check it out. Denise & I may be making a regular appearance there soon, so be sure to check here for news on that.

And now, I’ve saved the best news for last. You read it here first! All of you know about my new book, Rolling Thunder: The Art of  Dave Dorman. I’m proud to announce that 10% of my earnings will go to mine and Dennis Miller’s favorite charity, USACares.org. I will have another really fun surprise announcement to make about my new book in an upcoming blog post, so again, be sure to check back with me. Here is a shot of my signed, limited edition version book cover:

Signed, Limited Edition Book Cover

As always, I thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the art.

Dave.

My Art from the Granada, Spain Exhibit

Dear Friends,

Fed Ex just rang the doorbell and bestowed upon me the art I submitted for Joe Kubert’s esteemed exhibit in Granada, Spain. The pieces I submitted were (lower left) Star Wars (2nd to left) Alien v. Predator (3rd to left) Alien v. Predator and (lower right) King Kong. I hope you like them. I always welcome your comments.

Dave Dorman Art from Granada, Spain Exhibit, 2010

While you’re here, I thought you’d like to see some upcoming guests for my podcast, “It’s Comic Book Day,” which is free to you on iTunes:

Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson (they’ve collaborated a lot) and John vanFleet.

Dave Dorman Friend Steve Niles, HeroesCon 2010

Dave Dorman's Friend, Bernie Wrightson, HeroesCon 2010

We will be recording episodes with all of these great folks in July 2010, as well as artists Tim Bradstreet and Dave DeVries…plus some surprise guests we plan to do as field recordings at San Diego Comic-Con International this year.

I picked up a really surprising find last week, a CD called 4TROOPS. This band was on Good Morning America one morning, and the voice of the lead singer just grabbed me. Even better, 50 cents of each sale goes to 3 separate funds helping U.S. military veterans. As you know, I’m all about it, since I come from a military family and I’m a solid supporter of comedian Dennis Miller’s fund, USACares.org.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

A Special Thanks to Dennis Miller & Christian Bladt

For those of you who listened to my Dennis Miller Radio Show interview yesterday, thank you for tuning in. For those who haven’t heard it yet, the link is as follows: http://multimedia.play.it/m/audio/26472417/dave-dorman-interview.htm Let me know what you think. It was great fun reminiscing about my father, USAF Lieutenant Colonel Jack Dorman. I speak for my entire family when I say we really miss Dad and my mother, Phyllis, who lost her battle to breast cancer.

I forgot to mention to Dennis that while I lived in Hawaii, they filmed “Tora! Tora! Tora!” The day those Japanese planes flew low over our house re-enacting the bombing in Pearl Harbor, that was beyond eerie. I’ll never forget it. Someone emailed me after hearing my radio appearance yesterday who also lived at Hickham AFB the same time I did, and he recalled the Tora filming as well. That was so cool to hear from him.

In case any of you ever wondered what Dennis Miller is really like in person, Dennis Miller is one of the coolest cats in person I’ve had the pleasure to meet. I look forward to “breaking bread” with him in San Diego. My wife tells me I’m the only person she knows who “gets” every single obscure reference and metaphor Dennis utters. What can I say? Dennis & I have similar interests. Also a cool cat: Christian Bladt. I was just as interested in meeting Christian, since I have listened to their radio show forever and feel like I know of him just as much. A special thanks to WriteBrain Media for setting up that interview yesterday – my wife’s great PR, marketing & brand management firm. Christian is now the proud owner of a The Devil’s Candy Store t-shirt, my wife’s other company with Charlie Athanas, who is @charlie_athanas on Twitter. Also, a special thanks to WIND Radio, 560 AM in Chicagoland for hosting us yesterday.

Be sure to bid on the painting I donated to USACares.org – it was the first ever painted cover for GEEK Monthly magazine, and it is of old school and modern day Optimus Prime, so if you’re a Transformers fan, you should OWN it!

For those of you who can have visited me today for my painting demo at the Make a Wish Foundation event in Wheaton, IL, thank you so much for stopping by.

Thanks for reading, everyone,

Dave

Dave Dorman on The Dennis Miller Show & Make a Wish Painting Demo Appearance

Hey everyone,

Dave here. I just wanted to let you all know that I will be on The Dennis Miller Radio Show tomorrow, Friday the 18th at 10 a.m. Central Time here in Chicago. The station here in Chicago is WIND, 560 AM. However, if you want to hear it streaming via your computer, here is the link: http://560wind.townhall.com/

On Saturday, I will be doing a free oil painting demonstration for Celebrity Chiropractor Dr. G (he does the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars backstage, etc.) for the “Make a Wish” foundation. This will be in the parking lot at the corner of Butterfield Road & Naperville Road in Wheaton, IL. I’ll be there from noon to 2 p.m., so drop by & see me. Bring your comics if you would like me to sign them.

October 24th & 25th, I will be in Plano, TX for Star Wars Days. Here is the link to this event: http://www.scifiexpo.com/DCC/fandaysIII.html
If you’re in the great Plano area and you love anything Star Wars related, this will be a fun show for you.

I hope you’ve seen my Star Wars covers for Dark Horse. If so, let me know what you think of them.

Thanks for reading, everyone,

Dave

Some Nice Reviews & Dave Dorman News & Upcoming Appearances

I’d like to thank the critics (sometimes it’s hard to find their actual names) who have given me such nice reviews in the past two days online. I have Google Alerts set up so I can track what’s being said about me online. They are as follows:

Buffyverse Comic Reviews – http://buffyversecomics.blogspot.com/
Buffyverse Comic Reviews: Illyria Chats With the Exs
By PatShand

Here’s the exerpt:

Art: You may as well copy and paste my praise for David Messina’s art from #1 in here. One thing you can leave out, though, is my gripes about Gunn’s inconsistent beard. The art in this issue is 100% consistent, and Messina added that he would be fixing Gunn’s beard for the collection.

Covers: Both of these covers are considerably better than the ones from the first issue. The Messina cover is at once brutal and beautiful, featuring an image of Gunn in creepy blue lighting that makes his eyes all shadowy, with an image of Gunn as a vampire slicing through the middle of the issue. The same format is used for the rest of Messina’s covers in this arc, and I love it. And this time, Dave Dorman’s cover is just as great as Messina’s. Over a beautiful blue and purple backdrop, Gunn and Illyria, all promed-out, are dancing. Gunn dips Illyria, and to his horror, demonic tentacles whip up in front of them. That could be collection cover status.

And here is yesterday’s review:
Star Wars Bounty Hunters
By Comic Book Reviews
GenX Comics – http://genxcomics.com/

4 Stars Dave Dorman Is The Best
Dave Dorman rendered the cover art for this work. Mr. Dorman is by no means the only artist that creates the visual work for this and other Star Wars Series, but I have always felt he is one of the best. I wish I could say the same for the collection of short stories profiling some old friends and some new, but that would be a stretch for even science fiction.

I’d also like to thank those critics out there that occasionally give me a negative review, because it emboldens me to work harder.

As for my latest news, I’m looking forward to seeing Todd Rundgren on Sunday in Chicago with The Devil’s Candy Store co-founder Charlie Athanas. I’m also hopeful that I will be a guest on The Dennis Miller Radio Show when he comes into Chicago next week. As many of you know, I am a fan of Dennis’ from more than 20 years back, and it will be a lot of fun to talk with him and his producer Christian in person. My wife ran into Dennis at San Diego Comic-Con, and it all sort of evolved from there. I am donating my Transformers painting, which was the cover art for GEEK Monthly Magazine’s San Diego Comic-Con special edition issue, to Dennis Miller’s favorite charity, http://www.USACares.org. This helps military families financially, and as many of you know, I am a USAF military brat, so that is near and dear to my heart.

I will be attending the Star Wars Fan Days show in Dallas (http://www.scifiexpo.com) the weekend of October 24th & 25th, so please put it on your calendar if you can make it out there. That show should be a lot of fun. (A special thanks to the 501st Midwest Garrison, of which I am an honorary member, for always giving me such great support.)

If you get a chance to visit Windy City Con, be sure to say hello to my friends and special guests Tony Aikens, Mike Kennedy and Alex Wald.

Thanks for reading, everyone. I will do my best to post updates more regularly.

Dave